Castor Oil Update

  Hey Guys:) Just wanted to update you all on my castor oil hair challenge! In many ways the challenge was a success but it was also a failure. For example the main reason for me beginning the challenge was to grow the hair on my thin sides back. The castor oil did wonders for my hair as far as retaining moisture,and making my hair grow longer and stronger than ever. But it really didn't do much for my thin spots. The hair surrounding the spots has grown longer and thicker. But the actual spot itself still remains thinly covered with hair.

  I'm beginning to to worry that maybe my sides are too far gone. It's scary thinking that I will never have hair there again. With all the technology and natural hair remedies out there I doubt that's true so i will keep HOPE ALIVE! It's been suggested to me that maybe I should go to a Dermatologist and let them evaluate the problem. But before I go to that extreme I'd like to naturally try and grow my hair back. 

  As far as the castor oil, I think it is any Naturalista's DREAM PRODUCT<3 It works great as a deep conditioner or even applying daily to your ends and problem areas. It made my hair extremely soft while keeping it strong so that it wouldn't break off. My ends were never frizzy while using the oil and my hair was developing a natural sheen. The dryness I use to sometimes see in my hair had disappeared. Castor Oil is not only good for moisturizing but it also seals in moisture! With natural hair MOISTURE is the most important, so if you haven't tried castor oil yet I highly recommend you should I still use it even though my castor oil challenge is over.

  As far as my mission to grow the hair on my thin spots back I will definitely keep you guys posted on what new natural hair remedies I find. But if you think of anything I haven't tried and you think it might work for me please don't hesitate to let me know! I would love your feedback and I'm willing to try anything. Thanks for stopping by and please POST COMMENTS:)

Keep on Rollin&apos;

The first stages after the "Big Chop" have been some of the best stages in my natural hair journey so far. But now that my hair has grown out a bit, I'm at the dreaded awkward length. Twist-outs, fro-hawks, head bands, and wash and goes are becoming boring to me and though I do have a lot more hair than what I originally had, I still don't have enough hair to do many natural hairstyles. I thought that this was true up until about a week ago. I realized when my hair was stretched, I had enough hair on the back of my head( which was previously tapered) to twist! So with the help of a friend, we came up with the hairstyle in the photo to the left. It started off with two twists going up the back of my head. The twists in the front are arranged so that you can't tell where they end. My hair was already moisturized and was stretched with a blow dryer on a low heat setting. All you need after that is patience and bobby pins, lots and lots of bobby pins! The twists can go in any direction or style that you want but the main goal is to not be able to tell where they end and for some, where they begin. This is a great way to protect your ends and is also a great way to wear your hair so that you won't have to do it everyday. Another thing I liked about this hairstyle was that it was very easy to sleep on. I wore this style to a party and for 3 days afterwards and it didn't budge! I only took it out to add moisturizer an oil to my hair because it was getting dry. This style is very versatile and can be worn anywhere; to a formal event or just for a casual day to day look. So I hope you enjoy and give us feedback on what you think of it.

Dedication to Naturalista Ngozi David

 To those of you following our blog thus far you may remember us mentioning the magnificent Ngozi David who saved my hair. She is not only a hair stylist but she also is the proud owner of Amavi Hair Salon. She opened her salon in 2007 with a goal of creating a "conglomerate of beauty professionals through creativity and education." To every client that walks through her salon door she gives them a full consultation about the health of their hair whether good or bad she won't hold back. Which is refreshing because how can one work on fixing their hair if the stylist holds back on all the issues and damage. She personalizes every clients hair consultation by giving them a list of specific products to use and directions on how to use them to restore the hair back to its natural healthy condition. Whether you like to rock your hair in your natural kinks or prefer to have your hair straightened she does it all. She uses extra precautions however when flat ironing your hair to make sure not to ruin your curl pattern which is why she uses a lot of natural ingredients such as fresh honey and olive oil. Ngozi not only does hair but she does makeup too. So when going to her salon you get the total package to prepare you for a nice dinner out or a wild night on the town with friends. 

Just a little Sample of her work...

Just a few tips from Ngozi to all the naturally Curly & Kinky Ladies

•  Mixing Vinegar and Lemon juice together and applying it to your hair can be great for your scalp and helps to keep your hair shiny

*Vinegar helps to rid hair of dandruff! Vinegar has mild exfoliating properties which washes the sticky flaky skin cells right off your scalp. Vinegar is slightly acidic so it can also be used to balance the scalps pH. Vinegar also removes the buildup of shampoo, conditioner, and hair spray from hair giving it a natural shine.

*Lemon juice when applied to the scalp can help to rid hair of dandruff and further prevent it.

•  Honey and Olive Oil are great for deep conditioning. At her own salon Ngozi uses a mixture of honey and olive oil to deep condition each one of her clients for at least 30 minutes.

*Honey is a natural healthy way to restore the condition of your hair and hair follicles. Its uses include thinning or falling out hair, baldness, and adding shine to dull hair.

*Olive Oil is a natural cleanser which can be used to prevent DHT. DHT promotes facial hair growth but has the opposite affect on hair on scalp. DHT decreases the size of the follicle shaft until hair becomes extremely thin or nonexistent. Olive Oil also restores overall scalp cell health and reduces chemical damage so that natural hair growth can occur.

•  Just a few other natural ingredients Ngozi recommends for natural healthy hair care:

*Mayonnaise contains eggs and oils which adds shine, body, and strength to the hair. The oil in mayonnaise can also be a way to get rid of head lice.

*Eggs when raw contain a concentration of essential proteins and nutrients which help to strengthen hair follicles. The nutrients in the egg acts as a conditioner and adds volume, shine, and texture.

Castor Oil Hair Challenge!

