Bantu Knots

This thing took ages to make, but I'm very pleased with the results. I've decided to wear it out for two days and get two days worth of twist out before I knot again. But for now, here are the results of my very first bantu knots made all by myself, with only my butter mix, coconut oil and a water in a spritz bottle.

All photos were taken with my phone, as my camera decided to die on me!

My Frohawk

I tried out a fro-hawk on my hair and it looked really great, so I thought I'll share. I used pink styling gel to hold the sides down and pulled hair together at the back with a butterfly clip. Cute eh...

Caring for Natural Hair: Clarifying

I started out my natural hair journey as a no-pooer, am still a no-pooer but I've now
included black soap as my clarifier and I'm clinging to it for dear life.

While a no-poo or low poo regimen can be great for black hair it can also leave the hair and scalp dry and flaky. A clarifier will help remove build-up, help hair retain moisture, keep scalp flake free and
leave your hair feeling nice and soft.

There are different products for clarifying black hair, on top of my list is black soap. It is 100% natural and works well with my hair. I've also tried apple cider vinegar (ACV) for clarifying but this was not as effective as black soap and only softened my hair temporarily.

I prefer my hair being as chemical free as possible so I avoid most off the shelf shampoos, even those with a natural tag. But not everyone has to go this way, just check you shampoo does not contain any of these 10 chemicals  and you're good to go. But if you try and it's still great for your hair please carry on using your poo!

If you chose to go natuaral all the way, check out  Kitchen Curlies  ACV and baking soda mix and Napturalities natuaral shampoo recipies

The rule of thumb with any clarifier/shampoo of your choice is not to over do it, this is open to your interpretation, how much is too much?  You tell me, with a twa you can get away with pretty much anything.

What you're looking for in Sokoto..........

Sometimes the things we feel we need to go far or spend a lot to get is right in front of us! For some of us the thought of wearing natural hair is unimaginable, others are still contemplating the idea, while some have decided but don't know how to go about it and others like me have taken the natural plunge already.

Wherever you are in your natural journey know that all you need is never too far away, might be just in front of you, all you have to do is look and challenge the status quo.

So, the next time you buy a cup of relaxer ask yourself the following questions:

What is this really doing to my hair?
Am I trying to hide the hair God gave me?
Why is my hair breaking?
Am I trying to be acceptable?
Is there a better way to care for my hair with the resources available to me?

It's time to start looking under your sokoto to find what works for your fro, it's time to make informed choices about your hair and invest time and money in products that are beneficial to our hair type.

Product Review: Dudu Osun

Yes dudu osun, the good old dudu osun. This natural hair journey is sure full of surprises. Anyway, I remember reading on some blog before I did the BC on how on using black soap is good for natural hair, so I thought I'll have a go and see how it works for me. In less than two weeks I've seen the following benefits:

- Hair is moisturised and less brittle
- Reduced shedding
- Added shine
- Unbelievably soft hair ( this is the most notable effect I've observed)
- All day moisturise

- Prevents dry, flaky and itchy scalp

My hair is pretty short now, so I don't need to use a conditioner at the moment, I just follow up with an application of coconut oil and my butter mix.

Why not have a go and see how this works for your fro, as for me and my fro we now swear by dudu osun!

New do: Update

So, I had my hair braided into kinky twists last weekend, I loved the new look but in my heart I wasn't trilled with the extra length from the extensions. Its still a lot shorter than braids I've had in the past, but a lot longer than my tresses.

To cut the long story short, I miss my hair, I've missed touching and discovering it, I know the twist have kept my ends protected and I've moisturized and wetted as often as I needed to, retained more moisture,but I just miss my hair. I've not taken any photos of this new do which I've had for a week now and I've been uninspired to do so, I will try to take one for record purpose, but I think going forward I'm going to try to doing two strand twists or other styles to suit my hair. Will post pictures of my hair before and after I taked my braids out. Now all I need is a good DC to pamper my tresses this weekend, any takers?

Twists and plenty of growth

I must be doing something right to get this much growth in 4 weeks, I've just made my first two strand twists tada:

So I thought I'll share, ok it's not perfect, but its history in the making, well there you go. So what have I been doing to get such amazing locs? Quite a few things actually:

1. I co-wash as often as I need to, maybe 3 times a week
2. I've been using my home made mix of butter cream of shea butter, glycerin, olive, avocado, jojoba, almond, vitamin E, tea tree and bergamont oils as my daily all in all. Its not yet a perfect mixture, but one thing I've learnt is that the first batch I made without heating the shea butter to help with mixing was a lot better and didn't melt in the slightest ray of sunshine. It was a pain to mix though.
3. My butter cream mix is fab for the skin, how boots must miss me, must make home made soap too! O back to hair now, lol.
4. I recently added coconut oil to my routine, this has made a big difference to my hair, it has improved my texture and I highly recommend this for those of us with rock hard hair that sticks to scalp, works like magic. I simply apply this after my co-wash/ watering to seal in moisture, it works pretty well. If you do nothing please do coconut oil, ok?
5. I drink plenty of water, great for hair and skin, but also let my hair drink as much water as possible, with short hair I can get away with letting my hair get wet every day.
6. And thanks to someone who mentioned exercise was great for stimulating hair growth, doing level 20 on the cross trainer and toning exercises means my scalp gets its fair share of sweaty juice. I rinse it all off though, not nice to leave that in.
7. I've been taking daily vitamin supplements, missed quite a few in the last to days.......hmmn, I wonder why??? Must take today's dose......that's better.
8. I only tried this last night, but twisting the sides and back of my hair before going to bed helped to prevent my hair sticking to my scalp overnight, so this morning I simply applied my mix and I had a so much volume.

There you have it my eight steps to growing my fro. Feel free to try any of these and add your own tips and tricks, remember to check with your doctor if you have any allergies and advice before you begin any fitness regime, level 20 on the cross trainer is the bomb though!!!

New look......

Just when I think I've settled down into a routine, a different idea pops into my head, so to mark my one month nappiversary I'm taking inspiration from this hair do from Loving Your Hair with Natural Care Workshop:

I've got an appointment with my trusted hairdresser/friend in London, hopefully this will keep my ends protected for 3 weeks or so, and will prevent shedding, will post pictures soon. This is what I look like now:

Troy Polamalu's $1m hair insurance

I know this is lazy blogging at its best, but this is one article I just couldn't let slip by, and I knew it just had to be a fro: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11150607, how cool. This is my hair  inspiration for today, I wonder what his regimen is.