The powerful goodness of the amazing Moringa Tree!

Moringa Seeds

For at least a year now I've been hearing about 'Moringa' and how beneficial it is. I didn't really pay much attention to it until recently when I was at the Salon day out organised by Savvy and Chic and had a discussion with the lovely lady who was at the Kalos Health and Beauty stand. Kalos have a wide range of products that are made from Moringa oil, leaves and seeds.

I was intrigued and made it a point to go read up on it and my goodness! I was blown away by the numerous benefits the WHOLE tree has to offer. Truly it's earned its name as the 'Miracle Tree' as all parts of the tree are packed with nutrients and antioxidants.

Oil is extracted from the seeds and roots, the flowers can be cooked and eaten, while the bark, sap, seeds, oil, leaves, roots and flowers are used to make traditional medicine.

That's not all - moringa leaves contain 7 times more potassium than bananas,  twice the amount of protein and four times the amount of calcium contained in milk.  Furthermore they contain 7 times more vitamin c than oranges, 25 times the amount of iron in spinach, 4 times more beta carotene than carrots, 36 times the amount of magnesium found in eggs and 50 times more vitamin B3 than peanuts!

If you're thinking 'what's that got to do with growing my hair?' remember from my previous post on Eating your way to healthy hair, that all these nutrients are necessary to build strong hair from within.

Come hang with us at Naturals In The City 8!

Yay! The 8th edition of Naturals In The City is finally here! This Saturday the 28th of June 2014, The Omenka Gallery will come alive with ladies and their hair in all textures, hues and styles. Hosted by Natural Nigerian,  vendors that day include Namaste Organics, African Naturalistas, Sahara Sunrise, Aweni Organics, Ajali, Nazuri Curls, Kalos Health and Beauty and of course KL's Natural Beauty Bar will be there :)

This edition is chock a block with so many goodies!!! Apart from the lovely speakers that will be on hand to speak on topics like Coloring your hair safely to practical styling tips; there will be hair stylists on hand, offering FREE hair styling services. Yes you heard me - FREE!!! Now don't expect to get a full head of braids or whatever - manage your expectations oh!

There will be a product swap which was successfully done at NITC 7 and  so is being repeated this year - if you have any product (s) which you tried and decided wasn't for  you, bring it along with you and you may just find something you like that someone else didn't want.

The piece de resistance this year is the give away session! There is a lot of fabulous stuff up for grabs from the vendors (including yours truly) and to get a full list of what's on offer, click here. Natural Nigerian is doing an amazing give away of a N10,000 voucher to spend in their product store!!! To get details on how to qualify for this ridiculously generous giveaway, click here.

Entry costs 500 and time is 1.30pm - make sure you bring a friend (or 5) and come armed with your wallet because trust me, you won't be able to resist all the goodies that will be on offer.

See you there!!

Design Essentials Strengthening Therapy System (STS) Results.

Hair Before

We've had quite a few customers come in requesting for the strengthening system which involves straightening the hair and in some cases, just loosening the curl pattern.

The Design Essentials STS which we use, comes in 2 forms:

Transitioning Mousse and Cleansing Shampoo

The Transitioning Mousse - which is for those transitioning/natural who want to achieve a uniform, straight look; and

The Elongation Mousse - which is for naturals who just want to loosen/elongate their curl pattern, tame frizz and increase manageability.

Salon Day Out - Pictures and What Went Down!

Tucked away in a corner at White space was our flag, proudly flying :)

I can't believe its been a week already! Sheesh - this year is FLYING by like no man's business! Anyhoo, so I'd promised to be back with pictures and snippets of what happened at the Salon day out on June 8th well here we go - I got there just before noon after a sluggish morning, and because we'd been so busy the day before I decided I'd pack up and pick up stuff from the store that morning as opposed to getting everything ready the night before.

Drove there, and as I feared, almost every other vendor had already arrived, picked a table and set up so I got a table right in the back - oh well, you have to make do with what you have right? :) It turned out to be a great spot actually and we did really well.

Eager participants listening attentively.

From my table I was able to see people as they walked in and I also had a great view of the room where presentations and demonstrations were taking place.

