Fulani Hair - the update

This post is to give feedback on my experience using the "herbs" mix I bought from a Fulani woman.

See my previous post. 

So...... I didn't like it. I mixed the powered 'herbs" with castor oil and tea tree oil. It had a deep brown color with a thick-ish consistency. I didn't like it because of the residue I could feel on my scale. It was like sand in my hair every day. Not pleasant.

Did it work?

I don't know....... I say this because after I stopped using it, I continued with castor oil and tea tree oil mix and my hair is still growing and bald areas filling out. I did see results while I was using the Fulani herb mix, but who is to say that the hair growth wasn't as a result of the oil mixed in.

Maybe I didn't use it well. The Fulani Woman told me to use the powder with shea butter; I didn't. (I don't always follow the instructions for use on many products. LOL)

Will give it another try?

No! My main issue with the Fulani powder was the residue on my scalp. This doesn't mean I will stop other people from using it. If you don't mind the sandy feeling, go for it.

What about the hairline I'm trying to re-grow?

I am finding that consistent use of castor oil and tea tree oil is doing a good job. Also I am staying away from braids for now. I am also happy that the post-partum hair loss has reduced significantly.

 

Fulani hair

The two powders already mixed

A few days ago I bought the above powder from a Fulani woman (Fulani is a nomadic tribe from the northern parts of Nigeria).

It is actually a mix of two powders, one was light brown the other much darker. She said the powders should be mixed with oils and applied to the scalp to prevent and treat dandruff. Also to promote healthy growing hair.

Her English wasn't very good. I tried to ask her a few questions about the powder but she did not know the English words. So for all I know she could have sold me cow dung or  some funny roots. But lets be optimistic LOL. The mix is almost odorless but there is a slight hemp smell.

A few years ago I read an article or a blog post about how Fulani women mix some powder like stuff with cow fat and apply to their hair. The article described it as a mysterious powerful hair elixir. That was what was going through my mind when the Fulani woman said it was for hair.
Fulani women have beautiful long natural hair. Everything they apply to their hair is sourced from nature and I bet they know a lot about how to care for natural hair.

Who are the true naturals?

#TBT

So yesterday, I heard about a massive sale on virgin hair by a big retail hair store in Lagos. Being the cheap person that I am, my attention was drawn to the word SALE. LOL.

So, I thought to go have a look; if the price was right I would get me some exotic virgin hair.

I did find something that was good for my wallet. I got two bundles and closure 10 inches natural color, which was made into a wig.  I wanted to have it colored to a light brown but story changed when I asked how much that would cost. (I can color my hair myself! MTCHWEE)

Feeling content, I showed my boyfriend my new acquisition and he said “but are you not natural, why do you need this human hair stuff?" And I said “because I have natural hair doesn't mean I can't wear other types of hair. His response was “NO! That doesn't make you a true natural". We had a long conversation about the matter and we agreed to disagree. 

Our conversation brought to mind an argument I saw online once within the natural hair community. There was #teamnaturalwithoutanyextensions, #teamnaturalwhowearextentions #teamnaturalwhodonotGAF (I made up the hashtags)

Urggghh sometimes I miss the creamy crack

Don't you just miss the creamy crack sometimes?

Dealing with natural hair can be a pain sometimes but when you see results or get a nice hair style done you forget all about that.

 My signature style in the past few months has been twist- outs in high puff. I make sure the band is not too tight and pulling on my hairline.

I am lazy when it comes to my hair; I get really bad knots and do not have the patience to take them out. So it's up dos or wigs for most of the time.

My hair is  finally long enough to hold up but I hate the way it looks on me

  I had a dream a few nights ago; I walking into a salon and asked for a perm. I woke up and said a prayer. No matter how hard life gets we must never take the easy way out if it's not the right way out. Usually the right way seems harder at first so ... moral of the story is I will not be relaxing my hair.

As frustrating and lazy as I get, I really do like my hair in it's natural state. My hair just has been healthier this way.

