Twists!

Homemade Natural Beauty Products with Olive Oil: Five *Cheap* DIY Recipes

I was speaking to my friend at the gym and overheard a conversation about her conditioner. She's just paid for a house and said she can't afford to splurge on expensive conditioners.

My tips for her included:

• Add some extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to her cheap conditioner to instantly improve its properties
• Do some hot oil treatments at home with EVOO
• Condition with honey & EVOO

Olive oil is rich in Vitamin E and has many properties including being very moisturising.
The great thing about olive oil is it's affordable, I buy mine from supermarkets and Bertolli Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is usually on offer (which is when I buy a few bottles!). Aim to buy 'Extra Virgin'.

Which brings me to this post, olive oil can be used in so many ways but I will highlight my favourites, which I've tried and tested:

1. CONDITIONER
   Moisturising: Olive Oil + Honey. It doesn't matter if you have any leftover, I usually make enough to last up to 5 applications.
   For protein, add an egg yolk (it's best to add this to one portion because eggs expire).
   Use: Apply to entire length of your hair, cover with a shower cap. Leave in for anything over an hour.
2. HOT OIL TREATMENT/PRE SHAMPOO
   Warm 1/2 a cup of olive oil (don't let it get too hot).
   Use: Apply to hair from root to tip. Cover with a shower cap and sit under a dome dryer.
   Other options - do some housework or hold shower cap in place with a scarf and leave in hair overnight. Wash your hair and enjoy the soft, shiny results.
3. FACE MASK
   2 tbsps olive oil + 2 tbsps Fullers Earth Powder
   Add honey for extra moisture
   Olive Oil + Honey is a great option too
   Use: Wipe face clean and apply mask. Leave for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water, then wipe oil residue with warm water and a face cloth. Finish with a cold water rinse.
4. FACE, LIP & BODY SCRUB
   To gently exfoliate your skin and reveal fresh, soft skin, 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 to a cup of olive oil (depending on what consistency you want).
   I love using soft brown sugar as it's gentle enough for the face and great for the body.
   Optional: A few drops of an essential oil (eg lavender, peppermint, tea tree.)
   
   
   Use: Apply on clean face & lips and gently massage in small circular motions, it shouldn't hurt. Rinse and wipe off excess oil with warm water and a face cloth. Moisturise.
5. BODY SCRUB
   For your homemade version of those expensive salt scrubs, mix 2 cups of sea salt with 1 cup of olive oil
   Optional: 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest OR a few drops of lavender essential oil.
   
   
   Use: Apply and massage all over body, focusing on the rougher areas of your skin. Rinse off with warm water and moisturise.

Other uses:

• Olive Oil can also be added to a bottle of conditioner (1 part olive oil to 4-4 parts conditioner) to give extra nourishing properties. 
• Massage into cuticles (finger & toenails)
• As a make up remover, apply a small amount to cotton wool or directly on your face. Massage into skin and wipe off. Repeat until all make up is off, then wipe off excess oil with warm water and a towel. Moisturise.

If you'd like me to post more DIY recipes here, let me know in the comments section :)

Braids and Food

What a clever title, right? I've had my braids hang into my food and that wasn't nice :/
I just couldn't think of an interesting title so this is going to have to do!

Anyway..... This is just a quick update on my hair (which is now in braids, as seen below) and food, I'm sure you had no idea!! :p

I got my braids done on Monday and after an early start (the lady rang my doorbell at 6am!), enduring a numb backside and trying to stay awake, she was done before 2pm :)

If you're wondering how I take care of my hair while it's in braids, watch the video below. Which reminds me, I need to make another bottle of my braid spray:



As usual, I'll keep the braids in for no more than 3 months.

I'm so happy it's Friday because I get done with work early so I get to relax and cook :) I bought some lambs' livers on Thursday night with the intention of making okra soup today. Well, I got home today and realised I forgot to get some!
There was no way I was going back out in the freezing cold for nonsense okra!
So I had to improvise and just pan fried the livers with red onions (seasoned with salt, paprika and mixed herbs) for about 10-12 minutes and added some spinach to cook with it for a few more minutes.
It doesn't look great but it tasted very good (I cooked it so of course it did!) and has many nutritional benefits :)

LUNCH

And then my dinner was YUMMY :) I recently purchased a slow cooker and I have tried out three meals in it so far. I think I got it a week and a half ago!

