Hiya Ladies,
How's everyone doing? Hope well!! I am here with a  product review guys!! It's been a long time coming. To Ri Ara is the name of the brand and it's a relatively new brand that focuses on selling organic hair and skin care products ranging from oils to soaps, scrubs and butters. They were one of the vendors at the Mommy & Me event I hosted recently and I took the chance to stock up on some of their goodies...


I got 2 generously sized bottles of their body oils which comprises of mainly shea oil and coconut oil with a blend of essential oils, lemongrass in one and citrus oil blends in the other. A bottle cost N3000 but I got a 10% discount for buying that day.

 Things I LOVE about these oils; first, obviously the fact that they are all natural is a huge plus. I love the sizes, the oils are quite concentrated in scent, once you open them the scent just hits your nose which I love and I have noticed most oils with such concentration come in little bottles so these sizes are a plus!! Finally I like the bottle, the dispenser head allows for easy control of how much oil comes out of the bottle.

I have been using these oils in the following ways...

As a sealant- the most obvious use asides from applying it on the body. I just take a little after moisturizing my hair and apply it to the ends of my hair to seal it.

On my elbows, knees and feet- there's been no room for ashy feet, knees or elbows with these oils around me, I have even left one in the car for convenience.

In hot bath water- It was a cold night and I had just come home from a long day, I had this brilliant idea to drop a few drops of the Lemongrass variation in my bath water...it was THE MOST RELAXING bath I had had in a long time!!!My skin also felt nice and moisturized after too!!

Finally, As a Prepoo- I just slather the oil all over my hair from root to tip a few hours before I shampoo, leaves my hair feeling very nourished with some sheen.

In all, I love this brand and their body oils, the little tubs are a sugar scrub and a lip balm which will come in so handy during the harmattan season.

WHO ELSE LOVES OILS? HOW DO YOU USE BODY OILS? 

Hope this post helps someone out there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Xxx
Dabs

So I decided she should spear head the challenge and I will post her progress on the blog and see if the claims about the green house effect are true! 

Hiya,
It's been a minute, the past few days I have used to overcome major jet lag and finally today I am able to put my thoughts together!
I always get mails from readers asking about hair remedies they have heard about or read about. When I get mails like that, for the remedies that I know about that work, I reply giving my 2 cents but for those remedies I have not heard about, I do some research. Below are a few remedies I  have heard about that I term UNUSUAL,  I have done my research on these remedies and below are my findings with their sources if you need verification, bottom line question is do they work or not?!!

Using Red Palm Oil as a deep conditioner?




Yup, while most of us use palm oil to cook soup or eat yam, some researchers have found that palm oil is very rich in tocotrienol enriched vitamin E which prevents hair loss and restores balding hair! It  is also rich in antioxidants such as vitamin A, D and K, which are not present in other oils. The rich nutrient content in palm oil makes it ideal for your hair and skin.

Palm oil has  a high moisture content which is very beneficial for hair and skin. This oil contains lipids and saturated fats that feed the hair shaft, eliminating dryness. The moisture beads in palm oil will improve the texture and quality of your hair by making your locks soft and manageable

Source-ehow.com
My palomino.blogspot.com 

My thoughts on this remedy/ recipe; I say give it a try at least once, I know I will! with all the nutrients its packed with it can be the answer to many hair problems. It can be mixed with your conditioner and applied for like an hour for a nice deep conditioning treatment, just make sure you wear an old t-shirt, use an old towel and wash your hair out thoroughly because palm oil is RED and it STAINS!


Canesten  hydrocortisone cream to restore your hair line?

Canesten hydrocortisone cream contains two active ingredients, clotrimazole and hydrocortisone. Clotrimazole is an antifungal medicine used to treat infections with fungi and yeasts. Hydrocortisone is a corticosteroid medicine that is applied to the skin to relieve the symptoms of inflammation.
Clotrimazole kills fungi and yeasts by interfering with their cell membranes. It works by stopping the fungi from producing a substance called ergosterol, which is an essential component of fungal cell membranes. The disruption in production of ergosterol causes holes to appear in the fungal cell membrane.

The cell membranes of fungi are vital for their survival. They keep unwanted substances from entering the cells and stop the contents of the cells from leaking out. As clotrimazole causes holes to appear in the cell membranes, essential constituents of the fungal cells can leak out. This kills the fungi and treats the infection.

Source netdoc.co.uk

Enough of the plenty science grammar already!! Does it grow hair? Well according to researchers one of the side effects is hair growth! Bald spots start filling out and sprouting hair with continuous use. 

My thoughts/recipe; To take advantage of this side effect,you can mix it with an oil of your choice and apply it to your scalp as often as you'd like and be patient, try it out for at least a month and from my research you should see results!!

MY NAPE HAIR NOW IN 2012(USED THE CANESTEN FOR A FEW MONTHS)

 Ok Ok let me confess!! I used it during the start of my hair journey in 2010 at my nape area(covers face and hides) I felt reluctant to buy it but my nape hair was non existent, now it exists and is doing a good job with catching up with the rest of my hair, so it works!! 

A GLIMPSE OF MY NAPE HAIR IN 2009-SEE HOW ITS STICKING OUT!!

Will taking Prenatal Medication aid hair growth? 

Hiya,
How was the weekend? This weekend I gave my hair a little TLC! You see, let me confess, I put my hair in a top knot/bun on Wednesday last week and literally ignored it till Saturday! All I did while it was in the bun was spritz my water and glycerin mixture all over the hair and brush the edges!some times ignoring your hair like that can be beneficial to it because you are not combing and brushing and loosing hair BUT if you make the ignorance permanent thats when you will cause wahala!

Any ways back to my weekend, so Saturday morning came by and I mixed what was left of the first bag of henna I bought with an egg 




 sectioned my hair and slapped it on from root to tip, covered my hair with a paper bag and then my shower cap and lounged about the house for 3 hours. This concoction was recommended to me by the Indian lady at the Indian shop where I bought the henna from plus I did some research and I  must say, henna is all the rave in the natural hair community o! Apparently it's also a great protein treatment, hmm protein and condition all in one! Love it; as you know Im the girl with relaxed hair that treats it as natural hair :)

When the 3hours were up, I mixed some pure honey with the TRESemme anti breakage conditioner I bought at Target(basically any good conditioner is fine)  and slapped that on my hair too, loved the yummy smell. I am just calling it a smoothie for efizzy!*wide grin*

Then I allowed my hair to air dry and when it was almost dry decided to do a Bantu knot which I have not done in ages! 
I sectioned my hair into 2 sections, moisturized my hair with my whipped Shea butter 

then applied a pea size amount of TRESemme curl hydration which I love( just saw it, got it, never read a review and It works great for creating soft bouncy curls plus it's not expensive)

LOVE THE CONSISTENCY(light and moisturizing)

Then I twisted the section from root to tip and then all around so it formed a knot, then I tucked the ends away but you can use pins for a more secure hold. I created 6 knots, wore my satin bonet and went to bed. 



The next morning, I loosen the knots; the 2 in front loosened themselves overnight :(  I spritz over the hair my water glycerin mixture and used my fingers to shake things up at the roots, flipped my head from side to side and ended up with soft beach wavy hair just as though I did a twist out! 


Not bad, at least I gave my hair the acknowledgment it was seeking!lol

Did u show your hair some TLC? Let me know below. This week I'm working on my protective hairstyle look book post for inspiration to readers looking for protective styles so stay tuned!

Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
Can you believe it, the year is almost over!!!Welcome to Sweet November Y'all!! Wishing you all things sweet!!!Well I hope all my hair tips and tricks have been helpful to you my dear readers, I will keep coming back here as often as I can to let you in on simple hair secrets to keep your hair growing longer and stronger cuz believe it or not, Naija hair can grow o!!!

This time around I have come up with a post focused on getting the ends of your hair healthy and strong. As you all should know, the ends of your hair are the oldest part of your hair, if you have long hair your ends sometimes can be over three years old that is why you must look after them and prevent them from breaking off and getting limp and weak if you are to record any kind of hair growth progress. The BAGGING method is a great way to focus on your hair ends, infusing them with the needed oil and conditioning treatments they might be lacking due to their age. Look at your ends like you look at your grandma, if you are travelling with her and wanna get off the plane, do you shove right past her and leave her to wobble down the plane stairs not caring if she falls down or gets hurt? I'm guessing not, rather you would hold her hand and make sure you carefully usher her down the plane step by step, going at her own pace. That's the same way you should treat your ends! you should give them the most attention in whatever treatment you do to your hair. Work your way up gently till you get to your young and agile roots!!

Ok Ok enough rambling already, let me show you how to bag your ends!!
WHAT YOU WILL NEED;
A Cellophane Bag(Roll down the mouth)
AND  Your collection of hair oils and conditioner (optional);
Simply pour your oils and conditioner if you want in the cellophane bag;
Mix the oils in the bag or you could apply the oils directly to the ends of your hair which should be held in a ponytail. Bag your ends with the cellophane bag and its contents(if you choose to pour them in the bag) and MASSAGE your ends!!
Secure the Cellophane bag round the ponytail with a clip if you have to;
Leave your bagged up ends over night, this will allow your ends soak up all the oil and conditioner giving it the needed attention and strength to withstand breakage and split ends. This method will NOT mend split ends but if done regularly, it can prevent you from having more split ends!

Why the Cellophane bag? The cellophane bag serves the same purpose as your shower cap in hair treatments, it prevents air from getting into your ends and drying them out but rather creates heat at the ends of your hair thereby allowing your hair shaft to open up and absorb all the oils. You can Bag your ends as a Preepoo treatment Step and then Co-Wash after you take em out. Either way, your ends will thank you for bagging them!!

Hope this post is helpful!! I do not want to believe I and my sisters are the only Naija girls with growing hair oh!! so please if you have before and after pics of your hair since you started your hair journey please send them to the facebook page 'Naija hair can grow' and lets send a message to all those Naija gals who have given up on their natural hair abilities. I'm expecting your feed back. Thanks for stopping by!!


xoxo
Dabs!!