Hi y’all,
I’m super excited to let you know that I’ve been featured on African Naturalistas!
This is a blog that I’ve been reading since… since!
So I feel ‘appy, I feel fulfilled because I never experredit.(Just kidding)
So yeah, go check it out here.
Don’t forget to show some love!
X
My people, how far?
You know how I keep saying “oh my ends are shitty, I need a trim”? Guess who finally got one?
I’m not even joking when I say my ends were horrendous.
I had so many single strand knots and my ends looked so rough and frizzy. On one strand alone I could find as many as 3 knots and I was in the habit of pulling them off with my fingers.
Detangling had become a serious chore no matter the conditioner because of all the tangles. Even separating twists for a twist out became harder because all my ends wanted to do was stay together.
When people talk about split ends they seem like such a modern myth to me but I kid you not when I say I used my two eyes to see several split ends in my hair! At this point I knew something had to be done fast.
I knew I needed a trim for a long time, trust me. I mean, I haven’t had one since I went natural; that’s 2 years!
The thing is, I wanted to get it professionally done so I kept postponing and postponing till I could go to a salon that knew what they were doing.
One day, I thought to myself “wait oh, but people do this thing themselves e.g. Nafisat. How can I, self proclaimed cheapskate mama and DIY queen, not be able to do it myself”.
So I googled how to do it myself, bought 70 Naira scissors, sat in front of the mirror and trimmed.
Not a good picture but peep those ends!
I’d take a small section, twist up to where I wanted to trim and then cut
All done!
My twists were so blunt by the end
Ends look and feel waaaay better!
My “OMG, my hair is shorter” face 😦
All the hair I cut off
I know I could have gotten better results because some parts aren’t even and I think I might have taken too much hair off but I think I did okay for a first attempt.
My experience with trimming:
Pros:
Cons:
Lessons learnt:
I did a bantu knot out for NITC 12(post coming soon) after trimming and it was so easy to take down and separate the bantu knots afterwards! I was pleasantly surprised!
Have you ever trimmed your hair yourself? Would you ever DIY trim or would you rather get it professionally done? Share with me.
X
2015 is here!!!!!
Without taking too much of your time, I just want to wish you a happy new year. May 2015 be filled with boundless joy, unending peace, unmeasurable success, heartwarming love & every good thing for you & yours!
I also want to show you my final length check pictures of 2014.
Comparing these to my 1 year nappiversary length check, I’m pretty surprised at the difference because my hair was out most of the time(hardly any protective styling) and quite honestly also close to neglected half the time.
So that’s it for this very brief post. According to my stats for 2014, the blog had over 15,000 views and 24 new posts. Let’s see if we can triple that in 2015 ei? I’ll work hard to post more often.
Thank you so much to everyone who reads the blog, leaves comments, sends me emails, follows the blog, likes posts etc.
I love you guys!💗
Let’s have an amazing year, shall we?
If you’re not following the blog on Instagram I don’t know what you’re waiting for oh! Oya follow @nigerianandnatural
Hello beautiful people. Ça va?
In the course of your healthy hair journey, there are some things you do that end up being detrimental to your face(especially acne-prone skin).
-Oiling your hair may end up leaving you with bumps along your hairline and on your face. Either the hair rubs against your face or you mistakenly, absent-mindedly touch your face with your oily fingers or someway somehow, the oil from your hair ends up on your face.
-Oil and hair products transfer from your hair to your pillow and eventually your face leaving you with acne.
-In the course of washing/deep conditioning/hot oil treatments etc, products end up on your face.
Etc
On the other hand, in the course of your battle to maintain/achieve blemish-free, beautiful skin, there are some things you do that end up being detrimental to your hair.
-Face wash/scrub/mask/cleanser/toner(with ingredients like SLS and co) ends up in your hair, especially your edges which more often than not are the major problem areas you are battling with in your hair journey.(Also body wash/soap ends up in your nape region when you wash your neck and also on the hair behind your ears when you wash behind your ears).
-Face powder/foundation ends up in your hair(edges) when you are trying to get a seamless application.
Etc
All these are issues that I am facing and I’m sure some of you are too.
It can get really annoying. I mean, how annoying are those tiny painful pimples around your hairline. Sometimes after washing my face and I think face wash got on my edges, I will go and moisturise my edges but then hair product gets on my freshly washed face -_-
So dear people, who else is suffering from hair vs face issues? How do you deal with them? Who has overcome these issues? How did you do so? Who has possible solutions to spill?
Please share because some of us(I) need to know.
Xoxo
Sometimes the way people take hair so seriously baffles me to be honest.
I’m not talking about haircare here. Let me explain what I mean.
I’ve seen posts about how the natural hair community discriminates within itself based on hair type i.e looser, silkier curls are preferred to tighter kinkier coils. The posts said this is evident in the way women with looser curls(think Type 3a-4a) are featured more on hairspiration posts/Instagram pages and even on product containers/ads. They also state that people tend to want that kind of hair and refer to it as “good hair”. Some even say this is because the hair looks more like caucasian hair and they will begin to give you a lecture on slave trade in the post.
To be honest, I have pictured myself with looser curls and imagined how pretty they would look. This doesn’t mean I have low self esteem and I hate my God-given hair as some posts go on to state.
Then there are the ones who say that texturized hair isn’t natural(I actually have no opinion on this but would like to hear yours), those who do twist outs, bantu knot outs and co are trying to mimic looser curls and thus have low self esteem(na wa), those with dyed hair are no longer natural(Please oh, my hair has been dyed), those who heat style their natural hair aren’t proper naturals, those who don’t use only organic, all-natural products also aren’t proper naturals etc
You would think being natural is like having one invisible panel somewhere inspect your hair strand by strand then stamp on your forehead “Accepted” or “Denied”.
Another angle is the ‘war’ against Team Natural and Team Relaxed. To be honest this is the most ridiculous one.
The “natural hair nazi” as they are often called will say people with relaxed hair are relaxing their hair to be beautiful based on the white man’s standard of judging beauty or they are trying to look like the white man or they have low self esteem and hate their heritage etc.
At the beginning of my hair journey I was almost pulled into the natural-hair-nazi hole because most of the sites I went to for help looked down on relaxed hair. Later I came to realize that it was some form of hypocrisy if I did the same. I mean I had relaxed hair! To me it’s kind of like having an abortion then later becoming pro-life and then proceeding to vehemently look down on and bash those who are pro-choice. The fact that you’ve experienced it should make you understand and allow you to empathise(for lack of a better word). I was never relaxing my hair because I hated my heritage and wanted to be like the white man. So why would I, now being natural, turn around and say that those with relaxed hair hate their heritage and want to be like the white man.
Then there are the people with relaxed hair who think natural hair is tacky and rough and ugly and unprofessional and every other negative word in the dictionary. They are quick to comment on posts about natural hair and state their ‘opinions’. They will say stuff like “so you think because your hair is natural, you are closer to heaven abi. Please get over yourself” or “all of you claiming team natural don’t know how tacky and unkempt you look. Go and slap a relaxer on that ugly head of yours and shut up”.
I believe whether relaxed or natural, it is about one’s preference so please can we all park in our lanes and mind our own business. To each her own. Leave it at that.
Another new twist I saw recently was the opposite of the looser-curls-preference situation.
I recently joined this natural hair group on Facebook. Sometimes when I’m bored, I go there and read through posts and comment as much as I can. I also have a good laugh because there are some really funny posts I see there e.g “Please I am in the market right now. I need to know the Yoruba name of glycerine. Urgent answer needed”, “Av nor use realizer for 2 month nw because I use Protective kit but my hair is still strong. Which realizer can I buy for my hair to realize well”, “Where can I buy olive oil, egg oil, glycerine oil”, “what is BC and who are those that do sell it” etc.(Lord forgive me for posting these but I had to).
I digress.
So I saw a post on the group by someone and the person had a picture of their natural hair. She had loose curls like say 3c. And of course I knew she would be bombarded with at least 10 comments saying “hmmm this is not natural hair”(This happens on the group a lot when people with looser curls post pictures). Lo and behold the this-is-not-natural-hair comments poured in and the lady was patient and polite in replying them saying it was her natural hair. You see the problem is that there are a lot of Nigerian members and most of them only know natural hair as the kinky, 4c, thick, no-shine hair; they have never encountered 3b,3c or 4a hair and do not categorise those as natural hair.
So the comments kept pouring in and there was one who went on to say that the lady did not have the right kind of hair for the group and that she was jealous because she didn’t have kinky hair and that the group only celebrates proper natural hair. I’m thinking “errmmm but this is her natural hair”. The admin of the group tried to remedy the situation and explain that the group had members from different countries with diverse hair textures and that natural hair comes in textures besides 4c which Nigerians are used to.
Babe no gree oh. She finished the whole group with insults.
I don’t know if it was the same post or another but someone else said “this is not natural hair” then people explained that it was and that the lady in the picture wasn’t Nigerian and that natural hair comes in different textures. The person now came back and said “I know but this hair is not natural”. More people posted and explained further that she could be mixed or she could be African American and the person still came and said “I’ve heard but I say this hair is not natural”. LOL!!
Without digressing too much, I’m just showing you that there are actually people out there who consider natural hair to only be proper kinky hair. They don’t classify looser, silkier curls as natural hair.
The whole hair thing is a hot complicated mess.
I believe we should all live and let live. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences. To be honest you won’t catch me preaching the natural hair gospel to someone who didn’t first ask me about it or ask for advice(When last did I follow my church for evangelism that it is hair I want to be preaching).
No matter how your hair grows or how you choose to wear it, do you! Don’t let anyone bully or intimidate you. Don’t look down on your own self too; love the hair you have and rock it with confidence. The goal should be healthy hair because healthy hair will always look good.
It’s just hair. Don’t take it so seriously. There are more pressing issues e.g They have not still brought back our girls oh, I don’t have power supply half the time and PHCN is still bringing ridiculous bills, N50 rice at the buka you frequent is now too small to belleful a baby, when is Shea Moisture going to be affordable for the masses in Nigeria etc
Do share your thoughts; I would love to hear them.
P.s: Eid Mubarak in arrears to my Muslim readers; I hope you had a good one(even though you didn’t send me some juicy fried ram meat)
Jen
Hi there,
So I was tagged by Cassie Daves on my other blog, Jennifer’s writings, to do this blog tag. I haven’t posted on that blog in soooo long and I figured, why not do the tag here for you lovely people. So here it goes.
Are you named after someone?
Yes. My mum had/has a good friend named Jennifer so she named me after her and made her my godmother.
When was the last time you cried?
I rewatched The Notebook a few days ago. I didn’t even know when the floodgates opened.
Do you have any children?
Not yet. But I will have the cutest ones soon! Watch this space. Just need to find me a man. A fine one so the cute baby dreams can materialise.
If you were another person would you be a friend of yourself?
My first thought is to say “hell yeah!” cos you know, I’m the bomb.com! But on second thought, I can be quite annoying and weird so I’m not sure. Like, I don’t know if I’d have the patience to deal with my crap sometimes. *sends ‘Thank You’ message to all my friends* LOL. But as a whole I think I still make an awesome friend so yeah.
Do you have any guilty pleasures?
But of course! If I could do without most of them I’d probably have hit my goal of size 10 eons ago! White chocolate, red velvet cake, french toast, cheese balls(don’t judge me!), strawberry daiquiri, Milo with plenty milk, Frappuccino, cheese cake, iced coffee etc etc etc(Had to stop before it turns into an epistle. By now you can tell that I love all things sweet and decadent). Oh and all my fave TV shows too.
Do you like handwriting?
After copying all those 31 page Government notes in secondary school? I’d rather type please. Plus my handwriting isn’t that pretty.
What’s your favourite cereal?
I love cereal. In the past I’ve been known to live on cereal. So it’s hard for me to pick a favourite but I’d say maybe cornflakes made with milo and milk or rice krispies/coco pops with loads of milk (I don’t eat cereal with sugar. Seems unnecessary). When I’m trying to eat healthy it’s whole grain cheerios, fruit ‘n’ fibre or weetaflakes.
What’s the first thing you notice about people?
Their faces, dressing and the way they speak. Lately, hair.
What’s the colour of your eyes?
Brown
Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings. I don’t watch scary movies except if forced to.
Favourite TV show?
Game of thrones, Grey’s anatomy, Scandal, Two broke girls, Modern family, Big brother Africa(Yes I’m one of the BBA watchers oh!), Glee, Orange is the new black, New girl, Community, Desperate housewives(now over), How I met your mother(now over), Gossip girl(now over), 90210(now over). I watch so many shows and I’m forever dropping and adding more.
Winter or summer?
It’s constantly summer in these parts and the heat can get overwhelming so I shall choose winter.
Hugs or kisses?
Hugs. The warm, cuddly, happy, hold-on-a-minute-too-long kind.
Special talent?
Yet to discover it/them. But I can sing(not special to me).
Where were you born?
Lagos, Nigeria.
Hobbies?
Reading African literature, watching TV, eating(yes, it’s a hobby), reading blogs, listening to music.
Do you have any pets?
My family has had 2 rabbits(Bugs Bunny & Snow Ball) & 5 dogs(Rambo, Rocky, Cody, Michaella & Kiara). We presently have 1 dog(Kiara). When I have my own house I’d like to have 1 or 2 cute dogs and cats(my mother hates cats as they are all witches in her opinion so we can’t have any now)
Favourite movie?
I have a horrible memory so I tend to forget what movies are about. Titanic, The Colour Purple, The Notebook, P.S I Love You maybe?
What colour is your car?
My Range Rover is white and my Mercedes G wagen is matte black… Amen. For now, it is yellow & black danfo (No, I’m not the driver) but one day *sigh*
What do you want to do when you grow up?
JAMB question. In a perfect world, I’m a radio/TV presenter or I write for an awesome magazine as my job while I pursue other lifelong dreams by the side e.g photography, travelling round the world, being filthy rich. (God please this is a sub oh). For now though it’s the polar opposite but I’ll take it one day at a time and someday, my dreams will come true.
I TAG
All of you reading this who are interested in sharing your answers! Be sure to tag me when you do so I can check it out.
Peace!
P.s: Happy independence day Nigeria! We pray for peace, progress and constant power supply.
Almost finished
Today I bring you a product review.
This product is pretty popular among naturals! I’d been hearing so much about this product and its awesomeness and I just had to taste the soup to know if it was indeed delicious.
Product Claims: “Provides intense moisture to leave hair soft and manageable. Formulated for damaged, dry or coarse hair… Mends hair breakage, repairs split ends and reduces frizz, protects hair from heat damage, hydrates and moisturizes with shea butter and natural oils. Great for relaxed, natural, texturized, coloured or permed hair”
I can’t say much for it’s claims towards heat damage, split ends, frizz and breakage as those aren’t necessarily concerns of mine. But it lives up to its claims about dry, coarse hair becoming softer and more manageable. This product does not discriminate! It is for all! As a matter of fact, my sister and cousin(both relaxed) keep stealing out of it both for their hair and their weaves. So this product aims to accommodate you no matter your hair type.
Ingredients: Water (Aqua, Eau), Canola Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glycerin, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Actinidia Chinensis (kiwi) fruit extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) flower extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Dimethicone PEG-8 Meadowfoamate, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Pentaerythrityl Tetracaprylate/Tetracaprate, Silk Amino Acids, Panthenol, DMDM Hydantoin, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-4, Polyquaternium-32, Mineral Oil, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans, Sodium Hyaluronate, Propylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride
Thank you copy and paste! (But I had to go through to ensure it was correct so I did some work too).
As you can see, the first ingredient is water which is great(if not necessary) for a leave in/moisturizer. It’s also full of ‘beta beta'(great) ingredients! I tried to highlight the ingredients that I thought people might be avoiding. It has Glycerine in case you’re staying away from humectants (i.e things that pull moisture into your hair). It also has silicones and mineral oil but they are at the bottom of the list which means the product contains little of them. I recently learnt that some people stay away from Propylene Glycol so that’s why I’ve highlighted it in case.
How I used it: I used this mostly on freshly washed hair( As the ‘C’ in the LCO method. Tried it as LOC too but it worked better as LCO for me). Also used this on damp hair(lightly spritzed with water) during the week. Also on dry hair.
Out of all, my favourite is the freshly washed method. My hair stays moisturized for days and I can refresh it by spritzing with water alone or spritzing with water and sealing with oil/shea butter. My least favourite method is on dry hair as it takes time for my hair to absorb it this way(which may leave white patches for some minutes) and it leaves a weird feeling too(sticky? Squishy? Not sure).
PROS:
–Moisturizing: Moisture that actually lasts! Someone told me my hair felt like a cloud! My sister loves this stuff because she says it makes everything soft; as I mentioned earlier she and my cousin tend to steal it for their relaxed hair and their weaves.
–Good Scent: I know scents are relative and depend on the “smeller” but I love the smell of this stuff! It smells sweet and floral. I was really surprised when I saw that fragrance wasn’t among the first few ingredients. My favourite thing about the smell is that it helps me catch anybody at home who uses it without my permission *evil laugh*.
–Value for money: This stuff comes in a big tub(16 OZ/ 453g). And a little goes a long way with it. So it lasts. If you are heavy handed sef, it leaves a weird feeling behind for you. So you best use it in moderation.
CONS:
Ingredients: There are some chemicals in it with names that they probably only use for spelling bees at Harvard. It also has mineral oil and silicones. On the flip side, it has some good ingredients as well and the good ones are higher up the ingredient list than the bad ones.
Price: Price of course is relative as one man’s 1 million is another man’s 1 kobo. But this stuff is not for team cheapskate. It ranges between N1800- N2500 depending on where you buy it.
Absorption: It takes a while to absorb into the hair mostly when used on dry hair and low porosity hair. Also leaves a weird feeling if used heavy handedly or on dry hair.
MY RATING: 5/5. It has lived up to the hype and attained staple status for me.
I’ve even gone on to tell my friends, both relaxed and natural, to try it.
Where to buy:
– Casa Bella outlets(Palms Lekki, Surulere mall, Ikeja city mall, Ajose Adeogun VI, Polo Park mall Enugu, Grand Towers Mall Abuja)
– Olori.com.ng
– thebeautyboon.com
– hairbeautyhub.com (they have the salon size)
I hope my reviews are helpful to you guys. I know I don’t really go into the sciencey stuff but I try to make sure I’m honest and I relate to you how my hair felt with the product.
I was in Accra recently and I picked up 2 or 3 things that I’ll share in a post soon hopefully. I’m also currently in self-made crochet braids (yay!) and I will post about this also. I’ve also opened a Youtube channel! I haven’t posted anything yet but I’ll keep you in the know. I’m also considering doing the blog’s first giveaway; it’ll probably be a small one though.
Anything eventful happening with your hair lately? New styles? DIYs? Products? Anything at all? Do share!
Stay safe guys!
Hugs & kisses.
Hi guys,
As promised, this is a length check of my hair at 1 year. Yes I know it’s kinda late but better late than never right? Right!
My hair is between 5-6 inches (some parts are 5″, some are 5.5″ and some are 6″). I think this is pretty okay for one year.
I believe I am past the TWA stage! Yippee! I am now in the awkward stage: that annoying phase where your hair isn’t so short but isn’t long either.
I’ve found a few staple styles that my hair can do at this stage and I’ll share them with you incase you’d like to try them.
This is a very simple style that is basically 2 big flat twists. This style lasts me a whole week so it’s a good low maintenance protective style for me. I’ve tried different variants of this style.You can do cornrows instead of flat twists if you like.
I’m not a big fan of the way my hair looks in twists left down but I like twists packed/pinned back. This is another low maintenance style that can last.
I call this one “my hair must pack”. It’s a good way to give the illusion of a ponytail/packed hair when your hair isn’t quite there yet. You basically flat twist the front towards the middle and secure with bobby pins then gather everything into a ponytail. I rock this style very often. You can also keep this for a few days.
I’ve also been rocking loads of afros, not the combed out kind though. They’re mostly twist outs that I separate and fluff into fros.
Of course you know I’m still into my puffs. Now I try to make them looser.
And guess whose hair could pack this morning? 😀
[Side bar: Is it just my eyes or are my edges looking a bit better?]
I’ve decided to enjoy every stage my hair goes through and I’m going to extend that to my life in general. I’ll focus of taking things one day at a time and seeing the good in every stage I’m in. Life’s too short!
I’m currently trying Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream, Dudu Osun(as a shampoo) and Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter Moisturizer. Reviews will be up when I’ve used them more but for now I’m loving them.
What stage is your hair in? How are you coping with it at this stage? What products are you currently trying?
Have a beautiful weekend!
Peace!
Hip hip hip!!! Hurray!!!!
One year ago today I walked into that barbershop wanting a fade and came out with hair so short it almost didn’t need to be combed!
In actual fact, the anniversary of my big chop was on the 14th of June but I decided to go with my second big chop(July 18th) because with that cut, I started from scratch so basing it on that date shows a truer picture of a year’s growth.
*Phew* That was a mouthful! I hope you understand what I mean though.
Either ways(June or July), I still have one year under my belt!
So here’s a mini timeline of pictures showing my progress over the year!
My first big chop(June 2013)
My second cut, July 2013
Last week
Today’s simple look(ignore the giant pimple)
Over this first year, I experimented with products, Ayurveda, dyed my hair etc.
Let’s see how the next year goes but from the look of things, I foresee that it will be a lazy year(you never know though).
Taking a page out of AB’s book, I will be setting anniversary goals; these are changes I would like to see/make by my next anniversary.
Here are my goals for the year ahead:
1. Kick dandruff’s ass.
2. Beat hand-in-hair syndrome.
3. More length and thickness at my edges and nape.
4. Growth/Length retention.
I think that’s not too much to ask for!
So cheers to my hair at one year *glasses clink*
Expect a post about my new favorite simple go-to style + a one year length check soon.
Peace!
Jennifer Abah 