CASTOR OIL CHALLENGE!!

BREAKING NEWS!!!

I was talking with a co-worker about hair care, protective styles, etc.. and we ended up on castor oil. Now my only experience with castor oil is when I was little and my mother used to make me take a tablespoon of it along with cod liver oil so we wouldn't catch colds... So to say the least it's been a long time and I didn't know castor oil could work wonders for your hair. I decided to do some further research and found out these cool facts:

1. Heals Follicles that may have been damanged due to to much stress from tight braids, weaves, etc.

2. Conditions hair and leaves it shiny... so as you cut away the damanged hair the split ends will appear less often :)

3. The Omega Fatty acids help keep your scalp moisturized and promotes growth
These are just a few of the benefits of using castor oil! You can use castor oil in you moisturizer mix, conditioner, shampoo or all 3!! I also read about a castor oil challenge that Hairlista began. This is basically how the challenge works:

Challenge Levels:
Basic: Apply Castor Oil to a clean scalp 1-2 times per week.
Advance: Apply Castor Oil to a clean scalp 2-3 times per week.
Ultimate: Apply Castor Oil to your scalp 5-7 times per week. You must deep condition with a 1-2 tsp of your Castor Oil mixed in your deep conditioner and/or use it to seal your ends.

Rules:

1. Your Castor Oil MUST be 100% Castor Oil. Grease cannot be used as a substitute on the scalp. However, it can be used to seal i.e. Hollywood Beauty Castor Oil.
2. If you are doing the Basic or Advance level, the Castor Oil must be applied to a clean scalp to allow better penetration so that your scalp can absorb all the nutrients from the oil.
3. One must report any changes, improvements, success in your hair/new growth. This will inspire others!
4. Please upload a photo of your hair progress after the Challenge is complete (there will be a particular thread created for this).
5. NO OTHER GROWTH AIDS can be used while in this challenge...

Now me being different I figured I could still try the challenge but do it my way. I decided I would apply Castor oil directly to my scalp 5 times a week but also continue to use my water based moisturizer. My hair has done a complete 360 since I began using it and I don't want to stop now. I will be starting my challenge this friday (I'll be installing another set of havana twists) and I'll also do a length check!! I'm so excited how my hair has progressed with this protective style and how it will flurish with this castor oil challenge!! Feel free to post photos, comments, questions, encouraging words or whatever you like!! Also subscribe to my blog with your email address and whenever I post it will come directly to you!!

Thanks again for reading my blog I look forward to reading about your hair experience soon!!

How to treat damaged hair

Hello! Thank you for viewing my blog! Today I will be discussing how to treat damaged hair and get your locks back beautiful. We all cause damage to our hair and that’s okay! Have you ever had a bad episode with a flat iron and wanted to shave your head? ME TOO! Below is a list of a few signs that your hair will give you when it's damaged. These are just signs that I have encountered with my hair and others :)

1. Split ends with a Y shape.
2. Frizzy and unruly hair.
3. Dull/grayish looking hair
4. Fragile and easily broken hair

These are all signs that your hair has some form of damage. If we change some of our habits we can minimize the damage. Here's a few things we can stop or relax on doing..

Sleeping on Cotton pillows- Cotton absorbs moisture very well which strips your hair of moisture daily!! We should use a satin bonnet or pillow

Over Processing- Coloring or Relaxing to frequently can overtime break down the layers of hair which results in breakage. The same effect will also occur if you color and relax at the same time. I recommend waiting until at least 1in of new growth before relaxing.

Heat- As the saying goes "Everything in moderation" should be applied to using heat on hair. I should also mention that even if you don't use heat daily using heat on the highest setting can also cause damage.

No Moisture or not enough- I believe that a good moisturizer is water based. There are a lot of women that simply oil the scalp every so often and that's all. Since I have started this natural hair journey I've learned that my 4C hair needs a water based moisturizer followed by a heavier oil being applied around the edges to "lock in" the moisture. I have experienced more hair growth by using this method than any other. 

Here are a few good things to do with your hair.....

Condition often- Conditioning with every wash will replenish the hair adding more protein and moisture. Try adding heat to your conditioning route. Heat helps the oils penetrate the scalp. If you can't deep condition at least use a leave-in conditioner.

Don't leave any style in too long- I believe that braids should only stay in 8wks maximum! Once they are removed you should follow up with a deep conditioning

Wear protective styles- I consider any style that protects your hair from excessive heat and pulling while keeping ends unexposed a protective style. For example buns, braids, Wigs, Flat Twists, Sew-in Weaves are all protective styles. Click my link best-hair-tutorials-ever for inspiration.

Trimming- Every 7-8wks you should trim the hair to remove any split ends.

That's all for now feel free to leave any questions or comments below. Don't forget to subscribe by email and my blog entries will come directly to you :)

How I maintain Healthy Hydrated Hair during lengthy protective styles

Happy Tuesday!
I apologize about not posting last week my schedule was hectic. Anyways let's talk about hair. So to bring you up to speed I have had the Havana Twists for a few weeks now and I love them. The technique I used is called crochet braiding (which if you click the link *best hair tutorials ever*) you can see the YouTube video I used to achieve this style. To maintain healthy hair under this style I have been experimenting with a few different products. Choosing the right product is critical because everyone's hair is different but we all can agree that everyone needs moisture on their hair.

I believe that using a water based moisturizer is critical to my 4C hair. If you’re not sure what your hair type is I will post a photo of most hair types. It's not a perfect science... In fact I believe that in every head there are combinations of hair types throughout the hair. Using myself for example in the front and around my edges I have 4A in my crown area I have 4C and the back is a cross between 4b/c. So yes it's a hot mess after washing but once I do a deep condition (which I'll share how I do that as well) it's pretty easy to maintain.

Water Based Moisturizer
This can be used as often or as little as you like. Depending on the needs of your hair. I currently use it about 3 time a week and massage my scalp for about 3-5 minutes to help stimulate the scalp.

NOTE:
These portions will vary depending on your spray bottle size mines holds  8oz....

1 squirt of leave-in conditioner
1/4 Argan Oil $9.99 at Sally's
1/4 Olive Oil varies at your local grocery strore.
1/2 Warm Water
1 Spray Bottle

 

Place all ingredients into spray bottle shake to mix and spray directly on scalp. This can also be used on synthetic hair as well :)

After spraying my hair I use a sealant. A sealant is usually a heavier oil but it helps lock in the moisture. I only do this once a week using coconut oil with a focus on my edges. With a thicker oil a little goes a long way you should only need about 1 1/2 tablespoons.

DEEP Conditioner

So we all know how important it is to keep our hair conditioned. But, it can be a very tedious task especially when you have been in your hair all day and you down to the final steps conditioning being one. Sometimes we under condition the hair :( which makes it harder for our tresses to look fabulous. Here's a few different ways I deep condition:

Cholesterol- I love this for a few different reasons
1. It's very thick, heavy and it has moisture in it that helps me detangle my 4C hair especially in the crown area.
2. CHEAP!! You can get this at any local BBS they range from $3-$10 depending on what brand you want. I prefer Lustrasilk

After using the cholesterol to detangle I was out the hair and apply a leave-in olive oil based conditioner

If you have any comments or questions please feel free to post below. Don't forget to subscribe via email or follow that way my posts come directly to us... and as always thank you for viewing my blog and being a part of my hair journey.

Havana Twists Review

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for reading my blog! Today I am doing a review on the Havana twists I installed on Friday (6/28/13). So far I LOVE THEM! I have received several compliments on them (everyone loves a compliment right)! I plan to leave these in for 6 weeks and I can't wait to see the definition in the hair when I untwist and rock a twist out. Below I included a few pictures that will help me better review this style. So let's begin the review

First things first...SUPPLIES.

1.  5-6 packs of Marley Braiding hair. I purchased only 5 but ended going to buy a 6th pack and used only 1/4 of it. So make sure you have more than enough!

2. Water based moisturizer-- Everyone has different methods to keep their hair moisturized during a lengthy protective style. I use 1/2 water, 1/4 Argan oil and 1/4 extra virgin olive oil and just a squirt of leave in conditioner. I begin using this when I got my micro braids (after I did my big chop) and it was wonderful. My hair was never itchy, it felt very hydrated, I didn’t experience a lot of product build-up and best of all the Argan oil smells heavenly!! I will be using this with every protective style.

3. crochet needle. Get one that allows you to close the hair within the needle. It helps pull all the hair under the braid easier!

4.Perm Robs. I used these with boiling water to curl the ends of my hair. I have seen some women that leave their ends as is. However, I think the curly ends give the style a more finished look.

In the next step I cut the hair in half. I did this because I wanted my twists shoulder length. I used the method that is listed under the tab: best hair tutorials ever called "Havana Marley Twists Crochet Braids Tutorial".  *Look on the left-hand side of this post* The only thing I did differently is use a paddle/wig brush instead of a comb to separate the hair before applying.

After I installed the hair I took a few pics of the finished look. It took about 7hrs total.

What do you think? Will you be trying this style or something similar?? Please leave comments below I love feedback!!