Highlights of 2016

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I wore my hair in a faux bob over most the holidays

Happy New Year ladies

I do realise that we are in the middle of January already but even if I didn’t get this post out till June I would still start by wish you all the very best of life, good health, peace and happiness in 2017. Thank you all so much for your continued support, feedback and encouragement. To all the new readers…I see you!!
In 2016 so many of my long term dreams and ambitions for Hairducation actually materialised and this I know has been the grace of God…without a doubt. The year began with me speaking about hair care on Moments ( a popular talk show in Nigeria).

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I also began writing hair care articles for BellaNaija, updated the look of Hairducation and worked super hard on improving the quality of the pictures on the site by learning photography which is been a hobby I’ve wanted to get into for so long.  The following pictures are not hair related but they show progress and growth  in my photography so I guess they fit in with the theme of the blog.

The very first photo I took with a DSLR camera

.                               …after a few weeks of learning and practice, I got a lot better.

 

Hairducation grew in so many ways and through all the wonderful experiences and interactions with so many of you; I’d like to believe I’ve grown too.

What took me by surprise was how the consultation service I offer really took off in 2016, especially with international clients. I have had clients from Canada, Ghana, Tanzania, Australia, London, New York, Ohio, Washington, Boston and many more states across America. It’s also been an honour and so much fun to meet and coach so many amazing ladies.   My youngest client is 8 weeks old and the most mature is in her 80’s. So you can just begin to imagine the huge variety of ladies I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
I have also had so many readers send me emails or tag me in their pictures to let me know how well their hair is doing from what they have learnt on Hairducation. All the above continues to make blogging about hair care worth it.

I think it is very important to give a balanced perspective of things, especially because we live in an age where social media can create the impression that other people have perfect lives. I assure you that in some ways I too felt the wrath of 2016, there were many disappointments and some things just fell apart. When things fall apart, we just have to find the strength and courage to put ourselves back together with the hope that everything will work out for the best.
I have big plans to improve Hairducation even more in 2017.  As always, my aim is to do more to help you with your hair journey and to do my bit in dispelling the lie that black hair is bad hair.   Again I thank God and all of you for making it possible for me to live out this dream.

What are your plans and hair goals for 2017??  Mine is to try to be consistent through the whole year.

My next post will be about penetrating and non-penetrating oils and how best to use both on your wash day and through the week. I’ll also have a hair update post up soon.

Happy hair journey

X

Lade

The Final Bun

Hello ladies

And somehow we find ourselves at the end of another year.
God has been good and we are blessed to make it to this day. I have a lot to get off my chest about 2016 which I will do in a separate post because I didn’t want to write it in a rush.

This short post will be the final of the bun of the month series that I started this year. It’s no secret that I am bun obsessed due to my chronic hair styling laziness but I decided to push myself a teeny tiny bit and at least come up with some not so basic buns for this series.

So you may know I promised you an epic bun finale this month…. well I failed ladies, yes I failed….. well maybe not completely.
I felt inspired by the many gravity defying styles I had been seeing on the likes of Lupita and blogger/vlogger Chime Edwards and decided to create my own version…..which I did.
Unfortunately I created the style on a day I had many appointments and didn’t have enough time to take decent pictures or get the style to look neat enough before I had to dash out. I figured I would recreate it in December.

The effects of harmattan, dry and brittle hair!!!! this and a lot of new growth made styling a tad bit difficult. Ps I have clothes on in this picture, my hairs just covering it 🙂

When I finally got round to it in December the change in weather (harmattan) and a LOT of new growth meant my hair was not having any of that. My hair is supper stiff and just not compatible with styling at the moment.

As a very small compensation I do have one of the blurry pictures I took of the gravity defying multi bun.

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My final bun of the month therefore is a somewhat basic two-strand twist bun. I hope you’re not too disappointed.

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As we end 2016, I have to say thank you all so much, for your attention, your time, your messages, your kindness and positive vibes, for being a part of my journey and allowing me to be a part of yours in this small way.

Here’s to happy hair journeys in 2017 but more importantly, to happy and healthy lives.

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

 

Tips to help ensure your wigs are truly protective

 

Hello ladies,

I am back in my kinky-straight hair wig and I am so relieved to have my hair away for a while. Not because it came too difficult to manage but because my schedule became quite packed I began to neglect hair care seriously. With my wig regimen, taking care of my hair feels really effortless and that is what I need right now.

In the last 3 years or so there has been a huge shift from black women wearing sew-in weaves and braids to wigs. This is a trend I hope will be here for good. Wigs, when worn correctly, are much safer and less invasive than sew-in weaves and braids which are notorious for causing traction alopecia.
Although I have nothing against well constructed full wigs, I only wear u-part wigs because that is what I feel most comfortable in.   When wearing a u-part wig, a partial sew-in weave or adding a few tracks to your hair, it is very important to choose your extensions strategically, why? Because it makes a big difference to whether your extensions will be protective or destructive to your hair.

In this post I will share a few tips for choosing and wearing wigs safely.

 

Tip 1 – Choose  Your Hair Extension Texture and Colour  Strategically

This tip applies to ladies who leave out some of their own hair to blend with their wigs or weaves.  Many ladies choose hair extensions in textures they like and then try to make their own hair conform to or match the texture/colour they have purchased.
This often leads to the regular use of heat to make the leave-out hair sleek and smooth.  In some cases, ladies who are natural relax their hairline solely for the sake of making it blend with their hair extensions.  Other ladies even bleach and colour their hair to achieve the perfect blend.
If care isn’t taken, excessive use of heat, chemical dyes and relaxing too often can lead to breakage and thinning of the leave-out hair.

Ladies, it should be the other way around.
You should always choose extensions that will blend seamlessly with your own hair so that you wouldn’t have to use heat, or chemical colours and relaxers on your leave out hair.  This is especially important if the wig or extensions is going to be worn very frequently.
Ladies who are relaxed should try to look for texture types that will blend with their freshly relaxed hair as well as when it is many weeks post relaxer and has a lot of new growth. Kinky straight hair is ideal for this in my opinion.

I often write posts with relaxed, texlaxed and kinky afro textured hair in mind. I do read up on all hair textures and just in case anyone would like to known about other hair textures there are so many resources and sites you can learn from such as this post about 3c hair.

 

Tip 2 – Extra Tight Doesn’t Make It Right

Your wig should certainly have a good fit.
Unfortunately, many ladies confuse a good fit with an excessively tight fit.   I once had a client tell me she wanted her  wig to be so tight that it stayed on even if it was being tugged and pulled even though it had no clips, combs and was glue free.  She simply wanted the wig base itself to hug her head that tightly.
A wig that tight will place a lot of tension on your hairline and scalp and lead to breakage and traction alopecia.
Try to wear wigs that fit well and are secure enough but please remember that a wig is not a weave and as such should not feel as tight or secure as a weave that has been stitched to your hair.

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Tip 3 – Handle with Care if it’s got Combs and Clips.

If you have a wig or weave clip-in that have combs and clips attached to them, try to get familiar with where the combs and clips are located.  Also learn how the wig clips they are opened and close so you can put on and take off the wigs carefully and correctly.  I have seen ladies tear out their hair because they were not opening the clips properly when trying to take off the wig.

Avoid placing  clips  and combs directly on your hairline because the hair and follicles there tends to be much weaker than other areas. When wig clips and combs are not used carefully or placed on the hairline daily for several weeks it can lead to bald patches.  If your wig has clips or combs they should be placed further back than your actual hairline.

Any excess clips and combs can be removed, for instance, a lot of u-part wigs are made with 4 wig clips to keep the wigs secure.  I only make use of two of the wig clips in my wigs and remove the other two that are not used and the combs at the nape area of the wig. This reduces the risk of them snagging on and breaking my hair when putting on and taking off the wig.

 

Tip 4-  Do not forget your real hair

You must have some sort of regimen you follow when wearing wigs.  You should still ensure your hair and scalp are cleaned regularly and that your hair is moisturised and sealed often enough.
The last thing you want  is a dirty clogged scalp to affect your scalp health and hair growth. You also want to avoid your hair become so dry and brittle whilst wearing wigs that it begins to break.
A wig is only protective if your hair is still be well cared for underneath.
I hope all these tips will help you make the most out of wearing wigs as part of your hair care routine. If you wear wigs please do share what your routine or regimen is when wearing wigs. I might learn a thing or two from you.

 

My next couple of posts will be the finale of the bun of the month series and visit to a Lagos based Trichologist to learn more about her services.

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Bun of the Month : The half-up half-down top knot bun

Hello ladies

Ive been slacking a bit with keeping up with the bun of the month series. Its not that I havent been doing them. I just havent been posting them as scheduled.   I will keep trying to do better.

Last months bun is what is called either minnie mouse buns or space buns. It can be really cute. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this already, but for those who don’t, I though I should post it here as well.

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The October bun of the month is the very popular half uphalf down top knot bun. This style has been around for quite a while now but I’d never tried it on myself. Although this style is very easy to create, I don’t think I did it well. For some reason I just couldn’t seem to get the bun part straight. It looks a little bent to one side. Is it just me or do you see it too?

 

 

I think I’ll have a second attempt at this sometime soon.  Have you tried a new hair style lately?

My next post will be an educative and practical post on how to manage your hair on wash days when you are deep into your stretch.   See you soon.

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Texlax Update

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Hello ladies

As you can tell from the blog post title I texlaxed my hair which brought my 25 week stretch to an end. I intended to stretch for 22 weeks but was extremely busy a while back and couldn’t fit it in.

It turned out well and I followed my usual process which you can read here .

I air dried my hair after texlaxing because….I felt like it. On my next wash day I will blow dry my hair and take proper length check pictures.

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In other news, I got featured on Bella Naija last week as part of the Fro Friday series. It was such an honor to be featured on such a big platform.
One great thing about the interview was how the Beauty Editor referred to relaxed hair as relaxed natural. I have always seen my hair as natural albeit being chemically altered, it is still my natural hair growing out of my scalp. So saying my hair wasn’t natural never really sat well with me but I love the term relaxed natural, that most certainly works well for me.
If you would like to see and read my interview with Bella Naija please click here.

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Has anyone else relaxed or texlaxed lately? Are there any naturals reading this? How ‘s your journey going?

The blog post about porosity is almost done and will be up soon.
Happy hair journey
x