AM-8: Hardware for Hair

The Sprite Pure-Spray 8 Deluxe Filtered Shower Head; Model# AM-8 is now in my possession! I feel like I’m in the elite club of ladies whose tresses have been reaping the benefits of this prize, lol. I believe this investment will make a contribution towards improving my hair. I have read how many fabulous naturals feel this device was well worth acquiring since your hair is just one thing that will profit from its use.

A recent NaturallyCurly article explains how damaging water can be to our hair (read here)

If you have a filter, what advantages have you seen from utilizing one?

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Our daughters: Are we fighting a losing battle?

Food for Thought Friday

It is my hope that my young daughter will continue to remain natural through her adolescent and adult years. I strive to instill a sense of value and beauty in how God made her. Controversly, I’ve read about this countless times;

Natural hair and your well-being

I thought this would be an interesting topic to launch. Please chime in!

At times, I wonder if a decision to “go natural” transforms other areas of our lives. Everyone wants to look and feel their very best, inside and outside. So when one chooses to stop chemically straightening their hair, what other

Scalp care

Like our uniqueness with hair, no two individual scalps are the same either (I’ve learned that my daughter has different scalp needs than me). In all truthfulness, I ignored my scalp prior to returning to natural hair. Growing up, my mother

The need to buy: I'm losing control

So far I’m on track with my hair product line up. I’m getting to know what I like and what I don’t so I see a full PJ recovery in view (YAY). In most of the product categories, I’m finding out what my staples are and what I’m not truly committed to. There are a few protein conditioners that I will be trying

Hair Typing

Curl pattern, strand size, texture, what does it all mean??? Hair typing systems are simply tools used as a reference point. They can assist you (or your stylist) in hair product selection, deciding which hair techniques may work best and choosing a suitable hair style.

Some people aren’t interested in (or just outright despise) using hair typing systems. It can be a source of frustration and confusion for many. I’ve pretty much given up trying to nail down what my exact hair type is but I had to share some interesting information that I came across.

I was already aware of the 2 most popular hair typing systems (Andre Walker and LOIS) but I was not familiar with Fia. This site provides further explanation on this hair typing system. I find this system to be pretty simplistic, but that’s just my opinion. . .

Do any of you know about this hair typing system? Do you think it is more helpful than the others?

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

May the force be with you

There is only one “force” that will dry your hair – AIR. We determine what temperature the air is that will dry our hair – the natural air in our environment or heated air.

Warm or hot air has been heated with the assistance of a hair dryer. There are 2 types of hair dryers: the hand held and the hood dryer (hard and soft); pics below. It is advisable to use a product designed to protect your hair from heat before using a hair dryer (or other heated hair appliance). PROS & CONS: less time, less shrinkage but potentially damaging.

Because heated air poses the risk of damage to our hair, many choose to let their hair dry naturally. This can be done while the hair is loose or you can twist, braid or band your hair for more elongation/stretching. PROS & CONS: more time, more shrinkage but a healthier option.

Others like to combine both methods of drying: air drying until the hair is mostly dry and then finishing with a hair dryer.

What factors do you consider when you need to dry your hair? Time? Shrinkage? Health?

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Have you crossed the line???

I’m talking about product lines. Now let me start by saying this post isn’t to hate on hair care companies that provide quality hair care systems for our hair type. But lots of companies want you to believe that you will achieve “optimal” results if you if stick to using their entire hair care system. I’m not trying to debunk myths or bust bubbles but I do wonder if others have had a successful hair journey crossing product lines in their hair regimen.

Let me be clear here, I’m not talking about always changing; going back and forth with a myriad of products (can we say PJ?). I mean, once you find your staple shampoo from company X, do you feel a need to use that company’s conditioner also? What’s your opinion? How important is it to you to stay within a particular company’s hair care line? Do you feel that products in the same hair care line are formulated to work better for your hair if used together?

In my quest for the basic staple products, it is my goal is to have 2 products in each category (pre-poo oil, cleansing product, deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner and moisture sealant). I’m finding it less and less important to stick to one particular product line for my hair care needs. If I like the ingredients, price and results I get from a particular product that is all that matters to me. Again, there are great companies that offer wonderful product lines but my preferences seem to be all across the board so yes, I have crossed the line! :-)

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

What is beautiful?

I understand that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and everyone has the right to their own opinion but I just needed to vent a little on this post. I have now been wearing my loose, natural hair for 11 months. My family has been totally supportive of my decision. However, last night some comments were made by my family that had me fuming! In summary, negative comments were voiced about women wearing locks. I have not considering locking my hair but I was offended by what was said.