My natural crown

The past few months have been many low manipulation styles, meaning less strain on my hair. The results have been encouraging. Not only has my hair grown longer, it feels healthier too.

I prefer to wash my hair every weekend, mainly because I sweat a lot on my scalp when I work out. I think it is a good idea to co-wash every week and wash with shampoo once a month. A clean scalp will allow for healthier hair growth.

So I have had to come up with different hairstyles and up dos are my go tos. The below photo of my hair has to be my fav up dos. Very easy to style and takes no time at all. The more times I do it the better I get at it.

I achieved my crown up do by, twisting my hair with or without gel or styling products after a wash.
Let the twists dry; note that they don't have to be perfect twists because they will be tucked away anyways. After I unravel my twists, I use an afro comb to get rid of the lines around the air line. I then use a round hair band to pull the hair up. Always remember, not to pull too tight.  One of the advantaged of using the round bands is that you can pull your hair up into different positions for different looks. I like mine right at the top of my head.
With the aid of several bobby pins, I pick sections of the hair at the top and pin down towards the center of my head in a clockwise or anti clockwise direction. The result should be several lumps of hair forming the look of a crown. With edge control or gel I then smooth out the edges of my hair line for a finished look.

This easy Style can be done every morning or refreshed every other day.

Protective styling with wigs

Yeah.... you read right, WIGS. I don't know if it's just me but wigs have an old mama stereotype. 

Not anymore; wigs are a great way to protect your natural hair…. ask me, I would know. I have been rocking wigs since the beginning of the year and they are literally a life saver. Also more young women I've discovered also wear wigs, so they are not uncommon. Quite a few celebrities wear wigs and have wig lines/brands too.

Now one can get virgin hair or synthetic wigs in different styles, lengths and colors. 

I am not one of those natural sistas that believes that wearing any other hair than yours isn't being a true natural. Just like life, our natural hair journeys differ. I braid my hair, wear wigs and weaves; I pretty much do anything I want to do with my hair that won’t cause damage. And for right now, it wigs. 

The few benefits I've found are;

1. I can wash and deep condition my hair every weekend
2. I don't have to worry about smelly hair from sweat from the gym
3. They save time and effort; just put on the wig and go
4. My natural hair is in cornrows so reduced manipulation = more length retention
5. The cornrows are done up nice and loose so not pulling on my hairline
6. It is easy for me to base or moisturize my scale and hair if I feel the need to
7. I can switch up my look as I feel
8. Most importantly, fresh air can touch my scalp lol..... you know how hot it gets in Nigeria
9. Caring for the wigs aren't difficult; just wash, condition and air dry as directed.  

 Wearing wigs is a great protective style and can be quite economical too. It's a good way for both relaxed and natural haired women to save their hair, hairlines and some money. 

My hair is not a trend

If you live in Lagos and like most parts of the world, all you need is but one eye to see how mainstream natural hair has become. In Lagos you can't go anywhere without spotting a few young fashionable natural haired ladies. This "trend" has become so widespread that the brothers know how to spot the different kinds of hair. Even in my family; more and more relatives of mine are either natural or transitioning. 

I have been natural since the middle of 2011; I transitioned for six months then I big chopped in the beginning of 2012 and big chopped again in 2013. For me, natural hair was an escape from the damage I had done to my hair with relaxers, hair dyes, straighter and a general lack of proper care. At the time going natural seemed like the next logical step to take due the breakage and lack of growth I was experiencing. My hair is quite soft and silky even in its relaxed state I figured being natural wouldn’t be such a bad idea. 

Goddess braid

I tried to do this simple style last weekend but failed. After watching this video below I now understand that a key feature of this style is stretched or blown-out hair. I attempted mine with kinky braids because I wanted a fuller looking braid but if your hair is full you can do it with just your hair.

I think this style is can be dressed up or down to suit almost any occasion; with the right accessories of course.

