Deepbrown & Kinks: hair care

Showing posts with label hair care. Show all posts

HAIR INSPIRATION: BARBARA

Introduce yourself.

My name is Barbara. I work full time in Digital Marketing. I worked in Advertising for a while but found it monotonous so switched to Digital Marketing. I work in an Ad Agency but also consult for small & upcoming beauty brands mixing my advertising and digital marketing knowledge to help them with brand building and online presence. I'm also a beauty,and recently, fashion blogger who also writes as well.

What are your favourite products?

Moisturisers mainly. I love the healthy look they give my hair. Makes it look alive. I also recently tried Design Essentials Argan oil spray and it is oh so beautiful. It makes my hair look like its got hidden, sparkling gems within. I can't really describe it.

What’s Your Hair Regimen?

Every month I wash, condition, and follow up with the LCO method. After which I put the hair in single plaits for a week, transition to braid-outs for another week, and then a puff when all else fails. Lol.

Who and what inspires your hair styles?

My mood really. I see hairstyles but I'm yet to achieve any of the absolutely gorgeous hair styles I see online so I've literally evolved my own styles along the lines of convenience and comfort. Unfortunately, hair pins hurt my scalp a lot and give me intense headaches so frequent updos are not for me at all.

How do you cope with the availability or non-availability of many sought after hair products in the Nigerian market?

Thankfully, I'm not a product junkie so I pretty much use what I find. There are so many brands going into natural products now so it has made it relatively easy. When all else fails though, I wash my hair with Dudu Osun and moisturise with a water + generous Olive oil mix.

In order of preference give us your top 3 Nigerian brands and why you love them.

Afroriri hair butter is top class I must admit and the fact that their Shampoo has awesome suds which rinse out is a simple Nigerian girls' dream (like me).
African Naturalistas has a wider range and is quite affordable too. It's great to know that you are purchasing products from someone who is actually keen on helping you achieve your hair dream. That's an added advantage for me. I've only just used the Natural Nigerian leave-in conditioner so not sure that it can qualify as number 3.

Where can we find Barbara?

You can find me on my blog - www.barbara1923.com, facebook - Barbara & 1923, Twitter - @piriye, Instagram - @barbara1923, Pinterest - Barbara & 1923, G+ - Barbara & 1923, Youtube - Barbara & 1923

NM says: What I love about Barbara's hair is that it looks alive (see pic. 5). I also love how she makes simple hair styles stand out. Thanks Barbara for sharing and supporting Naija brands :)

HUMIDITY, SHRINKAGE AND MY NO-COMB REGIMEN

The weather in Abuja has been very confusing. One day harmattan, next day extreme heat, and before you know it rain is falling. Two months ago, when the weather changed from dry harmattan to humid, I got braids done to allow my scalp breathe. But because my hair is past shoulder length, I could not make the braids short. My scalp could breathe but having the braids brush against my neck was very uncomfortable. For this reason I had to put the braids up most of the time but that made my neck hurt as the wool used for the braids made the bun too heavy. Solution? Shrink and LOC.

SHRINKAGE (Short Hair)

Since cutting my hair is not an option, I decided to work with the gift of shrinkage. Natural hair is known to be able to go from BSL to chin length in seconds. Thanks to water and water based hair products I could get the perfect length for the season without using scissors.

LOC METHOD

The LOC method is a method used to keep hair soft and defined for as long as possible. Here's how it works:

YOU TOO CAN DIY

Knowing I won't always be around my junior sisters I taught all 3 of them the basics of hair care (washing, braiding, twisting, threading, safe flat ironing, deep conditioning etc) This has taken some of the responsibility for their hair off me. In the past I did everything for them even when it was not convenient. Now, I only help out when it is absolutely necessary.
Here are pictures showing their first twists which were done solo.

I was so proud to see both of them working in sections I had to take pictures

Notice how stretched out their hair is? Well they both decided to use a hot iron. Being the over-saby that I am, I remember not being in support. But hey, its their hair so I held back on all the do's and don'ts and let them do their thing...while secretly monitoring them *.^

End Result

EXTRA BENEFITS

Last month, I had a cut on my finger and could not braid my hair that was already washed and ready for styling. So for the first time, I let one of my students plait the braids for me while I watched a movie. Below are the results

Week one

I wanted the twists to be loose and frizzy so I did most of them by myself.

Week 3 (playing around with my simple style)

I was really impressed with her work so when she comes back from school, I will try to get her to braid a bit more often so she can perfect her skills.

So what do you think? Good teacher, awesome student?

MAN-SHANU FOR HAIR GROWTH

Question: Can man-shanu grow my hair like the Fulani?

Answer: Man-shanu is milk fat that has been separated from fresh milk. From what I have been told, the Fulani and other people of Northern Nigeria, eat it and use it to soften and retain moisture on the skin and hair. Due to the fact that most Fulani people have long soft curly hair, there is a myth in Nigeria that man-shanu is solely responsible for their beautiful hair.

