FroRocks - Discovering Natural Hair: Hair Care

Showing posts with label Hair Care. Show all posts

Imagine this scenario: Take some amount of leave in conditioner, rub it all over hair, then seal with oil.

And that's all for moisturizing? Really?

Getting as much moisture as possible is really important for the well being of our hair. Most people go about the wrong way when they add moisture to their hair.

This post is focused on moisturizing hair when it isn’t in protective style but running wild and free.

Try this the next time you’re moisturizing:

Section, section, and section: Dividing your hair into smaller sections is key. Moisturizing hair in smaller sections gets more moisture to the strands than doing so in bigger sections. You could section it into 4 parts or more.
Take down each section, one at a time, and apply the conditioner from root to tip, concentrating on the ends.
Please don’t be stingy with the conditioner, be generous and distribute it evenly by combing hair after applying.
Now it’s time to seal in all that moisture, to prevent the moisture from evaporating from the hair shaft. Use your preferred oil or butter to seal in.

Tip: You could put the conditioner in a spray bottle mixed with a little water, for easier application.

PROTEIN CONDITIONING

Doing a protein treatment to your hair? Protein conditioning makes the hair harder and is usually accompanied by deep conditioning to soften hair. Usually, protein conditioner is added to hair, hair is put under a shower cap for some minutes, then rinsed out before a deep conditioner is added to conclude the process.

To spend less time doing both, just mix the protein conditioner with the deep conditioner and apply at once!

Warning: 😆In this post, the time accounted for is when one's hand is occupied with their hair. Time utilized for deep conditioning under a shower top isn't included(that takes at least 30 minutes, that is already more than half the time used for a shorter washday). Assumptions are that your hair has been detangled and is now in twists. Twists are usually 6 - 8, not more than that. Additionally, time spent washing hair may rely upon how filthy one's hair is.

As with most naturals, washday ain’t something I anticipate. I’m yet to meet a naturalista that’s always anticipating a washday. 😓 I dread it every time. From detangling, putting hair in sizable twists, to shampooing and deep conditioning. Tedious!

I'm generally open to new thoughts on the most proficient method to make my washday shorter and voila! A few months back I was washing my hair when I thought to myself: Instead of washing and rinsing each twist twice, why not shampoo the whole hair first, then do a second washing to each twist to save time?

Now, let me just let you know how my ancient washday went down:

I take one twist, apply shampoo, scrub and rinse it out.
Apply a second round of shampoo, scrub and rinse out again.
Then take the next twist and repeat step 1 & 2. So if I had 8 twists, I would have shampooed 16 times and rinsed 16 times!
Then apply a deep conditioner to each twist by unraveling it, combing through and retwisting it.
At least 30 minutes under a shower cap to let the deep conditioner do its work.
Rinse hair.

I'm not sure of the time spent in this method but I'm guessing 1 hour+ - 2 hours.

Now, to my latest tweaked method:

Apply shampoo all over my hair, lightly scrub to remove most of the dirt and rinse out - 5 minutes.
Take each twist, apply a second round of shampoo and scrub. - 10 minutes
At this point, I don’t rinse out until I’m done shampooing and scrubbing all the sections of my hair.
Rinse out shampoo from all the twists at once. - 5 minutes. So if I had 8 twists, I would have shampooed 9 times and rinsed out just twice! Amazeballs!
Then apply a deep conditioner to each twist by unraveling it, combing through and retwisting it - 25 minutes.
At least 30 minutes under a shower cap to let the deep conditioner do its work.
Rinse hair - 10 minutes

The difference in time-saving is so clear! Not only is my time saved but also energy expended.

Hope you try this on your next washday. It may not be less than an hour but it will definitely save you some time. Also if you have a tip for making washday shorter, holla in the comment section.

Keep ‘fro-ing

My definition of washday these days:

washday

/ˈwɒʃdeɪ/

noun

noun: wash-day

- a day when one misses their big chop or teeny weeny afro

I really do miss the times when washdays were easier. These days it comes with lots of manipulation, that leaves my hair in a tangled mess, especially as my hair grows longer and thicker.
For a while now, I’ve been making washdays less of a chore, making it easier by washing my hair in braids/twists. There are more benefits to this:

I spend less time during the washing process.
This also helps minimize tangles caused by manipulation, giving me a better chance of retaining length.
It ensures my hair is getting cleaned thoroughly as no part is being ignored.

Depending on the length and thickness of your hair, You can braid/twist up 4 or more sections. Usually, I do 6 or more sections for my hair.

When shampooing, focus on the scalp as this is where dirt and buildup are present. After shampooing, let the water run down the length of your braids/twists to clean the length of your hair. Squeeze each braid/twist as the shampoo is being rinsed out of your hair.

You don’t have to unravel the braids/twists after the shampoo rinse out, You can also go through your deep conditioning process while the hair is still braided/twisted up.

Tip: To prevent my hair from unraveling during the wash process, I make sure braids/twists are firm but not excessively tight.

How do you combat tangles on washdays? Let me know in the comment section below.

Single Strand Knots

Having single strand knots(little knots that forms along the hair strands, especially close to the end of the strand) drama???

Here are some tips to live by:

Make sure hair is properly detangled, starting from the end to the root.
Keep the ends of your hair regularly coated with oil or thick butters, as this adds weight to it, preventing it from curling around each other and forming knots.
When braiding/twisting your natural hair, twirl the ends around your fingers, this makes it curly at the end and prevents it from knotting.

