Guess where I went today!

Hii lovelies,

Below is the look I chose for an event I went to today, I just got back so no post for now, but stay tuned, lots to tell!!

I never remember to take pix when it’s sunny!!!

Simi

X

Oh Curl Challenge Day 19: Green

Hiii,

 

Today’s challenge is green…..I found it so hard to find an adequate pic, because i’ve tried to keep the pix as innovative and related to me as much as possible. But I managed to get this one 😉 (i’ll probably start looking at bloggers outside after this) enjoy!!

 

Simi

 

X

 

 

The Natural Hair Blog Directory

Hey there peoples,

 

Some of you may have noticed a flashing button to the right showing that i’m part of the  ‘Natural Hair Blog Directory’ under ‘Kinky Hair’. The Natural Hair Blog Directory is a directory of blogs created by Rae of LoveThyIntrovert.com as a way to group the email addresses of almost all the active natural hair blogs in the world. I think it’s an awesome idea, and have obviously joined.

 

The bloggers are grouped by the type of hair they have: wavy, curly, coil and kinky. I’ve been listed under the kinky hair category so you’ll find me there :D. So If you are a blogger I hope to see you there and if you are a natural hair enthusiast or just someone with a few hair issues I hope you can find what you’re looking for in the vast range of hair blogs.

 

One thing I might suggest to them though is a way to group the bloggers by either nationality or country of residence, maybe even both, i’m always searching for Nigerian bloggers because a) we’re more likely to have similar hair and b) they can tell me where they get their products from. We’ll see how that pans out.

 

Simi

 

X

I’m Back + Other things

Hi guys,

I’m ashamed to admit that i haven’t been here in way too long!! It’s getting terrible, so I think I should explain. I’ve been having some exams for the past few weeks and all my available time has been spent either studying or chilling out from all the studying. I’m pleased to say that I passed (yay me) and can now come back to my beautiful blog and all my readers. I’ve just received some products, so expect some reviews and new posts about them.

 

I have decided to structure my post schedule a bit more rigidly, so you should expect posts at least twice a week, and you should expect the Oh Curl Challenge to be once a week until I finish it, and the Why Is My Hair Not Growing series every 10 days or so. I have quite a bit in store for y’all so stay tuned!

 

Can’t wait!

Simi

X

Oh Curl Challenge Day 18: Protective Style

Hi guuysss,

 

been a while since I did one of these, i’ve been totally focusing on other posts like my Max hydration journey and my Why is my Hair not growing series. I hoped you checked them out in the meantime!

Today’s pic is Protective Style, which I haven’t done a lot of in the past year, in fact I think my last one was back in May at NYSC Camp(which i still haven’t posted about, awkies!!) But here is one of my favourite styles, a wig!

Why is my Hair Not Growing Series: Episode 3 Beginning the journey

Hi guys, this is the third episode in the WIMYNG series. This one is about hair regimens/ journals and what could be causing your hair to break off.

I wrote about creating a hair regimen in some posts I did ages ago Creating a Regimen and Creating a Regimen II In these two posts you can really get a good idea of what it is to have a routine. Some things I didn’t mention in those posts are actual ready methods that you can tweak to suit your lifestyle, because I didn’t want to speak for your hair. However, I think I have a good formula for you to follow:

Start off with cleansing/clarifying (note: if you’re co-washing you can skip to the next step). You could use a shampoo, ayurvedic herbs or a cleansing/normal conditioner for this step. As I am following the max hydration method, I use a conditioner/baking soda mix.

Next off condition/ detangle, this is the step where you could deep condition/ protein condition or which ever type of treatment you like to add to your hair eg clay and henna. If i’m planning to wash my hair in the morning I do a deep condition over night otherwise I deep condition until I can be bothered to rinse it out/I finish my chores. In my current regimen this is is where I condition, then deep condition and then do a clay rinse. This part is where you can really run wild and discover all sorts of new ways to give your hair that extra oomph!

Temi has henna on her hair

Then comes the moisturise and seal. Since I do mhm I use my conditioner as a leave in and seal with gel for a wash n go or with oil for a set style like a twist out. There are many methods of sealing LOC, LOG, LCO, LCOC etc its up to you to find out which work for you. Sometimes the method you choose may be reflective of the current products that you have on hand, So its always good to have a bit of knowledge of different methods in case you find your self stranded with just water and some groceries, lol.

This is where hair journaling comes in. Once you decide that you’re about to do something to your hair you could write down all the products you have used and write in as much detail as you like about how your hair reacted to the products you used in the combination you used them in. Sooner or later you’ll find a pattern. Maybe your hair feels drier when Glycerin is nearer the top of the ingredient list. Maybe you shed more when you use gel, and maybe you see flakes if you mix certain products together. It’s up to you to put in the work, how much do you want your hair to be healthy?

Now i’ll briefly touch on some reasons why your hair is breaking briefly before we get deep into them in the next episode.

For my own self while I was relaxed and since I have been natural these have been the biggest stealers of my length:

• Being scissor happy (over-trimming)
• hair being dry
• not moisturising enough
• being lazy
• not detangling (thoroughly) enough
• detangling too much
• not protective styling
• overmanipulation
• leaving protective styles in too long
• too much tension in styles
• too much heat

And the list goes on….so many ways to lose length!! In the next episode i’ll show you how to negate all of these issues. and some health hair care practices you need in your life.

