Found In Zambia: Attention Braids and Weave Wearers! Don't Miss Out on This Bomb Product to Silence Your Scalp Itch

Hi Doves!

Happy New Month! 
Hello November, you came all too suddenly. Just a while ago it was March, how are we officially in the final quarter of the year?? Soon it will be bye bye 2016. Anyways on to the blessing of a reason I'm writing this post!

We all know that all too familiar nagging  itch when you wear a weave.  I had that itch when I wore this baby that I blogged about here;

Things I Wish I Knew Whilst I Was Relaxed That Would Have Saved My Hair

Hey Doves!

I was just reflecting on the reason why I went natural, which was because I had unhealthy relaxed hair. So I figured if I left it undisturbed, my poor thinning hair would regain its once lush, thick, healthy state. But as you most know, by the time I went natural there was some improvement but my hair was still unhealthy because I did not fully understand healthy hair care.

Knowing what I know now, I realised I could have kept healthy relaxed hair if I knew the tricks and science of healthy hair care.  This post is dedicated to those who are just about giving up on their relaxed hair but aren't ready to go natural. Relaxed hair can be healthy too. So why would a natural head be writing about relaxed hair care? Well I don't discriminate across hair types. I just want everyone to have the healthiest hair possible whether it is relaxed or natural. I've also realised that we can each learn something from each other. Lastly, the basics of healthy hair care are generally the same for both relaxed and natural, with the exception of a few rules. So why not spread the love?

Into the post we dive!!

1. Don't leave the relaxer in until your hair until it burns

Most of us equate burning with straight and fully relaxed hair. Many a hair dresser will tell you it's not time to rinse if it's not burning. Well that's not true.  A relaxer breaks down certain proteins in your hair which allow it to straighten permanently. Burning simply means the chemicals in the relaxer are breaking down the proteins on your scalp skin. So try as much as possible to avoid leaving it to burn.  Most instantly remember the wincing as you rinse and the scabs you have for the next few weeks after you relax. Just smooth until you have the desired straightness, probably 15 to 20 minutes maximum ( for course hair). And then rinse out. You will find that not only will your hair be thicker over time, it will also be stronger.

Timing it! Finding time to keep up with your healthy hair journey

Hey everybody!

How are we doing? Good, bad, sad, happy, depressed, jolly, so-so? Im just alright.

You know, whenever I have my hair out and rock some lovely style, I always get 3 questions:

1. Wow, is this your hair?

2. Isn't it hard to manage natural hair? (If I had a dollar...#millionaire!)

3. What are you doing to it? It's really growing.

And then usually after I answer question 3...

"Wow, all that.. where do you find time to do it?" ,  "Eish I don't have that time!" or "You really have time to do you hair eh? I just can't manage"

Why is My Hair Not Growing??! Solutions to Your Stagnant Length Problems Part 2

Hey Doves

Hope we are all good. I'm carrying on from where we left off last time  in part 1. We're covering reasons why your tresses may not be growing or retaining length as you would expect. We listed over manipulation, over trimming and not moisturising your hair properly in the first post.

4. You're still using too much heat.

Heat styling is every woman's best friend huh? Lil' tonging here and there, flat iron for the week, blow dry to keep your hair neat...We all love the styles and flawless look we get from heat styling, but heat is one of your hair's worst enemies. 

Heat degrades the protein that hair is made from and consistent use damages the hair permanently over time. You can easily tell when natural hair has been heat damaged because the curls will not revert once you wash your tresses and remains straight. It can also be manifested in a MUCH looser curl pattern than you normally have. For instance your hair becomes wavy instead of curly..or you jump from type 4 hair to type 3 and your curls do not go back to their normal tightness.

source

GlamLush Hair - Salmie

Hey Doves.

I want to share one of my hairspirations. My hair wants to be like hers when it grows up lol. Salmie has thick and healthy long hair, which has made her the envy of many a lady. hehe. Without further ado, here's Salmie and her hair.

Deep Conditioning 101: Maintaining your Moisture - Protein Balance (With a great analogy)

Hey Doves!

Been a minute, and we can just pick up where we left off. Cool?

So I straightened my hair and washed it. I then kept my hair in mini twists for two weeks. I'll post that update later. Also it's been forever since I did a wash day post. I'll do that asap. And..oh yes a hair feature..time to get someone up to show their glam and lush hair. Ok so now that we have our scheduled updates out of the way, it's time to continue on the deep conditioning post I did last time. If you are new, kindly click on the link to read all about it, then head back here. It will make more sense.

So when we left off I explained what deep conditioning is, why we should do it, the types of deep conditioners you should use and how often. I also explained that you can have a balanced deep conditioner, a protein one or a moisturising one.

It is important to alternate the types of deep conditioners you use in order to keep your hair balanced. Protein strengthens and rebuilds your hair whilst moisture provides elasticity, moisture and bounce. So the reason you alternate is to keep a good amount of strength in your hair whilst maintaining the hair's elasticity and moisture levels. This balance creates strong, healthy and less breakage prone hair.

                  

source

                               

Why is My Hair Not Growing??! Solutions to Your Stagnant Length Problems Part 1

Hey lovelies!

Today I want to tackle a common problem and question I get from my friends and other ladies alike. We all want the inches and mane you see other people (and bloggers heheh) walking around with. In fact i've seen a lot of women give up on the quest for growth and resile themselves to the conclusion that their hair won't grow, or black hair doesn't grow. 

Just for lols

                                                                                                      

This could not be further from the truth. In fact hair is ALWAYS growing. The fact that relaxed ladies have new growth to retouch every so often, or that you start seeing growth under your weaves, braids and at the base of your cornrows means that your hair is growing.

On average, hair grows about half an inch, that is 1 cm a month. Some may get slightly more than this, others slightly less. So that means the average black, white, coloured, orange, purple or blue person will get 6 inches or 12 cm of new growth year! Isn't that something? 

So what is the real issue? What is stopping you from that 6 inches more or less from surfacing in your life each year? It's length retention. You can't control how much hair you grow, but you can control how much of that length you will retain.  Keeping the length that you grow each month. Majority of it is lost to bad hair practices, rough handling and dry, unmoisturised hair. The tips im about to give apply to both natural and relaxed hair fyi :-)

The ends of it all

Your ends are the oldest part  of your hair. Yes, old and worn. So they need a lot of tender loving care. If you keep your ends healthy, strong and moisturised, they will be less susceptible to breakage.

Keeping your ends healthy means that you nourish them with oils, herbs and conditioners. It is important that you deep condition regularly to keep them tip top.

Moisturised ends are less susceptible to breakage. Dry.Hair.Breaks. That is why it is necessary that you moisturise properly whenever your hair is dry, and on a regular basis. This means also moisturising when you are in a weave, braids or cornrows. Check this post to learn how to do it right.

Remember how I said that they are the oldest part of the strand? To preserve them, you need to protect them from the elements and dryness. That is why we protective style. 

Protective styling is when you do a hairstyle which keeps the ends hidden away. When they are not out , they cannot be manipulated and broken. Therefore a protective style preserves your ends and thus your length. Protective styles are braids, weaves, cornrows, buns, roll tuck & pins, and anything that covers and protects your ends.

Protective styles

I'm sure you've heard the popular myth that weaving or braiding makes hair grow. It is not the weave or braids that grow hair. But rather, because you have the style in for a month or two at a time, your ends are hidden and have no opportunity to break off. At the same time, you have new growth coming in. Then when you undo the style, you have the extra retained length. Protect your ends!

Manipulation

Manipulation is another length inhibitor. When you keep playing with your hair and switching styles every two days for variety, your poor strands just suffer and break. So be a pal to them and let them rest. If you are very antsy and can't keep a style for longer than a week, do one or two week styles. That way you only handle your hair once a week. Trust that once you cut down on the play time, you will have some hang time :-)

I cut down my manipulation by working from a braid out from wash day. When my hair is out, I wash it and then put it in about 8 braids or so to dry. The next day I carefully undo the braids and use the textured hair to style my hair for the rest of the week. I do not comb or anything. I just gather the hair into an updo, brush the perimeter for neatness and go.

Braid out updo..Can you tell I didn't use a comb? 

Over trimming

Trimming is essential to remove dead and split ends. If you keep your splits, they will keep breaking off and leaving the strand to split again. Trimming DOES NOT make hair grow, but when you trim, all the weak, bad, breakage susceptible ends are disposed of. This leaves a uniform stronger 'bunch' of strands that are able to withstand breakage. Trimming also instantly creates a uniform look with of more voluminous strands. So when you see the splits or uneven ends it's time to go. 

But when you trim as much hair as you are growing, you won't retain any length. If for instance you trim 1.5 inches every 3 months you are literally cutting away the amount of length you are growing. Leaving your growth to appear stagnant. Some stylists and people say you should trim every three months or with every relaxer. But the best is to trim when you see your ends starting to go bad or when you see split ends. That way you can only trim when necessary.

The other  way to retain as much length as possible is to do the search and destroy method. Basically you sit and go strand by strand (or 2 or 3 or 4) and assess each for splits and tapering thinning ends. It is time consuming,  but it pays off because you only trim what need to be cut instead of a uniform cut. The search and destroy method is also favoured by those who grow less than the average 1 cm a month a.k.a slow growers.

I stopped trimming every time I saw only one or two splits, or thought my hair was uneven,or on a whim. And just decided to trim when necessary, it really helped with my length retention.

The proof is in the pudding, and putting these tips to practise has helped me retained my length see:

          

The difference between October 2013 and June 2014 (after a trim) My hair looks thinner in the 2014 pic because  I had undone some thick twists just after washday. Day 1 hair after wash day does not have much volume for me.

I'm not done! Lol. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I discuss more things that are preventing you  ( and were preventing me) from retaining length.