Twists + Bantu Knot Out = Result!!!!!

when I first took down the knots
I had a curly fro!
i pinned it back and voila :)

Hey Guys,

I am so incredibly happy right now, yesterday I had a great hair moment! For those of you who don't know (and why would you since I haven't mentioned it lol) outside of education I'm a singer/songwriter. In a couple weeks I have a performance and I wanted to try something new with my hair. A while ago I watched this video and was intrigued by the use of shea butter and aloe vera gel. My twist outs never hold their curl and so I never wear them. I didn't want to add a curly butter/pudding to my list of things to find and so I was eager to try the shea and aloe.

On Wednesday night I was reading Curly Nikki she mentioned twisting the front bit of a twist section before twisting the whole twist (confused?) instead of securing the roots with a clip (which never worked for me) so again I was eager to try this. So on Thursday night I was thinking of what to do to my hair for my band rehearsal the following Friday and was like, I might as well try a mix of Kimmay's and Nikki's methods (I didn't want to solely use Kimmay's method because I was in absolutely no mood to tackle flat twisting my whole head ¬¬). It was eleven thirty, my bed was beckoning but I ignored it's call and sat in front of my mirror; here's what I did.

The Method:

• I put some coconut oil on my hands and took down my wash day flat twists. My hair was completely naked- no product in it whatsoever (I washed and steamed on Sunday, put some coconut oil on and flat twisted- that was the LAST time I touched my hair!)
• Separated a section hair to twist and finger detangled (my hair wasn't that tangled so this was quick)
• Applied Giovanni's Direct Leave In (this had to be worked in. I mean WORKED IN. My hair was dryyy but I didn't want to use my normal leave in (Kimmay's Leave in aka the Direct Leave In on steroids) because I didn't see the point of using ALJ and ALG together. This was the first time I'd used it on dry hair, I didn't want to wet my hair because I was trying to minimise shrinkage. 
• Worked in leave in: Rubbed in hands, stroked into hair, left for a few seconds, stroked some more= moisturised hair. If I didn't work it in my hair would just laugh at the attempt at moisturising and remain dry and crispy.
• Melted some shea butter in my palms and stroked onto hair
• Rubbed a tiny blob of ALG in palms and applied to hair

Now for the bit that's hard to describe

• I took a section and halved it (as you would to begin twisting)
• I then sectioned off a small bit of the top of a half section
• I did this for both half sections. So the original section has now become 4: two small and two big
• I took the small sections and twisted 5 times
• I then took the remaining half sections, one in each hand, and joined it to the ends of the small twist and twisted it all.

Does that make any sense?? The original sectioned hair become a big twist with a twisted front. At this point I am soo sick of the word section.

• Lastly I tied the twist into a bantu knot/china bump (I called them China bumps when I was a kid-didn't hear of bantu knots until NHCBs) and that was it.

Wrapped a satin scarf around my head, got into bed (It was like one in the morning at this point) and CONKED out! The next day when I showered I kept the scarf ON. I didn't want any steam getting in my hair and preventing definition. After dressing I stood in the mirror and took a deep breath. I've had many hair disappointments..the moment of truth had arrived. I rubbed some EVOO on my hands and took down the knots. OMG. OMG. Oh My Gosh!!!!!!! My hair was soft and curly (Is that a brand name?). Like FOR REAL!! I was weary of the shea butter because I tried using I when I first started wearing my hair out but we didn't mesh, but guys O how we mesh :)

This will definitely be revisited. That day I got so many compliments about my hair! And it stayed defined and moisturised ALL DAY despite riding my bike to and from rehearsal!! 

The pics don't really show how curly it actually was :( but, 

I feel very much like the cat that got the cream :)

Cat. Cream.

Here's a clip of me a few months ago

I hope this finds you well :)
Rels x

Thoughts, Thoughts, Thoughts

Hey Guys,

I've been trying out alot of things with my hair; trying to get a specific result; winning some, loosing some and loosing some more. It occured to me that SO many times on this HJ I've been adding 2 and 2 and getting 5.

Now I did math at A level and I can't ever think of a situation where this is true. There are certain things that we do to our hair that serve no purpose- like none whatsoever or cause serious setbacks, and we do them out of habit or tradition or I dunno- other reasons lol.

Some 2+2=5 moments (from personal experience):

• My hair breaks when I comb my hair, so i'll continue to comb my hair whenever I style etc. Does this make sense? Like really? The only time I notice breakage is when I comb my hair. I remember at the beginning of wearing my hair out; I combed my hair every time I styled. No wonder my hair never grew, or rather no wonder I never retained any length. Now I try to only comb my hair on wash day, during the week I finger detangle. This month i'm going to try to comb even less- it's hard because my hair is seriously dense and gets denser ever day but combs are NOT my friend.
• I'm applying something to my hair, straight away it doesn't feel right but I started so I must finish ¬¬ *Slaps hand over eyes and shakes head*. Am I the only one that does this? (probably). This was the case for NaturalCurls buttermilk on wet hair, teeny weeny two strand twists, the infamous FROHAWK incident *sigh*. It's so important to listen to your hair. If it feels wrong then STOP!
• A good moisturiser has to be an expensive store bought thin concoction made esp. for natural hair. If it's not working; maybe my hair is supposed to feel parched and crap. Ok maybe that last part was a bit of an exaggeration but seriously, my search for a moisturiser was endless until I picked up a spray bottle and spritzed my hair with water.To moisturise = To make more humid. Humid= containing a great deal of water vapour therefore WATER = 4 NOT 5!!!!!! If my old maths teacher could see me now! lol 
• Lastly, this small unrepresentative section of my hair has more splits or knots than usual so I'm going to take like two inches off my whole entire head. This is like I have a small paper cut on the edge of my finger so I'm going to cut off my whole hand. Not from my knuckle, not even the finger: The Whole Hand. I haven't trimmed by hair in at least 6 months and my ends are thanking me for it. Whenever I see a knot or a split-that ONE hair gets chopped. My hair is actually retaining its length and my ends are healthy.

I used to always wonder why my hair never got any longer and now its so obvious why.

These are just a few 2+2=5 moments, there have been many and there will probably (unfortunately) be more. But this HJ is just that, a hair JOURNEY. We learn, we grow (and so does our hair hehe).

I hope this finds you well,

Rels x

Coconut Milk = Protein, genius ¬¬

Hey Guys,

I have been incredibly lazy when it comes to posting.. I know I have, isn't acknowledging you have a problem the first step to overcoming it? hehe.
In this post i'm going to take you through my experience using coconut milk as a deep treatment. I had a bit of a blond moment when it came to this DC. I haven't done a protein treatment in absolute yonks, mostly because my hair doesn't need it. In the past when i've done a protein treatment I usually followed it up with a moisturising DC but this time round my brain got distracted by the fact that I wasn't using a store bought PT so I didn't realise I was doing a PT lol. Hence my title: Coconut Milk = Protein because, it does!

I made quite a few mistakes.
1) Not realising I was doing a PT
2) Not realising how much coconut milk is in one can which led to making too much
so now I have a tub of something I wont use often in my fridge, happy days! Not.
3) Being a bit heavy handed resulting in a mixture that was much more liquidy than I would've liked.

The Mix?

• 1 can of coconut milk (This is how much I used but USE LESS!!!)
• 4 tbsp honey (there isnt a specific reason why I put four tbsp. It could've been three, five, a gahjillion..)
• some aloe vera juice (probs not enough to be moisturising, next time it'll be a heap of AVJ)
• Coconut, Olive and Amla oils (as much as I felt like)

Im sure I would've chucked some eucalyptus and almond oil in there as im trying to get rid of them.

So after washing (in twists) with my Giovanni Triple Treat clarifying shampoo I put the mix over my twists. I would've unraveled then applied but there was no point since my mix was so thin. After my hair was drenched with this I put a tesco bag over my head and sat under my steamer.

*note* When I was applying the mix I stood with my head over the bowl that contained it. That way any excess went back into the bowl to be used again. Obvi if the consistency was thicker this wouldnt be needed.

After steaming I rinsed out the mix with cool water (all still in twists)

Did I apply a leave in and seal? Maybe... See this is why I should post right after I do these things kmt!

The Verdict?
The next day once my hair had dried I took down a twist and realised my hair was crrrrrispy loool, it wasn't in a OMG WHAT HAS HAPPENED! way, but more in a hmm..this is new. I remember thinking is this the protein overload thing I've heard about? (lol) and im sure my leave-in containing protein didnt help matter at all. So to revive my hair I simply spritzed with my glycerin mix, sealed and retwisted. All was right in the world.

I guess I couldn't really give an opinion on this because my hair didn't need a protein treatment so that whole wash day was pretty pointless. And now i've got a bunch of PT mix in my fridge that I wont use *sigh*. But the next day crispiness suggests that it works..

I really did enjoy the smell of coconut though :)

Rels x

this is how the coconut milk looked outta the can
i'd added some aloe vera juice at this point

heres the final consistency 

my roots are getting soooo thick
¬¬
for no reason
ugh! tis v. annoying

Itchy scalp be gone!!

Hey guys, 

So the pic is a bit of an exaggeration lol. I have an itchy scalp. I don't know why or how long i've had it for, but it itches like no mans business. On wash day I clarified with my clarifying shampoo thinking maybe the cause of said itch is build up (even though I don't use that much product) but the itch still exists ¬¬.

But no fear, I have a plan! I remember reading about peppermint oil being good for itchy scalp, but I really don't want to buy another oil. Like, really. I still haven't used up my Eucalyptus, Sweet Almond, or Avocado that I bought at the beginning of my HJ a year ago *sigh*. Anyways I've decided to do a peppermint tea rinse. I've been itching to do a tea rinse ever since I heard about them. HA see what I did there? itching! No? I guess i'll laugh by myself then. 

So it looks like this weeks wash day is gonna be jam packed with DIY goodness. 

The plan is to:

• Prepoo with Coconut oil (maybe...i'm still not convinced about prepoo-ing, infact I feel like it's a waste of oil, but apparently it helps against hair damage due to your hair swelling with water..)
• Shampoo with my Cream of Nature shampers,- the old formula with no no-go's
• DC with a DIY banana deep condition adding some of my coconut milk mix from last weeks wash day (more on this soon)
• Rinse with Peppermint Tea hopefully ridding myself of that itch!

*All of this will be done in twists, my hair tangles like a...i dunno? What tangles? *Googles "things that tangle"* The results are highly disappointing. 

I got a bit off topic, to avoid unneccesary tangles, twists have become a neccessity!

So that's my wash day plan. The reason for all this experimentation (other than the fact that I like experimenting) is after a year of usage I realised my faithful DC: Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditoner had cones in it. :( So when it finished a couple weeks ago I refrained from repurchase. Im trying to be cone free. For those of you who don't know cones are silicones I don't like using products with cones because to get rid of them you have to use poos with sulphates which strip and dry!

And we all know how I feel about things that dry out my hair. They are the enemy.

Right, so i'm looking around for a new DC thought i'd try some homemade stuff before shelling out for a more expensive cone free DC.

Im kinda looking forward to the banana-ness that will occur :)

Much love,

Rels x

All scarfed up!

Hey Readers,

Last week I had the laziest hair week ever! After a DISASTROUS encounter with baking soda, shikkakai powder and amla powder (post coming soon) I was just grateful I had hair left on my head.

not as good as my previous f.t-out
but there are some curls

These days I have no idea what to do with my hair ¬¬. It's very annoying, I do all the prep, get to the mirror and its just a bunch of blank stares *sigh*

i wanted to see how
my hair would come out
if i twisted in smaller sections

On tuesday night I took out my wash day twists, spritzed with my glycerin mix, sealed with coconut oil and flat twisted my hair. Wednesday morning I took down the twists with coconut oil on my hands and my hair felt great. Soft, moisturised; it was begging to be styled. I looked at it and said to myself "I want to style you, but I cant" *BLANK STARE* so I ended up donning a scarf for the first but defo not last time in my natural life.

I packed my hair into a loose bun, left out the pomp and tied the scarf. I couldn't believe how easy it all was. I got sooo many compliments that day; in my head I was like for real? They were like "You look nice Rells" I was like I was too lazy to figure out what to do with my hair "Thank you :) "

When I got home I spritzed and flat twisted again, this time- five big ones from ear to ear and the next time I didn't even bother to take them all down. I took out the top one, did a pomp donned a different scarf and Bob's your uncle!

Eventually i'm going to have to get past this style estrangement because I don't have enough scarves lol and more importantly I don't want to always hide my hair under a scarf..
Tbh though I loved that I could go from the mirror- outta the house in 60 seconds.

im told i look 14
im 19 ¬¬
those 5 years make a big difference

Hope alls well in your natural world

Rels x

Titles slow me down ¬¬

Hey Readers,

I've got a whole heap of things I haven't posted. Like a humongous pile in my head labelled things to blog. And as new things get added to the pile; old ones disappear so before I forget I wanted to do a quick post on a protective style that I loved.

this is it after a week
on the way to buy shea butter with Fi
i was like i left my camera in Reading
can you take a picture of my hair?
i love that she didnt question me
<3

I remember seeing this video agess and thinking pshh I could never do that! My THICK head of hair? What a joke, especially because her hair texture is sooo different to mine, but when I was travelling to Reading I needed something that would tuck my hair away. The idea of my strands rubbing on the back of train seats is enough to keep me awake at night. The video came to mind, I tried it and it worked! It took patience- don't get me wrong, I think that's the longest its ever taken me to do a french braid, but then the time is justified by the amount of hair I had to pack in.
So yeah, sectioned off my usual pomp (the pomp she does is different), french braided, secured with bobby pins (my best friend) and hey presto! I had the laziest hair week ever, like for real. Travelling was a breeze, sleeping somewhere without my arsenal of hair stuffs was also a breeze. At night I just donned a satin scarf and in the mornings I redid the pomp if it needed reviving.

I ended up keeping this in for a week, I could've kept it in for longer but I wanted to wash my hair.
Hmm.. I really should do that style again.



For those of you who were wondering, these pics were taken on the same day as the famous 99p coconut oil episode lol, Fi and I had just conquered Mare Street and were en route to Homerton High Street to hunt down some Shea butter. Those of you who weren't wondering need to read this blog more *grin* lol.

you can see the braid abit better here
next time i do it ima try and get in more uniform
alright for a first try though

As always, I hope this post finds you well

Rels