Hi Ladies and maybe Gents, My name is Oluwatoyin Yetunde Sanni and you can simply address me as Oluwayetty. I'm a software developer by profession who is deeply in love with her natural hair. I went natural about 5 years ago because I wanted healthy hair. During this period, I've tried the TWA, the dreads and had to cut my hair twice because it was growing too wild to be nurtured.

Over time, you'd be reading more from me about my adventures with my hair of course 😉. Today, I would like to talk about how I used Okra gel to achieve a super soft defined twists out on my 4C hair.

What is Okro? Better not to assume everyone knows that.

Okra or Okro known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of West African, Ethiopian, and South Asian origins.

Why Okra for the hair?

It is 100% natural with no chemicals.
It is less expensive, the picture above is about one-quarter of a dollar.
Okra’s also high in Vitamins A & C, folic acid, calcium, zinc, including biotin, all of which make it incredibly nourishing for the hair.
Protein and oil found in the seeds of okra are enriched with amino acids with the likes of tryptophan, cystine and other sulfur amino acids which is really great to give dry or damaged hair some strength.

Okra gel Preparation

Cut 3-10 pieces of okra vertically.
Boil the okra until frothy and slimy.
Strain the mixture into a container.
You can add lemon or oils if you like(I added just extra virgin olive oil and Vitamin E to make it last longer). This was what mine looked like after the preparation. I allowed it to cool(kept it in the fridge) before using it on my hair.

There are actually different ways the Okra gel can be used; Some use it as a final step conditioner after a wash day, some use it as a detangler, some use it to simply lay their edges for styling purposes, some also use it as a wash and go and some use it for a twist-out which was my case.

Using Okro gel for leave-in

I started out on a freshly washed hair, that I sectioned as you can see in the picture below. Because my hair was a bit dry as I left it in sections and slept immediately I finished washing, I mixed some water, castor oil, almond oil and tea tree oil in a spritz bottle. I call this mix the "Yetty's Hair Therapy".

Forgive this poor picture, still learning the art of Hair Photography

I went further to spritz each section of my hair with Yetty's therapy in order to make my hair slightly damp. I then began sectioning it into smaller portions, applied the gel(it is really slimy, I'd advise you get the kind of bottle I used to store mine, to avoid getting all of the environment messy). In each smaller portions, I applied my okra gel while carefully detangling by strands running my fingers from the tips of my hair to the root. Gosh, it was the best feeling ever and the most stress-free detangling method. I also have to say I have not been using any comb on my hair for about 3 months now and I only used my fingers and the super detangling ingredients from my okra gel.

After properly detangling, using few drops of the Okra gel and my fingers, I added my homemade whipped shea butter to each portion starting also from the tips to the root. I added the shea butter to seal in all the goodness that comes with the Okra gel, we don't want it to waste, do we? The shea butter also added some shine to my hair. The next thing I did after the application of my shea butter was twist my hair all the way to the tips while making sure my ends were well moisturized with another little addition of the shea butter to the tips.

I had my hair in twists using the above steps and I had very minimal breakage like never before.

Back view

Front view + dripping ends (Tired face)

I left the twists on for about two days while I spritz my hair once a day. On the day I was set to let out the hair, I first added a few drops of anti-frizz argan oil to the tips of my fingers while I gently separate my twists.

Few things I noticed while I do this:

My hair was still moisturized even after two days, thanks to the spritz I applied every day before I unraveled it.
There were no flakes of any sort. My hair was completely flake-less if there's a word like that.
The twists were easy to unravel and separated to further smaller sections to have a full hair. There were no tangles at my ends which is a first-time experience for me.

I made sure the anti-frizz argan oil was always on my tips every time I detangle. After separating it to the level I felt satisfied with, I used an afro wide-tooth comb to lift my roots to have a fuller look with the twists-out and here we go:

I wore this look for about 3 days and here's my review of the Okra gel:

PROS

My hair was still soft and moisturized all of the days I wore my twists-out.
Detangling with NO COMBS has never been that easier.
My curls were still very much defined even as the hair grows old. That is something I haven't seen happen to my hair in a long while with other products I've tried.
There were still no flakes after 3 days.

CONS

It doesn't have much hold; I think I wasn't really surprised with this since the hair was really moisturized and soft. I can live with hair that's not so crunchy.
The slimy nature can really piss one off especially if you're not careful with how you handle the movement of bringing it out of the bottle to applying it to your hair.

I did really love the Okra gel as a detangler and styling product for my twists-out. I can live with the CONS, they ain't much of a big deal to me. I will definitely give this many tries since my hair seems to love it.

Have you ever tried Okra gel before? How was your experience? Good, Bad or Ugly? Do you want to give it a try? I'll be waiting to hear from you in the comment section. Until we FRO again, See ya!

NIGHT ROUTINE

Struggling with keeping your satin bonnet/scarf on while asleep? Here’s an easy hack:

- Place the satin scarf/fabric on the pillow, using it as case and have yourself a beauty sleep.

Remember using a satin scarf/bonnet/pillowcase while asleep helps decrease friction and retains moisture.

Hello! This is going to be a brief post about the remedies for dandruff. Dandruff has never been an issue for me, even during my relaxed hair days. So I’ve never really looked into it until I recently met an acquaintance that had serious dandruff issue and I made a promise that I was going to put up a post for some remedies. I will be giving easy solutions as to how to treat it.

