Why Cowash?

I told my sister I wanted to incorporate cowashing into my regimen this year. To my surprise, she said she has stopped cowashing This is someone who diligently cowashed at least once a week or every two weeks. I asked her why, and she said she didn't see the point of cowashing anymore. Her exact words were, "What's the point of cowashing?"

Co-washing as we all know means Conditioner Washing, which is basically washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. It is important to note though that cowashing doesn't clean your hair as much as washing with regular shampoo will. Shampoo contains cleansers that are meant to remove product from your hair. Most conditioners don't have those cleansers, although there are some touted cleansing conditioners in the market.

As someone who tries to moisturize a few times a week, using some of the products here, it's very easy for my natural hair to have product build up, so at the end of the day, I'm not sure if cowashing needs to be a staple in my regimen. It can be something I do in between regular DC and washing, but it will definitely not take the place of my shampoo washing.

What do you do in regards to cowashing?

Whether or not you cowash, check out our African Naturalistas Store for the best products for your hair.

NATURAL HAIR FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• If you find that gels dry up your hair, try doing this: Apply a moisturizer prior to putting the gel.
• To help with length retention, focus on putting more moisturizer on your ends than the full length of your hair.
• If you have to moisturize your hair several times a day, your moisturizer might not be working for you.
• If you are experiencing breakage and have done everything; moisturizing, protein treatment, deep conditioning; check the water you use to wash or spritz your hair.
  
  If you have hard water, this can be the culprit. Use distilled water to wash your hair after you have used a chelating shampoo to remove the mineral deposit from your hair.
• When using Shea butter, always use either on damp hair, or on hair that has been moisturized with a water-based moisturizer.
  
  Why???
  
  Since Shea butter is a sealant, and not a moisturizer, when you use it on damp hair, water acts as the moisturizer and the Shea butter seals in the moisture that water puts in. If you apply shea butter on dry hair, it will not seal in any moisture and it will prevent moisture from getting in.
• Make sure the grooved side of the bobby pin is facing down, against the skin. The ribbing is designed to grip hair and lock it in place, and you will capture more hair with the pin in that position.
• When you moisturize your hair prior to stretching or manipulating it, you reduce the chances if it breaking. 
• Bushy ends, make smaller twists and seal with Shea butter after misting hair with water
• In colder weather, avoid products that have glycerin high on the ingredients list. Glycerin draws moisture from the air to the hair on humid days, but when the air is cool and dry, glycerin draws moisture from the hair, thereby drying up your hair.
• Doing hot oil treatments at least once a month will help the health of your hair.
• Rinse out your conditioner using cool water. This will help close the scales in your hair cuticle and lock in the moisturizing agents that are in the conditioner.
• Pour 1 cup of cold Aloe Vera Juice on hair as final rinse, great sealant and shine.

Stay beautiful! 💖 

If you like this blog post written by Sola of DiscoveringNatural, you can find her on her Youtube channel, DiscoveringNatural,  for more natural hair tips. Click here to visit her channel.

Tips on How to care for your Hair during Harmattan

Hi Naturals

I feel harmattan already. Do you?

We are all aware that harmattan period is usually associated with dryness and cold. Here are few tips on how you can care for your hair;

1. MOISTURISE REGULARLY: Water is your friend. Spray your hair daily with it, apply a leavein and seal with hair butter or oil (thick oils like castor) in order to keep the moisture in for as long as possible. If you use to moisturise only in the morning, you should be thinking about starting a night routine too. Moisture is important during the harmattan period as our hair gets dry easily. You could opt for a daily mist or just mix water, oil and leave-in conditioner in a bottle and spray on the go.

2. DEEP CONDITION HAIR OFTEN: With less moisture, your hair breaks terribly. No one wants that. With the dry weather draining out moisture from our hair, it's advisable to replenish it as often as possible. A moisturising deep masque or conditioner is applicable here.

3. STICK TO PROTECTIVE STYLING: You can put your hair in any protective style of your choice as far as your ends are tucked in. It could be braids, twists, wigs, updos e.t.c. As for me, I would be wigging all through till I get bored. lol

4. AVOID GELS: You definitely should not try using gels. It's a no no. The results are not going to be nice at all. Instead, use moisturising products and do not have strong hold on your hair.

