Mane Show: Ninja bun

Happy Thursday, beautiful people! I hope all of you are having a fabulous week.

Some weeks ago I had a chance to celebrate one of my girlies as she had a birthday bash + launch of her new store HOUSE OF OBAJI (HOO) in Lagos.

The House of Obaji Madam herself (rocking a HOO green dress & HOO powder pink patterned two piece)

Photos Courtesy of: House of Obaji

My boo arrived in style, of course, and we turned up!

Here's a peek of my look. It's a mega ninja bun I've been rocking for the past two weeks.

            

I achieved this hairstyle using aloe vera gel and shea butter and it took about 7 minutes to put together.

           

                                                

           

 What do you ladies think?

What is My Real Hair Texture?

I don't really go by any hair-typing systems.

What I've discovered about my hair's texture is that it has 3 "personalities," kind of like alter egos.

You're probably thinking, abeg, what is she talking about???

Before I get into that I have a testimony for ya'll. 

MY HAIR IS TOUGH. It's SUPER TOUGH. And thank God for conditioner and drinking water (yes, drinking water is essential), or else only Lord knows where my hair would be right now. 

Where Mama dey? She'd be the best to tell this story. All my life she had to fight.... She had to fight the curls, she had to fight the kinks, and Ohhhhh Lord, she had to fight the rubbery-ness of my hair. But when she started deep conditioning my hair in 2004, it changed my hair life. From then on we gradually learned how to maintain my hair's moisture levels enough for Mom to braid my hair without tears, screaming, and pure misery. Momsie really tried. I appreciate her patience.

Back to my mane's personalities:

1. Happy Mane 

• My tresses have the perfect level of moisture as Happy Mane
• My hair is soft, yet stern, and pliable, so I'm most likely going to have an awesome hair day!
• It has a slight sheen to it 
• My curls are semi-defined (those little waves in picture above are my curls)
• If I moisturize 2-4 times a week OR if I moisturize heavily on wash day and tuck my hair away for the rest of the week, Happy Mane will definitely stick around throughout that week

Character 2: Thirsty Mane

• Oh geez, when Thirsty Mane shows it's face, wahala dey
• My strands are dry and rough to the touch 
• There's A LOT of breakage and tangling 
• It's difficult to bend, twist, part or comb the hair, which makes it really hard to do any hairstyles 
• I have no curl definition at all

Character 3: Wet/Damp Mane

• I love this one because my hair is easiest to maneuver when it's damp or wet
• My strands are flexible, and if I add detangler, some of the tangles can be easily removed through finger-combing 
• If it's wet, though, I have to be extra careful so I don't cause breakage 
• My curls are the most defined in this stage 
• This personality only comes up temporarily, but it's instrumental 

Letting go of all the hair typing hair curl envy liberated me. I instead focused on learning about my hair texture in various states. And by doing so I've been able to know which hair products to apply and hairstyles to do when my hair is acting a certain way. Life is easier when you know your hair.

What are your mane personalities? 

Mane Comeback: Grow Your Edges! (*UPDATED*)

Note: Updates have been made on this post. Scroll down for the new tip and picture I share (Tip #3)! 

In August 2011, I suffered from the infamous receding hairline. I was wearing lace wigs most of the time and I wasn't taking care of my hair underneath (bad move).

And, girl, my hairline started to disappear! I already have a big forehead, so the forehead transformed to a five-head and it was NOT a good look.

My hairline started receding again in 2015 when I started neglecting my edges

Anyway, I recovered from it, and pretty quickly too. Within about 3 months, my hairline was back in action! My curlies in the front and not-so-curlies (lol) on the sides of my head were sprouting again. And whenever I wore my hair out, I did so without feeling self-conscious.

There are three major things I did that helped me regrow my hairline:

1. I left those wigs alone during the first 3 months of my recovery (I was fully recovered within 6-7 months)

2. I used a castor oil mix I made to massage my scalp 1-2 times a day

3. I always wore a satin headband (throughout the day and at night). In the first 3 months (the time when I did not wear any wigs) I would wear the headband and put the rest of my hair into a bun or updo. During the final 3 months of recovery (I started wearing wigs again by this time), I wore the headband underneath my wig. I also wore only curly wigs or wigs with big hair that way the big hair would conceal the fact that the front part of my wigs were not completely flat on my head. 

