Hiya,
Its the weekend already and the last Day of the first half of this year!! God is Good!! Well today I am going for my first ever hair meet up and its called NATURALS IN THE CITY 3. Its the third time the organizers are doing this event and from the pictures I saw from the last one, its gonna be a fun event. So if you have nothing doing today and you are in Lagos, come on out to the meet up, Id love to meet my readers :) For more info, here's a link.

So with the 'NATURALS' meet up on my mind, I remembered an article I read sometime ago on Curly Nikki talking about AFRICAN Vs AFRICAN AMERICAN HAIR PRACTICES.

Basically, the post and comments focused on how in Africa, our tie to hair is not as intense as in the West  because most of us had compulsory natural hair in secondary school and going natural to those in the West is more of a big deal and based on more of a conviction than for Africans who most likely have seen their natural hair. The writer pointed out that African's love for relaxer could have been borne from their wanting to disassociate from those secondary school years...

You see, the writer had a point but you need to read the hot debate that went down in the comments area between Africans and African Americans. It was very uncomfortable to read some comments by some of the Americans, they were offended by the notion that most Africans view hair as JUST HAIR and going natural was not some kind of declaration of independence. As you all know I am not natural so I can't speak for those who have decided to go natural but I can ask them(hee hee), African Naturals O, please whats was your motive for going natural?

Instyler Hair Straightener And Curling IronTill this article I thought it was more of a health thing when people went natural, didn't know for some or most Americans it was a deep rooted issue oh. But in my opinion, I agree with the comments by Africans that said here we are not that sensitive about hair. Its very true, most of us have seen our natural hair in its natural state or have people around who have natural hair so to most of us, we are not trying to quench our curiosity, again with the way hair is treated here you can see the value placed on it and its really low that it has become sad! Hair in Nigeria (let me speak for my country) its a matter of, if you have that's your luck, if you don't, Oya buy human hair, make we hear word! LOL. So you do not know the joy I feel when I know that I am changing peoples views on this hair issue and that there are other Nigerians starting to do the same thing, so much so we have a MEET UP?!!Wow, things are definitely changing for better.

I am not saying hair should be a seriously deep rooted issue for us oh, but it should be serious enough to make us take care of it, Shikena!!

Please read the article and tell me what you think and Lasgidi ladies, see you at the meet up :)

   Xxx

Hiya,
How is everyone doing? I am really feeling the love from you my readers and I thank you all immensely for the support! Your the reason I keep blogging!!

Well Friday the 22nd was my hubby's birthday and though  we were not going out, we had friends and family over and of course that meant I had to look good and rep my man properly!!!*wide grin*

So I decided to play with my hair a little and I came up with this fancy, simple, elegant style I'd like to share here.




 By now I am sure you all know how much I Love big braids, it all started from my wedding!! since then I find every excuse to revamp this hair style. Let me take you through how I achieved this look.

First I parted the front part of my hair to the side like this;

How Y'all doing?! I am bringing to the fore a segment of this blog I kind of abandoned when I started called Salon Profile!!

I stopped profiling salons for a number of reasons; chief amongst them is that I do my hair myself including relaxers and I don't use extensions. But I liked the idea and even though I did not get much of a reaction from readers in my first profile. I will keep doing them till they catch on. I was more than convinced that this segment will continue here when I watched an episode of Jerseylicious recently that involved the SALON GUY a salon review guy who was kind of bashing the Gatsby salon, Kristy and Gale then decided to prove his notions wrong and organized an event and he was invited and his perception changed due to the success of the event and he gave them a better review! 

Well the point of my little rehash is to buttress the aim of this segment; I'm appointing myself as the SALON GAL in Lagos!  I will visit salons personally or send my spy LOL either as an observer or an actual customer( I'm sure I can find something they can do for me...oh the thought) and I will be assessing the salons with a very keen eye based on different aspects, then I will post my honest opinion on the salon's general performance. 

The result I am hoping will be raised standards in the salon industry, I am tired of everyone talking about how they do not care about salon visits anymore or those who are now immune to the filth that perpetuates in salons these days! By the time a salon has its customers leaving and their next door salon increases customers based on a review given by my humble self, I am sure the defaulting salon will sit up because let's face it, not everyone has the flair or the time to do their own hair, but how can you thrive in your hair journey when you have no choice but to hand your hair fate over to a salon where they do not know what they are doing!!

So unto the first review of the season! Salon Profile of EDEN SALON; 


I heard great things from friends about Eden Salon on the Lekki Epe express way and couldn't wait to visit them, so when wash day came along some time ago, I decided to go and deep condition there instead of in my living room with my shower cap on!lol

I was about 8 weeks post relaxer but wanted to stretch my relaxer to 10 weeks so my edges would be fresh for an event coming up, usually I'd slap on my deep conditioning mix on my hair, cover my hair with a shower cap then a scarf and drive off to the salon just to use their hair steamer and wash my hair out but this time since I had heard the hype, I decided to go with all my products instead and leave them to apply them on at the salon and thank God I did because when I got there I was immediately informed that I was not allowed to bring my own products!!What!! That was a first in Niaja!! They told me, the salon exclusively used Kera care professional products. I was given a menu that had all these treatments and prices, I picked the one I thought was close to a normal deep conditioning treatment and reasonably priced and proceeded to take a seat in the waiting area.

The ambiance of the salon was fine, colorful; orange, purple and lime  green on the seats, walls and stations, it was neatly organized, staff all seemed professional THEN I met their boss( I think). 

She looked like a South African lady with maybe Indian decent, she came up to me with a smile and informed me that the stylists will scramble for my hair, she then proceeded to TELL me that I will be getting a relaxer that day, that my hair was too oily, that oil is bad for my type of hair( which made me wonder how she knew seeing that her hair texture as an Indian was different from my African hair). When I told her than I was trying to stretch my relaxer till 10 weeks she exclaimed  'that's wrong!!' telling me that relaxing my hair should be every 6 weeks!! I tried to let her know the benefits of stretching and the Madam almost vexed for me oh!! She told me she had over 20 years of experience doing hair and she was sure she knew more than me!! 

At that point I was really exasperated! I could not believe I had spent almost half an hour having 'a smiling argument' with this lady, all I came for was a deep condition oh! I got myself together, looked her firmly in the eyes and told her I will not be relaxing my hair that day, she knew she had to give that up but then she looked at the menu and decided that a more expensive hair treatment would be best for my hair; I almost asked  'madam do you know how much is in my wallet that you want me to pay almost N4000 just to steam my hair!'

Anyways, I didn't want to start another one so I sat down and let the stylist do her thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the wash, she gave me a good scalp massage and everything was fine till it came to styling; I did not want the blow dry and brush thing they do that just destroys hair and I did not want straightening either but these people tried to convince me that with their wonderful heat protectant nothing will happen to my 8weeks old, tangled as heck hair! They were speaking to the wrong person! I insisted on old school big rollers and dried them under a hooded dryer, when I got out, miss stylist decided to comb my very dry hair( thanks to their method of using just setting lotion when rolling hair) with a small styling comb!! At this pointed I had enough, I got out my big tooth comb, put my dry frizzy curls in a ponytail, plastered a smile on my face and ran outta there before they tried to book me for another appointment!!

DISLIKES
You see my visit to Eden was no paradise but I learnt a few things, having a know it all attitude is a major turnoff! I know the Boss lady had all good intentions when she was addressing me but I couldn't ignore her forcey nature! To think that a customer's point of view is not worth listening to because you have 20 years experience can fly when that customer is a hair novice not eh me, madam Naija Hair Can Grow o!LOL but seriously, I would have liked if she dropped her 2cents and stepped back a bit and allowed customers make their own decisions. I also do not like the whole idea of not using clients hair products, I know it's done abroad but I still don't like it because I want to feel free to use products I know work well for my hair! 

LIKES
I liked the menu with the prices but allowing clients pick the services rather than imposing it on them is better, again your 2cents is welcome( talking to the boss lady) LOL! Lastly I liked that they tried to book a next appointment, very business savvy! Hook you in eh! Well as I stated, I avoided the hook just in time, don't know how...fake number maybe!LOL

Unfortunately I will be giving Eden Salon 3stars out of 5, it's unfortunate because clearly the salon is set up for exceptional service but for the glitches here and there. Hope they improve, might send a spy there in the future...

Well I have come to the end of this very long post! Whew! I hope it helps and expect more salon profiles. The giveaway is still on, so enter for a chance to win. Have you visited Eden Salon in Lekki?How was your visit?lets know below.


Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
How is everyone doing? Hope fine! Well as long as I remember starting my hair journey, I have always heard about and  done protein hair treatments. It's one of the first things you find out about when you research on hair care, so for ladies starting their hair journey, this post is primarily for you!

 Let's get to the basics; In Summary, your hair strands are made of protein bonds linked together. Due to wear and tear especially heat, these links can  get broken and protein treatments are known to TEMPORARILY repair and strengthen hair strands by filling up gaps in the cuticle and if of a sufficiently small size can also penetrate to the cortex.

Temporarily is written in bold letters for reason; you see when you do a protein treatment to fill the missing protein bond link on your hair strand do not expect  the link to be filled in for more than a week. I even read on a blog that the size of amino acids in the protein we apply on our hair which in my case is egg or mayonnaise is too large to be absorbed in hair strands for long, so HYDROLYZED proteins are recommended instead because they have been broken down to absorb into hair strands longer, so I will look out for HYDROLYZED protein in hair conditioners on my next visit to the US but what I did gather from that article was that for your hair to benefit in anyway from protein treatments, they have to be regularly done! At least every other week, because they are a temporary fix for missing hair links, links which you can never get back in your hair!!

 I say, let your hair speak to you and you better listen! You know your hair needs a protein treatment ASAP when your hair is over shedding, breaking, thinning out and getting split ends but why even wait for all that to happen before you react, it's like hearing there will be a tsunami in your town and you wait around your home, watching the news till it hits you instead of getting packed and driving farrrrr away! It's better to incorporate a protein treatment into your regimen at least once every other week especially if you stress your hair with weaves and extensions than waiting to see signs. I once heard a stylist tell his customer to 'steam'( Naija term for deep conditioning/protein treatments) her hair every 2months!! 2 months keh! Our stylists will not kill us oh!Anyways lets get practical;

 How to make a protein treatment;

The classic treatment-

an egg, hair conditioner and essential oils like olive, castor or sweet almond oil. Mix together and apply from root to tip and cover hair with a shower cap for at least 45mins! Then rinse out.

 Treatments with a twist; To the classic treatment you can add-

Mayonnaise for double dose protein but be careful, protein overload can break hair so make sure the hair conditioner used does not have protein in it!(don't use hair mayonnaise and normal mayonnaise together, that's protein overload)

 Honey- as a humectant, it will add shine to your hair and make it softer

 Fruits like avocados- for shine, moisture and extra conditioning; lemon juice- for lighter strands.

 Henna- conditions and strengthen your hair big time!

 So whether you want to do the classic treatment or a treatment with a twist, make sure to add a regular protein hair treatment to your hair regimen.

I have come to the end of this post. I hope it helps!The giveaway is still on till the month ends, thanks to those who have entered, interested ladies should check it out and I have added our Facebook page on the blog, only 17 people like this blog!!! Mba!! I refuse to believe that :) Please click the Facebook like button, show some love!


 Xxx
Dabs

On this day last year, I put up my My Personal Hair Journey. I took you through my hair story with pictures and at the end I informed you all that I cut off a considerable amount of my hair because it was thinning;

Don't mind the bloated Prego face!!LOL

Then I added that unlike in the past when I was unsure about my hair's capabilities, this time around I was certain that it would grow back healthy and longer and as they say, let the pictures speak for themselves! Below are pictures of my hair THEN and NOW a year after!let me also add that my hair has NEVER been this healthy or even this long!ever!!

LOL@ the sad face in my 2011 picture!! I didn't mean to cut that much hair off but now I am glad I did!!

My hair June 10th 2011 and June 10th 2012; Wearing the same grey tank top I wore in 2011 The work is still ongoing with my hair, you can see its tendency to thin out in the middle, most times when hair grows to the back it becomes thinner in the middle because that's the section that rubs against clothes the most. So I am working on that. I hear putting your hair up in buns works to avoid thinning and also concentrated massages to that section. Basically by pointing out my problem area hair wise, I am establishing a point you should always have in mind;  the journey really never stops!!

A friend who used to have very  long beautiful hair for a long time lost it all within a year! Just because she neglected it. Now she follows this blog dedicatedly and things are looking up for her hair! So there really is never a time you can say I'm done with this hair journey, I have reached my goal length because you might get there but then other issues can arise and I would like to think that the remedies I recommend here are easy breezy and anybody serious about hair growth can follow them and see results. On that note, it's time for our first ever GIVEAWAY!!!!

I will be giving away this Naija Hair Can Grow gift hamper; Comprising of all the essentials in my most popular post 10 things to stop receding hair line! I am calling it the NO MORE RECEDING HAIR STARTER KIT; 


It includes;

A small (hair) pillow made by me from raw silk material which will prevent your hair from drying out.


A Bottle of Castor oil; we all know it's use

A specially made scalp massager;  it has spider looking ends that are covered with snag free tips to help stimulate your scalp as you massage to increase blood flow to your scalp and promote hair growth.

A soft bristle brush; In my post I recommend avoiding hard bristle brushes and recommend using a toothbrush for edges but how weird will it be to add a toothbrush to this giveaway!LOL so I'm adding a soft bristle brush which is similar to the kind I use


To win; all you have to do is;
Be a follower of this blog, like our Facebook page and below in the comments form, please tell me how this blog has inspired you to care for your hair. A winner will be picked at the end of the month based on the most inspiring comment :), please leave your email address with your comment and Delivery is limited to Lagos so if you live outside Lagos, feel free to enter as long as you have a valid address for delivery within Lagos!!

Thanks for your support ladies!

Xxx
Dabs

On this day a year ago, I started this blog! I was introduced to blogging about a year before I started through a friend. I created my first blog to chronicle my wedding planning journey, it was private to just friends and was called The Wedding Journal. I fell in love with the whole concept of blogging from then on and decided to start a public blog focused on one of my favorite past times, HAIR CARE! 

So on the 8th of June, 2011 I created my first ever post titled THE SCARY TRUTH! I wanted it to catch the attention of readers and it did! One year down the line I have 56 followers and counting :) , about 10,000hits monthly and readers from all over the world!! It's been a real blessing to feel heard and to be able to reach out to many with this platform! I want to thank every single person that has perused this blog and been able to take anything relevant from it and I hope that I will continue enjoying your support!

I have been tagged blog awards about 3 times In the past and have always been too busy to respond accordingly but I think a response in this post will be apt, so I can reveal a little more about myself personally.

One Lovely Blog Award

I received the One Lovely Blog Award from WaistelengthWishes.blogspot.com a few weeks ago and I have received similar awards from Stels of the spring in my steps and Nightingale!So this is in response to all your awards, thanks again ladies :)

In accordance to the rules of the award, I have to share 7 peculiar facts about myself.

Fact 1: I am a 25 year old wife and mother of a cute little boy which I call Ataz Bobo!

Fact 2: I am a lawyer by profession and actually met my hubby at law school!

Fact 3: God is my source for everything, the anchor of my life! I attend an awesome church called The house on the Rock, Pastor Paul has been a blessing!

Fact 4: I am the first born child of my family and guess what? So is my hubby! Responsibility much!!

Fact 5: I don't believe in impossibilities! Truly there is hardly any idea you can come up with that I will say is impossible especially if you believe in it yourself!

Fact 6: that's why I am a budding entrepreneur, I get such a buzz from new, innovative business ideas! I literally stay awake all night long shaping ideas that pop in my head.

Fact 7: I am a hopeless romantic! I am that girl you hear in the cinema sniffing her nose and wiping away tears thanks to a mushy romantic scene in a movie!

Oh and the final fact for good measure? I strongly believe, without a shadow of doubt in me that Naija hair can grow!!

Thanks again for all the support! 

Much love!
Dabs

Hiya,
A new month has begun and I have been really down because of the unfortunate plane crash that occurred on the 3rd which happened to be the same day I dedicated my baby in Church! My heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one in that crash, the Lord strengthen you!!

Well with the start of a new month, calls for another hair challenge!  This month lets challenge ourselves to relieve the combs and brushes a bit while we make use of our fingers to smooth out our hair. I got this idea when I was browsing through You tube some weeks ago and noticed that some hair guru's actually rely heavily on finger combing and for good reason.

You see, when you are constantly combing and brushing your hair even when it is moisturized, you loose hair unnecessarily due to the tugging and pulling even with a wide tooth comb and if you are like me, when I get a comb in my hair I want to make sure it glides through it and most times that takes at least 3 times of raking the comb through the hair and doing that every single day can be costly to your hair because aside from shed hair, there will also be comb raked out hair on the floor!!

So whats the solution? Your very own fingers. One of the hair guru's gave me a brilliant idea! She said she combs her hair with a comb just twice a week!! Yeap, just twice, on the days she gets hair hair washed which are Sunday and Wednesday. She uses the comb to detangle her damp hair and allows it to air dry and styles it with her fingers for the rest of the week! What she noticed is that she recorded more length retention and that's all you want if your aim is longer hair.

So ladies we have our work cut out for us this month. I am going to try using a comb on my hair just twice a week and finger comb the rest of the time. The comb's job will really be to detangle and remove snags from my hair, once I am detangled then I will use my fingers to gently rearrange my strands and keep them neatly in a bun or some flat twists or braid out- Whatever style option I choose, I will be using FINGERS MOSTLY!!

Join and lets see how this goes, you can also modify it the way you want to maybe just once a week or every other day or just on wash day; whatever the case just try and significantly reduce your use of combs and brushes this month for more length retention.

On the 8th of June this blog turns 1 and I am super excited and will do a giveaway!! Stay tuned for my post on that day and make sure you participate so you can be the lucky winner that receives my 1year anniversary giveaway!!

Xxx
Dabs


*photo credit- africannaturalistas.com

Hiya,
I decided to start a new segment here called Be INSPIRED!! Basically, I will interview ladies with healthy, long relaxed hair and find out a little bit more about their hair care regimen, hair goals etc. Naturally I decided to start off with family, so dear Naija Hair Can Grow family, meet my younger sister- MINA!!




Hi Mina, 


How long is your hair?  
Mina; Its Bra Strap  Length at the longest part



Has it been Chemically treated?
Mina; well I am relaxed, been relaxed since High School, I have also dyed my hair darker and then auburn in the past. That's about all.




Is this the longest your hair has been? 


Mina; Yes but it was almost this long at University but bad management broke it all off so I had to start to afresh in 2009.




How did u start afresh?


Mina;  I cut it off to neck length above my shoulder, by the start of  2011 my hair was sitting comfortably on my shoulders









So How did you grow it out?


Mina;  No more dyes, prolonged relaxer stretches to 8 / 12 weeks from every 4 weeks (lol Can't believe I used to relax my hair every month!!) I use non alcholic gels, no more weaves, basically try to be as natural as possible.



 During your relaxer stretches what do you?


Mina; Brush it, avoid combing except just to detangle and I use gel for the edges, I am in a non fashion oriented profession!(medicine) so I am not out to make fashion statements!LOL! I also do big braids  but not Ghana weaving! Love my edges too much for that!

What are your fave hair products/accessories; 


Mina; soft bristle hair brushes, cantu Shea butter, Proclaim hair gel, extra virgin olive oil, ORS deep conditioner and I love big snap clips because they are easy to use, tangle free and apply less stress on your ends;





What relaxer are you using at the moment;


Mina; soft and beautiful for kids but I am not particular about relaxers, I just like anything that loosens my curl pattern a little bit. I have even stopped expecting to get bone straight hair results because it never happens for me that's why I switched to a kids relaxer kit. 



What products don't you like? 


Mina; Hair detanglers do not work for your my hair, can't stand them!

So what detangles your hair?


Mina;  Glycerin and water mixture thanks to you sis! It just takes all the tangles out!!

Are you facing any hair challenge presently?


Mina; YES!!My hair is shedding big time!!I'm fed up! It causing me to have uneven ends but thing is, those ends are healthy as well and I am reluctant to trim them off!!


Naija Hair can grow recommendation; 'Mina a regular black tea rinse once a week could be the answer to your shedding woes! thank God its just shedding and not breaking!! Also trim those ends, your hair will grow back!!!' 


Favorite protective hairstyle? 


Mina; a solid bun and I also love bantu knots
Any hair goals?


Mina; Butt length!lol

Realistic goals please?


Mina;  Ok ok mid back length is my goal

Any weekend hair rituals? 


Mina; Not really because I am very busy but when I visit this blog I get excited always to give my hair a treat!


Thanks Mina for sharing all this info about your hair, we wish you the best!! Happy growing :) And happy growing days to my readers as well!! This month this blog turns 1 and I am super excited and will be doing a giveaway in the coming weeks so stay tuned and thanks for all the support!!




Xxx
DABS