Is your 4c natural hair always dry? Does it always feel crunchy to the touch? Is it looking dull?  

Yes?

Well…we need to fix that expeditiously! Did you know dehydrated hair makes your hair brittle which can lead to breakage? 

And if your goal is to grow long luscious locks, dry hair may be keeping you from your dreams.

Here’s something that completely blew my mind when I came across it years ago: the shape of your hair follicle determines your hair’s texture and type. As black people our hair follicles have an oval shape whereas it is more rounded for our caucasian counterparts. 

This has major implications!

One of which is that our hair is prone to dryness because an oval shaped follicle produces kinks, coils and folds in the hair strand as it comes out of the scalp while a more rounded shape produces straighter hair. 

These kinks and coils make it difficult for sebum (an oil produced by your skin and scalp that moisturises and adds shine to hair) to travel down the hair shaft.

With that backdrop, knowing how to moisturise your hair can make all the difference to your hair health and hair goals. And moisturising your hair properly is a game changer!

I started noticing a drastic change (for the better) shortly after I started moisturising my natural hair correctly many many years ago. I learned that water is the real MVP when it comes to natural haircare.

Funny thing is, when I was growing up, water was the last thing I wanted on my hair because my hair would “krempa” (shrink) as natural hair would. 

But now, I welcome kremping because it signals that my hair’s thirst is being quenched! 

Although there are a number of things you can do to encourage healthy hair growth from within, moisturising your hair properly is possibly the single most important thing you can do externally for retaining the full length of your natural hair strand.

Let’s take a closer look…

Understand the hair strand to moisturise it effectively

I don’t want to bore you with a lot of jargon, so imma try keep it real simple, so stay with me, Sis!

There are three main components of the hair structure that I want you to take note of: the hair cuticle, cortex and medulla.

Here’s a simple cross section visual I drew for you (you’re welcome 🙂 )

The cuticle is the outermost covering that is responsible for maintaining the health of your hair, it protects the cortex and it is instrumental in regulating moisture. The hair cuticles either stand open to let water in or lay flat to restrict water from going in or out.

So, it’s like a gate or some really cool access control that allows moisture to enter and exit your hair.

Now, the cortex (and the medulla) is what we want moisturised. It is the component that strengthens your hair and provides it with elasticity, without which your hair is easily prone to breakage.

Knowing this basic information about the hair cuticle and the cortex can help you to take better care of your hair.

Think about it for a sec.

You need to keep your hair moisturised so that it does not break and thus retain its length. To do this, the cuticle needs to open to allow water into the cortex and it also needs to close to keep the moisture in and prevent the hair strand from drying out too quickly.

How does the hair cuticle open?

Warm water opens your hair cuticles.

Using warm water when washing your hair lifts up your cuticles allowing water to hydrate the cortex, it also helps remove dirt and product buildup from your hair. 

Clean natural hair provides an excellent base for moisture retention as it reduces barriers (like product gunk and dust particles) that block hydration.

Using Water and oil to effectively moisturise your 4c hair

While your cuticles are open, it is an excellent opportunity to boost your hair’s moisture with a conditioner. So, after washing your hair immediately follow up with a conditioner and a light oil while your hair is damp/wet – this will also help to condition your hair.

One of my favourite oils is jojoba oil. It is light weight and non-greasy, so it helps keep hair moisturised without weighing it down!

By the way jojoba oil is related to sebum that I mentioned earlier in terms of its composition.

There are tons of other light weight yet powerful oils such as sweet almond oil, avocado oil, and baobab seed oil.

Humectants for boosting moisture in your natural hair

What also helps to keep your natural hair (and skin) hydrated are humectants. Hume- what now? Humectants! 

They are a category of ingredients that have the extraordinary ability to attract and retain water. They are able to absorb moisture from their surroundings and keep it in your hair! Super cool, right?

Examples of these are glycerine and honey. So you can seek out products with these ingredients for a boost of moisture.

How does your hair cuticle close?

So we’ve spoken about how the cuticle opens and how we hydrate and nourish the hair strand, now we need to close that cuticle and lock in all that moisture and nourishment we’ve added. 

While warm water lifts up the hair cuticles and allows moisture to enter the hair strand and reach the cortex, cold water lays the cuticles flat and slows down the evaporation of moisture from your hair.

Applying a butter like shea butter on your hair as the last step helps to lock in moisture for longer. This can be raw shea butter, or shea butter mixed with oils like olive oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, etc. 

It can even be other butters like mango butter or cocoa butter – the options are many!

I use shea butter and I use the same for my daughter’s hair too.

You can purchase your own jar here:

Using the LOC/LCO method to effectively moisturise your 4c hair

You may or may not be familiar with what’s called the LOC (or LCO) method. 

It is an acronym for Liquid Oil Cream (or Liquid Cream Oil), it helps us remember the order in which we need to apply our moisturising hair products to make them effective and our hair moisturised for a prolonged period.

Liquid 

Liquid is water or a water based product. This can be hydrosols like rose water, rosemary hydrosol, aloe vera hydrosol, etc. It can also be leave-in conditioners.

Water is the main ingredient that hydrates hair. This is important to understand.

Oil

Depending on your hair’s porosity you can use light oils such as jojoba and grapeseed for low porosity hair. And for high porosity hair, heavier oils like castor oil are best. 

Porosity speaks to how porous your hair is. I will cover this topic in another post 🙂

Many oils, due to their molecular make up, are able to penetrate the hair shaft thus effectively nourishing the hair from within. 

In addition to nourishing and strengthening from within, applying an oil or oil blend helps to seal in the moisture added in the Liquid step.

Cream 

This entails a heavier, creamy product to lock in everything. It can be a butter or a styling cream.

You can use LOC or LCO or LC or LO. The choice of which to use can depends on whether your hair is fine or thick and your hair porosity. 

You can start with general guidelines but trial and error may be necessary to figure out what is best for your hair.

Always remember that water (L- Liquid) should always be first.

Why you should not apply oils and butters on dry hair

The simple reason is that your hair will break. Only water provides hydration, and when your hair is hydrated it is more elastic. 

Ok, I’ve said a mouthful in this blog post, and I hope you’ve been following. I know I need to delve deeper into some of the topics I mentioned here (like hair porosity, hair type and texture, etc) but I’ll use other blog posts to do that.

To sum it all up, here are the steps to properly moisturise your hair:

1. Wash your hair with warm water

• water is the real hydrator
• warm water lifts up your hair cuticles and allows water to enter the hair strand and reach the cortex
• clean hair provides a good base for moisture retention

2. Apply a leave-in conditioner to your hair while it is damp

• It provides ongoing moisture throughout the day
• Products containing humectants are best

3. Apply an oil

• use an oil that can penetrate the hair shaft and provide nourishment from the inside out
• Examples are jojoba oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil

4. Apply an cream

• Shea butter is an excellent choice to lock in all the moisture
• Other examples include mango butter and styling creams.

