Lade July 21, 2014

FIT FOR GROWTH – How Exercise Helps With Hair Growth

Hello ladies

Majority of the posts on Hairducation focus on how we should care for our hair externally for us to retain hair length. I have mentioned vaguely that being healthy internally is also very important for hair growth however I haven’t really delved into this deeply.
I recently began exercising more regularly. I’ve been trying to exercise two or three times a week for about 3 months and noticed that I seemed to have more new growth than usual. This reminded me of how improved overall health really does facilitate healthy hair growth.

In this blog post, I will set out the positive effects of exercise on hair growth and the types of exercise that facilitate hair growth.

HOW EXERCISE AFFECTS HAIR GROWTH

1) Improved Overall Health

Exercise is very beneficial to our entire bodies. Regular exercise strengthens our cardiovascular systems, reduces risk of sickness and some medical conditions that may affect hair growth. Having a healthy body is a good basis for growing healthy hair, nail fibres and naturally glowing skin. The healthier we are, the better our bodies will function which includes growing strong and healthy hair.

2) Stress Reduction

Exercise is a good way to reduce stress and stress is bad for our hair.
Cortisone is a hormone our bodies produces when we are stressed out. In some extreme cases, can lead high levels of shedding and alopecia.
Exercising on the other hand causes our bodies to produce a hormone called serotonin which helps to reduce stress. The less stressed out we are, the healthier we are likely to be and as point one above noted, healthy bodies produce healthy hair.

3) Better Cell Regeneration

Our cells regenerate whilst we are sleeping. There is increased production of new cells and slower breakdown of protein during deep sleep. Remember that proteins are needed for cell growth and that our hair is made up of mostly protein.
Regular exercise over a pre-longed period helps us sleep better. Better sleep results in better cell regeneration/renewal. This improves our overall health, how we feel and how we look (better looking skin and good hair and nail growth). Its called beauty sleep for a reason

4) Better Nourished Hair Follicles

Each hair follicle (hair root) has blood vessels that nourish it by supplying it with nutrients and oxygen. The supply of nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles is necessary for hair growth to occur.
Exercising increases our body temperature and increases blood flow and circulation to our skin and scalp. More blood flow results in more nutrients and oxygen being delivered to our scalp. This in turn encourages more hair growth.

Best Exercises for Hair Growth

Cardio

Cardio exercises such as brisk walking or running, cycling, dance and aerobics classes, etc, will increase your temperature and get blood pumping through your body and to your scalp. Incorporating 30 minutes of cardio exercises two or three times a week will do you and your hair a world of good.

Yoga

Exercises which involve inverted poses or back bends will increase blood flow to the head and scalp.
Yoga is believed to be great for promoting hair growth because it involves many types of inverted poses such as sun salutations, downward facing dog, shoulder stands, etc. Yoga is also very calming and is great for reducing stress levels.
I have practiced yoga and pilates on and off for about 7 years and I think it has so many awesome physical benefits. It makes you feel more supple, improves your posture, you stand, walk and sit better and feel strengthened overall.

Whilst exercising, it is important to keep your hair in a confined style (bun, high ponytail) or covered with appropriate head wear to keep it protected and minimise it coming in contact with sweat. Ensure you keep up with your hair regimen to keep your hair and scalp cleaned and well conditioned. Obviously when exercise you sweat more you don’t want to start skipping wash days and leave all that sweat residue on your scalp and hair.

I hope I keep up with my exercise regimen and once I am fully settled and committed to it, I intend to tackle my diet. I guess I am just going through a “eat right, live right, feel right” phase….but I am hoping I can make it a new habit. I stuck to a healthy hair journey so maybe it’s time I take on another positive challenge.

Is anyone with me? Have you recently started or would you like to start exercising? Are you a little bit more motivated because of all the good it can do for your hair???

