Strengthening And Conditioning The Ayurvedic Way.

When I first began my hair journey, I was faithful with my Ayurvedic treatments - Henna fortnightly or monthly and Ayurvedic conditioning at least once a week. My hair had little to zero breakage, was thriving and had amazing thickness and sheen. You see, my 4b strands are fragile and quite prone to breakage so anything that strengthens them without causing dryness is perfect for me.

 Then the desire to try other stuff out (as Yorubas would say, 'ojukokoro' lol)  plus lack of time saw me doing less and less of it till I practically abandoned it altogether. Lately I haven't been feeling my hair because I wasn't getting the best of it and therefore needed to tweak my regimen or completely overhaul it.

I was reading NappilyNigerianGirl's blog one day and realized two things:

- We have somewhat similar textures and fragile strands

- She doesn't joke with her Ayurvedic treatments (including oiling) and has been able to strengthen her strands to the point where her breakage is almost minimal - meaning better length retention of course (she's currently at waist length) Now while that's not really a goal for me, better length retention and healthier, stronger strands definitely is!

Source: Nappilnigeriangirl.com

First Wash Day Of 2015!

So!!! I was telling you all how I'd had my first wash day and in line with one of my goals to use more natural products this year, this is how the day went down :)

I'd taken off my crochet braids, pre poo'd with my Amla/Brahmi Oil, left it overnight and in the morning I shampooed - first with my clarifying shampoo in order to give my hair a fresh start. (because about a week before I got my crochet braids, I'd flat ironed my hair and so had used products with silicones to protect my strands from the thermal applicances).

I followed up with a moisturizing shampoo, then warmed up some Coconut, Olive, Avocado, Castor and Vitamin E oil, applied it to my hair and then just sat around for about 20 mins. I brought out my steamer and spent an additional 10 minutes under it.

Prior to going under the steamer I had brewed some Black Tea and some Nettle leaves for a tea rinse. I noticed my hair had shed a lot when I took out my crochet braids (more than normal I thought even though I'd had a protective style for about a month) and wanted to address that.

NITC 7, My Funky Updo and Overcoming My Fear of Public Speaking!

Phew! The last couple of days have been hectic and loooong but so rewarding! The 7th edition of Naturals In The City held yesterday the 30th of November at the lovely Omenka Gallery in Ikoyi: it was my first time at the meet up and not only did we have a stand to showcase and sell our products but I had been given the honor of speaking to the lovely ladies present about Ayurveda in Natural hair care (thanks again Natural Nigerian!)

Now, I am FRIGHTENED when it comes to speaking in front of a crowd of people and I had worried myself silly right before I went up to speak. This fear is one I'm determined to conquer and late last year I took steps towards that by enrolling and participating in a public speaking course at the Lagos Business School. I believe it's helped me because I was able to calm my nerves and speak as clearly as possible (yay!) When I recall some horrendous episodes in the past when I literally melted when I got in front of a group of people, I just cringe in embarrassment - maybe one day I'll be brave enough to recount some episodes here for your enjoyment :)