Bantu knots

Long hair care don't care #teamnaturalhair, before her hair got washed

Deep conditioner, I left it in for 30 minutes

Her hair grew 1/2 inch longer on the side and 1 inch in the back

Her first time with Bantu knots. Great way to stretch your hair without heat

This is another way I stretch her hair...

I washed and deep condition Niah's hair, I applied olive oil to her hair while its wet and then put the Bantu  knots in. This is a different form of stretching her hair without applying heat. Finally I moisturized her scalp with olive oil.

Natural Oils

two of my favorite
Jojoba and olive oil

Okay so this is a brief post about the natural oils I use in both my daughter and my hair.  It is very important to keep your hair moisturize if you want to increase growth or to maintain a healthy head of hair. Jojoba oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, castor oil, avocado oil, and rosemary oil are few of the natural oils that is good for our hair. These oil provide a great deal of moisture, vitamins, strength, thickening and growth for our hair plus they smell amazing.  : )  Another one of my all time favorite oil  is cinnamon oil, which was referred to me by my old hair stylish. This oil is use for hair growth in tinning areas of your head, like your edges, nape, and etc. My problem was the right side of my hair was a lot shorter than the left side because this was the side I slept on the most which caused my hair to break drastically on that side (added stress on your hair will cause breakages). Once I started using the cinnamon oil twice daily, I noticed growth within three to four weeks. The smell is a bit overbearing and it tend to get a bit greasy (especially when its hot) but the end result is really worth it.

 it really worked for me

Niah's hair regiment

                                 

     I finally took Niah's braids out after two weeks, wash and deep condition her hair with Shea Moisture Shampoo and Shea butter leave in conditioner (I also wash her hair in between the two weeks with the braids in and grease her scalp with coconut oil). I then apply the Shea Moisture coconut and hibiscus curl enhancing smoothie to her wet hair and twisted it. You can apply as much or as little twists as you like. 24 hours later this was the end result.

not as curly as I wanted it to be but...

I added two twist in the front and a pink flower. Feel free to add hair accessories 

This was the first time she wore her hair out all day and she was not too pleased about it. She called this hair style the crazy hair because she said her friends at school are not going to like her hair. Mind you these are 3 and 4 years old I am talking about... lol

This hair style didn't last too long cause later that night I braided her hair into a mohawk.

To be or Not to be?

So a friend of my mine asked  me a very interesting question the other day. She asked me why do black people have short hair, how come our hair isn't as long as other ethnicities. She has never seen a black person with long hair, she thought that we had to be mixed with another ethnic background to have long hair. Like her niece who is black and Serbian. This was a great question and made me think back to when I was little and wondered the same thing. Why do we have short hair and how come it doesn't grow as long as our sisters from another mother were questions I use to ask myself growing up. Why if we want length and body, we have to resort to weaves? So I told my non sista friend that there are lots of black women with long and healthy hair, our hairs just requires different maintenance and care. I told her that a little bit of TLC goes a long way. I then explained to her that my hair is not in its natural state, so I showed her some pictures from the internet on what natural hair looks like. Some of the women had hair all the way down their lower backs which amazed her. After informing her about what I know and from what I've learned, she too had a better understanding about natural and permed hair. Knowing what I now know about our hair, the question I ask myself is to be or not to be natural.  My permed hair is at its healthiest due to TLC and all the extra steps I take. I've done a lot of research on how to transition from a perm or cream crack as some call it, back to my natural hair but to be quite honest I am bit nervous. However it is a goal that I have in mind and told myself that by October I want to make my transition. : )

Hair Growth Tips 101

The top two pics is when she was younger, as you can see her hair was shorter.

Here are some great SULFATE FREE products, two of which was recommended to me
that is really good for natural hair.
from left to right: Shea butter grow strong strengthening treatment, Shea butter leave in
conditioning repair cream, Shea Moisture coconut & hibiscus curl enhancing smoothie
and Shea Moisture  moisture retention shampoo.
CANT WAIT to try them in her hair.

Okay so the secret to Niah's hair growth or growth in general is tlc, a little bit of tender love and care goes along way. For most part of her life, Dhaniah's hair has been in braids, which is the key to her hair growth. I find it that when her hair is in braids there is less manipulation and stress on her hair i.e combing it, blowing drying it and etc. F.y.i ponytail holders, if placed too tight can cause added stress on your hair and cause breakage.This is why I alternate between braids and ponytails.  I usual keep her braids in for two week depending on how well she keeps it and  wash and grease her scalp with the braids in. It is very important to keep the scalp moisturize, her scalp tend to get dry often so I grease it frequently. The more moisture the less breakage you will have. Its normal for the hair to shed during combing (dead hair), but not excessively.   

Hair vows

I vow to never put a perm in Niah's
I vow to never apply heat to her hair again unless it's absolutely necessary.
Below are pictures of Niah's hair blow dried... NEVER AGAIN, however her hair is growing rapidly. I didn't really know how to curl natural hair so I used a curling iron...NEVER AGAIN, so I did my home work and found many ways to curl her hair or to enhance her natural curls.

Since I started her hair care challenge I have switched the grease I use in her hair to organic root simulator coconut oil. On my journey for caring for natural hair I found that natural oils like coconut, olive, and jojoba oil is very good for our hair. I use this hair moisturizer and grease her scalp at lease twist a week and wash her hair once a week. Now I use an organic root simulator shampoo which as sulfate in it, which can dry out the hair and  eventual cause breakage so this is why I'm considering switching to one that is sulfate free. In the past I use to blow dry and oil Niah's hair before styling it, its been a month and a blow dryer as not touch her hair. My friend who is an advocate for natural hair gave me some helpful tips on how to stretch and dry natural hair. So now whenever I wash Niah's hair I towel dry her hair partial and apply coconut oil to her damped hair. I then put a few big braids in her hair and let it sit until I am ready to style it. For maximum stretching I remove the braids after 24 hours and re-braid. Because the back of her hair grow so rapidly and faster than the rest of her hair I trim her ends once every few months for even growth.  I also started a leave in conditioner/deep conditioner treatment, which I do three to four time a month.  Next week will be her first hot oil treatment... can't wait. On a path to a healthier and long hair.