CONSIDER THIS BEFORE GETTING THOSE BRAIDS DONE

   

Ever wonder what kenekelon hair looks like close up? Well I did and I just had to share the pictures with you all  :). If you compare these pictures with the last two pictures of real African hair you wouldn't notice much of a difference.

     

 

134 strands of kenekelon hair. Not enough to give you that chunky full look.

Now lets talk technique... 

Notice how stylists section a tiny amount hair and tightly attach to it an amount of hair that is thicker than the one shown in the picture above? This is in my opinion is one of the reasons why a lot of us suffer from Traction Alopecia.

Lets forget about the hair and think about the follicles that we traumatize. For the first few days  after braiding, your scalp is on fire; no thanks to the technique used to attach the kanekelon hair.After the pain has subsided, the kanekelon  stays neatly attached to our hair strands but after a month, it starts to get loose. With new growth, you should notice the fake hair hanging from the real hair.  

At this point, the braid is moves a lot. Sometimes you'll even notice that the tiny section has rolled tightly around itself causing tension to the follicle. For many, this is when you notice the white specks at the root of the braid. Try to get rid of the specks and what you will pull out from the braid will be shed hair. While this might be normal, one can't help but wonder how many hair strands were lost due to the prolonged period of tension.

Add pain from braiding, to the weight of the heavy braid, to manipulation and traction alopecia should not come as a surprise. Fortunately our hair follicles can be very forgiving but years and years of doing damage can sometimes lead to permanent hair loss.

Tips:

1.Let the amount of kanekelon hair used (per section) be  proportionate to the amount of real hair carrying it. So for instance, if you want chunky braids, let the section of hair be big enough so you have enough real hair to carry the fake.

2. Make sure your hair is not braided too tightly to the point where you start having sores. If you can't sleep at night after getting your hair braided then I'll advise that you loosen it. Styling might cost N3000 but trust me when I tell you that the solution for hair loss will definitely cost you more. 

 Both pictures were taken from two clients with relaxed hair. Look closely at the picture to the left and your will notice hair strands pulled too tightly. In the picture to the left, the lady complained that her hair never gets relaxed. Notice that the curl patter in still intact. I told her to be grateful for her stubborn hair.

PREVENTING BREAKAGE DURING TAKE DOWN

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...

1. Spray bottle
2. Pick comb
3. Castor oil or Shea butter
4. Conditioner
5. Water

Direction
A night before take down...

1. Mix 5 parts of  water to 1 part conditioner in a spray bottle
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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

1. 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.
2. 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. 
3. 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?

4. 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.

3 Months of Hair Freedom

For some of us 'free-fro-care' hours are a luxury. Type 4 hair is beautiful but as it gets longer, so does the time and effort to keep it healthy increase. See below for a brief description of what my regimen can be like...

Day 1 (Prepoo): Apply oil and put on a plastic cap, tie a head wrap and dash out of the house. Return home, wash hair, deep condition and braid. 

Day 2 : Hair is still damp so I  apply leave in conditioner, detangle, seal and braid or thread.

Day 3: Hair is dry so I loosen the thread or braids and style.

Too much? I know, but wetin man go do? *sighs.

Tired, I thought of ways that one could reduce the amount of time and money spent on our hair every week without getting bald and the solution?....

PROTECTIVE STYLING!

Want a break from your tight curls? Then get a protective style. With the right style and techniques you can expect length retention without doing much. 

But before running to the market square, I came up with a short list of tests that my protective style/regimen must pass for it to be worth sharing with others.

1.Time spent on daily styling must not exceed 10 miutes

2 month old twists

2.Wash day must not be a 12 hour event
3.Because a healthy scalp will produce healthy hair, the scalp must be accessible,and
4.Hair must be healthy after take down-with a reasonable amount of shedding of course

If any of this points gets a zero...as in if I so much as suffer from a dry and scaly scalp during this time, the trial would get a big red X 

BEFORE STYLING

Hair was washed, deep conditioned, sealed and stretched, ready for styling.

