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

My Warri, Delta State Trip, Courtesy Pam Hairitage!!

Ah! So I have this customer Pamela, who lives in Warri, Delta State and anytime she's in Lagos, she always makes it a point to come down to the salon to have her hair pampered. She called me a few months ago saying she really wanted to start bringing the naturalistas in Warri together and was thinking of hosting a Natural Hair Themed event and asked if I'd be willing to come down to support. Of course I said I would love to!

So, July 16th was set as the D Day and everything was planned and organized. My flight was due to leave at 7.40am on Friday the 15th so I got up bright and early, had a cab drop me off at the airport and joined the long Arik queue for check in. 7.30, 8.30, 9.30, 10.00 - No boarding call!!! All I could think of was those extra hours I could have been sleeping in my bed! Finally at about 10.30 we started boarding amid the usual 'we're sorry for the delay blah blah'.

Landed safely in Warri and I had a driver waiting for me to take me to my hotel. Got in the hotel, threw off my clothes, ordered some food and then slept!! I mean this was Friday, one of my busiest days of the week and I get to be in a hotel room with no heads of hair to wash or customers to attend to! Instead it was Room service and T.V? And a big, soft bed?? Aaah! It was heaven! loll As much as I love what I do, it was a good feeling to just lounge and sleep in the middle of the day.

Anyway, the following day dawned bright and early, and my assigned driver came to get me and dropped me off at the venue. I have to give it to Warri Naturalistas - they were on time!! Event was due to hold at 12 noon and we already had people seated by past 11.

Happy Anniversary to Us!! We're 3!!!

source:youtube.com

Honestly I can't believe how much time just flies!!! I remember just like it was yesterday - the mix of excitement, fear, panic and sheer joy. God has truly been faithful - in the past 3 years we've expanded our range of products and services, grown from 3 staff to 10, grown our client base and there are so many more things that God has in store for us!!

August 9th 2013 - My friends supporting me on the opening day even though they weren't (and still aren't lol) natural.

In the beginning - we had a small generator and couldn't put up a sign yet. Spot the small airer for our towels?

We started with whipped shea butter in 2 scents - Lavender and Jasmine

2 styling stations was what we first started with

'Dream, Hustle, Achieve' - My Diamond TV feature!!!!

I was so stoked yesterday when a friend tagged me on Diamond TV App's post  yesterday showing that I'd been featured on their Dream Hustle Achieve Series which showcases female entrepreneurs. (To go to their site, click here )

They had actually approached me in June or July last year and shot this then; so I had practically forgotten about this until I saw it on their instagram page and went and watched the video. Another amazing thing is that the friend who tagged me on instagram is the same friend I speak about in the video who helped me create KL's Naturals!!

Throwback Thursday to my very limp looking ponytail!

Loll! I don't know what it was I was looking for when I stumbled upon this picture from 2011 when I was trying desperately to salvage my relaxed hair. Looking at it and then at what my hair is like now, I can't help but be amazed and thankful that I chose this journey.

Fabulous Natural Hair Styles for our Brides, Graduants and Proud Mums!

It's been graduation and prom season and of course our brides too haven't been left out of the fun! I didn't realize how big a deal graduation had become oh! Even for primary school kids! Loll. It's all good though. We've been having a lot of fun styling so many young ladies for their graduation and prom ceremonies and here's a little snippet of what we've been up to:

One of our June brides, Bukky. She didn't want a sleeked back look with her tiara. That was something she was adamant about. After playing with a few looks, we settled for this low bun in the back and side sweep. 

Graduating in style with a vixen crochet instal - This lovely young lady who's been a customer with us for a while now, wanted a vixen crochet she could style in different ways. Using our beloved Afri Naptural definition braid, we were able to give her a seamless 4 way vixen crochet install which she's styled in different ways! The versatility is absolutely fab!

Silicones, Sulfates and Choosing the right Products for your hair.

As a stylist and salon owner I get to talk and interact with a lot of naturalistas about their hair journey, hair products and hair health. The one thing I have noticed time and time again is that a lot of people are fixated on 'Sulfate Free Shampoos'. They go natural, read up that sulfates are bad for your hair and then invest in sulfate free shampoos - which in and of itself is a great thing.

HOWEVER they begin to suffer from bad breakage, hair starts to thin and even though they seem to be doing the right things and using the 'right' products, their hair is not co operating! Most times when I hear this complaint, the first thing I ask is the name of the deep/leave in conditioner they are using and when you look at the ingredients you notice they have silicones and mineral oil high up on the list.

The thing is while sulfate free shampoos are great for natural hair as they are non stripping, a lot of silicones and other ingredients are non water soluble and can only be removed from your hair using a sulfate shampoo. The continued layering of these products on your hair without washing them out properly will cause build up on  your strands, no moisture will penetrate through and you begin to experience breakage as the hair becomes brittle from lack of penetrative moisture. This is why you will notice most brands that produce 'sets' will have sulfates in their shampoos where they have silicone rich conditioners.

Before we go any further, lets discuss what Silicones are, what they do for the hair and the type of silicones we have.