This was a simple stew: venison sausages, sweet potatoes (the Jamaican ones here, very similar to the ones in Nigeria), red onions and chopped tomatoes. I pan fried the sausages and onions for a couple of minutes before adding to the slow cooker and left everything to cook for a few hours.
And I finally bought courgettes (zucchinis) for the first time ever! Thanks to some tips from Ceri (of Cucina Ceri), I didn't add it to the stew, I sliced into large chunks, season with chilli, drizzled some olive oil on it and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

The clean plate in the picture shows exactly how I felt about it ;)

So that's my Friday update done, I'm just finishing up some documents to send out for the Get Trimmer challenge now and then BED :) #TGIF

You can still sign up for the challenge by clicking on the image below:

FYI: In Naira, it's N5,000 if you prefer to do that. Just send me an email asking for a/c details. Once the Early Bird offer runs out, it will go up to £26.99 or N6,750. This will be available until Friday 1st February, when registration will be officially closed.

Dry Hair Remedy with Argan & Almond Oils

I neglected my hair ALL week. I got back from my Christmas break on Tuesday and after a 2 hour nap, went straight back to work!

I left my hair in a bun all week and only moisturised the exposed parts of my hair and my edges, of course!

So, it was no surprise that when I took it down from the bun, my hair felt like straw. Unfortunately, I had almost run out of my favourite conditioner (Organic Roots Salon Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner) so I had to make an impromptu concoction of ORS, Nexxus Humectress and I had no Olive Oil (which is my go-to conditioning oil), so I used Argan Oil and Almond Oil.
I'm actually working on a homemade conditioner mix but haven't gone back to it in a while... soon :)

Argan Oil is a great oil for the skin and hair (I use it for both). It's rich in vitamin E.
It contains high levels of essential fatty acids that help moisturise the hair and give it a natural shine. It also strengthens the hair and helps prevent (note I didn't say fix or seal!) split ends. Finally, it's a great remedy for dry scalp conditions including dandruff and resulting itching. What's not to like? I added a tablespoon of Argan oil to the mix.

Almond Oil is another good oil for hair AND skin. It helps retain moisture and restore shine to hair. I added this to the mix to help seal in the moisture from my conditioners. Like Argan oil, it's rich in vitamin E and also Vitamin D which nourish the hair by smoothening and strengthening. I added a very generous amount of almond oil as it's a carrier oil and is cheaper (very important, haha!)

I also use both oils in hot oil treatments or pre-poo (pre shampoo application a few hours before washing the hair.)

• I applied this generously to my hair and covered with a shower cap. 
• I went about my Sunday duties for a few hours (read: I went back to being lazy) and conditioner-washed my hair later. 
• Applied my leave in conditioner, detangled and put my hair in 8 braids to dry overnight.
• Today, I took each braid down, moisturised (with my shea butter cream) and re-braided to help stretch out my hair even more (that explains why my hair can lay so flat, it could be mistaken for relaxed from afar).

Today, my hair feels very soft and moisturised. It's currently in boring braids to help stretch it out so it's not worth taking a picture. I'll take one tomorrow and will try to remember to post here.

Easy Twisted Updo

This took little to no time.

I will definitely record a tutorial soon, I was running late so I couldn't today.



Here's a video of a go to hairstyle of mine:

Braids Are Out! Haircare Videos Soon :)

I finally took my braids out after 8 weeks.

I will record haircare videos in the next few weeks. Let me know if you have any video requests.

Homemade Moisturising Spritz

Yep, yet another YouTube video. I'm finding it much easier to talk than write at the moment, I'm guessing it's just a phase. It's actually been a fun experience recording and editing videos :)

I've had an interesting week, not that you asked ;) The most important thing I'm taking away from this week is: To Set Myself Weekly (or Bi-Weekly) Goals. Any goal that will better my life :)

All my classes went really well this week and after my Friday lunchtime spin class, my weekend started early as always :)

Anyway, on to the reason for this post, I've been using this moisturising spritz for YEARS. I love it.

Ingredients: (cheapie) Conditioner, Oil, Glycerin and Water. 

