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.

Bring on the Mayo!

For ages, I've been hearing about Mayonnaise and the supposed "wonders" it does for your hair. But the thought of smelly mayo in my hair never really appealed to me and it was something I thought I would NEVER want to do. But the familiar saying "Never Say Never" was made evident to me. Curiosity got the best of me and I HAD to know; IS MAYONNAISE REALLY GOOD FOR YOUR HAIR? I went about looking up what Mayonnaise did for your hair and while doing a bit of research I also looked up other things such as eggs, honey, and olive oil. All have different proteins and qualities that help promote your hair's strength, gives hair sheen, and keeps hair moisturized. So, being the curious person that I am, I mixed mayonnaise, pure honey, and one egg together to see what would happen. I didn't see the real point in putting an egg in the mayonnaise since mayonnaise is made of eggs but I said "What the heck?" and threw it in anyway. I used about a 2 cups of mayonnaise, about 3 tables spoons of honey and one egg (all approximations except for the 1 egg of course) and then I stirred them together. The mixture still had the scent of mayonnaise but the consistency was slightly thicker than just plain mayonnaise due to the honey. 

(left) picture of the mayonnaise mixture
(right) after applying the conditioner

Now, before I put this "concoction" into my hair I went on YouTube and other natural hair blogs to see what other people put into their mayonnaise conditioners and a lot of people used some of the same things. The only think I didn't directly put into my mixture was an oil. I wanted to see how the mixture would take to my hair without an oil. So dampened my hair with warm water and I proceeded to put the mayo conditioner into my hair. I was expecting the mixture to remain soft but as I moved on to different sections of my hair I started to realize that the sections I had already finished were beginning to get hard like a mask. After putting the mayonnaise conditioner on my entire head, I put EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) on my entire head as well and put a plastic cover over my hair. I would say I let the conditioner sit in my hair for about an hour. For majority of the time, I was in a hot bath tub. I say this because the extra heat and steam may have played a factor in the results that I got. So after the hour passed, I first rinsed as much as the mayonnaise conditioner as I possibly could with just warm water. My hair was soft and smooth but I still had residue in my hair from the conditioner and I still felt as though the smell was in my hair and I needed it OUT! I washed my hair with Herbal Essences: Hello Hydration Shampoo and finally got the smell and remaining residue out. After doing this I noticed that my curls had more definition and in some parts I had very defined coils. Usually after washing my hair, the ends of my hair would be tightly curled but the rest would be loosely curled. I don't know if this mixture worked or if this was just a time where my hair wanted to be extra nice to me and show me some of it's surprises. So I was wondering. . . has anyone ever tried mayonnaise as a conditioner? And if so, what things did you add to you're mixtures? And what results did you get? Feel free to let us know either on here (by clicking the link that says "comments" below) or our twitter page( link located on the bar at the bottom of the page)!