Much ado about braids

Right now, I have on my head my favourite protective style – BRAIDS. I love braids and maybe I have "lucky" hair because my hair thrives on it. I don't get crazy breakage but that could be because I wear my braids for about 4-5 weeks. After 5 weeks is pushing it and since I can’t get my fingers out of my hair I can’t stand it after 5 weeks.

I have had the braids in my hair for 2 weeks and it is maaaddd rough, only because the lady who did it for me doesn't know how to make hair. I 'shoulda' known. You know when you get that gut feeling that something is wrong when the supposed "professional" is complaining about the hair extensions you bought, saying it is fake and it is not twisting well. Yeah, so Omozee got that feeling yet stayed through the 14hr ordeal. I 'shoulda' known when it was past 6hrs and we still weren't done but moving on. The braids are extra rough and I can’t take it anymore so I am taking them out in 3 days and will put them back in after 3 weeks.

So what do I do in between braids?
I deep condition a whole lot and keep the hair moisturized and in tiny twists (which I am not a huge fan of or plaits. I find this stretches the hair and preps it in time for the next braids. If I am going anywhere special, I do the plaits wet. I rinse or co-wash (condition (er) wash) my hair; add Shea butter and coconut oil on the wet hair, which is my moisturizer of choice. Then section and do single plaits.

I like to do this 2 or 3 days before the event so on the day of, I take the singles out, moisturize my scalp again then take a blow drier and stretch out the hair with a med / low heat setting while lightly pulling on the hair. Not a lot of pull, just a little bit in the same motion massaging the scalp (I know it sounds like a lot of work but believe me when you pull the hair, your hands or fingers touch your scalp so hey :D ). Then I style my hair. For me it is just using my fingers as a comb, adding more Shea or coconut oil for shine and stepping out the door, I love the stress free life. So if you are looking for French buns and cinnamon rolls, you are reading the wrong post. Lol I love them, don't get me wrong if I can get Tola (a darling) to do it for me :) so there you have it!

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Omozee

Today we are coloring with Henna

 Omo’s henna recipe taken from SimniCity and modified

Ø  Half pack of henna

Ø  2 eggs - Protein will help strengthen your hair so it is not brittle

Ø  Half tub of full fat yoghurt (I do organic) / or 2 avocados (your choice) – fat to help your hair remain soft and shiny

Ø  1 big mixing bowl

Ø  A spoon to mix

Ø  Cling film

Ø  2 tea spoons of coconut oil or 1 cap  (5mls) of sweet almond oil + 1cap (5mls) castor oil – to help moisturize the scalp and add shine to your hair

Ø  Oven (or somewhere warm)

In the large mixing bowl, pour half the content of henna into it, crack eggs and beat it lightly.

Add half a tub of yoghurt and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil and the other oils, mix thoroughly until it is almost a green brown color (I think this is dependent on the type of henna you buy so just mix until there are no clumps and it looks even. I mixed mine for about 20mins. )

Then cover with cling film and put it in your oven at 50degrees C or lower (or put it somewhere warm) overnight.

Day 2 – part hair into sections and apply using hands or a small comb.

Apply product on hair up to ends if you want. Cover hair with shower cap and a towel around it to retain the heat. Leave on for 3-4 hours (I recommend even longer ‘cos my hair did not retain a lot of color).

Rinse out with warm water, do a warm oil steam, wait 30 mins then wash hair gently with mild sulphur free shampoo.

My hair turned brown or color 33 (a darker shade) and I loved the way it came out in streaks. I did this in April, its October and the color is still vibrant

I took out my braids last weekend and I am putting another one in again. I am happy to say 1.3” of new growth sprung forth.

Have an awesome weekend people don’t hesitate to ask any questions and for those who are in transition, hang in there and please remember; we are here to help you get through this hurdle.

The first picture is the final result with Henna.  The second and third pictures are showing my hair after I took out the braids and the growth, which I am so proud of. 

Also you can read about henna here

Omozee

My first experience with henna was over 15 years, in Malali village, Kaduna. My “bestest” friend for a long time Halima, stole some henna from her mum’s room and taught me how to mix and apply it on my finger tips and soles of my feet.

A few months back, I stumbled on SimniCity (unfortunately she is off youtube at the moment) and her henna recipe for coloring her hair. Halima’s image came to mind so I called Halima up; and asked if I could use henna for my hair. She told me about henna, and how to identify the good ones (there is no trick to recognizing good ones, read the label and make sure it is LEAD AND MERCURY FREE) and where to get it (Most south Asian stores (Indian) and North African Stores (Egyptian) ) and so I am going to share this with you. Let me put a disclaimer saying what works for me, may not work for you!