Prep Time: 5 mins (MAX)

Great For: Braids, Twists, any kind of extensions. Natural hair in twists or any style where you're not worried about reversion or shrinkage and relaxed hair in a wet style (eg wet bun to air dry).

Watch... and SUBSCRIBE ;)

PS This channel (different from the one in the previous post) is 2 subscribers away from 50 and I have a giveaway lined up for it. So hurry ;)

I've been asked what exactly is required to subscribe to a YouTube Channel... all you need is a gmail/googlemail account :) If you're viewing the video from this post, click on 'More Info' on the top right corner of the video, and you'll be given the option to subscribe. Or look out for the 'Click to Subscribe' annotation I've added to the video.

Thanks in Advance!

All About Haircare...

I've had a few more questions about haircare, natural and relaxed, so decided to repost a few things:



Your Hair or Your Health

Tips For Transitioning to Natural Hair


Haircare Tips for Relaxed Hair

A Requested Natural Hair Video... *6 Must-Haves*

I hope someone finds this useful:
 


Please let me know any blog/video requests you have :)

 Happy Friday :)

Subscribe to my channels:

• HealthyDury
• NaturallyDury

Giveaway :)

To enter, you have to do one or more of the following:

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/NaturallyDury
• Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/adura_o
• Follow my blog

Giveaway closes once I have 50 YouTube subscribers :)

Quick & Pretty Hair Bun Tutorial

If you haven't already, please check out my haircare/skincare YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/naturallydury

Hi!

I finally took out my braids (extensions) over a week ago so I decided to take the opportunity to record some videos on my haircare routine and some hairstyle tutorials.

I posted this picture on twitter:

And I got some requests to record a tutorial. Which, of course, I did ;)

I'll be putting my braids back in this weekend so I'll make sure I record a couple more videos before then.

Enjoy the rest of your week :)

Food. Butters. Oils

Happy Friday :)

I finally bought a tripod for my camera so I will start recording RECIPE videos this Sunday :) Speaking of videos, please check out my channels and *subscribe* (see I how I slid that in ;) )

• Health, Fitness and Recipes --> www.youtube.com/HealthyDury
• Skincare and Haircare --> www.youtube.com/NaturallyDury

---------
On to other things, I've been a little busy... making some products.

It's still at the early stages but I plan to officially sell products. Starting with:

1. Whipped Body Butter (with some great ingredients!)
2. Face Oil
3. Hair Oil
4. Fullers Earth Powder (of course!)

Whipped Body Butter

I'd like to say a huge thank you to my friends who encouraged me to finally do this as "it's good that my obsession with haircare and skincare" is being put to good use (Vickii!) and also to those who've already ordered products and given me feedback (thanks for being my guinea pigs).

Have a nice weekend :)

Your Hair or Your Health?

I had to put up this post after a conversation I had with my friend, T. I asked her to take part in my Sunday class here in Lagos and her reply was "No I can't, I don't want to mess up my hair!".

I'll give her some credit because she attended the class the week before but only because it was right before her visit to hair salon.

This isn't a first, and neither will it be a last. I've been told by many ladies that they don't want to mess up their hair... I can, kind of, relate because I've had relaxed hair and I've had a weave (only once, haha). Friends tell me I'm lucky my hair is natural because it seems I can do anything without worrying about my hair. I've started swimming lessons and it is true - it's easy because I just wet my hair and get in the pool.

Another friend A, who is very into exercise (and lives in Lagos), didn't want her hair to affect her workout routine so now she usually  has her hair in braids. With braids, you can't mess up the style and you can actually rinse/wash your hair and know it will be okay once it's dry.

The easiest thing I'd suggest is to get your hair in braids (extensions) if you don't want to deal with your hair (natural or relaxed) after a workout. It works for A and I'm sure it'll work for you :)

Natural Hair?

If you wear your natural hair 'out' or in twists/braids, like I do:

• Try conditioner washing or rinsing your hair at least once a week. Also shampoo wash once every 1-2 weeks, preferably with a sulphate free shampoo to prevent drying.
  One thing I learned the hard way years ago is - sweat can dry out your hair! Do not go weeks without cleaning your hair especially if you live a very active lifestyle.
• Post-workout, lightly spritz your hair with a spray moisturiser and seal in the moisture with a butter (eg shea) or an oil.
• Don't comb your dry natural hair, it's really coily and is best manipulated when it's loaded with conditioner and/or wet.