Till next time!

Simi

X

The max hydration method: Is it for you?

I was casually looking at hair videos on YouTube, when I stumbled on something called the ‘Max Hydration Method’. It promised to show true curls in the kinkiest of 4c hair and I was intrigued by the proposed results of the method.

One example of mhm results

The whole ‘defined curls’ thing didn’t strike me at first, I was more focused on people talking about less single and multi strand knots. I suffer from these a lot because my hair likes to shed and wrap itself really tightly around other strands causing lengthy de-tangling sessions. It seemed to consist of a 5 step regimen every 3 days with a ‘Cherry Lola treatment’ every few weeks, or as needed.

Another pic for ya

So I decided to try it.

Why is my Hair Not Growing Series: Episode 2 Keeping Your Length

Hi guys, and welcome to the second episode of the series, keeping your length. In the first episode, we discussed taking control of your hair by accepting that your hair is growing. In this episode, we’re going to address why it looks as if your hair isn’t growing.

Now the reason why it looks as if your hair isn’t growing is that its breaking off at the same rate or faster than your rate of growth. This gives the illusion that your hair isn’t growing. The only way to combat this breakage is to find the reason why your hair is breaking and fix it.

Saying it is one thing, actually finding the culprit is another thing entirely! It could be a range or combination of a lot of things; dryness, detangling, over manipulation, not enough protective styling etc.I have two ways of finding out what your possible hair demons are, one is to have a hair journal the other is creating and sticking to a hair regimen.

A hair journal simply documents what you do to your hair, styles, products, methods and even the way your hair feels, everything you do is documented in it. The second is to have a hair regimen, now almost everyone on a healthy hair journey has a regimen of some sort. In simple terms a hair regimen is like a projection of what you are going to be doing to your hair on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

One of these methods focuses on what you’re going to do in future, which takes the pressure off you because you already know what you’re going to do. This makes you more likely to be patient and actually enjoy what yuo’re doing to your hair. The other focusses on the past, this is also important because your memory isn’t as good as you think it is. Did you really use a coconut oil/jojoba oil mix for that banging twistout? Or was it a shea butter/castor oil base? Yeah, I thought so, you don’t remember, writing all of that down eliminates the need to remember anything except where you kept the journal (tip: don’t lose the journal).

So thats all for this episode, in the next episode we discuss the effect that certain factors could have on your length retention and hair journalling and regimens in detail (video should be up later this week).

Simi

X

Product review: Rhassoul Shampoo Bar & Lemon and Honey Black Soap Paste

Hey guys,

I’ve been using these products for a while and I thought I’d review them for you, especially because they’re made here in Nigeria.

First up is the Rhassoul clay shampoo bar by Bubbles and Scents.

Ingredients: saponified oils of Shea butter, Palm kernel, coconut, cocoa butter, grapeseed, castor and beeswax. rhassoul clay, fragrance, color.

Now, I’m aware that this product seems to have a lot of ‘saponified oils’and the clay seems to be at the bottom of the list. However, you do have to remember that a) this is a shampoo bar, so the saponified oils are necessary forthis purpose and b) even when using clay you tend to mix it with other things like water or aloe Vera juice or even Apple cider vinegar.

Thoughts: I love this product, it lathers easily, and even though I’ve used it about once a week for the past 4 months I’ve still got about 2/3 left. My hair isn’t very dense but it’s almost bra strap length so there’s still quite a lot of it.

The bar cleans most of the left over product residue and leaves my hair (not squeaky) clean. I find that if I’ve been a bit heavy handed with my products I need to lather twice.

It also lathers up really nicely and has a faint kind of earthy smell which isn’t strong at all. Afterwards, my hair is left soft, not stripped and it slightly defines my curls especially the looser section.

All in all I love it And the best part is that not only is it made and owned by a Nigerian based company, it’s only N800 (less than 3 quid)!! When I manage to finish it, I’ll definitely be buying another.

Next is the Lemon and Honey Black Soap Paste also by Bubbles and Scents.

Ingredients: Saponified Palm oil, vicious pods, plantain husks, Shea butter soap, lemon peel powder, kaolin clay, vitamin C, honey, aloe Vera, distilled water, lemon essential oil, Orange essential oil, lime essential oil.

Thoughts: this is a more jazzed up version of your normal black soap. One thing I like about it is that it’s a paste rather than a normal bar. Because I use it for both hair and skin, I don’t have to be rubbing my face on which every products I used the week before, and it being ina paste eliminates that problem.

It’s very good at getting all the products out of my hair but out does seem to leave my hair feeling slightly stripped. Because im now trying out the maximum hydration method, I’ve only been using the shampoo bar as my clay part of the routine and I haven’t been able to try it after using a pre-poo treatment to see whether that would would alleviate the dry feeling I get after using it. When I deep condition afterwards, my hair is still soft and manageable, so the dry feeling doesn’t last long.

You only need to use the absolute tiniest amount in both your hair and skin, and it comes in a small jar. I’m not sure that I’ll ever finish using it, and I got it for the measly amount of N1,500 (about £6)

I’m not sure if I’d repurchase just yet, but I have plenty of time to decide 😉

So if you’re free, check out bubbles and scents at any of these stores.

Hope you enjoyed this review 😉

Simi

X