Happy hair journey ladies

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade July 8, 2014

HAIR UPDATE: 20 Weeks Post

Hello ladies

How are you? How is your hair journey going? Set back free I hope.
It’s been a minute since I did a hair update. I am now20 weeks post and I am on the final leg of my stretch. I had a wash day recently and whenever I have a wash day this late into my stretch I find myself asking “why do I put myself through this?” It can be so time consuming. I’ve decided that I will probably cut it back to waist length when I texlax in a few weeks but you know me, I’ll probably change my mind when the time comes.

After my wash day, I was way too busy to have time to put my hair back into box braids so I’ve been wearing my hair out for a few days now. When I am home I put it in 16 rolled up sections. I find that keeping my hair in sections helps me moisturise, seal and detangle my hair a lot quicker. When it’s time for me to head out I simply undo the rolls and put my hair up in a bun WITHOUT merging the 16 sections. It means my bun is super messy but that’s how I like my hair to look so it works for me.

I don’t know why my head and hair look so big in the top pictures. Probably cos I was very close to my camera. Those top pictures actually look a lil freaky to me, like I have a hairy octopus on my head.

My hair feels really good and looks healthy so I am happy. Despite the stretch, my shedding and breakage isn’t too bad so I think it has been a successful stretch however I am so ready for it to be over.

I took the pictures above and below just before I put my hair in back into box braids. So I am back to wiggin it.

What is happening with your hair? Anyone else on a stretch?

Lade
Learn | Change | Grow

Lade June 30, 2014

WHAT IS IT ABOUT OUR HAIR? – Diffrences between Afro, Asian and Caucasian Hair

With better understanding of the characteristics of black hair, my hair and I are now in a happy place.

In my first year at university, I had the privilege in living in a very multi-cultural house with five other ladies.
There was Bridget, the English red head, Sandy who was Chinese with pin straight black hair, Sandeep who was Indian and had wavy dark brown hair, Zara who was of mixed heritage (Chinese and English) and had straight dark brown and very shiny hair, Colleen who was Jamaican and myself from Nigeria, we both had relaxed hair. We all got along really well and used to joke that we were the United Colours of Benetton.

Colleen and I became best of friends over the years (she is the one who actually encouraged me to start a hair journey). One of the things we bonded over was complaining about our hair. We would lament about why our hair was so difficult to manage, why did it break so easily, how could our other house mates blow dry and flat iron their hair every day and still have a great head of hair, how come they could chop all their hair off and within a few months it would have grown back, how come they didn’t seem to have any hair issues, what was it about black hair?????

In this blog post I will address some of the differences between Afro, Asian and Caucasian hair and why those differences requires us to care for our hair in a “special” way if we want it to thrive. Please note that the information below provides a general average or overview about the differences between the various hair types and I will be referring majority of the time to afro hair in its natural state.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AFRO, ASIAN & CAUCASIAN HAIR

FEWER HAIR FOLLICLES – LESS DENSITY

Hair grows out from our hair follicles (tiny holes) which are located within our scalp. The number of hair follicles a person has determines the overall fullness (density) of that person’s hair. As an example a person with 100 thousand hair follicles should have more hair (more density) than someone with 70 thousand hair follicles. The amount of hair follicles each person is born with is genetically predetermined.
Research has shown that Caucasians and Asians on average have more hair follicles (higher density) than we do. So although our natural (chemically unprocessed) hair may look fuller than straight hair we actually have fewer hair strands.

INDIVIDUAL STRAND THICKNESS

The shape and size of each hair stand is determined by the shape of the follicle it grows out from. Our hair follicles moulds our hair strands as they leave the follicle and are pushed out of our scalp.
The cross section of Asian and Caucasian hair follicles shows that is has a circular shape whilst the cross section of Afro hair follicle shows that it has an oval shape.
The effect of our oval shaped hair follicle is that our hair strands tend to be smaller in diameter than Asian and Caucasian hair.
Hair strands that are fine/ thin tend to have higher tendency to tangle and will break easier as a result of tangling.

SHAPE OF OUR HAIR STRANDS

The above diagram is for illustration only. I drew it myself using a cool app on my tablet.

Due to the oval shape of our hair follicles, the hair produced is slightly flatter in shape than Asian and Caucasian hair. The unique shape of our hair strands means that we have more flat surface area to incur damage when we blow dry, flat iron, handle our hair or comb it aggressively.
The flattened shaped of our hair makes it easier for it to sustain damage.

UNEVEN THICKNESS OF EACH STRAND

Asian or Caucasian hair strands tends to have an even thickness from root to tip. A strand of black hair however tends to have uneven thickness from root to tip. This is because our hair is curly/kinky and the point at which the bend or curl occurs in our hair strand is usually flatter or thinner than the rest of the hair strand. Each curve/bend is an area that weaker than the rest of the hair strand because of the thinness of that spot.
We therefore have several fragile/weak spots along each strand of our hair.

As a summary of the points above, our hair is not as full, the strands are thinner which means it has a higher tendency to tangle and break as a result of tangling, it sustains damage easier because of its flattened shape, we have points of weakness across each hair strand and our hair is drier than theirs making it more susceptible to breakage.
I hope setting out all this not make you think our hair is bad or poorly designed. I decided to write this blog post to emphasise why we simply cannot treat our hair the same way as Asians and Caucasians do. It is easier for them to retain length simply because their hair does not break and sustain damage as easily as ours.

Our hair is different and how we care for it should reflect these differences. This is why we as black women probably have to invest a little more time and effort in caring for our hair. Deep conditioning, protective styling and all the little extra things we do to our hair is a must, especially when it has been relaxed or coloured.
I don’t know about you but I grew up thinking our hair was a lot tougher and could tolerate a lot more abuse that Asian/Caucasian hair. But now I know that the opposite is actually the truth; our hair is a lot more fragile. What are some of the misconceptions you had about black hair before your hair journey?

As always I hope you’ve found this blog post a worthwhile read. The next blog post will be a hair update which I hope you’ll come back soon for.

Lade
Learn | Change | Grow

#bringbackourgirls

Lade June 21, 2014

THE HAIRDUCATION CONSULTATION SERVICE

Hello ladies

I hope your hair journeys have been going well. I am certainly enjoying mine at the moment because I am fully settled into my wig regimen which means less work for me. My hair seems to be doing well and we are both pleased. I will do a hair update post after my next wash day.

This blog post is all about the Hairducation Consultation Service. It is a project that is really close to my heart as I have invested so much time in preparing myself and figuring out the best way to offer the service. In this blog post I will share how the consultation service will run, details of the salon the service is offered within and other essential information.

THE CONSULTATION SERVICE

The service will consist of three consultation meetings and 5 weekly communication sessions to be completed in the following manner:

Meeting 1 – The Assessment
I will carry out a detailed assessment (including some tests) and liaise with the client to establish the client’s hair type, the current state of their hair and scalp, their hair care history, problems they might have with their hair and their hair goals.

Meeting 2 – Presentation of The Regimen and Implementation
I will meet with the client to discuss the client’s hair type and characteristics. I will also discuss pros and cons of the client’s current hair care/styling habits.
I will then present and explain the personalised hair care regimen created for the client. The regimen will be very detailed but easy to follow. Consideration will be given to the client’s lifestyle to ensure the regimen is practical.

Implementation
a) The regimen may be implementation by the client if they wish. I will complete some practical “how to” demonstrations where necessary to ensure the client understands and can complete hair care techniques in the correct manner.

B) For ladies who do not wish to do their hair themselves, the regimen will be implemented by the head stylist at the salon. There will be some very minimal at home actions to be completed by the client. I will carry out some practical demonstrations where necessary.

Weekly Communication – On-going Support
After the second assessment, I will liaise with the client weekly for a five week period to ensure they are following the regimen and to address questions they might have.
For clients whose regimen is implemented by the salon, I will liaise with the client and the salon to ensure the both understand what services are to be completed during the client’s salon appointment. Any questions will be addressed.

Meeting 3 – The Review
The third and final meeting will be arranged to review the progress of the client’s hair, the effects of the regimen, make adjustments to the regimen if necessary and to address any further questions the client may have.

THE SALON – OREOLA HAIR STUDIO

The consultation sessions will all be held at Oreola Hair Studios.

I found the salon when a family member I had discussed the consultation service with told me about a friend who had opened a new salon and might be interested in the service. I met with the owner of the salon and the head stylist and was very pleased with the set up.
I was fortunate and blessed to find a salon that understood the vision of the service I was trying to provide but also met my expectations in terms of quality of service, experience and products.

The salon might be new but the experience is not. The head stylist, Mrs Jolade (who will be working on my clients’ hair) has over 20 years hair dressing experience and has worked in some of the most high profile salons in Nigeria. I met up with Mrs Jolade several times over a few months to review hair products and to discuss and practice hair care techniques. I wanted to be certain she would be able to implement regimens I created.

I am very happy with her skill set and awareness of correct hair care practices. I was relieved to have found a stylist who understood that hair care was more important than hair styling. A huge bonus for me is that she is VERY skilled in working with natural hair as well because the consultation service is open to relaxed, texlaxed, transitioning and natural ladies.

Oreola 2

Oreola Hair studio is located in Fola Osibo, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday (9am to 6pm) and Sunday (1pm to 6pm). The salon operates on an appointment basis. Walk in clients are welcome, however propriety will always be given to clients who have made appointment. The salon uses high end salon products such as kera Care, Syntonics, Affirm, Elasta QP and many brands popular with natural ladies such as As I Am and Miss Jessie’s hair products.

OTHER ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

Please note the following,

1) I cannot diagnose or treat alopecia, other scalp diseases or hair loss caused by health problems, medical conditions/treatments or hormonal imbalances.
The consultation service is designed to help women resolve damage and breakage issues and to provide hair care and hair styling advice to prevent hair loss

2) Please note that for ladies who would like a salon implemented regimen, the regimen should be implemented at Oreola Hair Studio. This is because I have assessed the hair stylist and I have had several sessions with her to ensure she can implement regimens correctly.
Please note that I do not get paid a commission when a client has her hair done at the salon. Therefore my reasons for saying that clients regimens should be implemented by Oreola Studio are not financially motivated. It is to ensure that regimens I create are implemented accurately.

3) Payment for the consultation and support service is made by the client.

4) The service is geared towards ladies who are dedicated to improving their hair and are realistic about the time frame for growing it to longer lengths.

I hope the above information sums up the Hairducation consultant service clearly. I believe some of you may have thought I was going to become a hair stylist but that was never my intention. Not that there is anything wrong in being a stylist, but I simply wanted something different.
My goal was to become a hair care educator or a personal hair care coach as somebody once put it. I literally wanted to convert Hairducation from being just words on a blog to a hands-on advice and support service which I would personalise for each client.
I also wanted a system that would make it possible for clients to enjoy healthier and longer hair without tons of research and with minimal work on their path.

If you would like to book a consultation with me or you know someone who you think may benefit from the Hairducation Consultation service please send an email to rehairducation@gmail.com for further information.
I am really excited about the service and I hope it will make a positive difference for ladies on a healthy hair mission. I am so happy the service is now live and thank God for the opportunity. I hope you think the above structure makes sense and would really love to know what you think.

The next blog post should be a really interesting one. It’s about them and us. Have you ever wondered why our Caucasian and Asian sisters can grow their hair quite easily whilst we have to make “special” effort to grow ours? If yes, please come back soon and you’ll see black hair in a whole new light.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade June 10, 2014

CO-WASHING

Hello ladies

Thank you all so much for your comments about my certification. I am glad you have faith in me. Todays blog post as promised is all about co-washing. I am sure some of you co-wash your hair already but for the ladies that don’t know what co-washing is, I hope you find this post insightful.

WHAT IS CO-WASHING

Co-washing as the name suggests simply means washing or cleansing your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo. A lot of conditioners have very mild cleansing agents which can effectively lift some dirt, oils and residue from hair fibres.
Co-washing is not an essential aspect of black hair care, it is something you can experiment with and incorporate into your regimen if you believe it may be beneficial for you. At the beginning of my hair journey I experimented with co-washing but it didn’t seem to make a big difference to my hair. I know several ladies however who swear by it and never miss co-washing sessions.