True or false?
I have not been able to find research done on man-shanu (or ghee) to hair growth but I have found sites that claim that it does grow hair with one claiming that it has the magical ability to open up closed follicles. Don't take my word for it but I wouldn't advise you to get your hopes up based on that.

Afro Hair Growth
According to Audrey Davis-Sivasothy's book, The Science of Black Hair: A
Comprehensive Guide to Textured Hair Care, afro hair growth occurs through a

Ever kept a style in for 3 weeks or more only to notice that your ends are breaking off as you loosen the braids? Well, you are not alone. To those of us who aim for length this could mean that you are loosing - instead or retaining - what little length you might have gained over time. A culprit for this could be dryness. Yes, you might spray with water and seal frequently but the water and oil combo sometimes does not properly enter the braid or twist.Thus, the surface of the braids might feel soft but the inside could be very dry.
Here's a simple way to moisturise your hair before take down to reduce breakage:

You will need...

Spray bottle
Pick comb
Castor oil or Shea butter
Conditioner
Water

Direction
A night before take down...

Mix 5 parts of water to 1 part conditioner in a spray bottle
Since you are about to loosen your hair there is no need to worry about frizz. Spray the mix on braid/twist and smooth. Make sure the braid/twist is damp.
Apply enough castor oil or Shea butter to the section. For this,think sealing. The only difference is that you'll need slightly more oil than you'll need for a normal styling session.
Braid or twist braids together (if possible) and put on a plastic cap. If you are not comfortable sleeping with a plastic cap you can wear a satin bonnet and/or tie a satin scarf.

By the next morning you should wake up to braids that feel soft and are perfectly moisturised. As you loosen using your fingers or a pick comb (see pic. above) you should also notice minimal hair breakage (if any).

Possible question: Why can't I just loosen immediately after spraying with water?
Answer: Our hair is at its weakest when wet so you want to reduce the amount of damage that could come as result of pulling and detangling at this point. Note also that the thick oils mentioned help seal in moisture and give slip, making it easy for the hair strands to be separated from each other.
This method of of moisturizing before loosening afro hair can be useful during the hot-humid and dry harmattan weather in Nigeria.

YOUR HAIRLINE, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

Compare Nigerian hair in the 60's with the unhealthy fluff that we see as normal today

If you spend one week in a salon in Nigeria, the number of women with hair and scalp related problems will surprise you. As Nigerians, we rather assign responsibility for a lot of things to other people than learn how to do it ourselves. When I speak to ladies with hair problems like traction alopecia, there is always a story of how the stylist used too much of this or added that other product wrongly. "He or she pulled my hair tightly" or "I was advised to plait my tender scalp so the hair can grow".
While I feel very sorry for them, my response usually is "are you not aware that there is no legislation covering hair care in Nigeria?" We all know that most of us stylists learned by observing people who might not have known better themselves. The rate of women with unhealthy hair on the streets can testify to that. So it is for this reason that I advise Nigerian ladies to know their hair first before trusting some else with it. That way, you can guide anyone styling your hair to do what works best for you.

A FEW TIPS TO KEEP AWAY "IYA IYABO" (no hairline)

Braids, twists and weave-on's are usually the styles of choice for most of us. Not only do they help us save time and money on daily styling ,they also help keep our hair from breaking and/or entangling as a result of over manipulation. While this is a good thing, it can be also be harmful to the hair at our edges. When braids are done too tightly, they can cause damage to your hair follicles leaving you bald in one spot (marginal alopecia) or all through your hair line for the rest of your life. Here are a few tips to remember:

My hair loose chunky twists

As the stylist braids your hair, press down the beginning of the braid with your finger to reduce the amount of pressure to your hairline.
Avoid plaiting the same style over and over again. If you take down a style like ghana braids, leave your scalp to rest for about 2-3 weeks and then do a different style. As for me, I like to do chunky, loose twists after taking down styles like Ghana-braids or havana twists.
If after braiding or twisting your hair you feel unbearable pain, take down the style. A lot of us think about the money spent but trust me, that amount isn't worth getting bald for.

Notice the sores?

The moment you notice little bumps around your hair line with pus coming out, please loosen your hair immediately and see a specialist. And if you think that it is just hair and should not be taken that seriously, note that sores (like the one in the picture) have been known to cause infections. Where hairlines are concerned, safety should come before beauty.

DETANGLING MADE EASY

There is nothing as tiring -and sometimes painful- as detangling your kinks after 1-2months of protective styling. You take down the extensions/plaits looking forward to seeing what little length you must have gained during the period, but then you notice a lot of build-up at the roots. So what do you do? You pour lots of conditioner and/or oil on your hair and begin taking apart hair strands that are clumped together. Not only does the exercise feel like life is forcing you to learn divine patience, but you are disappointed by all the short hair strands that are falling off as you work through all the knots.

MY NEW SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM: MANSHANU!!
2 weeks ago, I bought a bowl of manshanu from wuse market for N500. The plan was to use it as a dc protein treatment after washing with a shampoo but detangling a small section of hair took 2 days and I decided, in frustration, to try something new.