NB: Apply your hair products down the full length of your hair strand, add extra to your ends! They the most prone to breakage as they are the oldest parts of the hair stand.

Do this once a week. 

And if your hair feels dry and thirsty between wash days then you can replace the washing step (step 1) with spraying your hair with water or a mixture of water and a bit of oil of your choice and glycerine.

Let me know if this was helpful, comment below. Let me know what you would like me to cover next.

The post How to moisturise your natural hair effectively appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

A lot of what goes on in the growth process of your natural hair is out of your control.

Yes, you can buy the products and do the protective hairstyles and be consistent. But all of these measures deal with hair that has grown out of your scalp already.

If you employ the right techniques and apply the right products, longer hair is achieved or guaranteed through retention. I have a number of blog posts about the things you can avoid/do to retain your length, here’s one of them.

But Sis, these techniques and products do not ensure healthy, quality hair growth from the inside out.

And as much as the hair growth process is not in your hands, the good news is that there certainly is a significant part for you to play in aiding the growth of your natural hair from the inside out.

Hang on, we’ll get to those things just now, let’s first look at the hair growth cycle…

The hair growth cycle

At any given time, your natural hair strands are individually in one of the three phases of the hair growth cycle. 

The first phase is the growth phase, where your natural hair grows for 2 to 6 years. Genetics will determine how long your growth phase lasts.

The second phase is where your hair growth pauses for about 2 to 3 weeks.

And in the last phase your hair sheds.

Next, the cycle repeats itself.

For your body to produce quality natural hair in its unique form, your genes are the main contributor. Genes determine the texture and thickness of your hair.

However, sleep, your diet, exercise and your mental health have their place in your body producing good quality hair too. Let’s look at these…

1. Sleeping enough helps your natural hair grow

If you want to grow healthy hair from the inside out, make sure you get sufficient quality sleep!

I read this book titled “Why We Sleep”, and wow! Let me tell you! Mind blowing stuff. The author does such a great job in scientifically detailing the importance of having at least 8 hours of sleep every single night.

Basically, when you don’t sleep enough every major system, tissue and organ in your body suffers. All the physiological systems in your body deteriorate.

Your immune system gets significantly compromised.

You increase your chances of having cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and a whole lot of other illnesses. Sound hectic right? Well, it is!

Quite shockingly also, insufficient sleep attacks the physical structure of your genetic material. *Gasp*

But Sis, let me tell you! Sleep, when you get enough of it, is a remarkable cure-all!

Yes, nutrition and exercise are important but sleep?? sufficient and quality sleep?? is the bedrock on which nutrition and exercise are made effective. 

Ok Sister, what does this have to do with growing my natural hair?

Answer: Everything!

It is during sleep that your cells get repaired, your immune system gets boosted, your body recuperates and develops.

God created sleep and it is such awe-inspiring gift that we (me included) sometimes take for granted. Its effects on our minds – mental health, memory, creativity – and our bodies (including our natural hair), are truly wonderful!

So, here are 12 tips to improve your sleep:

1. Make sure to get enough sunlight during the day
2. Go to sleep at the same time every night
3. Sleep before midnight… way before midnight! Hours before midnight are golden!
4. Have a nightly sleep routine where you wind down. Reading a book, journaling, personal devotion, praying are great suggestions. Don’t forget your satin head scarf or pillow case as you lay your head down.
5. Sleep in a dark room, keep your lights off. Having blackout on your curtains is a great idea
6. Do not eat/drink foods with caffeine
7. Sleep in a clean, quiet environment
8. Aim for at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night
9. Get the book “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker to get the fuller picture of the importance of sleep. You will start to value and protect your sleep!

2. Eat right for natural hair growth

Eating the right food is necessary to provide you with the right nutrients essential for growing, repairing and maintaining your body – including your natural hair – and its vital processes.

In addition to good sleep, you can grow good quality natural hair from the inside out by eating right.

When you don’t eat right you are just inviting all manner of diseases and ailments to yourself. Not to mention malnutrition which is a lack of a balanced diet!

What does eating right for hair growth mean?

It means eating right for your overall health. When you eat right for your overall health, your natural hair will automatically also grow healthily from the inside out.

Eating right means getting enough nutrients from the six major food groups being: carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals, vitamins and water. 

I could go into a full biology lesson, but let me spare you. Sis, just eat your fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, grains… Whole foods are best. Avoid processed foods.

Although all these nutrients are essential and work together for optimal health, foods rich in protein make up the material your body needs to grow. 

So, foods high in protein contribute directly to building your natural hair from inside out! Being vegetarian, my personal favourite include:

• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Grains
• Nuts

B vitamins are also important for the growth and health of your natural hair. Among these micronutrients, vitamin B12 helps to promote healthy hair follicles while biotin strengthens the hair (it keeps your skin and nails healthy too). 

Natural sources of biotin include: 

• Legumes
• Seeds
• Nuts
• fruits such as avocados
• bananas and raspberries
• vegetables such as sweet potatoes

Drinking water helps your natural hair grow

You ought to be drinking enough water daily for your overall health and continuous growth of your natural hair. The benefits of drinking water cannot be overstated!

According to Kieticosa.com, if you are dehydrated it is possible for your hair to stop growing. 

Water supports vitamins in carrying out their function and this contributes to the growth of your natural hair.

Also, drinking water moisturizes your hair from the inside, helps to strengthen your hair and increases its growth. A single hair strand has a weight of 25% water.

Drink your water Sis! At least 2 liters per day. Yup.

Moral of the story here is to eat a balanced diet, make sure your plate has a variety of healthy food, and different colours. And drink your water. Your natural hair will grow healthily from inside out!

3. Exercise to help your natural hair grow

Exercise gets your blood circulating through your body which transports oxygen and nutrients to your cells throughout your body. (Massaging your scalp also encourages blood circulation)

Get those squats and jumping jacks in Sis, any form of exercise really. It keeps you healthy.

By exercising, you get blood flow even to your scalp enriching your hair follicles with all the necessary nutrients that help you grow healthy hair.

Get active. Get your blood flowing to get your natural hair growing!

4. Mental health matters for natural hair growth

Doing all these things – sleeping enough, eating right, exercising – also positively contributes to your mental health. There are a various mental health disorders that affect the growth of your natural hair and even lead to hair loss. 

When you are stressed, have anxiety, or going through depression or other mental health conditions you can experience hair loss or hair thinning.

Take care of your mind and what you put in it – what you listen to, what and who you surround yourself with, what you read, what you watch, and the air you breath.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Take counsel from Paul. The mind is so powerful. Take care of it, Sis.

Let me end here for now. I hope you have found this post helpful..? comment below.

This post provided you with things that are within your control that you can do to help you grow healthy natural hair from the inside out. Take stock of your sleep, diet, activity and mental health. Make the necessary changes, not only for your hair but for your mind and body. 

