My hair post-crochet braids takedown

Picture gotten from HerCampus

So, I took my hair down a week ago, on Monday, and got too lazy to wash it so I detangled it the next morning finger detangling first then spritzing with apple cider vinegar, working some coconut oil in and running a comb through working in small sections and holding my hair in a stretched position. It was a pretty easy detangle. I've never had a detangling experience that good! I washed it immediately after using my BeeMine Botanicals Shampoo and then conditioned it with my BeeMine BeeLovely Conditioner followed by my Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner then I deep conditioned with my Terressentials Mud Wash (hehe ;) ) and worked out while deep conditioning to ensure some "steam" goes on in that plastic bag. I rinsed out the mud and reconditioned using a little of my Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner. I worked in small sections throughout and always retwisted and bantu knotted after working on each section to keep my hair stretched and make it easier to work with my hair.

Okay! So my mum African threaded my hair that night and I was too lazy to take out the threads the next day or to redo it for a "super-stretched" look so I left the threads in for two days and then took them down on Saturday, combed out my hair which was hanging down my back already and left it like that. However, my hair got big, like REALLY BIG and looked like a gigantic afro within a few hours. It looked pretty awesome and pretty cool and I'm pretty glad it retained its stretch even after doing that.

That night, I put my hair in random braids to retain the stretch, donned on a satin scarf and went to bed. This morning, I combed it out and held it up in a puff with some bangs and tried slicking down my edges. My puff looked pretty good. It was HUGE!

I love my hair!! :)
Gaah! :)

~Sammy

p.s Going to try out the product sent to me by Midas Naturals this coming weekend! :) SO EXCITED!!!! :)

My Hair Care and Maintenance Presentation

If you've been following my tweeter feed, you'll know that yesterday (evening), I got a text and in it I was asked to make a presentation on hair care and maintenance today. So, I just got home from it a few minutes ago. It was pretty good, actually. I demonstrated stuff on my hair right there without even looking at my hair while doing them. I talked about a whole lot of stuff, but didn't go that in depth to like pH values and all that because of my audience. I actually had to try and really simplify it and use synonyms and stuff. It was all good.

I started off by saying, "good morning, everybody," and my voice sounded so nervous that everyone started laughing and I joined in. Lightened the mood a bit. I put up pics of my hair in 2007, 2009 and 2011 and showed that my hair didn't seem to grow longer (it was nape length in all pics and relaxed) and explained that that was because of my improper hair care back then. At the end, I showed two picture from my first month in my hair journey, one from my first year natural and four pictures from my second year (ending with a picture from the fundraiser I performed at). The pics showed some pretty obvious hair growth.

I was told that I might need to come back for a Q&A and to practicalise what I talked about, but I doubt that's going to happen. It's going to be on a Sunday and next Sunday is my last Sunday here in Africa and I haven't been asked to do it next Sunday.

Okay! So, the audience loved my presentation and a guy came to me after it to ask about his hair and how he could fix something (and other guys were nodding and getting tips for their wives during it). One thing that annoyed me was that the guy who asked me to make the presentation (I'll call him the host) came out after it and was like, "that didn't make any sense to me," all the ladies and the rest of the audience said that it did make sense. He then was like, maybe it's 'cause he's more or less bald. He then went on to say that each time he's seen me, he thought I looked rather unkempt. I was like, "what the heck?" but didn't say it out loud. I never leave my house without my hair being styled or held up neatly, 99% of the times he's seen me, my hair has been in a puff and I never wear messy puffs. I'm thee kind of person who spends about a half hour making sure my puff is perfect, I also do not leave my house without being dressed presentably. *sigh* All, but three of the peoplee in the audience knew me (they see me about once a week or so) and they've always thought I looked good. Once, they saw my mum with a scarf over her hair and they were like, "why didn't you style your mum's hair the way you styled yours today?" Some people try messing in my hair or try to figure out how I styled it and see if they can imitate it. Then he turned to my mum, mic still in hand and said that when he noticed my mum was doing something with her hair (that is, going natural), he was wondering if she was becoming more spiritual or what. Back here, there is a church called, "DeeperLife," the people there are said to act very spiritual. Here's how: they don't wear ear rings, don't wear nail varnish/polish, don't chemiccally alter their hair's texture, don'y wear trousers, et cetera. Anyways, so I was glad when my mum voiced out, right there, that she wasn't going natural for spiritual reasons. The guy was laughing thinking he was so funny, but he was the only one laughing. No one else found what he was saying funny. My mum, wore her hair in an absolutely beautiful twist out today! I put her hair in twists last week and she took them down this morning and styled her twist-out  in such a nice way.

Anyways, so I was pissed, real pissed with the host, but he is just one man and what matters is what the audience thinks and what God thinks, not what just one man does.

It annoyed me that I put so much effort into this anad he just laughs it off and says such things. If you follow my twitter feed, you'll know that I had been working on this and a graphic representation yesterday evening, when he sent the text till about 5:40am. I have been battling with some pretty bad insomnia so, I went to bed once I was done and 6am passed and I was still awake, 7am came and I was asked to get ready and head out so I could get there on time (no sleep). I was worn out, tired, my back hurt from standing while doing the graphic representation (hooked it up on a wall while working on it) and.....gaaah, he was so ungrateful. Even after giving me such short notice.

Anyways, I forgive him.

By the way, I was asked to speak there today because he heard that I got an award for my bkog and that award is, The Awesome Blogger Award  :) So, once again, thank you, Tia, for giving me that award. It's opening doors for me :)

My Plans

I'm using this as a reminder. From a couple of posts ago, you know I'm moving out and to England. So,  most of my hair journey was spent in Africa. The parts that were spent in England, well, I was still trying out products and stuff 'cause I didn't know what worked for me. Y'all know I'm into natural stuff right now, right? Back then, I was into John Frieda stuff. So, I'm online going through my Curly Emporium shopping list, finding things I'll need on ASDA and Tesco's websites (curlies in England, Tesco's got the oils, like, OH.MY.DAYS!) and, IKEA. I'm going to buy a potted aloe vera plant from IKEA. Fortunately, it's not expensive, just £3.50. This is helping me know where exactly I need to go to for what exactly.

As I said above, oils, whichever type, will be gotten from Tesco, Tresemme Naturals Conditioner from ASDA or Boots 'cause it seems like my BeeMine Conditioner has been discontinued (I'm considering revisiting the John Frieda conditioner I used to use so, I might buy a bottle from one of those places), hair accessories/tools (including hair shears) from Boots, I'll need to order Curlformers (I've finally convinced myself to try them) from Salon-Services, I'm considering getting sectioning clips from them too, shea butter will be sent over from Africa, satin scarves will be gotten at Accessorise, everything else I need will be ordered from BritishCurlies Curly Emporium.

One reason I put this up here is to help UK naturals know where they can get these things from. I've gotten stuff from all those places apart from the Salon-Services so I trust them. I'll just have to give Salon-Services a try and hope they're good.

Curly Baby Hair Care

Hi Everyone,

So, that's my nephew above (isn't he so cute!). He's 1 now. In that pic, he was just about 3 months old. He's got super curly and beautiful hair.
So, I was thinking and I decided to make a post on natural hair care for curly babies.
Okay! So, here it goes:

1. Shampoo is a no-no: Shampoos, especially sulfate containing shampoos are an absolute no for curly babies. These shampoos dry out the hair and scalp and strip them of their nutrients. If you must find a way to clean your baby's hair and scalp, co-wash or use a sulfate-free shampoo. Also, it is best to opt for a shampoo or conditioner that doesn't contain chemicals (or a large amount of chemicals). Recommended sulfate-free shampoos for babies:  BeeMine Botanical Shampoo, Curls: It's a Curl: Peek-A-Boo Tearless Baby Shampoo, BurtBees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash.
2. Don't be a product junkie with your baby's hair: Putting so many products on your baby's hair might cause an irritation which will make the baby uncomfortable (and the baby will let you know he/she is uncomfortable....). Try out a few products (over a period of months), and it's best to ensure that they are 100% natural or organic.
3. Keep the Vaseline, Pertroleum Jelly and Baby Oil (mineral oil) away: These prevent the scalp from breathing and might lead to a stunted hair growth in the long run. They are had to wash out and might cause some serious build up.
4. Don't scratch at the scalp or pull at the hair while manipulating: This will cause the baby a whole lot of discomfort and most likely will hurt the baby's scalp and do some other things that I'm not sure about (damage the follicles or something like that).
5. Avoid tight hairstyles (this applies to toddlers too (all these apply to toddlers too)): I have had a problem with some Nigerian mums who believe that when their kid's hair's not growing, they should braid or thread the child's hair really tight to pull out the hair "that is staying in the child's head and not coming out." Little do they know that they are causing a whole lot of damage. I have seen little kids with something like traction alopecia. Why?
6. Opt for finger detangling: It is better to finger detangle than detangle with a comb or brush.
7. Moisturise: Make a hair spritz with water and coconut oil (or fav. condish) or anything you want and spritz this lightly on your baby's hair or onto your hands then massage into your baby's hair for moisture and to promote growth.
8. Never show your annoyance no matter what to your child's hair when it seems to not be coorporating with you: If you show your annoyance, you might give the child the wrong impression about his/her hair. Kid's and baby's notice things. They're smarter than we think.
9. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

I hope this can help somebody!
~Sammy


p.s if you have anything to add, please fill free to do so in the comments below and I might add it to this post.. :)

p.p.s if you're a curly mum willing to host a Curly Baby Hair Section on this blog, please write to me at 'SammySingally@gmail.com.' :)

Natures Gentle Touch...

Hey everyone,

I must say, I was so disappointed with everything I saw at the Natures Gentle Touch thing I went for.
There were trichologists and hair stylists there (all working with Natures Gentle Touch). I saw blow driers without diffusers, I saw sulphate shampoos, products full of petrolatum, mineral oil,  harsh chemicals, etc. I was pretty much appalled. I mean, they say they're into making natural hair products, but well, the few natural things I saw in some of their products, they were on the last line or second to the last line of the ingredients list out of a whole lot of ingredients (I couldn't even pronounce all the ingredients and...well...people I know think I'm weird because I can pronounce words easily even when seeing them for the first time and not knowing their meanings unlike them).

I spoke to a trichologist showed me some vid on my scalp. It was like she was using a webcam shaped like a computer mouse and moving it across my hair (I must say that I believe she had used that thing on a bunch of other people's hair without cleaning/at least wiping it). She called my edges, "the hair that recedes"  and "where your hairline would recede," then she was like, "...but there's quite a lot of hair there..." Then she took out a strand of my hair and said she was going to test its porosity and elasticity. I should say that: 1. The hair she took was...well....processed (the hair at my ends), and 2. all she did was hold the strand of hair between her finger and pull at it then she was like, "hmm...you have good porosity." I kept a calm look, but in my head, I was like, "what?!?!"

I asked the trichologist some questions about:
1. Heat damage
2. Relaxers
3. Harsh chemicals in their products
4. Diffusers
and I must say, she never really answered my questions.
Me: "I noticed a bunch of hair stylists working with blow driers without diffusers attached to them."
Tri-Tri: "they've all been given blow drier heads and diffusers, but they don't use them because they say they're trying to hurry."
(did I  mention that they owned a hair salon which was in the same building?)
...
Me: "Using direct heat on the hair for a prolonged amount of time causes heat damage. Therefore, shouldn't a rule be enforced that all stylists use their diffusers or figure out alternatives to using so much heat? "
Tri-Tri: "We use our Oil Moisturiser on our clients' hair before we use heat on it."
Me: (I should say that I saw the ingredients in the Oil "Moisturiser") "Isn't that just going to fry your client's hair?" (I was thinking about when oil's in a pan and heated up, plus I've put a whole lot of oil on my hair before and stepped out into a boiling hot day in Africa and I remember my scalp felt like it was being fried)
Tri-Tri: "No, it won't. Like I said, 'we use our Oil Moisturiser on our client's hair before we use heat on it.'" (I took this as her saying that the oils in the product would prevent heat damage and well, at this point in time, I was thinking about someone heating up some oil and placing something, say, chips or something, into it and I was like, "not to worry, nothing'll happen to the chips, they'll be protected from the heat by the oil!" Note that I didn't say this out loud)
...
Tri-Tri: "What do you normally do with your hair?"
Me: I braid or twist it and have my hair like that for a week then I take the braids out, deep condition then cleanse my scalp."
Tri-Tri: "Would you consider getting your hair done here?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess."
Mum: "My daughter doesn't use commercial products or heat on her hair, by the way."
Tri-Tri: "Then we can't get her hair done for her because she must wash her hair with our shampoo first, condition it with our conditioner too, also done here, use our oil moisturiser here before we can get her hair done. We just can't get her hair done like that."
(My mum looked at me after that, I looked back at her and said...)
Me: "Are you alright with braiding my hair for me at home?"
Tri-Tri: "Why don't you want to get your hair done here?"
Mum: "I wasn't kidding when I said she doesn't use commercial products, she makes her own products and air dries ."
Me: "Plus I've gone through the ingredients on your products and they're full of harsh chemicals."
......

To cut this short, about relaxers, she said they are not damaging to the hair and about the harsh chemicals in their products, well, apparently, she doesn't really care about them and also, she tried defending some of the harsh sulphates at some point.
><> ><>

My thoughts:


1. If you'd like to get your hair done at their salon, set out on a day when you have a whole lot of time on your hands (I know how long people waited just to get their hair done and it wasn't like there was a crowd or not enough people to get their hair done).

2. They have a very stupid policy that forces people to use Natures Gentle Touch's products only and they must spend a lot of money on washing, conditioning and soaking their hair in oils before they can get their hair done even if the client had already washed and conditioner his/her.

3. Their workers need proper training on hair care.

4. They should take this line off all their cards, "natural hair care" and telling people that they specialise and promote that. I mean, every single person there including Tri-Tri (who I should mention is the 'Tri'chologist) had relaxed hair and didn't seem to be planning on transitioning, plus, they were relaxing people's hair and well, promoting doing just that to your curls and kinks. Note: Don't be fooled by what ads. say or is written infront on a bottle of a hair product. I mean, turn that bottle around and take a look at it's ingredients list, you might just end up surprised).

5. They need to go back to the drawing board and rethink all their products. I mean, anti-dandruff shampoo that contains sodium lauryl sulphate, alcohol and other ingredients that dry out the hair and scalp.

etc.

><> ><>
~Sam

p.s when my mum called my dad and told him that we won't be planning on going to Natures Gentle Touch again, I couldn't help, but agree. Little did my mum know that when the people at Natures Gentle Touch asked me for my phone number, I gave them hers ;)
hehe :)

Truth and Dangers of using Relaxers + 9 Months Old Baby Gets A RELAXER!

I'll start off by asking, "what on Earth can make someone put a relaxer on a baby's hair?!?!?" I know my mum started relaxing my hair at an early stage, but definitely not at 9 months. I don't even recommend relaxing a child's hair or anyone's hair for that matter. I've know what relaxer burns feel like and I just can't imagine a 9 month old baby going through that.

Please watch these videos. I hope they help somebody:

Truth and Dangers of using Relaxers^

Nine month old baby gets a relaxer. Are you serious!?!

People, relaxers are never the answer!

Proper hair care and research is!

And finally,

DON'T YOU DARE PUT A RELAXER OR SUGGEST PUTTING A RELAXER ON A BABY'S HAIR!

................

1. What do you think about this?

2. What do you think about kids getting relaxers?

3. What are your views on relaxers in general?