5. DO THE GREENHOUSE METHOD: Spritz your hair with water and oil, wear a plastic or shower cap and leave overnight or for a couple of hours before bed. The heat generated keeps the hair soft and moisturized all day.

That's it. I hope you find this helpful. Please leave your comments below with any more tips you think would be great for haircare during harmattan


Enjoy the rest of the week

Leeznijis

Reverse Washing - Conditioner before Shampoo?

Hello Naturalistas, How are you all doing? Kinks and all? I was going through my Instagram feed when "Reverse washing" captured my eyes and attention. I decided to do abit of research about it to understand what it really is about and why people are doing it.

A photo posted by Stacy-Ann (@sexy_jaican) on Nov 6, 2016 at 8:04am PST

What is Reverse Washing? This is basically using your conditioner first before you use your shampoo. Alot of times we are just used to doing things a certain way and I guess someone woke up one day and decided to challenge the "norm" and it worked for them or didn't. The result of going this route will change how your hair feels after on your wash days, for some the change will be positive and others it will be negative. At the end of the day, there is no harm in trying.

Why Shampoo?
The purpose of shampoo is to cleanse hair and scalp of dirt, product build up, remove excess sebum but not stripping it all off to still make the hair manageable.

Why Conditioner?
The purpose of conditioners is to strengthen and moisturise your hair after shampooing. Essentially, it restores a healthy moisture balance to your hair, close the cuticle to prepare your hair for the rigor of styling.

Reverse wash or not? I would say to each his own. There are people that have their hair feeling and looking better while using this method, but looking at the facts and shampooing after you condition your hair will have your hair strands swelling without balancing the alkaline pH out (Which is what the conditioner does) which is not the ideal state of the hair. Your hair will be more susceptible to damage.

Scientifically, there is the reason for shampooing before conditioning your hair and things like alternative methods do open up our minds to other possibilities (which is great) and while we something need to question why we do the things we do, it is important that we focus on the health of our hair in our quest of trying out new things.

Do you condition before you shampoo? or Do you Shampoo before you condition? Have you tried both? What was your experience like? 

Ways to prevent breakage while transitioning

Hello Naturalistas, How are you all doing? Kinks and all?

One of the things transitioning naturalistas have to deal with is breakage. Breakage is a concern more for transitioning naturalistas because your hair is strained and stressed to a certain degree at the line of demarcation

(Where previously processed hair meets your new growth) and you can create more stress for your hair if it is not properly taken care of.  Here are a few ways to prevent breakage while transitioning.

Moisturise from roots to ends; It's important to also moisturise the ends of your hair. Avoid using too many products at once as that can cause your hair to dry out easily. Moisturising and sealing your hair generously will keep your hair soft and avoid the breakage that comes with dry hair.

Detangle your wet hair only; You do not want to detangle your hair while it is dry. Detangling is easier on your hair when it is conditioned and wet.

Trim Often

Deep condition weekly; Deep conditioning is the best friend of every transitioner. Deep conditioning helps strengthen the relaxed strands and keeps the natural bit of your hair in top shape! I know deep conditioning every week seems abit too much but your hair will thank you for it.

Cut out heat

Use satin Bonnet or satin pillow; You don't anything harsh rubbing against your hair.

Protective styling; Ensure to do protective styles that requires less manipulation and protective styles that do not cause more harm than good e.g Styles that pull too much at your scalp.

Protein treatment; You can do this once a month. It strengthens the 2 textures you have. A simple protein treatment recipe is;

1 Egg
2-3 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Olive Oil (or any other oil you have)

Mix it all together then continue like you would a deep conditioning treatment.

What are the other ways you prevent your natural hair from breakage?

Watch this cutie 5-finger detangle her natural hair

Holla Naturalistas, 

How are you all doing? Kinks and all? I found this 5 year old cutie on the internet, she's been an instagram sensation since she was as little as 3 posting hair tutorial, the page was of course managed by her mum. 

Watch how she 5 finger detangles her hair.

And if you want to see more dose of cuteness check her out on Instagram

Styling Adventures: Loose Twists

Forgive the unflattering picture.

Hello everyone!

I’ve been wearing loose twists now for the past two-three months and it has been awesome. The perfect protective style for this unbearable heat.  As the name implies, loose twists are just two-strand twists twisted loosely. Best thing? It gives the illusion of locs. If I had a dollar for everytime I got asked if it was my hair, I would be able to buy a Shea Moisture product. Lol. Anyways, the first time I heard about it, I was fascinated. Just when I was coming to terms with wearing my twists out – I never wore them without a scarf or a turban – this provided a better alternative. So, I got to work. After watching a few videos and learning the techniques, I was armed and ready. Suddenly, everyone on my Instagram was wearing loose twists like some kind of announcement was made.

I loved the results! I was SOLD! I started wearing it for a week and overtime, two weeks which is where I am at now. I was so tempted to carry it for about four weeks but the way my hair is set up, I can’t do without washing it in a week. So, I’ve pushed that aside for now.

So what are the pros of loose twists?

1. Super easy to install plus it takes a shorter time. About two hours of less.
2. The technique is similar to regular two strand twists which make it easy to learn. All you have to do is to twist the roots tightly to avoid it being puffy and twist the rest of the strand loosely. For better results, make it in form of mini twists.
3. Super versatile and easy to style. I recently bought some accessories at NITC14 and I was so eager to wear them. All I needed to was tuck in a few strands here and there and viola! It isn’t as stiff as regular twists

Cons?

SHRINKAGE! They shrink like hell! Which is good. I mean, it signifies good health and elasticity but mahn, no chill whatsoever.

The Process.

Every two weeks, I wash and deep condition with whatever is unavailable. The last time, it was a henna treatment. When I’m done, I moisturize with my Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream and seal with my oil mix. If I’m not too busy, I start to twist immediately. But if I am, I put my hair in two ponytails and leave it until I’m ready. I’ve tried twisting with three different products – Eco Styler Gel, African Naturalistas Twist and Curl Pudding and my whipped hair butter. But one thing certainly stood out. With my whipped hair butter which is glazed with glycerine, my hair stayed moisturized for up to a week. No jokes. I didn’t even need to spray with my hair spritz except maybe oil my scalp. That was it. Trust me, I was sold. I didn’t care about definition. Afterall, the longer the twist stays, the more defined it is with or without the product. After one week, of course my hair begins to feel dry so I either moisturize with my hair spritz or co-wash. But I noticed that after co-washing, I need to moisturize everyday until takedown and the cycle continued.

To be honest, I’ve never been as content with any style as I am with it now. Plus, I get to retain maximum length. It’s a win-win. Maybe when the harmattan season comes, I’ll go back to extensions but for now, it’s loose twists all the way. Also known as locs without the commitment.

How is everyone wearing their hair at the moment?

Love,coils and curls.

eBunite

How to make your natural hair grow faster

Hi Naturalistas,

Happy New Month.

Source

Here are few tips that can help you in growing your hair faster

1. Always use a wide-tooth comb for on your hair. This would reduce hair breakage whenever you comb. But remember to be gentle. Comb your hair when damp and conditioned. It would ease the comb through the hair with less breakage.

2. Wear a satin cap or scarf to bed every night. This helps the hair to be safe instead of rolling all around in the bed.

3. Reduce the exposure of heat to your hair e.g straigthening as it causes hair to become weak and brittle which sometimes lead to hair shedding and heat damage.

4. Drink lots of water as this can help your hair to grow faster.

5. Moisturize your hair every morning and before bed

6.  Use coconut oil and (or) castor oil on your ends to prevent breakage and on the roots to increase hair growth.

7. Oil your hair when it is damp. If it is dry, the oil will prevent moisture from entering.

8. Do more of protective styles during hamattan or dry season . This would prevent your hair from drying out.

9. Be patient. Hair grows on average 1/2 an inch per month, so it may take many months for your hair to reach your preferred length.




Enjoy the rest of the week

Leeznijis

How To Make Natural Hair Thicker

Are you struggling with thinning hair? There are several reasons why your hair could be thinning. These reasons could be genetics, aging, over manipulation, stress, bad nutrition, bad hair care, and in most cases hairstyles. For children, when they are infants, their hair might not be as thick as you will think it should be. This is okay. However, if you notice that the hair is not thickening up, you might want to give some of these methods a try.

 Note that some methods such as black tea rinses should not be done on infants due to the caffeine content in the tea.

Click here or watch below

Moisturising Natural hair: My daily hair spritz

Hi Naturalistas,
Hope you are all doing great?

Source

So I have decided to share with you guys what I have in daily spritz/spray bottle.

First of, what's a daily hair spritz? It's a water-based mixture that is sprayed daily on hair to add moisture to it and prevent breakage. Well, that's my understanding. Moisture is very important as we all know and water is the main source. But, sometimes our hair needs just more than water.

When I started my hair journey, all I did was just spray my hair with water and seal with oil. Later on , I made a mix of water, olive oil, coconut oil and aloe vera. Along the line, I had to switch from aloe vera to glycerine, after someone suggested I should because my hair got dry quickly.

There are several ways to mix a daily spritz. You just have to find what works for you. I hear some people mix honey and green tea with theirs.

Here is what I have in mine of recent,
1. Water -50% 
2. Rose water -20%
3. Oils (Coconut, olive and lavender) - 10%
4. Glycerine -10%
5. Apple cider vinegar -5%
6. Leave in conditioner - 5%

All I do is mix them all up in my spray bottle and shake well before use.

My hair loves this mix and is moisturised all day. Sometimes, I carry a smaller spray bottle just incase the weather is not favourable.

So what do you have in your spray bottle? Share in the comment box

Enjoy the rest of the week

Leeznijis

How to Blow Out Natural Hair | Kids Version

In this video, I demonstrate 2 different ways you can blow out  natural hair with no heat damage




BIG HAIR DON'T CARE!!

Signs your Natural Hair needs a Trim

Hello Naturalistas!! 

How was your holiday? I hope you had a lovely one and got the time to pamper your hair like it needed? Today, we would look at signs that your natural hair needs a trim.

If you are anything like me, the idea of trimming your hair won't be very pleasant. I'd rather cut it all off(Which I just did btw) than trim it. The main reason is because, I just wanted length and not heath. Another reason I never did trim my hair was because, I didn't know when to do it so, only got my hair trimmed once last year at the O'Natural's salon but I have learnt that in other for my hair to thrive, there has to be trimming off of unhealthy ends.

Here are signs that your hair needs a trim

- Knots
- Breakage
- Split ends
- Tangles

While some of these can be fixed with better hair care, when you start have them too often, it's probably time to get a trim so your hair can thrive. It is advised to get a trim at least 3-4 times in a year and less for those that let their hair breathe (No hands-in hair syndrome) and are manipulating their hair alot less.

Look at it like pruning. After a tree is pruned, it thrives. Trimming the hair regularly will even help avoid further damage to your hair.

How do you know when YOU need a trim?

Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay for Natural Hair

When I first decided to try using a clay wash on my hair, Bentonite clay was my first choice. I loved the way it clumped my curls and gave my hair a clarifying feeling but not a stripping one. I however did not like that I had to wait after applying it to my hair for it to do its job.

My Mix


Another issue I had with it was the fact that it didn't rinse off my hair as quickly and sometimes I had to use a cowash cleansing conditioner to get rid of any other residue.

When I got introduced to Rhassoul clay, the first time, I mixed it the wrong way, with a thick conditioner. Let me just say, I had the worst experience ever!! My usual black hair was brown, like someone colored it!! I was so scared. Then, I tried a different way of mixing it using just Aloe Vrera Juice and oils. I was in LOVE!!! Unlike its counterpart, my hair didn't require any additional rinse, it was soft, curls were PoPping! and my hair totally loved it.

How I mixed it:


I haven't used Bentonite clay on my hair since I started using Rhassoul clay. I only use it as my facial masque. Click here to see how I use it

By the way, the clays can be used on kids hair, just make sure to not get it in their eyes. Click to see how I apply it to my youngest daughter's hair.


Have you ever used Rhassoul Clay or  Bentonite Clay?

Top Hacks When Protective Styling With Extensions

Hey ladies, happy Friday!

Today I want to share some top hacks which really help make life that much easier when you use extensions to protective style. Check them out

How to Teach Your Child About Detangling Natural Hair

By DiscoveringNatural

This year, I have been teaching the girls more about caring for their natural hair. I am a believer in teaching kids at a young age to love their hair and also LEARN their hair. This is our second episodes in the "TEACHING YOUR CHILD ABOUT NATURAL HAIR" series. Last episode, we learnt about Hair Porosity. In today's video, I teach the girls about DETANGLING.

Hope you enjoy the video:

 

 

If you like this blog post written by Sola of DiscoveringNatural, you can find her on her Youtube channel, DiscoveringNatural,  for more natural hair tips. Click here to visit her channel.

What to Do When You Hit a Length Plateau

Hey ladies, happy Friday!

A similar post is already up on my blog, but I think it would serve a good cause to post here as well. Hair journeys are about sharing the highs and lows, and learning as we carry on.

As much as this journey is about healthy hair, i'm also in it to debunk the myth that African hair doesn't grow long. My ultimate length goal is midback length. From  there, i'll decide whether or not i'll take it to waist length.

Baby Lotion as moisturiser for your Natural Hair?

Hello Naturalistas?

How are you and how is the weather treating your natural hair? Moisturising my hair has been a challenge as it dries out too QUICKLY!! Sigh!!

I was speaking to someone over the weekend, she has dreadlock, while we were both lamenting on the harshness of the weather on our hair, she mentioned that she bought baby lotion to you.

*rings alarm*

I kept wondering if I heard correctly but I didn't even bother to ask further. I went to Google to try to check what the world is saying about it and from what I found there are a few things about baby lotion that make people use it.

- Baby lotion is water-based and light weight.
- It makes their hair softer.
- Maintains Curls
- Helps control frizzy hair.

I think I will try it if it is safe - I am desperate for some moisture now. I want to know if there are people out there that use baby lotion for their hair! What is your experience? Or is it something you are willing to try if it is safe?

How I Used Bentonite Clay On My Natural Hair

Hello everyone!

I took down my marley twists after four weeks as opposed to six weeks which I had previously planned. I had recently bought bentonite clay and I could not wait to use it on my hair.

The first thing I did was to detangle with African Naturalistas Moisturizing and Detangling Conditioner. As always detangling was blissful. I was also glad that I didn't loose too much hair.

Next, I made my bentonite clay paste which comprised of
- Apple Cider Vinegar 
- Aloe Vera Juice 
- Coconut Oil 
- Lavender Oil.

I mixed everything together to make a paste which was a tad lumpy and applied it to my hair. After which, I covered it with a shower cap and satin bonnet and I went ahead with my business. An hour later, I rinsed out with cold water. Can I just say that I absolutely loved the results?

My hair was squeaky clean, soft, moisturized and well defined. My 4a coils were literally popping. I knew I could get used to this every wash day. So, I finished up with a chamomile and black tea rinse. After which I moisturized with the LOC method using Profectiv Mega Growth Daily Leave-in Strengthener, my oil mix and whipped shea butter.


This is easily one of my favorite wash days in long while.

Have anyone used bentonite clay before? How was your experience?

Love, coils and curls
eBunite

3 Ways to Get rid of Itchy Scalp on Natural Hair

Hi Naturals.

We all know that having an Itchy scalp could be so annoying. You get to scratch your hair constantly and may even end up having an injury if your scalp is as sensitive as mine is.

I remember when my scalp used to itch so much, it wasn't a good experience at all. I used to have dandruff which wasn't funny as flakes would fall off like powder and it could be so embarrassing... lol. Thus, it triggered the itchy scalp. Asides dandruff, itchy scalp could be caused by heat, stress, scalp infection, product buildup, or even a reaction to a product.

I would like to share 3 ways one can get rid of itchy scalp. I tried them and they worked.

1. Moisturize your scalp with moisturizing oils/cream : When the hair is dry, it turns brittle and a dry scalp causes itchiness. So always try to keep your scalp moisturised as often as possible.

2. Clean Your Scalp Properly during wash : Try to wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo once a month and follow up with a moisturizing conditioner. This would help to prevent product buildup. Also get a shampoo that contains tea tree oil or you get the oil itself. It reduces the itch as it helps get rid of Dandruff too.

3. Clean your scalp with lemon juice:
Squeeze out the juice from the lemon into a plastic bowl. Using a cotton wool, clean your scalp with it and leave for about 30mins before washing and conditioning. In a couple of days, you would say goodbye to itchy scalp for good as lemon has antiseptic properties which revitalize the scalp.

Please note that itchy scalp leads to hairloss as when we scratch our head, it causes the hair to weaken and fall off. So whenever your scalp itches like crazy, you should know something is wrong and you could try this tips.

Ps: Remember to share your hair story with us. We really want to see your beautiful crown and learn few things from you. Kindly send a mail to manematters@africanaturalistas.com 

Till then
Leeznijis