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.

Crochet Braids - My New Love!

Crochet Braids using  a Curly Weave with the weft cut off.

I've always been an unapologetic braid lover :) but I haven't been able to experiment with different kinds and colors of hair as my texture will show through whatever I use. So when I first heard of crochet braiding, I was first intrigued then absolutely ecstatic!

The beauty of crochet braids is that you can use pretty much whatever type of hair you want to and for ladies like me with natural hair, you don't need to worry about your hair showing through, making your braids look like a hot mess 2 weeks into having your braids in.

As the hair is woven all round (like you would before installing a weave) the hair is hidden away and so you can use pretty much any color combination or hair texture you desire.

Finally got that trim!

So! My hair's been gagging for a trim (literally) and I knew I had to do something about it before I made things worse by allowing any split ends to travel up my hair shaft - damaging healthy hair.

For me when my ends start to look raggedy and 'transparent' i.e. compared to the density of the rest of the hair, you can 'see' through them; it's time for a trim! Now I would normally trim my hair when it's straightened but seeing as I'm on a no heat diet till December, I had to figure out a way to get a good trim on hair that wasn't straightened.

Product Review - Sitrinillah Deep Conditioning Masque and Design Essentials Natural Honey Curl Forming Custard

Yep you guessed right - my excitement got the better of me and my twists came out at the weekend! :)

Truth is we were about to close in the salon on Saturday night and I was contemplating taking them out - still debating with myself I asked one of my staff and a customer and they both agreed that it was beginning to look rough - and that all the prompting I needed!

So, I took them out, put my hair in a puff and when I got home, finger detangled using my Vatika Coconut oil making sure I got the oil on every strand. I then covered with a plastic cap, wore my satin cap and went to sleep. The following day, I clarified, followed up with a protein conditioner (Aubrey Organics GBP) and after rinsing out, I knew I wouldn't have time to do a proper Moisturizing deep conditioning treatment at home as I had to head to the salon so I decided I'd do a full day affair with my deep conditioner.

When You're Married To A Woman With Natural Hair.

LOL!!! I came across this post when someone posted the link on Facebook and I KNEW I just had to share it here. It's too funny - plus as a woman with natural hair, it's also soooooooooooooooo true! lolll. I asked permission from 'Naijahusband' and so I'm posting here for you to cackle as much as I did.

Enjoy!

When you’re married to a woman with natural hair… or a woman who wears her own hair…or a woman with any hair at all to be honest, you have to grow accustomed to certain things.

Let me try to list a few.

1) Watching her Bathroom Turn into a Mad Scientist’s Laboratory 

On any given day, NaijaWife, when not harassing me over my television watching, will disappear for hours. Once I don’t hear her asking me “what are you doing?” I know that means she has locked herself in the bathroom again.

I remember the first day I walked up to her bathroom door, curious to hear what was keeping her so long.  Smoke was coming out of the bottom of the door, and I think I heard some screams.

Moving closer, I could hear voices inside the bathroom (which I later realized were the faint sounds of a youtube video) giving her the following instructions:

• Add 1/2 cup of  castor oil
• Add 1 tsp of lavender oil
• Add 10 drops of peppermint oil

I thought she was making a secret batch of candy until I heard the next few steps

• Add 10 bat’s eyes
• Add 1 goat’s head
• Add the white feathers of a dove

WHAT was she making?! Herbal medicine? A witches potion?

Nope.

I may be exaggerating about the ingredients, but it turned out she was making yet another “team natural” concoction.  Week after week I noticed she’d go through the same process until one day she came running out of the bathroom screaming:

“AT LAST! AT LAST! I”VE DONE IT! THEY SAID IT COULDN”T BE DONE! BUT I PROVED THEM WRONG! THEY WERE FOOLS TO DOUBT ME! I FINALLY MASTERED THE “SHEA BUTTER COCONUT MILK CHERRY BLOSSOM TREATMENT!” HAHAHAHA!