Exercise and Hair

Hey y'all,

So, if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I've been doing the Insanity workout. Stuff is intense! Lord, help me! I did day 25 today so I just have 35 days to go! Yay! But it gets harder :/

Anyways, I started to think today about how exercise helps the hair? I've known the answer to this for a while now, but I don't think I've ever blogged about it:

So, here's what it does. Exercise decreases stress and we all know that stress leads to hair loss and can lead to your hair line being damaged (ain't nobody got time for that). So, by exercising, we are keeping our scalp strong and helping our hair grow out healthy. Here's another fact. Exercise promotes blood circulation and if y'all know about scalp massaging, y'all know that blood circulation in the scalp aids in hair growth. So, by exercising, we are getting our scalp healthy, promoting circulation and.... Oh! and sweating helps take out toxins from your body!

So, I'm not saying that y'all need to do the Insanity workout. Do what you can. Be it running, cardio, zumba or pilates.

I'll leave you with my most recent workout routine and my workout routine when I get back to college next month:

Most Recent:
Monday - Insanity
Tuesday - Insanity
Wednesday - Insanity
Thursday - Running, Cycling, and going on a Full Body Worker for about an hour (going at least 5km) and maybe a lil ten minutes tummy workout or pilates then Insanity
Friday - Insanity
Saturday - NOTHING! I'M FREE!! (or running after kids (not mine) like I did yesterday :/)
Sunday - Insanity

When I get back to college:
Monday - Insanity
Tuesday - Insanity
Wednesday - Insanity
Thursday - Zumba for at least an hour then Insanity
Friday - Insanity
Saturday - NOTHING! I'M FREE!! (or running after kids (not mine) like I did yesterday :/ or walking down to town for some grocery shopping or to eat out with the girls)
Sunday - Insanity

I haven't missed a day of working out since I started the Insanity workout. Try your best not to miss whatever you plan to do on whatever day to workout. Consistency is good.

Have fun and exercise!

Rosemary Hair Tonic

I made a bottle of a rosemary hair tonic on Sunday and I must say, it's great! I used it after I washed out my DC. I had made a herbal cleanser/tonic some time ago, it was also great, but I think I prefer this one.


Now, we all know that rosemary is great when it comes to preventing, or curing dandruff, an itchy scalp, dry scalp, other scalp issues, thinning hair/hair loss and rosemary also is used to stimulate hair growth naturally.


So, here's my rosemary hair tonic recipe!




Rosemary Hair Tonic


Ingredients

• bottled or distilled water water
• dried rosemary leaves

Directions

• Pour some of the rosemary leaves into a pot/pan
• Pour some water into that same pot/pan. Note that the amount of water you pour in depends on the strength you want the tonic. I just add a little above the surface of the leaves in the pt/pan.
• Heat up the water and once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes (not long, though, you really don't need to let it simmer for up to 10 minutes)
• Turn off the heat and leave it to cool off with the lid on.
• Choose to either sieve it or leave the rosemary leaves in it. I left mine in.
• After washing, co-washing, cleansing, moisturising your hair... spill it slowly on your head, being careful so it reaches all points of scalp.
• Don't rinse off. 

Rosemary Hair Tonic (old recipe)

Ingredients

• bottled or distilled water water
• dried rosemary leaves
• dried basil/thyme leaves
• dried sage leaves
• Water (distilled or bottled)
• An oil (Canola oil, Rapeseed oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut oil, or Jojoba Oil)
• Lemon Juice (optional)
• Aloe vera gel
• Vitamin E oil (optional) (preservative)

Directions

• Boil some distilled or bottled water.
• Eyeball the herbs (the main herb/the herb with the greatest quantity should be the rosemary) and pour them into the boiling water.
• Pull the boiling water and herbs off the stove.
• Let the herb mixture sit for 30-40 minutes.
• Add the oil (I used the EVOO and canola in really small quantities) after the mix has been sitting for 30 minutes.
• After 40 minutes (10 minutes after the last step), add some lemon juice.
• Strain the herbal mixture into a bowl.
• Mix in some aloe vera gel and vitamin E oil then transfer the mix into a bottle and store in a cool, dry place.
• Choose to either sieve it or leave the leaves in it. I left mine in.
• After washing, co-washing, cleansing, moisturising your hair... spill it slowly on your head, being careful so it reaches all points of scalp.
• Don't rinse off. 

