Thursday morning preping for the weekend

It’s Thursday, the day before the weekend. For me and I am certain other naturals the weekend means TLC for a gorgeous hair. Natural hair can take up a few good hours no matter what the routine a natural has. And this does not include the amount of time it takes for the hair to completely dry…. Na wah!.... lol I completely understand when ladies say they are lazy when it comes caring for their hair, because it can be time consuming. Hey! But you know what they say “no pain no gain” and “beauty is pain” and in this case beauty is time consuming. 

My plan for this weekend is a 20 minutes deep conditioning and overnight henna. I usually have one or the other but I think my hair needs extra love as I have ignored it in the past few weeks due to me moving houses. All settled now in my new small apartment, my coils will get some good loving this weekend.

I will start off with co-wash using my inexpensive VO5 conditioner. Then apply my home made deep conditioning mix of avocado (they are in season), honey, EVOO and Miss Jessie’s best darn treatment. I will leave that in for 20 minutes, rinse out then use a cotton t-shirt to dab excess water from my hair. Note that I dab and not rub. I will then apply my locally sourced henna mix to my hair, put on a shower cap and tie my hair with an old head scarf and keep that in overnight. In the morning, rinse out thoroughly with luck warm water and then finish up with EVOO. My current length does not require too much work so I am constantly rock wash and goes.  Also I do not need to detangle and I do not comb. 

I have some Neem leaves (dogonyaro) I need to use. Neem leaves when boiled helps with dandruff, itchy scalp, fizzy hair and it also moisturizes the hair. Simply boil the leaves, fresh or dry and use the water to rinse out your hair. 

Whatever routine you have always ensure to reduce manipulation for length retention and think moisturize moisturize moisturize.

Hope you have a lovely weekend! 

short hair..... don't care

Henna Treatment

I have read a few reviews about the benefits of henna to natural hair and I've wanted to give it a try for a while now. In case you have never heard of henna, it is a natural product deduced from bark and roots of a henna plant. It has been used for thousand of years by women to color (and treat) their hair and finger nails. It is also used to dye wood and leather. Women of Muslim heritage use it to make beautiful designs on the hands and feet as they prepare to marry. 

So I heard of how great henna is for natural hair so I gave it a try. My hair isn't very thick and long yet so I needed a little more henna powder than most ladies use. The ingredients are:

• Henna powder (between 100-150 g depending on length and volume of hair)
• Green tea
• Tea spoon of cinamon
• Honey 

So I made some green tea by just soaking the tea bags on hot water. I let that cool for a few minutes, put it in a plastic bowl and added the cinnamon. I mixed in 100 grams of henna powder and honey. I mixed continuously till I got a yogurt like texture. I then applied it to my washed and conditioned hair in sections till my entire hair from root to tip was covered in henna. Do not forget to use petroleum gel on your hair line, ears and nape. After ensuring that all my hair had the henna on it, I covered my hair with a shower cap then a wrap and slept. This left the treatment in for over six hours. In the morning I washed with warm water ensuring all the henna was out of my hair. I carried a wash and go after I moisturized. I didn't think my hair could be any softer but it felt like a cloud. Also it felt strong and the color was revived from my failed dying process. So I now have strong, jet black soft hair.

Unfortunately I cant find any of the pictures I took. A few things you must do if you are  gonna try this , get a black tee shirt, news papers, black wrap/scarf and gloves. Henna can be messy and it leaves a nasty stain.

I did find a picture of a henna tattoo I got last year, it has refused to go and still on my back. It was meant to last two weeks but its has been here a year. I think my skin had a reaction to the powder.