Happy 2017!!! 
I had taken a break from blogging and now I am back with a detailed update of my healthy hair journey in 2016.

1. Pre shampoo treatment (tropical coconut oil brand Alison)  
2. Shampoo once a week (herbal essences hello hydration shampoo I recently incorporated African black soap to my routine).
3. Condition with a moisturizing conditioner once a week and a protein based (has hydrolyzed proteins) conditioner once a months (I am yet to settle on any particular brands). I do not use any deep conditioners.
4. Stretch hair using twists and bantu knots(Check tutorial on my YouTube channel)
5. Moisturize and seal with an oil or butter every other day.
6. Wear one hairstyle per week to reduce manipulation.
7. Always wear a scarf to bed.

1. 
   
   
   
   When it comes to retaining length and maintaining the ends of my hair, protective styling comes in handy. If you are reading this and you have always thought that hair had to be braided or in a weave to be protected I hope to convince you otherwise. A protective hairstyle is any hairstyle that keeps your ends off your clothes and ideally hidden to avoid damage. Buns are a great way to protect your hair and still have access to it at all times. To protect my hairline I create a loose pompadour or loose mini buns at the front to reduce the pressure applied on my hairline.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   braid out pompadour

   
   
   
    braids are the most common protective hairstyle in Kenya and in Africa as a whole. They are also one of the main causes for hair damage and more so hairline damage. The last time I had braids done was about a year ago and I loved the braids. But unfortunately I suffered so much damage that I promised myself that I wont ever braid my hair again.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Mini twists are a life saver for those weeks when the last thing on my mind is my hair, they are not only versatile but also easy to wash and care for.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   All buns and no afro makes me a dull girl so 2016 was also full of afros and some variation of the afro, remember my goal was to have fun but not damage my hair at the same time. to achieve this I made sure that these kinds of hairstyles would only last upto three days to avoid knots and tangles. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   I like to stretch my hair out because my curls are so tight which makes tangling and knotting very easy and my go to ways of stretching is either blow drying on cool to medium air using the tension method or using bantu knots. Please check for the link below for a tutorial on this method.

My hair products

texture shot, wet natural hair

texture shot wet natural hair.

My hair has got three different textures which I am really trying hard to understand because they all behave different. The back of my hair and the edges have very loose curls, the middle has corkscrew spirals which look amazing but shrink like nobody´s business ( during my long-term transition to natural I thought that the middle had really tight curls but that is actually not the case) I will try to take better pictures so you can understand what I mean. The front of my head definitely has looser curls with little definition when compared to the rest of my hair. I am still very amazed that one head of hair can have many different textures African hair is just amazing!
The pictures above show the texture of my hair right after washing and before applying any product to my hair.

pony puff: I wore this hairstyle for almost two weeks

As for styling, I recently started making my hair lie down using gel, a soft hair brush and a scarf. This trio never backfires on me. I thank God for this discovery. Normally after air drying my hair, I try as much as possible not to touch my hair. This way my curls stay defined until my next wash (I just spray a little of my leave in conditioner nightly). The only thing I deal with every night are the edges which I moisten, apply some gel and then slick down with my hands and brush. The rest of the magic is done by the scarf.
This method has made protective styling quite easy for me because it helps mould my hair and keep it in place. and it looks good too!

Protective styling: slick edges thanks to enliven Gel.

Protective styling: slick edges thanks to enliven Gel.

My tools of trade. soft brush, Enliven hair gel  and wide toothed comb

I hardly ever comb my hair these days, I literally detangle my hair about twice a month. Most of the time I just use my fingers and conditioner to detangle my hair and so far it is working very well. I choose not to detangle using the comb too often just to give my hair a break from too much manipulation. Low manipulation keeps the hair from breaking off unnecessarily.

 The challenge is still on click HERE to join







1. I always do a pre shampoo treatment( pre-poo) with a mixture of sunflower oil, tea tree oil & olive oil. I find that this oil mixture really softens my new growth.( I normally leave this on for about 30 minutes to 1 Hour.
   
   

   Left: Pre- shampoo treatment.                                              freshly washed, conditioned & Tshirt dried hair.

   
   
2. Before going under the shower to wash my hair, I properly remove any shed hairs i can find using my fingers. My hair is usually divided into two or four sections.(I comb my hair only once a week)
3. I then rinse my hair with warm water for a few minutes and proceed to shampoo with the cream of nature Argan oil sulfate free shampoo or the seba med everyday shampoo ( also sulphate free).( while washing I keep finger detangling my hair).
4. After rinsing off the shampoo with warm water, I apply the nivea long hair repair 1 Min express treatment which I leave on for exactly one minute. After rinsing it off I apply my Aussie moist conditioner and rinse it off after a few minutes. I no longer feel the need to leave the conditioner on for too long because I usually get soft hair immediately. After using these two.
   
   
   
   

5. Washday: sunday 9th June. moisturised & sealed hair, air dried in a bun

   I normally rinse off the conditioners with cool water, which makes the hair smooth and reduces frizz. This is also the point at which I will de-tangle my hair with my seamless comb. By this time the comb will just be gliding through :)
6. I use a soft clean cotton T-shirt to gently blot water from the hair then I apply my home made leave in conditioner, followed by some coconut oil to seal in the moisture and a hair butter to seal in the moisture even better. This method is popularly known as the LOC method and it helps my hair retain moisture for about two to three days! This is why I moisturise every other day.
   
   
   
   
7. Last but not least, I either let my hair air dry open or I bun it and let it air dry. I will later just bun my hair.
   
   

   Bun on air dried hair, I love trying out new buns :)