Great African Products for Natural hair:Oils and butters

Hello everyone!So I have been conspicuously absent,but please forgive me.Its been a crazy couple of weeks.I have been planning to post this forever,so here it is!This is the second instalment in the series on products that are great for hair available in markets and shops all over Africa.If you missed the first post,please click here to read it.
Natural oils and butters are the best products for sealing in moisture and making sure your hair stays soft and grows healthily.Natural oils when applied to your hair,do not just help moisturise,but depending on the properties of the oil you use,you would be protecting your hair from infection,stimulating your follicles to grow and also making sure your scalp stays healthy.In some cases,the Oils helps to prevent irritation and help with itchy scalps and dandruff.But,are these oils available in Africa?Yes they are!
Off the top of my head,here are the oils that I have seen in the market and in shops.

1.Extra Virgin Olive Oil
This is usually imported,but I know almost everyone has seen olive oil,especially if you're Christian,since its used very often in church.Just ask the salespeople for 'anointing oil'.

2.Coconut oil
For whatever wierd reason,most people prefer to look for bottled or imported coconut oil when there's coconut oil in the market.Almost every market you walk into will have coconut oil,locally made and most likely organic.If you prefer foreign brands or already bottled oil,just check your local neighborhood shop.You're likely to get it in there.Personally,I like the yummy scent of African coconut oil.Its very different from the foreign brands,but they both work the same.I use coconut oil in everything:prepoo,hot oil treatments,deep conditioning and sealing in moisture.Its awesome!

3.Palm kernel oil
Yep.Its true.The locally made palm kernel oil(adwenno as its called in Twi in Ghana) that is in the market is great for hair,relaxed or natural.It works pretty much the same or slightly better than coconut oil,and if you can get over the unique aroma it has,then your hair will thank you for it.A whole commercial well known hair care line is based off of palm kernel oil,and these products are patronised not just by black women,but also by women of other cultures.The next time you need an oil for a quick pre-poo,try that

oil sitting in your kitchen!

4.Vegetable oils
Various vegetable oils are available on the market.You can use pretty much any of those on your hair.I have used regular vegetable oil in my hair as a prepoo when I was out of coconut oil,and it worked wonders!So next time you need an emergency fix,check your kitchen.Just make sure there's no mineral oils in there(I doubt there will be since its for cooking,but just as a precaution).

5.Shea,cocoa,mango butters
These are so common in the market that I don't think I need to say it.However,in case you haven't got some yet,please run out and get yourself some local shea or cocoa butter.Shea butter is very popular in hair care lines,and for good reason.It is a great butter for your hair,nourishes and strengthens it while keeping it moist.I use shea butter for most of my styling,and I usually get great hair styles.You can mix it up with some oils and some gel,and it is great as a holding or curl defining cream.Mango butter is less common,but it also works great as well.If you can have just one of these butters in your hair care regimen,your hair will appreciate you.

Most other oils you will read about are available in shops such as Indian shops,Chinese shops,with the sales people in the market selling herbal products and in the pharmacy.For example,castor oil is sold in the pharmacy but its great for hair.You don't need a name brand,just regular castor oil.Almost all the essential oils are in either pharmacies,Indian or Asian shops or in just regular shops

around.Just look around more!

Hair Basics:Deep Conditioning

Whether your hair is natural or relaxed you've probably at some point been told to deep condition your hair.If you've left your hair care to a hair care professional or hair dresser then they've probably had you do a deep condish.I know I used to get them all the time,but I didn't know why I needed it.Since becoming natural and taking care of my own hair,I've realised that it is one of the single most important things helping me.Here's why:

To co-wash or not to co-wash?.That is the question

Over the past week we've talked about a number of things to help with our hair,and yesterday I shared the basics of a hair care regimen in this post.Following a simple regimen is the easiest way to fix dry tangled hair once and for all.For a lot of you who read and watch a lot of hair tutorials,you probably noticed that I didn't talk about co-washing and may be wondering why.

Co-washing is basically 'conditioner-washing',that is washing your hair with conditioner.For a lot of natural haired ladies,co-washing is a part of their regimen.Instead of washing hair with shampoo,a lot of us prefer to use conditioners to wash our hair.The reason for this is to basically help keep your hair soft and moisturised.Shampoos generally tend to remove a lot the hair's natural oils and leaves

Image from Officially Natural

it so clean that you have to immediately replace that moisture or risk hair damage.For afro-textured hair,its already particularly difficult to keep the hair moisturised because it is so tightly coiled and absorbs very little water.That's why a lot of natural hair ladies will wash their hair with conditioner so that right from the cleansing stage your hair has moisture.

In yesterday's post,I didn't bring this up because I think that the decision to co-wash your hair or not will depend on a number of factors.

1.Your location
I think that co-washing works great when your hair isn't exposed to a lot of dust and heat from the sun which causes your scalp to sweat.For an African living in a typical African country,you are faced with lots of dust and sunshine on a daily basis.I really don't think that a conditioner is cleansing enough to remove all of that dirt from your hair.It is purely my opinion based on my own

From Ghana Natural Hair community Facebook page

experience,but in such an environment washing with a sulfate free shampoo,mudwash or African black soap shampoo is more likely to remove all the dirt and sweat and still leave your hair nice and moisturised,especially if you pre-poo before washing.

2.Your lifestyle
Directly related to your lifestyle will be how much you sweat and how much time you spend outdoors.If you spend a lot of time outdoors,you get more impurities into your hair that you will need to wash out.If you exercise  a lot for example then your scalp will need to be cleaned better than someone who doesn't exercise as much.If you swim,then most definitely you will need a good shampoo or natural cleanser to remove the minerals,salt and chlorine from your hair.If you consider all these factors and you don't think co-washing will work for you,then you need to consider a good shampoo or natural cleansing product.

3.The products you use and your styling techniques
Dependent on where you live,chances are so far you haven't been using all natural products in your hair because you don't have access to them.These products,even after you wash them out,will leave some residue behind in your hair and scalp.For example,a lot of gels contain alcohol,parabens and mineral oils and all these are very good at sticking to your hair and staying on your scalp.Co-washing alone doesn't remove these products completely.After a while,you will notice your hair isn't

Photo from Black Girl Long Hair

as healthy,shiny or thick as before and doesn't stay moisturised as well as before.Your hair will also usually feel greasy or weighed down.In this case,you may have product build-up which happens when you use a lot of commercial products.In order to remove product build-up,you have to use a shampoo,mudwash or black soap.Co-washing will only make the build-up worse.

These are the 3 main reasons why co-washing wasn't on yesterday's list,especially since this blog is targeted mainly to Africans living in Africa..;).What I have personally found to help,is to alternate co-washing with shampooing.If I shampoo my hair once a week for example,I will co wash in the middle of the week or something like that,depending on if I have the time.I hope this post has helped answer a lot of concerns for you.My next post will probably be on the politics of natural hair and hair health with regards to physical exercise and water sports such as swimming.And I have a fabulous blog lined up for our next featured blog so don't forget to check back.Please subscribe,like,comment and share!
Till next time,stay blessed and fabulous!

No more dry,tangled hair..forever!

Happy Easter everyone!I trust we all enjoyed a lovely time.I was supposed to have posted something on Saturday but was a little busy with some school work.Never fear though because here it is.
We have been sharing information you need to have for your hair and my last post dwelt a little bit on how to begin the journey to natural hair with my own experience as an example.If you missed that post just click here to read it.
So at this point, I'm going to assume you've made your choice and you know which path you're going to use.As I said in my very first post, no two heads are the same and so please do not feel obligated to follow the method someone chooses to use to go natural.The same method may not work for you because of your own different hair or schedule or just individual differences.We usually share our experiences with you so you can decide to use them as examples for your own journey and to be encouraged to know that you can get where you want to get.

The biggest complaint I get from natural sisters, especially of African origin and those that are considering going natural, is "My hair is so hard!It gets tangled easily and I can't comb it.It is too painful!It is so dry"..and so on and so forth.Today I'm going to share with you very simple things you can do to solve this problem.

Photo from Long Black Natural Hair website

Now, this may seem like a huge letdown for some of you, but dry, hard and tangled hair is not a unique experience to only you.Probably everyone who went natural without knowing all the things I'm going to share with you has had this problem at some point.I had this problem when I took my braids out after my big chop.My hair was such a mess that it took me 2 days to detangle(no kidding).I nearly gave up and went to buy a relaxer there and then, but +Annette Akye encouraged me and I decided to stick it out.Why was my hair so tangled?That is a question for another post I
will write so you can avoid making the same mistakes.So anyway, how did I get rid of the tangles and how do I keep them out of my hair right now?The answer is simple really: A regimen.
Now that you're completely natural,you need to work out a methodical schedule for your hair so that you can keep it soft and moisturized.Moisturized hair doesn't tangle as easily as dry hair,and its easy to manage.So how do you start a regimen?You need 3 basic components and after that, you can decide what to do and when to do it.

1.Cleansing your hair and scalp

Photo from Long Black Natural Hair website

Remember one of the things I said in the first post about dirty scalps?If you want your hair to grow well and stay moisturized, you need to clean both your scalp and hair regularly.How often you do it depends on you, but you can do it as often as you have time.In order to clean your hair and scalp, you need either a good sulfate free shampoo, mild action shampoo or a natural cleanser/detoxifier such as a mud wash or African black soap shampoo.Why not just regular shampoo?Sulfates in the shampoo remove all the natural oils and moisture that keeps your hair strong and soft, so if you use them you will end up with dry hair and a really dry scalp resulting in hair breakage.That's why it is recommended that you use a sulfate free shampoo. Two of my favorite sulfate free shampoos are from Cantu (available here for my Ghana-based audience or here internationally) and the creme of nature moisture and shine shampoo (available here for my Ghana-based audience or here internationally).
An extra step before you wash your hair which will help your hair to lose as little moisture and natural oils as possible is the 'pre-poo' step.Here, you basically put an oil such as olive oil or coconut oil into your hair with water and cover with a plastic cap for about 30 minutes to an hour before you shampoo or wash your hair.It helps make your hair extra soft.You can choose to mix a conditioner into the oil and water before you put it on your hair for extra moisture.Depending on your preference, you can detangle your hair at this step, while you're washing your hair or later.Detangling refers to removing whatever knots or tangles are in your hair, and you can use either a wide tooth comb or your fingers for this purpose.You should not detangle dry hair because its harder.Always try to detangle your hair while there's conditioner or oil in it.

2.Moisturising your hair
Water is our hair's best friend!Don't ever forget it.After you wash your hair, you want to keep some of the water in your hair by applying a moisturizing product to your hair.Right after washing, you can pat your hair dry with a microfiber towel or tee shirt and while your hair is still damp, there are several things you need to do at this point to ensure your hair is as moisturized as possible.First is  deep conditioning.There are a number of deep conditioners that are really great for our hair, so you'd need one of those.The Eden Bodyworks deep conditioner is a great choice (you can get it here in Ghana or anywhere else worldwide).
Sometimes, I mix up my own batch at home.Whichever one you want to use, just make sure to follow the

Photo credit Naptural85

instructions on the container and you're good to go.After you wash out the deep conditioner, you can go ahead and apply a leave-in conditioner, oil to seal in the moisture and whatever styling cream or butter you're using for your hair.I use Cantu leave in (available here if you're in Ghana or internationally here), a mixture of oils and shea butter for my sealant, and sometimes a styling cream or a gel.Depends on what I want to do.

3.Nutrition,nutrition,nutrition
I know you think I'm going to say eat good food etc.You already know to do that so I'm not going to talk about that.Your hair needs its own nutrients sometimes.This is necessary especially if you want thick hair or your hair is weak.First here is a protein treatment.Protein treatments basically make your hair stronger and prevent breakage.Done right, a protein treatment will leave your hair nice and shiny.There are some really good protein treatments out there, but I like the Aphogee simple system.You can get it here in Ghana or if you're anywhere else, click here.The important thing to remember is that you shouldn't do protein treatments too often, since too much protein results in brittle breaking hair.I shoot for once a month, unless when my hair is damaged,in which case I will do it twice in a month.Look at your hair and decide if you really need it.

Photo Credit Superstock

The other thing in this category is hot oil treatments.Not a lot of people do hot oil treatments, but they are great for your hair.Basically, you would take whatever oil you want and heat it up slightly and apply it throughout your hair.You can sit under a hooded dryer with a shower cap on or you can wrap you head with a warm towel to keep the heat in your hair.Usually 30 minutes to an hour later you can rinse out the oil and your hair will be soft, shiny and less prone to breakage.I do hot oil treatments twice a month, usually right after I deep condition or use a protein treatment.
Some people include protective styling in their regimens,but that's up to you.Protective styles keep your hair protected so it doesn't break.Such styles include braids, weaves, and wigs.

Finally, this isn't on the list, but trimming your hair will help to keep it from breaking and knotting up.You don't have to trim like once a month, but you should just watch your hair and trim off whatever damaged ends you observe.I trim my hair by putting my hair in medium size twists all over my head and cutting off the pointy broken ends that I see.I don't do this more than once every 3 months though.

Photo from Long Black Natural Hair website

This is a basic regimen.You can add things on as time goes on,but at the very least, you should be washing your hair, conditioning it, moisturizing and doing protein treatments.And this includes even when your hair is in a protective style such as braids or weaves.If you can do this,y our hair will be so easy to manage and will grow really well.That's it then.The solution to dry tangled hair is in your hands.I hoep it helps you!Till later,stay blessed and fabulous!

Photo credit Black Girl Long hair website

Photo from darkerthanbrown.blogspot.com

Photo credit Ghana Hair Chick

Photo credit Ghana Hair Chick

So You decided to go natural,now what?

You've probably been relaxed for a while.If you haven't you maybe have short hair and you've decided it is time to turn that into a full natural hair pursuit. You've looked at pictures,read blog posts,watched videos and have decided that it is time for you to give this natural hair thing a shot.So at this point you're probably asking,what now?Before you read my response if you haven't read the first part of this article,please read it here for some very basic information that will help you in this part.
In order to begin the natural process for your hair,I would urge you to consider how you want to do it.There are 2 main ways to go.First would be to just be brave and experimental,and chop off all your hair right now.That way you end up with a really short cut(kind of like some African high school girls had to wear for school).If you want to change your look and just go for it,that's a really cool way to go.
However,if you aren't sure you will look as good in really short hair(or no hair..lol) and you don't want to try it,then the second path you can take is that of transitioning.In this case,you don't use relaxers or anything 'chemical' on your hair to grow it out.As the new growth gets longer,you can

Picture from http://chanshealthyhappyhair.blogspot.com

choose to cut off a little bit of your hair at a time over a long period of time till you have only the natural growth left,or you can just transition for a fixed period of time and then cut off all the permed part of your hair.This would involve quite a bit of time,because your permed hair and natural hair will have different textures.Its usually pretty difficult dealing with both,but if you moisturise your hair well then its easier.

Either method you use would require you to adapt a strategy that will work for you,make you comfortable and still keep your hair healthy.Personally,I just got a

weave-on and left it in for 3 months and after I took it out,I cut some of my relaxed hair off to change my look up.Then I got braids for some weeks and after taking them out,another weave.Then I got all my relaxed hair taken off(the Big Chop).This entire process of transitioning for me took around 6 months before I was comfortable enough that my new growth was enough to not make me look wierd(lol) before I cut off the rest of my hair.Some people choose to do it with wigs or other protective styles.The more courageous of us of course just take the plunge and chop off all their hair and rock the short look.Whatever will work for you,use it.However the thing to remember is that during this time you will begin to start taking care of your hair and learning to know it,so that when you have completely natural longer hair,you can still care for it.
After the big chop when your hair is completely natural,is usually a good time to try and experiment with different products that you may want to use for your hair over time.You can do this if you transition,but in some cases the products that will help you during transitioning will not help you after your hair is completely natural so keep that in mind.
I'm sure by now the question you're asking is,what about products?I'm going to do another post on that tomorrow so you can learn what products to use while transitioning and when you first become natural.In the meantime,here are some of my transitioning and big chop pictures.Till tomorrow then stay blessed and fabulous.

 Big Chop!!

Two Posts in One:Top things You wish you knew about your hair

In making the decision to become natural,a lot of us read and perform some research to decide if it is something we really want to do.Let me just say right now that I didn't do that.I should have,but I didn't,mainly because I kind of just started the natural thing having no idea that it was this big deal or that so many women were doing it.So it didn't even occur to me to go look for information on it.Having become natural,for the first few months I didn't even read or check to see how I could take care of my hair.If you're newly natural or considering going natural or transitioning,let me salute you for reading this because it shows your commitment and readiness to make sure you know as much as possible before you jump in.So what's this post about?I am going to attempt to summarise the basic things I should have known and that you should know at the start of our hair care adventure.I know I know..nearly impossible.I started yesterday and nearly quit so clearly,its tough!But I am gonna try anyway,because I am just foolhardy and will do anything because its a challenge.Please note that this is intended to be a guide and not a rule post,so adjust the information to suit you and your personal needs.

1.Being natural is a commitment
I know some people who went natural because they thought it required less time and care than permed hair.No true.You need time to care for your natural hair if you want it to grow long and healthy.You can't get away with putting on a wig or braids and ignoring your hair ,otherwise you only end up with a tangled,dry unmanageable mess on your head.I should know,because I was like this when I first went natural!

2.Dirt is not your friend
I don't know about anyone else,but when I had permed hair my hairdresser urged me to keep my scalp dirty before relaxer treatments because it was better for my hair.Not true.It might help to reduce chemical damage from the relaxer,but its bad for your hair.In order for your hair to grow healthily,it needs a clean scalp that allows air circulation and proper blood flow(sorry to go all sciencey..lol).Therefore,if you want good hair,keep your scalp clean.And this means washing your hair even when its in braids or other protective styling.It might mess up your hairdo a bit,but its worth it.

3.Your hair growth isn't the problem,length retention is

 A lot of us attribute short hair to genes.We see some ladies with long hair and begin to assume its because of their family,or genetic make-up and hence their hair grows faster.Not true.There are individual differences in hair growth rates,but the averages are very similar no matter who you are or what family you come from.You might not be experiencing the same growth rate though as someone else because there are several factors that influence this.Hormones,diet, exercise and the growth phase your hair itself is in might have a contribution(more on this later) but to a large extent,long hair isn't dependent on the rate of growth.It depends on how much of that growth actually stays on top of your head(lol).This is what you might see commonly referred to as length retention.Therefore,assuming two people have the same hair growth rate and are in the same phase of the hair cycle,the only thing that would influence hair length would be their length retention.How much length you are able to keep depends on how well you care for your hair.This is basically what having a regimen is about:caring for your hair to retain length.The basic in any regimen is moisture,cleaning and strengthening.Everything revolves around these 3 things.And then,keeping your hair in a protective style helps retain length because the ends of your hair aren't being stressed out and breaking off.Since this is the oldest and most fragile part of your hair,this usually results in healthy hair.

4.Water is your friend
Water is one of the single most important things that will help to make your hair what you want it to be.Drink it,wash your hair with it,spray it on your hair.This is the basis of moisturizing. If you have natural hair,its really hard to keep the hair moisturized and so you need to keep applying water to it.This helps make your hair soft and easier to manage so that when you style your hair,you aren't straining it.After applying water,in order to ensure that the water actually stays in the hair and doesn't escape(lol) you then apply an oil or butter to the hair which is referred to as sealing in the moisture.So now if you see moisturising,thats all it is is.Water on hair and sealing with an oil or butter.

