Our First Giveaway! A chance to hob nob at the Savvy and Chic Garden Party.

ooooohhhhh!!! I'm so excited I'm fit to burst! lolll. Okay so I got an invitation from the lovely lady behind naijahaircangrow and Savvy and Chic Magazine - Dabs; to be a part of the Savvy and Chic garden party holding on Sunday September 28 at 3pm.

Now the event is strictly by invitation and  I've been given the added pleasure of picking one lucky reader to come with me :)

The dress code is  STRICTLY FLORALS and this has to be adhered to as they plan on (maybe) featuring pictures from the event in the next issue of their magazine.

Building A Healthy Hair Regimen

I've probably spoken about this in different ways in different posts on the blog but I've noticed that a number of people still struggle with figuring out what to do and when to do it and what product to use at what point.

I believe the first thing that needs to be settled in anyone's mind before building a regimen is the level of commitment you're willing to make. There is no point in deciding to do so many things that will take up some 3 hours every other day in the week when you don't really have that time to hand. Some people have more time to give than others and that's fine. All that needs to be done is to tailor the regimen to suit your time and your needs.

The main steps to consider in your regimen building are:
1. Cleanse
2. Condition
3. Moisturize
4. Protect

Finally got my braids in - Protective Styling Continues!

Finally! After weeks of sticking my fingers in my hair, 2 protective style fails and an intense bout of twice weekly conditioning; my tresses have finally been put away in my favorite protective style of all time - braids!!! Yay!

For about 3 weeks leading up to this time, I switched up my regimen a little - deep conditioning my hair about twice a week and  since I didn't want to shampoo till I was ready to braid; I would pre poo overnight with my oil of choice (Njoy on scalp and coconut/brahmi oil on hair) and  in the morning, I'd slather on deep conditioner to my hair, cover with a plastic cap and then use my heating cap for about 30 mins to an hour. I'd then rinse the deep conditioner out, co wash, apply my oil mix to damp hair ( coconut oil, Olive oil, Avocado oil, Castor oil, Jojoba Oil and Rose hip seed oil) and then follow up with either my Kimmaytube mix or just the Kinky Curly Knot Today leave in conditioner.

I normally use this with my Rhassoul Clay wash mix but it's packed full with so much goodness, I decided to add some to my oil mix for daily use.

I was wearing a wig in this period so my hair was always in about 7  or so plaits and in the evening I'd oil the length of my hair with my oil mix. Using the LOC method (Liquid, Oil, Conditioner layered in the hair in that order) on my wash days actually helped me retain moisture in my hair for longer! So all I had to do in the days following was just oil my hair for added strength without having to remoisturize. It's definitely something I'm going to incorporate again when I take down my braids.

My August Brides!

So in August, I had 2 gorgeous but absolutely different brides to style. Mosun -  Viviacious, Ebony -skinned, care free, straight talker who wanted to add volume to her hair (she has a TWA) using the awesome Heat Free Hair. She'd originally wanted to get a full weave but on seeing the style that she had picked I knew a weave would not work and it would be better to use clips so the hair could be put into the sections needed for the style she wanted.

Bundle of Heat Free Hair Clip in's as advertised

Now, seeing as we were going to be using extensions, it was important that we at least had one trial run so we could see what could and could not be done or what modifications we would need to make to the style to suit her face. Challenge was she's based in Kwara and somehow we weren't able to find a day to sit down and do anything!

By the Friday evening before her wedding when she was back in Lagos, I was hyperventilating as not only had I not picked up the hair, but we hadn't even sat down to figure out how we were going to style the hair! Mosun was as calm as you can imagine lol you'd have thought it was my wedding the way i was fretting. She just said to me ' you know what? We'll just have to go with the flow' and I was like '*gulp* okay'.

It's our One Year Blogger -versary!!!

                            

I almost can't believe it!! Not only has it been one year since the Salon opened for business ( we celebrated with lots of cake - one yummy red velvet cake and one absolutely sinful triple layered chocolate cake) it's also now 1 year since my first blog post!!

I've always loved writing and from time to time, I'd either write for my own pleasure, as a cathartic measure when I was going through personal issues or just for the general entertainment of my family and friends.

When I started really getting into my hair journey, I would post pictures on my Facebook page and someone said ' I see a hair blog in your future' and I thought - 'why ever not?' And so here we are!

Our Red Velvet Celebration Cake at the Salon

My first blog post really says it all about my deep desire for healthy long hair ( click here to read) and from the many talks I've had with ladies and young adults; this is a desire that most have nurtured but because of the myth that a lot of us bought into i.e. 'Black hair doesn't grow' plus many years of misinformation about caring for our hair which had been passed down through generations; most of us had just given up on that dream or were caught up in a cycle of hope, determination, frustration, resignation and then hope would spring up again only to go through that darned cycle.

I was in the latter category and thank goodness I finally found the resources that enabled me begin to give life to my dreams.

Manetabolism and MTG Updates.

So, a little over a month ago, I started taking my Manetabolism tablets and also using MTG topically on my scalp. With the Mane tabs, I started off taking the required dose ( 2 tabs) every night but within a week, I noticed a bump or two on my cheek, it wasn't anything alarming but I didn't want to leave anything to chance. I scoured the comments section of the Instagram page of The Mane Choice and saw someone who said she had the same issue and so split her dosage - one in the morning and one at night; and that worked for her, so I thought - why not?

I waited about 3 days for the bumps to clear up and then I started splitting the dosage - one in the morning with breakfast and one at night after dinner. Also my water intake increased - drinking at least 1.5 - 2 litres every day. Problem solved - no bumps or zits.

My (Mis) Adventures in Protective Styling Land

My first weave install in years.

Sigh. Honestly, I'm not sure what's been happening with me and my hair in the last 2 weeks but I've had back to back protective styling fails! The first was my late night crochet braid attempt that ended with me taking everything out before I even finished installing them.

Then remember on Monday when I said I might just go and fix a weave seeing as it was my day off? Well, I did. First let me say, I'm so clueless when it comes to weaves that it's not even funny lol. I went to Ebeano Supermarket first and I remember over hearing my stylists talking amongst themselves about how good the brand 'Chocolate' was; so even though I was almost overwhelmed by the different kinds, brands, textures and colors on display, my eyes settled on the Chocolate brand.

They didn't have the color I wanted so ended up going to the salon Downtown in Victoria Island (which is where I ended up fixing the hair) Settled for a 16 inch straight weave in color 4. When the stylist was fixing it, he kept laughing and saying ' you don't really like weaves do you?' because every time the hair so much as stayed on my face for more than 5 seconds I kept furiously brushing it away. - That should have been my pointer to the fact that something was up with my face and the weave.