AFTER STYLING

The first week was relatively easy. All I had to do was tie the twists at the back of my hair in a big knot during the day and tie a satin scarf at night. The good thing about this easy every day style was that I could control how much tension the twisted extensions put on my hair line and it took me seconds to tie the twists up.

Weekly maintenance: By the third week, I needed to moisturise my hair so I used that opportunity to wash it and clean my scalp (using NN black soap). When it got a bit dry, I applied castor oil to the roots and sprayed on the hair a mixture of Natural Nigerian leave in conditioner, water, and coconut oil.

SECOND MONTH

By this time, my hair had started looking frizzy but it did not look bad at all. I still got compliments and random strangers asking what and how many extensions I used. (See picture above)

Weekly Maintenance: Hair was kept clean (as stated above) and moisturised. To protect my edges, I took down the extensions and loosely re-twisted each section without using extensions. I don’t think anyone could tell the difference because my hair texture and that of the extensions were not that far apart.

 

Twists get swollen when wet.

THIRD MONTH

By the third month, the parts at the roots were beginning to close-up. To be sure that my hair was not breaking, too dry, or shedding unnaturally, I took down a few twists and noticed something…length! Nice!!

Because the twists were now super frizzy I began brushing my hair with a soft brush (almost daily),and to keep those strands down,I used eco styler gel. But this meant that I had to wash my hair more often.

SOLUTION: Spritz  hair with daily moisture mix (NN leave in, coconut oil and water), smooth hair down with my palms and then tie a satin scarf. 
No more worries about time, damaged hair cuticles, and sticky edges.

By the second week of the third month, I began hearing snapping sounds whenever I had to take the twists apart to oil my scalp. 

What was happening? O_0
The new growth at the root of one section was getting entangled with the sections closest to it. Matting had begun.

SOLUTION: Take down :(

TAKE DOWN MADE EASY

To reduce breakage, I put some olive oil in a spray bottle and sprayed each individual twist from the root to where my hair stopped before loosening . This helped, especially with the hair strands that had begun to get entangled with the extensions.

 

 End Result

So did I get all I wanted? Yes, I did not loose hair (#4), did not suffer from dandruff and dry scalp during and after this time (#2 and #3), and best of all I had 3 months of mane freedom! (#1)

Did I encounter any problems? The only problem worth sharing is that I had to trim off some new growth at my edges-twice. This is because the free hair was growing longer but I was not brushing it (for fear of breakage) and so it began to matt, forming into a small fine lock (dada)

Did I learn anything during this period? Yes, I learnt that...

-Type 4 hair is better off with little manipulation

-Natural hair does not need to be time and money consuming

-Travelling for long periods at a time or having a busy life in general does not have to be more stressful because you have natural hair and

-I think I'm going to get my hair locked at some point in my life :)

  
Lets hear from you, can you carry a style for more than 3 weeks? If No, tell us why and if yes, please share your hair type and regimen .

Rainy Season Protective Styles

  No extensions

 

     

 ...with kinky extensions.

 

Stay tuned, there's more...

Q&A: KINKY TWISTS

Nikki

Hi all!

 I’m going to be addressing some hair questions I get from you awesome readers. The focus today is on KINKY TWISTS.

#1 HOW DO I KEEP KINKY TWISTS FROM UNRAVELING AT TH ENDS?

Ans- Simple. You can do any of the following 4 things:

•  Pick the ends of the extensions before twisting so that they are uneven. When the ends are uneven, it would be easier for you to finish the twist without it unraveling.

• To be sure, you can get kinky/marley extensions that respond to hot water. For instance, I use Noble kinky extensions (dreadlocks). This particular brand shrinks when dipped in hot water.  
• HOW TO: After I’m done twisting all my hair, I dip the ends of the twist in a bowl of hot water for some seconds. Take them out and towel dry hair. (Dipping hair in hot water should be done in sections)

 NOTE: Safety is key when dipping your hair in hot water. If care is not taken, you can suffer from awful burns. Try not to do this around kids and if you are not sure on how to go about this, please get help from a professional.

•  Get some sewing thread and tie up the ends using the African threading technique

• Finally, you can burn the ends using a lighter. Again, safety must be topmost in your mind when doing this. I repeat, if you don’t know how to go about this, get help from a professional. DON’T DO THIS AROUND CHILDREN. You might harm them or they might copy you (even after they have been warned) without knowing the consequences of their action.

#2 HOW DO I SLEEP WITH KINKY TWIST?

Ans- Get a satin bonnet or tie a satin scarf. If you can’t be bothered with the afore mentioned, a satin pillow case would be fine. There is no need to fuss over your hair while it’s in kinky twists. Sometimes, I forget to tie a satin scarf while in this style and I don’t experience any damage after take down.

Some words of advice though, if you want your kinky twists to last longer than they should, tying your hair with a satin scarf before you sleep would slow down the aging process. At least thats what works for me.

#3 HOW LONG DO KINKY TWIST LAST?

3 Months old twists

Ans- Depending on how well you take care of your hair, kinky twists can last
for as long as you want them to. Why? Because the texture of the extensions is very close to our hair type and so when your hair starts sticking out it doesn’t look as rough as it would if you use extensions with straight stands (e.g Expression).

Warning: Try not to wear this hair style for too long as our kinky hair can easily knot up with the fake, making take down day a pain.

#4 CAN I WASH MY HAIR WHILE ITS IN KINKY TWISTS?

Ans- Sure, why not. I rather wash natural hair while it’s in kinky twists than when it is in extensions with straight hair strands because our kinks won’t stick out looking different from the straight extension. (That’s what gives it that rough look). All you need is some warm water and your favorite conditioner for co-washing, shikena.
Like I said in another post, I refrain from washing my hair with shampoos while its in protective styles because I fear that I might not be able to get the shampoo out completely (even after rinsing). But if you have done this before and have not experienced any problem them go right on with your regimen.

***

That’s all for now.  Remember to be extra careful with the fine hairs at your hair line. A protective style can be damaging if not done properly. In this regard, I make the hair strands at the edges more than the extensions so that my hair is strong enough to carry the weight.
Lastly, The moment I see build up at the roots that won’t go away after washing, it is time to take out the extensions. Keeping it in for much longer can cause your hair to matt/knot up.

Thats it. Till next time ladies, enjoy your natural journey!!

P.s. if you have questions that you would like answered send a mail to eskinks@gmail.com or simply leave a comment below. Bless!

Kinky Twists Done by Me

Hi People,
 Compare this (pic. above) with what I got from the professional stylist below. I bought 2 packs of Noble Gold Natural Braid Extension (Color 1). I love the texture of this brand and the curl pattern is just as tight as my type 4b.
The problem I had with it was finishing the twists. This is because of the way the extensions end. To solve this problem I had to do what is called "picking" by Nigerian hair braiders. The technique is to hold on to the ends of the extensions and pull out some individual strands to create an uneven finish at the ends. This would help keep the twists from unraveling after you are done.
Unfortunately, I learnt this after I had done almost half of the left side of my head. So most of the ones I had already done were unraveling. Read on to see how I stumbled on the solution.
The beautiful thing about doing your own hair is that you work really carefully with the sensitive spots and you can control how tight or loose you want the twists to be. I wanted to do havanna twists but I was too impatient to start learning something new today. So I worked with the old technique I knew really well; attach the extensions by braiding the roots and after some inches you twist all the way down.

                            TECHNIQUES: 

Styles at the back of the pack

Now if you look closely you would notice that the roots look scalpy/scanty but some inches after, my hair looks full. What did I do? Simple. I...
-Cut out a section of my hair
-Attached the extensions by braiding the roots and then twisting tightly until after my hair was completely twisted with the extensions.
-Then I loosely twisted the rest of the hair using Ms. Alicia's loose twists technique.
To Protect my hair strands I...
-Sectioned my hair using my fingers first and then a sectioning comb to create straight fine lines
-Applied Shea butter to my hair strands (from root to end) and
-Applied some Shea butter to the Noble Extensions. Why? Kinky extensions dry out my hair. Even daily water spritzing isn't much help. But once I began applying Shea butter to the extensions, twisting with the coarse texture wasn't much of a problem; take down was much easier and my hair faired better after weeks/a month of been rolled in kinky extensions.

