Practical Hair care Posts – Page 10

Lade October 1, 2015

Caring For Your Wig

Hello ladies

This is a very short impromptu post about wig care.
The majority of the time I tend to emphasise caring for our own hair when wearing wigs but the fact is our wigs need love too. I was washing my Nazuri Curls wig and thought it would be a good time to share how I care for my wigs.

Wash and Conditioning

Wigs should be cleaned and conditioned regularly to help preserve the hair fibres and to keep the wig looking good for longer. No one wants a brittle and dry looking wig. A sulfate free shampoo should be used to wash the wig and this can be followed by a light weight instant conditioner. If I am wearing a wig regularly I wash it every 2 to 3 weeks.

How I Wash and Condition My Wigs

Detangle thoroughly
Saturate the wig with room temperature water. Keep the wig hanging straight down as seen in the pictures above or lay it flat in a tub of water.
Apply shampoo to the wig and gently squeeze the lather through the length of the wig. Avoid twisting or scrunching the wig
Rinse thoroughly and apply light weight moisture conditioner
Leave the conditioner on for a few minutes and then rinse thoroughly without twisting or roughing up the wig
A very light leave in conditioner can be applied depending on the hair type and your own preferences. I only apply leave in conditioners to wigs that have a tendency to become frizzy and I make sure the products I use are non greasy or sticky.
Air dry, blow dry or roller set. If styling with heat ensure you use a heat protectant.

My wig made with Nazuri Curls hair extensions. After washing, I used 9 bendy rollers, let it dry and voilà….hello lushness 🙂

And there it is. A quick and straight to the point post about wig care.

I am having such a hectic week and I am struggling to find time to wash my hair so I can come back to you with my hair update post. Fingers crossed it I’ll do it tomorrow (I am trying to stop procrastinating….honest)

Come back soon and happy independence day to my fellow Nigerians.

Lade
Learn | Change | Grow

Lade September 28, 2015

Differences Between Natural and Relaxed Hair Regimens

Hello ladies,

I know this post was supposed to be a hair styling post however I made a little mistake when creating the styles so I decided to write this post instead.

I usually get ideas of what posts to write from the questions I get asked regularly. One question I have been asked often over the years is whether the advice on Hairducation applies to ladies who are natural or if I have special advice for natural hair.
Majority of the advice Hairducation does apply to natural hair ladies. Regular cleansing, conditioning, moisturising and sealing and protective styling are practices that help black hair thrive irrespective of whether you are natural or relaxed. Clearly posts about relaxing and texlaxing may not apply however other posts such as how to care for hair in extensions applies to both natural and relaxed ladies.

There are however some aspects of hair regimens that have to be fine tuned or adjusted based on whether your hair is natural or relaxed/texlaxed. I have set out the main aspects to be noted below and I hope you find helpful.

Deep Conditioning – Protein and Moisture Balance

Black hair needs protein deep conditioning for strength and moisture deep conditioning for softness and elasticity. If you are new to hair journeys and don’t know protein and moisture deep conditioning and how to use them please see this post. I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.

For Relaxed/ Texlaxed Ladies
Protein deep conditioning should be done at least once or twice a month because the chemicals in the relaxer would have broken down your hairs natural protein making it weaker. You therefore have to boost our hairs strength by completing a protein deep conditioner regularly.

For Natural Ladies
Your hair will have most of its natural protein structure intact however daily wear and tear, occasional use of heat and age of the hair fibres will lead to some damage and weakness of your hair so protein deep conditioning should still be completed.
The difference is that natural ladies do not need to use protein conditioners as often as relaxed heads. If you are natural you should use protein deep conditioners every 4 to 8 weeks depending on your hairs need for it. Just as a guide, some natural ladies use protein deep conditioners once a month and moisture deep conditioners 3 times a month.

The Weight Of Your Products

I have to emphasise that many naturals and relaxed ladies use the same products for leave-in conditioning and daily moisturising. However when choosing your leave-in conditioners, daily moisturisers and oils for sealing, you should have some consideration for your hair type when deciding which products to use.