Naturally, today I had to so some net surfing to find a hair gallery to go back and show to my family. Then, I remembered this blog. The creator of the blog also has a fantastic hair gallery here and I plan to head straight for the computer when I get home from work with my family following right behind me :-)


Hair choices are very personal and each individual has reasons on why they do the things they do with it. Going natural has allowed me to expand my views on what is beautiful. If you rock it "barber shop short", flowing down to your waist, natural or relaxed - I think it's all gorgeous and whatever your flavor is don't allow ANYONE to make you feel that you should conform to their view of beauty.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Inquiring mind: Reader's conern

Hello all! I received an email from a reader with concerns about breakage and braiding. I will address them in this post. I did do some investigating on this topic, but please realize that I am not a hair professional.

Hello Callalily,

I just came across your interesting blog a few days ago and it's extremely informative. I wonder if you could help me with a teeny tiny question.

My hair used to fall off very badly a couple of months ago and after the final abuse from a stylist that was supposed to be one of the best I decided I'd had enough and would take my hair care into my hands. My hair is shoulder length now. Since I started my new regimen, my hair has started coming back to life very slowly and is growing quite well. It still falls out but not as much as before and it is reducing day by day. At the moment I do not wish to relax at all until the damage has been rectified but at the same time it is getting a bit harder to manage the new growth so I'm thinking of braiding it for a few months to give it time to recover from the damage. My question is do you think it's advisable to braid my hair while it is in this condition? I would be making medium sized braids and not micro braids? If braiding is not advisable then what could I do to put my hair away for a while apart from wigs and weaves? The middle east weather is TERRIBLE for African hair.

I don't use heat at all on my hair, comb as gently as I can and use logona organic shampoo and Lush handmade shampoo. My conditioners are logona wheat protein conditioner, bodyshop honey moisturiser, garnier fructis long n strong, tresemmes and mane n tail. I use mayo and eggs for protein treatments. I also use olive, coconut, rosemary and eucalyptus oils for daily moisturisation after adding leave ins. A lot of other products I could use are not available in UAE so I try to improvise best as I can.

I look forward to your response. Thank you :)

I’m very sorry to hear about your experience. This is the perfect time to embark on your healthy hair journey! It seems you already have a good understanding of what your hair needs and are on the right track with your hair care.

Assuming you can exclude other causes for breakage (i.e. medical issues, diet, etc.) we will focus on the hair. Hair requires a balance of protein and moisture. When the balance is off, I believe breakage occurs. While your hair is in a weakened state, less manipulation is better. Braid extensions can protect a person’s hair from excessive styling and breakage. When you approach this protective style correctly, you can have great success with nursing your locks back to health.

Before: It is important to give your hair some deep conditioning treatments. Preparing the hair in this way, prior to braiding it, can strengthen hair that is in a weak condition.

During: During the process of braiding your hair, make sure of several things (1) your braids are not too small (2) your braids are not too heavy from adding too much hair (3) your braids are not too tight!

Getting braids is not a ticket to maintenance-free hair (I learned this the hard way). While you are wearing your braids, remember to moisturize daily. You can choose to cleanse your scalp during this time also. Various methods exist for this purpose. You can apply witch hazel or another product to your scalp to remove build up. You could also mix shampoo and water in an applicator bottle to cleanse, then thoroughly rinse afterward. If you choose this method, you may want to section your hair and put it in a few big braids first. Remember to protect your style with a scarf before going to bed. If you find it necessary to oil your scalp, use a light oil 2-3 times a week.

After: It is recommended that you keep extensions in for no longer than 2 months. During this period, you can re-do the edges if necessary. Removing braids should be done gently. You can spray diluted conditioner on your braids prior to taking them out. Then, after the extension has been removed and the hair still wet, gently comb out the hair that has been shed while you have been wearing this style. There is no need to be alarmed when you end up with a mass of hair after you have detangled all of your hair – this is normal.

Now that your hair is free and detangled, make sure to use a good moisturizing shampoo and deep condition again. You can give your hair a resting period and then return to another braided style if you desire. If you intend to go back to relaxing and you feel your hair is in condition to do so, read this article to give you a guide on approaching this wisely.

I hope this helps you. Good luck with your hair journey.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

* This site provides terrific information and instructional videos for those who want to wear their hair braided.

Water is not the ONLY way

I’m still researching my weekly Study Hall post so here is a "sub" to sit in; didn’t want to leave you hanging :-) Study Hall will be back next Wednesday.

Also look for a stimulating post tomorrow where I address a reader’s hair concerns.

I not only enjoy making hair treatments and products, but face and body treatments/products as well. While water is a fabulous liquid to utilize, you can feature others that could give it that extra oomph. With all that is available to us, there is no reason to get stuck in a rut. I persuade you to try something different – you may like the results even more!

Next time you whip up a treatment or product for your hair, face or body, try one (or a combination) of the following to replace all or part of your water.

Water alternatives:
* alcohol (vodka, brandy)
* aloe vera juice/gel
* tea/herbal infusion
* flowal water/hydrosol
* vinegar
* witch hazel
* milk (buttermilk, coconut milk, cow milk, goat milk, rice milk, soy milk - Does that cover them all?)
* yogurt
* cream
* juice (fruit or vegetable)
* honey/honeyquat/agave nectar
* molasses
* syrup
* glycerin
* oil

* tinctures (diluted)

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Good news!

Because I saw myself making too many unnecessary transactions, I started to keep record of how often I made hair related purchases. It was quite ridiculous and absolutely absurd and I knew I needed to take action! Anyway, I am happy to announce that it has been a whole month since I have purchased a hair product. I’ve still purchased accessories/tools but even that has dwindled down.

I have still been scoping out new things that I want to try but I’m logging it on my wish list and continuing to use up things I already have. Right now some of the lines on my wish list are Aubrey Organics, Neutrogena Triple Moisture, AfroVeda and HairVeda. The only product I am running low on and will NEED to purchase in the near future is shampoo.

The Sisterhood of Product Junkies can learn to curb our impulse to constantly spend our revenue on “the next best thing” with some helpful tips:

* A really great idea that I’ve seen from Kcurly has been an encouragement to me.

* Keeping an inventory list of what I have on hand prevents me from buying what I don’t need.

* Also, if it’s something you are willing to try, experiment with making your own products. I personally am going to start experimenting with common and Ayurvedic herbs (for cleansing and conditioning) and see how that works out. Hopefully I don’t go from a product junkie to an ingredient junkie :-)

If you feel your PJism is out of control, I hope you found this article helpful. Let’s try to keep some of that money in our pockets during these uncertain economic times.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Child Matters

Let’s talk. Are any of you caregivers of a child(ren) with natural hair? I have a young daughter and since becoming natural, I have learned things to help me better care for her hair. Doing her hair is not exactly a walk in the park, but I have obtained some knowledge and skills that make the task a lot easier. This is the regimen I use when I don’t have her hair in a cornrowed styled.

So Fresh and So Clean: Shampoo
Concentrating on the scalp, I use a mild shampoo for cleansing once a week. I usually do this in 4 sections.

unCONDITIONal love: Conditioner
I always follow by applying a moisturizing conditioner (with oil added) to each section.

Be tangle free with TLC: Detangle
While the conditioner is in her hair, section by section, I detangle her hair. First, I take smaller pieces and gently finger-comb. Then, for good measure, I run a wide tooth comb through to get any tangles I may have missed. Each of the 4 sections is put in a plait and the conditioner is allowed to stay in her hair (wrapped with a plastic cap and towel) for at least 30 min. I rinse the conditioner out while leaving the plaits in her hair.

Stylin’ and profilin’: Style
When it comes to styling her hair, I prefer to do a cornrowed style (which will last about 2 weeks). However, when time and/or energy do not allow for this, I have plenty of items I use for ponytail styles. I like to vary the styles and spice things up using an assortment of accessories to keep things fresh and fun. Through the week it takes minimal time to spritz and brush any frizz and change accessories. At night, I tie her hair up in a scarf or bonnet.

This has helped a tremendous deal in my battle to keep my daughter’s hair maintained and it is a lot less painful for her! Please share what you have found to be helpful when you are caring for your little one’s mane.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

Study Hall: Information Overload

Hope the mid-week has found you well. I may have gotten a bit carried away on this one but I wanted to list as many hair forums as I could (I’m sure this isn’t a complete list). If you are not currently a member of any hair boards, this is a great way to socialize, receive and give support, and obtain general hair care/hair styling information. Please check these out!

Afrobella

Black Hair Media

Black Hair Planet

cNappymeNow

Diaspora Hair Care

Hair Boutique

HairFinity

Hairlista Inc.

Happy Curls

Keep It Simple Sista (KISS)

Long Hair Care Forum

Nappturality

Naturally Curly

I know I have only been focusing on “Information Overload” but I will get to the “Book Club” segment of my Study Hall posts in the near future.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily

* You can click on the “study hall” label in the right-hand column to read posts you have missed

Can we conquer the clutter?

YES WE CAN! Let me start by saying that I am slowly recovering from PJism. It’s pathetic how much stuff takes up occupancy in most of the rooms in my house (I’ll save that for another post). As I would collect many items for my hair, I realized a while ago that I needed to create some sort of storage system for the things I’ve obtained. I thought I had been doing great (okay mediocre) at keeping order to my stash. I have taken pictures of some of the systems for my things and my daughter’s things.

Well, some of you have put me to shame! Newly Natural posted about this wonderful idea recently on her blog. Then I scope out Kimmay on her youtube channel and she’s really got it going on. That leaves me to say I’ve got to step up my game big time! Investing some energy and a bit of money into creating a better method of storing my hair care products and accessories will be rewarding in the end. So fellow readers, do you run into the same problem that a lot of PJs face? Do tell us how you have dealt OR you are planning on dealing with it.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed!

CallaLily