Ghanaian Emprezz

I honestly don't feel my routine has changed that much ! On the contrary, I enjoy my hair more these days.

Let's see how March went.


I big chopped and it wasn't anything spectacular. Been there and done that. However, I'm much more relaxed about growth now. In fact, I'm not on the mane choice again. I loved it but the breakout was nasty.  Will I take it again? Not sure. Since taking then separately in the day helped,  I'll see. 
Use up products: I used up the cantu sheabutter co wash and I'm now on the cantu conditioner. I have the superfruit to use up.
I created onion shampoo, hibiscus  black soap shampoo, hibiscus leave in and thereby ended up saving some money. When these ones finish,  then,  I'll consider the store bought ones.  The reason being that my hair isn't long enough to use 50gh worth of product on it.  In addition,  I plan to use up products faster too. Now,  the kinky curly knot today leave in conditioner is finished. I've switched to…

I've been taking the mane choice manetabolism Plus vitamins for about 30 days now. 

https://youtu.be/uQFsT6et8dc

The skin and hair products give away is on!  

Get the details from the video. 
https://youtu.be/YrdeK19nlxk

This 2017, I made the decision to pay attention to the growth and health of my hair.

I was taking the Mielle organics hair vitamins but couldn't stand the nauseating feeling after taking it so I dropped it and moved on to my trusted nature's bounty HSN and then switched to  mane choice manetabolism plus.

As at the end of January, I had about half an ich of growth. Moving from 1/4 to 1/2 is good progress. I notice my growth slows down considerably without supplements so it's a success. 

February

So far, it seems my hair has been growing at the 1/2 an inch. It will be hard to tell since I big chopped but by June, we'll see if there's been a massive progress.

March

After the big chop, I increased my water intake, used aloe vera daily on the hair, applied my castor oil mixture daily and made sure to take my supplements. By mid of March, I noticed an increase in the length. I added onion shampoo which I used every day in the third week. I'd to use it up as it was stinking…

What's been going on with my natural hair? 



For week one, it was mainly cleansing the scalp. I used the scalp massage brush about twice that week to wash the hair. I also co washed to infuse moisture back into the hair.

 Week 2, I decided to apply aloe vera daily on the scalp, moisturizing with hibiscus leave in, rise water and glycerin spritz.  That's been consistently done in my routine.



Week 3, the focus was on using up my onion shampoo as well as testing the egg overnight growth treatment. When your hair is short and shrinks, it doesn't really matter. After all, it's the same style each morning; comb and go.Lol.



The overnight treatment just gave my hair the needed protein. As for length,  I saw none. 

This week,  I stopped using liquid leave in conditioner in the morning. I rather spritz the hibiscus at night. I also got the cocoa butter for sealing in moisture. I apply the Mielle organics avocado hair milk and seal. 

All these treatments are meant to infuse a lot of moi…

Hibiscus in our local language is "Sobolo" or "bissap" and that is what I used to create a new shampoo. 

The onion shampoo is finished thus I had to prepare a new batch of black soap shampoo for my hair. I added hibiscus for its moisturizing abilities and a few spoonful of glycerin. To give  the shampoo extra boost, I mixed in a bit of Sulphur powder. This mixture is enough for a month. I hope there wouldn't be any pungent smell like the onion shampoo.

Moisture

My moisturizing and sealing routine has been crazy. I used to use just oils to seal but my natural hair drinks up the oil. I began using the hair wonder cream and my hair seems to have calmed down.

The wash 

Shampoo with black soap and hibiscus.

Deep conditioned under a steamer with the aphogee balancing moisturizer for about 10 minutes.

I used  the kinky curly knot today leave in conditioner and sealed with sulphur oil and cocoa butter. 

At night, it's aloe vera, hibiscus leave in and rose water spritz. I a…

So,  this is the first natural Hair products haul for 2o17.  


