Design Essentials Quinoa And Bamboo Hair Repair Collection Review.

I had been rocking these absolutely gorgeous kinky twists (if I may say so myself) for a little over 3 weeks and I was in love and not having my usual withdrawal symptoms of missing my own hair. Then of course something had to come in between me and my beloved twists -breakouts on my face!!! Anytime the extensions I have on begin to get old AND touch my face, it's a wrap.

Happens EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I had to take them out. I would rather deal with bad hair than bad facial skin - FACT lolll. I can't shout.

Anyway, I took them out Sunday morning and I had no time to detangle much less wash the hair - I had a full salon work day ahead of me! So I applied Natmaine's Pre Poo butter which leaves my hair soooo soft and shiny; and then put it into bun and went to work.

 I was mentally contemplating what I would do with the hair and knew I would have to wash it  - but the thought of detangling, washing, doing a henna treatment for strength and then a moisturizing deep conditioner was exhausting in and of itself! I knew my hair needed some strength and nourishing particularly as I'd just taken out synthetic extensions which weaken and dry out hair.

I then remembered we had these Design Essentials Quinoa and Bamboo Hair Repair collection kits which offer a simple 3 step routine to stronger hair, more body and shine. I was definitely digging that. Best of all, it says on the box ' No heat required. 30 minutes or less' I was definitely sold at this point!

I used it last night and have come to share my experience, my thoughts and most importantly how my hair felt then and feels now. So here goes!

Caring For Your Little Girl's Hair.

As a little girl I had a couple of dolls I enjoyed playing with - my favorite was my darling Jemima (named after the lead character Jemima Shaw on the TV show 'Jemima Shaw Investigates') and she was my little baby.

She went everywhere with me and styling her hair was one of my favorite pass times.
As girls we want so much to play mummy that we mother our dolls 24/7 so I totally identify with that feeling when you have a real baby girl and want her to look like a pretty little bundle of cuteness  (I know that I can't wait!)

And that is why you see so many babies with these little pretty colorful adornments in their hair. This is fine. However, it begins to be a problem when in styling her hair, follicles and scalp health become compromised.

Over the years, I have seen so many disheartening things being done to little girls all in the name of hair styling but 2 recent separate incidents spurred me to do this post.

Silicones, Sulfates and Choosing the right Products for your hair.

As a stylist and salon owner I get to talk and interact with a lot of naturalistas about their hair journey, hair products and hair health. The one thing I have noticed time and time again is that a lot of people are fixated on 'Sulfate Free Shampoos'. They go natural, read up that sulfates are bad for your hair and then invest in sulfate free shampoos - which in and of itself is a great thing.

HOWEVER they begin to suffer from bad breakage, hair starts to thin and even though they seem to be doing the right things and using the 'right' products, their hair is not co operating! Most times when I hear this complaint, the first thing I ask is the name of the deep/leave in conditioner they are using and when you look at the ingredients you notice they have silicones and mineral oil high up on the list.

The thing is while sulfate free shampoos are great for natural hair as they are non stripping, a lot of silicones and other ingredients are non water soluble and can only be removed from your hair using a sulfate shampoo. The continued layering of these products on your hair without washing them out properly will cause build up on  your strands, no moisture will penetrate through and you begin to experience breakage as the hair becomes brittle from lack of penetrative moisture. This is why you will notice most brands that produce 'sets' will have sulfates in their shampoos where they have silicone rich conditioners.

Before we go any further, lets discuss what Silicones are, what they do for the hair and the type of silicones we have.

Caring For Your Hair While In Crochet Braids.

Curly crochet braids - had just washed and conditioned my hair underneath.

It's no news that crochet braids have come to stay!!! Whether short, long, kinky, straight, twisted, braided; the possibilities seem endless and have given us ladies an amazing alternative to regular braids and weaves.

Now one of the great things about crochet is the fact that you get to wear some gorgeous styles that keep for longer than regular braids. Why you may ask? Well for instance as a naturalista, if I got my hair braided with regular extensions, by the 4th day, my kinks will start showing through the texture of the extensions, and by the end of week 1, what once looked nice and fresh will be looking like a hot mess.

With crochet braids, because the hair is first woven down and then the extensions crocheted on top, the hair is well hidden underneath and doesn't start to come through - meaning you can wear the hair for longer.

An example of what the hair looks like underneath the crochet style