Hiya,
So you all know this blog is about tips and tricks on how to grow longer, healthier hair and if there is any phrase I have used the most on here it would be 'moisturize and seal' over and over again till I know I've started sounding like a broken record!! 

Well it's that important! But one of the mails I regularly get is where do I find these oils to seal the moisture in my hair and in the past I have recommended different shops for different oils like coconut oil, Amla oil, Tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil etc. till FINALLY the ladies of VANITY OILS reached out to me via email and let me tell you, they are the ONE STOP SHOP for ALL your hair oil needs!! I'm writing in caps so you can feel my excitement! Get excited with me will ya!lol

Anyways, they sent me some samples of their oils and a little cutesy tub of Shea butter 



All I can say is I am impressed with the quality of the oils, they are all 100% pure and natural but still refined enough that you don't go around smelling like a tree! They delivered straight to my gate and I am sure they have bigger sized bottles but the samples were in small travel size bottles with applicator tips which I LOVE and wish they arrived before I traveled but the good thing is I will always have them to use as travel sized containers for my oils! Thanks VANITY OILS!!

So without a shadow of doubt I recommend to you my dear readers, VANITY OILS click here for their website . My recommendation comes because they have a wide variety of essential and carrier oils, they focus exclusively on oils so I am sure they will not run out of oils unlike somewhere else that sells other products as well as oils, they know their onions; their website has full details on the oils they sell and their uses!

This leads to this Month's hair challenge; I have dubbed the NHCG Oil Preepoo challenge! Every wash day of the month usually the weekend, let's use one essential oil and a carrier oil mixed together  to oil our scalps, line by line, then don a shower cap and place a warm towel over the shower cap for  at least 30 minutes. I recommend using castor oil for this challenge if you want thicker hair.

I will be giving away one of the sample oils I got from vanity oils to the first person that sends an email to my email address daboju@yahoo.com saying 'I WANT ThE OIL PLEASE' but to qualify you will have to live or work around the Ikoyi/VI/Lekki Axis of Lagos. 


Please visit Vanity oils website; www.vanityoils.com and start to place your orders on an array of oils, remember moisturizing without sealing with oil is like building blocks without plaster! Get it??lol

Xxx
Dabs

UPDATE** In less than 30 minutes of me putting up this post there is a winner of the sample oil- CONGRATS           

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

SCALP HEALTH
Hiya,
I have been meaning to put up a post focused on Scalp health for a while, I have finally gotten the chance to put my thoughts together so here goes;

The Scalp is like the soil of your hair, crops depend on how conducive the soil is before they can grow. Let me take you back to Agric class for a minute; from what I can recall, the best soil for growing most crops is Loamy soil because it contains more nutrients and hummus and can retain more water and manure compared to sandy or clay soil. Likewise the scalp is the foundation of your hair, healthy hair depends on the state of ones scalp.

Beneath the scalp are over 100,000 hair follicles which are responsible for distributing oils and nutrients from root to tip.  Failure to care for your scalp can result in the following; thinning hair, dry brittle strands, slow hair growth, scalp dryness, itching and dandruff!!

Most people that have any of the above conditions affecting their hair fail to blame their scalp health; to them it's  either the fault of a hair style, stylist or  hair product!

So how can you ensure your scalp is healthy;

Keep it CLEAN; Not SQUEAKY CLEAN though! The first foundation for a healthy scalp is cleanliness. A good shampoo preferably without sulfates should do the job. But washing your hair 5 times so it is squeaky clean is not necessary for a clean scalp, depending on how dirty your hair is all you should need is one wash concentrating on your scalp, leave the ends alone because shampoo can be drying. If your hair is piled on with a lot of product you might need a CLARIFYING shampoo, it will break down all that product build up.

OIL IT ; Don't  GREASE IT!  There is a difference, oiling your hair with light natural oils versus petroleum based oils allow your scalp breath and be infused with nutrients  rather than be clogged from manufactured petroleum oil! Clogging means your scalp cannot breathe and thus hair growth will be stunted.

PROMOTE CIRCULATION; your scalp needs proper blood circulation to thrive and the best way to stimulate circulation is giving it a good massage at least once a day preferably after oiling it. Massaging is not only good for your scalp,it's a great way to relax and put in a nice workout for your arms.

AVOID PUTTING STRESS on your scalp through hair styles that will pull hair out of it. Once Alopecia( nearly irreversible hair loss) takes place it's another battle altogether, so allowing your hair to be held so tightly till bumps show up is the worst idea ever. If you are already suffering of Alopecia and baldness in parts of your hair you might consider getting a scalp analysis from a trichologist.  The Gentle Touch Hair Institute has trained trichologists who can use their technology to find out what's going on with your scalp.

I have come to the end of this post. Hopefully with these tips you can put your scalp in check, remember you only have one scalp so take care of it. Thanks for stopping by and catch you in my next post.

Ciao,
Dabs

Hiya,
The year has come to an end and I am filled with gratitude to the Most High for all He has done for me and mine!! I went on youtube recently and watched one of the hair guru's video on her hair product awards and thought it would be a fun post for me to do on this blog and so;

 WELCOME  TO THE  NAIJA HAIR CAN GROW 2011 HAIR PRODUCTS AWARDS!!!

APPLAUSEEEEEEEEE!!

Without much ado, the first award category is; BEST SHAMPOO IN 2011!
                              The Nominees are; VO5 shampoo
                                                           Aphogee shampoo for damaged hair
                                                           Pantene 2 in 1 shampoo and condtioner
                                                           Dr miracle feel it formula 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner
THE WINNER IS; ALL OF THE ABOVE!! As I have mentioned in the past, most shampoos serve the same purpose which is to cleanse hair. This year, I hardly stuck to any shampoo because of this notion and my focus was co-washing(conditioner washing) my hair because that is what keeps the moisture in your hair and since I washed my hair at least once a week, I didnt need a super cleansing shampoo because my hair was never  too dirty.

The Next award category is; BEST CONDITIONER IN 2011
                                           The nominees are; Aphogee keratin 2 minute reconstructor
                                                                       Motions Salons Herbal Conditioner
                                                                       VO5 Conditioners.

THE WINNER IS; Without a doubt is APHOGEE KERATIN 2 MINUTE RECONSTRUCTOR!

There is no competition, this conditioner is lightweight so you can mix it easily with other oils and mayonnaise, it smells great and most importantly it really leaves your feeling soft and manageable, my only little issue with it is that it should come in a BIGGER bottle so it lasts longer :)

CATEGORY 3 is THE 2011 AWARD FOR BEST PRE POO HAIR TREATMENT;
                              The nominees are; Mayonnaise,eggs and oils-protein treatment
                                                          Avocado hair mask
                                                          Deep conditioning hair treatment
                             The Winner is; THE MAYONNAISE, EGGS AND OILS PROTEIN TREATMENT  done every other week really helped strengthen my ends and prevented them from breaking off.

I will continue to do this treatment in the new year. A few ladies told me it did not work for them including my sister but when they described how the went about it I instantly knew the reason why it didnt work. Their hair was suffering from protein overload!! My sister for one slept with her's in her hair overnight when its supposed to be on for a few hours and washed out and then another friend used  'hair mayonnaise' in the mixture instead of normal mayo and that is already packed with protein so naturally there was an overload and what happens when there's an overload of protein? breakage! so if you want to incorporate this into your regimen do it right, check out my weekend regimen post for guidelines .

The next Award category is 2011 BEST HAIR RELAXER
The nominees include; Carson's Optimum care relaxer
                                  At One Hair Relaxer
                                 Herbal Rich, Lye Creme Relaxer
                               Silk Elements Megasilk No lye relaxer

The winner is; SILK ELEMENTS MEGASILK NO LYE RELAXER