Moringa Products from Kalos Beauty

Kinky Apothecary Stand

Natural Nigerian

Brightening Body Scrubs from Courzez Skin Care.

On offer was a gorgeous array of hair products,  hair and body butters, oils, scrubs, make up, nail polish, healthy foods, Weaves, Wigs and one stall was dedicated to the all amazing and powerful Moringa seed.

How to Transition from Relaxed to Natural Hair.

I decided to do this post because lately I've been getting asked this question quite a lot by ladies who have decided that they want to ditch the relaxer and take care of their own natural hair.

Chief amongst these questions is - 'Do I have to cut off my hair now? a.k.a doing the 'Big Chop'
My answer always is (and still is) cutting your hair immediately  is a matter of choice and individual comfort level. Some people may transition for 6 months and chop off all their relaxed ends because they're comfortable enough to rock a short look ( or a Teeny Weeny Afro a.k.a. TWA). Some others will not hear of it and would rather transition for 1 - 2 years, trimming off the relaxed ends every other month or so till they get to a comfortable enough length.

Either way, the following are tips that helped me on my own 9 month transition journey and which I know have helped quite a number of people:

1. Build a Regimen: Consistency is the key to attaining any goals. You will need to develop a simple regimen which is knowing what you will be doing to your hair and how often. Too often I hear people say things like ' My hair is damaged, I just want to cut it and go natural and I know it will be better'. Thing is, if you didn't care for your hair while relaxed and it became damaged; going natural is not going to automatically solve all your hair problems. Daily disciplines will give you the success you desire.

Join us at the Salon Day out, Sunday 8th of June!

If you want to enjoy a day dedicated to rejuvenation and luxuriation, join us at the Salon day out being hosted by Savvy and Chic this Sunday, 8th of June 2014. Venue is White Space, 58, Raymond Njoku, Ikoyi, time is Noon and the best part? It's FREE!!!

There will be a good number of vendors giving demonstrations and presentations on a wide range of things from hair, to makeup to beauty to health!

Yours truly will be there :) doing a demo and offering great products and advice so come on down to mingle and have fun. See ya!

Throwback Thursday - A creamy crack appointment.

Lol! I was going through some pictures and stumbled upon this one from 2010 where I was about to get a
touch up (or 'retouch' as we call it).

On the trolley there you will sight what was my creamy crack of choice for over 15 years - Dark and Lovely in the regular strength. My stylist then  - Aunty Lola ( I have since become my own stylist :) ) was prepping my relaxer by mixing the activator into the tub of relaxer.

I remember those days so well - section hair in 3, 1 in the back and 2 in front, apply vaseline to hairline, apply relaxer to new growth (it literally physically hurts me when I see people applying relaxer to the whole head of hair, but truth be told, many years ago I was guilty of that same mistake) comb with a big comb, use a small comb to smooth, wait till it begins to tingle, rinse, condition and style. Lol.

These days though when I section my hair, it's to apply deep conditioner or henna - and no tingling or burning sensation thank you very much.

A peek into the world of amino acid based strengthening/straightening systems.

I love how the hair and beauty industry is constantly seeking to address the ever evolving needs of ladies (and men too actually) Once it became clear that a lot of women were seeking more natural alternatives in their hair and body products, it became normal to see things like 'paraben free' 'alcohol free' 'mineral oil free' etc. Shea butter, argan oil, Amla and coconut oil were the new 'It' ingredients and with the awareness of more and more women 'going natural' all of a sudden whole lines were created and dedicated to natural hair.

Seeing that the versatility of natural hair included the option to wear it straight one week and curly the next, we saw a rise in the Keratin and (a little more infamous) Brazilian blow out systems. Now these were products which helped straighten out curly hair - giving the client a chance to have her hair straight for up to 12 weeks before it reverted back to its curly state.

These systems began to gain popularity till it was discovered that a lot of them contained formaldehyde - a strong smelling gas that presents a health hazard when it is breathed in or comes in contact with skin; causing allergic reactions of the skin, eyes and lungs. If it accidentally gets into eyes, it can cause blindness! ( Na real wa!) The use of  the Brazilian blowout system has now been banned now in a lot of places.