5.Trying to fix your hair when it is completely dry is crazy!
Yep.I learned this the hard way.Before you even put a comb in your hair(assuming you use a comb),there has to be some moisture(water) in your hair.Completely dry hair that is my hair texture is a nightmare to try and style or comb.My friend told me once that she didn't know this and was trying to comb her natural hair with a comb.Her mom told her to stop but she didn't pay any attention.2 broken combs later,she decided to listen to her mom..lool.Dry hair is too tightly coiled to be manageable If you need to do something to your hair,back to water first.Better to style damp hair than dry hair.

6.Have some fun and stop obsessing

Haha!This is a good one.Sometimes we become so obsessed with oUr hair that we don't even enjoy our hair anymore.Please,relax!Hair is just a part of who you are and not your whole person.Try and enjoy it,and make it a complement to your already awesome self.Trust me,obsessing will leave you with nothing but a broken comb..haha!

7.Your hair can grow long,but it will NOT look long
Lol..another good one.Our hair texture is so interesting that you can have really long hair and look like you just chopped off all your hair.I didn't really know this before I became natural.Now that I'm natural I have experienced it and I really like it.I see tons of videos with ladies that have very long natural hair,but immediately they wash it,their hair looks as short as mine..lol.That's shrinkage!And the good thing is that you can really enjoy shrinkage sometimes just to change your look.So don't worry about it,your hair is just too coiled to have that sleek long look!

8.Know yourself,your hair and like it.
No two heads are the same.No two people are the same If someone can wash their hair 3 times a week and you can only wash yours once a week,to thine own self be true.If you can't style your hair and  go to a professional so they can fix it for you,that's ok.Its your life.Do whats best for you.All you would probably need to do is take your own products and show the person what to do if they are trying to comb your hair dry,for example.Not all of us are natural for the same reasons,so no need to compare yourself to someone else.If you can't wear a wash and go,you can still wear a nice afro,so it all depends on you.Know your hair,and do what's best for it.

9.What goes inside usually comes out on top of your head
Yep.If you eat badly,your hair will suffer.What you eat and drink affects every part of you including your hair.Being natural is also for me about being as healthy as possible.Drink more water. Exercise more.Balanced diets.More laughter.Less stress.Better sleeping habits.Its about the whole you and not just your hair.If you use the best products in the world but don't have good habits,your hair will not be happy.

There's lots more,but this is already a long post.I'm going to end here and let you to finish it.What would you add to this list if you could?

Having realistic expectations for your hair(4C to 5Z)..

Haha!4C-5Z is kinda made up,but I laughed for like the first few minutes of the first video because she's really interesting and funny,and also because when she talked about the Wash n Go I remembered my own experience(and +AfroDiva Nally agreed with me on that..lol).Some things just don't work out well with some hair types and porosity.If you don't believe me look at my first ever wash and go pictures below.I didn't agree 100% with everything she said but she made a lot of sense.There is no way I can just spritz my dry knotted up hair with water,fluff it up and just go out.I'd look CRAZY..lol!Its just the way it is and I wouldn't try to change it for anything!The second video is a response to the first one..and its also quite good!What do you think?Are they being dramatic or do you have the same issues?Comment,like,share,subscribe!Enjoy the video below..;).Till next time,stay fabulous and blessed!

Maintaining natural hair in Protective styling:Marley twists

Protective styles are good for retaining length because you reduce wear and tear on your hair,but it will do no good if hair isn't moisturised in the protective style.It is therefore really important for you to take care of your own hair while it's in protective styling,especially if you want to have healthy thick long hair.
It can be hard but totally worth it.For my marley twists,I basically mix distilled water with about 15% Extra virgin olive oil and 35% Aloe vera juice and spritz my twists to the point where my natural hair is.After that I usually take a little shea butter mixed with oils and leave in conditioner and apply to each twist.I only do that about 3 times a weak and after that just massage some castor oil into my edges and scalp.Fairly simple but works really well! What do you do when your hair is in protective styling?

Hair typing 2:Ph Balance,porosity

Today I'm sharing some videos I found on youtube that talk about hair typing,porosity and pH.If these things have been confusing you since you became natural,please watch the videos!Also,if you missed the first post on hair typing,please read it here

I hope these help you out.More questions,comments,recommendation?Please comment and don't forget to subscribe!