Random length check

I was itching (literally) to give my hair a wash over the weekend but have had next to no time to do it!

So I finally made time today and washed my hair. Here's the shampoo I used:

But just as I was about to dampen my hair.. I remembered that a couple of people have recently wondered what's up with my stagnant hair updates! So I thought this would be the best time to do a length check.

As you can see from my previous blogs, I've been plaiting my hair up a lot. It saves time in the long run, and it's protective. I really didn't think that my hair was growing as quickly as it has before.. But then I did a length check and the results were pretty comforting!

20/09/2011 - 1 year 1 month after my BC, and we're at 8(point something) inches!

Protective styling has definitely been my friend.

After my wash, I moisturised my hair (VERY LIGHTLY) with some olive oil and pink lotion (which I never use - I try to keep it natural).

It's currently plaited up while it dries, and then I'm just going to twist it up and moisturise it with my (previously mentioned) concoction and some of my home made curly custard as I go along. I'm hoping this will last about a week for a nice defined twist out for an upcoming send-off that I'll be going to.

So there you have it! A quick, kinda boring, update.. But I hope it's been helpful/encouraging to some of you.

'Til next time!x

Braid-out & food for thought

Just a quick post to follow my previous one.

I thought I'd show you guys exactly how my braid-out turned out. My braids were in for about a week and the moisturiser used (for scalp and hair) was the one I threw together kinda spontaneously (mentioned in the previous post). 

So here are some quick pics:

 

Some people didn't actually like it (not that I asked them or anything :S) which is fine. They don't HAVE to. But I thought I'd just mention to you guys that you should be happy to embrace what it is you feel comfortable with. Try out new styles, be creative, experiment. Not everything suits everyone, but when you find what YOU like then be happy to embrace yourself! You can't please everybody, and you certainly shouldn't live to seek man or woman's approval. Live to a higher standard, the one created by the Creator. Let your real potential protrude. Beauty does not lie in duplication, nor worldly expectation, so be thankful for your differentiation. Secure your happiness in the Master Craftsman who was so particular in sculpting the treasure that is you. After all, you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

Be happy in being YOU!

P.S. after this I shampooed my hair, moisturised it with the same concoction that I used last time, but braided it thinner than before. Doing this stretched my hair out better:

xx

1 Year Anniversary since the BC!

Hi everyone! So sorry it's been a while.. AGAIN..
Hopefully you'll all forgive me in exchange for some pictures to show you how my hair is doing.

I took these today:

We're at 7 inches now! Huzzah!

Product-wise, my hair seems to really be taking to shea butter. I used to really dislike it because of the smell and texture.. But with experimentation, those things have worked in my favour! I just mix and match my oils with it at home (melt it, mix it, whip it! If you want to make your own products at home, it's much easier to use an electric hand mixer with these kind of things.. Unless you're on this lady's level!: http://nadiasnotes.com/)

In terms of levels, I usually use about 45% shea butter, 25% olive oil and 15% glycerine and 15% castor oil. Even though I whip it, it eventually does get denser than it was when I finish whipping. I've realised that my hair (dense, 4a/4b) needs this kind of consistence because of how dense it actually is. I can imagine my strands wrestling like piranha when I moisturise it, because there never seems to be enough to go around. It's extremely thick. Since childhood, every hairdresser has found it a challenge, lol. For the hair moisturiser/conditioner than I'm using now, I just whip my shea butter with mango butter, olive oil, glycerine and some of Nadia's leave-in conditioner. It's the last concoction I put in my hair, so I'm really excited to see how this braid-out is going to turn out. I have no doubts in my mind!

I may plait my hair up like this more often. I quite like the way it looks, and the hold gives me a better sense of security, and lasts longer (for me) than twists. I can't stand how cautious I get of my twists unravelling when I step out the house!

Feel free to leave me any messages via facebook (Rachel The-Poet Oduro) or even leave a comment on my blog if you'd like any advice from me.

'Til next time!x

Product Review

So to follow my previous blog (I can't believe I've done 3 blogs over 3 consecutive days. I've done well, right?!) I'm just going to update you on how well (or not so well) the products I've used over the last 24 hours have worked with my hair.

Head And Shoulders Itchy Scalp Shampoo - I must say, after adding the shampoo to my wet hair, it absolutely lathered up my afro. It worked its way all over and around my hair with little application. My scalp isn't really itchy at all, which is a good sign! Although it did feel like my hair was quite significantly stripped of its natural moisture. The Timotei Avocado and Macademia Oil Shampoo I normally use doesn't leave me with that result. The olive oil I used afterwards (with the conditioner and this morning) was a wise decision, I think.

