Dear Japan

I know this is a hair blog, but my heart is so weakened by Japans pain right now. It reminds me of how fortunate and blessed we are to be alive today and not have to worry about dying or where our family or friends are, and if they are alive. Please keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers.

'Dear Japan

It's been a while since i had that sick gut feeling that something wasn't right. I see pictures of what your going through and i'm struck with pain and hurt. The thought of my world parting before my eyes leaves me breathless and i can't even imagine your pain right now. My words are probably empty because my hands produce no solution, but know in your heart that i'm praying for you. Hold on... it will be over soon

xxx a prayerful heart

Weave Maintenance

How to maintain your weave

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One of the biggest topics for just about any weave wearer, is how to keep the good stuff looking good whilst maintaining a great standard of hair care. The common misconception is that maintaining a weave is very complex. However having been a frequent enough weave wearer, I know it doesn't have to be. 

I won't say that rocking a weave is easy because we all know.... weave wearing can be as messy as wearing stilettos with two left feet. Truth is....

when rocking your weave you:

- have limited access to your actual hair (especially if rocking a full head weave)

- tend to want to straighten your hair (if some is out) so that it looks like the weave

- wonder how you can moisturize and seal whilst wearing a weave 

- steer away from oiling your scalp because you don't want to ruin the good old indian or brazilian hair

So... the real question at hand i guess is how to maintain a weave if you are stretching your relaxer, and/or simply using weave as a means of protective styling?

Here are a few things to keep in mind

1- You can still wash your hair at least once every 2/3 weeks. Though u may be worried about ruining your   weave, it wont! Or should i say with a good weave shouldn't. Smelly weave due to lack of washing, product build up and straighteners isn't cute. Bacteria build up can reduce your hair growth rate.
For easy shampooing you can dilute your shampoo with water and apply it to your scalp using an applicator bottle. This allows easier access to your scalp whereby you can then do a general head massage on the top of the weave and then rinse. You can also do the same with your conditioner. Be sure to rinse thoroughly so that no product is left behind as this can harden and cause problems.

2- You can still feed your scalp when rocking a weave. All you have to do is invest in some hair clips to hold your hair in the right position so that it steers clear away from oils. Castor oil on your scalp and weave is a magical combination

3- Scalp massage. You can still do this! Of course its a pain especially with a full head weave, but it can still be done. Even if you've oiled your scalp and then massage the weave, you are still massaging, and your scalp will be stimulated.

4- For those who have to straighten some of their own hair, always remember to use heat protectant. Also to avoid having to straighten several times in between washes, try and wrap your straightened hair. If on the other hand your weave is curly, you can also create curls (on your own hair) without heat, by using rollers, pin curls, flexi rods, curlformers etc

5- Having your cornrows braided horizontally works better than vertically. Vertical cornrows make the whole weave system almost like a game of noughts and crosses. You can barely fit your fingers anywhere!

6- If you want to go the extra mile with your weave regime and find time to do this (even if it isn't everyday), it would be a great idea to moisturize and seal when wearing a weave. Despite the fact that your hair has been cornrowed with extensions, you can still add a moisturising spritz to each cornrow and then seal the cornrow with oil. This will require more time however will keep your hair moisturized and super protected. This works best if you intend on washing your weave, otherwise you will experience product build up.


7- Avoid weaving freshly relaxed hair, too many people do this and forget that this is when your hair is extremely fragile and weak. A week or 2 later is much better than straight away.


8- If you do decide to wear weave using the bonging glue method, only do this if you are 100% sure that it is being applied and removed in a professional way. Otherwise this method can be extremely damaging to your hair. I would not recommend using glue at all!

Weave advantages:

+ it is a protective style

+ less manipulation in the long run because you cannot comb your hair everyday

+ hair is not so exposed. e.g strands are tucked away

+ more of your hair is close to your scalp which means closer to warmth. Hair grows faster in warmer temperatures.

Weave disadvantages:

- its is initially quite stressful on your hair. This is usually at least for a few days when the braids feel tight

- you tend to want to straighten your left out hair in order to suit up with the weave (heat damage)

- washing and/or moisturizing and sealing seem to require to much effort

- when you take your hair out you seem to lose quite a bit of hair (however note, this is because your hair has shedded during the period of the initial wearing of the weave to the weave removal. Therefore this is hair you would have shedded if your hair was left out and without weave).

P.s I'll officially be rocking my stretch weave in 2 weeks time! All the way till November. I'm going to have it re-done more than once of course! Look forward to showing you :)

x edF

tumblr Love

Just before i sign off for the night, i just thought i'd share some of the A-Mazing pictures that have been rolling through on tumblr. I'm not the biggest art appreciator but photography really speaks to me... check it out.

P.s these are pictures on the blogs tumblr page: http://loveyourtresses.tumblr.com

Night night 'n' sweet dreams :)

x edF

 

 

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Stretching Rant and Upcoming posts

"Having completed a 6 month stretch last year, i figure i've done very well this year. It's been so much easier. I haven't got one of those urges to just relax because i'm finding the stretch to stressful...HOWEVER... last weekends washing and airdrying experience had to be the worst yet! So bad i was in too fowl a mood to take a picture! Hmm

So what went wrong?

The biggest mistake i made was being too lazy to wash whilst in the shower. Nope... Fiona went for the old school kneel head down method. Anyone wise enough would know that this isn't the smartest thing to do when 4 months post relaxer. 

On top of washing it this way I also rinsed this way after my DC! What a knob!

Anyway lets just say trying to get my hair to adhere with gravity (when styling) just wasn't happening! I had to detangle quite a bit out of the shower and use extra products to try and keep this badboy tamed".

Moral of the story!....

1)  Washing in the shower with your hair down makes its easier to manage once dry because your hair is flowing in its natural gravitational direction.

2) Patience is your hairs best friend!

------

Part 2 of this post is to apologize for not committing to all of my 'Upcoming Posts'. I must admit the final weekend in Feb was a bit of a ditsy one! 

I forgot that February had 28 days and what's more i had a special surprise visitor and steered away from being an internet geek while they were here.

So... its a new month of course and there are also new upcoming posts, including those that were not fulfilled in Feb.

Lets March into March!

*Shampoo then what series: Braidout
*Transition tales- intro to transitioning

*Natural lifestyle
*Maintaining a weave (also when stretching relaxer)

*Conditioner concoctions

* Natural vs organic- do you really know? 

x edF

Castor Oil Challenge- Extended!

Bonjour lovelies,


as you know i talk a LOT about Castor Oil! I loveeee the stuff! I started my castor oil challenge Nov/Dec 2010 and to be honest i was a bit skeptical about its results. I knew i would review my hair growth in March 2011 and was scared that after all of my talk, Castor oil wouldn't  have met up to its standards! Talk about faith right?! 


Anyway despite my hair being in its 4th month without relaxer, i was still able to give it a stretch and see if it had grown.


And...yes it has! I guess i've made BSL (bra strap length- my nov 2011 goal). I won't officially claim it, at least not until all of my hair reaches BSL. The middle of my hair is longer than the sides!


But yes i'm very happy with castor oil and the challenge, so i've decided to extend the challenge up until May when i would have reached 6 months of my stretch and of course the first half of the 2nd year of my hair journey. Until then folks i'll be rocking a weave :)


Check out the castor oil challenge mix, and give it a try :) Don't forget massaging it into your scalp... it encourages scalp stimulation. Anyone can do this, even weave rockers! Just focus intricately on your scalp directly... you don't want to get that good ol' brazilian oily!

http://www.loveyourtresses.com/2010/11/new-goals-castor-oil-challenge.html

x fi

Basic Relaxer Haircare

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Although i've reduced my relaxers to twice a year, those very two two occasions when i do relax are well prepared for. In my case i self relax and really can't remember the last time someone besides myself, relaxed my hair! However self relaxer or hairdresser relaxer there are still ways you can optmise your relaxer results and hair health pre and during relaxer.

For hairdresser visitors, never (especially if making a first time visit to your hairdressers) assume that everyone knows absolutely everything about hair health. Some salons are great at styling/ offering cheap treatments/cutting etc but may give you a bad relaxer experience without you knowing, so here are a few tips pre and during relaxer.


1. Avoid washing your hair for at least a week before your relaxer. This is because if your scalp is too clean, you will not have allowed enough sebum production on your scalp. The sebum on our scalp acts as a natural lubricant and also protective layer which works well in avoiding any hair chemicals from penetrating faster into your scalp.


2. Try not to leave your hair too dirty before a relaxer because by this time your scalp may begin to itch. Itchy your scalp pre relaxer is a major 'dont do', it results in an irritated scalp and can also result in later scalp burning because of all of that scratching.

3. No scratching!


4. Reduce combing/brushing before relaxing, but when necessary use a wide tooth comb. Combing/brushing too much before relaxing may make your scalp more sore.


5. On the day of your relaxer whether self realxing or at the salon, makesure your scalp is based using an oil such as coconut oil or castor oil. Many salons also use vaseline... i used to before my hair jounrey began, but no longer do. Eitherway makesure your scalp is protected as well as your hairline. A protective barrier prevents relaxer from being penetrated into your scalp. 


6. Protect your hair strands! Oil your strands that commence after your re-growth, therefore everything except your new growth. This is because you want the relaxer to straighten your new growth therefore adding oils to it will act as a protective barrier and may mean you need a longer time before the relaxer straightens the new growth. You don't want to leave a relaxer in for more than the recommended time so oil your strands except new growth, in order to protect hair that you will not be adding relaxer too.

Happy relaxing :)

x edF x

How to: Seal Those Ends

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So the week is almost out and its crazy...its March already! There was me thinking i had until Feb 31st to complete all of my upcoming posts, then it clicked! There is no Feb 31st...! But hey on to todays post! Lets talk about sealing :)

For those familiar with the term M 'n' S aka Moisturizing and sealing, you'll know this is a signature procedure in the hair regime world! Moisturizing makes sense of course but as for sealing... some people aren't sure of exactly what is is.
 So....

What is sealing? 
Sealing is the process usually carried out as soon as you have finished moisturizing your hair, whereby you use oils to coat your tresses. 


As with any moisturizing product, after a while it loses its moisture due to environmental factors and therefore needs a moisture boost. This is exactly the same with our hair. A day ( or for some even hours) after moisturizing our hair is dry again.


In order to reduce the rate at which moisture is lost from our hair we can use oils. Oils act as a protective barrier and therefore provide a protective coating to whatever it is they are coating. Therefore after moisturizing, sealing is great because it coats the moisturizing product you have in your hair. This means that your hair stays moisturized for that bit longer!!!  Why? because the moisture won't find it as easy to escape the oil barrier surrounding it.


How exactly do you seal?  
It's quite simple. After moisturizing those lovely strands, you put an ample amount of your selected oil in the palm of your hands and simply rub the oil all over your hair. Remember to pay special attention to the ends of your tresses. This is because they are the oldest part of your hair and therefore more susceptible to damage.

Sealing oils

The oil you use to seal your hair really boils down to preference. 


Coconut oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, vatika oil are just a few. Personally i would steer away from heavy oils such as castor oil, which tend to weigh down your hair and sometimes leave it feeling sticky.


so that's that... enjoy sealing lovelies :)

x edF

D.I.Y: Spot the difference

So...as promised here is what i get up to besides hair blogging... can you spot the difference?!

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Yep...i added a velvet black collar!!!

P.s i was wondering... do you think i should add black velvet wrist bands to it? I pinned some material onto one side so you can see what it would look like! let me know via the poll below :)

Should i sew on some black velvet wrists?