Let's start will natural remedies...

COCONUT OIL: Is said to be a very good moisturizer, and applying it to the scalp can help to restore scalp health and reduce flaking, coconut oil penetrates easily into the hair shafts and scalp and gives a deep moisturizing, hydrating and conditioning effect. It repairs damaged shafts and follicles, detangles the hair, reduces dryness, flakiness, and irritation of the scalp. A well conditioned and clean scalp is adept at keeping dandruff out, coconut oil in your shampoo or any hair product can be useful in treating dandruff.

How to use: Massage your hair and scalp with the coconut oil at least for 5 minutes. Put a shower cap on your hair and leave overnight. Next morning clean your hair with your regular shampoo. Follow this remedy regularly if you are facing this dandruff issue continuously. You can also use your coconut oil with Rosemary oil, Jojoba oil, Lemon juice.

TEA TREE OIL: It’s been said that few drops of tea tree oil in your shampoo can go a long way in the treatment of dandruff.

GARLIC: Crushed garlic mixed with honey is also a good remedy, garlic due to its antimicrobial properties aids in the removal of dandruff. Massage the mixture into your scalp before shampooing.

OLIVE OIL: Olive oil is one of the best natural conditioners that you can find for your hair. Unlike regular store-bought conditioners, which only clog and irritate your scalp, olive oil will help moisturize a dry scalp and will soothe flaking.

Massage some drops into your scalp and cover with a shower cap overnight. Follow your regular shampoo routine in the morning. For a quicker cure, look for a shampoo that contains olive oil.

ALOE VERA GEL: Fresh Aloe Vera is enough to deal with dandruff. Cut around 3 inches from an Aloe Vera leaf. You will find a gel like substance inside the leaf. Extract that gel from the leaf and apply it on your scalp with the help of your fingers. Massage it gently so that it spreads deep inside the skin pores and moisturizes the scalp. You can also decide to use it with tree oil.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: Apple cider vinegar changes the pH of your scalp, making it harder for the yeast to grow. Make a mixture of Apple Cider Vinegar and water.

Other remedies:

You can use a shampoo containing Salicylic acid.
Tar-based shampoo (Neutrogena)
ketoconazole shampoo

I hope this helps and you get the healthy hair you desire!

Hello guys!

So, the last time we talked about hair shedding and breakage, and analyzed their differences.
Now to the real deal!
Don’t weary; don’t fear, there is always a solution to everything. So, what can I do about my excessive hair shedding or breakage?

First we start with (Excessive) Hair shedding
I keep putting excessive because, looking back at the last post, I highlighted the fact that hair shedding is normal though can become excessive if the body system (hormones) responsible for this are aggravated. Point is: you don’t need to worry about your shedding until it gets excessive.
So what can you do if your hair shedding is excessive?
First of all, do not stress on your hair shedding, stressing on the hair just makes it worse, if that problem has been solved, next is to:

Eat healthy: Iron is said to be a very important factor in hair shedding, deficiency of iron in your meals could lead to excessive hair shedding. Point is, take your balanced diet, do not lack any nutrient and the problem of hair shedding could be solved.
Drink enough water.
Exercise daily.
Stay healthy: Go for regular check-ups, because excessive hair shedding associated with other health-related issues could be a major indication of a pathological condition.
Shed weight: If you seem to be overweight, shedding little weight can help better hair growth.
Keep your scalp in good condition: try as much as possible to keep your scalp healthy, basically, washing your hair from time to time to unclog hair pores. In case of dandruff and other scalp related infections, immediate treatment is of great importance. These are very important factors because excessive hair shedding is caused by imbalance in the normal physiological state in reference to the last post, these factors can help in bringing the body back to normal in case of any imbalance, e.g. For a woman who just put to bed, these are important to restore her normal physiological state.
Lastly, be good to your hair; make it a great duty to take good care of your hair and your hair will be good to you.

That should do for hair shedding.

Hair breakage
There are so many theories as to how to stop hair breakage, well for me two things are involved, first which is how to prevent hair breakage then we can move on the second one which how to stop or reduce hair breakage.
There will probably be less breakage problems if people knew how to prevent breakage. So we are starting with how to prevent hair breakage.

Reduce or stop applied heat: Most of the time, stylists may use a flat iron that is way too hot and scorches hair, making it break off. The excess heat leads to the damage of hair strands and hair shaft thereby leading to breakage; this is because stress is placed on the hair follicle.
Avoid chemicals: e.g. hair colouring treatment should be avoided especially when you notice applying it causes you to have more hair loss.
Air drying of wet hair should be practised more often.
Stop wearing tight protective hairstyles: When this is done, so much pressure is placed on the hair follicle which could gradually with time lead to complete or total hair loss. Choose hairstyles that put any tension on your scalp.
Wrap your hair in a cloth or scarf at night: This can help reduce tangling and damage to your hair.
Buy hair products that is good for your hair type. Avoid Sulphate! Stay away from products with sulphate, alcohol, or glycol, which strip oils or dry out hair.
Detangle your hair gently: First by lubricating the strands, then gently detangling, with a wide tooth comb.
Try to find out how often you should wash your hair.
Take good care of your ends: they go through more tugging, tangling than the rest of your hair. Apply adequate amount of oil.
Look for a moisturizer that is water based: good moisturizers are water based.

