AfroMoriri

Thursday, 25 February 2016

Head scarfs, Johannesburg and warm people & colours

Hope you are having a great week so far and if you aren't may this post cheer you up. This morning on Instagram (@afromoriri) I shared a basic concept that says if you are generally able to love the home you live in, the city you come from or the city that's currently nurturing you, as well as your country or the country that's being resourceful to you; then you naturally have a positive outlook that can help make it easy to love yourself and thus your tresses. This post will share some snaps about Braamfontein and what I appreciated from it this last weekend, come see the world through my lense!

Neighbourgoods Market, colour and head scarfs

Braamfontein streets, colourful buildings and warmth

Friday, 19 February 2016

New year new hair habits! Grow natural hair longer than before

Happy new year everyone and apologies for going silent on you. Just needed a few weeks off to recuperate from the previous year, unwind and focus for 2016. I am now back and have also missed you :-) !

Now let's talk about our plans for making our hair healthier and getting it to flourish even better in this new year. Please don't get me wrong, I am not trying to add more to your already challenging new year's resolution list. Simply put, I am asking you to see this as a re-assurance that you have it in you to do better this year; and if you take it a week at a time, by the time the year ends you'll be astounded at just how capable you are.

Lessons I've learnt since my healthy hair journey started in April/May 2014

Caring for natural hair is only hard work if you perceive it that way and convince yourself of that. Remember in life, anything you believe comes to pass. Whether it's with your health, your beauty, your dreams or anything else - if you believe you aren't strong enough to exercise or don't have it in you then you'll remain unhealthy and unhappy, and if you believe you are ugly and can't achieve anything; trust me other people will see you as ugly and your dreams will only be alive in dreamland during your sleep. Change your mindset!
Long hair doesn't come about because of hair products! There aren't any miracle products out there, trust me. Anyone who markets their products as magical and promises you phenomenal miraculous growth is simply taking advantage of the innate longing for luscious long hair that women seem to have been born with. Hair grows when you take care of it through a religious process in a similar manner as you bath everyday, brush your teeth and get dressed.
You have grown to accept your daily grooming requirements of waking up, bathing (for some, boiling the water first), applying deodorant and body lotion etc. So why can't you do the same for your hair and you prefer an easier, 'lazier' route?
Every woman is different, and thus has a unique hair journey. Some people have a very remarkable fast rate of growth, some have super voluminous hair and some seem not to experience breakage at all. But this doesn't mean my hair (which possibly exhibits the opposite traits) is less beautiful. Embrace your tresses, the more you love them and care for them, the more you'll be surprised as to how much beauty exists on your own crown, your head!!

How to have healthier, fuller, longer natural hair this year

If you don't have a hair regimen yet, build one. I have a guide on how to build a hair regimen here and this works for both natural and relaxed hair. Relaxed hair can be grown in a healthy manner too.
If you already have a regimen, pay attention to what you aren't doing consistently and change that. For example you might already be deep conditioning once a week for moisture but fail to revive the moisture every morning (or every 2 days) depending on your hair needs and weather conditions - so why not add this to your regimen more consistently and observe how your hair responds. Some of us live in Africa where we get summer days for most of the year, therefore harsh drying conditions that suck moisture out of hair, therefore we might need to moisturise much more than an average person.
Get protective styles so that you keep your hands out of your hair. The less you manipulate your hair the better it will grow. Don't forget to still care for the hair underneath that protective style.
Hair care is all about a balance between Keratin (protein in hair strands) and moisture. So make sure your deep conditioning incorporates both. However pay attention to the frequency and time needed for protein treatments as these could lead to hair damage if done excessively. For example if Hair Mayonnaise says leave-in for 15 mins, do not exceed that time as you will end up hardening your hair and causing breakage from hardened hair strands.
Enjoy your hair regimen process by incorporating it into your normal lifestyle. Don't try to have a separate time that is only for wash day etc. Rather, do your hair while watching TV with family or while doing house chores. If you solely allocate time to doing your hair, you'll end up bored and even fail at keeping up with this time requirement.