Both tonics have quite a long shelf life. I've had the one with the old recipe for over 2 months and it's still good. Also, it doesn't really require refrigeration, but if you want to keep your in the fridge, that's fine.

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So! I hope you enjoyed reading this and if you ever try out these tonics, please send me a review :)

~Sam

Bumps on scalp!

Okay! so, my mum braided my hair on Monday, and today's Wednesday. Today, I noticed some bumps on my scalp. I remember my mum pulled at my hair like crazy and some of the braids felt tight so, that's what caused this. This happening has led me to decide to talk to you guys today about bumps on your scalp. Ooooh
So, I hope this helps somebody! :) Here we go!

Bumps on scalp are usually made to appear by having tight braids. People braid hair tightly for various reasons like, to have the style last for a long period of time (which many of us want because we don't like manipulating our hair often. I don't like my braids to be tight though). The tight tension for tight braids isn't good for your hair, hairline and scalp. A problem that many people who get their hair braided face is 'traction alopecia.' According to about.com, "traction alopecia is a condition where constant pulling and tension on an area of the hair results in thinning, breakage and/or hair loss. This is commonly seen in women and children who braid the hair too tightly (particularly at the hairline) or wear the same style over extended periods of time, not allowing
the scalp and hair follicles to "rest." "  A way to avoid traction alopecia is to stop getting hairstyles that hurt (or letting your hair be put up tightly). Buns, ponytails, weaves and braids are common hair styles that people love doing, but they shouldn't cause any pain. If your hairstyle hurts, it means that your follicles are being tugged at or pulled beyond what's safe for them and we all know that once follicles die, there's no resurrection, no bringing them back to life. If you're experiencing bumps on your scalp or your head or scalp
hurts after getting a hairstyle done, here are some things you can do about that:

• Use water to loosen up your hair: As you shower, let the water run over your hair. Sometimes, you'll need to scrub a little with your fingers to loosen the braids a little. And remember, don't be concerned about how much time it took you to do that style or how much money you paid for it because what's really important now is loosening up those tight braids and saving your hairline..

• Do not return to someone who braids your hair tight: Some people just normally or for some crazy reason, braid hair tight. This should tell you that those people don't really care about the health of your scalp or they care more about the money they get.

And finally, you can do what I just did and...

• ...Remove them: Remove the braids that are causing bumps to pop out on your scalp. Those bumps appearing is not normal and like I said above, it can lead to hair loss (or in other words, traction alopecia), especially if you have a habit of wearing tight braid styles or braiding your hair the same way often. If your hair hurts when it's being braided, kindly ask the braider to loosen up on it or to restart the braid and not so tight. It's better for it to be done once and for all there than for you to go home suffering from your head hurting and bumps on your scalp.

I didn't loosen all my braids because the bumps on my scalp are just around the endings of the braids so I just removed the braids up to a certain extent and I am planning on braiding them back after a few minutes, but loosely so my hair can recover from this pull.

Don't let braids damage your hair, think about your hair's health and consider it all the way. Try your best to prevent the possibilities of you getting traction alopecia (or severe hair loss due to tight braids that cause bumps)

I hope this has helped somebody (or will help somebody).

Thanks for reading!

~Sam :)

My Dilemma x_X

*sigh*
This sucks.

Okay! so I needed to braid my hair because I didn't really like having to manipulate/touch/style it daily. So, because I couldn't go to the hair salon where I like getting my hair braided (there's a lady there that actually listens to me when I talk about how I comb my hair and so on), well, my mum had to braid my hair for me. I was going to wait till I could get to the salon, but like my dad was getting upset because I had to detangle my hair, comb it, when it's humid, it get's huge and he doesn't like me having a scarf on everyday. So, today, I combed my hair out then tied a scarf round my head and pushed it up so it was like a head band. My hair was alright, but then my mum was like, "I'm going to braid your hair," my dad was like, "yes," agreeing with her. Both of them don't know jack about hair! My parents think CG is gross, my dad called me a 'dirty girl' and some hurtful things because I went CG. My parents believe that deep conditioning is like feeding your hair, it's nonsense and there's no point to it (they also think it'll make your hair fall out. Another thing is, my parents don't believe in detangling your hair from the ends up to the roots.