That will be all for that.
Now, what can I do if my hair is already experiencing breakage: Severe or not hair breakage could become very worrisome, but here are some tips to transform your hair.
The first thing to provide your hair with every important nutrient externally: just like when you are malnourished the doctor advices you to eat this and that to get better, it is exactly the same with your hair, look for remedies, Natural or any type that has been tested harmless and helpful to your hair.
Some natural products include:

Black soap as a shampoo.
Oils: Jojoba oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Sesame Oil, Almond Oil.

Let’s give a procedure:
To control hair breakage leading to hair loss, warm one tablespoon of oil and apply it to the scalp every night after you shower or bath. Rub it in gently until the oil is absorbed into the scalp. Leave it overnight for best results.
And all the procedures given above for preventing hair breakage should be followed religiously and your hair will be just fine!

Hey guys!

It’s been a while since my last post. 2 months now or so? Do pardon me for going AWOL on you, I’ve been so busy with my new job, it takes up about 99.9% of my time. I’m hoping to find a balance between this new job and blogging. I’ve missed blogging about natural hair and I may not be as frequent as I used to be but I’ll try my "bestest" to give a post or two weekly/bi-weekly.

So, I am going to be writing on something that concerns many “naturalistas”, which is hair shedding and hair breakage.
Have you ever taken your big comb to straighten out your twists or to untangle your hair and you see strands fall off as you comb?
Probably also after combing your hair, you see a large pile of hair stuck on your comb?
I understand this could get very worrisome, we have all been there, I guess…
The problem here is discerning what exactly the problem is, which brings us to hair shedding and hair breakage, the next couple of posts will be analyzing these problems, getting to know which one affects you and how to address the issue.

Now, most people tend to mistake these hair conditions, which is the beginning of failure in resolving the matter but put your mind at rest, we are about to take your hair to the very next level.
Let’s start with hair shedding…

What is hair shedding?
Hair shedding is described to be a normal process which occurs daily, it is said that we lose about 50-100 hairs a day, therefore hair shedding can be said to be normal. Shedding is a way of the body getting rid of old hair strands to create space for the growth of new hair strands.
When does your shedding become excessive?
Hair growth is controlled by Hormones. Basically, a hormone called the Growth Hormone, when there is a physiological imbalance which could occur due to:

Stress
Post Pregnancy
Weight loss
Sickness
Change in diet (low protein) etc.

These factors which cause physiological imbalance cause fluctuation of the hormone which leads to hair loss, it is usually temporary and stops when the body is restored to the normal physiological state.

You may also ask,
Why do I shed a lot of hair and my friend or sister doesn’t?
Everyone has a different genetic makeup, and our body systems or how our bodies respond to our genetic make-up. Hair growth is divided into four different stages and the last being the Telogen stage where shedding occurs, these stages occur at different lengths of time which is usually determined by your genetic make-up.
So, Vanessa sheds less hair than you do probably because her Telogen stage length is shorter than yours!

How can I be sure it’s hair shedding and not hair breakage?
This is quite simple, long strands of hair about the length of your hair you see on your comb are most likely shed hair from your scalp, this can also be confirmed by picking up a strand, to check the ends, and at a particular end you will see a white bulb which is of Keratin, if absent its most likely breakage.

That should explain shedding.
Now, let's talk about hair breakage.

What is hair breakage?
Hair breakage is an abnormal form of hair loss, it is exempted from the normal 50-100 hair that should be lost daily. Hair breakage occurs before the final stage of its growth which is the Telogen stage (Shedding stage). It occurs due to hair mismanagement and other possible causes. And since this is abnormal, it is certainly not a good sign for a supposed healthy hair.

When does hair breaking occur and what are the causes?
Unlike hair shedding which occurs due to internal body changes (Hormones), Hair breaking occurs most of the time due to external factors, external stress on the hair, it could include:

Overheating/Frequent heating.
Over-processing/Frequent bleaching- this could make your hair brittle making it prone to breakage.
Frequent touching or twirling of your hair(hand in hair syndrome)- At some point, you start to pull out strands.
You style your hair too tight- too much pressure on the hair could lead to pulling out of hair strands.
Dry hair.
Use of poor hair products or hair products your hair isn’t compliant with.
Poor diet amongst others.

How can I be sure its hair breakage?
When your hair is breaking, the strands are short or shorter than the actual length of your hair and of course, there is the absence of the white bulb at any end of a strand. Hair breakage occurs from any point of the hair, the top, middle or bottom, but unlike hair shedding it doesn’t pull from the scalp creating the absence of the white bulb.

Now, what can you do to take your natural fro to the next level?
Watch out for the next post!
If you have any questions or need clarity on anything related to this topic let me know.

Have an awesome week ahead!

MOISTURE

For low porosity hair, here's how to get away with having a well moisturized hair without having to apply leave-in conditioner as often:

- Put on a plastic cap/bag before your satin cap/scarf when going to bed. To increase moisture level, add a head warmer.

Hi guys!

It's been pretty quiet in here for a while now, I've been so swamped trying to catch up on my coding (Computer programming) and also trying to meet up deadlines at a coding boot camp.
I've missed this space big time and for today, I'll be doing a post that might change your hair game.
Before diving in, it's question time!
Ever wondered why some hair products doesn't work on your hair? Why your hair is constantly dry? Why it takes up so much time to get dry? or why it easily frizzes?
No? You have no idea?
It has to do with your hair porosity.

Hair poro-- what?!

Yes! Hair porosity, for some peeps that have no clue that such word existed.

So what's hair porosity?

Hair porosity is your hair ability or inability to absorb water, moisture or products and retain it. Maybe your hair absorb moisture easily but isn't able to retain this moisture or it's difficult to absorb moisture but once absorbed, retains it well. It's all porosity guys.
I've known about this hair porosity thing since my big chop (April 2015) but just took it seriously a while back. It turned out that the regimen & products I already had worked well enough for my porosity type with little tweaks in between.

There are different types of hair porosity:
-Low
-Normal
-High

HOW TO DETERMINE HAIR POROSITY

TEST 1: During your wash day, take a strand of clean, product free hair and drop it in a glass of water. Leave for few minutes.

Low porosity- floats on top.

Normal porosity- floats at the middle.
High porosity-sinks to the bottom of the glass.

TEST 2: Place a single strand of hair in between your fingers. Slide your fingers up the strand of hair towards your scalp.

Low porosity- fingers slides up smoothly.
High porosity- Fingers feels some bumps on the way up.

LOW POROSITY

It doesn't absorb moisture easily due to tightly packed cuticle, as a result products tends to sit on your hair, leading to product build up. Low porosity hair also takes longer to dry. The good thing about low porosity is that once it absorbs moisture or products, it retains it well.
With low porosity you'll need a little bit of manipulation to open up your cuticle, so you'll be able to absorb moisture and close back the cuticle so as to retain moisture.
Include these in your hair regimen:

Steam your hair to open your cuticle (you can also start your wash day with warm water).
Use products with a low pH, because high acidity keeps your cuticle closed.
Seal hair with light oils like coconut oil.
Hot oil treatments are great for your routine.
Adding humectants like honey, glycerin also helps.

NORMAL POROSITY

It's balanced, there's no need to worry that pretty head of yours. Just beware of adding too much protein or using too much heat or chemical (like dyes), because they can alter your hair cuticle.

HIGH POROSITY

It absorbs moisture easily due to raised cuticle but has inability to retain it. The cuticle has been damaged due to over use of heat or chemicals.

While having a high porosity is irreversible, try doing these to help.
Include these in your hair regimen:

Protein treatments will help to strengthen the hair cuticle.
Use thick leave-in conditioners and, thick butters and oils.
Use acidic products to help tighten open cuticle.

Oh and I just realized I didn't say what hair porosity type I have. It's low porosity. Going back to my coding world now, until next post.

Love.
The Frorocker.

You might know what to do while transitioning but do you know what you should avoid doing? These are common mistakes made while transitioning.

1 | LISTENING TO NEGATIVE COMMENTS

Don’t expect everyone to cheer you on this journey. There’ll always be some peeps around that’ll say negative things about your hair and will even try to talk you into going back to relaxers, just because they think your hair will look better or more presentable. While you don’t have control over what others may think or say, you do have the power to ignore it. Knowing what you want and setting goals to achieve it makes this easier. The truth is, sometimes people tend towards being negative when they don’t have an understanding of things. Try educating them if necessary, you maybe surprise at the outcome in some cases. Besides, when you become 100% natural and they see you rocking your natural curls, they’ll come to appreciate it more. I had a lot of naysayers when I started transitioning but after my big chop they started liking my hair more and respected me for sticking to my decision. Some even went natural at the end of it all.

2 | EXPECTING A CERTAIN CURL PATTERN

Are you expecting the old curl pattern you had before you started relaxing to do a come back? Then you maybe in for a big disappointment. Don’t expect your new growth to look like that. Years and years of having your hair chemically processed alters your curl pattern. Guilty of this one. I kept thinking my hair will go back to being very soft and curly, as it was before I started relaxing. How very disappointing!

3 | HIDING YOUR TRANSITIONING HAIR

You always hide your hair in protective styles just because you think it’ll require less maintenance or because of negative comments. While protective styles like wigs, braids, extensions etc are great for retaining length, don’t overdo it. Let your hair breathe sometimes, play with your hair, try out other styles such as two strand twist, bantu knots, flat twist, roller sets etc. Too much of protective styling might result in further breakage. And of course never think that protective styling is a ticket out of taking care of your natural hair. Your hair still needs all the TLC it can get while in protective styles!

4 | TRYING TO GUESS YOUR HAIR TYPE

Okay, I was quite obsessed with this. When I realized I could never get back my old curl pattern, I started trying to guess my hair type with the new growth. The curl pattern you have right now isn’t your true curl pattern. And yes, I guessed my hair type wrongly! Take a chill pill! Avoid guessing what your hair type is, until you’re completely natural.

5 | TRYING OUT EVERY PRODUCT (PRODUCT JUNKIE)

Oh, you heard a good review about this product or saw your favorite hair blogger/vlogger use that product and it came out bomb on her hair. Maybe you just can’t resist buying most products you come across. Most times new transitioners or naturals spend tons of money trying out new products. As much as you want to try out products and discover what works for your hair, you don’t have to break the bank or become a product junkie doing so. Like I always emphasize, before you buy any product ALWAYS read through the ingredient list, make sure the ingredients you want to avoid aren’t contained in the product.

