Tips on accesorizing your daughter's hair

Thanks to  Beads, Braids and Beyond, here are some tips on accesorizing your daughter's hair. I have added my own commentary in italics.:

•Do try to limit accessories though. Don't use too much because they weigh down your child's hair and too much accessories can be distracting to others around. Imagine the "clanging" of your child's beads as she turns her head in class!


•Soak rubber bands or elastics in Extra Virgin Olive Oil or melted Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. If you do not have time to soak them, quickly dip then in and use them like that. Soaking them reduces the possibility of the rubber bands snagging on your daughter's hair.

•Do not make ponytails too tight and do not wrap the rubber bands around the ends too many times (when she has beads or barrettes in), wrapping them a million times is unnecessary. It also puts too much stress on your daughter's hair.

•Try not to keep rubberbands in her hair for too long. Whether they were soaked in oil or not.

•Try using hair snaps on the ends to hold beads in place instead of rubber bands. Check out these hair snaps

•Chose ponytail holders carefuly because: Ponytail holders are not created equal!

Here is a video on hair snaps.

 Then check out this video on how to make a party bow at home. Really easy and simple!

Keep it natural

Omozo

"It is the best thing ever!" - Interview with Fatima

Meeting Fatima was exciting. Interviewing her was really inspiring and shocking too! She seems to break a lot of "hair rules". She is pleasant and gentle and I guess she is a rebel in her own right! Enjoy.

What is your name? Fatima.

What state are you from? Kano state in Nigeria.

And Fatima you are a full Nigerian? Yes 100%. No mixture. Pure Nigerian!

You know there is this fallacy that Nigerian women and black women cannot grow long natural hair. That's not true! I don't have any foreign blood in my ancestry.

 How long have you had your hair natural? My whole life. I've never done anything to it.

Okay so you've never relaxed your hair? No.

How come? Well it started from my Mom not allowing me relax my hair. She had really long hair and she used to relax it and do other things to her hair and it went bad. She used to go on and off relaxers and then in her forties it stopped growing. It just stopped.

Wow!

So she just banned me from doing anything to it. And I just never did. When I finished secondary school, she told me that I could now do whatever I wanted to do to my hair and I was so used to having full hair that I just decided that there was no need to relax my hair.

You said your routine is simple - you don't really do much. It is very very simple.
  

Okay so what do you do? I don't really do anything to it. Sometimes I don’t even comb for three days or maybe a week. Whenever I take out my weaving or braids I steam my hair. I always do a treatment.  I don’t use extensions on my hair for my braids or weaving because my hair is long enough. But if I don’t do a treatment or steaming, I just wash.

With what? Anything.

So you just pick any shampoo? Anything.

You just use any conditioner? Anything. I use any brand for my hair. There is this really nice one that I like. It has carrot oil in it.

Is it a shampoo? No no no. It is a whole range. I know my salon in Abuja use that brand a lot. 

Okay so you just go to the hair salon and get your hair done? Yes I allow them take charge. I don’t really have anything in particular that I do. I try and use leave-in conditioner  from time to time. And whenever I am straightening my hair I always use a serum to protect my hair from the direct heat. Apart from that really I am not too fussy.

How often do you straighten your hair? Really I do it about once a month o. I am quite regular. The thing is it does not last long because of the humidity. It lasts for about 3 weeks.

How often do you trim your hair? Once every three months because of split ends really. I take off about an inch.

How long do you keep in your hair styles? Emm … whenever I am tired … I don’t … I think the key to it is not being fussy with your hair too much. People tend to think natural hair is stronger than permed hair. But it is the other way around. Natural hair is very very fragile. So I was reading somewhere it is very important that you don’t tamper with your hair too much. So when I braid my hair or when I do weaving, or something, I keep them in for like 2 or 3 weeks. I don’t oil it, I just let it be. I don’t put oil on my scalp, I just use a spray on my hair and scalp. So I don’t really touch the hair at all, I don’t bother it. Maybe because I use a scarf as well, so it helps.

 I was going to ask about that! So it helps. It helps. The thing is I use a scarf and sometimes my hair shows. But still, I still have to maintain my hair and make sure that I have nice looking hair at all times even though I use my scarf. [Fatima covers her hair with a scarf during the day because of her religious beliefs]

At night you tie your hair with a scarf as well? No I don’t.

Do you sleep with a satin scarf? Silk scarf? No I don’t.

You just sleep with a regular pillow case? The thing is I can’t sleep with anything covering my hair. Wow! A lot of people advice me to do it but I just can’t.

So for you it is the other way around. During the day your hair is covered but at night … I let it breathe.

Whereas for some of us during the day we leave our hair out and and at night we now cover it. Okay. Wow. That’s nice.

Do you have any sisters? I am wondering if their hair is like yours or different. I am the only girl. I have brothers.  I am a cross between my mom and dad. My mom had really long, full and tough hair and my dad on the other hand, had really long and silky and very Fulani type hair. Very thin and scanty really. So I am somewhere in between.

  

Any final thoughts? I think people should just try being natural, having natural hair. Some people say it is tough but I say when you get used to it, it is the best thing ever!

 Keep it natural!

Omozo

Hair Conditioner Claims: Should you take them seriously?

This article was taken from Jc at Natural Haven and she addresses the formulation question: why do products within a brand have similar ingredients but claim to do different things?

She uses Herbal Essence products as examples and breaks it down well. She concludes by writing "In short, ingredients only tell you part of the story. The second part is the claim and the third and most important part is the actual test. Read the ingredients, read the claim and above all, TEST the product."

Read full article here.

I know we are not all scientists however, it is important to educate oneself and be better informed. When you are better informed, you make better choices.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Styled for a wedding

I attended some weddings some weekends ago and really like the hairstyle I wore for them. I achieved the style by putting my week old twists into Bantu knots. I sprayed my hair with my leave-in spray (combination of water, glycerin, and Eucalyptus oil). I also wanted my hair to be a bit damp and air dry my hair with the Bantu knots in. I find that I get better curl definition when my hair dries with the Bantu knots in.

The next day, I took out the Bantu knots and twists. I decided to sweep one side in and pin it with small bobby pins. I also pinned up the back of my hair with bobby pins because I did not want the back to hang down. Then I finished it off with a hair jewel on the side swept section. I really like the way the style turned out!

I kept the style in for 3 days. I did not take out the bobby pins to sleep. Before sleeping, I would lightly apply some shea butter mix then put on my hair net and sleep on my satin pillow case. The next day, take off my hair net, fluff lightly and roll out. Easy to maintain.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Hairstyles of protest

What hairstyle do you wear when protesting a government decision?

Check out the Protesters on the bridge too!

Workers in Lagos, and most of Nigeria, were on strike from January 9 - 13. During those days rallies were held in Lagos (and in other locations) to oppose the Federal Government's removal of the fuel subsidy. So my brothers and I went to Ojota where big rallies had been taking place all week.

My 'Napp Radar" was on (of course) and I wanted to see how many natural haired ladies would be at the rally that day. I spotted 2 and got their pictures.

Locs of protest

I like the shape of her cut. Check out the Channels TV news truck: top right

 

Bantu knots for me! Protective style for the harmattan

Keep it natural!

Omozo