HOW TO
I smoothed on some manshanu to a little section of hair until it felt soft and then loosely twisted it. A few minutes after saturating all my hair with the product, I noticed that it was really easy for my fingers to pass through the knots without much of a problem (nice!). I then went on to take out the shed hairs with a wide tooth comb which was just as easy. No pain, no time wasted.
If there is one thing I love about manshanu is that it has got SLIP. This makes detangling so much easier and faster!!

I left the product on for another 30 minutes and washed it off afterwards.

Detangling has never been so easy and breakage was minimal

Hair is soft and manageable one week after treatment

On Sunday I tried the same process on my Mom. If there's one thing I know about her regimen is that she never washes her hair or puts anything liquid on it without properly detangling it first. When I offered to try manshanu on her hair using this method I could tell that she wasn't really buying my 'gist' but fortunately she let me work my magic.
During the process, not one "careful!'' was uttered. Instead I got a "what exactly is this?" and "how did you find out about it's uses?"
Answer to question 1:It is magical manshanu.
Answer to question 2: Out of frustration and I'm still learning about it.
The major lessons I have learnt during my hair journey are that one should never be afraid to try new things and short-cuts do make life easier (not all the time sha *_^).

NOTE:A little goes a long way. Apply too much and your face and neck will be full of oil in no time.

Storage: Manshanu should be stored in a refrigerator

Ready for use? If your manshanu is solid and sweating as seen in the picture opposite don't use heat to melt it. Rather, let it seat for 30-45mins (depending on how hard it is) and it would return to its original state.

Guess What I found...

...a picture of my crazy hair line back in the day.

I never knew how bad my hair line was until after I went natural...throwing away that last relaxer pack was a very good decision

JazzWife was right, I do have good hair *_^

My sister and I had a good laugh at the first picture but trust me when I say that 4 years ago, it was definitely not a laughing matter. I'm sharing these pictures not to show off growth but to encourage all the ladies who have shared their hair loss frustrations with me.
Please keep on with your new hair techniques and ignore all the negative energy. One day soon your hair line would be back to normal :).

NO, I DO NOT HAVE GOOD HAIR

Recently, I came across a Natural who I had met during one of our meet ups. My hair was up in a bun and she was excited to finally see it loose. (I'm almost always in loose twists or braids with my ends tucked in)
As she came closer, she noticed my thin hair line and I could see the confusion on her face.
"You too?" she said and I smiled.
"Yes o, haven't you seen my improved iya iyabo on my blog?" I asked. And she replied with a "NO''. Lol... I took down my hair band and she saw that there was a huge difference between what grows in front and the rest of them.
After giving her a brief history of my hair, she was shocked to hear that my hair line was much thinner some years ago.

Going through my blog I see that I never fully discussed my hair and its short comings. So if you are a reader and you have not noticed what I call my improved-iya-iyabo hair line here's what it looks like.

A Little History
For the most part of my life, I have been natural. Mom, my precious Aunty E, and a few other ladies (I cant remember all of them now) took care of my hair until I got into secondary school. My first year in boarding house saw me taking care of my hair myself because I had not yet found a plaiting patner. In JSS3 (Junior Secondary School) I permed my hair and almost everything in front fell off. In SS1 (Senior Secondary School) I transitioned and by SS2 second term I had my hair back. After graduation, I decided I was going to relax my hair just to show that 'me sef, don age" and by my 4th year in University, I was back to where I started from but with a difference...

Ms Natural Hair with no edges.

2009-2011
By the time I started growing my Natural hair again, I noticed that my edges were nearly gone. I worried about it for a while but then I started ignoring it. Every now and then a natural would tell me what remedy she found,I would salute her but never follow up on her advice. I might start applying whatever oil she asked me to use but after a week I would get bored and stop.
Hair Blogs,my favourite places to be when I started my journey, sort of encouraged me to take care of it but then I found that if I left it alone, it 'seemed' to get better.

During my NYSC it improved but then I passed out and life happened.

The picture to the left was taken during my NYSC...look at my hair line can you see the difference?

2012/2013
Last year was a transition period for me. Fresh out of NYSC I started to see that life after school was more adventurous than I expected. Finding myself in the midst of all the well meaning advice I was getting plus all that I wanted to do was not easy. Juggling a job and my many other interests left me exhausted with little time to care for me as a person not to talk of my hair. There was a month when I could not get myself to eat even when I thought I was hungry. The crashing point was when I had to close my nose to force food down my throat. But before it got to my stomach, I was running to bring it back out. With goose bumps all over my skin I fell down sobbing. I knew then and there that some things had to give.

2014
I am still learning to find balance and I'm getting better at saying N-O. Farida of Lumo Naturals has also been very supportive. I have added and deleted some steps in my regimen as my hair is sort of longer and my ends tend to get dry very fast.
My poor diet and neglect caused me some breakage early this year but fingers crossed, things would get better. 12 months is how long I have given myself to see if I can solve the problem that 4 years of relaxing and tight braiding has caused me. If my edges get fuller, fine, if not...we continue as we began-with scanty edges :)
All in all, I am very grateful to God, that I did not end up bald after all the damage that relaxers caused me... but now you know, I don't have a perfect head of hair.