To figure out if a product works on your hair do a “controlled” experiment by using the product for a while, say at least a trial period of a month before drawing conclusions. You can also try it with other products and see how the combination comes out. If it doesn’t work out for your hair after these, it’s ok to move on to a “next” product.

Hope this post helps you avoid some mistakes I made during my transitioning.

Please do let me know if there are other mistakes transitioners make.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR DEEP CONDITIONER?

Hey fam!

I know looking for a good deep conditioner that matches your hair needs hasn’t always been the easiest. Sometimes we might even buy a deep conditioner based on good reviews, thinking that it’ll always work for us. But then we tend to forget that there are different hair types and textures out there and what works for one hair may not work for another. So how do you know that a deep conditioner is actually working for your hair and it’s a keeper?

Retains moisture and hair is softer

One of the main purpose of a deep conditioner is to leave the hair feeling moisturised. Moisture should be able to last for a few days, making the hair feeling softer to touch.

Easier Detangling

After using the deep conditioner, your hair should be fairly easy to detangle, or comb through. If your deep conditioner is failing in this, it’s bad news.

Less Breakage

Another main purpose of a deep conditioner is to replenish lost nutrients in the hair strands, therefore strengthening the hair. Your hair should be able to stretch without breaking.

If your deep conditioner lives up to the above then it’s a winner!

For Braids, Twists And Faux/Yarn Locs

One of the biggest mistake ladies make when protective styling, is ignoring their hair for weeks or months. Our hair has needs, people! It still needs to be cleansed, replenished with nutrients and properly moisturized for it to be healthy.

Most of the complains I receive from people after protective styling is that, their hair experienced lots of breakage during the take down. The cause? No or improper maintenance.

Before the return to my natural root, my hair regimen was a total mess. No maintenance while protective styling, wash days were weeks after take down (smelly hair, Eeeww!) and zilch deep conditioning sessions. Suffice to say, I never had a regimen. Period!

Truly, this natural hair “thing” was a game changer for my hair. I can’t even use protective styling as an excuse not to take care of my hair for weeks. Yes, it’s not as easy but your hair will thank you later.

Today makes it 2 weeks since I had my faux locs and I decided to make a post showing my hair regimen while in protective style.
According to my hair regimen, I do this biweekly. For some reason though, I’ve been sticking to weekly since I had these faux locs installed (so I’ll be changing my regimen to weekly or biweekly). See how much I love this fro of mine?

Ok, let’s get right into it.

What I used:

Small towel
Bowl
Shampoo
Deep conditioner
Plastic cap
Leave in conditioner
Spray bottle
Oil and
My hands. Lol.

STEPS
Cleansing

Mix a little shampoo with water in the bowl.
Dip towel in the mixture, squeeze to remove excess water and use to clean scalp and roots.

I started from bottom to the top.

Towel rinse with fresh water.

Replenish your strands

I take some amount of deep conditioner with my fingers and work my way all over my roots and scalp.

Yeah, trying to give those edges extra nutrients (3rd pic)

Cover with plastic cap for 30-45 minutes.

Towel rinse with clean water.

Moisturise

Mix leave in conditioner with a bit of water in spray bottle.
Spray on my scalp and roots, gently massaging it in.

Seal in with oil.

P.s: I moisturise and seal every 2 days.

So it takes me about an hour plus to do all these.

Tips

You could use warm water to mix your shampoo.
Sometimes, I towel rinse the shampoo twice to ensure it’s totally out of my hair.
Cleanse, replenish and moisturise section by section, so as not to miss any spot.
Using a spray bottle to moisturize and an applicator bottle for sealing with oil will make your life easier.

Until next post.
Keep the stank outta your hair while protective styling!

Love.
The Frorocker.

INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN A DEEP CONDITIONER

Knowing what ingredients you are putting in your hair and the effect of using them can give an entirely new edge to the health of your hair. In my previous post under this series I shared some of the common good ingredients you should look out for.
In this article I’ll be sharing some common ingredients you might want to avoid in your deep conditioner. These ingredients may not serve any purpose or may even be harmful health wise.

1. BAD ALCOHOLS
Names like isopropyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, propanol alcohol, isopropanol alcohol, SD alcohol etc, are bad news for natural hair. Our hair needs all the moisture it can get and these alcohols do the exact opposite. They cause the hair to become dry.

2. PARABENS
Parabens are preservatives widely used in cosmetic and beauty products to prevent microbes from growing. Therefore they make the product shelf life longer.
Studies have linked parabens to breast cancer. Cancerous cells were found to contain parabens, although it haven’t been conclusively said that parabens causes cancer.
Some examples of parabens are: butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, methylparaben etc.
Given the fact that parabens are widely used in lots of beauty products, it will be advisable to avoid it when one can (starting from your hair products maybe) to be on the safer side. Try looking for paraben free products.

3. SILICONES
Silicones are great for detangling and combating frizz. To identify silicones look out for ingredient names with “cone”, “col”, “conol”, “xane” or “zane”. When it comes to silicones one has to know the one that’s good to use (water-soluble) and the one you might want to avoid (water-insoluble).

Water-Soluble
These silicones do not cause build up and can be washed out of the hair with only water. Examples include: cyclomethicone, dimethicone copolyol.

Water-Insoluble
These ones tend to cause build up and is difficult to remove. It can’t be removed with only water, one has to use a clarifying (sulfate) shampoo. So unless you want to subject your hair to sulfates (more on this later) you should avoid water insoluble silicones like dimethicone.