A castor oil mix I made with castor oil, mink oil, coconut oil

Source: Amazon

WARNING: Castor oil contains surfactants (these are chemical compounds that, because of their molecular structure, are good cleansing agents because they attach themselves to dirt and loosen the dirt to be easily washed off). If you have a sensitive scalp, these surfactants can cause itchiness, dryness, burning sensations, or headaches. But what you can do is to mix castor oil with other oils and you should be fine.  Alright, you've been warned. Sensitive scalp ladies, if you try to use pure castor oil itself all over your head, you're on your own oh! I no go rescue you! Haha, just kidding (well, not really).

I'll definitely go back to my castor oil regimen soon

Whatever cream or oil mixture you decide to use is up to you. But the key in growing your hairline is massaging it and using a castor-oil-based anything. 

Massaging the affected areas (a.k.a the bald spots) will help the blood circulate better at that spot you're massaging. And the better the blood circulation, the better your hair will grow.

Black Hair Can't Grow

Black hair can’t grow. For simplicity, let’s assume that “black” equals tightly coiled,“wooly,” afro-like hair. This is by far one of the biggest myths out there. My hair at its longest was 16in. (41 cm.), & it reached passed my back bra strap. Oh, and I’m Black. African. Nigerian, to be precise. I'm 100% Black, Nigerian with tightly coiled, “wooly,” afro-like hair (that’s clarification for those who want to claim that some Nigerians are mixed with other races, which may be true, but I'm not. I'm all Black, baby!)   During my university years, my close friends dubbed me with the nickname Many Hair because of my long and thick afro halo that I used to wear around campus. Picture a Boondocks character with tall, skinny legs; that was me. My hair attracted so much attention that on one occasion, I nearly felt like slouching in my seat to allow the poor girl behind me to see the board during Chemistry class. People often stared as I strolled passed, wondering silently—and in the case of some bold individuals, aloud—what would possess me to wear my natural hair out, and whether it was all mine.  "How did you get your hair so long?" I’d often get asked. I used to shrug my shoulders, because quite frankly, I didn't know--my mama did my hair! Most of the time growing up I wore my hair in box braids (with hair extensions--"Bob Marley" as my sister and I used to call it). In my final years of university the “natural hair movement” was reborn, which encourages Black women to embrace their natural texture (chemical-relaxer-free), to nurture it and learn how to style it. Now we’ve gotten used to seeing Black women rocking all kinds of curls and coils. And though my hair’s “afro-ness” is still quite shocking to some, most people are more intrigued by its length than anything else. Let’s quickly get back to that “Black hair can’t grow” myth. It’s not only myth, it’s a gimmick. Millions of companies around the world play on (and make mega bucks from) the notion that Black hair cannot grow passed shoulder length; that Black hair's "wooly" nature needs to be relaxed into straight silkiness, and that Black hair is simply unmanageable. As a result we, Black women, buy hundreds of ounces of hair extensions, chemical relaxers, wigs, and "magic" products to add length, volume, and bounce (sadly, in vain sometimes) to our hair, rather than truly discovering the beauty of our own our crown and glory (our hair). Growing up, I wasn’t that interested in how or what was being done to my tresses. Granted, I had always been proud of it, but I never actually took time to take care of it by myself. It wasn't until I entered university that I really took ownership of my hair and discovered its true beauty and potential for growth. Black hair CAN grow. In 2009 I began my healthy hair journey, shortly after a horrific session at the beauty salon where a scissors-happy stylist cut off way more hair than I had requested for what was supposed to be a trim. My ultimate goal on this journey is to learn how to love my hair, even on its bad days, and how to achieve thick, healthy waist-length hair. Yes, I said it! I was able to grow my hair from chin-length to bra strap length; why stop now?