Flat-twists and Flexi rods set

Once in a while, I revisit my stash of products that I've collected along my journey to returning Natural. So here's what happened the last time I got myself to doing it. It was also a good opportunity to use two of my own Handmade Awali styling products at one go! 

A conclusion that I reached after this was that- hair plays a big role on a person's self esteem. I've never been the kind of person to have only one hairstyle for more than a week(blame it on having a Super Hairdresser as a mother). I love the versatility of hair. To me its like my own canvas and sometimes what I do with my hair is an expression of my feelings. 

Washing: I washed my hair with Garnier Fructis Oil Repair Shampoo then applied Amla powder that's been lying around my stash of products. Rinsed hair and did some kind of oil treatment with Amla Ayurvedic Hair Oil, rinsed it off after 15 minutes, and deep conditioned with Yucca & Baobab Anti-Breakage Masque (clearly trying hard to fight the breakage that's going on). Detangling was done using Qhemet Biologics Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee- My favourite detangler ever!!

  Awali Naturals Golden Butter and Avocado Twist & Style Cream was used here for styling.

Styling: So my intention was to do a flexi rod set all over my hair,

but half-way through I got tired. My eyes were getting really heavy, so decided to plait flat twists on the remaining front hair. Since I knew I'd not be in a position to spend so much time on my hair in the near future, I decided to use both my butters on the flat twists to show the different types of curls that can be achieved. I undid the rods the next day, fluffed them out and had a new style :)

Wore this style for a bout a week or two.......

Before I finally unravelled the lines after noticing that they made me look like a small school girl :) Notice the curls on the right (styled using Awali's Golden Butter) are looser and look bigger, but the ones on the left (styled using Awali's Avocado Twist & Style Cream) look smaller and the curls are tighter.

Started pinning up the hair from the sides using Bobby Pins, not wanting to mess up the curl definition going on over here :)...

.....and used this hair clip at the back to give it a little lift.

Kept tucking in a few hairs here and there.......

until I got the look I was satisfied with.

Keep smiling :) :)

How I do my Bantu knot-out up do- Pictorial.

Due to the number of requests I received on my bantu knot-out up do, I promised to do a step-by-step tutorial and here I am staying true to my promise :) 

Its been one week since I used my Awali Naturals Curl Enhancing Cream to define my curls and I must admit, I'm excited to see the curls still looking defined even though I stopped re-twisting for the last 3 days. 

Having learnt about the benefits of dry shampooing from Felicia Leatherwood, I decided to finally give it a try. So I parted my hair in four sections and started shampooing section after section, adding a little bit of water as I rubbed the shampoo on my scalp with the tips of my fingers.

After rinsing off the shampoo I applied my Deep Conditioning Treatment 

Detangled hair in sections and applied some Golden Hair Butter from Awali Naturals

To stretch my hair, I did three strand twists on each detangled section and went to sleep. When in a hurry, I normally blow dry my hair using low to medium heat, but this time I decided not to use heat. 

Un-did the twists next day.....

...........and combed out the hair using a wide-toothed comb.

Sectioned off part of the front in a horse-shoe shape to do the bantu knots......

then started pinning up the rest of the hair using bobby pins.

back view

Side view

combed all the open section together....

Started the bantu knots on the front section

Finally finished twisting and knotting

Once dry, I uncoiled the twists with Qhemet Biologics Amla & Olive Heavy Cream rubbed between my fingers for some moisture.

Continued separating the twists until I got a 'full' look

Curls are still very tight, so they don't puff up as they will two or three days after

Ready to head out and enjoy Spring.

Keep smiling :)

Yoghurt, Honey & Olive Oil Deep Condition Treatment & Flat Twistout using Awali Naturals Golden Hair Butter.

I think am finally beginning to enjoy Homemade Deep Conditioning Treatments. Last week I mixed an avocado, egg and olive oil into my store bought Deep Conditioning Treatment, followed by an oil rinse using Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I straightened my hair using  low heat, and wore it in a high puff the whole week. Although it still felt clean, it was time for me to try something else this weekend. Here's what I did:

Finger detangled hair prior to washing...........  

Randomly mixed some yoghurt, EVOO and honey and added it into my commercial Deep Conditioning Treatment.

Let it sit in for a while. Hair felt quite soft and was smelling great :)

 Took a while to completely rinse off the mixture

 Did flat twists at the back and sides and opted for some tiny two strand twists at the hairline......

 Undid them in the morning

 Looks nice but I could use some volume

 Got my Afro pick

 Fluffed that fro out!

We're having excellent weather today, so am off to ride bikes with my boys. What did you and your hair do this weekend?

 Keep smiling :)

Henna Gloss Treatment

Seeing as I sometimes get to experience up to 3 different shades of colours on my head- simultaneously, I recently decided to give the much hyped Henna Gloss Treatment another try. The first one was a success, so this time around I opted to use a different brand of Henna from the Khadi Herbal Hair Color range. 

First I combed out my hair which was already stretched to remind myself how much grey hair I had to work hard at concealing.

Products used:

•  Khadi Herbal Hair Color Powder-aka Henna, 
• Herbal Essences Hello Hydradtion Hydrate & Cleanse Conditioner,
• Dudu Osun Black African Soap

Hair washed using Dudu Osun black African Soap

Henna powder mixed with Hello Hydrating Conditioner and green tea

Floors covered with newspapers and clothes protected

quickly applied the Henna mixture generously from roots up while it was still warm.

covered it and went about my normal routine, leaving it on my head for a few hours

ready to rinse before going to bed. I used cold water to rinse and later deep conditioned my hair for 5 minutes. Since I was going to sleep, I applied my hair gold butter and did big chunky twists.

Next morning, I undid the twists and as I checked out the results in daylight............

 I realised that I now have to deal with a thicker texture than what am used to, but was very satisfied with the results. All grey  hairs are covered- for now! Success!

Keep smiling :)