4. LANOLIN, MINERAL OIL AND PETROLATUM
These ingredients may react differently according to hair type and textures. Although some with natural hair use them for sealing and taming frizz, they can clog your pores and hinder hair growth if used on the scalp aside the fact that they aren’t moisturising in anyway. If you’re absolutely sure that you want to use these ingredients, make sure you use them on your hair and not directly on your scalp. The best alternative still remains using moisturising sealing ingredients like natural oils.

BOTTOMLINE: It’s best to do a little research before buying your deep conditioner. Check the ingredient list. The higher the ingredient is on the list, the higher the percentage of that ingredient contained in the product.

DO NOT forget to always choose what works for your hair and is healthy for you!

What ingredients do you avoid in your deep conditioner? Please do share.

Watch out next for tips on how to know your deep conditioner is really effective!

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE GETTING YOUR NEXT DEEP CONDITIONER

Here comes the second article in the deep condition series. If you missed the first article, you can get all the scoop here!
When it comes to buying a deep conditioner choosing the right one really matters. There are lots of brands out there and it could get quite confusing to make the right choice.

A deep conditioner that’s beautifully packed or one with the nicest fragrance doesn’t always equate a good one. We also do not want to splurge on a deep conditioner, only to find out it’s not as effective do we?

I’ve found that the trick to identifying a good product is by looking at the ingredients list at the back of the product. I first scan through for ingredients that may not be good for my hair before looking for the goodies that could penetrate my hair shaft so as to get the desired effect. For the sake of this post though let’s start with the goodies!

Basically a deep conditioner should contain ingredients that falls under these categories:

MOISTURIZERS

Water/Aqua is the first ingredient you should find on the list and it’s the most moisturizing of all moisturizers. Other moisturizers include: Aloe Vera, Panthenol, Glycerin, Fatty/Moisturizing Alcohols (Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Lauryl Alcohol, Myristyl Alcohol)

CONDITIONERS

These ingredients help condition the hair, making it easier to detangle and comb through. Examples of some common conditioners: Amodimethicone, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Propyl Glycol Dicaprylate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine.

HYDROLYZED PROTEIN

The word “hydrolyzed” simply means the protein molecules has been broken down to smaller particles to make them more penetrable. A protein deep conditioner should contain one or more of these proteins: Hydrolyzed Keratin, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein.

SEALANTS

Deep conditioning treatments don’t last for a long period, sealants are required to help make the hair stay strong and moisturized for a while. Your deep conditioner may contain some of these sealants: Lanolin, Shea Butter, Phenyl Trimethicone, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil.

While there are tons of other ingredients contained in a deep conditioner, I tried not to go all chemistry on you and summarized it as best as I could. Never been a fan of chemistry anyways.
At the very least, the next time you go deep conditioner shopping you’ll have this trick up your sleeve.

Upcoming post! The next post under this series will be the ingredients you should be wary of.

Until next post.

xx

Uloaku.

KNOW YOUR DEEP CONDITIONERS

Deep condition. Deep condition. Deep condition often! This is on the list of the natural hair mantra as it should be. Deep conditioning is packed with many goodies for the hair. From providing intense moisture, cutting down on frizz to strengthening hair etc.

In this series I’ll be sharing post on all you need to know about deep conditioners/conditioning.

Let’s begin shall we?

First you need to know the major types of deep conditioners and how to identify them.

TYPES OF DEEP CONDITIONERS

It can be categorised into two.

1. Moisture Deep Conditioner

No matter how good your moisturiser/leave-in conditioner is at keeping your hair moisturised, it just gets to a point where you need to cleanse all that build up and replenish all the moisture your hair lost due to manipulation, weather, colouring, heat styling and so on. This is where moisture deep condition comes in. It infuses the hair strands with nutrients and boost the moisture content, making it flexible and manageable. It also keeps breakage at bay.

To identify moisture deep conditioners look out for ingredients such as water, panthenol, behentrimonium chloride. It may also contain some Aloe Vera juice.

2. Protein Deep Conditioner

It comprises of ingredients like hydrolysed silk protein, hydrolysed wheat protein, hydrolysed keratin etc. Our hair is made up of protein, but general wear and tear break down the protein in our hair structure making it weak. Protein deep conditioners help to temporarily rebuild the sections of the strand underneath the follicle, making the hair stronger.

In the next post under this series, I’ll be sharing the ingredients you should look out for in a good deep conditioner.

Transitioning your hair back to your natural roots doesn’t have to be a rough process. A smooth transition can be achieved with minimum frustration, if you do right by your hair.

1. Start By Saying Goodbye To Chemicals
Giving up chemicals that permanently change the natural curl pattern of your hair or negatively affect it by causing breakage is a must. Relaxers, texturizers, dyes and the likes should be avoided.

Tip: Well, you might have told yourself that you are definitely going to stay away from these chemicals but you still have them laying around somewhere. It’s best to either give them away or throw them out, so as not to give into the urge on some frustrated bad hair days.

2.   Reduce Heat Usage
Minimize the use of blow dryers, flat irons etc. Throughout my transitioning process, I stayed away from heat styling and this made my hair really healthy. The only heat I used was body heat (using plastic cap) when deep conditioning. Try air drying all of your styles instead, in order to maintain healthy hair by significantly reducing breakage.