My Hair Regimen with Braids

Hello Blogworld J

I hope everyone has had a fulfilling week, I most certainly have. If you are in Canada, or in the Ontario area to be exact, you will know fall has hit us without any warning and with a Big Bang (pow) lol. I went to bed last week and it was still summer, woke up the next morning and I was shivering outta my pjays lol.

Why am I ranting? Take a guess, common guys you can do it, just one guess. Ok, ok I will let you have it: my hauuuurrrr. Yeah, I have had in braids for about a month on the 5^th and though it is a protective style, I hate braids. I don’t know why I can’t keep my hand out of my hair. I am always fidgeting with it, pulling and twirling and tugging at it. Arrrggghh! I am working on it though. Whenever I feel the need to tug at my braids, I take a deep breath and count to 10. Does it work? Nope but there I said it!

I am determined to take this style for 2 months. Between us, this hair is super rough. My folks say it isn’t and I need to stop fidgeting with it and braids are much finer when they are old yaddi, yadda (rolls eyes).

Anyway, my regimen for my braided hair includes:

-Chemical strip with lemon and a little bit of baking soda (2ce this month)

I do not wash my hair; I do the chemical strip instead. Soaking a small warm towel into the lemon-baking soda solution. Layering my hair in sections, I go gently on my scalp. I DO NOT SCRUB. I apply a little pressure and just clean scalp. You can do a scalp massage afterwards. I usually do a chemical strip on, Friday or Saturday evening, then in the morning do the scalp massage.

-Scalp massage oil (every week say Sunday)  - Shea butter, half teaspoon of olive oil, 2 drops of castor oil and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil –OR JUST GET CAROLS DAUGHTER’S HAIR BALM . It smells delicious by the way and it works for me. Now I am very stingy with my Carols daughter’s products and when I have extensions in, I don’t really use it as much.

-And loads of hair bonnets, scarf’s (silk) and warm head nukes (almost like mittens for your hair).

Below are pictures of some of my hair accessories, I love, love fall, you can have fun bundling up with layers and layers of lovely stuff all in the name of keeping warm J In my next post, I will let you all know where I get most of my stuff from to give you a hint, I LOVE VINTAGE, I am a vintage freak and I have not explored all that Toronto has to offer yet.

That is all for now, stay warm and moisturize your hair people. Fall is here already.

Bisous

Omozee

The Joys and Pains of transitioning

I have been natural for 2 yrs now or is it 3? My mind goes back to September 2007. I was super stressed from school; was in an abusive relationship (emotional) and I was just fed up. I remember clearly, I was watching TV with little sis then I got up, went into the bathroom, scissors in hand and chopped off a big patch of hair. I waited a few seconds for the tears to flow but nothing so I went on and cut my hair really close to my scalp. I stepped into the shower and for the first time in a long time, felt free, totally free and light and I could feel the pores of my hair open and soak up water (ok maybe I have a vivid imagination :)

Today, I have fulllllll, healthy, JET-black hair and I love every part of its kinkiness. Woohooo! Prior to my drastic cut, I had contemplated going natural, my number 1 reason was because I was in Halifax, NS Canada, which at the time was not as diverse as Toronto, so I couldn’t get my hair braided or professionally retouched. I had done a lot of research, joined a few natural blogs, toyed around with home made products for my hair type and asked the people around me who were natural a lot of questions. So September 2007 did not come as a shock to me, I felt it was coming.

Now transitioning was hard, as I struggled to accept the “new” me while trying to grow out healthy hair and just get used to the criticisms and the questions (trust me I got loads of them). I had long relaxed hair before “ruining” my crown of glory as my mum says.

While transitioning, I felt like retouching my hair. But going on the blogs of some “die-hard” naturals and seeking advice helped a lot. One advice I swear and live by is covering your hair by doing braids, plaits, or weaves (yes I did and still do weaves) . It helps a whole lot because, you don’t see your own hair and the urge to retouch it isn’t there or at least minimized.

I wear braids for 6- 8 weeks at a time with 2 or 3 weeks interval in between. So I kept telling my self, 8 weeks of braids and it will be almost a yr J plus seeing that extra length when I took the braids out sure motivated me. In between my braids and weaves, during my 2-week rest, I moisturize like crazy, coconut oil, Dudu Osun, Shea butter, almond oils, grape seed oil, castor oil, became close friends of my hair. I started adding proteins to my hair- eggs or egg whites. I took loads of vitamins and I swear by Biotin. For me that is, because not everything I use will work for you and vice versa for me.

This is getting long so I will continue it in my next post.

Omozee

PLUS

I have a problem. Is anyone losing hair around the temple area and what

have you done to combat it? I am using organic root stimulator temple and nape balm but I don’t see the results yet, this is my 6^th month, religiously, morning and evening and yes I do a lot of braiding but try to avoid my temple area and no I don’t gel it down.

Please help L 

Omozee