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How do I detangle?
So basically, I had been loosing wayyyyyy too much hair and I could not figure out why. After reading about some naturals who used finger detangling. I was able to come up with a detangling method that works for me. I attribute this to divine inspiration because I do not understand how I could be natural for 8 plus years and still have no clue about how to leave hair on my head when I detangle.
My method is like this:
When I take out my twists, I simple do a pre-wash conditioning treatment then I wash my hair. Sometimes I wash by putting my hair into big plaits but lately I have not been doing this. I just wash my hair loose and it works for me. I think making a choice to wash your hair loose depends on how long your hair is.
It is important for me to do a deep conditioning treatment before I detangle.
After I rinse out the deep conditioning treatment and remove excess water from my hair using an old shirt, it is now time to detangle.
I take little sections of my hair, put some shea butter in it and use my fingers to separate the hair. Then I detangle the section using a wide tooth comb starting from the tips and working my way to the roots. When I’ve combed through my hair, I twist it up. When I’m all done I can go to sleep with the twists and the next day my hair is stretched out enough for me to style.
Name
Ibhaze Uduehi
Where are you from?
Edo State
What do you do?
I work as a Business Development Officer in an Information and Communication Technology firm in Abuja.
So I know that in secondary school you wore your hair natural but afterwards you tried relaxers and texturisers. Tell us why you decided to go natural again?
I was in France for a while when I noticed my relaxed hair had started breaking off and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain it. Of course, in the small city I was living in, there were only 2 African hair salons and they weren’t cheap, so I had to beg a friend to help me relax my hair whenever she could(she was studying law so that was almost never).
So, one day, I walked into one of the African hair salons and noticed a framed picture of a black woman with a glorious natural mane. That was actually the 2nd time I cut my hair.
The first time was after Oghomwen came over, I saw her lovely long hair and wanted to do a transplant. So some months later, I woke up one fine and cut all the relaxed hair off. Since then, I tried jehri curls and baby curls for the “mixed” look but it just never felt right.
So I cut my hair early this year and I’m back to my natural wiry kink for good!
What’s your natural hair regimen?
I’m actually at the “obsessive” phase of my hair so this is the point where I’m trying anything and everything that’s claimed to be gold for natural hair. So far, I’ve been using Oghowmen’s shea butter mixture with essential oils, castor oil and glycerine as hair cream, Dark ‘n’ Lovely Ultra Cholesterol Deep Conditionning which I leave in overnight with my hair in a wrap and any basic oil spray to soften and moisturize my hair.
So far, so good! Now onto the famous coconut oil and I’ll be trying the Organic Mayonnaise Conditioning to see if it’ll make my hair softer and even healthier than it is right now.
I’ve had my hair in braids for a couple of months now with barely any intervals between braids so I feel it needs to breathe and be nurtured. So I’ll be doing a lot of deep and leave-in conditioning and try to make it a habit.
How do people react to your natural hair? Are they positive or negative?
People are actually very positive about my natural hair. Random strangers walk up to me and ask if it’s my hair that I’ve twisted or did I put something in? Then, they touch it and wow at it and go on to tell me why they could never do what I’m doing cos their hair’s too this or too that. I used to believe that I had the worst hair texture in the world as it’s really wiry (hairdressers never fail to stress that) and it’s not that full. But I’ve and am learning to maintain it and am loving the adventure!
People sometimes ask, with amazement on their faces, why I’m keeping my hair natural. A male friend though recently advised me to relax it for people to see the length. That was funny.
Comment about natural hair in the work place. Do you feel awkward about wearing your natural hair to work?
Not at all! And I’ve never been brought to book on my locs, twist/twist out or whatever style I had on. People compliment and also generally mind their business otherwise. As long as I look good and presentable, there’s no problem at all. It also helps to have a mouth that puts them in their place when they start voicing opinionsJ.
**bisous**
It’s easier to strike gold if you’re digging. Only once in a while do you hear about people who actually stumble upon something of worth when they weren’t looking for it. Sometimes, you hear about people who stumble upon something else while searching for another thing. For example, you may be digging for gold but then strike oil instead. Either way you were digging.
Occasionally, when you’re digging for gold you may not find anything at all. That’s life. You win some and you loose some. Digging is never a waste of time though, because digging helps you develop strong muscles. So if ever you decide to stop digging and start building something, like a pyramid for example, at least you would have had some practice in hard labour.
At other times you may find that while you are hard at work shoveling and grunting, somebody significant stumbles upon you. After inquiring about what you are doing, he or she may decide to employ you to dig for them on their own land where they are sure that there is gold. The decision of whether to keep on blazing your own trail or abandoning your territory to blaze the trail for another is entirely up to you.
There is also the possibility that you may be digging in the wrong place or with the wrong tools which is why you are not finding anything. Since we are only human, we make mistakes like this. However, a knowledgeable spectator may decide to let you in on the secret that you are digging in the wrong place or with the wrong tools. Then at least you would have acquired the knowledge you need to correct yourself.
At this point I will add that this same law applies to fishing, cooking, sewing, and many other professions. You are definitely more likely to catch something if you are fishing. Just like you are more likely to make a garment if you are sewing.
In case you missed it, the translation for digging is W-O-R-K. By work I mean you need to be doing the activities that push you forward and move you closer to what you want to achieve. In summary, you are more likely to succeed at something if you are working. You need to work to actually make something happen. If you are not working but instead loafing about, you are definitely on your way to achieving nothing. Dreams don’t just happen; people actually work to make them happen. Careers don’t just materialize, instead everyday people with the same abilities like you and I wake up every morning and spend hours of their day putting the pieces of their careers together. Businesses don’t just start by themselves. Nope. People make them happen. One reason why successful people are actually successful is because they decided to get up and work. So, pick up your shovel and start digging.
Oghomwen
After reading the post, I decided to go for it! I invited some ladies who have natural and relaxed hair. Hopefully the hair tips we share on the blog can be used by anyone who wants to have healthy hair. The women who came all had natural hair and are in different phases of being natural. We had new napps, old napps and “napps in hiding”. *LOL*
During the afternoon, we talked about why we went natural. We learned some cool hair tips like how to extract coconut oil from coconuts. Trust me, you have to be patient to extract coconut oil from coconut and you need a whole lot of coconuts to get a reasonable quantity. We learned that ALL NATURAL UNPROCESSED shea butter can be used to cook too. We heard horror stories of salon visits. One of the ladies went to a salon where she was told that she is confused because she is natural but wanted the hairdresser to press her hair. Can you believe it? She said she was bewildered by the hairdresser’s accusation. The funny thing is I have been to the same hair salon and had a horrible experience with exactly the same hairdresser. I think I shall post a blog entry on hair salons that are napp haters. We heard about how family and friends reacted to the news that we were going natural. We also gave one of the ladies a hair treatment. We twisted her hair using Kinky-Curly curling custard. She loved it! We did too.
One thing that was so cool is how everyone wanted to touch everyone else’s hair. I think this is something only natural haired black women do. I could be wrong but I doubt it. Ladies complimented their hair and asked “Can I touch your hair?”. Another cool thing is how everyone said to everyone else “You have nice hair.” I think that is so wonderful! It is encouraging and empowering when you interact with people who appreciate and are excited about natural, kinky, nappy black hair. It started as a Hair Spa Afternoon and ended well into the night. At the end of the night, each lady got a bag of goodies. They got all natural shea butter, black soap, hair jewels and candy. Sweet gifts for sweet ladies!
So go ahead, get your friends together and have a Hair Spa Afternoon. Email us and let us know how it went.
Omozo.
