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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Five simple ways to tie scarves or head wraps

If you have been natural even for a few months you will know that there are days when you do not want to go through your daily regimen. Sometimes we try new hairstyles and they do not quite come out like we envisioned. Sometimes we just have bad to very bad hair days. It has become important to have a default style; mine is usually a scarf. I am getting pretty good at them; unfortunately I don’t have any pictures but will take a few.

So the video above from _tierraj (never heard the name before), shows five easy and popular ways to style your head with a wrap or scarf. The styles are quite versatile too and be used on different outfits and with different fabrics. 

Tip: you can use your satin bonnet or scarf under the head wrap or scarf to protect your hair from knotting up and drying out. 

Current regimen

Now that my hair is short again, my regimen has changed. Shorter natural hair is so much easier to take care of. There is less detangling to do, less styling and less amount of products consumed lol

So my current regimen includes weekly co-wash on Saturday mornings after my workout with my VO5 conditioner then I deep condition with either a home-made concoction or a Miss Jessie’s sweet back treatment, I usually alternate between them. Then I apply leave in conditioner, currently using Dark n Lovely (I find that it is inexpensive and works well with my hair) also olive oil or coconut oil. Then I let my hair air dry; which surprisingly takes a few hours to completely dry. Some weekends I add Eco styler gel to my hair and finger coil but this doesn’t happen often. 

During the week, I mist my hair every morning with a mixture of leave-in conditioner, EVOO and water from a small spray bottle. I use a satin scarf to sleep every night. Because the scarf presses my hair and gives it a funny shape, all I do for styling in the morning is mist then rub my finger through my hair to sort of lift the hair and style. 

Once a month I do henna treatment overnight. I usually do it on a Friday night and wash it out on Saturday morning. Henna helps my hair with incresed volume, reduced breakage and great natural shine.

I shampoo my hair every six weeks because I feel my hair does not need to be washed that deep as the co-washing really cleans my hair and my hair isn’t very full making it easy to clean.

I don’t use any combs or heat on my hair. Because my hair is fine and light I try not to use too many products and I use light oils. When I use Shea butter, it is in small amounts and usually on wet hair to help lock in the moisture. 

Oils and products I am currently using: VO5 conditioner, Dark n lovely conditioner, EVOO, Coconut oil, Shea butter, Palm nut oil (mayanga), Local henna, Miss Jessie’s sweetback treatment. I may try new products soon but these ones work well for my hair and I am satisfied with the results I get. Finding products that are good for my hair and are regularly stocked in shops in Nigeria is a pain, so I stick to what works for me. The oils and products can be found in markets and shops every where in Nigeria.

For my home made deep treatment, I mix regular mayonnaise, honey, an egg and EVOO and apply to damp co-washed hair and leave for 30 minutes. Then rinse out with warm water. 

I have dogonyaro leaves (I forget the English name) I use to rinse out my hair whenever I feel like my scalp is itchy or there are signs of dandruff. I boil the dry leaves for a few minutes and use the water to rinse out my hair after my Saturday co-wash. I think the fresh leaves can be used as well but for preservation I use the dry ones. 

It is very important for every natural to find a routine and products that work best for your hair. My hair goals this year is to have healthy, breakage free hair. 

more coils than curls