Tip: Occasionally using heat won’t do much damage, if you take good care of your hair during this process. Endeavour to use appropriate heat setting for your hair.

3.   Treat Your Hair With Care
The weakest part of your is the line of demarcation (where the natural hair ends and relaxed hair begins). You have to be gentle with it. Take time to detangle. Do not over manipulate. Keep your hands out of your hair!

4.   Wash Hair In Sections
Keeping your scalp clean is great for hair growth and washing/co-washing in sections is the way forward. This may sound really time consuming but trust me it will save you a lot of breakage and shedding.

5.   Deep Condition Often
This is very important if you want to properly nourish those strands of yours and keep them healthy. It’s crucial to balance your hair with moisture and protein. Moisture deep conditioning restores internal hydration and provided intense moisture to the hair. I do mine on weekly or bi-weekly basis. You also need to restore the protein in your hair that you loose through manipulation. Your hair needs protein replenishments in order to maintain its strength. I did my protein treatment every 3 months and it worked for my hair.

Tip: It’s all about balance for hair moisture and protein. Try experimenting with application intervals. Protein conditioning can be done between 1-3 months. Adding too much protein makes hair brittle and too much moisture makes hair limp. Find out what works best for you. Deep conditioners should be applied in generous amount to get optimal benefits.

6.   Keep Your Hair Moisturized
This is the key to combating dry hair. Dry hair is easily prone to breakage and for transitioning hair the line of demarcation is at a bigger risk. Make sure hair is well moisturized to retain strength.

Tip: To moisturize hair, lightly spray with water. Followed by a leave-in conditioner and seal with natural oil of choice.

7.   Trim Your Ends
On a regular basis you need to get rid of all those dead hair and split ends, it’s not like you were going to keep the damaged ends anyway. This prevents excessive breakage.

Tip: How often you want to trim depends on you. It can be often as every 6 weeks – 3 months, until you become a full natural.

8.   Protect Your Hair
Put your hair in protective styles sometimes. Choose styles that are simple to maintain and blend in both textures. Avoid styles that put too much tension on your temple and the nape of your neck. Always tie your hair up with a satin scarf or cap when sleeping, better still get a satin pillowcase.

Tip: Find the go-to transitioning style that blend the two very different textures. Examples of these styles are: Bantu knots and knot out, 2 strand twist and twist out, flat twists, flexi rods, braid out etc.
2 strand twist and twist out is my all time favorite.

Doing these things will not only give you a smoother transition but will prepare you for when you become a full blown natural.

Hi, there lovelies!

Remember my last hairdo?

Well, I rocked it for 3 weeks and a few days. Although it looked really rough by the third week, the “didi” style of braiding deserves credit because it kept its promise and lasted more than the normal style of braiding. I’ll definitely be trying it out again!
Hurray to the Nigerian style of braiding!

I finally took it down last weekend for a wash. My wash day was basically the same routine with the exception of a few tweaks, a much-needed trim and using some new products.

These are some of the new products I’ll be using:

Rinse out conditioner: Motions weightless detangling conditioner
Deep conditioner: Cantu deep treatment masque
Leave-in conditioner: Beautiful textures tangle taming leave-in conditioner

My first tweak was done in my pre-poo method. Some minutes after my hot oil treatment, I had this idea to add rinse out conditioner to my hair for extra conditioning and coating. I let it sit for almost 4 hours and it was amaze balls!!!
My hair was softer and less tangled while shampooing. This is a tweak I'm going to turn into a routine.

My second tweak was washing my hair in twists. After applying the conditioner for the pre-poo, I twisted the 6 sections of my hair just because I felt my hair would soak up all that pre-poo juice better this way and I've never washed my hair in twists before. I was definitely big on trying out the twist method.

I used the rinse out conditioner and further de-tangled next and rinsed.

Then I trimmed in sections.

Next, I deep conditioned for 45 minutes, rinsed out and dried with a cotton shirt. Then added leave-in conditioner and oil in sections.

The next morning I styled in cinnabuns.

How to Moisturize Hair Properly(When Not Protective Styling)

Natural Hair Tip #19

PROTEIN CONDITIONING

How To Wash Natural Hair In Less Than An Hour

Washday | Secret Of Less Tangling

My definition of washday these days:

Natural Hair Tip #18

Single Strand Knots

Using Okra Gel for Twists-out

What is Okro? Better not to assume everyone knows that.

Why Okra for the hair?

Okra gel Preparation

Using Okro gel for leave-in

Few things I noticed while I do this:

PROS

CONS

Natural Hair Tip #17

Remedies For Dandruff

Remedies For (Excessive) Hair Shedding And Breakage

Hair Shedding? Or Is It Hair Breakage?

Natural Hair Tip #16

All About Hair Porosity

HOW TO DETERMINE HAIR POROSITY

Transitioning To Natural Hair | 5 Mistakes To Avoid

Deep Condition | Part 4

How To Take Care Of Natural Hair While Protective Styling

Deep Condition | Part 3

Deep Condition | Part 2

Deep Condition | Part 1

Transitioning? 8 Things You Need To Do

June Wash Day Routine!

Featured Article

Hair Shedding? Or Is It Hair Breakage?

About Me

Uloaku Enyingwa

Follow Me

Popular Posts

LABELS

Blog Archive

Catch up with me on Instagram