Sainsbury's Honey Extract Conditioner - Ok, this conditioner, being mixed with my olive oil, worked like a CHARM. The smell, the texture, the moisture.. It was lovely!! I used it as a leave-in, and after undoing my messy plaits this morning, my hair was left feeling so soft and smelling so sweet! Timotei tends to leave my hair in a softer (and slightly curlier) texture after it has been washed out. But as a leave-in? It doesn't achieve the same results as this honey conditioner has.

After I'd undone my plaits, I did some fat twists in my hair section by section. I added my Mango, Aloe Vera and Mango whipped hair cream on each section before I twisted it up, which left my hair feeling even softer. It blended nicely and aided my hair in adding moisture, and my olive oil in retaining it (you can find a picture of this moisturiser in the blog before this one - I'm working on preparing it for distribution).

So I've now twisted up my hair in preparation for the style that I'm going to try to put together this Saturday. Here's my current hair state:

My hair was so manageable today!!!

The products really complimented my twists by adding hold as well as moisture and shine! Let's hope the same success will also be reflected in the definition when I take them out.

I'll be back soon with results!

Update On Home Made Products/Washing & Detangling Tips

I'm baaack!

:D

(Ignore the dot on my nose - it's my hair moisturiser. Quite convenient, lol.)

So to follow up from my previous post (literally a day before this one), I'm going to show you what I did to sort out those twisted tangled coils of mine. Just to let you guys know, all I did was put a du-rag over over the little style I had last night (pictures are in the previous post) and went to sleep. Although, I pinned down the loose hair at the top and front. The picture above is how it looked from the front after I woke up.

To my surprise, the style kept pretty well. It just looked more 'contained':

SO..

Like I said, I had some products to try out. But before we get to that, let me show you the little goodies I've put together!

Left: New and improved curly custard

Right: Whipped hair moisturiser

I've deliberately made my curly custard thicker, so that it holds definition better. I was very very pleased with my end result. As for the hair moisturiser, I've made it quite light because it's a daily moisturiser. If it were too heavy, it wouldn't be suitable for daily use. I really, really whipped it! It's a blend of avocado, aloe vera and mango extracts with added essential oils. Quite rich! I'll be selling some soon.

-SO-

As I previously mentioned, I was going to wash my hair today (which I did). The next part of this blog should be of help to you if you're wondering how to detangle nappy hair that has been left in mini twists for toooo long! (yes, yes.. I'm guilty..)

So here's how I started off.

Section hair off into 4 parts. The section left open is the section I began with:

(I started to separate the strands, as you can see. It's slightly poofed out on the bottom left. Eventually I just left it, there was no need.)

Here are the products I used:

(The bottom picture is the conditioner with added Olive Oil. I wanted to retain moisture after washing, so I added the oil to the Honey Extract Conditioner and left it in.)

Step 1: Dampen the hair with warm/hot water. I don't do this just to prepare my hair for the shampoo, I do it also to loosen the tight tangled coils. Loosely grasp random areas of the section from the roots, and run your hands downwards to assist the hot water in the 'loosening' process, like this:

Step 2: Apply shampoo. If you know your hair is really dirty, you'll be tempted to scratch your scalp vigorously in an attempt to lift up dead skin, dirt and grease. Try not to do this much. Remember, your hair may already be quite tangled, so strands may tangle even more from your chaotic scratching. Try to massage the scalp and repeat Step 1.

Step 3: Rinse out the shampoo (following the method described in Step 1) and apply conditioner. Now this is one of the most important parts; this is the part when you DETANGLE. This is the only time when I really comb/detangle my hair. When the hair is dry or left unconditioned, it is prone to breakage. It is important that after you apply your conditioner, you use a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair from the tips FIRST. To follow, work your way up to the roots.

Note: if you find areas of your hair which are knotted, do not just get frustrated and comb it out (because all you're really doing is ripping out the knot; thus ripping out your hair). Separate the knotted area and carefully detangle it. Use your hands/fingernails if you have to.

Step 4: Either rinse out the conditioner (same method as Step 1.. You've just detangled it, you don't want to REtangle it!) or leave it in if it's the type that permits you to do that. Make sure it's not a protein conditioner if you're going to leave it in. It can cause damage to your hair if left in. 

