Before you cut your hair

A few months ago I cut my hair, it was cut into a tapered shape. Tapered cuts usually have the hair at the back of the head shorter than the front.

I was happy with it for all of three weeks.

Just three weeks. After that I wanted/want my old length back!

I started to think why I was having this issue with my hair?  Simple answer is I was indeed bored with my hair. WTH right? I know! We all experience periods where we would like to do something different with our hair. Most times changing the style or cut the hair is what we do.

Since I regret my hair cut, I've written this down as a kind of check list for the future, in the inevitable event that I get bored again. You too can use these points to avoid regretting a planned or spontaneous hair style cut or change.


1. Think long and hard to be sure that you want to go through with it
2. Do research about the new style, what is required to maintain the hair style and how often you will need to re-cut or re-style
3. Again, think long and hard to be sure you aren't just bored
4. Look for a good stylist to cut your hair, last thing you want it to be stuck with a crappy hair cut
5. Be sure you will be happy with the chosen hair style and it will suit your face
6. Is this a spontaneous move?
7. Will your hair be healthier in the new style or cut?

I will admit that since I cut my hair, I've been paying more attention to it so my hair is healthier. 
Also I didn't cut it too short, at the moment I can put my hair in an up do.

 

Sharing the Nappy Goodness with the next generation

I'm so excited about my little girl's hair.

I get to share all the nappy goodness with her.

Well she really doesn't have a choice till she turns 18, she will have natural hair.

She is only 10 months old; yes I know, still very much a baby but I have already got into a simple routine for her. We wash her hair once a week with a mild baby shampoo. Air dry, then apply coconut oil. I avoid combing too much so I comb when her hair is wet and that's all. Her hair is still soft so its easy to manage.
When her hair is dry I pack it into little puffs. I usually have to redo do the puffs once or twice during the week but I only finger comb.
I moisturize with a water, aloe vera juice and coconut oil mix when I feel the hair is a little dry. I tried putting her hair in a silk bonnet when she sleeps but it always fell off and her father didn't approve of it.
 I know she still has baby hair, but I can tell she took my hair type; soft and coily.  The only down side to this hair type is that it doesn't hold weaving or corn rolls well until her hair gets a little stronger. Even my hair still doesn't hold weaving well.

It's an exciting new journey for us. My natural journey so far has provided me with so much information, dos and don'ts that I can apply to her hair and pass on to her. I'm a happy momma.

Loosing my identity in my child

Soon after I had my baby, a few people stopped calling me by my name and refered to me as "Mama Banke".

I am very happy and blessed to be a mother and especially greatful to be a mother to a happy healthy baby.

But will I stop being Ntete and lose my name and identity to my child. Or does this mean that my identity and who I am from that day on has changed?

Yes there has been phyical, mental and emotional changes, but that does not mean Ntete is dead and gone. If anything, she has been reborn, she has blossomed, she has come into her own.



illustration from the internet

Postpartum hair loss

Hey guys, so in my previous post I talked about how I lost a lot of hair around my hair line mainly the front edges. I had thought it was dues to the tight weaving I had subjected my self to.

Turns out, I was wrong.

I saw a post on instagram on why TY Bello cut her hair and it got me thinking about my sudden hair loss. So I did a bit of research and it turns out I am experiencing postpartum hair loss.

I did not know this but a large number of women experience hair loss especially around the front parts of their hair, between three to six months postpartum.  This is exactly the areas where my hair has disappeared. I know this to be true because even though I am virtually bald in two spots in the front of my head; the amount of hair that is in my comb after I comb through is very unusual.

The explanation for postpartum hair loss is simple. Our hair grows in the process of growth - resting -shedding. During pregnancy, due to increased levels of estrogen, hair loss is reduced and the growing and resting phase for hair is lengthened. The hormone prevents our hair from shedding as much as it usually would. This is why most women have fuller longer, lusher hair during the months of pregnancy. After the birth of the child, the estrogen levels drastically reduce and this increases the shedding phase.

The good news is that this phase is over soon. Most women say their hair returned to it's per-pregnancy fullness before the child's first birthday. 

Operation grow my edges

So after the loss of my already naturally scanty fragile baby-hair edges, I am on a mission to re-grow them.

So far, so good. as you can see in the picture, it looks like the hair is growing out. Trust me it was worse than this, I literally had bald spots.