Since I want to switch to organic products for most part of my routine,  I decided to get Ayurveda stuff. Check out what I got.
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At last,  you have helped me cross over into the 1000 subscribers mark!!!  

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to 
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This give away will be up in April so stay tuned.

Yesterday, I shared the facial scrub that helped vanquish the acne breakout I had.The sulphur oil mix consists of a variety of natural oils such as coconut oil,  Aryan oil,  avocado oil,  Babassu oil and pistachio oil.



My face with the acne.

After washing the face,  I use a cotton ball dabbed in Neutrogena toner to clean.  When the fave dries up,  I use a bit of the sulphur oil. I do this at least once a day.

With the acne Acne gone, I use just the oil mixture which also has essential oils. I'm on the watch for a good facial cream so let me know your recommendations.

After the treatment in a week.



I've also been taking the mane choice one in the morning and one in the evening. This has been working pretty well so if I decide to continue with the mane choice,  that will be the routine for taking it.

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/182861-the-use-of-sulfur-for-skin-care/

You are wondering  what kind DIY facial scrub can get rid of acne, right? Let's  get the back story first.

Because  the manetabolism vitamins gave me a bad breakout,  I had to revisit my facial routine that I'd neglected for weeks.  The one thing I endured was using the facial cleansers daily.  What was happening was the acne persisted. I had a eureka moment when I realized I didn't have a facial scrub and at this time of the week,  it wasn't possible  to go to shop to get one.  I had to create a facial scrub for temporal use.  That turned into my beat decision so far regarding my face.

In my kitchen,  I had cinnamon  and baking soda as well as brown sugar.  I mixed these three up,  wiped the make up off my face and began the scrubbing.  I didn't measure each ingredient but I used a generous amount of each. I scrubbed for about 10 minutes.  The granules of the baking soda are quite gentle on the skin.
A week later






12 hours later, the huge pimples had vanished fro…

For my old readers, you would remember how I got into caring for my hair. It took a prayer out of frustration with my hair to log on to google. Six years down the line,  I've seen my hair thrive in the most unprecedented way.


I believe in prayers and I know God answers my hair prayer each time. Even when I've cut it 5 times.


Here's a video of Daphne sharing her hair prayer.

https://youtu.be/Lb0rZN0MfKc

I won some skin care products  and they were the exact  products I need.  Find out what I won. 
https://youtu.be/eBKKz24RfLw

The 4c TWA journey is full of learning curves. The first thing I faced was dry hair after the big chop. Four days later, I ended up discovering a solution.




I used a heavy oil which was the Vitamin E oil. The texture is like Jamaican Black Castor oil.
Cover with a satin bonnet and call it a night. 

My hair felt soft after the first trial and that's how I retain moisture during sleep. I'll either get sheabutter or use Jamaican black castor oil to seal and see how it goes. For now, the vitamin E oil works and it's a great opportunity to use it up whilst nurturing my hair in its infant stage. In addition, the hair wonder cream is also quite thick to use to seal in the moisture.

 The oil doesn't really matter, what works is the bonnet. Protecting the hair with a satin bonnet prevents moisture loss at night especially if you sleep on a cotton pillow case.

When you start out on your relaxed hair journey, it can be quite confusing when you have to decide on the different treatments your hair will need.


We know about moisture deep conditioners which are menat to infuse moisture into your hair and protein deep conditioners to strengthen your hair and replenish lost protein. Now, the question is whether to use protein treatment during the relaxer step or after relaxer.

What my readings have taught me is that any of these two works depending on your end result. When you want to strengthen your hair right after relaxer, there's nothing wrong with that. However, a moisture treatment infuses more moisture back into the hair rather than protein. What about using both? I prefer using a deep conditioner with both uses such as ORS replenishing  conditioner. This provides both moisture and protein and that's a sure way of enjoying both benefits.

The key thing is to deep condition your hair before relaxing, then either during or after the rel…

This collab was done with a couple of amazing Ghanaian youtubers.Be sure to subscribe to support us.

You'll find more of the Ladies in the description of the videos.

https://youtu.be/68gYjyjP41s
Maame Abena

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=zWPZpAho6FY
Miranatural233

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=QsxL-epPu6g

Want to know how I prepare the onion shampoo? A post will be up soon.

Shampoo: Washed twice  with onion shampoo.


Deep condition : I used the last bit of dark and lovely Amla legend mask. The first jar is now empty.

Leave in: kinky curly knot today leavr in, rose water glycerin sprtiz and hibiscus. Sealed with oil mixture.

Air drying is definitely the only route now. 

I got the opportunity to test out my wig cap. I'm still contemplating on whether to wear to work or not.

I haven't been doing anything special to my hair. I just spray water and apply Eco styler gel to lay the hair down. I apply some castor oil to the edges daily. 



The Wash 


Shampoo with carion shampoo
Deep condition with Dark And Lovely Amla Legend mask
Applied kinky curly knot today leave in 
Sealed with hair growth oil mixture and a bit of gel. 






I'll trim off the bits of relaxed hair left when the hair gets a bit longer .

That's how simple my routine is. I take my supplements diligently each day. 

I'm enjoying my hair so much more this year. I mean I have everything I need to hide it but I don't.

 I'm just looking forward to rather spending on some skin products next month.

When you see such a post, it may seem so irrelevant but when you have dry hair, especially, 4C natural hair, then, you know you have seen a life saver Lol.



So what did I do to achieve moisturized hair for 3 days in a row?


First, I'd sprayed my hair with rose water  before sealing with the cantu sheabutter gel oil. Now, the hair felt crunchy after that so I added a bit more of regular oil.

The gel oil feels like gel so once the regular oil was applied, the crunchy feeling was vanquished. By the end of the day, the hair felt the same way it was in the morning.

 Like I'd just washed it. Wet but not too wet, soft and soft. Well, in the night I slapped some aloe vera gel on the hair. Generous amount of oil gel and aloe gel kept hair moisturized until weekend.

With such a result, why wouldn't I keep using this combination? Lol. I'll use that for a couple of weeks and see if the results are consistent. I sure do hope they will be.

How do you keep your moisturized?

By some sheer coincidence, the seller of hair wonder happened to pop up in out WhatsApp group and shared some progress pictures with the products. The thing is I'd liked the page a few days before and had intended finding out more information about the products. 

Now, the one huge hurdle I have is my terrible edges which are annoyingly fragile that the braid sets me back. That's the purpose to choosing to give the hair wonder a try later. My  Jbco mix goes on for now. 

The price is 50gh from the seller herself and I got free delivery too. The first noticeable thing is the cool smell. I really fell in love with the smell before opening the jar.

I want to stick to manetabolism for now but the edges need immediate attention too so I apply the Jbco mix daily.

It promises results in 2-6 weeks. The instructional manual has information on how to use it for each purpose. For now, my hair line is the problem hence I'll be using the cream daily and the oil twice a week as directed when …

When you decide to jump on the biotin for hair growth trend, you may be disappointed by your results compared to others. The reason might be:

You are not taking it as directed. Some require you take with food preferably with your main meal or others require you take with just a meal.
Different dosage for each one. Each brand of biotin has a dosage to be taken. In addition, you may find that each dosage varies in potency too.
Your body needs other Supplements you are deficient in to have the boost it wants. Switching full supplements like mane choice, nature's bounty, Mielle, beautifully bamboo among others will be of more benefit.
Not drinking enough water translates into your body not being able to fully excrete excess  biotin. This leads to acne breakouts.
Last one is about what your own hair routine. If you take all the supplements in the world yet your hair routine doesn't cut it, you won't retain any growth you get.

I had to trim off the remnants of the relaxed hair, at least get rid of more of them. 

I used a pair of scissors ( sharp one ) and a mirror to guide me. After the trim, I saw a difference in the feel of the hair as well as the overall look. No hair sticking out of the crowd Lol.

I'll trim again in 6 months time or less to really remove all relaxed hair.




The top had the most relaxed hair but that's solved now. I love the brownish gold tint colour too. I'm glad I did the treatment before the big chop.
I'm 8 weeks post relaxer so that's a decent growth.
I have no new goals; I'm still working towards Armpit Length. 

As I mentioned in one of the posts, this March, we are using hibiscus leave in conditioner. Why?

Hibiscus provides the hair with moisture and though my hair is very short, keeping it moisturized right from this satge will guarantee less dryness as it grows.



Preparation

All I did was boil water and poured the fresh hibiscus into it.

A lot of ladies are hyping its effectiveness so stay tuned for my own update.

Watch the full video

My current styling routine involves water and a lot of gel to lay down the hair.


I do this as often as about 4 out of the 7 days. 

I use Eco styler argan oil gel after setting the hair with water and rose water.

6 weeks progress.



That's Hair Wonder which happens to be available in Ghana. You can find them on Facebook too.


Virgin Hair Fertilizer one month progress. Quite interesting!





Bamboo Hair Vitamins




I've already made provisions for them so stay tuned for updates. The bamboo vitamins will arrive in some few weeks time.

My TWA 


Cantu sheabutter conditioner for cleansing my hair
Carion shampoo for cleansing
Dark And Lovely Amla Legend Mask for deep conditioning 
Cantu sheabutter anti frizz leave in conditioner 
Cantu sheabutter hair mousse for styling 
Avery Naturals hair oils ie Babassu,pistachio, avocado oils. 
Avery Naturals Glycerin
Jamaican black castor oil
Shikakai powder
Avery Rose water 
Eco styles gel
Insta Argan Oil
Now tea tree and peppermint oil
Hair Wonder Hair cream( new addition)
Cantu sheabutter gel oil( I want to use it on the natural hair too and see how it works)
The Mane Choice manetabolism Plus


These are the ones I can account for. Most of them would be used up by the end of 2017 so it's all good. 

Do you use any of these products?

HAPPY IN DEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL GHANAIANS!!!

Now on to the reason why you are here L.

I'm at the scab hair stage; the dry hair that you experience after big chop. What people say is that the relaxers affect the new growth coming in so that hair is quite dry and crunchy. What I've been doing is spraying rose water on it before applying the oils. 

It's a long road to recovery but after a couple of months, things will become normal. 











The Wash 


Shampooed with carion shampoo
Deep conditioned with Dark and Lovely Amla legend Mask. I'll begin using the steam cap to infuse more moisture into the hair. I'll get back to Prepoo whenever I use a shampoo too. I want my hair to begin retaining moisture before it gets longer. 4C natural hair requires minimum manipulation and the moisture content can be maintained with a consistent routine.


It's been a week post big chop and so far, so good. 

I've prepared a hair spritz for morning use which I'll share with you soon. The good t…

You don't want to miss this fun series so click on the link and enjoy reading it.



http://beyondlifestyle.blogspot.com/2017/02/annoying-things-about-ghanaian-women.html

For the past seven days, I've been taking the Mane Choice Manetabolism Plus hair vitamins. Has there been any change in growth?

The first one is I did notice increase in energy levels by the second day. The vitamin is easy to swallow, doesn't leave any bitter aftermath taste and the smell isn't nauseating.

I also notice an increase in the thickness of the hair which could indicate growth.

I don't want to rush the process so let's wait for the one month comparison pictures.



This was taken last week so you are able to see a close up shot of my hair as well as hairline for a better comparison at the end of March.

After trying turmeric and milk, I decided to try turmeric with honey facial mask. 

Get all the details about ingredients, steps and results in the video and please subscribe ( we are almost at 1000 subbies)



https://youtu.be/2LKiWXS9xOY