Incorporating Oil Rinses Into Your Regimen For the Drier Months.

The winds are about to change on us (actually they ought to have changed by now but not sure why the rains have persisted) so it's a good time to switch up a few things in our hair regimens to address the extra dryness that is bound to occur. Knowing that our hair already tends to dryness, it is verrrryyy important to try and prevent any additional dryness before you end up with a head full of straw like strands!

Oil rinsing is really just adding some oil to your hair in between the shampoo and conditioner stage and trust me it is one of the best things you can do to aid moisture retention and detangling of your hair.

 I had an 'Aha' moment in the salon one day while working with a client's uber dry and knotty hair. I decided to do an oil rinse by applying oil to her hair before applying the conditioner and for added measure when I had rinsed out her hair, I used the LOC method (Liquid, Oil and Conditioner) and it was a breeze detangling her really really thick hair. Transitioners can also benefit from oil rinsing too because it makes detangling the 2 textures much easier.

Finally Got My Crochet Braid Game On!

After my last failed attempt at getting my crochet braids in, I finally got to do something I love! So I'd been seeing some lovely looking twists on Instagram  with hair from a brand called 'xpress your kinks' and after seeing this  YouTube video by Jessica Pettway, I KNEW I had to get the hair! Check out their website here

After doing some research, I settled on buying 3 packs of hair - 2 packs in the color 'Darkest Xpresso' and  for highlights, 1 pack in 'Chestnut'. I had someone in the States place the order for me and send them down to me.

Darkest Xpresso

Chestnut with the Darkest Xpresso

 As soon as they came, I wasted no time! lol Crochet braids don't take long to do once you know what you're doing so I hijacked one of my girls in the salon and got to work. I wanted a side part so she braided my hair accordingly and then crocheted the hair using small strips of hair at a time.

My Uyo Bride!

So! November started on a fab note! My first bride of the month was getting married on the 1st in Uyo - Akwa Ibom State! I'd never been and it was all sorts of exciting when I found out I'd be travelling there.

Patience the bride, is a beautiful gem! Honestly!  So calm, sweet and patient! (Every pun intended lol) My flight and accommodation had been booked like a month before and she'd sent me confirmation for everything. The night before I was to leave, she called and said the clip ins she ordered hadn't arrived and would probably not arrive in time for the wedding.

I was actually leaving the salon when her call came in so ran back inside and grabbed a few packs of hair as I mentally calculated what style change we were going to have to do.

Update On ORS Strengthening and Straightening System.

So last month, Detuke of tukesquest came over to get her natural hair straightened using the ORS system.( If you missed the post, click here to read it)

I've been following her hair's progress after the treatment and decided to do a quick update on how long the 'straightness' lasted and if her curl pattern was altered in anyway.

 I know a number of people are interested in using this system but there are (genuine) doubts as to whether their hair will ever go back to being curly. So thought this might help by giving you a better idea of what happens after the treatment.

And The Winners Of The Whipped Butter Giveaway are..........

Whoop whoop! So we have 2 winners from our last giveaway. The questions were fairly straightforward so didn't expect anyone to give any far out answers lol.

1. The African Shea Tree - has a number of 'aliases' depending on whether you're using it's scientific name ( Vitellaria Paradoxa) or the language of the Country where it's found (Karite, Bambuk, Nku, galam etc)

2. It is predominantly found in East and West Africa - about 19 African Countries now produce Shea Butter

3. Ori is the Yoruba name for Shea Butter

Ingredient Spotlight: Caprylic Capric Triglycerides

Picture Source: writingtomakeadifference.com 

There are certain ingredients which are a huge bonus to any hair care product because of the benefits they bring to the health of hair. One of such ingredients is Caprylic Capric Triglycerides.

A mixed ester compound of Caprylic and Capric Fatty acids which are derived from Coconut Oil and glycerine; this ingredient is widely accepted as a safe, non toxic ingredient in not just hair but skin products.

It aids in moisture retention in hair and skin by resisting moisture loss, resulting in smoother skin and softer hair to the touch.

Specifically for hair, it provides 'slip' (i.e. coats your strands enough to reduce friction between them thus aiding the detangling process), restores softness and gives the hair a smooth feel. This means softer, moisturized hair, less tangling and therefore less breakage, leading to length retention.

Getting back in the styling groove.

Rocked my Fro at some point last week

I've been kinda 'bleh' with styling my hair in the last couple of months; apart from the fact that I thought I was over manipulating my strands, I just wasn't feeling my hair, style wise. The one thing I've come to realize in all of this though, is that I'm not a great fan of two strand twists.

Yes they're versatile and quick and bla bla bla but for me personally, it would be one of the last things I would do on my hair when faced with options. Maybe when I get to a longer length and can do really chunky twists without looking like I stuck my fingers in an electric socket :)

I actually had twists for like 2 weeks recently - took them out and was going to get crochet braids in. I had woven my hair and all that in preparation for the crochet braids but I decided to rock the hair that way - at some point, got a wig too and rocked that for a few days.

Rocking my twists at Locitude with the  lovely Aderonke

Then I remembered that I had a stash of Marley hair somewhere and I hadn't rocked any Faux buns/up do's in a while. Hmmmm.................

Giveaway Time!! KL's Naturals All Natural Whipped Shea Butter up for grabs!

Okay so recently we took delivery of a fresh batch of  Shea Butter from a new processing plant in Niger State ( we normally use Shea Butter from Saki in Oyo State for our whipped butters). I'm a great lover of Shea Butter - it's helped tremendously with my dry skin issue (atopic dermatitis) by softening and smoothing my skin and fading away scars on my legs and face left by the patchy dryness.

It's also a great sealant for my hair especially when I need something a little heavier than my regular coconut oil.

So when I was approached to try out this Shea Butter I did my own investigations which tallied with what I'd been told and we've decided to give it a try!