How to get super kinky twists on natural hair

Hey guys!

Long time, long time!

I know I probably owe you like, a million posts based on what should have been a commitment to frequent blogging. I am very sorry to you all! I've had crazy things going on, some excellent, some not so excellent. BUT I'm here to share with you one trick to achieve a look that will leave most people thinking that you're wearing extensions.

Now, for those of you who don't believe that I (more or less) have type 3c hair, I do.

My hair is extremely thick. At this point (as shown above), my hair had so much thick new growth that I couldn't do a simple bun or anything like that. My scalp was also always really hot because it could hardly breathe. Had to take action.

So now that you know what I have to deal with.. you can take courage in knowing that it can be tamed (there is hope)!

So Step 1.

Wash. I used a shampoo called Silicon Keratin Shampoo. I stopped using silicon products because I thought they were bad for me, but after a lady in the shop told me that silicons are good for coating the hair and scalp with moisture after it has been stripped, I realised that there's been a link between my dry hair and scalp and my choice of shampoo. SO I chose this shampoo.. and it's probably the best I've ever used (seriously)! A little bit lathers up and washes up so well. I detangled section by section with a wide tooth comb when my hair was fully lathered, and then I rinsed out by gripping each section from the root and moving my grip down to the tip as the water runs over it (I try to minimise scratching my scalp - it just tangles my hair again).

Step 2.

Condition. I towel dry my hair by section (my method would probably require a step-by-step video)  and used Skala Keratin Conditioner (which is a leave in, but doesn't spell this out very clearly on the product bottle), and I plaited up my sections as I went along. Seems like Skala Keratin Conditioner foams up if your hair isn't dry when you apply it. But my goodness, it makes my hair feel slick! Love it.

So I slept with it like this, wore a puff the next day, and then started twisting that evening.

Step 3.

Twist. Took me ages, but yeah. I did it! And moisturised my hair with Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter. The smaller you do your twists, the longer they last and the better they curl (not too small though)!

Here's how it looked when I was finished:

Now HERE'S the trick:

Step 4. Moisturise & Plait.

I separated my hair into sections (about 13 twists per section - max) and used Skala Keratin Conditioner once again (I liked the consistency so I gathered it would be a good product for my hair to retain for nutrition and retaining kinks). Then I put on my satin scarf and went to BED. Took me AGES.

Here's how it looked when I woke up:

Step 5.

Unravel! And behold!

Great definition and shine.

I remember doing this style with extensions and hot water.. But it's so much more convenient this way (and cheaper too lol).

Hope this helped! Feel free to comment! 

Much love,

Rach x

Vitamin H (Biotin) Hair Growth Challenge

"Hair mainly consists of a protein named keratin also present in nails. Vitamin H which is popularly known as Biotin produces keratin. This is why it is also known as ‘Hair Vitamin’. It promotes cell growth and metabolism that helps in hair growth and prevents brittle, fragile hair."

Although the paragraph above is quite badly written, the content is correct.

After watching Reniece's totally inspiring hair journey, which can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCg_VZU9g0Q&feature=plcp

I realised that I seem to have a pretty fast hair growth rate, but the length of my hair isn't reaching its full potential due to my lack of vitamin intake and moisturising. Sometimes your body may reveal in other areas what may be affecting your hair growth (i.e. nails, skin, etc). I'm glad I did some self-examination and was able to pinpoint two probable causes of my increasing hair breakage!! :(

So today I chopped off about half an inch of my hair to get rid of my many split ends in an attempt to prevent any further breakage, leaving its length somewhere between 12 and 12.5 inches. Here is a picture that I just took:

Increasing the moisture of my dry hair will be quite simple to fix. It will only take more effort on my part to moisturise it on a daily basis (if need be). However, now that I've realised that I may have a lack of vitamin H in my diet, I've decided to pay more attention to what I ingest in order to promote healthy hair growth. To see what difference this could make, I'll be incorporating Vitamin H (Biotin) supplements into my diet for about a month and a half (because that's as long as the amount I've bought will last for)!

I'll be back in 1.5 months with pictures and, hopefully, progress! If I have any groundbreaking news between then and now, I'll post an early update.

Much love and many blessings!

Rachel x

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!