Buy Hair Oils in Nigeria

I recently found out about a company Vanity Oils, a Nigerian company that supplies 100% pure natural oils for hair and skin. Their list is extensive and include carrier and essential oils such as:
Aloe Vera oil, 
Avocado, 
Sweet Almond, 
Castor, 
Coconut, 
Grape Seed, 
Extra Virgin Olive, 
Sunflower, 
Wheat Germ, 
Cedar, 
Cinnamon, 
Clary Sage, 
Eucalyptus, 
Lavender, 
Lemon, 
Lemongrass, 
Peppermint, Rosemary, 
Tea Tree, 
Argan oils
Vitamin E oils,
Whipped unrefined Shea Butter

Oh my goodness, they carry EVERYTHING! If you are in Nigeria and looking to pimp your regimen with natural goodies, Make sure you check them out on:

www.vanityoils.com

info@vanityoils.com
07030306302
07034250239

Igala Hair: Guest regimen

My fellow long hair partner in crime offered her regimen:

1. pre-poo with Emily millionaire coconut oil and herbs and baggy sometimes overnight
2. shampoo wash with Profectiv stimulating shampoo or creme of nature coconut and sunflower.
3. deep condition with organic root stimulator replenishing conditioner(protein) or lustrasilk Cholesterol with argan oil(moisture) or a mix of both, cover hair with shower cap for some hours, rinse and towel dry.
4. air dry with scarf over hair.
5. moisturize with organics kids Shea butter Seal with a mix of sheabutter n coconut oil.
6. moisturize and seal every morning.                                              

Other tips:
-Use heating tools only once in 2months or on a special day,
-no rubber bands,
-sleeping with  hair tied with a satin scarf

-protective styling (braids)

Not advisable but she does not stretch or adopt low manipulation:
-  relax every 8 weeks and combs freely as much as possible so I can manage my hair

Black Hair Blogspiration

Amazing hair blogs for relaxed hair

http://www.justgrowalready.com/

http://www.hairliciousinc.com/

http://relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.com/

http://keepitsimplesista.blogspot.com/
But you can just keep reading mine only... :D

-Ladi

My oils

Since I started this healthy relaxed hair journey, I've picked up the following oils and added to my regimen:

Castor: I use the Jamaican Black Castor oil on my scalp to thicken my new growth and I also use the cold pressed plain Home Health brand (available at Wholefoods or online). I recently bought the Rosemary infused Castor oil for that essential oil touch. I hate the smell of anything strong that is not food-smelling but its a great scalp oil that I use every 2 days and add to my moisturising deep conditioner conconction.

Coconut: I love the smell of coconut. This is definitely my favorite. I use for weekly hot oil treatments (Friday night), wrap my hair with cling film/ saran wrap and wash out with shampoo (Saturday morning). I use the Nutiva or Nature's Way brands but just got gifted Dabur Vatika (Indian mix of coconut oil, lemon and herbs) which I will be using for the rest of the year.

Grapeseed: Ceramide-rich oil. I use this lightweight oil to seal my hair after moisturising. Its a heat protectant so good for summer weather. I am running out and will replace with hempseed or jojoba oil however or just use coconut.

Shea: I use shea from Nigeria. It is thick and heavy but makes hair super soft. I use this in the winter and over my braids. I also heat it up and use as a moisturiser when my hair is super dry.



In the fall of 2012, I will add Jojoba and argan to replace grapeseed. Updates will come then.

Black Tea Rinse, Post relaxer fix-that-mess

Since I relaxed my hair a few days ago, I'm super happy with the growth, tried every style possible as loaded the hair with styling products. I also started feeling really paranoid about the effects of the relaxer. That 'go natural already' feeling so I did a quick fix-that-mess routine with hot coconut oil treatment, a tea rinse and an overnight deep conditioner.

So yesterday, I did a hot coconut oil treatment: basically warm 3 heaped tablespoons of coconut oil and apply to hair. Then, I  covered with 2 shower caps for 2 hours, shampooed with nuetralizing shampoo (haha, incase the descendants of the relaxer are still in the hair somewhere).

THEN the almighty tea rinse. I poured 2 cups of cold Black tea (Lipton Yellow Label) all over my hair. I forgot to massage my scalp as tea rinses help reduce shedding especially after relaxer can make hair more vulnerable to shedding. This ish made my hair hard like no other. I rinsed out the tea immediately. Note: I do tea rinses only once a month

Deep conditioned overnight (2 shower caps and a scarf) with Mane and Tail (mixed with coconut, shea, and castor oils).

I rinsed out in the morning, airdried while dressing up then applied my Gentle Touch leave-in (made my hair super soft after that tea), Provectiv growth lotion and sealed with my oil mix.

Put my semi-wet hair in a bun and off to work.... The ride on the Okada from palms to Lekki phase 1 was like a blow drying session, my hair is basically dry now.

My internship ends in a few days. I'll get kitson hanu (yorubas call 'didi') plaited over the weekend. So excited to be 8years old again.

:)

Relaxing after 4 months

My new regimen for this year includes stretching my relaxer for 4 months/ 16 weeks so I relax my hair only 3 times in a year. I like to let my hair breathe every now and then but braids (not weaves which i abhor) have been the best way to stretch the relaxer without me obsessing over my new growth. I don't hate new growth but I can't get my hands out of my hair detangling the coils with my fingers and you can imagine how ridiculous I look- like I'm picking out lice.

Its important to moisturise this new growth to minimize breakage at the demarcation point where previously relaxed hair meets natural/new growth. I devote a little extra time to part my hair in about 12 sections and moisturising the new growth and sealing with coconut oil while massage my scalp a bit with Castor. I promise its not that difficult or time consuming. I do this while watching Gossip Girl or Real Housewives.

Anyway,

I successfully stretched for 17weeks and I liked it so I got a touch up in it... o o oh!!!. The Olive Oil ORS relaxer kit did not have a lotion to protect previously relaxed hair from relaxer (running through during rinsing which can damage the hair) so I mixed coconut and shea butter and applied to the lenght of the hair. I put Castor oil on my scalp 2 days before to minimize burning.

Clockwise:Relaxer, deep conditioner concontion, vatika coconut oil, GT nuetralizing shampoo, GT leave in, shea butter, castor oil in applicator bottle, and SheaMoisture serum

The shampoo in the ORS relaxer kit is NEVER enough to clean the hair so chemicals remain in ones hair and continues to work its evil. Have you seen how brown some people's hair has become due to relaxing not dyeing? So I bought my neutralizing shampoo to wash at least 2 more times. I will continue washing with neutralizing shampoo for 2 weeks after to ensure there's none of that crap lurking around.

The conditioner in the kit is also too little for my big head/hair so I mixed it with coconut oil and Mane and Tail replenishing conditioner to balance out the protein.
Finally, the stylist trimmed my ends, moisturised and blow dried. Done.. until another 4 months.

*pictures to come

Ladi

Modifications

Making changes to my template so pardon the jagajaganess of the blog.

Pre-relaxer prep

Been so depressed without my oils which I forgot in Abuja. I missed the Natural Hair meet up and was so bummed about not being able to stock up. Plus, I'm on a budget :D

Anyway, my cousin sent me Jamaican Black Castor (scalp), Coconut Vatika (pre-poo +hot oil treatment) and Shea Butter (deep conditioning/ steaming).

My hair is 15 weeks post relaxer so getting ready for my next creamy crack dosage after I take out my braids. Here's the prep details for a week before I relax:

1. Take out braids and do hot oil treatment with coconut oil
2. rinse out with warm water and wash with protein conditioner (not shampoo)
3. leave-in conditioner and air dry
4. Provectiv growth Moisturiser
5. Curl with small flexirods/ bendy rollers (so excited about this)

Supplements for Hair Growth

I started taking Gummy Multivitamins (for adults :D), Biotin capsules,  and Fish oil as part of my hair regimen and healthy living in general.

Biotin (Vitamin B7): This regimen will last 60 days during which I take 5000mg per day (1 pill) after eating breakfast. Its just one pill daily so super convenient.

"Biotin is most often thought of as the “hair growth vitamin.” It is an essential water-soluble B vitamin... It promotes healthy hair growth and protects against dryness. It also increases the elasticity of the hair's cortex, thus preventing breakage. Biotin can be found in beans, breads, cauliflower, egg yolks, fish, kidney, legumes, liver, meat, dairy products, nuts, oatmeal, oysters, peanut butter, poultry, and whole grains. " source: http://hairfinity.com/BiotinHairGrowth.htm 
Fish Oil:  Fish oil pills are huge and I have to swallow a couple of pills 3 times a day so I take only when I'm in the mood. After my 60-day Biotin regimen, I will resume Fish oil for another 60days. I just hate swallowing pills so I'll be switching to taking the liquid form after using up my current supply.

Summer Weekly regimen (8 steps)

My hair has been in braids to allow me stretch my relaxer for four months. But when I take out my braids, this is my typical Friday Night/ Saturday morning regimen in 8 simple steps.

1. pre-poo with warm coconut oil (hot oil treatment) and cover with shower cap or cling film. Leave this in overnight

2. shampoo wash with Pantene Relaxed and Natural. I use Sulphate shampoos as I've tried different sulphate free shampoos that dried the living day moisture out of my hair.

3. Roux Porosity Control/ Apple Cider Vinegar for 30 seconds to a minute (weekly) or Black tea rinse (monthly). Will try the Neem leaf/ dogon yaro rinse soon.

4. deep condition with Hair Mayonnaise/ Cholesterol or Avocado (blended smooth with honey) and coconut oil, cover hair with shower cap for 3 hours- nap/ or steam for 20 minutes in salon

5. apply leave-in conditioner (Gentle Touch) and detangle with wide tooth comb.

6. air dry with scarf over hair. When I use heat with rollers, I also use SheaMoisture serum and coconut+castor oil mix

7. moisturize with shea butter

8. Get braids in.

xx

Styling Braids

I have my hair in braids practically 9 out of 12 months in a year. This is my easy protective styling and I have braids  for a few weeks to months at a time so its important to switch things up and style so the look doesn't get redundant. I go to grad school with a very inquisitive set of non-Africans so if I carry the same hairstyle for 3 months, the questions of when last I washed my hair, don't I have money to re-do the hair blah blah come up. They don't shut up when I get creative each week and do something 'new' either but you get my drift.

Here's one style I've recently discovered on youtube which I've since rocked and over-rocked during my internship this summer.

I found this style from this youtube video below which I watch quite often to get inspiration:

 I also tried this style from the second youtube video below. But I lack the confidence to walk the streets of Lagos looking like Monae.

xx

Nneka's Hair

So I went to Lifehouse, Lagos for Nneka's performance. Other than the fact that she's an AMAZING singer. I was staring at her hair half the performance... tewww fly.

Lifehouse, VI, Lagos

Anyway, I have been playing around with small flexirods/bendy rollers to achieve a loose curls 'fro using relaxed hair without a sewing in a weave. See my last  attempt. I'll try to get Nneka's volume with smaller rods and when my relaxed hair grows a little longer.

Los Dominicos Craft Market, Chile

Watch out for an update in a few weeks.

Naturals in the City Meet up this Saturday

I've been looking forward to attending a healthy hair meet up of some sort since I started my 'journey' two years ago. Some people (foreign friends, Nigerians and even my salon people) think I'm weird for scrutinizing ingredients on beauty products or using only natural oils, fresh fruits and kitchen items on my hair. I'm glad Nigerian women are stepping up to embracing their hair and sharing their journeys, tips, challenges, healthy eating etc. There will be vendors too so looking forward to satisfying my inner Product Junkiest with a new stack of products for my summer in Lagos (I forgot EVERYTHING in Abuja). The organizers are also welcoming happily relaxed girls like me which was a serious concern. My friend told me to lie that I'm transitioning in case someone is vexing, lmao. Fingers crossed that there are no natural nazis like someone I know..... *grins* Updates to come next week.

Hair Rinses

This post inspired me last year on the amazing rinses that add fabulousness to hair. For some months, I've been doing the rinses below:

Apple Cider rinse: 'ACV helps to clarify the hair and remove build up. Because of it's low pH levels, ACV helps seal the cuticle layer locking in the moisture and protein from your deep conditioner. I dilute apple cider with water and pour all over my hair after deep conditioning. This is also good for fixing porous hair in addition to the Roux Porosity Control line. I do this whenever I remember too, lol (alternate with Roux).


Tea rinse: I use 2 bags of black tea brewed for a few hours and pour all over my hair and scalp just after shampooing. I leave for a few minutes and proceed to the deep conditioning (moisturising). I do this once a month because it dries hair solid but helps with shedding and  strengthening. It colors the hair too which I don't mind because I want a darker shade.

Once upon a time

In Xian. China. Before my hair's major setback. I need to get back to this lenght by August.

Fulani Doll

This doll is from the  'Queens of Africa' collection by Taofick Okoya (Lagos, Nigeria-based). I love!!!

Side note: her weave. hmm, no comments.

2012 Wishlist

In the spirit of my birthday which was this week, my hair wishlist is:

1. Huetiful Steamer with facial attachment- This product was on my Amazon cart for months, went on sale over black Friday weekend and I missed out. I really want a steamer but with a $120 procetag, I'll have to wait until I've saved up enough money.

2. Bendy/ Flexi and Curlformers. My hair cant be bone straight unless I flat iron. I have pledged to use heat only once a month so curly styles are my go-to to wearing my hair out (and I love big natural-afro looking hair). I like the results of bantu knots but I like the beachy waves from bendy rollers. Well, as soon as my hair grows 2 more inches.

3. Kerastase and Moroccan Oil products- They are so expensive! I am constantly on the look out for better deep conditioners especially because the weather dries my hair out so fast.

Who has tried any of these on relaxed hair? Comments?

Note to self: A business-school student should never be broke. I'm not paying ridiculous tuition to not apply my education in real life. :D  No  product junkineeismor  ridiculoushair purchases. Its just hair really.