Pre Relaxer wash day

Hey dearies!!! Hope you had a fantastic week.
This week has been somehow for my hair. I did a braid out and it turned out ok, but it rained heavily a few days later and all the humidity just made the curls fall apart. I attempted to put my hair in a high bun but my 2 inches+ of new growth just made it look puffy. Seriously, my hair looks like I’m on a long-term transition. It was driving me crazy.  Frustrated, I decided to wig it till relaxer day. But I need to wash my hair first.

Hairspeak

Hey everyone!! Hope we all good?
I decided to do a post on all the terms used in healthy hair care to help all the newbies in their hhj.
Who has read the book 1984 by George Orwell? (FYI, I love classic literature: Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen etc.). Anyway, in the book, the world is ruled by a dictator named Big Brother. So a new language is formed called NEWSPEAK, while the old language people spoke before Big Brother took over is called OLDSPEAK. So from this analogy comes HAIRSPEAK!!!
Hairspeak: all the words, terms and lingua used in healthy hair care.
Here we go!!!

Wash day- 14 weeks post

Hey everyone!! Hope youre all having a great weekend!!
I had my hair in a sock bun all week( I am such a lazy stylist). It was an amazing protective style; I didn’t need to comb or even restyle my hair each day(though I got caught in rain once and had to let my hair down to dry). In the morning; I just applied some gel to my edges, brushed it with an old toothbrush and dashed out the door. Here’s how my wash day went:

The Dos of Healthy hair care-Part 1

There are two ways to achieving long hair: Hair growth and Length retention. Unless you have a medical condition that prevents hair from growing, your hair GROWS. It may be slow, but it surely grows!!  The fact that you need to relax your hair consistently proves it (if your hair is relaxed, that is). So you ask, if my hair grows, how come it isn’t, you know, like butt-length long? Well, my dear, the problem is two words: LENGTH RETENTION. The reason your hair is stuck on the same length month after month, year after year, is because you haven’t mastered the art of retaining the length you grow. But dear, look no further!! I’ll be doing a Healthy Hair care series to help you learn how to retain length. I’ll be dividing the series into parts (to prevent information overload) and it’s in two phases: The Dos of Healthy Hair care and the Don’ts of Healthy Hair care. So here is (drumroll)
The Dos of Healthy Hair care Part 1!!!

Product Stash

Hey ladies!!! Hope everyone is doing great.
I promised a post of my product stash. So, Here it is!! Now I don't think I'm a product junkie (yet). But Imma let you be the judge of that. Here we go.

DIY Box braids takedown + Henna treatment

Hey everyone!!! Hope y’all good.Happy Valentine's day!!! Love yourself and others, now and always!! Hope we are all having a wonderful Valentine’s day.
So in my last post, I mentioned how I installed box braids on my hair. Well, I liked it at first, but later on it started to look….not good. So after 12 days, I decided I was time to take them out.
- I unravelled the braids (took forever) and finger combed to remove shed hair. Then applied coconut oil to my hair, divided into four sections and combed each section with a wide tooth comb.
- It was late (about 11 pm) so I just applied castor oil to my scalp and massaged for a few minutes. Covered my hair with a satin scarf and went to bed.
- The next morning, I had to go to school so I just moisturised and sealed and packed my hair in a low bun. When I got home, I wanted to wash my hair and decided on a henna treatment as well.
I bought the henna from a local market on my last trip to Abuja during the Christmas holidays.
Henna is a greenish-yellow powder that is commonly used as body paint (if you’re a Nigerian, henna is what Northern women call ‘lalle’ and use to decorate their hands and feet during special occasions such as weddings). Henna has been found to be a great hair strengthener. It also thickens the hair over time (my main reason for using it). It adds a reddish tint to hair, which fades over time. It also acts as a protein treatment. Here’s how I did it:
- I brewed two bags of lemon and lime tea in a cup of hot water.

- While I waited for the tea to cool, I sieved the henna using a flour sieve (during my last henna treatment which was also my first, I didn’t sieve the henna and it was a DISASTER. It took forever to wash it off and even then, I kept picking stalks out of my hair for days).

- Once the tea was cool, I poured it into the bowl of henna, stirring continuously until it had the consistency of yogurt.

- I parted my hair into four sections and finger detangled. Then, I applied the henna, as one would apply a relaxer. I applied in all four sections generously from root to tip. (WARNING: Please use a pair of gloves when applying henna. Else you end up with red stained palms and fingernails. Unless you’re OK with that, use a pair of gloves)

- Covered with two nylon bags (didn’t want to ruin my shower cap) and left for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, I rinsed off (took a while to get all the henna out of my hair, but it was much easier and better than the last time).
- T-shirt dried for 20 minutes.
- Followed with a moisturising DC of Motions Moisture plus conditioner, Organics by Africa’s Best Cholesterol and Tea tree oil conditioner, added a spoonful of olive oil and a few drops of Eucalyptus oil. Covered with a nylon bag, wrapped a towel around my head and left for one hour.
- Rinsed off DC and T-shirt dried for 15 minutes.
- Air dried with my standing fan and applied my leave ins( a 50:50 mix of Motions leave-in conditioner and VO5 Moisture milks Conditioner) then finger-detangled. Applied ORS Humidity control serum and detangled with a wide tooth comb. Detangling was amazing, I lost very little hair. So happy!!
- I threaded my hair in eight sections using black yarn(wool). Covered with a satin scarf and went to bed.
- The next morning, I loosened the threads, moisturised with Carrot oil moisturiser and sealed with coconut oil.
Results