Once you've made your choice, it's really up to you whether you want to stretch it up by pineappling (stretching your hair into a bun at the top of your head), banding (see the previous post), twisting or plaiting. I try to avoid heat, so I don't really recommend blowdrying etc. I just plaited up my hair while it dries. I'll deal with styling, stretching etc after it's dried and moisturised.

So I ended up going from this:

To this:

Tangle free. :)

I hope this post helped! I'll update you on any post-worthy antics that I get up to. I'm thinking of trying out a Blaque Onyx inspired style (a puff with twisted out bangs) but we'll see how that goes.

Adieu!

Since my last post..

..I haven't really been up to much.

But I decided to do a quick blog to update you guys. Today I decided to take out my mini twists and wasn't really sure what kind of style would go well with this mini twist-out. It looks pretty messy. I think I left it in too long! I have decided to wash and treat it tomorrow with Head & Shoulders Shampoo for itchy scalp (because my scalp gets annoyingly itchy!!) and a Sainsbury's Honey Conditioner (which I'll probably mix with olive oil because my scalp also gets pretty dry pretty quick! >:( I may do a review on these products) but in the meantime I decided to try a frohawk with it. I think it did my coils justice!

(Sorry about the picture size)

Nappy and happy!

(These nappy coils were courtesy of my dad's genes and my home made curly custard (again) ;)

read up on my blogs to see how I made my curly custard!)

Secondly, just letting you guys know that I'm trying out various ways to stretch out my hair without using heat. I shall be doing much trial and error..

My most recent trial was with banding:

...Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of how it looked afterwards (sorry guys!) but it wasn't anything special really. I didn't let it dry out, so my hair shrunk after I took the bands out. I wanted to loosen my curls as well, or at least let the bands leave a pattern in my hair. Sadly, this did not happen (my fault). Although, the parts that did dry turned out pretty alright.. But flat twists still remain my favourite form of stretching and styling though. They give me this beach wave effect. It's pretty nice. Try it!

Next time I'll be sure to not only take pictures, but to learn from this error! I think next time I may even do it when my hair is dry, as I tend to find that my hair stretches better when it's dry and well moisturised. I shall most definitely have to whip up a batch of hair cream for this!

Ciao!

Custard Results

So I did the twists in my hair with the curly custard, as before mentioned.. Not much to say about it, the pictures say it all really! I was pleased with the results. My twists had never come out so defined before.

I'm currently in the process of creating my whipped hair butter. I did my first batch, but let's just say this is definitely going to be a matter of constant trial and error lol.

In the meantime, here's how my twists came out with the help of my custard comrade:

I'll most probably try it again on some flat twists. I'm kinda liking the beach wave effect it leaves me with.

Time for a hair wash! God bless!

Twists with home made curly custard

Decided to do a video how-to/review on my curly custard creation. Pictures of the twistout will shortly follow :)
In the meantime, this is more or less where my hair is at now:

Taken this afternoon. You're up-to-date now mate!

My Curly Custard Creation!

Hey guys!

So I've been awaiting my ingredients to come through so I can make my whipped hair butter.. But with all the bank holidays going on, I think royal mail have gone on strike again or something. So I'm still waiting. But in the meantime, I stumbled across a few naturals on youtube who make their own hair custards etc. So I gave it some thought, and gave it a try today! Read on...

Above are the results of my curly custard creation. The texture turned out really creamy and light! I was pretty pleased. But I was especially pleased after I saw the effect that it had on my hair! I'd left out some strands of hair for some weeks and added a bit more hair to test this out. I moisturised it, twisted it up, and took it out about 10 minutes later. Again, read on..

Then I let go.. -boing!-

Curly indeed! (Sorry about the fluff trapped in the ringlets lol.)

It came out pretty soft and curly! I'm so happy to have learnt of something new that my hair takes to so well.

So that's my home made update for today. I think I shall be making more use of this custard this summer (and maybe other seasons??) Can't wait to try this on my whole head!

Whipped hair butter trial soon come...

Till next time curlies!

Undercover Sister

Yes, it's true! My hair and I have been undercover. Sorry to those who have asked me why my posts have come to a halt!

The reason for this is that there hasn't really been much to say. My hair has been in twists as a protective style for just over a month. Here's how it's looking:

(This picture was taken a couple of days ago. So I think we're fairly up-to-date now :))

So just to let you guys know what I've been putting in my hair during my absence (it's nothing special really, but it's been good to me!):

Olive oil around my edges

A glycerine, rosewater and olive oil spritz (stopped my dandruff and kept my scalp happy)

And.. Well, that's about it! 