For relaxed ladies
Most relaxed ladies hair works well with lighter products which will not weigh it down. Lotions and hair mists/sprays and popular with relaxed ladies. Light oils like coconut oil or medium weight oils like olive or almond oils are commonly used for sealing.

For natural ladies
Generally, natural haired ladies, especially those with very thick hair strands and full hair tend to use products that are thicker or heavier than those used by relaxed ladies. Creams or thicker lotions may work better as leave-in conditioners and daily moisturisers for ladies with natural hair. Many prefer to seal with hair butters like shea butter.
Please do exercise discretion and always be guided by what your hair needs when selecting your products, for example some natural ladies with very fine or thin hair may find that lightweight lotions and oils popular with relaxed hair ladies works best for them.

Manipulation – Combing and Styling

Black hair whether relaxed or natural should never be combed or styled when it is extremely dry and brittle as this will lead to breakage. Hair should only be combed and styled only if it is well moisturised.

For Natural Ladies
A point to be noted is that natural hair is more flexible and easier to manipulate when it is damp. Many natural ladies tend to spray their hair with a little water or liquid hair spray or hair mist before they manipulate their hair.
Manipulating in sections is also very beneficial to natural hair, trying to pull a comb through your hair as a single unit is a big no no.

The points above are some of the key differences between natural and relaxed hair regimens. As I mentioned earlier in the post please note that the advice is general, you can experiment with some of the suggestions but always see how your hair reacts and then take it from there.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. My next post will be the style post I promised as well as a hair update post. It’s been quite a while since I did one of those so come back soon to see how my hair has been holding up.

Happy Hair Journey

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade September 17, 2015

How To Buy Hair Products: Oils

One of the items we begin to value and use a lot more at the beginnings of our hair journey is oils and butters. Before my hair journey I never ever sealed my hair. I knew natural oils were good for our hair but didn’t use them on my hair.
I realised soon after starting Hairducation that some readers get a little confused about what types of oils and butter they should use.
I have written a post about oils on a hair journey which you can read here but this post will share a little more information and give a lot of good tips for buying oils for use on your hair journey.

In this post I will discuss the types of oils needed on a hair journey, how to use them, the best places to find them and what to look out for when buying them. Enjoy

Types of Oils Needed On A Hair Journey

Petroleum and mineral oils are common examples of synthetic oils. These are okay when used as a sealant however they can’t be absorbed by hair and scalp. It is therefore always better to use natural oils on a hair journey.
There are two main types of natural oils used on a hair journey, carrier oils and essential oils.

Carrier Oils and Butters
Natural carrier oils contains so many nutrients and vitamins which work very well on our hair and scalp and have so many uses on a hair journey. They are usually obtained from the fruit, nuts, seeds or kernels of plants. Carrier oils commonly used on a hair journeys include
Olive, coconut, Jamaican black castor, almond, argan, avocado, grapeseed oils and shea butter. Some ladies also use ayurvedic oils like Amla and Bhringraj oils

Essential Oils
Essential oils are optional on a hair journey. They are not used for sealing. Many essential oils have anti bacterial and antifungal properties; they can also be very relaxing and refreshing and help to stimulate hair growth. They are very potent or strong and must be diluted with carrier oils before use. They should not be used by pregnant ladies without first consulting with your doctor.

How to Use Oils On A Hair Journey

Oils can be used in the following ways

Pre-pooing
To seal in moisture ( essential oils should not be used to seal)
Can be mixed into conditioners
Can be used for scalp massages
As a lubricant to help with detangling
Some carrier oils like coconut oil are great for boosting shine
Can be mixed into relaxers for texlaxing ( essential oils should NEVER be mixed in with relaxers or used in the final week before relaxing or texlaxing)

Where To Buy Oils

Supermarket
Carrier oils are usually best sourced in your supermarket aisles because so many of them are used for cooking. Most supermarkets will have extra virgin cold pressed oils like olive oil and grapeseed oil on their shelves. Look for them in the food aisles not in the hair and skin aisles.

Local Markets
For ladies in Nigeria and Africa in general most local markets will have butters like Shea butter or coconut oil available for purchase.

Healthy Food Stores
These are also a good place to find oils, butters and essential oils. Most carry an impressive range of oils.

Your local BSS or Hair and Beauty Shop
You should be able to oils here as well. A lot of these stores tend to sell mixed oils or blended oils which are okay so long as you buy the ones that are all natural ( no petroleum, petrolatum or mineral oils).
A great thing about a lot of hair and beauty stores is that they are a good place to find ayurvedic oils.

How To Buy Oils- What You Should Look Out For

Make sure it is 100
100% natural that is.
The ingredients should be 100 natural and free from synthetic oils. Preferably there should be only one item listed in the products ingredients.

Keep it Cold and Raw

Try to buy oils that have cold pressed or extra virgin cold pressed written on the bottle. This means the process of obtaining the oil from the plant was done without the use of heat. Oils that are cold pressed and are still raw retain more of their nutrients and goodness in comparison to those created with heat.

Natural Mixes
Some ladies prefer to mix their oils themselves whilst others would rather purchase premixed oils. Some brands of hair oils of greases are premixed and can be quite great.
If you decide to buy a premixed oil or hair grease, look through the ingredients listed and ensure it does not include synthetic oils.

Dark Bottles

Extra virgin cold pressed oils and essential oils tend to be sold in dark bottles as this helps to block sunlight. Sunlight can have an effect of the nutrients and quality of the oil so dark bottles are a plus.
Please note that some great quality oil brands are sometimes sold in clear jars or bottles. This does not mean that they are not good quality. All you have to do is keep oils out of the sunlight.
Don’t Rely on the Front Label
If a hair oil or grease/pomade is labelled as coconut oil, or olive oil, or shea butter, etc but when you look at the ingredients the items listed first are petrolatum, petroleum jelly or mineral oil, put the oil down and walk away.

Special Tip For Buying Essential Oils
100% pure essential oils are usually sold in very small bottles (usually 10ml to 30ml). This is because they are really strong and only a few drops is needed for each use. Some companies however sell essential oils in quite big bottles and label them in large print as 100% of the essential oil, eg 100% rosemary oil or 100% tea tree oil. However somewhere on the bottle in small print will be written “ this is 100% rosemary oil blended with almond oil”.

This isn’t really bad because it is an all natural mix, the labelling of such oils are however very misleading because many ladies buy these type of oils thinking that they are buying a pure essential oil.
I always recommend that ladies buy 100% pure essential oils as this allows them to blend it with their own choice of carrier oils and they can determine how much to blend themselves.

My Personal Favourite Oils

Through my hair journey I have always used the following oils, olive, coconut, Jamaican black castor oils. For essentials oils rosemary and peppermint are my must haves.
I have tried many many many other types of oils but always come back to these five.
What are your favourite oils and how do you use it?

Initially intended to include advice for buying hair gels I this post but it would have been too long so I decided to just talk about oils for now. My next post will be a short and sweet styling post. Now that I have committed myself I hope I don’t end up with epic fails
Come back soon ladies and happy hair journey

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade September 9, 2015

HOW I CARE FOR MY LEAVE-OUT HAIR

Hello Ladies
I hope you are well. I’ve been looking forward to writing this post and it has been in high demand for a while. From the title, you will know it is all about the leave out hair.
Prior to my hair journey I loved my weaves. I never installed the full ones though; I always had some hair left out to hide the tracks at the front. When I moved on to wearing wigs I wore (and still only wear) u-part wigs. Basically I always have hair left out to blend with my extensions.

Majority of us will have experienced or seen ladies whose leave out hair seems to be suffering and breaking drastically whilst the rest of their hair hidden under the tracks or wig gets longer and longer. I have even seen ladies whose leave out hair has become so thin you can actually see the tracks or the hair is so short from breakage that it is struggling to hide the tracks.
It doesn’t have to be this way ladies. My leave out hair is growing fine now or should I say I am retaining a lot more length now. I have a super easy way of caring for it.

How My Leave out Hair Used To Be

My own leave out hair was short and remained short for a while when I initially started wearing u-part wigs because I didn’t have a plan for caring for my leave out hair. I used heat on the leave out hair regularly and brushed and combed it daily to blend with the wigs. My leave out hair would become damaged and I would need to trim it very often.
I did not mind because at the time my favourite wig had a half fringe/bang and I was hooked on that style so I didn’t mind cutting my leave out hair regularly so that it would be the same length as the bang/fringe of my wig.
When I got over that particular wig style I realised that unless I changed my habits my leave out hair was not going to thrive and I couldn’t have that.
I looked at the hair and noticed the two biggest issues with my leave out hair was chronic dryness and damage from a lot of combing and brushing.

How I Care For My Leave Out Hair

I decided about two years ago to take a few steps to care for my leave out hair properly and hoped to see an improvement in how it felt and its length. The questions I get asked about my leave out hair are answered below.

How Much Hair Do I Leave Out?
My leave out hair is always on the left side. This is where I always part my hair. The hair left out is 3 inches deep and 1 inch wide.
The length of my leave out hair is 15 inches long currently. It was about 6 inches 2 years ago when I decided to start taking care of it properly.

What Do I Do to My Leave Out Hair?

On weekends I wash it with shampoo and condition it.
I use a sulfate free shampoo and I do not deep condition the leave out hair as it is such a small area. I simply apply the conditioner, leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes then rinse out. I apply my leave-ins and air dry.
I co-wash it in the middle of the week.
This literally takes me 5 or 10 minutes at the most. I detangle the leave out hair and massage some moisturising conditioner on it. Leave it on for a few minutes then rinse out . I believe that this co-wash is what really helps to keep breakage at bay. Because the leave out hair is spread out over the tracks of the wigs that I wear, it exposed to the elements (sun and wind) and it dries out very quickly even though it is moisturised and sealed daily.

I have conditioner in my leave out hair in this picture
I moisturise and seal it daily
I use my mixture of cantu shea butter and s-curl to moisturise. I seal with a few drops of olive oil or coconut oil.

Thats it. Nothing fancy at all. Nothing complicated. I just boosted the moisture levels and it seems to be working well.

What I Stopped Doing To My Leave Out Hair – Tips To Prevent Breakage

As I mentioned above the key issues that were causing the damage to my leave out hair was extreme dryness….I am talking about crunchy dry and a lot of physical damage from combing and brushing.

I was able to reduce the breakage and damage by doing the following:

Cut Out Heat and Being Smart About Blending
I stopped pressing my leave out hair (unless it is a extra special occasion)

I focused on using hair extensions which blended with my texlaxed texture without the use of heat. So I either wear yaki hair extensions, textured hair extension like my Nazuri Curls wig or curly/wavy textured wigs.

My hair blends really well with the wig I made using the Nazuri Curls “straight” texture

I can blend my hair with curly or wavy textured wigs by simply wetting the leave out hair and putting a roller in it over night.
This cuts out the need for heat straightners. Direct heat evaporates our hairs internal moisture and with regular use makes our hair chronically dry and brittle…and you can say hello to hair which will split and break and need trimming very often.
Rather than trying to make my hair blend with the extensions i make sure the extensions works with my own hair.
If you happen to like a kind of extensions that does not blend easily with you own hair you can always wear a closure wig which my wig company Hair By Type 4 also make.

Reduce Manipulation
I try to avoid combing or brushing the leave out hair excessively. Usually I comb it with a small sized comb in the mornings before heading out and that is it. I no longer use fine tooth combs or brushes on my leave out hair.

I hope this post has answered questions you might have had about my leave out hair. What do you do to take care of your leave out hair? I am sure some of you will have great methods which may be different from mine but works well for you. If yes, please do share.

My next blog post will be the final in the How To Buy Hair Products series. I will be sharing tips on how to choose the best sealants and styling products like gels and edge smoothening products. I hope you’ll be back soon.
Ps I am trying to catch up with replying all my emails and comments left here on Hairducation. I promise I am not just ignoring them.

Happy hair journey

Lade
Learn | Change | Grow

Lade August 25, 2015

MY NEW TEXLAXED WIG: My first impression of textured hair extensions by Nazuri Curls

Hello ladies,

It’s no secret that I love wigs. I have owned many wigs over the course of my hair journey and I am so excited about a new addition to my collection: a texlaxed textured wig.