 

 Finishing...
Like I said, some of the twists were unraveling because I didn't start begin by 'picking' the ends of the extensions.  And because I was too tired to loosen, pick and retwist, I decided to deep the ends in hot water to see if what worked for Expression extensions would work for Noble Natural Braid extensions.
So I boiled water, poured some in a bowl and dipped the ends into the hot water. I left it in for some seconds and when I took it out the ends had shrunk tight and felt hard to touch.  By the time I did the other half of my head, the water was not hot enough to seal the ends tight so I boiled the water again and repeated the process. That Simple!

 I plan on carrying this style for the next two months. I would co-wash when the need arises and style as the weather allows me to.

So what styles are you wearing for the HOT dry season? I hear it is raining in some of the western states of Nigeria but as far as we Abuja people are concerned, the Sun won't gree us rest. Lord give us strength.

Moisturize and leave it alone.

 We have come a long way:)

Happy New year people!
Late, shey?*_* Forgive my absence o. Whats been happening?Hmm...Nothing much... but the harmattan season is in full swing in some parts of the country and not so intense in other parts. So today,I would  address a question I have been getting frequently; "what do I do? Harmattan is breaking my hair!"
Some of you have sent me mails asking for my current regimen and I usually  share a few points. Please forgive me if my replies have not been as complicated as you would like but that's how it is; SIMPLE!! 
Chei, some of  long regimens I have read...as in ehn...I envy your dedication o. But that's not for me. I wish I did, but I just don't have that much patience and time for my awesome mane *_^.
So for those of us who are struggling with hair care this harmattan season here's my regimen-you can use it or you can tweak it to your specifications:
 
Co-washing: For the harmattan season, I have been co-washing my hair using conditioners like VO5 Moisture Milks (N500)  and the seriously cheap TopKlass Instant Hair Conditioner (N350). Both products help keep my hair clean while leaving it soft and manageable. If you are so in to shampoos then you can replace your shampoos with Apple cider vinegar. Do a rinse with this to help cleanse your hair and scalp without having to deal with dry hair after washing.

For the my skin I use Dudu Osun and Shea butter, and the other products (including Sheabutter) are for the mane:) 

Deep Condition: I can not do without this step in the dry season because  the weather can get my hair so dry that it snaps with the slightest tug. You want to deep condition and properly moisturize your hair as often as possible these few months.

For me, my favorite and most accessible deep conditioners are:

1. Aloe-conditioner mix: I add a little olive or coconut oil to a mixture of Aloe vera gel (from the plant) and conditioner. Mix, apply, leave on for some time (20mins and above), rinse off and style.
2. Simple mix of conditioner (VO5 Moisture Milks or Hair fruits) and olive oil.
3. Plain conditioner: Yes, this works too. Just co-wash and  leave on some conditioner for 10-20 mins. Rinse off and style.

French braids

Styling: After the above step, I apply my leave in (Herbal Essences Helohydration), detangle, apply coconut or olive oil (to seal in moisture) and finally apply Shea butter to the ends. I then braid my hair to stretch it out a bit. (Stretching helps make hair more manageable)

Keeping  hair moisturized: To keep my hair moisturized, all I need is some water and oil. If you have anything extra like Aloe Vera Juice, fine, include that. I put water in a spray bottle, spritz a bit on my hair, detangle and then smooth a light oil or butter on my hair, focusing on the ends. (Remember to work in sections)

 Moisturizing hair in sections

Why I prefer light oils and butter-mixtures during dry season:

Heavy hair butters, after application just seem to seat on the hair strands. They leave my hair feeling oily and sticky. Moisturizing hair (using water alone) when it is too oily can be a waste of time as the water just seats on the hair strands without having much effect. Light oils- like olive oil and coconut oil- on the other hand enter the hair shaft and don't leave my hair feeling too oily.

Like I always say, do you.  If your hair prefers heavy butters, work with that. But if your hair is  revolting, then you might want to try going easy on the products. Try something new.

My day to day styling regimen: I don't spray water on my hair everyday and I don't  wash my hair everyday. After stretching, my hair is usually in french braids, buns or single chunky braids. Moisturizing hair is done twice a week and if I can escape that, all the better (thanks to head wraps:))

Summary: Moisturize, style and leave it alone. Simple!

Note however, that there is a lot of dust in the air so you should wash your hair regularly. I wash weekly and when traveling, my head wraps go where I go (keeps the harmattan dust out)
Thats all for now, if you have any questions please leave a comment below.
 Till next time, Blessings!

What I've Been Upto (Hair Update)

Hi ladies,

Hope my Naija readers (especially those of us at the centre going up north) are enjoying the harmattan weather. The air is not really dry but we are getting there. 

As for me, I'm undergoing some changes o. As a natural hair blogger, I can go on and on about Natural hair but the funny thing is that my nonchalant attitude towards my hair would not allow me do anything with it apart from wash, deep condition and braid. After washday, its a turban from Monday to Saturday. Boring but simple...The picture to the right shows what my hair looks like (most of the time) under head wraps.

However, your girl is going for a change. Why? There is no Fro Representation in Bee-You-Jay! At the meet-up most ladies claimed to be natural under their weaves and when asked why, the common response was 'I don't have the time'. In my opinion, the problem is that Peruvian, Caribbean....or whatever they call synthetic hair these days is not only more accepted in these parts but is easier to maintain .

To encourage those of you who think  that styling natural hair is nothing but wahala  I have decided to wear my fro out more often. This move will also force me to come up with a regimen that will allow me stick to my lazy hair laid back lifestyle and still come up with simple  hair styles to share with you all.

So let's start with the following.

 

 After the meet-up I did a henna treatment using henna from Natural Nigerians Ahia Market. Pictures above were taken after the treatment...love my frizzy braid out! 

I decided to do a braid out because it is easier to keep a comb out of my hair when the hair strands are clumped together and  braid outs help reduce the dreaded knots at the ends of my hair.

STYLES OF CHOICE: A BUN

 I had my hair in a bun for the most part of the week. My regimen was to tie a satin scarf at night and smooth my edges in the morning.To help with styling, I bought ORS Edge Control which cost N750 at Shoprite. Unlike most gels, it helps keep my edges smooth for as long as possible without drying up the hair.

WEEK 2

 

 I washed my hair and braided it into 7 chunky braids/cornrrows. The next day, I took down the braids and styled my hair. I think I prefer doing cornrows on wet hair.Shrinkage was minimal and my hair got dry faster. I also spent less time unraveling the braids and fluffing the hair. I will try this out again and do a post on it.

 

 After work on Monday, my ends felt very dry. So I went through the products I had and found a bottle of ORS Hair Moisturizing Lotion that I had not used in a long time (fortunately, it was not expired). I applied it to my ends, detangled a bit and braided hair as seen in pic above. The next morning, my ends were soft and stretched out.

 Pictures above were taken after a long day at work... Still looking great if I may say so.

 Today, I decided to try something new as I have mastered the art of putting up a bun in less than 10 mins. *_^

 After taking down the chunky braids, I applied very little coconut oil, fluffed  and tucked my hair in using three bobbin pins. Thats right, 3 only! 

To get a sleek look, I used ORS Edge Control and there you have it...
Picture below was taken after work.

 

So I'm thinking....should i just tie a scarf, go to bed and refresh hair tomorrow morning  or should I braid and create another 5 mins. hair do?...

  

This is another of my go to styles. I can get my hair in two french braids and tuck in the ends in 10 mins. The only down side of this style is that my ends coil up tightly after take down, giving me detangling work *_*.

Lessons:
1. You don't need to spend too much time on your hair for it to look nice.
2. You don't need too much money and too many products to get good looking hair.
3. The major problem a lot of ladies have with natural hair is the difficulty they experience when trying to control/style it. If your hair is too full, try braid outs. I have found that it is easier to style my hair in buns, braids and other  styles when the strands are clumped together.
4.Visit blogs and sites for hair-inspiration and practice what you have learnt in your free time.

Next on my list is to try Geri's Classic Pomp.