Natural hair 101: beginner natural hair, what to do

This post is aimed at advicing new naturals on what to do in terms of routine, products and hair care. As a newbie natural it is easy to get bombarded with lots of ideas and not know where to start. Reading other naturals' journeys on YouTube or on blogs can prove to be be a rather confusing thing and lead to frustration instead of progress. So if you don't know what equipment you need, or what to do, this blog post is just for you.

Products
Natural hair has certain characteristics that make it work better with certain products over others. So it will be important for you to familiarise yourself with the types of ingredients you should stay away from.
1. Shampoos: I'd advice you to get a sulfate free shampoo. Sulfates are cleaning agents that are added to the shampoo. Unfortunately sulfates are too strong and over clean natural hair thus stripping it of moisture and making it dry and brittle. Dry, brittle hair easily breaks! For more info on which shampoo to use and why read this post.
2. Conditioner: you will need both leave in conditioners and deep conditioning ones. Leave in conditioners are good agents of moisture and you will notice as your healthy hair journey goes, kinky curly hair loves moisture. For deep conditioning, look for products that have shea butter, aqua, glycerine and natural oils. Stay away from conditioners with parabens or mineral oils as these simply coat the hair shaft and give the illusion of shiny moisturised hair; when they are infact just coating the hair shaft and not penetrating it to provide actual moisture. They also clog your scalp pores and prevent your hair from 'breathing'.
3. Oils and Shea butter: these will be essential for locking in moisture and sealing it. You may be aware of the LOC, or LCO method of locking and sealing moisture.

Equipment

1. Spritz bottle: you will realise with time that natural hair loves moisture, and spritz bottles are the best way to add moisture to your hair on a daily basis. Your concoction here could include 2 thirds distiller water and 1 third virgin olive oil and pure glycerine.
2. Wide tooth comb: as they don't get stuck between our coils and do not cause excessive breakage like the small tooth comb does.
3. Bobby pins: your styling will get easier if you make bobby pins your friend
4. Tooth brush: I prefer the one with soft bristles. This brush is great for your edges, to smooth them away.
5.Satin pillow or scarf: cotton sucks moisture in your hair so the best way for your bedtime routine is to use satin based material. I only started using a satin pillow and scarf 2 years into my healthy hair journey, once I saw the results I regretted not jumping in from the onset.
6. Old cotton T-shirts: replace traditional towels with old t-shirts. Towels cause too much friction and break our sensitive tresses.

Regime/Routine
You will have to build a hair regimen/routine. A regimen is simply your routine that you can't go without, for example, every morning you take a shower and brush your teeth right? That's a grooming regimen and you need one for your hair. Go to this link for a guide on building a regime.

Love - AfroMoriri

Worst Hair Salon experience in Randburg - be warned

Some of you maybe be aware of my latest protective style through photos I have posted on Instagram. Well, truth is I ended up seeking an alternative stylist and got the braiding done at her house instead of at the initial intended place, i.e. the Hair Salon I went to in Randburg. A part of me wants to disclose this Salon's name but a major part of me insists that I somehow deal with this in a 'dignified' manner, for lack of a better word. To give you an idea though, the Salon is located in the block of shops by Randburg mall, alongside Jan Smuts and very close to a Liquor Store within the same block of shops. Hint hint :-)

In case you are wondering why I even bothered going to this Salon let me shed some light. I had no intention of doing my hair there, I actually went to the mall to buy the hair extensions I needed for the hairstyle. I'd even bought some weaving thread and needle so that I would do my own crocheting at home. After all I am not that bad at plaiting my own hair, especially due to the great Yoda of Braiding, the Sensai called YouTube. Who doesn't know how to do their hair when YouTube has so many tutorials? Back to the point, I had my extensions and was walking past the numerous ladies at the mall who bombarded me with their invites to do my hair, I obviously lost will and succumbed to one of them. Lesson learnt, don't ever give in to these ladies, stay strong and walk away.

The following are the atrocious sequence if events that made me walk out of the salon with my hair not done:

1. My hair was braided in African Threading to stretch it, since I had washed & deep conditioned it the previous day in preparation for the protective styling.
2. The Salon Stylist was quick to roughly undo my threading while pulling my hair. She was not gentle at all, and I was worried for both the ends of my hair as well as the overall breakage that could occur due to her rough handling. Mind you, I had just trimmed my ends few weeks before and ripping the thread off my hair is one of the things that can cause split ends. So no, lady please handle my hair with care - that's what I thought.
3. Once the hair was out of the thread, she didn't take time to separate each section before attempting to comb. So since she wasn't prepared to do this, I told her I'd do it myself. If you thread your hair in order to stretch it you would know that afterwards you need a bit of oil to unravel each section before combing.
4. Once I was done separating each section, she wanted to comb my hair with a small tooth comb, which I profusely declined. She gave me hateful stares and shook her head then stepped aside.
5. She then brought a wide tooth comb but was combing from the root of my hair to the ends, so I disagreed with this and again told her I would comb my own hair. As you would know, it is best to comb natural hair from the ends then work your way down towards the root.
6.Her wide tooth comb was weird in the sense that my hair kept getting stuck in the teeth of the comb, that made me think I probably had tangles I hadn't undone before I threaded my hair. But upon detailed inspection of the comb, I noticed that some of the teeth of the comb had cracks and bits if it had chipped off, so my hair was getting stuck there. This discovery was very upsetting as this is a definite no no, chipped bits of a comb tear through the hair and break it. So at this point I was reaching my breaking point and wanted to ask the Stylist how she got her qualifications if she couldn't even meet the basic requirements of hair styling, i.e. Combs in a good condition! I chose to finger comb my hair at this point.
7. Once I was done, the lady took out her blow dryer, put in on high heat and wanted to blow dry my hair.  So I asked her to rather use cold air as I didn't want heat on my hair. She then asked why, and I told her heat damages my hair. At that point I was not only tired of her bad styling skills, but also of her horrible facial expressions targeted at me. I could tell I annoyed her but there wasn't much she could do. But if looks could kill my friends, I wouldn't be writing this post, lol!
8. She grudgingly grabbed a rat tail comb to make a parting in my hair and start braiding my hair. However she was so rough that I knew I had to stop with the process. When I said ouch she would say "but you refused to let me blow dry your hair, and it is hard".
9. I told her, "please stop, I'll go stretch my hair further at home and come back", and that was my way out. Yes I'm a sissy and wasn't bold enough to tell her I wasn't coming back, but hey, we aren't all that bold. The relief I felt after leaving that salon, wow!!!! Never again, why did I even bother when I know most black salons in this country have the wrong training for our type of hair?

Remember, be bold, be protective of your hair and speak out! The moment you hear your crying out for help, listen to it, stop that stylist and walk out!!! 

Love - AfroMoriri

Hairstyle inspiration: easy natural hair styles for work & date night

The following are easy hairstyles that I enjoy doing. To begin with, please always start with stretched hair; personally I use the African Threading method a lot. It is easy to do and quick as well. Remember to ensure your hair has been fully moisturised and sealed before you proceed to styling it.

Style 1: ideal for work, interviews or any professional setting

This is an easy hairstyle where I sectioned off hair at the front of my head and made a jumbo twist then tucked its ends in with a bobby pin. The hair at the back was pulled into a bun - I partitioned it into two: one small bun in the centre and hair around this bun's circumference. I then rolled & tucked the hair around this small bun away from the bun using bobby pins. Great protective style.

Style 2: ideal for work or any professional setting

This style is easy and quicker to do. I also sectioned off the hair at the front of my head then plaited a number of small to medium twists. These were then pinned down in different directions using bobby pins. The hair at the back was rolled going from my neck upwards, then tucked in using bobby pins. 

Style 3: ideal for date night!!!! Or a casual outing with mates

This style was inspired by Aisha O'Reilly. For a full tutorial, (easy 2 min youtube video) please go to this link. 

Style 4: ideal for all occasions! Great protective style

This style was very easy to do. I followed instructions on youtube, from 4aDaniels. She plaited 4 rows but I plaited 6. You can get the tutorial at this link.

Love - AfroMoriri