New Hair, Who Dis? My Experience with Brazilian Wool Hair

Hi lovelies,

This is definitely one of those, the internet made me do it. People were talking about it and I got curious. Took almost a year for me to finally try it though.

I've styled my hair wool before, the regular knitting kind. it's quit a mission, there's a lot of folding and cutting. The upside of using wool is that you don't find X-pression fiber 2 weeks later 👎
Here's a picture of my first try at yarn braids 2 years ago

Yarn Braids with 100% Acrylic

I enjoyed wearing these and though some people complain of drying, I didn't experience any. I was excited to try Brazilian wool hair because it's got very hair-like feel and look. Also, it takes less work to prepare the wool for installation, compared to regular wool.

Installation
First thing I did was watch a YouTube tutorial and read a gazillion blogs before attempting installation. Here's a link to Natural sisters video on installing faux locs with wool hair (click here).

Do your research

My initial plan was to install purple faux locs, but I changed my mind half way through and decided to add black into the mix.

I cut the wool into equal length pieces that were about 1.5 m long: I then used 4-6 pieces of wool to twist my hair. I braided the root and twisted to 3cm longer than my own hair and tied a knot. As always, I moisturised my hair with the Moisturizing butter from My Natural Hair and sealed with the Caivil Fusion Oil Hair Root Nourisher.

Brazilian Wool Hair 100% Acrylic Yarn

It took about 6 hours to twist my hair and another 6 to wrap it 🙈 (I wasn't feeling it, wasn't in the mood to install). I used 6-8 pieces of wool to wrap; I pulled the wool through the roots of my twists using my latch hook to keep the wool from slipping down the twist, especially once I wash it.

My locs are about bra-strap length, I cut the ends and burnt them using a lighter.
I used 5 and half packs of the purple to twist and wrap, and then I got black wool (enough for one bundle) from Rozanne (who installed the wool as a box braid bob).

Half and half faux locs: Purple hair don't care

Maintenance
I'm supposed to spray my hair with moisture mist and oil it every couple of days.
I've got the Refreshing moisture mist from Buuya and a bunch of oils I use (I use whatever is closest when the mood strikes 😎.

My thoughts
I've had faux locs installed for a week now and I really love them. The wool is super light and I managed to install without pulling my hair to much, so there's no tension.
I've already cleansed my scalp with and it still looks neat, so I think I'll be able to keep them in for 4 to 5 weeks.

Where to buy
I purchased my wool from Nat Moisture; they charge ZAR 20 for a single bundle, and ZAR 180 for a 12 bundle pack. The colours available are black, brown, purple and maroon.
You also have to pay for shipping, which is ZAR 60 to anywhere in South Africa.

You can also purchase the wool from @africanhair_galore an Instagram seller, based in Goodwood.

Have you tried wool hair? Is it something you're willing to try?

Let me know in the comments below

See you in my next post, 

xoxo

N 

DIY Hair:Goddess locs

Hi all,
Best wishes for 2017! (I hope you all had a blessed holiday). i'm late to the party I know. It's already February *gasp*
It's good to be back! First post of the year...Yay!!!
I'm so excited about my new protective style I had to share.

I've been looking at goddess locs for a while; they're super popular on social media. I've been looking at those posts all googly eyed and I've finally done it.

So what are goddess faux locs?
Goddess locs were created by trichologist Dr Kari williams (click here for a link to hair website) and was debuted by Meagan Good. This is style is inspired by the forever beautiful Lisa Bonet.

Getty Image

Getty Image

The goddess locs designed by Dr Kari are done with kinky human hair for wrapping and  deep wave hair for the curly/wavy ends. She has a tutorial available on how to instal on sale on her website, you cna also purchase a complete goddess loc kit from her website.

How do they differ from faux locs?
Faux locs have blunt ends and goddess locs have curly and wavy ends. Traditionally, faux locs are done by doing box braids and then wrapping them with kinky synthetic hair such as Marley hair (which makes them quite heavy). As I said earlier the Dr Kari's goddess locs are done with human hair. Human hair is really expensive and necessity is the mother of invention :-) so there are synthetic alternatives one can use that are way cheaper.
The curl refinery in the USA has made goddess loc packages for every pricepoint; 100% human hair, human/synthetic hair blend, and 100% synthetic hair package (Here's a link to their site). There's a UK site called Boho locs that sells packages and has a salon in London as well. They sell human hair and synthetic hair packages as well (Click here  to visit their site). I think boho locs ships internationally, but I'm not about to pay what they're charging, add to that shipping and South African customs fees.

How I installed my goddess locs?
After months of research...on Youtube and instagram I finally found a tutorial I was happy with, one that would give me the most realistic and natural looking faux locs. Here's a link of the tutorials I watched before installing my locs. (Click on the names for direct links to the video tutorials)
Supa Natural
Lynda Moyo
Cassandre Beccai

What you need?
Rat-tail comb
Leave-in conditioner: I used the Cantu Leave-in conditoning cream

Leave-in conditioner

Oil/butter to seal: I used my own concoction that mainly has grapeseed oil and Jamaican black castor oil

Oil mix

Synthetic hair:
For Wrapping: 1 pack Fina Nubian twist wave, 1 pack Darling Vibrations and 1 pack Kingston braid
For the curly ends: I used weaves from Xpression and Darling for the looser curls - Rose Deep and Brazilian Wave (I just cut off the weft and I'm good to go). For tighter curls I used the Darling Vogue curls and Freetress Bohemian crochet hair.

Curly and Wavy hair

Kinky hair

Installation:
I twisted my own hair  and left the last inch loose. I then added the curly hair to the ends of my hair by braiding in three pieces one at a time for a tapered effect.
I then wrapped my hair with the kinky/curly hair, I didn't use glue to seal, the hair is tapered so I just wrapped upwards at the end until I ran out of hair.

Final results: Tada!!! What do you think?

The day after installing

Two weeks later. I refreshed the front and added string for colour

from the back

I've had the goddess locs for about three weeks now and I plan on keeping them in until the end of February. I love them more everyday; they look more natural as the hair gets more frizzy.Will definitely do them again in the future.

First post of 2017...done!!!
see you in my next post friends

xoxo,

 

Hair: It's my one year nappiversary!

Hi all,
I celebrated my one year nappiversary last week. Can't believe the year has gone by so quickly.
I'm not going to go through the reasons and back story for going back to being natural, you can read about it here in a previous post.

Protective Styling &Length Retention
My main goal this year was healthy hair and growth; I defintely wanted to regain the I'd lost when I chopped. As a child my mother maintained my afro by keeping it in big braids and then later cornrows or threading.
In high school, I maintained my hair by doing two-strand twists and braids. When I got to varsity I kept my hair in box braids.
So I know that the best way for me to retain length would be to do protective styling which is I maintained my length in the past. Box braids and marley twists are my preferred methods, and to keep things interesting I decided to use coloured extensions instead of the brown and black I usually go for.

Purple ombre

Gunmetal grey/ Silver

Blue & Green Marley twists

I never kept the braids installed for more than 4 weeks at a time, after which I took a 2-3 week interval before re-installing. during those weeks, my go to styles were twist-outs and braid-outs, and just wearing scarves when I was feeling lazy.

December 2015

 

April 2016: 2 years post-relaxer

Head wrap

Heat Styling
I tried to keep heat to a minimum, and when I did use it - I slapped on that heat protectant. In the past year I've blow dryed my hair maybe 6 times and this mostly in the winter when I didn't want to sleep with wet hair (It's really uncomfortable and it takes forvever to dry). I blow dry with a round brush at medium heat and speed. I used a hair straghtener only once this year and that was at my 2 year post-relaxer mark in May.

Colour
Up until 2 years ago, I'd never coloured my hair, but I've been coloouring hair since I started my transition. I lighten my the ends of my hair with bleach and then use sem-permanent hair dyes such as Manic Panic and Crazy Color. So bleaching is not go for your hair; I lightened my hair in three steps 3-4 weeks apart until I achieved the desired shade of blonde.
To minimise the damage, I do protein treatments with aphogee 2-step every 8 weeks, and I do a light protein treatment every month with the CHI fortifying treatment. I also deep condition every week, no exceptions and minimise the amount of heat I use on my hair.

Favourite products of 2016

Jamaican Black Castor Oil - If there's a holy grail product for me, It's JBCO! I use to pre-poo by adding it to my conditioner. I also use it in Mandy's growth mix,  in a new Mafura butter mix I'm currently using and the scalp oil mix I use (I'll have to do a post on my DIY hair products).


Shea Moisture JBCO range - is one of favourite haircare ranges. I have the shampoo, treatment masque, leave-in anf styling lotion. When used together, the results are amazing.

Mandy's growth mix - I've talked about this in a previous post. It's an old school South African growth recipe that Mandy from The Mandy expedition modified as the original recipe is quite drying. Click here for her recipe. I add rosemary and peppermint essential oils to my mix and I use Jamaican Black Castor Oil instead of normal castor oil.

Challenges
My scalp has become really dry in the last year. and the flaking was out of control in the winter. I had to use the Shea Moisture African Black Soap range to reduce the flaking and it helped.

Supplements
I considered giving into the hype and trying Hairfinity, Mane Choice etc., but I decided against it as I already take the Vital Hair, Skin & Nails supplements. I started taking these for my nails which tend to break when I don't take the supplements.
 
Goals for 2017
Maixmum length retention and to grow my hair to bra-strap length
To keep it healthy

December 2016; 1 year natural.

It's important to realise that there isnt one magical product that will make your hair grow. Your have to eat properly and exercise, drink enough water and take care of your hair; limit the amount of direct heat and keep your hair in protective styling to maximise length retention. 

I don't think I've left anything out,

See you in my next post,
xoxo, 

Wash Day - Kinky Twists are Gone

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping by. Today I'm going to chronicle my latest wash day. 

I removed my latest protective style - waist-length kinky twists ...what was I thinking? 
Anyway, after 5 hours I was finally done removing the extensions and it was time to detangle and pre-poo; I do this in one step and this time I mixed the Garnier Ultimate Blends The Nourishing Repairer conditioner (available at Clicks, Dischem and major supermarkets R 39.95-59.95) with Jamaican black castor oil from Sunny Isle (I purchased this from www.african-flair.co.za 236ml for R 249.00).

Pre-poo treatment: conditioner and Jamaican black castor oil

I have thick hair, so I divide my hair into 4 or 5 sections for wash day; I applied the mixture to my hair focussing on the tips and finger detangle before using my Denman D7 brush to finish the job starting at the tips (I could write songs to my D7...it's that good!) and then I twist each section. after I'm detangling all my hair, I cover it with a plastic cap or cling wrap and wait a minimum of 30 minutes before shampooing.

On to the next step; I rinsed out my pre-poo treatment and proceeded to shampoo with the Don't be Flaky anti-dandruff shampoo from Giovanni. I apply the shampoo to each section focussing on the scalp and then massage with my fingers, and keep it on 5 minutes before rinsing it out. One application is enough to cleanse my scalp and hair without stripping it. 

I dry my hair with a t-shirt and since I wanted to refresh my colour I mixed my Crazy color in peacock blue with the CHI curl preserve low pH treatment. After applying it generously, I coverred my hair with cling wrap and waited 90 minutes before rinsing it out. My hair was really soft afterwards and my coils were popping!

Deep condition and colour in one step: CHI Curl Preserve System and Crazy color in peacock blue

Cantu Leave-in conditioner and Body Shop Beautifying Oil

I covered my hair with a t-shirt to dry and then followed up with the LOC method to moisturize and seal: Cantu leave-in conditioning cream, Body Shop Brazil nut beautifying oil and hair butter cream (with shea butter and Jamaican black castor oil).
Because the weather is wet this week, I decided to wear my hair in 12 braids and wear headwraps. I'll unwrap and unravel for a braidout over the weekend since I'm going to a wedding on Saturday. 

...that's a wrap!

xoxo, 
N