Hello Ladies,
For anyone who is interested in learning about lye versus no lye relaxers and wants tips on which one may work better for their hair and scalp, read my latest post on Bella Naija by clicking here.
I am sure it will be helpful to so many ladies out there.
Happy reading
x
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
Hello ladies,
I hope you are all well. I don’t think I do review posts often enough and plan to do a whole lot more of them going forward. I am really excited about the items in this review because they were created by a Nigerian brand.
Naija hair can grow is one of the top hair care blogs in Nigeria which I first came across when thinking about starting my own hair care website.
Daboju (or Dabs as I like to call her) the creator of the blog is also the founder of Savvy & Chic Beauty Hub, a healthy hair care salon. I am such a huge fan of Dabs entrepreneurial spirit, her lovely personality and most importantly by how hard working she is.
I was really impressed when she announced on her Instagram that she had launched a 4 step combing system and knew immediately I would be purchasing them for personal use, to support a fellow Nigerian entrepreneur and also for review on Hairducation.
As always, I purchased the system with my own funds and intend to give my honest opinion about it.
I decided to purchase 3 out of the 4 items. The item I did not buy is a brush that I knew I would probably never use because I don’t tend to go for the super sleek look. I also knew I probably wouldn’t be able to give an accurate review of the brush as someone who never really uses hair brushes in general. On that note, I will get on with my review of the 3 items that I did buy
In all honesty, I bought this comb out of curiosity. It is rather distinct looking and I was curious to see the many ways I could use it. At first touch, I was impressed by and loved how sturdy it felt. I had expected it to feel flimsy.
The comb is designed to create smooth edges and can also be used for creating comb curls and locs in natural hair. As I mentioned above, I personally don’t bother to sleek down or lay my edges but I tested this comb on my hairline and it worked really well. If you are fed up of using a toothbrush to smoothen your hairline, this works very well. It can be used by relaxed, texlaxed and natural haired ladies.
I could not test the combs ability to create coils or locs because my hair is relaxed but I have seen such styles being created in salons so I know this comb will be ideal for those purposes. It is also great for creating parts which is how I use it majority of the time. I think ladies who like their edges sleek and smooth will have greater use of this than I currently do.
The comb is described as an anti static comb with a firm grip guard which gently detangles knots and prevents hair breakage.
Again I like the sturdy feel of the comb and for some reason I really like the size of the comb too. The teeth of the comb is well spaced out so it is able to smooth hair enough without causing breakage like fine tooth combs often do.
The only negative thing I have to say about this comb is the way it is described, a lady who is new on a hair journey may be led to believe that this comb can be used to remove all knots and tangles and this isn’t correct. If you have loads of tight knots and tangles in your hair, you should always finger detangle it first. You can then follow up with the detangler comb to remove any loose knots or tangles that may be left in the hair and further smoothen the hair.
I have used this comb several times and I can say that after finger detangling first, it did a really good job of finishing off the detangling process and smoothening my hair without catching and snagging on my hair like some poorly manufactured combs do.
According to the description on the package, this item is for optimum blood circulation to the scalp and hair follicles and will promote hair growth.
I was surprised by this item, surprised by how much I liked it. I thought i would be indifferent to it but I really enjoyed the tingling feeling I got when I used it. Some ladies may find this massager a little bit uncomfortable to use but for me it was fine.
Please note that it should not be dragged through your hair as this would cause breakage. I used it by pressing it very gently on one spot and moving my scalp (not my hair) with it in a small circular motion. I would then lift it from my scalp gently and use it on another spot. Again I really enjoyed how it made my scalp feel. I haven’t used it for long enough or consistently enough to tell whether it will boost hair growth but It certainly got blood flowing to my scalp.
The three items I purchased cost under N3000. I would certainly recommend them for ladies who want good quality hair care and hair styling combs. Well done Dabs!!!!!!!
I have a few more posts cooking and hope to upload them really soon.
x
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
Water is nature’s best moisturiser. All good quality hair products that claim to be moisturising usually have water or aqua listed as the first substance on its ingredients list. Water softens hair and helps keep hair flexible and elastic which is essential for fighting breakage. Knowing the information above, many ladies find it surprising when they are told that water alone should not be used as a hair moisturiser. In this post I intend to explain why.
The first thing I need to explain is what is known as PH. PH is short for Potenz Hydrogen. To avoid over complicating this post I will simply state that there is a scientifically established PH scale which ranges from 0 to 14. Many substances have been scientifically tested to establish what their PH is. Any substance that has a PH reading of 0 to 6.9 has a low PH and is classed as acidic. Any substance that has a PH reading from 7.1 to 14 has a high PH and is classed as alkaline. Please see the image below which shows the PH of some substances including water, hair and skin
From the image above, you can see that hair and skin has a PH of 4.5 to 5.5, this means that hair and skin can be classed as acidic. You can also see that water has a PH of 7 which means that it is more alkaline than our hair.
The best leave in conditioners and moisturisers for hair are those that have a PH that is the same as that of hair and skin, i.e. 4.5 -5.5. A leave-in product that has the same PH as hair helps make hair feel smooth and look healthy.
Water has a PH of 7 which is higher than that of hair and skin. So although water is a great moisturiser, water alone is NOT ideal for moisturising hair. It is not acidic enough.
Leave-in moisturising products from good hair care brands tend to be formulated to have a PH that matches our hair and this is why it tends to become smoother, shiny and lush when we moisturise our hair with them.
As a mini science experiment, I have some PH strips I bought a while back from Amazon. These strips change colour when you dip them into water based liquids. You can then compare the colour to that provided on the package of the PH strips. This will help you identify what the PH of the product is.
I took three strips and dipped one into water, one into a protein leave-in conditioner and one into a moisture leave in conditioner. The one dipped into water changed into colours that matched PH 7. The ones dipped into the leave-in conditioners changed into colours that matched PH 4 to 5.
These strips come in very handy for ladies who mix or make their own natural hair products. The homemade products can be tested using the strips to ensure that it has a PH of 4.5 to 5.5. Many ladies, especially those who have natural hair tend to mix water with aloe vera juice or aloe vera gel, glycerine and oils for use as hair mists or spritz. If you make these sorts of homemade products then you should get yourself some PH Strips.
I hope you have found this post helpful. My next post will be a bun of the month post.
Happy hair journey, come back soon.
X
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
This picture isn’t really relevant to this post but its a good hair picture so…. 🙂
Hello ladies,
I really love writing educative posts especially when they give practical tips to help you manage your hair better.
Stretching your relaxer is something that is very beneficial for your hair. It helps to minimise the risk of over processing and leads to stronger relaxed hair in the long run. Many ladies who stretch their hair tend to wear extensions ( wigs, braids, weaves, etc) when they are deep into their stretch to help cut back on the need for daily manipulation. This is because daily manipulation of hair with a lot of new growth can be time consuming and counter productive if breakage occurs when combing and detangling the hair.
The thing is this, even if you choose to wear extensions to manage your stretch, there will be days in which you still have to handle/manage/care for your hair and this can be a challenge. In this blog post I will share practical tips about how to wash, how to dry and how to style hair when you are deep into your stretch.
Work in Sections
Okay ladies this tip may seem a bit recycled because it is something I always recommend for managing black hair and preventing breakage. For those who normally don’t work on their hair in sections, I assure you it will make wash day less stressful for your hair.
So on your wash day be prepared to detangle and pre-poo, wash and deep condition, apply leave-in conditioners and detangle and dry all in 2,4 or 6 sections. Working in sections helps to minimise tangles, helps you to be more gentle when combing your hair, helps ensure you apply products more thoroughly, and so on and on and on…..
The gist is that it helps you manage your wash day better. Please note that some ladies still experience a lot of tangling when washing their hair in sections, such ladies my find washing in braids better. You can read how I wash my own hair in braids by clicking here.
It is better for natural hair to be kept in a stretched state. Even if you are relaxed and have a lot of new growth, it is better for your natural new growth to dry in a stretched state. This will make manipulating or combing and styling your hair easier.
After applying your leave in conditioners and detangling, it is best to dry your hair in a way that stretches out your natural new growth. If you are air drying you can try my banded base method which you can read about by clicking here
If you are blow drying, you can try the tension blow dry method which you can watch in this video by hair care blogger and vlogger: Just Grow Already.
If air drying, when your hair is about 50% dry, it can be put in large box braids or twists which you can unravel when your hair is fully dry. The braid out or twist out will help to camouflage the difference in textures between the new growth and relaxed length.
This style will only last for a few days and you may need to redo the twists or braids again to recreate the style, unfortunately this may be too much manipulation for hair with a lot of new growth.
If you prefer to blow dry , tension blow-drying will help stretch out the natural new growth making styling a bit easier. Unfortunately the hair at the roots will start to revert and shrink during the week especially when you moisturise and seal your hair.
So what is the best style to help avoid daily manipulation and shrinkage of your new growth? The answer is simple, put it in a long term protective style, ie wigs, large box braid or weave but ensure you follow the correct hair care procedures for installing, maintaining and removing extensions. You can read about these by clicking here.
I hope you have found this post helpful. Are you on a stretch? Please share any tips you use to make your wash day easier.
My next post will be a quick tip on why it is not advisable to use water alone to moisturise your hair. See you soon.
x
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
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.
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