The post grow your natural hair from the inside out: 4 important ways appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

But first…

Happy new year, Sis! I thank the Lord for allowing us to see yet another year. May it be a blessed one for you 😉

I have heard people say to me “…ah! my hair just doesn’t grow” and “…my hair just falls off” and “…my hair breaks a lot.”

Now, I don’t know what is going on with your hair in particular, but understanding the hair cycle can help you figure out what to do.

Breaking vs shedding natural hair

Earlier in my natural hair journey I learnt that when I see my hair strands in the basin or a place other than my head and, upon closer inspection those strands don’t have a white bulb on one of their ends, then it is hair that has broken off. 

But, if the hair does have a white bulb at the end then it is shed hair which often is a result of a healthy and normal hair cycle.

Simply, hair growth has a cycle; old hair makes way for new hair to grow by shedding off. (Are we together, Sis? Good.)

So then, it becomes important to know the hair growth cycle in order to better understand your 4c natural hair.

No need to panic when you see the white bulb, it is your hair shedding and it is (usually) normal. 

But if you don’t see the white bulb it means your hair is breaking. Not to worry though keep reading for some tips!

Let’s first understand…

…Growing your natural hair: the hair growth cycle 

It has the following phases:

1. Anagen/growth phase – cells divide and make new hair for the hair shaft. Hair can keep growing from 2 to 6 years, depending on genetics. Hair grows about 6 inches (that’s 15.24 centimetres) a year!
2. Catagen phase – transitional phase lasting from 2 to 3 weeks, hair no longer grows. A club hair is formed in preparation for the next phase.
3. Telogen/resting phase – for about 100 days hair sheds (about 100 strands a day) and the anagen phase starts again and so the cycle continues… Stress, trauma, etc. can cause more than normal shedding.

All the phases take place simultaneously – different strands are in one of the 3 phases at any given time.

So girl, your hair is growing! But if you are adamant it is not, I wrote a post that identifies 9 reasons your hair is not growing. 

If your hair is breaking (i.e. has no white hair bulb at the end) then lack of moisture is one of the culprits. 

So, if you are experiencing breakage on your 4c hair, i.e. you are not seeing the white bulb, here are some tips to help you to grow your natural hair…

11 tips on how to avoid breakage and retain length:

1. Avoid manipulating your hair when it is dry

Sis, don’t handling your natural hair while it is dry especially when doing high manipulation styles. This will lead to breakage.

Type 4 hair is prone to dryness and when it is dry it is brittle and breaks easily. Continuing to handle your hair while dry will set you back greatly in your attempt at growing your natural hair.

Spritz some water or apply a leave in conditioner to allow your hair to be elastic and malleable. You can then gently manipulate as desired without snapping it. 

2. Avoid excessive use of fine-toothed combs

Because your 4c hair strands are kinky and coily, fine tooth combs are met with resistance. The fine toothed combs do not glide smoothly down the hair shaft as they would on straight or less coily hair. 

The better option is to use wide tooth combs as they met with less resistance and will cause less breakage! And less breakage is growing natural hair!

3. Finger detangle

Although it takes time, it allows for to carefully unravelling of double and multi stand knots where a comb would have snagged or broken the hair. Here’s why finger detangling my be the best for you

4. Use sharp hair shears

If contending with a stubborn knot, use your hair shears instead of yanking your hair your with your fingers.

The sharper the better, you want a clean cut. A clean cut reduces the chances of splitting ends. Trust me, splitting ends are the enemy of growing natural hair. Look at this post on Dead Ends and how to prevent split ends.

5. Handle your hair when you are in a good mood

Negative emotions while handling hair can lead to frustrations and rough handling. Rough handling leads to breakage and counters your efforts of growing your natural hair.

6. Handle your hair when not in a hurry

Make sure you allot enough time for your haircare. Not planning your time properly and ending up in a rush can lead to rough handling and breakage. 

Make sure you stay on top of your natural hair care routine. You can create your own personalised routine for your lifestyle, I’ve made it practical and easy for you to stay organised.

7. You can’t go wrong with protective styles

Protective styles are great for growing your natural hair especially if you are a busy mom like me! I always have my hair in twists.

That way my hair stays organised and I don’t need to be handling it all the time.

Be careful with protective styles though, at installation but especially at take-down. I write briefly on this on 9 reasons your hair is not growing.

8. Pay attention to your hair accessories 

Some may be breaking to your hair. They may be snagging, snapping and ripping your hair without you even realising. Stay vigilant sis! Growing your natural hair needs you to pay attention to detail!

9. Sleep with a satin/silk heard scarf

Satin/silk scarfs/pillow cases are best. Unlike cotton and other material which absorbs moisture, they help retain hair moisture.

I did a fun little satin scarf DIY, check it out.

10. Pay attention to your clothing that your hair does not ruffle against it

Collars are unlikely culprits too. If your hair is constantly brushing up against your collar the friction may be causing your hair to break. Another unlikely suspect!

11. It could be your products

Pay attention to the products you use. How does your hair FEEL? If your hair feels dry within moments of applying a product, ditch it and find a product that is longer lasting. The market is wide, you have options!

Check your shampoo, your container and sealants. If any are drying and making your hair feel brittle consider discontinuing using them in favour of ones that are moisturising.

12. Avoid excessive heat

Excessive heat dries out your hair and dry hair is prone to breakage. I never use heat on my hair, I exclusively let my hair air dry and is one of the factors contributing to my growing natural hair.

How to grow healthy natural hair

The 12 tips I’ve mentioned above are really about taking care of your hair once it has grown and help you retain your length from the growing phase. But growing good quality natural hair really comes down to at least these 3 things:  nutrition, exercise and rest. Quality natural hair growth is an inside job!

1. Eat
2. Exercise
3. Sleep

I’ll cover these in another blog post!

I hope you enjoyed my tips on growing your natural hair (more accurately, retaining your growing hair). Remember, it is important to understand the hair growth cycle. This knowledge helps you know the difference between shedding hair and breaking hair and take the necessary steps to avoid breakage and in turn retain length!

Which tip will you be implementing? let me know in the comments.

Love,

Mmabatho

The post new year tips for growing your natural hair: 12 tips appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

Am I the only one who finds the satin bonnets quite bulky? The reversible ones are also quite hot, especially in the warmer seasons. 

So instead of complaining, I took matters into my own hands and made my own single ply triangular satin scarf- it’s airy, light, reversible, versatile, helps to retain moisture for my natural hair… and best of all, it is so easy to make.

You probably have a few of those square scarves. You fold one into a triangle, wrap around your hair and tie? This satin head scarf was inspired by those! The differences are that this one is already a triangle, it is satin, and is just one layer!

I’m going to show you how to make it the exact size you need to make it less bulky and without unnecessary fabric that needs to be tucked in. 

I made my first triangle satin scarf two years ago, it was a good attempt but the corners were quite catastrophic (look, I’m no seamstress). So, this time around I was determined to make my head scarf have a polished finish. 

I did some googling and came across a blog post on ageberry.com, the author did an excellent job of describing how to sew polished corners! I obviously used her guide to make my satin head scarf.

But first, what are the…

…benefits of using a satin scarf/bonnet on your natural hair

Cotton and similar material are porous and absorb moisture from your natural hair (and skin).  

Satin (and silk, which is more expensive) is slippery and causes less friction on your hair, so this means more moisture is retained and less splitting and less breakage for your hair strands.

Ok, so…

.. how do I make a triangle satin head scarf?

You will need a few items:

1. Pins 
2. Needle and thread (or sewing machine)
3. Scissors
4. Measuring Tape
5. Satin Fabric (1.5 square meters) 
6. Head Scarf that fits you well (optional)
7. Chalk
8. Ruler

How to make a satin head scarf:

1. Lay your fabric on a flat surface

You will need about 1.5 square meters of fabric. 

2. Use a headscarf that fits you well, lay it on your fabric

I used the one I created two years ago because I love how it fits.

I used the one I created two years ago because I love how it fits:

3. Cut out your triangle

Remember to make a 2cm seam allowance all around before cutting. The measurements I used are 52 inches x 35.5 inches x 35.5 inches.

4. Now to tackle the corners

Starting with the right angle.

4.1 Pin down 1cm seam on both sides of the corner

4.2 Measure and mark at 2cm from the tip of the corner along both sides

4.3 Draw a line connecting the two marks

4.4 Fold your fabric aligning the two markings

4.5 sew along the line you drew. Thereafter cut the access material (this will reduce the bulk).

Now onto the acute angles:

4. 6 Fold your fabric in half at the corner

4.7 Draw a line where the width of the folded fabric is 2 cm

4.8 Fold along the line and draw a line along the fold

4.9 Draw a line where the width is 1cm from the bottom

4.10 Pin down and sew

4.11 After sewing cut off unnecessary material to reduce the bulk

5. Turn the corners

6. Pin down and pin a further 1 cm seam (the other 1 cm has been sewed down at the corners

Fold twice (1cm then another 1cm) all around while pinning as you go

7. Sew all around

You can use a back stitch all around or a sewing machine.

And that is it. Cut off hanging thread and you are done! You have your very own satin scarf with polished finishes.

A great improvement from the last time I made this! The picture below shows in black the one I made 2 years ago and the one in grey I made recently.

And that’s how I you easily make a simple triangle satin scarf for your natural hair. It is great to retain your hair’s moisture while you sleep, but is also versatile and can be dressed up or down.

I hope the instructions are clear. But, if there’s something you need clarity on please note it in the comments below. Also check out the corresponding video!

The post Satin Head Scarf: Simple and Easy Tutorial appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

I don’t know about you but I’m happy to see winter over. 

Days are now warmer and longer, the trees are budding, the birds fill the air with beautiful songs from early in the morning. 

There is just something so special about spring, it signifies freshness and newness of life. 

And, it’s the best time to get your life and natural hair in order, right? Why not?!

So, here are my top 6 tips for your natural hair this Spring:

1. Recommit to your natural hair journey

First things first. Perhaps it is your desire to have healthy natural hair, and perhaps you even have some length goals but you have not been putting in the necessary work, I would say to you this spring “recommit”!

Healthy (and long) natural hair is achievable if you put in the right systems in place!

Don’t get fixated on your goals but on the process (your routine) and get better at that.

Over time the results will show.

This requires a mindset shift. So, sis, recommit to the journey, and let the destination merely be a guide. 

2. Reset your natural hair

Throughout the winter you may have let your natural haircare go down the drain and as a result your hair is now in shambles, don’t stress! 

One of the things I’ve come to know from my 13+ years of being natural is that our natural hair is very forgiving. 

If there’s some matting, it is dry and had been unattended/neglected while you were hibernating in the winter, then I definitely think it is salvageable. 

Add a bit moisture (water, detangler, conditioner, etc) and gently and safely detangle your hair and proceed to:

• Wash your hair thoroughly with a shampoo. Focus on your scalp! Get all the gunk (dirt and product build up) out.  This is a good spring clean for your natural hair that resets your hair and scalp. And a clean scalp is the perfect environment for healthy hair growth.

• Moisturise and seal. Use your favourite leave-in conditioner and and lock it in with an oil and/or butter.

• Trim straggly ends, knotted ends, and splitting ends! You are spring cleaning and resetting, remember? If these are left unsnipped they will set you back in the long run, and they just don’t look good. So, trim them now to get fuller looking, healthy natural hair strands! (have it professionally done if you cannot do it yourself)

• Instal a protective hairstyle. My favourite are twists. They are easy to install and they don’t cause tension to my scalp.

• Now, be consistent.

3. Simplify your natural hair routine

I’ve seen many natural hair trends come and go. The temptation can be so strong to try some of these out. If you have a routine that is working for you, then no need to complicate it with passing fads. It’s ok to let some of these miss you, mmkay! 

This spring reassess your current natural haircare routine and if your hair is healthy and thriving, then don’t try to reinvent your wheel. Keep it simple. 

But, if you’ve noticed that your hair isn’t growing healthily, it is dry, breaking, thinning, knotting, etc. then change your routine to deal with the specific issues. Only then should you do trial and error, tweak, and enhance as necessary. Do this until you find a simple enough routine and products for your natural hair. 

4. Be consistent with your regimen

Do you know where the danger is? It is right here where you don’t keep a consistent natural haircare routine! 

I think we are all guilty of this one. We let it slip, and sometimes it is from being lazy while other times its from genuine life issues getting in the way. 

Cultivate a habit of doing your natural haircare consistently. Use tools you have available to help you schedule and remember. Pencil it into your calendar, set reoccurring reminders (e.g. for wash day and for moisurising) on your phone. Automate it.

Be realistic about your time and priorities. A consistent once in two (or three or four) weeks wash day routine, for example, is better than washing your hair sporadically. 

Be consistent with your natural hair routine and you’ll see your hair thriving!

To help you, I’ve created a planner. It is so easy to use. Download it for free below. Once downloaded, you can either print it or fill it in electronically, how convenient!

Enter your name and email address and click Download free haircare planner

Name *

First

Last

Email *

Download free haircare planner

5. Declutter your product collection

It’s time to let the cool spring breeze blow through your natural hair product collection! 

You’ll find that you have haircare products you haven’t used in a while, and you don’ t gravitate towards them anymore.  

Check their expiry dates and if they’ve expired, throw those out. If they haven’t expired then consider giving them away.

Note: Once opened, a lot of products will be good/safe to use for the next 12 months. To check the “use before” date check the back of the packaging and you’ll see a container with an open lid and a number on the container indicating the number of months it is safe to use after opening.

So, this spring declutter your product collection and only keep the items that are in line with your simplified natural hair routine (from tip 3). 

And all you need really is a product for detangling (my current fave is from Creme of Nature for its slip you can get if from Clicks and Dischem in South Africa), a product for cleansing, another for hydrating (e.g. water or leave in conditioner), and another for sealing (e.g. shea butter). That’s it! Take a look at the basics of a natural haircare routine.

6. Make that radical change

If you’ve been thinking about changing up your hair in anyway (e.g. doing the big chop or different hairstyle), what better time to do it than in the season that symbolizes new beginnings?! Have the audacity and courage to change.

All the best with your natural hair journey this spring, Sis. May it grow and flourish. May you grow and flourish right there with it! 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section 🙂

Love,

Mmabatho

The post 6 Best Tips for your 4c Natural Hair this Spring appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

If you have a little girl like I do, then you know just how impressionable they are.

She sees a girl with a swirling dress, she also wants a swirling dress. Sounds familiar? She sees a girl with bouncy hair going back and forth, she also wants hair that goes back and forth. And the list goes on….

And if you, mommy, have an appreciation for natural hair like I do, then I’m sure you would like to see your little girl loving and embracing her natural hair too. Right?

If that’s you, keep reading!

There is a lot we don’t have control over (like the girl your daughter sees at the shops with bouncy hair), but there is also a lot that we do have control over (like what goes on in our homes). Here are some things, that are in your control, that you can do to help your daughter appreciate her natural hair:

1. Her natural hair is created by God

In our Christian home, we find a way to inculcate God in everything we do. We often remind ourselves that we find our purpose and identity in Him. 

And if you are Christian too, let your girl know often that she was created by God.

Help her appreciate that everyone is different and unique yet very special. Bring her attention to all the outward features and characteristics that distinguish each one from the next person. And all those things are what make us who we are, and we are beautiful just the way He made us.

Lerato has long straight hair, you have short curly hair, Kathrine has short blonde hair, mommy’s hair is long, thin and coily. They are all beautiful and God made us all unique. Doing this will help her understand that we are all different and loved just the same! And this will help your daughter appreciate her own natural hair.

2. Watch your language and attitude towards natural hair

Little girls imitate. I’ve seen it with mine. She speaks the way I do and has the same mannerisms 🤦🏾‍♀️

So, mama, be mindful of the words you use to describe your natural hair, her natural hair, or anyone’s for that matter. Lead by example, it starts with you. When she sees you appreciating your natural hair, she’ll be more inclined to imitate that.

Do not use words that bear negative connotations or undertones of inferiority or disadvantage. Never be heard wishing you had hair like “so and so”. 

Rather teach her about natural hair in a matter-of-fact-but-with-a-touch-of-enthusiasm kind of way. Describe natural hair and its characteristics. 

Talk about its versatility. It can be long, it can be short (maybe from shrinkage), it can be straight, etc.

When it is dry, for instance, say that “it is dry” and tell her of ways to combat dry hair. Talk about the importance of maintaining moisturized hair. 

No need to use derogatory language to describe anyone’s natural hair!

Also, don’t problematise your daughter’s hair, or natural hair in general. Our hair is not a problem in need of a solution. *And that’s on periodt! * 

Ok. I’m done preaching. Can you tell I’m passionate about this?

3. Involve her when doing her (and your) natural hair

Many times I see little girls sitting passively and uncomfortably while their hair is being done. They are not allowed to move and they are scolded at when they touch. 

This creates a negative perception around haircare and is not the greatest experience.

For an enjoyable experience during haircare, let her play a part in doing her hair. Allow her to get her hands on her hair and in the products. Give her a section to do and guide her through the process. Let her know why she shouldn’t use a certain product before a particular step. Explain the best order of product application. Teach.

Also, for an enjoyable experience and creating a positive perception in your girl’s mind toward natural hair, mommy please don’t be rough on your girl’s hair. Make it painless. See this post on my guidelines for pain free haircare for your daughter.

I know you are a busy mom and want to get this over and done within 0.5 seconds. But do make time allowance for teaching.  This will go a long way in giving you time sooner rather than later when she can do her own hair. 

Also, involving her not only teaches your daughter to do her own natural hair, but also creates an enjoyable and engaged haircare experience that helps to form a positive perception towards her own natural hair.

4. Help her familiarize herself with natural haircare terminology

Use natural hair terms as they are and explain them as often as needed. Start them young, it’s never too early. Soon she’ll be using them herself. Just like any vocab, use the correct language from the get go, even the word you think is big. Explain it. Use it in context. And she’ll get it. Trust me.

The best way to do this is in conjunction with the previous point. So, as you narrate to your daughter what you are doing on her natural hair, tell her what the step is and what products you are applying. Then let her try on her section.

Detangle. Shrinkage. Moisturise. Condition. Etc. Use these terms and other natural haircare jargon. Learning even the terms helps your little one become more confident as she learns and masters her natural haircare.

Note: Don’t force your girl to learn, there is no exam here (this applies to all the points). No pressure on your little girl, please. Just weave these things in seamlessly/naturally/organically as you are doing her hair or in conversations (especially when she is showing interest and is curious).

5. Representation is important

Representation is everything.

What is your little girl constantly seeing around her?

What shows does she watch on television (if she watches television)?

What do the people look like on programs she watches?

Is she represented on those programs?

What books is she reading or are you reading to her?

The pictures in those books, is your daughter represented in those?

What about the dolls you’ve bought her?

Is she represented there? Is her hair represented? 

Representation lets your daughter know that she’s included in society. It also has a positive impact on her sense of self. It reinforces positive views about herself and what she can achieve in society.

So, with all that you expose your little girl to, ensure that she is well represented. Make sure you are not constantly (of course unintentionally!) putting pictures in her environment that only showcase those who don’t look like her. Try to be intentional.

A few years ago, I came across this company (Sibahle Collection) that makes black dolls with beautiful afros and traditional ware. I bought one for my daughter and she named her Tshilidzi (Grace in Tshivenda). Tshilidzi has been a valued member of our family ever since!

So, if there are going to be images around your daughter (things in your control), make sure many of those represent her and her natural hair. And this will help her appreciate her natural hair too!

I hope you enjoyed this one mommy. I shared 5 things you can do to help your baby girl love and appreciate her natural hair. When we do these, not only do we empower our daughters to know how to maintain their own hair but we also help cultivate a positive disposition towards natural hair in their hearts. 

Share with me in the comments how you have made natural haircare a treat for your little girl(s).

Also, sign up to my newsletter so that you don’t miss any posts like this.

You can purchase the Bontle doll here:

The post 5 Ways to Help Your Daughter Appreciate Her Natural Hair appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

Let me waste no time and tell you.

It is called dry detangling.

In this post I’ll tell you about what dry detangling natural hair is, what tools and products you will need and, most importantly, how to do it safely without breaking your precious strands and ensuring you retain length.

But first let me tell you how I stumbled across dry detangling and how I have made it part of my natural haircare regimen….

I came across it years ago and concluded it couldn’t be for my fine strands! I needed my natural hair to be drenched in some conditioner with tons of slip before I could attempt to detangle! Or so I thought.

Recently, while preparing to detangle my hair, I applied a whole lot of coconut oil to my hair and wrapped it up to detangle the following day. This I did as a pre-detangling step.

The plan for the following day was to add conditioner/detangler and detangle away! The day arrived, I had my conditioner ready and, instead of applying it I added more coconut oil to a small section and I just started to detangle. It wasn’t supposed to be a thing, it wasn’t the plan. I just went along with the flow.

But when I saw how the strands were easily gliding passed each other, I kept going! Until I was done with my entire head! I had successfully used the dry detangling method on my fine 4c natural hair!

What is dry detangling natural hair?

To dry detangle your natural hair entails detangling without any water or water based product.

However, it does not mean carelessly detangling your natural hair without any product altogether, that would be disastrous! You would break a lot of your hair strands.

With dry detangling, you still need something that will create a slippery barrier around each hair strand. This is achieved by using an oil or combination of oils. 

What is wet detangling natural hair?

To wet detangle your natural hair entails detangling by first applying a conditioner or a detangler. These are water based products that also enable your hair strands to easily glided past each other.

 As you may know, when your natural hair makes contact with water  or a water based product it shrinks.

But when you use the dry detangling method, your hair doesn’t shrink at all.

This makes it easier to detangle because you are not contending with coils from shrunken hair.

Tools and products needed for dry detangling your natural hair:

Tools

• Your fingers

Detangling your natural hair with your fingers ensures that your hair isn’t being yanked out.

Your fingers enable you to be in control; when you feel your hair is knotted you are able to stop and focus on the knot and gently pull strands away from that knot. 

 This saves your hair strands and helps with length retention.

A lot of times it is a shed hair strand that has trapped other hair strands around it. Other times it is a hair strand, because of its coily nature, that has wrapped itself around another hair strand.

If you still cannot unravel the knot, then you will need some scissors.

Why I recommend your fingers and not a comb is because with a comb you run the risk of snapping your hiar.

• A pair of hair shears

A good pair of scissors especially designed for cutting hair is what you will need.

These are especially sharp and ensure a clean cut. Other scissors (for example, for cutting paper, cutting fabric, etc.) are not as sharp and will cause split ends to your natural hair. The pair I use is by Kellermann 3 Swords.

So, instead of pulling out a stubborn knot, snip it off.

• Towel

Use a towel to protect your clothes from oil stains. Put the towel around your neck and shoulders.

Products

Use an oil or a combination of oils that provide your natural hair with lots of slip mine are:

• Coconut oil

 Although coconut oil has amazing benefits for your natural hair, for dry detangling you want to  particularly use it for its excellent slip.

Your natural hair will also benefit from its deep penetrating of the hair shaft property. My favourite is by Lifestyle Foods, you may click here to purchase it.

• Castor oil

Castor oil is a thick oil and is popular in the natural hair community. There are many touting its ability to grow hair, but there isn’t much research backing up this claim.

However, for dry detangling your natural hair, it also has excellent slip. My favourite is the Jamaican Black Castor Oil by Tropic Isle, you can click here to purchase it.

Process for Dry Detangling your 4c Natural Hair

1. Place a towel around your neck and shoulders
2. Gently divide your hair into smaller sections. (You can use some oil to help you section if needed)
3. Working on one section at a time, apply a generous amount of oil to a section and work it into the hair. Make sure you cover the length of your hair – for end to root.
4. Gently finger detangle. 
   1. If you come across a knot, unravel it by gently pulling hair away from the knot.
   1. Add a bit of condition if it is still stubborn.
   1. Snip it off with your hair shears it is really knotted. Do not break off the knot by yanking your hair

I am meticulous and separate (almost) strand by strand. My technique remains the same as when I am wet detangling.

Technique for Detangling your 4c Natural Hair

Here’s a short video showing how I dry detangle my 4c natural hair.

When not to dry detangle your 4c natural hair

If you’ve slipped up and allowed your natural hair to get extremely matted I would not recommend you use the dry detangle method. 

In this case I would recommend using a conditioner with slip – wet detangling.

I alternate between these two methods, depending on the condition of my hair at the time.

Even during the same detangling session, you may interchange between the two methods depending on the particular section.

With our 4c hair there’ll sometimes be one or two sections needing you to intervene with wet detangling.

Have you tried dry detangling?

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The post Shrinkage Free Natural Hair Detangling. Secret Revealed! appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

If you are preggers or just had your baby, postpartum shedding may be coming your way soon, Sis. This blog post is just for you.

Arm yourself and you won’t panic when the time comes. If you are currently experiencing it, I got you too Sis.

Keep reading to see what you should avoid and what you should do more of instead to preserve your natural hair and give it the best possible chance of regrowth. 

I am currently going through postpartum shedding and I have experienced it twice before so I have a pretty good understanding and experiential knowledge of what is going on and what to expect.

Hey, I’m no physician but I will share what I have learned over the years and what has worked best for me.

Your Natural hair during pregnancy

During pregnancy your hair is thicker and fuller. Your hairline a ten out of ten! 1It is a thin-haired girl’s dream!

That’s because during pregnancy your hormones are doing their thing to grow your baby resulting in amazing benefits for your natural hair as well! Your hair grows faster and sheds less making your tresses look glorious! 

Of course, if you already have naturally thick, full hair this might not be desirable for you. During pregnancy you will have even thicker, fuller hair that may be a pain for you to handle.

But for me, someone with naturally thin, low density hair this was a welcomed change. My hair looked amazing, full, thick…until after pregnancy and postpartum shedding hit!

What is postpartum shedding?

It is one of the after-effects of pregnancy, it is a natural process that is very common. It is a temporary alopecia called Telogen Effluvium caused by the changing hormones in your body during and after pregnancy. 

Although most dermatology textbooks confirm this, the jury is still out among some scholars on whether postpartum shedding is really a thing. In my experience, it is totally a thing!

Without getting too nerdy let me explain the hair growth cycle real quick! Normally i.e. when you are not pregnant, your hair strand goes through a growth cycle consisting of four stages: 

• growing phase. Hair grows for about 2 to 4 years

• transitional phase. Hair growth slows down

• resting phase. Hair stops growing for about 2 to 4 months

• falling out phase. Hair falls out!

But during pregnancy there’s a new balance of hormones that change the growth cycle.

The “growing phase” continues throughout your pregnancy without getting to the resting phase during that period.

Once you give birth, the hormones adjust and go back to normal. This then cues in the next phase which is the resting phase, then shortly after (about 2-4 months) your hair enters the falling out phase.

And because so much hair has entered the resting phase all at once, you will experience a LOT of shedding.

Whereas during the normal cycle you would lose about 100 strands a day, during postpartum shedding you lose about 300 strands a day. Yikes!

When will my hair go back to normal after postpartum shedding?

Your hair will go back to pre-pregnancy state after about a year from your baby’s birth. This has been my experience from my past two pregnancies. 

 And if you are going through postpartum shedding yourself, rest assured that your hair will grow back. So, while we accept the things we cannot change, can we try and prevent them from getting worse?

Just like the previous times, this time too I have started to incorporate practices that help the situation out a bit.

5 things to avoid during postpartum shedding:

Here we go, the 5 things you should avoid during postpartum shedding:

1. Hairstyles that pull your hair up or back

Your hair is already shedding/going to shed, no need to accelerate the process by tugging, pulling or putting any kind of tension on it, especially your hairline. Avoid the high buns and cornrows. 

2. Fidgeting with your hair

Do you often unconsciously find your hands in your hair? You touch, swirl and pull your hair, totally unaware?

It’s known as hand-in-hair-syndrome. Constantly having your hands in your hair will see you pulling out or breaking hair that would be naturally shed at a later stage.

So, try to be mind-full and keep your hands out of your hair.

3. Placing your satin scarf directly on your edges

You may like to tie your satin scarf snuggly in order to make sure it doesn’t slip off while you sleep, and so you should. Tie it snuggly but don’t place it directly on your edges.

Tying it on your hairline causes friction that may lead to breakage and will expedite a receding hairline. To care for my edges I pretty much follow what I did the last time.

4. Applying heat to your natural hair

Applying heat to your 4c hair means drying out all the moisture from it.

Lack of moisture weakens hair by making it brittle which then makes it susceptible to breakage. Breaking hair and shedding hair is a disaster combination!

5. Rough handling

Avoid being rough with your hair. Whenever you manipulate your hair (detangling, washing, moisturising, styling…) be gentle and patient. It will save you many a hair strand! #everystrandmatters

Hair regrowth tips after postpartum shedding

Just because postpartum shedding is inevitable (in a lot of cases) doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind.

Yes, you will lose a lot of hair but continue with practices that will help your body produce stronger and healthier hair with the new growth, and practices that promote solid hair retention.

So here are my hair regrowth tips:

1. Continue with your prenatal vitamins

Take your vitamins daily to make sure you get a boost of all the right nutrients for yourself and your baby (if you are breastfeeding). This will be beneficial to your hair as well!

2. Moisturise your hair

Make sure you moisturise and seal in the moisture regularly. Doing this will ensure your hair isn’t dry, brittle and breaking.

Also, be gentle as you do this.

3. Use satin/silk scarf/pillow case

We don’t want all that moisture you’ve added to be absorbed from your hair while you sleep, nope!

Wearing a satin scarf or sleeping on a satin pillow case helps with retaining moisture unlike material such as cotton that absorb moisture.

This will protect your new hair growth and help with length retention.

I repeat. Hair without moisture is dry hair and dry hair is brittle hair. Brittle hair breaks easily. Yup!

4. Detangle gently

Gently detangling helps to avoid the yanking out of hair that would be shed anyway but at a later stage.

It also helps with length retention, especially of the regrowth.

I finger detangle my fine 4c hair, my technique is rather time consuming but it saves my hair strands. Using a product with a lot of slip and creating manageable sections sure does help!

5. Eat healthily

Eating a balanced, healthy diet will help with healthy hair regrowth. It sets you up for quality hair!

6. Scalp massage and exercise

Gently massaging your scalp encourages blood circulation to your scalp, this helps with the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your hair follicles – perfect for healthy hair growth cycle.

Exercising circulates your blood too and has a great effect on your overall health.

7. Low manipulation hairstyles

These are styles that discourage you from touching your hair too much.

And that’s what you need – less touching. Let the postpartum shedding process run its course without much interference from your hands. 

What styles then? This depends on the length of your hair but I would advise none that add tension to your roots.

My natural hair is in twists most of the time, and I make sure the roots are free from any tension.

At installation, granted, hair goes through a lot/high manipulation but it is a necessity that ensures low manipulation for the next few weeks. 

If you have short hair or TWA, you can just rock your fro! No tension from braiding needed, at least for now.

You may also be tempted to cut your natural hair but that may not be necessary if you can wait it out just a bit; postpartum shedding should be done and your hair back to its pre-pregnancy state at about the time your baby is a year old!

8. Sleep

Make sure you get enough sleep.

I cannot describe how truly wonderful sleep is. It is during sleep that our bodies grow and repair. In fact, melatonin – the sleep cycle regulating hormone increases natural hair growth.

So, while postpartum shedding is inevitable in many cases, sleeping enough will help to produce new healthy hair. Better get those zzzz’s in!!

9. Exercise patience

By the time your little one turns a year old, your hair will be back to its pre-pregnancy state.

Hang in there with the awkward thinning hair with patches, it won’t last too long. It may seem like it.

But in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that long.

If you are going through postpartum shedding, it’s totally normal.

I know it can be stressful. You are not alone.

And you know what?  It will be over before you know it.

And yes, it totally sucks. But hear this, oestrogen, one of the hormones responsible for all this, also ensured your uterus and placenta could create new blood vessels and transfer nutrients to your baby in utero.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made!!!

Try to avoid the things I’ve suggested you avoid and try to incorporate those I’ve suggest and see how it goes. All the best Mama!

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The post Postpartum Shedding On 4c Hair: How To Deal With It appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

You’ve tried all you can but your hair seems to have reached a plateau.

And now you are convinced that your hair doesn’t grow past a specific length.

Does my hair have a predetermined length?

Technically, yes/no! 

I wrote a blog post a while back that included a summary of the hair growth cycle phases. 

Basically, your hair strand grows, 

then it stops growing, 

and then it sheds. 

During the growth (anagen) phase your hair will grow for 2 to 6 years. The length of the growth period is determined by your genes. So, for 2 to 6 years your hair will just continue growing and growing.

During this time your hair may grow about 15.24cm per year (this is an average across all races, but our 4c hair grows a bit slower than the average).

Hair increases in length in this period until it reaches the stage in the hair growth cycle (catagen phase) where it stops growing.

This is then followed by the shedding phase.

So, unless there’s some underlying medical condition, your hair is growing continually during the anagen phase.

How long this phase lasts is predetermined by your genes! What I’ve noticed in general is that there’s a narrow focus on hair growth when the focus should really be on length retention.

Length retention has to do with taking care of the hair strand and the ends, the practices that help keep your hair healthy.

So, the real question then should be: “Why am I not retaining +/-15.24cm of my hair per year? Why?”

Look, I’m no expert, but I have a few ideas. So, here are some possible reasons why you may not be retaining length:

1. You are, but you don’t see it!

Okay, technically, this is not a reason but come with me.

You know how when you haven’t seen a friend in a long time and then the next time you see them they comment on your weight (gained or lost)?

You may not have noticed the gradual change in your size but they have because in their mind they have a different picture of how you looked when they last saw you to how you look now.

Same with your hair. It could be that you are not noticing the growth because you are part of the process. Also, it doesn’t help that your beautiful hair coils up and you always see it in its shrunken state.

2. Your protective hairstyle take-down approach is sabotaging you

So, you install a protective hairstyle (braids, cornrows, twists, wig, etc.) and you keep it in for a few weeks, maybe even more.

Ironically, more often than not it is during the take-down process that the hard work of “protecting” your hair gets undone.

The way your hair may be handled and the lack of moisture will break hair length you are meant to retain. So exercise patience, be extra gentle, and meticulous.

And add more conditioner, especially where matting has occurred. Take-downs see me spending days painstakingly undoing my twists and finger detangling matted hair.

The method I use takes quite some time but also saves me a lot of hair strands because #everystrandmatters

3. Manipulating dry hair

Whenever we touch or handle our hair we are manipulating it.  

Whether we’re washing, moisturising or styling, that is all manipulation. Manipulating is necessary for the care and maintenance of our hair.

However, manipulating dry hair is a bad idea. Dry hair equals brittle hair, and brittle hair breaks easily. Breaking hair sets you back from achieving your longest possible hair.

4. Over manipulation

Listen, I’m plain ol’ Jane. I hardly ever do anything to my hair.

I put it in twists and forget about it. This is mainly because between being a mother, a wife, and an employee there’s hardly ever any time to fidget with my hair.

And incidentally, this has led to my fine and fragile natural hair retaining so much length. If you like experimenting with your natural hair every other week that will go against you reaching your longest possible length because each engagement with your hair is an opportunity for breakage.

Also, things like colour and heat when not done properly and carefully can make our hair susceptible to breakage!

So you don’t have to be boring like me when it comes to hairstyles, but just be aware of the impact of certain styles on length retention. And if your goal is to have long hair, you may want to take the low manipulation route—less touching.

5. Going to salons that don’t specialize in natural hair

Eish, “traditional” salons just don’t get it, man.

How can I put it?… Uhm… they don’t “espouse the natural hair ethos”.

There’s a particular way our hair needs to be handled. It takes time, patience, and techniques such as finger detangling, etc to ensure its best possible state.

Stylists in conventional salons just don’t get it. This results is the hair breaking from too much heat, from rough combing, etc.

And if your hair strands are fine and fragile like mine, they won’t survive the rough blow-drying technique often used.

If you have one, please share your salon experience (whether natural or regular hair salon) in the comments! I DIY everything, because wow, no!

6. Genes

Genes do not determine the length of your hair but they determine the amount of time your hair is actively growing in the growth (anagen) phase.

That’s why I gave an undecided answer at the beginning of this post.

So, each individual has a certain time in which their hair can grow and how they handle their hair in that period determines the length they keep.

Basically, genes play their part too…and so do you! 

7. Not trimming damaged ends

I wrote a whole post about this. If you have split ends and don’t trim your hair, the split goes up your hair shaft further compromising your hair.

This takes you ten steps backwards on your goal for length retention.

So trim whenever you notice split ends and many knots. It will foster healthy hair growth.

8. Diet/lifestyle

This one goes without saying.

But I’ll even say it louder for the people at the back.

Drinking water, eating right, exercising contribute to the overall quality of your hair. Drinking enough water daily contributes to a healthy scalp and the strength of your hair.

Eating foods rich in vitamins, protein and essential fatty acids, contributes to healthy hair growth. With exercise comes blood flow, and blood flow to scalp promotes better hair growth.

So, check where you need to improve on these. They’re things we should be doing already for our overall health, and the benefits filter through to our hair as well.

9. Health

Lastly, I mentioned earlier that unless you have an underlying medical issue, your hair is growing (if it’s in the anagen phase).

Thus, things like prolonged illness, stress, side effects of certain medication, changes in hormonal levels, alopecia, etc. may be the reasons why your hair isn’t growing or is perhaps shedding abnormally, in which case it is impossible to even retain length.

Please seek help from a medical professional if your hair growth cycle varies from the norm.

The post 9 Reasons Your 4c Hair Is Not Growing appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.

In November last year we shaved all of my daughter’s hair. Seven months later and there’s been reasonable growth. We can fit in 4 rows of Benny and Betty!

Look, expecting a 2-year old to sit still while you do her hair is a pipe dream. So my approach was to let her be busy with something she enjoys (drawing and colouring) while I got busy on her head.

We had many intervals, and the last row was completed just before supper. All in all, it was a good experience – for both of us!

This was our second attempt, our first didn’t go too badly either. She was so fascinated and distracted by the wool. Going forward we’ll make it a weekly (or biweekly) thing – undo on Friday, install on Sunday.

Here are some tips for a stress-free Benny and Betty installation on a toddler, with tips on how to maintain the style:

1. Let her know in advance

I kept mentioning to her that we’ll be doing her hair on Sunday. This psyched her up, allowed her to mentally prepare. When the moment came, she was eager to get the tools! Going forward, this may not be necessary since it will be weekly.

2. Set aside a lot of time

I set aside Sunday afternoon. The main agenda was plaiting hair and other things were slotted in between. My aim was to make it as stress-free as possible. Allowing more time made it a low-pressure situation. She did well!Wash her hair.

3. Wash her hair

You want to install this protective hairstyle on freshly washed hair! Especially if you want to keep it in for a week or two.

4. Involve her in the process.

She’ll want to touch anyway, so allow her to take some products and apply them on her own hair.  Let em learn young! Let her know what each product is called and what it is used for. Soon she’ll be the one telling you about the LOC method. yup!

5. Moisturise and seal the moisture before installing.

Working with a section (or row) at a time, moisturise and seal before wrapping the wool around her hair.

6. Have a spray bottle nearby to remoisture as you go.

This helps with combing and parting of the hair. Trying to part hair on dry hair not only will break her hair but it is also so painful. We would like to make this experience as painless as possible, right?? None of what happened in our childhood.

8. Don’t put tension on her scalp! Periodtt.

I feel like I shouldn’t be explaining this one. But I need to. Repeated pulling and tension can lead to hair loss – traction alopecia is real thing. Also, you don’t want to cause your little one such discomfort. Think of the headache you get when your hair is pulled too tight! So no! And this goes for any protective style, don’t put tension on the scalp/edges.

9. Let her sleep with a satin/silk scarf/bonnet.

It preserves the style for longer and helps retain moisture.

10. Moisturise often

Spray her hair with a moisturiser every day or every other day. I mix water, bit of leave-in conditioner and bit of olive oil for her. 

This is a great protective hairstyle for both child and adult alike. And once I get my hair out of these old twists (pray for me), I’m definitely going to install Benny and Betty.

Doing my lil’ girl’s hair brought back memories of my mom doing my hair when I was a child. She did this until I was about 10 years old when I insisted on a relaxer…😐 Story for another day. For now, please share below how you care for your little ones’ hair?

The post 10 Guidelines: Pain Free Protective Hairstyle for your Toddler appeared first on Mmabatho Tshivhase.