Showing posts with label hair tutorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hair tutorial. Show all posts
I've finally reached a stage in my natural hair journey where I occasionally feel comfortable wearing it all out. Just rocking it. Previously, my only obstacle was the bits of straight hair and heat damage that would mean I didn't have a nice shape, or some bits would look lifeless (yes I tend to chop them off and hope for the best) But since Jan 18' I've worn my hair straight probably three times, for no longer than two weeks, and it's made all the difference!
I get so many questions about what I use, so thought I would share those here in steps!
Stage 1
Clarify - I'm usually super busy in the week, or get home late from work, so I don't have time to wash it mid week. It's not the washing that takes so long, it's allowing it to dry properly so that it doesn't turn into a frizzy mess that's most important.
To get rid of the build up of product I've started using The Creme of Nature Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse. It's amazing, just make sure you close your eyes!
This will help to completely rid your hair of any product which makes anything you put on your hair afterwards, work to the best of its ability. It's cheap too! You can of course just buy ACV (apple cider vinegar) and dilute it, but this is super handy.
Once a week, I also use a mask. I would recommend the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque.
Stage 2
I then used a bit of shampoo, mostly because of the vinegar-y smell and to bring some shine back. I wouldn't recommend using too much shampoo after a ACV rinse as this can strip its natural oils.
I'm obsessed with the Twisted Sista Shampoo. It makes my hair so defined and it's half the price of Shea Moisture.
I also love the Shea Moisture Curl and Shine Shampoo, which you can get from Boots.
Stage 3
I then rinse again, and this is where I add an essential oil to lock in the moisture. I've been using almond oil. Olive oil, Argon oil and Almond oil work really well for me as they're quite heavy.
Stage 4
Next up, I rinse again and then use the Twisted Sista Curl Jelly. This is amazing and so affordable! To get a defined look that is also sits well, you can also use Eco Styler Gel. I just rake it through my fingers.
I then air dry and then finish off by diffusing on a cool setting.
As you can see it takes a lot of products to perfect my hair routine, and no doubt if you're natural you feel the same!
Boots offers a volunteer panel, which allows you to test the safety and performance of Boots skin care, cosmetics, sun care and toiletries products including No7, Soltan, Soap & Glory, Botanics and Champneys.
As you are already aware Boots stocks a number of products specifically for Asian and black skin types and they are keen to attract more black and Asian women over 18 to the volunteer panel to get their feedback on these products!
Check out the website here.
I've finally reached a stage in my natural hair journey where I occasionally feel comfortable wearing it all out. Just rocking it. Previously, my only obstacle was the bits of straight hair and heat damage that would mean I didn't have a nice shape, or some bits would look lifeless (yes I tend to chop them off and hope for the best) But since Jan 18' I've worn my hair straight probably three times, for no longer than two weeks, and it's made all the difference!
I get so many questions about what I use, so thought I would share those here in steps!
Stage 1
Clarify - I'm usually super busy in the week, or get home late from work, so I don't have time to wash it mid week. It's not the washing that takes so long, it's allowing it to dry properly so that it doesn't turn into a frizzy mess that's most important.
To get rid of the build up of product I've started using The Creme of Nature Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse. It's amazing, just make sure you close your eyes!
This will help to completely rid your hair of any product which makes anything you put on your hair afterwards, work to the best of its ability. It's cheap too! You can of course just buy ACV (apple cider vinegar) and dilute it, but this is super handy.
Once a week, I also use a mask. I would recommend the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque.
Stage 2
I then used a bit of shampoo, mostly because of the vinegar-y smell and to bring some shine back. I wouldn't recommend using too much shampoo after a ACV rinse as this can strip its natural oils.
I'm obsessed with the Twisted Sista Shampoo. It makes my hair so defined and it's half the price of Shea Moisture.
I also love the Shea Moisture Curl and Shine Shampoo, which you can get from Boots.
Stage 3
I then rinse again, and this is where I add an essential oil to lock in the moisture. I've been using almond oil. Olive oil, Argon oil and Almond oil work really well for me as they're quite heavy.
Stage 4
Next up, I rinse again and then use the Twisted Sista Curl Jelly. This is amazing and so affordable! To get a defined look that is also sits well, you can also use Eco Styler Gel. I just rake it through my fingers.
I then air dry and then finish off by diffusing on a cool setting.
As you can see it takes a lot of products to perfect my hair routine, and no doubt if you're natural you feel the same!
Boots offers a volunteer panel, which allows you to test the safety and performance of Boots skin care, cosmetics, sun care and toiletries products including No7, Soltan, Soap & Glory, Botanics and Champneys.
As you are already aware Boots stocks a number of products specifically for Asian and black skin types and they are keen to attract more black and Asian women over 18 to the volunteer panel to get their feedback on these products!
Check out the website here.
 |
| Now - Just washed - no product |
Why is it that at every point in a natural hair journey, we think our hair is at it's absolute best? Looking back at old pictures when I thought my hair was at it's ultimate health, I'm now convinced that I was blind. Maybe I'll look back at these pictures in a few months and think the same thing, but to appreciate the journey, it's great to look back at old pictures!
 |
| 2016 - Freshly washed, damaged |
You know what? I was trying (LOL) and it shows that to get somewhere, no matter what it is, you just have to start. At this point I realised how important it was to feed your hair with water, and I'm so glad I took these pictures so I have something to compare to. However, I was washing my hair with shampoo waaaayy too often, which made it dry and brittle.
NOW. My hair now is so thick, to the point where I'm starting to struggle with it a little, but I can't complain because it's so versatile and quite healthy. It's also getting quite long, which means that styles hang a little better and I can pile it all on top of my head, which is my go-to.
So here are my five top tips for growing your hair not just longer, but thicker too, because who wants long, thin hair?
- Patience - this is probably the key to LIFE never mind hair but let's not get too deep, right now I'm applying it to hair. I say patience because it's taken nearly two years to get the thick curly hair I wanted. You also need the patience to try out new hair products, which I still do constantly, and go through a lot of trial and error when it comes to styling. Patience is really important when it comes to styling, as I've only recently realised how important it is to let your hair dry thoroughly for a great look.
- Invest - invest in good hair products, because unfortunately the better ones do cost more for a reason. Instead of spending loads of money on weaves and wigs, why not invest in your own hair that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life? It's cheaper too.
- Stress less - The less you mess with your hair, the more it'll love you, protective styles are good for this, but just wearing your hair up for a week or wearing a hat outside in the cold will relieve your hair.
- Trim it - cutting it in order for it to grow might seem counter productive, trimming dead ends and avoiding split ends helps to maintain and encourages hair growth
- Love your bad hair days - and don't let those days put you off taking care of your hair, because everyone has them
 |
| September 2016 - Thin Hair straightened |
 |
| December 2017 - Thicker, longer hair |
|
| Now - Just washed - no product |
Why is it that at every point in a natural hair journey, we think our hair is at it's absolute best? Looking back at old pictures when I thought my hair was at it's ultimate health, I'm now convinced that I was blind. Maybe I'll look back at these pictures in a few months and think the same thing, but to appreciate the journey, it's great to look back at old pictures!
|
| 2016 - Freshly washed, damaged |
You know what? I was trying (LOL) and it shows that to get somewhere, no matter what it is, you just have to start. At this point I realised how important it was to feed your hair with water, and I'm so glad I took these pictures so I have something to compare to. However, I was washing my hair with shampoo waaaayy too often, which made it dry and brittle.
NOW. My hair now is so thick, to the point where I'm starting to struggle with it a little, but I can't complain because it's so versatile and quite healthy. It's also getting quite long, which means that styles hang a little better and I can pile it all on top of my head, which is my go-to.
So here are my five top tips for growing your hair not just longer, but thicker too, because who wants long, thin hair?
- Patience - this is probably the key to LIFE never mind hair but let's not get too deep, right now I'm applying it to hair. I say patience because it's taken nearly two years to get the thick curly hair I wanted. You also need the patience to try out new hair products, which I still do constantly, and go through a lot of trial and error when it comes to styling. Patience is really important when it comes to styling, as I've only recently realised how important it is to let your hair dry thoroughly for a great look.
- Invest - invest in good hair products, because unfortunately the better ones do cost more for a reason. Instead of spending loads of money on weaves and wigs, why not invest in your own hair that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life? It's cheaper too.
- Stress less - The less you mess with your hair, the more it'll love you, protective styles are good for this, but just wearing your hair up for a week or wearing a hat outside in the cold will relieve your hair.
- Trim it - cutting it in order for it to grow might seem counter productive, trimming dead ends and avoiding split ends helps to maintain and encourages hair growth
- Love your bad hair days - and don't let those days put you off taking care of your hair, because everyone has them
|
| September 2016 - Thin Hair straightened |
|
| December 2017 - Thicker, longer hair |
As you can probably tell, I couldn't think of a short title for this post! I have been styling my hair without heat for about 6 weeks now and I cannot believe the progress it has made, and I thought it would also be a good idea to start documenting it.
Both pictures were taking straight after washing. The white residue you can see is my leave in conditioner, I use the Cantu Shea Butter Leave in which is so easy and quick to use. I have also been trying the Aphogee Pro Vitamin conditioner, I thought I would prefer it because it is in a spray bottle, but I totally prefer the creamy texture of the Cantu one.
As you can see in the top picture my hair is quite limp and is practically straight on the ends due to heat damage. I never thought I would be able to do a wash and go style like below without doing a huge chop, but with time and patience I have learnt that your hair will love you if you love it back! I
The main thing that I think has brought the body, fullness and curl back into my hair is of course cutting down on using heat. Secondly, I have been washing it about twice a week with non sulphate shampoo and using products that emphasise having lots of protein in them and stating that they are for damaged hair.
(I am hoping to start making my own protein masks but I haven't got round to it yet)
In-between washes I have been using the LOC method as a way of keeping the moisture in, and spraying it with water constantly because there really is no better way to moisture your hair than H20!
I have stopped using towels to dry my hair as this just causes frizz, and the texture of towels will rub against the curls in your hair. Instead I use an old t-shirt and just wrap it round to stop it dripping. I know it is best to air dry it but my hair takes ages to dry and I hate feeling it drip down my neck. EW!
So, for now I think I have perfected my wash routine. I use the Aphogee Shampoo for damaged hair. Then I put loads of the Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Conditioning repair cream and let it air dry for about 20 minutes, then put a t-shirt on it (whilst I do my makeup). After that, whilst it is still damp i put coconut oil onto my hair by sectioning it and making sure it is mostly on the roots. Sometimes If I have somewhere I need to be I will use my hairdryer on the cool setting to speed it up a bit!
The creamy set product is my new favourite, it sets curls just like eco styler gel but without the stiffness, and like all these products it is available in your local hair shop. I didn't buy any of these things online.
I get quite a few people asking me what I use, so I hope that helps.
If you have any suggestions for products feel free to comment below!
As you can probably tell, I couldn't think of a short title for this post! I have been styling my hair without heat for about 6 weeks now and I cannot believe the progress it has made, and I thought it would also be a good idea to start documenting it.
Both pictures were taking straight after washing. The white residue you can see is my leave in conditioner, I use the Cantu Shea Butter Leave in which is so easy and quick to use. I have also been trying the Aphogee Pro Vitamin conditioner, I thought I would prefer it because it is in a spray bottle, but I totally prefer the creamy texture of the Cantu one.
As you can see in the top picture my hair is quite limp and is practically straight on the ends due to heat damage. I never thought I would be able to do a wash and go style like below without doing a huge chop, but with time and patience I have learnt that your hair will love you if you love it back! I
The main thing that I think has brought the body, fullness and curl back into my hair is of course cutting down on using heat. Secondly, I have been washing it about twice a week with non sulphate shampoo and using products that emphasise having lots of protein in them and stating that they are for damaged hair.
(I am hoping to start making my own protein masks but I haven't got round to it yet)
In-between washes I have been using the LOC method as a way of keeping the moisture in, and spraying it with water constantly because there really is no better way to moisture your hair than H20!
I have stopped using towels to dry my hair as this just causes frizz, and the texture of towels will rub against the curls in your hair. Instead I use an old t-shirt and just wrap it round to stop it dripping. I know it is best to air dry it but my hair takes ages to dry and I hate feeling it drip down my neck. EW!
So, for now I think I have perfected my wash routine. I use the Aphogee Shampoo for damaged hair. Then I put loads of the Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Conditioning repair cream and let it air dry for about 20 minutes, then put a t-shirt on it (whilst I do my makeup). After that, whilst it is still damp i put coconut oil onto my hair by sectioning it and making sure it is mostly on the roots. Sometimes If I have somewhere I need to be I will use my hairdryer on the cool setting to speed it up a bit!
The creamy set product is my new favourite, it sets curls just like eco styler gel but without the stiffness, and like all these products it is available in your local hair shop. I didn't buy any of these things online.
I get quite a few people asking me what I use, so I hope that helps.
If you have any suggestions for products feel free to comment below!
It has been 1 month since I embarked on my journey of heat free styling!
The main reason for my decision to cut down on blowdrying/straightening was simply because of boredom. I was bored of wearing it the same everyday and I think that the natural texture of my hair has a lot more versatility. I follow a lot of the natural hair bloggers and pages on Instagram that inspire me and I didn't want to inflict any more permanent heat damage on my hair.
I'm not saying I won't ever blow-dry it or straighten it again, but at least I know what I can do with it now!
So here is a few things I learnt this month!
- Curls will come back! It's all about patience. As you can imagine I had quite a bit of heat damage on the ends (luckily not as much as I thought) so that initially put me off wearing it as an afro, but I just bit the bullet and you will see that straight ends will start to revert.
- It takes a while to learn what works on your hair and what doesn't. Not everything that you see hair bloggers use will work on you so prepare for a few rough looking days when things go wrong!
- It takes WAAAY more time getting ready in the morning now. I thought it would be the other way round!
- You don't need to have a lot of money to achieve different styles. My go to's are Ecostyler Gel and Water!
It has been 1 month since I embarked on my journey of heat free styling!
The main reason for my decision to cut down on blowdrying/straightening was simply because of boredom. I was bored of wearing it the same everyday and I think that the natural texture of my hair has a lot more versatility. I follow a lot of the natural hair bloggers and pages on Instagram that inspire me and I didn't want to inflict any more permanent heat damage on my hair.
I'm not saying I won't ever blow-dry it or straighten it again, but at least I know what I can do with it now!
So here is a few things I learnt this month!
- Curls will come back! It's all about patience. As you can imagine I had quite a bit of heat damage on the ends (luckily not as much as I thought) so that initially put me off wearing it as an afro, but I just bit the bullet and you will see that straight ends will start to revert.
- It takes a while to learn what works on your hair and what doesn't. Not everything that you see hair bloggers use will work on you so prepare for a few rough looking days when things go wrong!
- It takes WAAAY more time getting ready in the morning now. I thought it would be the other way round!
- You don't need to have a lot of money to achieve different styles. My go to's are Ecostyler Gel and Water!
So this is the first tutorial on my blog and I am very excited at how it turned out! I have a lot of improvements to make but we've all got to start somewhere.
L - This stands for liquid. As I said, this is a budget version so I just used water! Water is the ultimate moisturiser so you can't really go wrong! However most other tutorials use a water based leave-in conditioner, If I had it, I would have used the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner.
O - This stands for oil. The oil works as a sealant to keep the moisture locked in. I used Jasmine Oil because it was to hand, but Coconut Oil is a popular alternative.
C- This stands for cream. I used Shea Butter as it is quite heavy, but really a styling cream is supposed to be used for this. Next time I would like to try the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie but I think this worked for now!
I then used Eco-Styler gel and twisted my hair to save myself some time in the morning to define the curls, I then put flexi rods and curlers at the ends because I do have some heat damage on the ends and it ensures that it is curly all the way round. I then wrap my hair with a silk scarf.
I will keep you updated with how this keeps the moisture in my hair, I have read other blog posts that say their hair stayed moisturised for a week, so let's see if that works!
So this is the first tutorial on my blog and I am very excited at how it turned out! I have a lot of improvements to make but we've all got to start somewhere.
L - This stands for liquid. As I said, this is a budget version so I just used water! Water is the ultimate moisturiser so you can't really go wrong! However most other tutorials use a water based leave-in conditioner, If I had it, I would have used the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner.
O - This stands for oil. The oil works as a sealant to keep the moisture locked in. I used Jasmine Oil because it was to hand, but Coconut Oil is a popular alternative.
C- This stands for cream. I used Shea Butter as it is quite heavy, but really a styling cream is supposed to be used for this. Next time I would like to try the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie but I think this worked for now!
I then used Eco-Styler gel and twisted my hair to save myself some time in the morning to define the curls, I then put flexi rods and curlers at the ends because I do have some heat damage on the ends and it ensures that it is curly all the way round. I then wrap my hair with a silk scarf.
I will keep you updated with how this keeps the moisture in my hair, I have read other blog posts that say their hair stayed moisturised for a week, so let's see if that works!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons