A few of my favourite things -May

Posted in Current faves, Giveaway, protective styling by Jen

Hey guys,

How’s your Sunday going? Hope you have Sunday rice planned, ready, cooking or in your tummy because eating anything else on Sunday is a sin according to some unwritten but binding rule.

Here’s what happened when I tried to boil yam one fateful Sunday:

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a hard time figuring out what I loved in May but here’s what I came up with.

1. Things in threes:

I like to take pictures! And I tend to take pictures of the oddest things according to those who know me.

Anyways, I recently found that taking pictures with a theme in mind helps keep things a bit ‘organized’. It’s not as fun as being spontaneous but it’s fun nonetheless.

The theme I had in my head for the three pictures below is ‘things in threes’.

(‘Trees in threes’. Try saying that three times fast)

2. Semo:

When I was younger I hated a number of foods. The major culprits were beans, boiled eggs, fried rice and especially swallows in all varieties. I now eat these things but I’m still very picky about swallows. I only eat semo, wheat and pounded yam.

Allow me to say that semo is bae! I ate semo at least 1-2 times a week this entire month.

Unfortunately I’m so bad at making it. Yesterday I made some and my brother said “Jennifer this part is not done”. I gave him the look of death and told him to shut up and eat.

Any tips on making perfect semo? Please tell me in the comments.

3. My current protective style:

These are twists done with about 16 packs of wool/yarn and I’ve had them for a little over 5 weeks now.

I have been super lazy with them that’s why I’m loving them. Since I’ve had them, I’ve moisturized 2 times, cleaned my scalp once with baby wipes and oiled my scalp about 6 times.

4. My butterfly print plimsolls:

I bought these about a month ago on Jumia for N4495 (although I had a voucher so I only paid N2695). It comes in a variety of prints and colours. Just search for ‘shoe republic la plimsoll” on Jumia

5. Fresh Yo:

I’m obsessed with this Fresh Yo stuff yo! I buy it everyday(which is so unhealthy). And it’s not even cheap sef (N200). But it’s so yummy. It also comes in a strawberry flavoured version.

And those are my favourite things from May!

Also guys, let me tell you about this giveaway you shouldn’t let pass you by!

Visarn Hair Line, a company that sells human hair is having a giveaway which is open to entries nationwide in Nigeria and ends on the 4th of June.

They will pick three winners and although the prizes are a surprise, a little birdie told me they will give away some of their luscious high quality human hair, a mini spa treatment and 3 packs of their recently launched Marley hair.

It is the Marley hair that me I want so you can be sure I will enter the giveaway!

To enter, head over to their Instagram page. They are @visarnhairline on Instagram.

All you have to do is follow them, repost any of their beautiful pictures with the hashtag #hairyoucantrust, tag them and tag 3 of your friends. C’est fini!

So don’t dull guys! You could win some of their amazing hair! Check them out on Instagram and you can see some of the beautiful hair that could be yours.

What are you currently loving? Do you share any of my current faves? Got tips on making perfect semo? Please share in the comments!

Xoxo

28Jan2015

What I wore: Stripes and Nude

Posted in events, Fashion, Not hair, Product store, products, What I Wore by Jen

This might come as a shocker to you but this is an outfit post! *jaws drop* LOL

Remember I’m dabbling and diversifying? It’s all in a bid to make me post more consistently.

I read a number of blogs: hair, makeup, fashion, food etc.
Of recent I think I have read one too many fashion posts so that might be the inspiration behind this post.

I am not a fashion blogger neither am I a fashionista but I think style is relative and maybe someone out there might find mine interesting.

If you ask me to describe my style in 1 word it would be ‘comfy’.
However, my sister and my good friend say I am boho/hippie(I do not agree though).

I wore this outfit to work sometime last week.

And because I see them do this on fashion blogs:

Top: Apt. 9 essential

Blazer: Dorothy Perkins (from Debra’s Grace, a cool store in Yaba)

Pants: Next (I’ve had them for years and have rocked the life out of them so much so that they are fading)

Shoes: I don’t know (long story)

Bag: Michael Kors (obtained from my mama)

Hair: Twists using Noble Gold (4 packs, uncut)

Oh and have you heard of Design Essentials? It’s a product brand that makes products for people who want healthy hair and has a line for natural hair. I first heard about them on Kemi Lewis’ blog.She uses their products in her natural hair salon.

Design essentials just launched a flagship store and training centre in Ikeja(yay for the mainland!) that stocks their products.

Their natural hair friendly products are silicone, paraben, paraffin, petrolatum, mineral oil and sulfate free and include the:

-Curl cleanser

-Moisturizing conditioner

-Almond and avocado detangling leave-in conditioner

-Honey curl forming custard

-Honey and Shea edge tamer

and more.

I love the packaging and I also sniffed some of the products(they smell great!) plus Kemi Lewis speaks well of them so I’m looking forward to trying them out!

Store details:

LOCATION: Angels Super Store, 88 Awolowo way, Ikeja by Fadeyi, beside Holy Trinity Hospital.

TEL: 08033029107 or 08033264570

OPENING HOURS: 9-7, Mon-Sat

What do you guys think of outfit posts on the blog every now and then? Yay or nay?

Have an awesome week!

20Jan2015

Crochetastic

Posted in protective styling, styling by Jen

Hi people!
Remember I said I had crochet braids?
Today I want to tell you in words and show you in pictures my crochet experience.

I had wanted to try crochet braids for so long but the prices the salons that could do it were calling were heart attack worthy so I figured why not do it myself?

So how did that go?

WHAT DID I USE?
-A big bobby pin
-1 pack of Supreme Afro Twist Braid (colour 1)
-1 pack of Noble Afro Braid (colour 1)
-2 hours(approximately. Excluding cornrowing time)

It works better if you widen it like so.

BRAID PATTERN

I cornrowed on clean, moisturized hair. I made 8 neat cornrows in front(making sure to line the centre and side where I wanted the part to be because I wanted to be able to wear the hair both ways).
I then joined two cornrows together to form one ugly one at the back so I had 4 at the back(hope you understand this my weird explanation).
Lastly I made one horizontal cornrow at the back below it all, that is at the nape.

Truth is you will be fine just doing all back cornrows. Don’t mind my senrenre

DID I DOCUMENT THE PROCESS?
No 😦
I was sick at the time and didn’t feel up to it.
However, this pictorial from The Kink and I as well as a quick Google/YouTube search will be of great help to you.
It’s super easy to do!

I cut some of the hair into halves and used these shorter pieces around the middle and sides where my proposed partings would be so it could have a somewhat layered look.

Here’s what it looked like when I was done. Don’t judge the pictures, remember I was sick.

Did I like it?
Yeah, but it wasn’t really me.
So I thought, let me see what it looks like curly.
Some twists, bendy rollers(flexi rods) and hot water burns on my neck later, it was curly.

And did I like it? No! I preferred it in its original state but there was no way to get it back so after a bit of deliberation, I combed it out.

I would take a section, spritz with water, apply conditioner and go to town combing with my wide tooth comb.

IT. TOOK. 4. HOURS!!!!!

And I was left looking like a lioness but I actually liked it

MAINTENANCE
FOR THE EXTENSIONS
Combed out, this hair tangles a lot!
I put it in big twists at night or whenever I wasn’t going anywhere to curb the tangling. The twist outs were nice too so this was a win-win.
Saturdays were the only days when I combed it. I would spritz with water and give it a thorough combing.

FOR MY REAL HAIR/SCALP
I would spritz my cornrows with water only from time to time, say twice a week.
I oiled my scalp about 3 times a week(and whenever it felt itchy) with a mix of castor oil and eucalyptus oil. I oiled my edges more often.
On Saturdays before I combed the extensions, I would clean my scalp with cotton wool dipped in a mix of apple cider vinegar, eucalyptus oil and water.

HOW LONG DID THE STYLE LAST?
I kept it in for 4 weeks but it could very well go for much much longer!

HOW I WORE THE STYLE

Minnie Mouse did not leave the house though. It was too big for me.

I never wore it down much and when I did, by midday I’d have put it up. Lagos is too hot yo!

TAKEDOWN
You can easily cut the extensions where it connects around your cornrow and pull it off. I however wanted to reuse the extensions so I opted to not cut. I used a bobby pin/comb to raise/loosen the knots the extensions made around the cornrow, unknotted and pulled out the extensions.

WOULD I TRY THIS STYLE AGAIN
Definitely! It’s easy to do and it’s a good protective style. If I can find other extensions to use for a different look that would be even better.

You can do this style yourself but if you’re in Lagos and you’d rather get it done at a salon, you can visit:

-KL’s Natural Beauty Bar
29C Ikorodu Crescent in Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi Lagos.
08063650977

-Savvy and Chic Hair and Beauty Hub
34A Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi, Lagos.
08090613325

-Tunmise Natural Hair Salon
147b Ogunlana Drive, Alhaji Masha Roundabout, (Opposite the Taxi Park) Surulere, Lagos.
08039138342

Have you done crochet braids yourself? Tell us all about it! Have you gotten it done at a salon and you’d like to recommend that salon? Would you try crochet braids? Please share!

1Mar2014

We made a wig!

Posted in hairxperiment, protective styling by Jen

Hello beautiful people, welcome to March!

So this post is looong overdue considering my sister and I made this in November or so.

I’d recently read two tutorials on making wigs (this one and this one ) and I’d also watched a Youtube video about it(can’t find the link) so the idea of making one had been lingering in my head. I love a good DIY(~~#TeamCheapskate~~ #TeamAdventurous) and my sister is ever ready to join in so we thought why not make a fringe wig?

The process wasn’t properly documented but please bear with me and the pictures I managed to get.

Tools needed
-A wig cap (I got a pack of 2 for N100 from some hair shop in my neighborhood)

-Your weave of choice (I used a mixture of old weaves I had: Passion,Supreme and some Peruvian I believe)

-A plastic/nylon bag

-Bonding glue (Got a bottle for N300 from the store where I got the wig cap)

-Scissors and(or) a razor blade

-A wig stand/doll or a person to make the wig on (I used my sister since I didn’t have a stand/doll)

What to do

The first step is to put a nylon/plastic bag over the wig stand/doll or person’s head. Trust me, the glue can and will seep through the wig cap so you don’t want a wig that you can’t take off the stand or person’s head after making it.

(Our weave)

(The bonding glue)

(wig cap)

Then put the wig cap over that

So that done, starting from the back, first use the weave to measure the place you’re going to stick it to and snip off any excess. Proceed to put bonding glue on the track of your weave.Then stick it on

(It should look something like this. Stick it on from one end of the neck to the other)

Keep sticking it on this way until up you get to the top of the ears.
From there on, you’re going to stick it on around the circumference of the head or in a circular pattern so it falls over the face(I didn’t take a picture of this but here’s a picture from The Fashion Engineer)

So keep doing this until you have a small circle left to fill

Now what you’re going to do is to take a strip of weave and put glue on the track and roll it up tight(Again, no picture was taken so here’s one from Love Ifeyinwa)

Then put some glue in the circle left to fill and stick the rolled up strip in there.

I proceeded to press down that place with a hot straightener(I used a semi-hot iron too. Don’t judge me). Please don’t do this part if the weave you used is synthetic; it will burn.

Now you can cut the fringe however you like.

Funnily enough, I have never worn this wig out of my house. Maybe it’s because I feel there is something disconcerting about wigs; I feel like I could be walking on the road and a strong wind will take it right off my head.

Wigs are great protective styles. You can cornrow your hair under them and take them off at night so your hair can breathe. They give you full license to take care of your real hair without struggle as opposed to sew ins.

So, if you’re into DIYs or you just need a new inexpensive wig or you just want to try your hand at something new, give this a shot.

Jen out!

7Feb2014

My first go at yarn braids

Posted in protective styling by Jen

Hey guys, this is a super late post because it’s been 4 weeks since I’ve had these wool/yarn braids.

I absolutely love them! I’ve even inspired a couple of people to get them, yay me!
I think they might be my new favorite style.
One reason why I like them is that the more my real hair sticks out, the more the braids look like locs. If it were normal extensions I used, it’d look like utter crap by now but wool blends okay with my hair that’s sticking out.
My only complaint is that the ends are burnt(makes them look unnatural to me and makes it harder to style); next time I’ll ask the stylist to tie them instead.
Other than that, I’m absolutely loving having faux locs!

What I did before getting the braids done
Before doing them, I washed my hair, did a protein treatment, deep conditioned and put my hair in cornrows to stretch it(I learnt from the mistake I made of not stretching my hair when I got the full sew in).
When it was time to start braiding I took the cornrows down.

Here’s the mistake I made. I took down all the cornrows before the stylist started braiding. I should have taken them down in sections so that when she braids that section, I’ll take down another section for her to braid. That way my hair would have stayed more stretched and softer. Since I took all of them down before she started braiding, by the time she was braiding the front, my hair wasn’t as soft or stretched. It wasn’t so bad though but I will make sure to take down my cornrows in sections next time.

How I’m caring for my hair in my yarn braids
I spray them up to where my real hair stops with water, olive oil, peppermint oil and glycerin in a spray bottle. I do this every few days.
I also oil my scalp with castor oil. I was using my Shea butter mix before I got castor oil.
Now that my hair sticks out of the braids, I rub my Shea butter mix on the braids up to where my hair stops after spraying them.

I tie a scarf(it’s polyester I believe) to bed sometimes. Other times I don’t bother. My satin bonnet doesn’t fit over the braids and I don’t have a satin pillowcase or scarf.

I cowashed at the end of week 2 but I couldn’t find anyone to hold the braids up for me so I could wash only the roots and avoid getting the whole thing wet. I ended up wetting the whole thing and it was soooo freaking heavvyyy! Omg! No jokes! I felt like someone was pulling me by the hair. I thought the ones around my edges would rip out my hair and fall off. And it took forever to dry! I think I’ll just use Apple Cider Vinegar to clean it from now on or I’ll only wash if someone is there to hold the braids out of the way.

I used 12 rolls of wool and a little from the 13th roll. One roll cost N100.

Now, pictures!

This is the wool I used. I used 98% of the Babby one though. Only used the other one when the Babby ran out

Getting older and fuzzier

I’m not really a styling guru so I wear it in only one or two ways everyday.
I redid a couple of them that I felt were pulling too much on my edges and nape.

This year I plan to grow and retain 6 inches so I’m all about low manipulation therefore protective styles will play a big role this year.
I hope to get 2-4 weeks more out of these braids. Then I’ll give my hair some resting time before I move to my next protective style. I’m thinking crotchet braids but lets wait and see.

What do you think of yarn braids? Will you try this style?
Till next time,
Growth, growth, growth!

9Dec2013

First go at protective styling: Bohemian curls

Posted in products, protective styling by Jen

Hey guys,
So I went for NITC7 and I learnt some new things especially about Ayurveda(will definitely be giving it a go in the near future)! Didn’t stay till the end though because I wanted to avoid evening traffic.
Anyways, here’s what I bought!

vo5(N500), African Naturalistas’ glycerine(N1400) and Jamaican Black Castor Oil aka JBCO(N1750)
I also got some coconut oil(not pictured); a 500ml bottle which I shared with my friend(think it cost N1740).
My eyes also had a happy time seeing so much natural hair! I was so inspired. Didn’t take pictures sadly 😦 Only these two below.

They’ve both been natural for about a year! The one on the left has a hair blog that you should definitely check out.

Funny story guys: Before I went to NITC and bought Vo5, I’d been to Park n Shop and Goodies searching for it to no avail.
So after I got it at NITC, I went by my mum’s shop to meet her and guess what I saw on one of the shelves? Vo5! Imagine! (Talk about going to Sokoto in search of what was inside my sokoto!). So if you’re ever in need of Vo5, pay the shop a visit.
Angels supermarket: 88 Awolowo way Ikeja, Lagos(somewhat opposite Access bank; beside Holy Trinity hospital)
It’s N600.

The shop also has butterfly clamps(for sectioning your hair), honey(for deep conditioning etc), Extra Virgin Olive Oil({both little bottles and giant bottles} For hot oil treatments, sealing etc), Green tea and black tea( for tea rinses) and wide tooth combs(for detangling) as well as provisions and whatnot. So stop by.

I found a new silicone free conditioner! Garnier Fructis fortifying comditioner(strength and shine). I got it at Park n shop on Mobolaji Bank Anthony way for N550.

Sooooo, I’m finally in my first protective style since my big chop! 😀 My hair needed a major break from daily combing. It’s a full sew in using Pro 10 Bohemian curls(12″, colour 2).

I got it from a hair shop in my neighborhood for N1800 each(I used 2 packs so N3600).

I’m going to be doing my own castor oil challenge while I have the weave to see how much hair I’ll grow. I’ll be massaging castor oil into my scalp 3x a week(Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays).
Didn’t do length check pictures cos I forgot but I have this picture I took some days before I got the weave for some sort of reference. I had straightened a small section in front to see my length. It’s about 3″ long in this section(my hair is between 2″-3″ in different parts with most parts being 2.5″).

So I went and got the sew in! It was corn rowed/ sewn a tad too tight so I sprayed my edges with some water and peppermint oil for some relief and then applied some castor oil and tugged gently to try and loosen it a bit. That really helped but I hope I don’t lose hair 😦

So here’s my hair

Love it!

At work this morning, someone asked why I did my hair in an accusatory tone( a tone that implied that he preferred the twa).
Someone else said with a smirk on her face “I thought you liked your short hair; why did you get a weave?”. In my mind I’m like “Ermm 1) na my head, no be ur own 2) yes I like the short hair. That don’t mean I don’t like weaves too 3) wipe that silly smirk off ur face”.

The head tapping has begun! Why is it that my head always itches when I get a weave, no matter how clean my scalp is?! 😥