  A lot of people don't know this about me but my hair is really thin on the sides almost to the point that its practically GONE! When I was little my mom made my ponytails SUPER TIGHT!!! My hair was so thin and couldn't take it and slowly began breaking off on the sides. Growing up as a child this made me really self conscious and I did my very best to hide it. I felt as if people would make cruel jokes about my hair and laugh at me. When first starting this blog I knew I would have to share this part of myself but that still doesn't make it any easier. Part of building confidence is not being afraid to freely let your imperfections show and not being ashamed. So this is me letting it all hang out.

                                                                     
 Whewww *sigh of relief* It feels great to talk about my thin sides and not feel ashamed and uncomfortable. Lately I've been hearing a lot of hype about castor oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil to be specific. Castor Oil has many useful hair benefits such as :

1.Thickening Hair that is beginning to thin

2.Reduce/Prevent hair damage

3.Prevents dry scalp

4.Deeply conditions/moisturizes hair and scalp

Most importantly castor oil INCREASES HAIR GROWTH!!!

  After doing my research I decided to make a natural hair challenge for myself. For the next 8 weeks I will deep condition my hair with castor oil at least once a week I've come up with a weekly regiment that I believe will give me he best resuts.

Weekly Regiment

1. Apply castor oil on edges, all throughout scalp,and on the ends of hair

-Allow Castor oil to sit in hair for at least 5 hours (Longer if possible)

2.Shampoo hair with SULFATE FREE Coconut Milk Organix and apply Coconut Milk Organix Conditioner

-Gently Brush or Comb hair after applying conditioner

3.Apply Coconut Organix Split Ends Mender all throughout hair

4.When styling hair only use Raw Shea Butter

-Be careful not to use too much to avoid causing a build up

5.Before going outside make sure to seal moisture in hair use EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

   I test ran my weekly regiment January 18th. I applied the castor oil to my dry hair and scalp and then put a shower cap on my head. The shower cap helped to prevent getting the castor oil all over my pillows and clothes. I left the oil in my hair overnight. By the time I went to wash the castor oil out, my hair was really soft and some of it had turned into little curls.

 I styled my hair in a twist-out using the raw shea butter. Before applying the shea butter in my hair I put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This just made the butter softer making it easier for me to work it through my hair.

  Even though this is only Week one of my natural hair challenge I'm really loving the results so far. My hair feels a little bit stronger already and has a nice shine to it that I could only get before by loading tons of product in my hair. The ultimate goal of this natural hair challenge is to make my sides grow back in. I'm hoping for the best and will keep you all posted on my progress:)

More about us in partiCURLar. . .

The length of my hair before the BC.

 My natural hair journey has been a life long one. I've been natural my entire life and I never plan on changing that. Growing up, I was hardly ever allowed to wear my hair out so once I was, I WENT CRAZY! I've had long hair, short hair, straight bangs, slanted bangs and now I even have color. I didn't pay attention to things such as heat protectants, deep conditioners etc. and I really didn't realize the damage I was doing to my hair by constantly straightening it. But after seeing other natural's videos and tips on natural hair, I've decided to start over. I'm retiring my flatirons and other heating tools for awhile and I'm embracing my natural hair from this day forward. I used to let little things about becoming completely natural discourage me from just doing it but I finally went along and did the deed!

My hair now after the BC.

I big chopped (if that's what you want to call it) on December 28, 2011. I have a tapered curly 'fro. The back is the shortest part of my hair, the top is the longest part and the length of the sides are somewhere in between the two. I got my hair cut like this so I wouldn't have a simple TWA but I also didn't want something as drastic as a Mohawk or a super short cut. I've now realized that once a person has the right products to keep their hair healthy, anyone can grow long hair but retaining length is where a lot of people go wrong. I've found a lot of products that work for me at the moment so my main goal is preventing breakage or any other type of damage to my hair so that I'll be able to actually see the progress of my hair

My hair permed. It was thin and brittle and stringy.

My natural hair journey began about three-four years ago. I had been getting perms since I was in the fourth grade. I used to have the misconception that all girls were supposed to have perms which in fact is not true at all. It wasn't until my eleventh grade year of high school that I realized how much damage the chemicals from the perm had done to my hair. I was preparing for prom and my sister took me to her hair dresser who specialized in doing natural hair. When she showed me a layer of my hair from the top of my hair you could see it thinning from the middle. My hair was a mess and she informed me that she would need to cut my hair. From that day I vowed to never put another perm in my head again. It took me about a year to transition my hair back to its natural state. I began to slowly grow and cut the perm out of my head. Throughout my transitioning stages, I continued to have my hair straightened. So my transition was not as hard as I assumed it would be.

My natural has more volume and it's less stringy.

 I first began this natural hair journey for the health of my hair but I have gotten so much more from it. I have a new found confidence that I did not have before. I now feel comfortable to wash my hair and go while my natural curls blow in the wind. I too have vowed to put the flat irons down and leave the heat alone. Lets just say when I first learned how to flat iron my own hair I went a little crazy. I want my hair to not only be natural but healthy as well and all the heat from me constantly straightening my hair was preventing that. This is all a learning experience for me and I have learned so much from reading other blogs and watching videos in the natural hair community and I will now wear my hair in its natural state and let my kinks and curls run wild.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!

Thanks for stopping by! We're Robbin (Right) and Keon (Left). The main purpose of our blog is to share our natural hair journeys with the rest of the natural hair community. We plan to include tutorials, product reviews, and general updates on the progress of our hair. For months we have been learning about some of your personal natural hair journeys by watching your tutorials and reading your blogs, so now we feel it is our turn to return the favor. We hope our blog will be a place where others in the natural hair community will feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. We also hope to be of some assistance to those of you who are newly natural and provide you with tips and ideas to make your transition as easy as possible. So join us as we embark on this journey and lets learn from one another!