Sunday 30 January 2011

When I think of a title i'll let you know.

Hey Readers,

So I thought i'd share some shots i've snapped since starting this blog but never posted.

this is my blox of goodies that came from here


this is what I used for my second henna mix

a shot of my hair before henna

this past week i've worn my hair in twists
at night I band them otherwise they shrink even
more than normal.

That's all from me :)
Rels x


Saturday 29 January 2011

*sigh* at least I tried & NaturalCurls buttermilk part 2


*Sigh*
Hey Readers,

i took this while holidaying in Dubai :)
I'm feeling a bit down in the dumps about my hair + hair journey. Yesterday when getting ready for my band rehearsal I thought I would do something new with my hair especially since I was armed with my new moisturiser. I lightly spritzed my hair with a light water, condish and oil mix, took down my twists moisturised and detangled.  I noticed that when applying the moisturiser my hair felt moisturised and then afterwards didn't. Despite sealing. Hmm..maybe i'll try sealing with a heavier oil next time (I used Vatika Oil).
So that's one reason for the downness- is my hair never going to be moisturised? It doesn't look dry or anything but i'm yet to feel that moisturised feeling for more than a minute.

i will defo stick to this and variations
from now on!
The other reason is I have learnt the hard way- my hair DOES NOT like to be left out! Continuing with the story: I was going for something new (usually I do a pomp and a bun). After I had detangled, my hair stood there in it's afro glory, it looked awesome but there was no way I was leaving all of my ends out! I cornrowed the back half of my hair up and flat twisted a fifth of the front so the majority of my hair was out; kinda like a half frohawk at an angle, it looked really cool after shaping and pinning. At this point I was still weary of leaving my ends out but tons of people on NHCBs do..

After about ten minutes I was like "I cannot do it", I put took out the flat twist and pulled my hair into a bun leaving the back cornrowed and added my pomp. I could feel the tangles in my hair just for that small time it was out!! Ugh. I went to my rehearsal and as soon as I got back I co-washed and detangled my hair and said never again!! Frohawks and fros are not for me!

At least my curiosity is satisfied..
I will be deep conditioning tomorrow.
As always, I hope you're well
Nat-Rel x

Friday 28 January 2011

Maybe I should be a lip model..LOL


This is what happens when it's 3 am and I can't sleep.

I'd exhausted all other forms of preventing boredom: poker, music, Asos, NHCBs etc 
so I thought I'd decide what to wear for rehearsal with my band (later today). 
Decided the outfit, a simple black tshirt dress and my cream ankle boots (that I haven't worn yet, despite having bought them MONTHS ago) and a cream corsage to tie it all together. 
I was looking in the mirror and my lipstick caught my eye. Now I don't wear that much make up, in fact I very rarely wear makeup. But when I do its mostly eyeliner + subtle eyeshadow or lippy, never both. my face can't hack it and I end up looking like a drag queen.
Another thing I tend to do when i'm bored is apply make up, I dabbed some olive oil on my lips and then put on the lipstick (Rimmel London Moisture Renew- Shade: Burgundy Delight)
I put the olive oil on because if I don't my lips dry out like the Sahara. Anywho, snapped some pictures and thought i'd share :) 


I got that burn on my hand taking brownies I made for my drummer outta the oven
Use protection guys!
*Please note: Under natural light the colour is not as vibrant, it's more subtle, the flash on my camera makes it appear so...'popping' LOL

As always, I hope you're well
Rels x




Tuesday 25 January 2011

#2

I don't think I have anything floral in my wardrobe..
Would wear this with my leather jacket + flats
*sigh* I need a job. Being unemployed after working for 3 years is no fun
It doesn't matter that I'm only 18 (19 in February). I'm used to having money.

I have to remind myself why I'm not working at the moment and practice patience, knowing that it's only for a little while.

Rels x

#1


Seriously guys, I want this bike! Paying adult fare on public transport in London is a b*tch..
*sigh* that's the one thing I don't like about gap year-ing; the lack of a student oyster card.

Rels x


Saturday 22 January 2011

Henna Results!!



I've been meaning to post the results of my henna-ing for a while now and i've finally gotten round to doing it.
So what did I do? 

In a bowl I mixed:
100g Henna
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup V05 Conditioner

I left this covered overnight and then right before I applied the mix I added some coconut oil
this is what it looked like the morning after

Here are some before pictures of my unwashed hair 


I divided my hair into sections and loosely twisted to make applying the henna easier. I undid a section, firmly stroked it (yes stroking, it helps detangle and get rid of shed hairs-trust, it's the lick!) and generously slopped on henna. Make sure you use plastic gloves because henna stains! (It is a dye after all lol)

Alot of people said they found the process extremely messy but I didn't..I made sure I put down newspaper just in case though. Maybe I should've mentioned that first.

After a section was complete I retwisted and moved on. I think its worth noting that the mix I made was enough to do my whole head twice so by the time I finished applying my hair was COATED! I donned a shower cap and left overnight.

Another thing worth noting is that henna stinks lol. There's no way to sugar coat it. Some people say it smells like wet grass but I felt it was more similar to vomit.. You do get used to it though. If you're leaving it overnight (like I did) be prepared to put your pillow cases and sheets in the wash because the scent clings..

This is what my hair looked like when I took off the shower cap (and the plastic bag I added on top of that). At this point my head felt a bit heavy but not uncomfortably so. I filled up a bucket with warm water, dunked my
head in and rinsed out as much mix as I could.

I remember thinking ooh my hair feels 
stronger..I also remember thinking it looks like i'm taking a bath in coca cola. Anywho, next I jumped in the shower armed with my conditioner and shampoo. I used the conditioner and shower stream to wash out the remaining henna and then shampooed., all still in twists.
 It went something like: undo twist, rinse and stroke, add condish, stroke, rinse under water stream, add poo(shampoo), scrub scalp, rinse until water runs clear, retwist. It didnt take as long as it sounds. Oh and when I say scrub I mean with finger tips, sort of like scratching but not.
After I was sure all the gunk was out of my hair I jumped out the shower and blotted my hair with a towel so it was no longer dripping wet but damp. It was now time to deep condition.

                                                    
Back to the bowl, I added:
ORS Replenishing conditioner    
some Amla Oil
some Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a few drops of Eucalyptus Oil

I mixed it all together, applied to my hair, put on a shower cap and left it for like 2 hours.

I rinsed with cold water and towel blotted my hair so it wasnt dripping wet applied a moisturiser (a crap one, I was still waiting for my NaturalCurls buttermilk to arrive) mixed with some Vatika Oil and twisted my hair.


This is the end result.
So my Henna verdict? I can't say the results I got were from the henna itself or the new use of oil in my DC but my hair was easier to manage, I had minimal shedding and breakage. I also noticed a decrease in single strand knots! As I type this a new henna mix is sitting thats got amla, brahmi and shikakai powder mixed in with it. I'm not sure if you're supposed to mix in ayur powders with henna but I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Results will be posted soon.
Rels x 


Sunday 16 January 2011

Ahhh and my needs are complete!!

me soon?..hopefully

I am so excited!!! So incredibly excited!! As I said in my previous post I am starting I have started my Healthy Hair Journey, it officially began the moment the first sludge of henna mix touched my hair lol. Now in the past my downfall in regards to healthy hair was due to lack of moisture. I could never find a moisturiser kept my hair moisturised and didn't contain those no-go ingredients.

But all has changed! (cue choir of angels singing 'Aaa') 
I had pretty much lost all hope of finding one. My funds were spent so there was no hope of splurging on an expensive one. What really got me down was that i'd ordered a bunch of indian herbs and oils due to come in a few days to start my Ayurvedic regimen and all this is nothing without moisture *sigh*
I even tried to use a normal moisturiser today after rinsing out my henna, shampooing and deep conditioning, and I got that same near crinkliness I usually get...

Okay, time to cut to the chase. I was searching the internet looking for more NHCBs to indulge on and also looking for online hair care shops based in the UK and I came across NaturalCurls. At first I just added the site to my bookmarks to look at much later (I wasn't planning on buying anything until my next paycheck) but after reading some Mop Top Maven to decide what I'm gonna do when my things come I thought, I need to find a moisturiser else this will not work. So I went through my bookmarks. The first few sites disappointed. Products were to expensive or contained no-go's. And the finally I reached NaturalCurls. The moisturiser was  a bit more expensive than i'd hoped but desperate times call for desperate measures. I clicked on the buttermilk and read the ingredients, it passed the test! No no-go's. My heart leapt, but the price.. I checked my bank statement... I could just about make it, it all came down to the cost of delivery.. I went back to the page and there blinking at me was an honest to goodness sign. FREE DELIVERY!!!!!

It was meant to be readers, it was meant to be :)

It should arrive a couple days after my ayurvedic stuff. I'll let you know how everything goes!

x

Saturday 15 January 2011

The Beginning..

a blank canvas...
[source]


I guess if this post is called the beginning I should start from the beginning. I am from London (England) and my hair has always been natural. Growing up my hair was in and out of braids and cornrows. When I hit 15 it was in and out of weave. Finally at 18 I asked myself why? Growing up we're told natural hair is ugly and difficult to manage and something that should be hidden, I started questioning this. I didn't like the idea that I was conforming to somebody else's idea of beauty, I didn't like the idea that I had no idea what my hair even looked like and most of all I didn't like the idea that I was going against the way I was made, as if what God had given me wasn't good enough. And so in March 2010 I said no more, I spent a few days on the web reading blogs, researching how to take care of natural hair and then I took out my weave and haven't looked back since.


So why the blog?
As of late my hair suffered some severe neglection. Disheartened by the fact that my hair doesn't respond well to shop bought moisturiser, annoyed by an abundance of single strand knots and distracted by life I started to ignore my hair. It's not getting worse, but it's definitely not getting better. The new year hit and last week I found myself perusing Natural Hair Care Blogs (NHCBs) and I saw this henna treatment that everybody was singing praises about and I thought let me try it. From there, all of a sudden the motivation to start my healthy hair journey (hhj) kicked in. 


The main reason for the blog was to show how I reach my head of healthy hair using products easily found in the UK. While reading NHCBs, most of which are American, a new product will be reviewed that will seem to be really beneficial to my hair, I get all excited thinking it will solve a problem, only to find it's not available in the UK or if it is i'd have to pay a crazy shipping fee..


So i'm lying in bed with a hair full of henna, anticipating the results and introducing myself to all my fellow Naturals in the UK (and anyone else who might be reading this :D )


Results will be posted soon,
x