I love my hair. So thick!!! So soft yet strong!!! Henna is definitely going to be my regular monthly protein treatment. The pros outweigh the cons by far. One of my hair goals is thick hair, so this will definitely help.
I’m currently 13 weeks post aiming for 16 weeks and this stretch has been amazing!!!! I have about 2 inches of new growth and it’s been no bother!!! Still racking my brain on what I’m doing right.  If all continues well (Fingers crossed!!), I might extend my stretch to 20 weeks.
If you decide to do a henna treatment, please note the following
- Always follow a henna treatment (and any kind of protein treatment) with a moisturising deep conditioning as henna can leave your hair quite stiff.
- Henna can inhibit the relaxer process, so wait at least two weeks after a henna treatment before getting a relaxer else you might end up with under processed hair.
- Like I already stated, please wear gloves when applying henna.
Don't you just love those wash days when everything goes your way?? I know I do!!
My next post will be on my product stash, so stay tuned. Happy Valentine's day!!!
Cheers, Fatee

DIY box braids

Hey everyone!! Hope all is well at your ends.
Last post I promised a post on box braids I installed on my hair myself. Here it is.
I used Expression braids, just a pack I bought for 600 naira (about 4 dollars). I cut it into four equal parts and feathered the tips so it won't be blunt. Since I'd washed my hair n stretched it via threading the previous day (see my last post here), i just applied Shea butter to my hair and I was ready to begin.
- I made medium parts using my fingers only and braided with the extension. the extension was of medium size. it took me about 8 hours but here are the results

                        Half way....

                       All done

I wish it'd turned out better but I'm OK with it. Rocking this look for the next four weeks.
Cheers, Fatee...

2015 Hair goals

At the beginning of the year, I set goals for my hair I’d like to achieve by the end of the year.
Length: To be APL by June 2015(which will mark one year since I began my hhj) and almost BSL by the end of the year (December 2015)
Health: To increase the thickness of my hair and have healthy ends.
Goal setting is incomplete without a plan on how to achieve the set goals. Here’s my plan:
- Continue with my regimen (weekly washdays, moisturise and seal daily, massage scalp with castor oil daily)
- Stretch for at least 16 weeks and texlax no more than three times yearly. Since I began my hhj, I’ve only been able to stretch for 14 weeks max. I’m aiming for 16 weeks and hopefully, more.
- GHE at least  5 days a week and do inversion 7 days a month
- Trimming only when necessary. I’m kind of a scissor happy person so I need to put myself in check. No more than 3 trims this year.
- Low manipulation and Protective styling
Researching on methods to boost hair growth
- Drink at least 3L of water daily
- Take multivitamins
- Exercise and eat healthy
That’s it. I’m fully committed to this plan and hopefully I’ll be able to achieve my goals at the set deadline. I'll be doing quarterly reviews to see how far I've gone and to adjust if necessary. I’m currently SL, about 2 inches away from APL. Fingers crossed!!!
What are your 2015 hair goals and how are you planning to achieve them???
Cheers, Fatee

Wash day: threading..

Hey everyone!!!
Last week was quite eventful in terms of hair. My wash day was as follows:
- oiled my scalp with a warm oil mix of amla oil, carrot oil and castor oil infused with onions. Divided my hair into dour sections and drenched each section with coconut oil. Finger detangled and also followed through with a widetooth comb. Covered with a plastic bag and left for 2 hours.
- washed hair with Dudu Osun Black soap (My hair lurrrves dis :))
- tea rinsed with black tea and green mint tea.
- My hair was really dry during the week despite the fact that I moisturized and sealed 2x daily, so I went for a moisturizing DC. Deep conditioned with Motions moisture plus deep conditioner, Organics by Africa's best Cholesterol and tea tree oil, added some glycerine and honey. Covered with a plastic bag for 1.5 hours.
- applied VO5 Shea cashmere moisturising conditioner (smells heavenly!!!) over DC and left for 15 minutes.
- rinsed out and T-shirt dried for 30 minutes.
-Applied my leave-in mix of VO5 Moisture milks conditioner and Motions leave-in conditioner and detangled.
Now this is where the fun began.
I'm currently 11 weeks post and I've been using the banding method to stretch my new growth. However, I decided to try something else. I think its called threading (We African women be doing this). Its more commonly done with rubber threads, however I had some yarn (wool) and decided to use it instead. I had colors black and pink but decided to use the pink coz well.....feeling funky. I divided my hair into 8 sections and threaded each section.
 Here's the turn out:

OK, OK it could have been better, but its my first try. It was late so I just covered with my satin scarf and let it air dry overnight. The next morning, I unraveled a section, mosturised with Organics Carrot oil moisturizer and sealed with coconut oil before unraveling another.
Verdict
My hair was really stretched out (sorry didn't take any pics coz I was in a rush). The banding method only keeps my new growth stretched but this stretches my entire hair length. Its a keeper!!!!!
My next post is on how I installed box braids with extensions....by myself!!! I'll also be putting up a post on my hair stats :current hair length, regimen, products and 2015 hair goals. Stay tuned.
I'm still getting the hang of blogging so forgive the nature of the blog. Also working on opening social media accounts for the blog.
Thanks for reading. Stay blessed!!!
Cheers, Fatee...


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