My plan is to:

1. Stop any hair style that pulls my hairline- the above hair style was done so loosely I didn't feel any pain or tension.
2. Increase low manipulation and protective styles- I will be using wigs, weaving (corn rows) and braids with "brush" in front
3. Increase the application of tea-tree essential oil and Castor oil to my hair line- I find that this mix works well for me. It improves the growth rate of my hair and also helps with itchy scalp.
4. General TLC for my hair- for me this means weekly deep conditioning, protein treatments and dogonyaro (neem leaves) rinses

I know it may take a while, so I have to be patient and gentle with the process.

For all hair types growth process it is important to set realistic goals; my goal is healthy hair. Healthy hair trumps long hair in my books.

Tips on taking off braids

I hate taking out braids myself; however I would rather do it myself than endure the pulling of hair at the salon.

This time I intentionally asked for big braids so taking them out wouldn’t be too much of a challenge for and I wouldn’t lose too many hours in the process.

After the braiding was done three weeks ago, the lady used moose to prevent the hair from looking untidy prematurely. Natural hair tends to stick of the Kankalon fiber after a few days, so moose helps keep my natural hair stiff in the braid. 

When undoing braids in the past I’ve lost hair in the process due to dry/stiff hair.  So this time I had to think of ways to reduce the amount of hair I could potentially lose.

I got the idea of oiling my hair from a youtube video but I thought it would be a better idea to wet or dampen the braids this would help loosen the moose. Then I added oil to give it some slip. The oil I put at the base of my scalp and sprayed on the braids too. 

The oil on the scalp helped a lot as the slip helped undo the knots that form at the base of the braid.

I would recommend this technique for taking off braids, the slip and dampness helps save time by allowing the fiber hair come off easily and undoing the knots too. The entire process took me an hour thirty minutes.

The tools I used include, rat tail comb, a wide tooth comb to comb my hair, scissors to cut the ends of the braids, spray bottle with oil and water, applicator bottle with palm kernel oil (the smelly one)  and a plastic bag to put the old hair in. 

Another advantage of this method is that in the process of taking off the braids I pre-pooed my hair with the palm kernel oil.

Next time you are taking off braids yourself, try this method.  

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.

Quick tip- Dandruff

A few days ago my sister complained about dandruff. She said she had tried so many different things and products but nothing seemed to be helping (I think she didn't try many of them long enough for them to actually work..... impatient girl). She asked me to come over with my bottle of tea tree essential oil to put on her scalp and I thought why not mix that with some black Jamaican castor oil. The heaviness of the castor oil will make for stronger hold and better coating while the tea tree will work on the dandruff.

And... It work unbelievably well!

We applied the mix in the evening and by morning there were no white flake. She followed up the treatment with tea tree oil in water and sprayed on her hair and scalp. She had just installed box braid so there was no washing the hair just yet.

Tea tree oil is fantastic for different uses; I apply the oil mixed with castor oil to my hair line and I must say the combination of the mix and protective styling has really helped improve the hair around the nape and front of my head.
Also I use tea tree oil for my breakout; it dries up the breakout almost overnight and doesn't leave spots.

So, if you are having dandruff issue, try tea tree oil, on it's own, mixed with other oils/butter or in a spray bottle with water. 

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. 

5 questions I get about my hair

So my hair texture is the Bentley of natural hair..... I joke, I joke lol. But my hair is quite nice (clears throat). I mean it soft, silky, coily, has nice shine, etc. etc. lol. It’s no wonder I get asked a lot of questions about my hair from curious everyday Nigerians.

So I thought it would be nice to write about the top five questions I get about hair:

 1. Is this really your hair?
Yes it really is my hair, and this question is usually followed by "Are you mixed race or have white blood in your family?" No, I am fully black with nice hair I guess. “So how do you get it to look like that?" I do the regular natural hair stuff (insert a side smile)

 2. What products do you use?
Gosh I hate this one, because I use the most inexpensive conditioners, hardly any shampoo but lots of natural oils. Then I have to explain my hair regimen.  

3. My hair is very hard, do you think I will be able to manage it in it’s natural state?
I usually say “yeah you can; it’s a little tricky at first and needs some getting used to. But once you understand your hair, it’s a walk in the park”

4. How best do I move to the natural hair side?
Its either you cut it all off or your transition, choose what you are most comfortable with.

5. Why do you change your hair style so often?
Well because I am a black woman, I am a Nigerian woman and because I have the options and the luxury of having different styles of hair.