I'm in the process of gathering ingredients for the summer hair butters that I want to make, as my hair will be let loose in the sunshine! But I can't seem to find any reasonably priced oils/butters in bulk. :( Bad news ey?

But to bad news there's always good news. And the good news in this case is:

We have reached 6 inches in 9 months! Huzzah!

I only realised how much it had grown when one of my twists fell out sometime last week. I did a measurement and was well pleased :D

Well, that's it from me for now. I shall continue my search for my ideal ingredients, and will be using them myself as a testimony. 

Soon come!

Headscarf with a twist!.. No pun intended

So I had to run into town really quickly to sort some stuff out today, and I was a bit fed up of doing the basic side-bun.

I remembered that I'm planning to do a puff but twisting the hair left out into a kind of.. nest-like style lol.. Then I wondered how it would look if I added that edge to the side-bun that I always seem to do with my headscarf. Because I'm so into this ultra-protection thing during this cold season, I always have a headscarf on. I've looked at some tutorials of different headscarf styles but only few really tickled my fancy. I've been getting bored of the same old style, so I'm wondering what else I can do with these head scarfs of mine..

Not sure how I feel about it. I'll probably do it again though!

I had a satin scarf on underneath. If you're in the south of England at the moment, you'll know how harsh these strong, cold winds are getting!

The camera angle didn't do it justice in the picture above. Looks a bit too bulky!

Next post should be the twisted puff hairstyle that I'm planning to do next Saturday, providing I can actually pull it together..

..But expect the unexpected I guess!

Hectic Interview Morning (with quick hair pics!)

GOSH!

10am I was supposed to have woken up. I slept through that very well!

I ended up waking up at 11am. My job interview was at 12pm. I had one hour to get up, get ready and get out! And amongst all this, even whilst in the shower I was thinking, "what am I going to do with my hair?!"

My hair was in chunky plaits at the time (as it always is. I do about 6 chunky plaits down the left side of my head, and the same on my right, and just cover it up with a headscarf. I'm promoting maximum protection during these cold times!) and I had no idea what I was going to do with it.

At first I thought, hmm.. I think I'll just take out these chunky plaits and do a puff. But I wasn't sure about that and I didn't have any more time to waste! Plus, I didn't really want to separate my hair even after undoing the plaits. It's already bad enough that I'm taking them out, the least I could do for protection purposes was to keep the strands bundled together.

After I took out my plaits, I quite liked the waves it left my hair with. I really wanted to work with it, but I didn't know what to do. So I just thought to myself, 'Rachel, be creative!! COME ON! You made a clock in the shape of a pair of boyshorts in year 8, there's no way you can't do this'. So I turned to my long, dark, slim trustee(s)...

BOBBY PINS!

Just stuck them wherever my impulses lead me!

Here is the spontaneous style I ended up with:

..These pictures were taken after I got back. I just didn't have ANY time to take them beforehand!

Nevertheless, I was pretty pleased. :)

(Oh, p.s, because I didn't fingercomb out the plaits, the separations at the roots stayed, as you can see. I found it really added to the style quite nicely. The plaits were in for about.. 3 days? And back in they shall go tonight!)

Watch this space!

Experiment Update!

So as it stands, my hair length (stretched and after my trim) is 5.5 inches. It's been 6 months since my big chop. That's good, right?!

Let me go ahead and show you the products I stumbled across in Tesco today. They looked like the most appealing hair wash products, yet they were the cheapest! 99p each.

Avocado and Macademia shampoo (left) and conditioner (right) by Timotei. Whilst getting to know my hair, I noticed it behaves well when I give it Avocado (or coconut), so after seeing these products I thought "hmm.. this looks OKAY.."

Obviously the next thing I did was read the ingredients. I was quite impressed! NO PARABENS! I was torn between these two and the Everyday Coconut Shampoo and conditioner. Although, the ingredients for the coconut one were very disappointing in comparison to these. IN ADDITION - BOTH these products were on a half price sale! Bargain hunted and LOCKED!

So I've now used them and was very pleased with my hair's behaviour. It really brought out my natural curls, and the conditioner saturated my hair really well. Here are some quick pics that surprised even myself when I took a look at them. I guess my hair type is 4a, ey?!

Hair was left feeling thicker and softer. To top it off, I gave it an Avocado and Coconut treat. Dia's leave-in conditioner, obviously!

http://www.dias-allnatural.co.uk/