WHO MAY BENEFIT FROM COWASHING

1) One of the main benefits of co-washing is that it is a great way to get a mid week moisture boost. Some ladies notice their hair’s dryness is reduced by incorporating co washing once or twice during the week.
Some ladies may find co-washing beneficial in the first few months of their hair journey. This is because lot of ladies hair, prior to their hair, journey is chronically dry and in need of extra moisture for a while to help restore some of its moisture levels.

2) Co-washing is ideal for ladies who may want to wet their hair several times a week and it is a less harsh compared to shampooing. This is very popular with natural haired ladies who tend to find it easier to detangle, comb and/or style their hair when it is wet or damp.

3) Babies and toddlers may benefit from co-washing alone and perhaps shampooing once or twice a month. Again this is because shampoos can be quite harsh when used too often on a baby or toddlers hair.

4) Ladies who exercise very often may want to cleanse their hair more than once a week may benefit from co-washing.

5) Ladies who are transitioning may find co-washing helpful in their transition. It helps to keep their natural new growth moisturised, soft and manageable.

CONS OF COWASHING

1) Some ladies opt out of shampooing completely and only co-wash their hair. This works really well for a lot of ladies. However after a while there may be some product residue left on the hair making it look dull and weighing it down. Ladies who co-wash only should try to wash their hair with a clarifying shampoo every 3 to 4 weeks or when they feel their hair needs it. This will help strip off stubborn dirt and product residue.

2) We all know how hectic life can get and sometimes it may be a little difficult to squeeze in a mid week hair treatment. For ladies who have shorter hair (natural or relaxed) it may be easier to fit in co washing mid week. This is because detangling, co washing, drying and styling shorter hair mid week may not be as tasking as it would be for a lady with longer hair. Sometimes it really isn’t practical especially if your hair is in a long term protective style.

HOW TO CO-WASH PRACTICAL TIPS

Type of Conditioner

A moisturising instant conditioner should be used to co wash. It is best to use a light instant conditioner (thin and watery consistency, the instructions usually say that it should be rinsed out after a few minutes). Instant conditioners are light weight and even if used several times a week will not leave too much residue on your hair.
Deep conditioners should not be used for co-washing and they are usually too thick and heavy to be used several times a week as it will leave a lot of residue on your hair.

Methods of Co-washing

There are so many methods and ways of co washing your hair, some ladies pre-poo before co-washing, some ladies co-wash dry hair and some prefer to wet their hair before co-washing. I will set out two methods below but please note that you can experiment a bit and come up with a method that you think will work best for your hair.

A – detangle your hair ,some coconut or olive oil can be applied to help with detangling. Apply conditioner to your hair from root to tip; this can be done in sections. Massage your scalp gently and pull the conditioner through the length of your hair, do not rub or twist the length of your hair. After a few minutes, rinse thoroughly with warm water. Apply some more conditioner massage and rinse out after 2 to three minutes. Try to complete the co-washing in sections to avoid unnecessary tangling. Also do not roll up or bunch up the length of your hair to your scalp as this may cause tangling.

B- Detangle and wet hair lightly, apply conditioner to hair from root to tip, massage your scalp gently, pull the conditioner through the length of your hair for a few minutes and rinse out. At this stage some ladies deep condition their hair using their moisturising deep conditioner. They simply apply the deep conditioner, cover their hair with conditioning cap and apply heat for some minutes and then rinse out.

After the final conditioner has been rinsed out, you can proceed by applying your leave in conditioners and drying your hair.
Currently I do not co-wash my entire head however when I ‘am wearing wigs I occasionally co-wash the leave out hair to boost its moisture levels. I will do a full post on how I care for my leave out hair soon.

I hope you’ve found this blog post useful. Please come back soon for the next post in which I will share the full details of the Hairducation Consultation Service.

Are you a co-washer? What conditioner do you use and what is your method?

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow