A: 3 times weekly and you massage your scalp.

Q: How often should I deep condition my hair?

A: Once or twice weekly.

Q: How long should I grow my hair till my next retouch?

A: The essence of stretching your relaxer is to strengthen your hair and avoid overlapping which occurs if you retouch your hair every 4weeks. Overlapping causes your hair to break.

On the average, hair growth differs from one person to another. It’s advisable to wait for 8 – 10 weeks before retouching. I have become adept in managing my new growth, texlaxed and bone straight textures. Hence, I stretch for longer periods (currently on a 5month stretch which I’m thinking of extending to 8 months).

1. Shampooed with Ion Sulfate free shampoo.
2. Deep conditioned her hair with Vitale Hair Mayonnaise & JBCO.
3. Applied plain ole water, Elasta QP & sealed with a mix of JBCO & grape seed oil.

1. Pre-pooed with JBCO & Grapeseed oil overnight.
2. Shampooed in sections with diluted Ion Smoothing Sulfate free shampoo.
3. Tea rinsed with green & black tea, leave to dry for 30minutes.
4. Deep conditioned with a mix of ORS Replenishing Conditioner, JBCO, Roux Porosity Control & Vitale Hair Mayonnaise (was running low on ORS).
5. Covered my hair with 2 shower caps for two hours.
6. Rinsed & wrapped a cotton towel around my hair for 30minutes before leaving to air dry.
7. Once my hair was 80% dry, applied Giovanni leave-in conditioner(haven’t used it since I bought it), Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum & sealed my ends with a mix of JBCO & Grapeseed oil.
8. Divided my hair into smaller sections, detangled & applied JBCO on my scalp.

Mane N’ Tail Detangler has been useful in helping me deal successfully with my new growth. As you can see from the picture above, I shed only a few strands. I’ve learnt a lot during this long stretch as my normal stretch is usually 4 months. By adding 5 extra weeks, I’ve learnt to be patient, be generous when applying deep conditioner & making sure every strand from root to tip is saturated. It’s really aided my stretch so far. At the end of this exercise, I’d love to see how much length I’ve retained successfully.

When I commenced my hair journey late 2012, though I stretched for 4 months but I don’t think I’ve retained as much length as I’ve got now as it took me time to establish a regimen that worked for me. Now I’m more adept at these weekly washes & have achieved thickness, volume & length over the course of 8 months. I couldn’t be happier.

My 2year old niece has a tender scalp and usually waits for me every weekend to treat her hair. I couldn’t do it last week since I was handling my own hair and my sister as well. So I was tired and couldn’t continue. Well after waiting for me all week to show up, she took matters into her own hands.

My sister called me up this morning to inform me that yesterday night, she found her daughter in front of the mirror  moisturizing and sealing her hair. Apparently she had taken all the hair products I usually use for her out of the bag and commenced her treatment. When her mom asked her what she was doing, she simply stated ‘I’m treating my hair’.

Have a great weekend peeps!

One main product I’ve had a positive experience with is the ‘Roux Porosity Control Corrector & Conditioner’. This product restores the hairs’ ph to normal. I’ve used it consistently on a weekly basis by mixing 2 tablespoon to my deep conditioner mix. Do you often end up with dry, frizzy hair after moisturizing and sealing daily? If you do, then you need this product in your kitty.

What is responsible for dry & brittle hair is the inability of your hair to absorb moisture.  What gives? Well, it may be your hair’s porosity. What is porosity? It’s your hair’s ability to absorb water, products and moisture overall. The ranges are broken down into low, normal and high porosity. Here’s a strand test followed by a break down of each range, what it means for your hair regimen and how to repair it.

Porosity Test

Next time you wash your hair, grab a strand and drop it into a glass of water. If the strand immediately sinks to the bottom, then your hair is of high porosity. If it floats somewhere in the middle with ease, then it’s of normal porosity. If it seems to stay at the top, taking forever to sink downward, then your strands are of low porosity.

Low Porosity Hair & Regimen

What does low porosity hair mean? It means your cuticles are tight and pretty resistant to opening up for water and moisture. This is more than likely due to genetics. Does it usually feel like products you apply are just sitting on top of your hair? Your hair doesn’t readily absorb products; hence its inability to retain the moisture and shine your hair needs. The strand stayed at the top of the glass because water couldn’t get inside of it to make it sink. The tricky part of having low porosity hair is how well it can actually hold moisture once inside, but getting it inside is the key! Beware of products with a low pH because high acidity works to keep the cuticle closed. In other words, they won’t help your case! Look for products using more alkaline ingredients that will help lift your cuticles. Regular baking soda treatments (Google: Cherry Lola Treatment) or products containing glycerin may help improve moisture levels. Granted, many naturals have issues with both ingredients so test them out for your particular hair type and see if they help! Try avoiding products loaded with oils, as oils serve as sealants for the cuticle and may work against your efforts to lift them. Steamers are great tools for aiding with cuticle lifting, as well. And when applying products, make sure your hair is damp, as you’ll need all the moisture you can get!

Normal Porosity Hair & Regimen

What does normal porosity hair mean? It’s pretty self-explanatory! It means your strands allow for easy moisture inside the cuticle. This range tends to take color and perms better than the other two. And will also hold moisture and shine for a longer period of time. It’s essentially considered a very desirable and low maintenance hair type. However, be aware that regular chemical processes, including heat, can change the hair’s porosity over time. Healthier ingredients, regular deep conditioning, moisturizing and little to no heat regimens will help keep normal porosity strands at optimum health.

High Porosity Hair & Regimen

What does high porosity hair mean? It means your cuticles have been exposed to a severe amount of damage, either through environmental factors or the overuse of heat and chemical processes. Does your hair seem to stay wet for a long time? Or do your strands feel as though as quickly as they absorb moisture from your products is as quickly as they lose it? Your strand sank to the bottom of the glass because of the gaps and large openings, allowing for the entrance of more water, all throughout the cuticle.

Thicker butters and products with more oils are helpful for this hair type as they will seal the cuticle and even serve as a protective layer. You want to use things with a low pH, which are acidic, and will help tighten the open cuticle. Sealing with pure Aloe Vera after applying your leave-in will be extremely helpful. A regular apple cider vinegar rinse, diluted with 2 cups of water, will also help detoxify any pollution (from being so openly vulnerable to the elements) and help seal the cuticle. Protein treatments are also recommended to temporarily patch the gaps. The truth is, there is no repairing overly porous hair.

These regimens will help make it more manageable but you will need to do regular trims, so you can focus on the new growth, and put a major halt in the use of heat and chemicals will be key in reversing the trend.

Source: Google

Off to treat my sisters’ hair. Will post pictures during the week.

Ladies, please believe that your hair can grow to any length you desire. I’m a living proof of that. My hair goal for 2013 is MBL (mid-back length) and five months later I’m an inch away from bra strap length. How did I get here? Through patience and treating my hair with utmost care. I also dropped my love for heat and learnt to air dry, deep condition, co-wash and conducted a lot of research online to educate myself.

We often think that the weather overseas helps African American ladies grow their hair but that is quite false. Houston (Texas) has the same weather condition as Nigeria and I saw a lot of African American ladies with long, healthy hair. Growing your hair to whatever length depends on how you treat and nourish your hair. Remember your hair needs moisture to retain length and elasticity.

Q: How often should I mix castor oil to black tea for my hair growth?

You cannot mix castor oil with black tea for faster hair growth. Black tea contains 14-61 mg caffeine. What caffeine does is to block the hair hormone responsible for hair loss – dihydrotestosterone. You use black tea as a rinse before applying your deep conditioner.

Q: Where in Lagos can I buy castor oil packs?
Call 07026364892 or send an email to: todaysnaira@hotmail.com to place your order.

To inspire you on your hair journey whether it’s relaxed, texlaxed or natural, check out this video from Shortysweet59 below. She grew her hair from shoulder length to waist length within 1year 10months.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Yeah it’s that bad and I’ve got to kick this bad habit to the curb. So I got home last night and took my hair down to moisturize and seal. At 14weeks, I’ve got a lot of new growth and finally I can distinguish it from my texlaxed hair (a post coming up on that). While ordering products for clients, I ordered Komaza Care Califia Moisturizing Spray for my new growth so I could handle 3 textures better as seen in the pictures below:

The first time I used Komaza Care, I didn’t get the kind of moisturising slip I usually got with leave-in conditioner (either Giovanni leave-in or Elasta QP) and so I kept it at the back of my drawer. Deep conditioning has really aided me in preventing hair breakage cos you can see the line of demarcation where my new growth meets my texlaxed and bone straight relaxed hair. I am yet to incorporate co-washing on a weekly basis to my hair regime cos once I get back from work, I’m usually too tired to do nothing else but moisturize and seal.

The big surprise that I got yesterday when I took my hair down and actually looked at it while trying to determine the new length I’ve got…ding dong…wait for it. Ladies, my new length is currently BSB (below shoulder blade). Furthermore, I’m an inch away from BSL (bra-strap length). I’m really tempted to go for a touch-up but I’ll just have to wait till July (week 1) before doing so. I’m waiting that long cos I’ll be going away for summer vacation in the States and I need my hair to be in top shape for the trip.  Furthermore, I’ve decided to invest in some quality wigs for future hair stretches. So what product has been of great benefit while I’m on this long stretch? None other than Mane N’ Tail Detangler. Honestly anytime I use this product, my hair soaks in all the moisture and my new growth becomes soft and easier to comb. I”ve decided to still keep the Komaza Care till I know how to use it or maybe I’ll do a giveaway (keep your eyes on this page for that).

This product thickens, volumizes and softens.

• Baobab oil-Contains vitamins A,C,D,E and F to fortify and strengthen hair
• Yucca-Thickens hair and helps to prevent hair loss
• Biotin-A powerful B vitamin that strengthens the hair follicle
• With coconut oil, silk protein & neem oil
• No parabens, phthalates, paraffin, gluten, propylene glycol, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, animal testing, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, animal ingredients or sulfates

My review: After reading great reviews about this sulfate free organic shampoo online, I decided to give it a try since I wanted an alternative from my regular Ion Smoothing Shampoo. This product actually works and it contains some fine ingredients such as Yucca & Biotin which are especially good for preventing hair loss and strengthening as well. You need to shake the bottle before using due to its’ organic constituents. After washing my hair, it felt smooth  and gave a great a slip making detangling a breeze since I’m 13weeks post relaxer.  I also noticed more volume after air drying. This is definitely a keeper and I will be alternating it with the regular shampoo I use.

To place an order, send a mail to: todaysnaira@hotmail.com