Natural haired bride

 So my cousin got engaged last week, I was super excited for her.Then I got even more excited because knowing she isn't really into the whole weddings and planning them, I think/hopes she calls on me to help out. In case you are reading this Afi, I am your go to person for wedding planning and hair advise.  Anyways, my cousin is currently transitioning and her hair should be fully natural in a few months. Although she may still have a TWA.
So I started thinking of hair styles she could use for her wedding and then I started looking at natural hair styles for brides. Here are some of my favs.

Love the bang

Put a white flower on the side of  this, will look amazing

Protective style - Threading

Hair thread

African threading hairstyle

Threading hair style

 Honest to God, I had been thinking of threading my hair as protective style; I wasn't too sure about it. Then a few days ago, I saw the below picture.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 In-case you do not know who the lady above is; she is Chimamanda Ngozi Adechie. Natural hair sista, Nigerian and award winning novelist. She wrote "Half of a yellow sun" (now a movie) and "Americana" (which I totally loved; still think of the characters and their lives) also she wrote the "Thing around my neck" (I am yet to read). So in one word she is totally awesome!

Anyways, back to the topic of threading as a protective style. So threading hair is the simple process of wrapping sections of hair with thread, the sections can then be bent to different patterns and styles. I think that this style originated in West Africa. These days only high school and "local" girls thread their hair.
Threading  is a great protective style can also be used for stretching natural hair.  

So I was thinking about threading my hair, wondering if I am confident enough to pull off the look and how manageable the hair style would be. Then I saw the Picture of Chimamanda; and I totally love how kick ass she is. The style is also similar to that of a crown.
However, as lovely as her natural hair looks in the thread hair style, me and she no be the same (she and I are not the same). The amount of pain is not equal to the duration of which I can keep/maintain the hair style. Besides how professional will it look? As you most probably can tell, I am still thinking about it but kudos to Chimamanda for being  confident and rocking her threaded natural hair style.

Natural in the city; a trend or here to stay?

If you live in Lagos, you should have noticed the rise in the number of ladies going au naturel. Now I am sure in other cities in Nigeria there is also  rise but I live in Lagos now and can only comment from my experience here.  

So natural hair is on the rise; more and more Nigerian women are doing the BC and starting out the journey of self-discovery and hair and all that jazz. You don’t have to be an overly observant person to have noticed all the kinky sisters walking around Lagos. Because believe me we are everywhere. I mean everywhere; from TWAs to big in your face afros to twists outs and two strand twists, we are everywhere.  So the "trend" has caught on, I don’t think it is a bad thing. But the thing with trends is that they pass and if ladies are doing because it’s a trend then once this trend moves on what happens then? 

I worry that if one does not go natural for pure love of one’s hair and self then one can easily be swept away with the tides. I hope that ladies are going natural for their own personal reasons and they have truly seen the light. As much as this may be a trend I believe it is a good trend. We have not won yet but we are getting there.

I remember seeing picture of my mom when she was younger with an afro. And it wasn’t just her, everyone in that era had afros and afro puffs. Then came the relaxers and weaves and human hair and now looks like we are right back to the beginning. You can also say that this will mean another cycle has begun, maybe, but I doubt it. We now know more about our hair and the benefits of keeping it in its natural state.  May be on the return of the relaxer only the true converts will stand tall, flying the natural flag (lol)

I really don’t like it when people say “oh your hair is natural, it’s in vogue now or it’s the trend”. NOPE! I went natural because my hair didn’t do so well relaxed and I didn’t help the situation by flat ironing and coloring it. I am happy I went natural; do I think of relaxing my hair again? Not in this life time.

Quick Natural Hair Tip- knots

One of the many issues a nappy haired girls have to deal with is knots. We can get single strand knots or multiple strand knot. I find that after I finger detangle I still find some knots. Best way to deal with the knots is to use a sharp pair of scissors and nip the knot right at the point it  starts to knots. This will prevent further breakage, knotting and split ends.

Oprah's Big hair cover

Oh lawd!!! if this were real!!!



This is a lot of hair; if it were real imagine the number of hours it would take to detangle, wash, style etc. This looks like a good issue for both natural and chemically treated hair.
I would dig a wig like this.