Now, that's what I have to talk about. MY DILEMMA. My mum told me to shut up, smacked my hand with a comb and so on because I told her not to comb my hair from the roots down to the ends. That's not the only problem, my mum combed my hair with a rat tail comb! Yes! a rat tail comb! When she was getting my hair done, I gave her a comb, you know the kind with like three rat tail thingies at the end, a wide tooth side and a not so wide toothed other side. Okay! so she was like, "do you still have the blue comb (rat tail) that you lent your dad yesterday?" I said, "yes" and she was like, "can I have it." (not a question). I gave it to her and yup! you can guess what she did. She combed my big hair, not in sections, I might add with a rat tail comb and she combed it from the roots to the ends. I was in pain and she didn't care. She was like, "I warned you when you said you wanted to start this natural hair thing," and she was also like, "I can't believe I'm touching your hair. This hair that you don't wash!" I was like, "I wash it, but I only wash it with shampoo once a month." She did not care. She still called it gross. So...I managed to keep some of the hair lost before my mum was finished braiding a quarter of my hair. I'm going to take a pic and put it up here.*sigh* I hate having to go through this. I've lost so much hair. I'll add that I also do not like how she flat braided my hair. It's terrible, hideous, tight (and hurts, I can't move my head fully), who thinks of doing such a thing to someone's hair? *sigh*

(most of the straight bits here or the ones with like super tiny curls in them are relaxed hair (I have/had about a little less than an inch of relaxed hair at some of my ends)

*sigh*

If this has ever happened to you, just know, you are not alone. It still upsets me, how much hair I've lost. When mum was finally done, there was hair on the floor, hair on the pillow I was sitting on, hair all over my shirt (and some on my shorts), hair on the chair she was sitting on and well...the obvious...hair in the comb. x_X

And this is..... my dilemma.

:(

*heavy sigh*

One of my worst hair salon experiences. What's yours?

Okay! so some of us have had terrible salon experiences. Here's one of mine:

Okay! so ever since I cut my hair 5 years ago, I haven't been able to grow it longer than shoulder length (I made terrible choices that's why). So, when my hair was finally growing out and it was at my back, I went to the hairdressers. I was flipping through a mag then I heard a snipping sound, I looked up and this guy that worked there had snipped off quite a lot of my hair!! I was like, "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?!?!?!" Turns out he thought he was to cut my hair, it was terrible. I felt like crying. This happened on Sept. 7th 2010 (I remember..oh! and I had relaxed hair then). From then, till around summer of 2011, I hadn't been able to grow my hair out longer than a cm past the bottom of my neck. It was sooo upsetting.

Yeeeaaah, I'll tell you another one that happened at that same hair salon: 

Okay! so, I had extensions in and they were braided (with my hair) as...err....box braids, I think. So, I didn't have time to take them out at home, but I needed to take them all out before the next day. So...I went to the hair dressers and a lady there who was new (first day seeing her) offered to help me out. At first she tugged (that's a nice word for 'pulled') at my hair a bit while taking them out. She apparently picked up a pair of scissors and the owner of the hair salon noticed and told her not to cut my extensions because she didn't know my actual hair length (plus, I believe I was already transitioning then). Anyways, I started watching a movie (I believe it was an episode of Vampire Diaries Season 2) on my laptop and after a while, I heard a snippy sound and my hair felt lighter, I looked up and voila! she had cut my extensions! Aaand....my hair :| *sigh* I was like, "ohmigosh! what did you do!" and she was like, "I didn't cut your hair!" Already defensive before I accused her (sign of being guilty). Her boss overheard when I exclaimed, turned, saw my hair and started yelling at the lady she was like, "I told you not to cut her extensions because you don't know her hair length!" and the lady was like, "I didn't cut her hair!" So, her boss/salon owner picked up on of the cut pieces of extension/hair that had fallen, undid it a bit and yup! my hair was in it! *sigh*So, at the end of the day, I had lost over an inch of her (so, my hair was about midneck length again *sigh*) and the lady got fired.

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My bad salon experiences always ended up with me loosing hair (and me watching a movie, reading a mag, a novel or working on my laptop, I so need to pay more attention to what people do to my hair)


Wanna share? What's your bad hair salon experience? 


~Sam


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