Wednesday 31 December 2014

Top posts of 2014 that you shouldnt miss


These are the top and most beneficial posts... they have the highest page views and if you havnt seen them yet... do check them out because you will find lots of tips that i have gathered all through one year of being on a healthy hair journey. Enjoy!

Starting your hair journey

My techniques for maximum length retention

Protective Styling...what you need to know

Growth Aids...what has worked for me

Detangling...the right way!

Get fuller edges and nape.

Be sure to check them out...

*much love*


Relaxer Update and Length Check

I apologise for not posting this earlier...i had prepared this post before travelling for the christmas celebration but i had problems publishing this post while there. I published this as soon as i arrived.

 Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you all!!!  This is my last update of the year. I relaxed my hair on the 18th of December and did a length check on blow dried hair
          
            Relaxer procedure:
I used Organic Root Stimulator No-lye Relaxer in normal strength. I started by parting my hair in four sections. Then detangled and twisted it into smaller 1inch sections on each of the four sections. Application and smoothing took me 12mins and i made sure i applied the new relaxer only to my new growth (it still overlapped a bit though). I'm new to using this relaxer and i didnt even do the strand test before relaxing. I think the front sections straighten more than i normally texlaxed it. This is surprising because the front parts of my hair is usually resistant and the back straightened easily but with this relaxer the reverse was the case. I plan on using half the activator next time i relax and that would be sometime in April because i don't want to end up switching from texlaxed to bone straight...i don't like the look of bone straight hair.

           Current Length:
 I'm still at armpit length about 2 inches away from bra strap length. About the length called below shoulder blade length.

I'm really happy with the health of my hair. The improvement in a year is so amazing. Dearies... being on a hair journey is fun and worth it too, just don't give up and dont compare your growth and progress with someone else. So there...this is the length check i will be using for the 6inches in 12months challenge hosted by Naijahaircangrow. I will give mini updates as i go along till the end of the year. I will do a mini length check at mid year next year. If possible join the challenge too as it will help you alot with being serious with hair growth and taking your hair health to another level...yes it will! thats the power of being in a competition :-)    

Will be back with my sisters 1 year natural heathy hair journey pics...enjoy the season.

                                                                    *much love*















Monday 15 December 2014

How i styled my hair: A Bob & My Bun life! How to create a fuller bun

I haven't put up a 'how i styled my hair post' in weeks.... OMG!! Those who follow me on instagram may have seen the pictures of what happens to my hair in between washdays (IG @Juditherese). If you're not on instagram no worries i still post about all i do. So this will be a post on what i did to may hair before my last washday...

I know i bought a wig and i have worn it for about 2weeks... the thing is... i am beginning to love wearing my hair out more. Also friends who have seen my hair frown at the fact that i'm always keeping my hair out of sight. So few days before my coffee rinse washday i stretched my hair with the threading method and then made a faux Bob hairstyle (i got the idea from Naija girl next door blog... though i do it on my sisters natural hair, i haven't stretched my texlaxed hair with threads). I used rubber threads. Threaded each with about Six pieces (those in Nigeria will understand what i mean). I did mine at night....nobody wants to walk around looking like "Simbi" lol...

Here's the steps i followed for my threading:
*divide into about 5-8 sections
*moisturise and seal each section then
*detangle and thread each section one at a time.
*if you really need to stretch your new growth then thread tightly towards the bottom (not too tight...adjust the bottom as preferred).
*to sleep...bend the threads down and wrap your head with a scarf. It helps keep the threads in place while you sleep
*loosen the threads the next morning... your hair is stretched!
comb out and style.

After washday...this week I put my hair in a bun and i will be on my bun life till i relax my hair. I have a couple of things to do before i head back home... anyways.... yea... so do you prefer big buns as i do??? if yes...

here's how i make my bun bigger without having to use a bun filler!
*use a small pony tail holder and secure it just once.... don't go round twice or make it tight.
*wrap your hair a to create a loose bun.

Don't make it tight.... i don't know if you get the idea but the pictorial will show you what i mean. I advice you do it a fee times and get the technique of wrapping it loosely and still getting it to look nice and smooth.

Pic guide:
*first pic: stretching my hair with African threading.
*second pic: how to create a fuller bun.
*third pic: tight bun vs loose bun comparison.

PS: My sister is 1 year into her hair journey this December... her progress post will be up as soon as i get home... Will also relax and do a length check pretty soon. You wouldn't want to miss any of this posts...

                 *complements of the season...much love*
         

Saturday 13 December 2014

Coffee rinse Washday: No step is worth skipping!!

Hey cuties! so is a quick recap of my easy breezy washday :-) I'm currently 12wks and some days post relaxer and the only thing my new growth and texlaxed hair does so well right now is SHRINK! lol

      I had in mind to cowash my hair but i haven't used a shampoo for sometime now and you know cowashing alone does not cleanse the hair well. I decided to shampoo.
I have noticed some shedding and i know its because of stress. Its been a long time since i did a tea rinse and i knew i needed one. Teas such as black tea, green tea and coffee contains caffeine which helps block the hormone responsible for hair shedding. This means there would be less shed hair when you do tea rinses.
      Now always remember that you should brew the tea or coffee in hot water and then leave it to cool completely before you use it. However...i was soooo lazy last night i decided to just put about a quarter spoon of coffee in my spray bottle filled it halfway with water and shake! shake!! lol (i know its bad...i wont try it again....*covers face*). so here are my steps

(1) sprayed my scalp and hair with coffee (it wasn't dripping wet just light sprayed so its damp).
(2)prepoo/deep condition with Organics by Africa's best cholesterol tea tree oil deep conditioner. Applied it to my coffee spritzed hair in 7 sections, twisted each section up and put them in Bantu knots. covered with shower cap
(3) deep conditioned overnight...
(4) rinsed it out and shampooed my scalp thrice...yes three times!! because it was needed.

        Now this is where the skipping starts... i was late for morning class so i couldn't do a quick conditioning :-(
(5)T-shirt dried while i got ready to leave the house
(6)took down each damp section... applied little organics cholesterol D.C (it can be used as a leave in too)
and sealed with Shea butter.
      I ran my fingers through each section and used a wide tooth comb to detangle. Separated the bangs or front section and did a loose flat twist then pulled the rest of my hair to my back and did a ponytail which i later braided. A wet ponytail that air dried throughout the day.

As soon as it got dry... IT GOT DRY! lol...understand what i mean?? my hair got soo dry. I just couldn't wait to get home. I knew it was because of the steps i missed but i was running out of time...

How i got back my moisturised hair-
First thing i did when i got home was to take down the pony. Spritz my dry hair with some detangler, then moisturise my hair and seal with Shea butter. Put my hair in a bun and then I covered it with a plastic cap for up to 3hrs and my hair felt really good. It was moisturised. wheeew!

An interesting washday... lots of layered products... i didn't mind because of the harmattan. It will only prevent my hair from dryness. This washday would have been my worst if my new growth matted a lot...i feared it would but thank God it didn't. This is to tell you that there is no step worth missing in a hair regimen. When you have gotten so used to following the steps religiously and then you miss a step or some steps you will surely notice. When you do its best to get yourself back on track.

Do you follow the steps of your hair regimen religiously?
                     *much love*

Versatile blogger award!

Hey cuties! Complements of the season to everyone :-)  I'm super happy and thankfull to the lovely Miranisa of mzdirection blog for nominating me for the Versatile blogger award!

What is the Versatile Blogger Award?
The Versatile Blogger Award is an award to
“honor and appreciate those bloggers who bring something
special to your life whether every day or
only now and then.”

.... Honestly I didnt think a blog award would come this soon being that my blog is only about 2months old..... i mean...you should have seen me dancing when i saw the notification on instagram lol!

Here are the rules
1. Thank the person who gave you this
award.
2. Include a link to their blog.
3. Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you
have recently discovered or follow
regularly.
4. Nominate those 15 bloggers for the
Versatile Blogger Award (you might include
a link to VBA site.)
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated
you 7 things about yourself.

So shall we?....
1 &2 Thanks a lot to the lovely Nisa of mzdirection blog (click to view). She's an inspiration as she shares her hair journey pics on instagram and gives so much details on her blog.
3 & 4. Here are the bloggers i stalk on an almost regular basis and nominate :-)

*donttouchthehair blog
*leezniji's blog
*diaryofapetitediva blog
*ghlonghair blog
*naijagirlnextdoor blog
*beautifullynappy
*todaysnaira blog
*wuras secret hair blog
(sorry its not up to 15..)
All awesome bloggers that you should check out...

5. Heres the fun part.... 7 things about myself...
                
1. Juditherse is a combination of my names Judith & Therese. (I pronounce the joint name as judi-theri:z)
2. I dont say no until i have tried and failed...call me stubborn but thats why i was able to start my hhj with just my own support and motivation...
3. If i had the resources i would have run a youtube vlog... i pretty much love making videos on my phone or laptop and i prefer it to typing.
4. addiction? inspirational hair journeys on YouTube... i cant seem to get tired of them.
5. My favourite exercise is walking....lol. Walking is an exercise right??? haha... anything more...I'll pass ;-)
6. I have passion for singing and modelling... (i'm slim and my normal walk is like a catwalk..wink! wink! :-))
7. My favourite colours are red and pink :-)

Thanks a lot to you all who read my blog and also share on their social media... i am super pumped to do more because this award only shows that the time and effort i put into blogging is appreciated... more posts will be up... keep stalking :-)
                 *much love*

Monday 8 December 2014

Guest post: How to make coconut oil easily at home....by Dada Oluwakemi

Hey dearies! hope everyone is doing great?!
       This is my first guest post... Dada Oluwakemi a lovely reader of my blog who recently began her hair journey sent me a text on how she made her own coconut oil. I was so impressed that I decided to share plus her steps are so easy and straight forward. Even though i haven't made it myself yet i sure will do it some day following her steps. Here it is... so take down some notes, save the page anyhow u wish to :-).

What you need:
3-4 coconuts
a knife
chopping board
blender
a bowl
a piece of cloth or mesh or handkerchief for straining.
an empty container of your choice for storing the oil.

Her procedure:
I bought 4 coconut (didn't use all tho. Kept some to eat). I took the coconut out of the shell.. Chopped it into the size of baba blue sweet (lol) blended it(I added enough water so as to blend easily). Then I squeezed the milk out from the chaff. I covered it in a bowl for 24hours (so as to make the water separate from the cream).. After that I opened it and scraped the cream at the top and then threw the water below away. I boiled the scraped cream with medium heat(don't add water. Just keep stirring it and the oil will be coming out ). When the residue is completely brown and the oil  doesn't make any sound then you can put off the stove, gas, fire wood (lol). I Left it to cool, then sieved with handkerchief. Transfered it to a container and....Thats it:-)

Thank you for sharing with us Kemi we would try it out and see how it goes. For those who have a homemade recipes to share or a hair story even a tutorial on how you styled your hair its easy. Send me an email containing what you would like to share to juditheresennenna@gmail.com and you will be featured in no time.

Meanwhile the Naija hair can grow 6inches of hair growth challenge has come to an end. I will be joining the challenge next year. For those who don't know about it there are details on her blog. Visit and vote for who you think retained or had much hair growth.

Alright dearies...that's all for now! hope this post helped a cutie wondering how coconut oil can be made easily at home... *Much love*

Thursday 4 December 2014

5 ways to step up your moisture game this season

Hey lovelies! this post is all about how to handle your hair to prevent it from drying out. We all know that Hair needs moisture to stay healthy so how are we going to win the battle against dryness? here are some tips to help you through

(1) steam your hair with a hair steamer more frequently or once in a while. If the saloons near you don't offer steaming and like me..you do not have a steamer :-) no worries. Simply moisturise your hair lightly then cover your with a shower cap for up to an hour or more and let the green house effect steam your hair with your natural body heat! No stress, No charge! but always remember to seal that moisture in if its not deep conditioning where you have to rinse your hair again

(2) Moisturise more often. This implies that if you normally moisturise once a day make it twice or thrice as the case may be.

(3) Add humecants to your deep conditioner. Humecants help draw moisture into your hair strands to prevent it from drying out. Examples of humecants are honey, glycerine and castor oil.

(4) Use heavy oils or butters to seal and lock the moisture in. This is very important especially when a humecant has been used. Humecants tend to do the reverse when the dryness in the atmosphere is a lot compared to the hair...meaning it would loose moisture from your hair into the atmosphere. Some people may advice to stay away from humecants but when properly sealed in it doesn't make your hair dry out.
      I even observed that my hair gets very moisturised in the early morning and at night when there is some sort of humid atmosphere. what i do every morning is seal with Shea butter immediately the fog created by water droplets in the air is completely gone  ( *hmm SCIENCE!* lol).

(5) Add co-washing to your regimen. This is best for those not willing to use humecants because of the dry effect. Co-washing is simply washing your hair with a rinse out conditioner instead of shampoo. Ordinarily conditioners are not meant to replace shampoos because they don't cleanse the scalp as effectively as a shampoo would but recently the haircare industries have improved and now have "cleansing co-wash conditioners" a good one i have seen reviews on is As I Am coconut cowash. Wherever you find this one dont hesitate to grab one for your self and you can always order from online stores. (click here to see Dabs of naijahaircangrow's review). so if you co-wash (especially using the rinse out that has no claim of cleansing the hair) use it as a way of boosting moisture and conditioning your hair because you still have to shampoo. Some conditioners for co-washing are VO5 conditioners and Hair fruits conditioners, Suarve and tresemme conditioners and all other conditioners that boldly and specifically states "co-wash".
         I haven't actually used any of such "cleansing co-wash conditioners" but readers who have please let us know... do they really cleanse well? can they replace your shampoo? what is the name of the one you used?
          I have added all of the above to my regimen i did my cowash today... so for those wondering which conditioner i uses for co-washing its gentelle hair fruits coconut conditioner. I use both castor oil and glycerine (the type i can easily find in cosmetic shops and it works fine). for steaming... i found a saloon that offers steaming services but i really don't like going to saloons anymore so i probably would stick to some GHE. So dearies...i hope this post helps a cutie out.... :-)
             
                  *much love*

          

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