If your hair's in Extensions (Braids/Twists):

• When you wash your hair, make sure you dilute your shampoo. Apply it to your scalp only and the length of your hair will be cleaned as you rinse it off. 
• The best way to dry your braids is under a hood dryer or with a blow dryer. This way you ensure your hair isn't damp for a long time before it dries. 
• Always moisturise your hair with a liquid/spray moisturiser, this will help avoid product build up which you can get from cream moisturisers when used on braids/twists.

Is your hair relaxed?

I used to exercise regularly when my hair was relaxed, I sent these tips to someone last year:

I washed and deep conditioned my hair at least once a week (still do).
I sweat a lot on my scalp so a tip I read somewhere about wrapping my hair then laying down with a scarf resulted in very wet, sweaty hair = NEVER again.

Next thing I tried which totally worked for me was - putting my hair in a very high (and loose) ponytail ensuring my ends didn't touch my neck (to avoid them getting sweaty and then drying out). My scalp was sweaty ofcourse but 3/4s of my hair still stayed nice and dry. Right after my workout, before my shower - I'd take my hair down from the ponytail and moisturise *very* lightly (make sure your moisturiser doesn't have glycerine as the 1st few ingredients) especially on the ends, I used elasta qp mango butter but now I use organic shea butter mixed with oils and then put my hair back up in the loose ponytail before showering. One thing I didn't like was sweating on my scalp because of my body temp still regulating after my workout + my hair being covered with a shower cap.

This technique worked on my hair even when I was 4 months post relaxer and I straightened my hair, it stayed straight for a whole week until I washed it.
Sometimes when I couldn't salvage the hairstyle, I put my hair up in a bun (I have so many hair accessories).

---

Remember - if anything is important to you, you will make the time and necessary changes to ensure you can do it.

Your health should be important to you so try to find what hairstyle works for you to make sure you get your exercise on ;)

Tips for Transitioning to Natural Hair

Hi :)

I had relaxed hair for years and I shared some tips for maintaining healthy relaxed hair HERE.

I've been asked about haircare for natural hair and also for the transition to natural hair.

I wasn't brave enough to do a big chop because, wait for it.... I HAVE A BIG HEAD (seriously, my Mummy mentioned it to me once and it's stuck with me since then), haha!
Other reasons were:

• I was already used to waiting up to 6 months between relaxers so I didn't think it would be that much of a challenge 
• I wanted to have a lot of style options - I didn't want to do a big chop, see my massive head in the mirror and hide my hair under extensions. 

I haven't done extensions in over 5 years (I'll be honest - the main reason for this is my hairline has never been full so any rough handling results in me looking bald! There was a time my Aunt (in 1999!) relaxed my hair for me and my hair fell out along my hairline and in the middle, I'll never forget that experience.. EVER. O_O

If you're interested in transitioning, here are a few tips which helped me through my 18 month transition:

1. Understand Your Hair
   Transitioning was easy enough for me because I was used to taking care of my hair myself. I knew what my hair liked and what it didn't. I also knew how to deal with my natural new growth because I used to stretch the time between my relaxers. If you're used to relaxing your hair every 6-8 weeks, your 1st time should maybe stretch the time till your next relaxer to 4 months and slowly work from that. Find out what products work for your hair and those that don't.
   
   
2. Always Remind Yourself Why You Are Transitioning
   I don't have a dramatic story, my hair was in a very healthy state and wasn't falling out, I decided to stop relaxing my hair mainly for health reasons. It was one of the steps I took towards using less chemicals in/on my body.
   
   
3. Set Yourself A Goal And Work Towards It
   Avoid saying, "I'll try to transition", you will most likely cave in and relax.
   Neither should you say, "I'll see how it goes"
   Try -
   "I will transition for at least 1 year!
   "I will transition until my natural hair is shoulder length"
   Short term goals also work - My goal was to transition for 1 year, I got to one year and realised I could go longer so my next goal was 18 months (in time for my 29th birthday)
   
   
4. Find Hairstyles That Work For You
   You don't want your transition to natural hair to mean you'll have more 'ugly days' than normal. What hairstyles will be easy for you to manage? Are you one of those lucky people with full hairlines unlike mine on my big head? Then extensions might be the answer. Do you enjoy styling your hair yourself? Stick to your trusted styles and try to be adventurous, loads of ladies have instructional hair styling videos on youtube.
   Some of the styles that worked for me include those that helped me blend my two textures (straight & relaxed and coily & natural):
   

   

   Braidout

   
   

   

   This was almost a year into my transition

   
   

   

   Twistout

   
   

   

   French Braid

   
   

   

   Braids (no extensions)

   
   
5. Deep Condition
   This is very important. If your hair is dry, unhealthy and brittle, you will experience breakage. Even if you're not transitioning ie you're relaxed or natural, you need to deep condition. But as a transitioner, you need to get the right protein and moisture balance. Protein strengthens your hair which means you'll experience less breakage at the point where your relaxed hair meets your natural hair. And of course, you need moisture for your hair to keep it hydrated and soft.
   What worked for me, which might not necessarily work for you was Organic Roots Salon Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner - it was both a moisturising and protein deep conditioner.
   
   
6. Limit ManipulationBecause you're dealing with 2 textures, you can't be combing your hair casually like you would relaxed hair. You will find that the amount of pressure you use to detangle your natural new growth is more than twice that of your relaxed ends. What worked for me was to detangle my hair when it was damp after applying my leave in conditioner. a year into my transition, I had to start washing and detangling my hair in sections because my natural hair seemed to be overpowering my relaxed hair.
   
   
7. Moisturise
   Find a moisturiser that works for you and use it at least once a day. I used, and still use, shea butter mixed with coconut oil, castor oil and aloe vera gel.
   
   
8. Or Else...
   If all of the above are too stressful for you, just hide your hair in braids/twists/extensions. But make sure you still wash (diluted shampoo), deep condition and moisturise your hair (with a liquid, spray moisturiser).

If you have any questions, please ask :)

Natural Hair and Shrinkage

Twists (after shrinking) earlier this year

December '10 - Straightened 

I'll admit that the main thing I found hard to accept after I went natural was the shrinkage factor. As the above pictures illustrate, my hair in its natural state looks much shorter than it actually is. I've finally accepted this and I'm sure it has a lot to do with the health of my hair. It might not look long but my hair's in a 'good place'.

I love my natural hair and I totally ignore some people's "advice" to relax my hair because it'd be "very long and pretty" <--- whatever. Sorry to sound mean but I'm always extremely close to telling them to sort out their hair before advising me ;) Actually, I'm not sorry :) I don't force going natural on people so I won't tolerate people forcing relaxed hair on me... #rantover

I twisted my hair on Sunday night and it looked long enough but it's already shrinking... once I wash it on Friday, it's going to look half the length but like I said, I've accepted it... just.

Sunday's Twists

Shrinking on Wednesday

I'm glad that this is my main problem with my hair and not a long list of things. I'll admit that having natural hair can be time consuming which is why sometimes I twist my hair up so I can get a break from it but I won't have it any other way.

I will put up a post on my shea butter mix - natural ingredients - next week.

Updates...

Hello! Yes I'm gonna say it - Happy Monday, lol!

I cannot believe it's April already... this year is flying by at an amazing rate! I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday soon and I honestly can't wait for it :)

Anyway, enough about me... because trust me - I can go on for ages :p

I've had a couple of ideas these last few weeks. One of them came about after my friend Tosin told me he uses one of the home workouts I posted last year. I completely forgot about those and was glad that he found it useful. Also I've been training a friend via email for the last few weeks and although he says he hates me right after the workout, it's going really well for him.

My plans for future blog posts include regular posts on:

• 'Get Trimmer...' (sorry I've not updated in ages)
• Nigerian recipes (detailed)... focusing on keeping it healthy and enjoyable
• Home workouts - I'll also be posting Fitter London's Matt Whitmore's iVillage vlogs (see below), especially when I'm being too lazy :p
• Home-made natural skincare and haircare - Like I've not blogged enough about this yet ;)
  and
• Random posts as always including my food diary while I'm in Lagos* :)

*FYI: I plan to be in Lagos in a few weeks, I'm going to:

• run a workshop which will include a 30 minute presentation on nutrition, exercise tips and a 15 minute Q&A session.
  
•  be available for consultations (ideally one to one)
• Venue and Date To Be Confirmed 

If you're interested, please send me an email: email 'at' adura-odesanya.co.uk with subject 'FL LAGOS WORKSHOP'.

Have a nice week :)

Get Trimmer..., Honey and Olive Oil conditioner, Weekend, etc

Hi :)

Hope you had a nice weekend... I realy enjoyed mine - 2 Fitter London classes and then dinner at a friend's (Thanks Ceri!).

I know I haven't put up a Get Trimmer... post in a while, I'll be back on that this week - promise! So - the Get Trimmer... challenge is still on. If you emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you, please email me your stats and I will add them to the next blog post.

Back to my weekend - As always, I stayed in bed for what felt like forever on Sunday morning then I watched Karate Kid (with little cute Jayden Smith) and The Backup Plan (with J Lo). I was able to shower and drag myself out of bed to get some groceries then went straight back home to watch some more TV :) I didn't start cooking (I made some Goat Curry, recipe HERE) until 7pm <-- I always do this on Sundays and end up going to bed at 11!

While watching The Backup plan, I conditioned my hair with Organic Honey and Extra Virgin Olive Oil... As I've mentioned in earlier blog posts, I'm using more natural products on my hair and skin. An advantage to using brown sugar and olive oil for my Facial Scrub and honey and olive oil for my conditioner is - they taste great :p Usually when I'm rinsing manufactured products off my face or skin, I always get a little in my mouth when rinsing and not only do they taste disgusting, the 'cones' in the products end up leaving my mouth feeling coated!

Well... when I was rinsing the honey and olive oil out of my hair yesterday, some of it got in my mouth and it tasted soooo sweet. Of course my hair felt nice and soft after :)

For any one who's interested, I used: 2 heaped tablespoons of honey (it was semi solid) and 3 tablespoons of olive oil, mxed into a smooth paste, applied all over my hair and covered with a shower cap. Usually I'd use my dome dryer to help my hair absorb the conditioner but yesterday... yes, I was too lazy. Left it in my hair for a couple of hours and rinsed out.

My next post on natural skin/haircare will be on Fuller's Earth Powder: I use it to clean my hair and face - LOVE it!

Here's a pic of my (shrunken) hair after cleaning with Fuller's Earth Powder:

Have a nice week :)

I love Natural Hair :)

I remember when I initially told my Sister I was going natural i.e. No more relaxers. She didn't understand why I'd want to do that, especially as my hair was very healthy and was long enough.

For a quick recap, take a quick look at THIS

Recently, I recieved a few comments which made me have to bite my tongue to avoid giving a rude reply:

• "If my hair was as long as yours is/was, I'd relax it" - Errrr... ok I'll keep my thoughts to myself on this one, I'm trying so hard here, haha!
• "Your hair is different, it's not like the usual African hair" - Last time I checked, I was 100% African, 100% Nigerian. My hair looks "different" because I take very good care of it :)
• "Why did you go natural when your relaxed hair was thick and full" - This was the most acceptable comment/question because  I totally understood what they meant. Some people go natural as a last resort - damage caused by relaxers, thin hair due to overprocessing (constant application of relaxers), etc I decided to stop relaxing my hair because I decided that I didn't need relaxers to have nice looking hair and also because I didn't want relaxers (chemicals) applied close to my scalp every 4-6 months (but I'm  not trying to preach in this post so I'll not go into that now).

I've been relaxer-free for just over 2 years now (25 months) and I straightened my hair in December... right before Christmas, I was wearing my hair like this:

On Xmas Day, I did a donut bun (I love these!):

And I straightened:

I've heard a lot about going natural hair being a fad and I roll my eyes.

I understand that some people are going natural because "everyone" is going natural. I see nothing wrong with that because, although a huge fraction of these people will get frustrated and go back to relaxing their hair, a significant number will love having natural hair and will stay natural :)

Anyone who needs tips on taking care of relaxed OR natural hair, let me know - I'll be glad to help :)

Oh... and my Sister is going natural too, it's been a year since she last relaxed her hair :)

Haircare Tips for Relaxed Hair.

I'm sure you can tell, from my pictures - My hair's natural (i.e. relaxer free):

But before I made the decision to grow out my natural hair, I had healthy, relaxed hair :)

In this post, I'll share some tips on taking care of relaxed hair and some product recommendations.

**Please note: Reasoning behind my tips/suggestions will be explained later - really busy but wanted to put up this post as I promised to a while back :) **

• Wash and deep condition your hair at least once a week
  
• Moisturise your hair at least once a day
• Stretch out the time between your relaxers to at least every three months
• Avoid constant direct heat to your hair. If you need to blowdry once a week, please invest in a good heat protectant. Also invest in a ceramic flat iron, stove curling tongs/irons should be avoided.
• Try rollersetting your hair, you don't have to blowdry and flat iron/tong your hair to achieve silky results. Tip: Make sure a heat protectant is applied to your damp hair before rolling. A dome hairdryer is direct heat just not as concentrated as drying with a blowdryer and a brush/comb. You can roll your hair with the largest rollers for your length of hair, when dry, wrap your hair, lay down with a scarf for a few hours and you'll have straight hair. There are other ways to achieve straight hair which I'll share at another time.
• The best way to avoid direct heat often is to air dry (ie not using a blow/hair dryer) your hair... next week I'll go through the steps to achieve nice results from airdrying.

• After a few days of getting your hair done, it usually doesn't look as cute as when you initialy got it styled. Buy loads of hair accessories and pin your hair up, pull back with a headband, etc on days like this.

• Try hairstyles that don't require heat e.g braidouts and twistouts (Let me know if you're interested in how to achieve this style)

                                                      

•  Very important - Buy a satin/silk scarf and if you can also get a satin/silk pillowcase. Cotton literally sucks out the moisture from our naturally dry hair.

Product Suggestions

We all have different hair, what works for me won't neccessarily work for you. I'll share products I use and products others have used that I know worked for their hair.

• Shampoo:
  Main thing you're looking for in shampoos is 'moisturising' in it's description. We need as much moisture as we can get. There are a couple of ingredients that most shampoos have that strip *all* moisture from the hair. Because of this, my main shampoo advice is to wash your hair once and not - wet, shampoo, rinse, shampoo and rinse again. The 1st time you shampoo, it might not lather as much but that doesn't mean your hair is not clean. - Keracare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
  - Nexxus Therappe Luxorious Moisturising Shampoo
  - Giovanni Smooth as Silk Shampoo
  I'll add more to this list later.
• Moisturiser:
  The main thing to look out for in your moisturisers is paraffin (paraffinum liquidum) and mineral oil. the shouldn't be in the top 5 ingredients in your moisturiser. I prefer using buttery moisturisers because oil helps seal in moisture.
  - Elasta QP Mango Butter
  - Cantu Shea Butter
  - Neutrogena Triple Moisture
  - Raw shea butter ('ori') whipped with some oils (I use coconut and castor oil) and some aloe vera
  
• Deep conditioner:
  This should be moisturising and also contain some protein. You can have 2 seperate conditioners, one moisture, one protein.
  Try mixing your deep conditioner with oils (olive, castor, jojoba, coconut, almond, etc)
  - Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner (protein + moisturising)
  - Lustrasilk Shea butter Cholesterol (protein + moisturising)
  - Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner (as this is very moisturising, you need to deep condition with protein at least once a month. I'm not sure if Keracare still produce Keracare Super Reconstructor)
  - Nexxus Humectress (this can also be used as a leave in conditioner)
  - Honey, Eggs and Olive Oil mixture - moisturising *and* protein!
  
• Leave-in Conditioner:
  This should always be applied to damp hair before styling
  - Giovanni Direct Leave In
  - Nexxus Humectress
  - Nexxus Headress
  - Carol's Daughter Flowers & Herbs Leave-In Conditioner
  - Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave In Cream

Please let me know me if you need any more info, I put this together in a bit of a hurry.

Photo credit: Me ;-) The reason I have sooo many pictures of my hair is I have an online hair album (yep, it's more than a hobby! I'm a hair geek :p )