ALOE VERA AND BANANA DEEP CONDITIONER

Hi guys,

 

It's been a long much needed 4days break down here in Nigeria and I'm super thankful for the rest. I spent the break at my folk's and I must say that I really have missed my family. Funny how you appreciate your family more when you're not always physically around them.

 

This weekend, I looked at my mum's plants with new eyes. My mum has always been a garden, planting woman for as long as I've known her i.e. all my life. She plants every herb she comes across and every flower she can as long as she can get access to its seedlings and as long as the roots will not affect the foundation of the house and the stem will not weaken the fence. Now, she has really reduced this because over the years, my father did this modern thing everyone does now which is to cement the whole compound. But he left a little portion of sand where my mum still gets to plant a few flowers and herbs and thankfully, our only mango tree still exists there. It's not like before though. I think my mum has also lost a bit of the passion over time as life and work pulled her further away from her plants. Still, she's still got some plants going on.

 

I have never much cared about the plants my mum grows. I just see them as her hobby even though I know everything about taking care of different types of plants. Thanks to living with my mum. This weekend, I looked at the spinach, stinging nettle, 'never-die', bitter leaf, aloe vera with new eyes. I noticed she has now acquired Moringa to the mix.

 

One plant which is still largely dominating my mum's garden is the Aloe Vera. This is one truly useful herb. It cured skin allergies and infections for me and even acts as a moisturiser for the skin. It cures wounds and cools burns. Miracle plant, that one. My mum even used to drink the gel after blending. By now, I'm sure you know my mum's like that. She loves to solve anything with a natural remedy first (not black magic o) before she resorts to modern medicine.

 

 

Well, recently, I complained to my friend, Tolu, about my hair. Tolu is presently studying Naturopathic Medicine and has a first degree in Botany. She's all for everything natural and I fondly call her 'Mamalawo'. She gives me advice on what to keep away from food wise and healthwise. I complained to her some weeks ago when I was battling dryness in my hair and she suggested I do an Aloe Vera Deep Conditioning.

 

Here's what you need:

 

• Aloe Vera - 1 leaf
• Bananas - 2 medium size
• Honey - 2 tbsp.
• Any carrier oil of your choice - 2 tbsp.
• Any essential oil of your choice (optional)

I cut an aloe vera. Ensure you use a knife to remove the aloe from the stalk and not break the leaf as this will just create a waste and a mess.

 

 

no mess to the cutting

 

Use a knife to split the leaf open at the side. You'd see the gel in there.

 

Using a spoon, scoop the gel into a bowl or straight into the blender if you desire.

 

 

Now, blend all the ingredients together.

 

 

Ensure you blend very well so as not to have any lumps or particles left that will cause a nightmare in getting out of your hair. Believe me, I know.

 

 

By the time I finished blending, I saw that I was going to have a watery, messy DC but I didn't mind. Then I thought to add another banana to thicken the mix only to turn around to get the bananas and find that my mum had eaten all 7 bananas up! I couldn't believe it.

 

Me: Mummy, have you eaten all the bananas?!

Mum: Yes

Me: That was 7 bananas!

Mum: No, it was 6!

Me: -________-

 

Smh. Anyways, after I shampooed, I put the blend in my hair and wore a plastic cap and then wrapped my head in a warm towel. I didn't remove it until 3 hours later because I was very distracted. By the time I removed the cap, I had never seen my hair have so much curl definition before since I started this natural hair journey. Amazing. I shampooed and conditioned my hair then did an ACV rinse and then let the hair air-dry for about 45minutes. After which I did the LOC method and then put the hair in mini-twists. I realised my sister had the Emily Millionaire Coconut & Herbs. I used that as my leave-in.

 

 

I have made a combination of all my oils which are: Olive oil, Coconut oil, Grapeseed Oil, Haitian Castor Oil, Pharmacy Castor Oil, Almond Oil and Tea Tree Oil and put them in a bottle. Except for my edges which I will still concentrate my Organic Haitian Castor Oil on, I'd stick to this combination oil now.

 

 

My ends were sealed with my whipped shea butter. I know I said I was not going to use the butter or coconut oil anymore because of dandruff but I really am not bothered about that anymore. Plus the dandruff is gone. I guess the grapeseed oil and tea tree oil were useful afterall. In my next post, I'd show how I came up with my whipped shea butter.

 

I'm thinking of making an aloe vera leave-in conditioner. I've made one before but my major problem with aloe vera is that it does not keep for long. After about a week, it changes colour and produces a questionable odour. I may try storing it in the fridge though and see how that goes.

 

You could try this DC and see how it works for you. It is good as a moisturising DC and very suitable for people with coarse hair (I am finding that I have combination hair {both coarse and fine strands}).

 

Ciao now!

 

Stay beautiful and healthy!

Here's to a Healthy Mane Regimen!

Hi guys,

 

It occurred to me that from most of the views I get on this blog are from people here for the Natural Hair care posts. Just as a sort of disclaimer, everything I post on my hair is based on what I have found to work for MY hair. Natural hair is so versatile and interesting that most times, there is no one size fits all. You can only borrow people's ideas and try to see if it will work for you. Some of you will see that I try out a couple of stuff on my hair that do not work out and I move on. I urge you to do same. Visit different blogs and try out whatever interests you (but with some caution) and see if it works for you.

 

That said, I wanted to give my visitors/readers an insight into my hair regimen. Daily or otherwise. I like to keep my regimen very simple. I used to think I'm not very adventurous with a lot of things. So when I find something that works for me, I tend to stick with it and move on. Natural hair has taught me otherwise. Truth is, if you really are curious about natural hair, it's hard not to be a tad adventurous. In fact, making the change from creamy crack to natural hair is a major adventure on its own. Finding a new regimen is an adventure on its own. Having a regular DC mix you use but wanting to try something new is an adventure on its own. So, hard to be a natural hair enthusiast and not be that little bit adventurous.

Still, I like to keep my regimen very simple.

- Co-wash: This works twice a week but my busy work life moved it into weekly. Hey! I work hard! I co-wash with my V05 Moisture Milk Conditioner which I got a while ago and mentioned here. I also detangle during my wash. I do each co-wash in sections of 8 or less (as my hair grows, the number reduces). I usually put in the Conditioner twice and rinse respectively.

- Deep Conditioning: I do this every 2 weeks when I don't have a weave in. My DC mix is usually done at home because I'm generally more trusting of using a mix made of natural foods than anything else and also, there is a dearth of natural hair products in Nigeria. I put in my DC mix in my hair and in sections and then wear a plastic bag (or 2) for about an hour or more, depending on how busy I am. I wash with a shampoo and condition twice after every DC. I also finish with an ACV rinse and/or tea rinse. As the spirit leads.

- Moisture and Seal: I moisturise and seal in the moisture after every wash. I first put in my Profectiv 3-in-1 solution which I use as a leave-in conditioner

 

  then I put on Coconut oil/olive oil (I prefer Coconut oil)

 

 

and afterwards, add on a little shea butter.

My mum helps me get these from the local market and she can tell the original product from the altered.

I make sure to massage my scalp with some Castor Oil. Castor Oil is a heavy oil and shouldn't be too concentrated on your hair, lest it weighs it down. Very good for the scalp. Did wonders for my iya iyabo hairline ^_^

I use this oil very sparingly as it took me a long time to lay my hands on this bottle.

- Spritz, Spritz, Spritz!: I try to spritz everyday! Our hair loves and needs moisture. No better moisturiser than water. Just try not to soak your scalp in too much water. If you're like me, you'd just catch a cold if you do. My Spritz bottle contains 80% water, 10% coconut oil and 10% olive oil. The oils help to seal in the moisture once spritzed. I don't have any elaborate spritz bottle. I just use an old Body splash bottle that does the job. Put it in your bag and spritz when you remember. You may not be able to avoid the occasional curious look from strangers or friends when they wonder why you're spraying Body Splash on your hair though. Lol. I even had a friend once return from a trip to the States where he bought me several bottles of Victoria's Secrets Body Splash cos he "knew I love to use this a lot". No, I don't!

Handbag accessory

- Night, moisturise, seal, braid: That's what I do. I moisturise and seal in sections as above. Then I braid the hair and tie on my silk scarf.

- I style in the morning.

Note that in doing all of these, I almost never comb my hair. I do more of finger combing. The only time I tend to comb my hair is when I want to style it. It helps for length retention so there's less breakage.

I want to try my first hot oil treatment soon. Will post on the results.

Everyone should have a regimen. What's yours?

Ciao now!

Stay beautiful.


 

SQUISH, SQUASH, SPLATTER!!!

Hi, guys. here's more on my hair update.

Yesterday, I wanted to have a DC (Deep Conditioning) and decided to try out something new. Some time ago on twitter, a friend had suggested I try a Banana, avocado mix. Now, usually my routine DC mix is a combo of mayonnaise, egg, honey, coconut/olive oil and/or shea butter. This new mix though was:

Bananas - 4

Avocado - 1

Egg - 1

Honey - 2 tablespoons

Coconut oil - 1 tablespoon

I bought a very ripe, perhaps even overripe avocado. I thought it was going to blend easier. I don't know if that was a mistake. By the time I opened the avocado, it was really yucky and disgusting! I don't like avocado so I wasn't ready for the surprise of this look. I took a picture for your consumption.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED! Tehe!

Lighting was poor in my tiny abode so pictures may not be very clear.

I blended the bananas first to be able to get a good paste free from clumps. Even stole a few spoons out of that. Next, I put in the yucky avocado. I tried to use as much as I could. The rest went in the dustbin. I really can't stand that fruit. I hear a lot of nice things about it and how it helps with weight loss. No, thanks. I'd rather exercise. I noticed that after I blended in the avocado, the mix turned brown. I couldn't explain why. Is that supposed to happen? Was the avocado bad? Still, I noticed the mix was really quite think. I added very minimal water to the blend.

Next, I put in the honey, egg and coconut oil. I noticed it was still quite thick and I was glad. I first braided my hair in sections of 8 or more and then proceeded to put in the mix.

This is the point where it starts spiralling downwards.

The thickness was a façade. The mix had no hold! As I put it in my hair, it was splattering everywhere! And before I knew it, once I put in the mix, it already began to turn into water and drip all over me. There was mixture everywhere! I quickly put it in and put on two plastic shower caps. Honestly, I was ready to wash it all out immediately but my brother came visiting and I couldn't leave him behind to go wash my hair. I smelt like bananas and honey. Once he was gone about an hour after, I jumped in the bath.

I noticed there was a pool of liquid already sitting in my shower cap. I first rinsed, then washed once and in sections with my shampoo. I use the Hawaiian Silk Moroccan Argan Oil Hydrating Shampoo (Too many words).

I like it because it's non-sulphate and doesn't leave my hair dry. After which I co-washed twice with my V05 Moisture Silk Conditioner. And then I finished it up an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse to remove build up and clarify my hair and scalp. Need I say I took a vigorous bath afterwards?

I dried up my hair with a towel and then put in my Live-in conditioner. I use a Profectiv 3-in-1 Solution as my leave-in. As an aside, I am yet to see a blog that says what leave-in they use. That was why I was stuck with using this Profectiv. Although it seems it was made for relaxed hair but still... What leave-in do you use by the way?

After the leave-in, I put in coconut oil and sealed with shea butter. I did all of these with my hair in sections. I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures of that process. I thought to braid it in sections again for the night but instead, I put my hair in bantu knots. I tried by first using my LustraSilk Curl Activator (I must remember to write a post about this) for each knot but after the first knot, I noticed it left my hair feeling dry. Afterwards, I just put some shea butter on my fingers for each knot. I'm still interested in knowing how the knot with the Curl Activator turns out though.

Afterwards, I tied on my silk scarf and went to bed. Mehn, I started at 7pm and ended about 11pm. This natural hair thing is not a small sometin.

About my DC, after I was done with it, I don't think it made my hair any better than my normal mayo mix does. It was okay. My hair was soft afterwards. I just didn't like all the mess it caused. I sure wouldn't be trying it again any time soon.

My bantu knots are still in, I'd post a photo of the knot out when I'm ready to unravel them.

Till next post, Stay Beautiful!

PS: Yes, I did see Fast & Furious 6. To post a review or not is my dilemma. Girls are tired, biko! All I know is buff bald men are not my thing.

PPS: How do I follow blogs o? Especially Toinlicious' blog. That place confuses me.

PPPS: Wouldn't be bad if you followed this here blog, you know ;-)