HEADWRAP STYLES| ELEANOR J'ADORE

Listen up Naturals. The answer to keeping your hair protected while looking stylish is here, and it comes in the form of the brand Lavish Atelier. Towards the end of last year I was sent two products by Charmaine Nyikadzino, owner of Lavish – a beanie as well as a do.rag to try out.
What makes these hair accessories so special is that they are all satin-lined, which makes them perfect for sleeping in to ensure moisturised hair for longer. In addition, they make for the most elegant protective headgear I’ve ever come across and I can’t deny how much I’m loving them.
Charmaine believes that a healthy hair regime consists of more than choosing the correct shampoo and how to style your hair. How you treat your hair when you sleep or exercise is equally important to maintaining a healthy head of hair. And I couldn’t agree more. In recent months I have only been wearing my hair out, never in a protective style and only up  and out of the way in a loose bun while I would see to Rupert (my 1-year old boy), so these two items have come in especially handy those times when I’d look for a quick and easy way to get my hair out of my face, while still trying to look cute.
They come in different sizes so when you place your order for one, simply indicate your head circumference in cm’s or inches and you’ll receive your item specifically made for your head size. Also, feel free to select a colour of your choice as they’re available in a wide range of colours.
I’ve come up with six different looks for the two items I was sent. Have a look below and let me know firstly if you like the way I styled them and secondly, if you would rock these looks.
Sleek Beanie
My absolute favourite thing about this beanie is that it is long and slouchy and accommodates hair of almost any length. So the days of trying to squeeze all your curls into a regular sized beanie are long gone. Of course the satin lining helps to retain moisture, preserve styling and prevent brittleness. The beanie also has an elasticated headband which ensures a snug fit to your head at all times.
Look 1

Look 2

Look 3 

Sleek Do.Rag
For me the do.rag is the ultimate head scarf to sleep in. The satin lining protects the hair, while the long wrap straps make it easy to fasten to suit my length of hair (or any hair length for that matter)  and ensure comfort through the night. This is perfect for me as I tend not to like anything tied too tightly around my as I easily get headaches.
I have to say that with each of these styles I created with the do.rag I felt incredibly chic with an undeniable femininity.
Look 4

Look 5

Look 6
I feel like I’m seriously channeling Audrey Hepburn with this look. The style I wrapped it in here is by far the most comfortable for sleeping in. But honestly, I much rather see myself beaching along the French Riviera in a form-fitting one piece with this style.

To shop these products above as well as satin scarves and pillowcases, visit Lavish Atelier at their online store solavish.co.za.
What do you think? Would you wear these satin lined accessories?

YOUR HAIR NEEDS | NATALIE PURSUE:INSPIRE

Happy Monday lovelies! 

Also Happy 60TH Ghana Independence to any fellow Ghanaians reading! 

Waaaaaaay back in a January post I mentioned that one of my hair goals was “to maintain healthy hair by looking at past experiences, doing research and implementing a consistent routine”. When you first go natural after perming, naturally you start to look for products that will work will with your “new” texture as your old products may not work on your hair as well. Part of my journey was making a list of different ingredients which were great for hair and the reasons why. I then started purchasing different oils and butter and make my own homemade products according to what qualities I wanted to bring out in my hair (back then it was mostly fast growth). 

I lost that discipline (and actually maybe that list) over the years but it’s something I’ve been wanting to relive to two reasons:

1) I get to pick what goes in my hair creams

2) I don’t become a product junkie haha!

However this time round instead of focusing on what I want to bring out in my hair, I want to think about what my hair NEEDS! That really should be the primary thought that drives us to research and buy products that will benefit our hair’s health, instead of just jumping on the latest hair trend. What should I be looking for in terms of hair needs? What question should I be asking to narrow down my search? Here are a few suggestions/pointers:

How porous in my hair?

Is my hair fine or coarse?

Is my hair always dull looking?

How well does it retain moisture?

Is my scalp intolerant to anything?

Does my hair break easily? If yes, why?

There are so many more questions you could ask but I’ll leave the suggestions there. When you have answers to your questions, you can go ahead and do your research. Read books and blogs on natural hair, google keywords such as “oils for moisturising natural hair” and note down your findings. This will help you to make more informed decisions when picking and trialling what’s best for you, as well as making notes on what didn’t work.

I must say that I can’t completely knock jumping trends as through that I found out my scalp does not like pure coconut oil at all! They’re just not compatible.

As much as hair has been categorized from 1 to 4c, no two people in the same banding’s hair is identical. We all have specific needs depending on how we look after our tresses and our genetic make up.

Happy researching!

Natalie | @pursueinspire

Damp Detangling VS Dry Detangling natural hair| ELEANOR J'ADORE

After having worn my hair in wash and gos for 2 solid weeks, I was in need for a serious detangling session over the weekend. I usually detangle with coconut oil and conditioner, but for some reason I wanted to only use coconut oil and leave it in my hair overnight, as I know that coconut oil can really penetrate the strands deeply if left in the hair for a number of hours. Due to sheer laziness I ended up not doing it on Friday night, but found myself reaching for my jar of coconut oil on Saturday morning only, ready to tackle the mane with oil alone. I’d barely started when I stopped to ask myself why on earth I would think applying oil to my dry hair would be a good idea?

I know that there are many curly girls out there who detangle just with oil, and I thought that I wanted to get in on the action too, but alas, it was not for me. Here I summarised the reasons why damp detangling works so much better for me than dry detangling.

Damp Detangling

Conditioner / Water and Oil

• The added moisture makes the hair softer and more pliable.
• The softer hair allows for tangles to be worked through more easily.
• Conditioner coats the hair strand and smooths the cuticle, providing slip, which makes it even easier to remove tangles.
• I love how the combination of moisture (water and/or conditioner) and oil makes my hair feel.

Dry Detangling

Oil only

• It can become painful if there are too many tangles and knots present.
• It takes much longer to detangle the hair dry than damp.
• If the hair is already quite dried out and brittle, it can lead to breakage.
• I don’t like the feel of oil only on my hair.

Detangling is necessary for all naturals, whether you choose to do it with a comb, your fingers, a brush, or any of the nifty detangling tools on the market. And whether you choose to do it on dry, damp, or soaking wet hair is up to you, but I would definitely say that experimenting for yourself to see what you prefer is key. Ultimately the goal is to get get rid of as many tangles as possible without sacrificing length.

Do you detangle on damp or dry hair? If you detangle on dry hair please share some of your tips and tricks below.

By Eleanor J'adore

How To Maximise Growth With Braids! | BOLU NOELLE

So last week, I got the urge to re-join braids gang for the first time in over a year. One thing that stopped me from getting braids for such a long time is the fact that, although hey are known to be a protective style, heavy box braids are also infamous for ripping out edges.

I really wish to still have edges when I'm 50, so I had to figure out a way around this.

I wasn't really too keen on the idea of crotchet braids since it limits the styling options and can be more pricey than traditional braids.

Here, I'm going to show you a few of my tips for doing my braids:

1) LEAVE YOUR EDGES OUT.

I remember asking Indiana Ifill how her edges were still popping despite consistently wearing bum length braids and locs. This was her reply and it seemed so simple and obvious. But many times when we or our stylists do our hair, our desire for the freshly braided neat look leads us to snatch our edges into the braids. This is the key problem! I have baby hairs, so before braiding, I brushed them forward with a soft bristle brush so I didn't include them in the braids. They are softer and weaker than my main body of hair- plus, I like the look of braids with slicked baby hairs so its a win-win.

2) DEEP CONDITION AND MOISTURISE

This one, I'm sure you already knew. Before putting your hair into a long term style, ensure it's richly moisturised and sealed. This will minimise breakage whilst putting in and taking down the braids.

3) DO MINI TWISTS BEFOREHAND!

This is another key to success. Part your braid sections the day before, after moisturising and do mini twists. This further protects your hair as they are secure in twists within the braids. Also, this reduces breakage when installing the braids as your real hair wont be involved in any tangles and knotting. This is the same with the takedown of the braids. Do this while catching up of your favourite TV shows, Youtubers, sermons, podcasts etc. The time will fly and it is worth it.

4) OIL SCALP MASSAGE

Before installing, moisturise scalp. Whilst style is in I would only recommend spraying with water daily, as any product could lead to build up at the base of your braids which will cause breakage at takedown.

5) DONT PULL BACK TIGHT

The whole point of a protective style is that it is low manipulation and therefore allows your hair to flourish without being brushed and pulled at. However, I know that I personally used to do every style possible with braids. In fact, I loved their versatility. I'd do half up half down, top bun, French braids.. and now, I just leave my braids down. I'm much more cautious when styling my braids of how hard I'm pulling them back.

That's it! I'll be doing braids a lot more often now. Hope this helps.

Love,

Bolu Noelle

x

p.s: follow me on Instagram @bolunoelle to see more braid pics!

Body Care | NATALIE PURSUE:INSPIRE

So Christmas is long gone and we are well into 2017. I'm sure getting rid of the Christmas weight has been HIGH PRIORITY on our goal lists, but for some of us going to the gym is a chore and a burden on our finances.

Can I introduce a cheap, even free way, to stay in shape? 

YouTube. Yeah I said it. YouTube!

Most of us go onto YouTube for hair or make up tutorials but maybe not so much for exercises (if you do, share with a friend!) I, for one, have been making use of this gem more recently at home (just about every three days with a rest day and personal strength exercises in between) and I've really had to push myself to be consistent. Even though it's free, I find myself sitting down for 30 minutes saying "I don't want to exercise" and eventually convince myself it'll be worth it in the end to tone this food baby-fied figure.

GYM vs HOME

The beauty of signing up to the gym is (hopefully) you are more motivated to go. Why? Because you've paid and if you don't use the facilities essentially you're wasting money. The beauty of exercising with YouTube is that you can do work outs from home for free. Both require the motivation to get up and get going, which can be easy or hard depending on our mindset and your goals.

So since I've been speaking about YouTube workouts, let me share some of the videos I have been using/used.

Recently I've been starting off with Tiffany Rothe for a warm up and Kearia Lashae's dance videos like this African inspired one as the main workout, as well as her cool down via BeFit. They're energetic, fun, encouraging and very challenging. For me that's what exercise needs to be! I have also worked out with the guys at FitnessBlender, in addition to this home exercise video with DeStorm.

If you use the Tube of You to keep fit, who are you watching? Whose work out would you recommend? If you gym, what equipemnt are you using? Have you got a personal trainer? Does money increase your motivation to go o the gym? Let us know below in the comments.

Also to point out that having a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and a balanced diet helps with hair health just as much as it does your body as a whole. Let's take care of ourselves. After all if we don't have our health, how can we live life to it's fullest?

Stay blessed and don't forget to comment below!

Natalie | Pursue:Inspire