Three Year Length Check

Posted in hair journey, hair update, hairversary, Length check, nappyversary by Jen

Hi guys,

So my hair turned 3 on the 18th of July! I honestly was planning on skipping the nappiversary/length check post but @kinkchic on Instagram left a comment on one of my posts talking about the nappiversary post so I just had to do it.

What were my goals from my two year nappiversary and how well did I do?

Continue reading →

18Jul2015

Two year nappiversary!!

Posted in hair journey, hair update, hairversary, Length check, nappyversary by Jen

Two years!! Can you believe it? If my hair were a child, it’d be a toddler that could walk and talk!

Remember the goals I mentioned in my one year nappiversary post that I planned to achieve by now? Let’s see how I did:

1. Kick dandruff’s ass. (Sadly, no)

2. Beat hand-in-hair syndrome. (Yes and no. It changed from hand-in-hair syndrome to hand-in-edges syndrome which is worse)

3. More length and thickness at my edges and nape. (Yes but not as much as I’d have liked due to my newly developed hand-in-edges syndrome)

4. Growth/Length retention. (Yes but not as much as I’d have liked)

I didn’t measure my hair in terms of inches but here are my length check pictures:

Not so bad ei? But not as good as I’d hoped but I have repented so…

A couple of things I’ve learnt this past year:

Don’t let it frustrate you because frustration leads you to quitting! Let whatever you do fit into your regular routine and ability; don’t go all out and overwhelm yourself with stuff you can’t handle because the “gurus” say you should do it. E.g. if you can’t handle washing your hair weekly, don’t. Because if you do, you most probably will get frustrated and think of giving up.
Don’t compare yourself with others and don’t be solely goal oriented! Have a little fun! Remember I talked about it in this post? If you want to dye your hair or straighten it or get a tapered cut, do your research and go for it!
Do what works for you! If it ain’t working, dump it(no matter how many rave reviews it has) and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (no matter how many bad reviews it has). In the end, you are the boss of you.
Encourage yourself! Don’t always think of the negatives(e.g. What your hair can’t do); try to see the positives (e.g. What your hair can do).
Learn and experiment! Don’t get stuck in your ways. Read blogs, watch vlogs. You will learn a lot; not all will work for you but you just might hit the jackpot with some.

I don’t want it to turn it into an epistle so I’ll put a pin in it right there.

If you follow me on Instagram (@nigerianandnatural) you would have seen most of these but here are a few (boring) styles I did over the last year:

Not the same day as the previous picture. I just really like this shirt! LOL

Wig

Crochet braids

Kinky twists

Wool/yarn twists

And my latest style:

Two week old twists. So proud of myself for keeping them for that long

Here are my goals for the year ahead:

Get a trim and try to get trims when needed from now on.
More protective styling.
Growth and length retention.
Stop hand-in-edges syndrome.
Kick dandruff’s ass (for real this time).
Be more adventurous with:

Styling
Products
Techniques

That’s all folks! 3rd nappiversary here we come!

What are some things you’ve learnt along the way in your hair journey? What are your short and long term goals for your hair? Please share.

Oh and Eid Mubarak! I know this isn’t the ram-sharing sallah so I shall patiently await that one.

13Jul2015

My failed straightening experience

Posted in hairxperiment, product review by Jen

Hi beautifuls! (yes I said that)

I’ve been dying to straighten my hair but I had planned to get it done professionally.

However, one evening about two weeks ago, I spontaneously decided to straighten my hair.

About two days prior, my mum had bought herself a bottle of Design Essentials HCO Leave-In Conditioner and Blow Drying Lotion(long name so let’s call it the DE lotion shall we?). So I decided I would use that as my heat protectant.

I washed my hair in my usual fashion and then applied some of my regular leave in and a bit of oil. I then proceeded to apply the DE lotion and blow dry in sections but my hair seemed to be getting really dry and ‘seizing up’ (I tried to blow dry my hair like a year ago and the same thing happened!).

I decided to skip the blow drying and just straighten from the get-go.

I would take a section, apply some more DE lotion to my ends and straighten.

My hair no gree. It would not become bone straight no matter how hard I tried or how many passes I made with the straightener. I decided to get it as straight as it would go and not stress it.

Imagine my surprise when the sections I straightened started reverting 2 minutes later.

I said “lai lai, you must be straight oh” and straightened them again. Two minutes later, same thing. After trying like 3 times, I gave up!

I know I look like struggle

That afro section was actually straight 2 minutes before!

I gave up and spritzed my hair with water

Happy to see those coils back. The fear of heat damage is real

Here’s what I learnt:

My hair seems to hate being blow dried.
My hair does not want to be straight.
My ends are as shitty as shitty can be. They were basically like dead looking, knot filled thread when I straightened my hair.

What I’ll do next time:

Try a better product.
Trim my ends.
Get it done professionally.
Maybe try one of those straightening products that last weeks e.g. ORS Strengthening and Straightening Treatment which Tuke tried here

Any tried and trusted straightening methods/products you’d suggest? Any advice for my next attempt? Have you/would you straighten your natural hair? Please share!

30Apr2015

I Was Featured On: The Curly Belle

Posted in Feature, hair journey by Jen

Hello my lovelies,
I just dropped by to let you know that I’ve been featured on a natural hair blog, The Curly Belle.

This is actually the first time I’ve been featured on any blog!
So check it out here and please leave your many many comments.

I’m a bit under the weather so I left work early and I’m at home. Hope your day is going way better than mine.

Xoxo

21Feb2015

Review: The BoonBox

Posted in Not hair, Review by Jen

Hi guys,

Ever heard of the CurlBox? It’s a subscription where you get a box every month that contains hair products either full sized or sample sized. The products are a surprise and are different every month giving you the opportunity to explore and try a variety of products.

Imagine my joy when I found out that we have our own version of this American wonder and ours is called the BoonBox! The BoonBox is put together by a Nigerian online beauty store called The Beauty Boon.

Somehow I never got around to ordering one until I read a review about it on She Is Out Of Control.

HOW IT WORKS

Just like I explained with the CurlBox, the BoonBox is literally a box that contains hair, skin and beauty products. The products are different every time and can be either sample sized or full sized.

You fill a form about your likes and dislikes, preferred brands and products etc. This helps the team putting the boxes together know what to put in yours. E.g if you say your hair is natural on the form, they won’t go and send you Profectiv relaxer in your BoonBox.

There are two subscription options: monthly and quarterly.

THE BAD

I chose to go with the monthly/one-time subscription so I ordered and prepaid for my BoonBox on the 17th of December. I chose to prepay instead opting for cash on delivery just incase I wasn’t home when it was delivered. Guess when I received it guys. 18th of February!!!

2 months later!

Sometime in January, a month or so after I ordered it(in fact I don forget sey I order something by then), someone from The Beauty Boon called me to confirm that I had ordered one, had prepaid and was yet to receive it; she also informed me that I would be receiving it soon.

By February 4th I had still not seen the shadow of the BoonBox so I sent an email to them about it and they replied saying it would come that Friday(February 6th).

Alas, it came February 18th.

THE GOOD

I was pleased with the BoonBox (even though I grew old and wrinkled waiting for its arrival). I got 5 items in mine:

1. EOS lip balm in blueberry açaí (Been wanting to get one so I was happy about this)

2. Clearasil daily clear daily facial scrub (Been wanting to try the Clearasil moisturizer so let’s see how this one works. Hopefully it won’t be too drying/harsh seeing as it’s for acne and acne is currently not a problem for me)

3. Mac lipglass in famously fab (Even though I think I mentioned on my form that I don’t like lipgloss but then I could be wrong. It’s a nice pinkish lavender shade)

4. Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie (I already had this. Nooooo!)

5. A scented candle (The scent is called garden party and it smells divine even unlit)

6. ~~A handwritten apology note~~ (I wish! I was half expecting one but I got a hot ela as they didn’t send any)

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love the idea of being surprised with different products and I love the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone and my staple product bubble and trying new things. I love the idea of the BoonBox. It’s a winner if only it could be smoothly executed. I was really mellow about the delay in the delivery timeline even though it was pretty unacceptable but not every one will be. So what if it were the quarterly subscription? Would you be getting each one 2 months late?

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

Maybe. If and only if I am assured that it will arrive on time.

BOONBOX DETAILS:

Where to purchase– The Beauty Boon

Price– N5,000 monthly or N19,000 quarterly

Would you be willing to try the BoonBox? Ever tried it or ever tried something similar? Share please.

P.s anyone know any good WordPress blogging apps for iOS? I keep losing my posts because the official WordPress app keeps crashing on me 😥

By the way have you noticed?!?!

The blog is now a “dot com”!!! *confetti*

It is now http://www.nigerianandnatural.com

But don’t worry if you forget and type http://www.nigerianandnatural.wordpress.com (this one is so long to type though; I can say that now 😀 ) because it will automatically redirect you to the dot com website.

Also, the email address is now contact@nigerianandnatural.com but don’t worry if you send it to the old one (nigerianandnatural@gmail.com) because I will still get it.

We are moving on up! *shakes bottom*

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram if you haven’t- @nigerianandnatural

Peace!

18Jul2014

1 year anniversary!!!

Posted in big chop, hair journey, hair update, nappyversary by Jen

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.