With the rise in the number of ladies with afro and texlaxed hair, it’s great that there are now hair extensions created specifically to match our hair texture. Over the last year or so I have been noticing a type of textured hair extensions which I thought would blend very well with texlaxed hair. I decided to get my hand on some from a company called Nazuri Curls and I have made a u-part wig with it. I can sum up my first impression in one word: love!!!!

ABOUT NAZURI CURLS

Nazuri Curls is a hair extensions brand which produces textured hair extensions and closure pieces. They are based in the UK and have a distributor in Nigeria however their wefts can be shipped worldwide. There are four types textures created by Nazuri which are Afro, Kinky, curly and Straight.

I first noticed the brand at a few hair related events last year. I attended a small hair care gathering a few months ago and noticed the organiser had some beautiful textured hair extensions. I asked her what brand it was and when she said Nazuri I was sold.

I was about to place my order when I received an email from Nazuri asking if I would be interested in reviewing their extensions and off course I jumped at the opportunity. I was given a discount on my purchase and one of the main reasons why I accepted the offer is because Hairducation readers get a discount too.

THE HAIR
I chose to buy two bundles of the straight texture in 18” and 20”. Nazuri Curls advise that the hair is low maintenance and sent me a very detailed care guide. As a wig lover and more importantly as a wig maker I have come across many types of hair extensions over the years so I recognise great hair extensions when I get my hands on it.

Some of the things I love about the straight texture include it’s:

Softness
For some reason I expected the hair to feel dry and a little scratchy. I was pleasantly surprised by how soft the hair felt.

Density/fullness
Normally when making wigs with long hair extensions you are advised to buy 3 bundles. I decided to buy just two and as you can see from the pictures the wig is so full. At some point I was even concerned it would be too full.

Weight of the wefts
Now this point is really important from a hair care perspective. Wigs and weaves can be great protective styles but if they are too heavy, they will do more harm than good. The Nazuri Curls Straight wefts are light……super super light weight. When I wear a wig I don’t like to feel the weight or tightness of it on my head. Having worn the wig for the first time it certainly scores 10 out of 10 on this point.

Smell
Yes, you read right….. smell. I have come across hair extensions from some brands that smell unpleasant and this can be a little off putting. The Nazuri hair smells sooooo lovely. On the day I received the wefts, I was playing around with my mum and had the wefts in my hands, I covered my mum’s face with them and waited for her to say something like “get it off”…but she said was “oh that smells nice”

Texture
Its crazy how much the kinky straight hair matches my texlaxed hair texture. It looks so much like how my own hair does on my wash days. The extensions are however more lush looking, fuller and certainly feels softer than my own hair. It is also thicker at the ends than my own hair.

The pictures on the right are of my own hair on at the end of my wash day. The picture on the left is the texlaxed wig made with the Nazuri Curls straight hair extensions. Don’t they look so similar???

I have was seen the hair on a natural haired lady (her hair was blow dried), it blends well with my texlaxed hair and if the extensions are straightened, will blend well with relaxed hair. Talk about killing three birds with one stone.

ROCKING IT

I have only begun wearing the wig this week and I can’t wait to style it in a multitude of ways. I am glad its low maintenance because I don’t want to spend too long looking after the wig, after all it is supposed to be a mini break from hair care responsibilities.

There are only two little cons I have noticed at this point. One is that the top part of the weft has a slightly different texture to the rest of the length. I think the top part looks like a braid out whilst rest of the hair looks like texlaxed hair. When I actually put the wig on it wasn’t an issue at all.

I am not quite sure if this next point is a con…the hair is full. I am a slim woman so I was a bit concerned that the hair would be so big it would wear me rather than the other way around. However now that I’ve actually worn it, I don’t think it’s too big….and its fullness is growing on me more and more.

I will write another post soon to show how well my own hair blends with the wig and how the hair is holding up. Don’t forget you can get 10% off Nazuri Curls hair extensions by using the Hairducation discount code.

You can see their other curl types by clicking here.

My next post will be about how I care for the hair I leave out when wearing u-part wigs. I have learnt how to prevent my leave out hair breaking and thinning out and will share my secrets in the next post. Come back soon ladies.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow