A few months ago i straightened my hair and to my surprise i had lost a good ammount of hair at the back of my head, honestly i was mad about it for a while and then it hit me that even though i had suffered this setback my hair had really come a long way and i should be proud of that. i realised that a hair journey is really a journey, sometimes we get to our destination on time, sometimes there´s too much traffic and it takes longer to get there and sometimes we take the wrong turn, but all in all it is possible to get to our destination. All we need is a lot of patience and consistency.
Here is a summary of my hair journey to help you understand better where i am coming from.

So after a failed hair journey (I retained no length for about 5months due to protein overload which led to dry, brittle, breaking hair) this was in august 2009. So i officially started another one in feb 2010

The progress was amazing, my hair was not only thicker but it had gotten a lot longer. 2011 was no different i noticed a increase in length with every relaxer. my ends looked great and i loved how the back looked.

And then 2012! i decided to stop relaxing my hair bone straight, this is called texlaxing unfortunately i didn´t do enough research on how to transition to texlaxing and this was a big mistake. As a result my hair was breaking off where the relaxed hair and texlaxed hair were meeting, unfortunately i realised what was happening too late! the damage was already done. I think it is so annoying how hair takes such a long time to grow but it takes only a few days to damage. so here is what it looked like in April.
The problem area is very visible :-(

Here is what i´m doing till my hair gets back on track, i will make sure that my hair is moisturised at all times especially the back to keep it from breaking even more and i am trimming my hair every four weeks until the middle catches up with the rest of the hair, so this means i will keep my hair at this length until the problem has been solved, this is my new goal.

 I hope this encourages you too not to give up on your hair even when you face a setback. And one last thing if your regimen is successful and you finaly reach your goal don´t stop doing the things you did to get you where you are. For example if you feel moisturising and sealing daily helped you reach your goal, don´t stop doing it even after reaching your goal, otherwise you might learn the hard way.

Joanne.

I love protective styles because they keep the ends of my hair tucked in.
I have been asked many times how i manage to protect my hair and retain length without braiding or weaving my hair. well my strategy is very simple i bun my hair alot. Buns, when not done too tight can help to keep the ends safe and will help with length retention.
You are probably wondering why i choose buns over braids or weave, well i am one of those people who can´t keep one style in for a long time and other than that i always want to have access to my hair at all times. washing & deep conditioning braids and wevaes is a bit tiresome for me so i just have fun with my buns.
I am currently in the maximum length retention challenge on Gahl and one of the rules of the challenge is to keep my hair in protective styles 90% of the time.
Here are a few styles i have tried out since the challenge started. by the way if you would like to join us in the challenge you are most welcome.

Cute bun




Faux bun




Ponytail bun

When i was younger getting my hair done was not a good experience. honestly it was much better to have cornrows stay in forever than have them undone and have to go through the torture of COMBING. and if i didn´t behave during these sessions, i always got a stern warning of my hair being shaved off or i got a blow from the wooden comb. These hair sessions were horrible!
i´m sure some of you might have gone through the same thing and are doing exactly the same with your little princesses. it doesn´t have to be like that. Doing your daughters hair can be fun for both of you and here´s how:

• If your child is under one please don´t be too aggressive on their sensitive scalps just be sure to keep her hair clean and less manipulation. i suggest using a moisturiser and a light oil like coconut oil to keep the hair from drying out.

• for older kids ,over 3 years , suggest washing their hair once a week. you might want to learn to do some cute simple hairstyles so that you always do her hair at home. this way you will be sure that your child´s hair is not done too tight. if someone else is doing her hair make sure to be there and supervise. Don´t leave your child in the hands of just any hair dressers who will fry their hair with a blow drier first and then proceed to braiding them too tight. how do you know her hair has been done too tight.

1. small red or white bumps form along partings, hairline & edges.
2. an extra-shiny look to partings and exposed areas of your scalp.
3. white-tipped hairs sticking up from your braid where it starts at the hairline.
4. excessively dry, flaking skin along parts, particularly at the frontal hairline.

To find out how to prepare for cornrows, weaves or braids please click here.
wash day: you will need:

•  shampoo
• a good conditioner, e.g Suave naturals conditioner
• a wide toothed comb,
• moisturiser, 
• coconut/ olive oil
• and some plastic clips

Steps:
1. let your child sit down and you can even let her watch her favourite dvd so she won´t disturb you. then seperate the hair gently into four parts preferably with your hands combing at this time ill hurt. clip three parts up and work with one part at a time.
2. divide this part into three smaller parts clip up two and work with the last one. apply a generous amount of moisturiser to that part and work it in gently and in a downward motion to prevent tangling. take your comb and pass it through. repeat the same with the other parts till one quarter is done, then just braid the whole part and proceed to the other parts.
after braiding all four parts let the moisturiser sit for a few minutes and proceed to washing.

3. let her sit down or stand but be sure to wash the hair in a downward motion. add a little (mild)shampoo to each braid and work each part one at a time. so put shampoo on all parts rinse and add conditioner to all parts. then do a final rinse.(You can rebraid a section as you go on, clip or twist just to avoid tangling and having to section her hair again)

      after wash:
4. don´t rub the hair (whilst still in braids/twists) with a towel or an old clean T shirt, just cover it up (not to tightly) only enough to absorb excess water and let her stay with it for a few minutes then remove.rubbing causes tangling = breakage and damage. unbraid/ untwist each section while spraying a moisturiser and applying oil on the hair.
after this you can either let the hair air dry or blow dry on medium heat or cool air.
5. let her get a protective style that will last a week or two and make sure to wash and condition again on removal. Cornrows/Lines/milazo or even twists are a perfect protective style for kids. the protective style should NOT too tight.

• Never use vaseline or other petroleum, mineral oil, paraffin containing products on your daughters hair. they only clog their hair strands and don´t benefit it in any way. always read the ingredients on your products. if a product does not have an ingredients list think twice before getting it.

• You should get a spray bottle to mix your child's moisturiser(a good moisturiser contains lots of water) you can use a mixture of water, a little glycerin and oil to spray her protective cornrows or twists everyday!

• always comb the hair from ends to roots.if the comb gets stuck try detangling with your fingers first then proceed with the wide toothed comb. rat tail combs have no business on your daughters natural hair.

• doing hair takes patience and time so consider doing it for yourself and your daughter only if you have time. make it a mother-daughter bonding moment where you both get to get your hair done, it will be much easier if it´s a routine.

• once in a while you can give your daughter a pre shampoo treatment. this means that in the evening before her wash day you will apply coconut oil or whichever natural plat oil of choice to her hair and let her go to bed like that and proceed to washing the next day, however be sure to cover up her head properly or else you will certainly need new bed sheets.

• if your daughter has hair that is shoulder length or longer make sure she wears the right clothes when she wears her hair  down. cotton clothes are not hair friendly. look for silkier fabrics that won´t damage her hair. which reminds me, always have a head covered up for bed or get her bed sheets made of a softer fabric.(not cotton) preferably silk and satin.

your daughter will have lovely healthy hair in no time. This regimen is for Little princesses with natural hair. For relaxed hair kids regimen please contact us :-)

 My Braid out in 2009




















My braid out in 2010













 my braid out in 2011






























































My braid out in 2012.


It´s funny how no two braid outs look the same :-)  I think braid outs are a great low manipluatiion hair style but in my opinion they are not protective styles because the ends are always down. I always end up bunning my hair even with braid outs to protect my ends.

Thanks for reading!

Joanne.

I am currently 8 weeks post and  i would like to share with you how i deal with my hair at this stage. This week i decided to roller set my hair instead of air drying like i usualy do.

I started off  by parting my hair into four parts and pre pooing each part with pumpkin seed oil for the first time. it´s the only oil i had not used on my hair and i just felt like giving it a try. it was ok apart from the nut like smell it has. After pre pooing i shampooed my hair with the organic root stimulator uplifting shampoo which is a Clarifying shampoo.



I proceeded to deep condition my hair in parts sat under the drier for 10 minutes. This made detangling under the shower so easy and i lost very little hair :-).
 I´m not a fan of roller setting because it takes so much time but i love how my hair feels soft and bouncy after a roller set. i applied my moisturiser, oil and heat protector prior to roller setting & sat under the drier for 40 minutes.

Since i wanted my hair straight the next day wrapping was the best solution. i loved the results because even my new growth turned out very soft. i definitely will put roller setting more often into consideration.

I´m sure you can see the consequences of the setback i suffered a few weeks ago, my ends don´t look as good as i would like them to. but i´m working on that. i plan on keeping my hair at this length until i achieve the thickness i am aiming for. This means that i will be trimming my hair off until i´m happy with the thickness.

Thanks for reading!

Joanne.

I Finally bought myself  a hercules Sägemann seamless comb and i must say i love it. This is the most expensive comb in my collection but it is worth every cent goes for about 11 Euros. It does a great job at detangling and i have less snagging of  hair while using it. So this was definitely a good investment.

What´s your thought on seamless combs?

Thanks for Reading!

Are you at the beginning of your hair journey? Then you have probably wondered how you can tell if a product is moisture based or protein based. We already talked about how to choose Moisturising products, please Click here if you missed it.
A balance moisture & Protein in your hair strands is very important, a defeciency in either one usualy leads to breakage and therefore no or very little length retention.  I personally understood this after having a protein over load! This means that my hair had a lot more protein than it needed and as a result the hair became brittle and dry and this led to breakage.
Some people´s hair can take a lot of protein but for others too much protein could lead to breakage and therefore no length retention. A protein overload can be treated by simply keep off protein treatments for a few weeks and stepping up the use of moisturising deep conditioners and conditioners instead. As soon as the hair feels normal again protein treatments can be incorporated back into the hair care regimen. For examples of protein and Moisture conditioners/ Treatments Click here  

Ingredients to check for when getting a protein treatment. here is one example of a protein conditioner with it´s ingredients list.

• soy protein
• milk protein
• animal protein
• keratin
• collagen
• pathenol ( binds well with hair follicles leaving it smooth and is also a humectant i.e it draws moisture from the air into your hair)
• silk amino acids
• amino acids
• liquid silk
• cholesterol
• wheat protein
• hydrolized wheat protein
• hydrolized milk protein
• hydrolized silk 

Proteins found in most modern hair products have been hydrolized. which means that they have been broken down into amino acids, hydrolized proteins can easily penetrate the hair and strengthen it from the  inside. this effect can last upto 6 weeks. Non-hydrolized proteins have larger moleküles which cannot penetrate into the hairshaft but can coat the hair´s surface an egg is a good example of a non- hydrolized Protein.. products with hydrolized proteins shouldn´t be used too often because they are more aggressive. But then again if you have been using a protein treatment/ conditioner that works perfect for you you don´t need to change anything.

For ladies with natural hair protein treatments  must not be done so religiously since the hair has not lost it´s natural protein. unless one has suffered heat damage. As for hair that has undergone any form of chemical treatment including relaxing, Texlaxing or even colouring protein treatments should be done at least every 4 weeks to add the lost protein back into the hair.

In order to make sure your hair grows with enough protein of it´s own just eat protein rich foods.