Love -AfroMoriri

Monday, 30 November 2015

Entrants to the 6 month protective style challenge

The following are the ladies taking part in the six month protective style challenge. Entries were confirmed via Instagram and the names appear in a random order:

@luludanquah
@wiwizer
@mz_saba
@hulisanik
@knoxy_g
@thesjozana
@missphookie
@boitu_missmelo
@_miss_mo__
@buhlembambo
@afromoriri

Good luck to all of us!!! Remember to take care of your hair while in those protective styles. Neglecting the hair could cause more damage than if you'd just kept your usual regime without extended styling.

Love - AfroMoriri

Tip Tuesdays with AfroMoriri:November

Sunday, 29 November 2015

6 month protective style challenge

Throughout this year I had been contemplating doing a 6 month protective style challenge. So researched the idea and once I was happy with what the challenge would entail, I was left with just thinking about when to start. To be honest, I was nervous and anxious to start as I hadn't done this before. My biggest fear was "what if I do more damage to my hair than care".

One day I was just going on doing my usual business of checking what my favourite YouTubers were up to, when I realised Jenn_J had started a similar challenge. The link to her YouTube video explaining her 6 month protective style challenge is available here. So when I noticed Jenn_J started hers on the 1st Nov, I decided that was a good enough sign for me to start mine too. So I took a few days off as I had just flat ironed (straightened) my hair, then got my protective style done on the 5th Nov.

My reasons for this 6 month protective style challenge

Apparently hair grows the fastest in summer. I live in South Africa and am currently in our summer season so wanted to test this for myself. The only 'flaw' about this method of experimenting is that I haven't never gauged my rate of hair growth during winter. So what will my comparison be against???? Mmmmh, I wouldn't make a good scientist would I? Oh well.
Since my healthy hair journey started in April/May 2014, I haven't ever done a protective style challenge so I am keen to try one and see how my hair responds.
I now have a solid reliable hair regimen and know what my hair likes so I can move on to trying long term protective styles in order to focus on length. Before, I felt it would be too much work to figure out the best regimen and products that work for my hair while also figuring out how much farther I can go in protective styles without damaging my hair.
Curiosity killed the cat: don't you ever just want to try something you have never done before just so you know what the end result is?

What I will do during the 6 month protective style challenge

Stay in protective styles of between 4 to 6 weeks at a time.
Get a resting/breathing period in between styles to allow my hair some air. For example if I do a 4 week protective style, after take down I'll rest the hair for about 7 days or less. And if I take down a 6 week protective style I'll rest the hair for about 7 to 10 days.
The hair will remain in low manipulative hairstyles during the resting period. So my ends will still be tucked away.
Exercise 3-4 times a week. I believe good blood circulation aids hair follicles in growth.
Drink lots of water. Water is good for the overall well being but also for your hair, i.e. hydrating from the inside, not just from spritzing the hair externally.
Eat a healthy balanced diet. Healthy food certainly contributes to your hair's health. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. This doesn't just apply to general body health but to the health of your hair and nails.
Multivitamin- I initially planned on taking a multivitamin but haven't done so and decided to rather eat healthy.
Apply castor oil and jojoba oil to my scalp twice a week.
Apply a daily spritz to my hair - the spritz contains two thirds distiller water ( I boil water in a kettle and let it cool, you can use bottled store bought water if you don't mind the expenditure), and one third castor oil & glycerine.
Deep condition with protein and moisturising treatments when I take down the hairstyles.
Determine if I can do hot oil treatments in between protective styles before taking them down. Really need to ensure healthy hair is a priority over the challenge. No point staying in protective styles while letting my hair suffer.

A few ladies have joined the challenge, and hopefully one of them win at the end if the 6 months. Hopefully next time I get more ladies in the challenge, we have about 10 at the moment. But that's a good start. Rome wasn't built in a day. Not too late to join us, 5 more months to go in a week so contact me on instagram to join.

Here's my starting length check and first protective style: