NATURAL HAIR CARE REGIMEN FOR BEGINNERS

Hey hey hey, does the natural hair game seem a bit daunting? ToI many rules, don’t pre poo before your wrap your hair with the golden scarf? etc, etc. Well here is a simple hair regimen for everyone!!

1. Detangle

Lots of hair is usually lost during the detangling process. A poor detangling method can lead to large amounts of breakage.  Detangling should be as gentle as possible. Detangling should only happen a maximum of once a week. Use more of your fingers so you can feel the knots in your hair before using a comb, and only use a wide tooth comb on your hair. DO NOT COMB EVERYDAY, only comb when hair is damp or saturated with conditioner, start from the ends and work your way up to the roots. DIVIDE YOUR HAIR IN SECTIONS ALWAYS DURING THIS PROCESS.

2. Cleanse

Wash hair no more than once a week with a sulphate, DEA, MEA,TEA, UREA, phalates, Paraben, Mineral oil, silicone free , petrolatum etc free shampoo ( just by an organic or natural shampoo) or co-wash. AGAIN CLEANSE IN SECTIONS! Its important to clarify with a shampoo once a month or once every two months if you use a co-wash.

You can also chose to PRE POO with oil, however if you are using a co wash, this may not be necessary. Pre pooing (Pre shampoo) is when you apply oil to your hair and cover your head with a plastic cap and allow the oil to sit for at least 30mins, in order to protect your hair from drying out after shampooing.

3. Condition/ Deep condition

Once you have cleansed your scalp, its important to add some moisture to your strands through conditioning. However, you can choose to skip the regular rinse conditioner step and go straight to deep conditioning, especially if you used a co wash. AGAIN DO THIS IN SECTIONS.

You can use a moisturizing or protein conditioner, depending on your hair needs. If you are using a protein conditioner, always follow with a moisturizing conditioner to achieve a protein and moisture balance. This balance aids hair flexibility and length retention.  Deep conditioners work best with heat, use a heat cap, hooded dryer, wrap your head with a towel to generate body heat, or work out while the deep conditioner is in your hair. DO NOT APPLY CONDITIONER TO YOUR SCALP!!!! EVER! This is because, some conditioners can clog your pores and stunt hair growth.  Deep conditioning should be done twice a month- once a month, especially if a co wash is used, otherwise weekly.

4. Moisturize and Seal

After cleaning and conditioning the next step is moisturization and sealing. Improper moisturisation always causes hair loss and breakage. Dry hair breaks! Please see this post for the difference between greasy and moisturized hair, the two are often confused. The proper way to moisturize is the L.O.C method.

L- Liquid/Leave in

O- Oil

C- Cream (or butter)

Always use a leave in conditioner with water as its first ingredient or just plain water first on your hair. As water is the only true ingredient that moisturizes our hair. Follow with an oil and cream/butter to seal in the moisture from the water or leave in. Oils and butters are sealants, they cannot moisturize our hair, thus applying an oil or butter to dry hair will only leave it greasy.  Repeat this daily or every other day, even when its not your wash day.

5. Protect

The final portion of this regimen is to protect your hair, style your hair in protective ways do braids, weaves, updos etc to prevent dryness and breakage. Sleep with a satin cap to prevent the cotton in your pillow case from dragging at your hair strands and snapping them of. Avoid the use of frequent heat, idealy your hair should only be blowdried a maximum of once a month. AVOID STRAIGHTNERS!!! Trim your ends no more than twice a year to get rid of knots and split ends, after your initial trim, with your new healthy hair practices and products you wont need frequent trims. Do NOT do tight hair and tight buns, they cause hair loss and baldness. Also do not scratch your scalp with your fingernails, this also causes baldness as it kills the hair follicles.

 

Have a blessed evening guys!

 

BEST SKIN CLEARING ROUTINE FOR ACNE PRONE SKIN

Hi guys, its been ages I know, but honestly I get so overwhelmed, but I have come back! Please leave a response in the comment section to let me know if you missed me!!! (kisses)!! The picture below is a before and after of my skin, its not easy be sharing this, but my customers have to understand when I say I have suffered the same issues as them.

I decided to share my beauty regimen with you all, because I get asked what I used and how I care for my acne prone skin. When I recommend clays and oils it often seems a little strange, so this article is to show everyone the power of keeping it pure and natural. These have been my saving grace and I haven’t looked back! My skin is balanced, clearer and I have fewer breakout episodes. Honestly, I never thought I could have acne free skin, I felt that my oily skin has signed me to a life of battling breakouts, but no more!!! My skin is always clear these day, yes every now and a again I get a tiny pimple that very quickly goes back to where it came from!!! I have been on this routine for over 4 months now.

 

First of all to get that beautiful glow you have cleanse, exfoliate, mask, tone and moisturize and it has to be done in that order. Your skin must be clean before any treatment commences, afterwards you have to exfoliate to remove dead skin cells and unclog pores, this is necessary to clear out black heads and to give the lovely products you are about to put on your skin chance to penetrate your skin and work. Thereafter your face masks comes in, you can chose to steam your face before this or just go right ahead to this part, facemasks help draw out impurities, even the skin tone and tighten your pores, of course this depends on the ingredients of your mask. After this process use a good toner, to balance skin ph, even the skin tone, tighten pores, hydrate, reduce any inflammations etc, then finally you moisturize with a great oil or cream suited to your skin type!

 

These are the products I have used for the last four months and how I use them, they have worked beautifully and are all available for sale HERE:

 

Step 1- Cleanse

 

I wash my face with the Sheabutter cottage cocoa butter black soap, this is really gentle and non drying, it also contains neem which makes it excellent for combating skin infections, eczema and brightening the skin. When I ran out of that, the soap only lasted for about 6 weeks. I used OrganicLifeplus Moroccan black soap, this lovely soap contains eucalyptus oil which as antiseptic, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties so it was perfect for my skin. When I ran out of that soap I used pasuca soap, containing sugar cane juice and papaine, this was excellent for fading dark spots, brightening, controlling breakouts, it was also full of AHA which aids exfoliation. The properties of these soaps where all suited to my skin type and worked just fine, I wasn’t confined to one soap like I would have been if I was using a chemical product or bleaching cream.

 

Step 2- Exfoliate

 

I exfoliated my skin with a mix of adzuki bean powder, this is possibly the gentlest exfoliating product you could ever try. This bean powder from Ghana gently exfoliates the skin without irrating it like sugar or salt, so its perfect for the face. It aids cell repair and regeneration and removes dead skin cells. I mix this with honey, usually, some time I added hibiscus powder or lemon juice.

Step 3- Mask

I mix what I have now dubbed my clear skin face mask, the ingredients are fullers earth clay, aloe powder, amla powder, turmeric, activated charcoal, and rosewater. For the full recipe details and ingredient breakdown please see HERE

 

Step 4- Toning

 

Everyday, twice a day after cleansing I would wipe my face with some rosewater. I simply put it on some cotton wool and would wipe. On my mini facial spa days I would use rosewater as a toner right after rinsing of my mask. Rosewater helped with balancing my skin ph, calming redness and inflammation, fading scars, evening my skin tone, and it smelled awesome and made me happy lol.

Step 5- Moisturisation

 

This is key, no point doing all of the above and then using a cream or oil that would react to your skin. The perfect oil for my acne prone skin is rosehip oil, it filled with vitamins, antioxidants and essential fatty acids, its known to correct wrinkles and fine lines, fade acne spots, hydrates dry itchy skin and rejuvenates the skin to reveal a glowing complexion. This oil is also higher in linoleic acid as opposed to oleic acid which makes it perfect for acne prone skin, this means that apply it to acne prone skin will not lead to further pimples! This oil is a 10/10 . However, me being me decided to mix it with a few lovely oils I owned to see the effects, I blended it with carrot seed oil, touloucouna oil, lavender oil, tea tree oil, aloe vera oil and galbanum essential oil, and the result was amazing!!! This oil blend is a star blend for me! Perfect for my skin, the eczema I had healed, my complexion got brighter, no new acne, and acne scars where healing like it was their job!!

I repeated step 1 to 5, once a week and I repeat step 1, 4 and 5 twice a day. My face is still a work in progress, acne prone, sensitive skin is not easy to deal with, but this routine works for me and has kept my skin balanced, and every day it clears my skin up more and more!!!

So there you have it guys!!! If you want to try any of the ingredients they are available HERE

 

 

Have a blessed day xxx

HIDDEN DANGERS OF PROTECTIVESTYLING

Now that’s a title we all thought we would never see right? Well after an interesting experience I had with braids, I have to say long term protectivestyles are hot but they aren’t on fire! Lol in English that means that there are problems with protective styling, and its not perfect.  Let’s jump in, shall we?

Dryness, when you have your hair in a protective style like braids, weaves or even corn rows, you tend to forget about them and let your hair strands beneath fend for themselves. When you don’t wash, condition or moisturise your hair even while its in a protective hairdo it will get very very dry, and as I always say dry hair breaks. Also, even if your hair is conditioned, moisturised etc while its in a protective style, the fact is conditioners and moisturisers can’t penetrate your strands while its underneath a braid or a weave as well as they would if your hair was loose.

Damage to your edges, tight braids and tiny braids damage your edges.  When the braids/weaves/corn rows are too tight, they put too much pressure on your scalp and ruin the blood flow to your follicles, this in turn causes hair fall or baldness. When braids are too tiny, when you take them out it usually leads to you losing your edges. So my dear Nigerian sisters, never ever do one million braids as a means of protective styling, just say good bye to your edges if you attempt them. Also, when you leave some hair out in your weave and you are constantly using heating tools to blend your leave out hair with your silky straight or European curly weave, that also causes breakage for that part of your hair, as the heat will literally burn of your hair and weaken your strands.

They weigh down your strands, when you use 20packs of expression or 50 packs of kinky braids on your hair you put excessive pressure on your scalp and strands. This leads to baldness, that’s why you find that sometimes your braids just fall of your scalp, with your hair in tow (lmao this used to happen a lot when I was a child). Avoid anything that puts excessive pressure on your hair and scalp.

Tangles, leaving protective styles in for too long can cause the tangles of a life time!!! Oh I need to do a separate post on how my hair endured some very serious untangleable (if that’s a word) tangles!!!! It was terrible! I left my braids in for 8 weeks, and on top of that transgression I took them out and was too tired to detangle the huge knots at the time, so I left them tangled for another 2 weeks before detangling!!! Oh it was a terrible nightmare!! While washing and conditioning your hair is great while it in a long term protective styles, it also causes build up near your roots, where your stylist picks your braid to attach it to your hair. That build up clumps together and creates amazing knots, that are difficult to untangle!!!

So there you go, the hidden dangers of protective styling, to avoid these horrible realities, always wash, condition and moisturize your hair while its in a protective style and never leave your braids and weave in for more than 6 weeks!! Also, remember to dilute your conditioner and shampoo with water before your wash your hair will its in a protective style, this reduces the build up that cause those massive clumps in your hair.

Have a blessed day 😉

 

 

 

 

 

How Sugar is affecting your child’s health

As a young child growing up in Nigeria, sweets were a weekly treat at best.  Soft drinks were only available at special occasions like birthdays, Easter or at Christmas, and chocolates were definitely only an Easter or Christmas affair. Breakfast was usually porridge or cornflakes, lunch and dinner were always home-cooked, and were nutritious meals containing heaps of vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates and lean meats. Snacks without a doubt were fruits since seasonal produce including coconuts, bananas, oranges, tangerines and guavas were in plentiful supply. In my time, fast food restaurants were rare and trips to them even rarer. You may be reading this thinking my childhood diet was on the extreme side of healthy – granted. However, you have to admit too that the diet children eat these days, especially children in the middle/upper class is on the extreme side of unhealthy. With the influx of KFC, Dominos, Coldstone, there is now an increased availability of pizzas, ice cream, chocolates, burgers, soft drinks, cakes and all other sugary foods. Consequently, kids are constantly eating RUBBISH!  As parents, we should be responsible for teaching our children the right way to eat rather than allowing them access to foods that do nothing more than increase their savings account of future health problems. It may not be immediately obvious to you, but excessive sugar consumption in the form of refined carbohydrates is preparing your child for a future full of the following health problems:

1. Dental caries: Excessive sugar consumption promotes frequent deposition of plaque on the surface of the tooth. The bacteria in plaque break down the sugar into acids that degrade the teeth, leading to decay. Tooth decay occurs faster when the teeth are not cleaned with fluoride toothpastes after eating sugary foods.

2. Overweight and obesity:Gone are the days when kicking a football, racing or playing some sort of hopping game was recreational. Nowadays, its all about playing a video game, watching television or playing on the iPAD while eating crisps and drinking something sugary. The lack of activity and overcompensation with sugar results in the conversion of the sugar to fat, which then leads to children becoming overweight and eventually obese.

3. Insulin resistance and type II diabetes: Insulin is the hormone produced when a meal containing sugar is eaten. Its role is to lower blood glucose levels to normal levels after a meal containing sugar is eaten. If large amounts of sugar are eaten regularly, insulin becomes insensitive to changes in blood glucose levels and then loses its ability to normalise glucose levels. With continuous high blood sugar levels and no diet or lifestyle changes, type II diabetes ensues.

4. Cardiovascular disease: People who eat diets high in sugar tend to have low levels of the good type of cholesterol. This can possibly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

5. Infertility: High sugar diets can affect a woman’s ability to ovulate and therefore an inability to conceive.

To be forewarned, is to be forearmed.

References:

• Touger-Decker R and van Loveren C. Sugars and dental caries. American Society for Clinical Nutrition 2003; 78:8815–8925.
• Basu S, et al. Relationship of soft drink consumption to global overweight, obesity, and diabetes: a cross-national analysis of 75 countries. Am J Public Health 2013;103: 2071–2077.
• Howard B and Wylie-Rosett J. Sugar and cardiovascular disease. Circulation 2002;106:523–527.
• Chavarro J, et al. A prospective study of dietary carbohydrate quantity and quality in relation to risk of ovulatory infertility. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009;63:78–86.
• Domas WC, et al. Health implications of high-fructose intake and current research. Adv Nutr. 2015;13:729–737.

Article by Somi Dopes-Igbene(PhD) of Midas Naturals Ltd

Follow on social media: @midasnaturals

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Madam Bose my hair “plaiter”

  
Holla, So I was going to do a post about how wonderful my wool braids are, and how they are an awesome protective style, but I decided not to. Why? Because you already know wool is great and its lighter than any other hair extension, there done in less that five lines!
I want to talk about my stylist, or ‘hair plaiter as well call them in naija, I decided to do some free marketing for her, because I think she is awesome, it’s my way of supporting her. I hope with this post she gets more business. I don’t know her full name, I have always called her madam Bose, she is a very cool lady. If you do call her after this and she asks where you got her number, say you got it from Rachel or Esione (not sure what she knows me as). She is really patient and she does exactly what you tell her! Isn’t that amazing? A stylist that doesn’t think she knows more than you!

 

These days we natural girls know that the general public does not cater to our hair type, and we have to run from one natural hair specialist to the other (if we can find them) and they charge us some serious money. I don’t knock the hustle of these popular natural hair stylists, I love them, especially when they do my hair right, plus you can’t blame them for being prices, natural hair is a lot of work. However, frequenting these places can sometimes get expensive and you have to leave the comfort of your home.

 

I do not recommend madam Bose to wash your hair (I do not recommend anyone but you to wash your hair), but I recommend her to do your braids, she comes to my house and charges N7000 for butt length braids!! This to me this awesome, as some salons on the island natural friendly or not charge nothing less that N10k for this and I have to go to them!!! Madam Bose, handles my hair very gently, she uses her fingers to part my hair, I have taught her to spray water on my hair before the attempts to finger detangle (yes she finger detangles), she is happy to treat your hair exactly the way you want it to be treated, she is willing to learn about your hair so she can serve your better!! She is very natural hair friendly and her braids are never ever tight.

  

 So yes I endorse Madam Bose, she is a very nice lady and has an awesome personality, so if you are in Lagos and you can’t be bothered to take a trip to the salon call Madam Bose on 08054107072. I hope I have convinced you to call her! Please let me know in the comment section if you eventually try her. 

Excuse the frown it was late at night. Have a blessed day xxx

Valentine Giveaway!

      

  Hello,

In the spirit of the season of love, I have decided to give away this Organic Handmade treat and the Brazen curls leave in conditioner!!! Please click the shop tab to find out the hefty price tag on this product! 

Made with pure Vanilla Butter, Organic exfoliating raspberry powder, kombo butter, raw sugar and fair trade Shea butter!! This exotic scrub is scented with Rose and Vanilla Essential oils. This skin brightening, softening and rejuvenating body scrub also contains olive and jojoba oils! 

Polish your skin for and pamper your hair for your loved one this Valentine. This scrub is filled with vitamins and fatty acids to encourage a youthful glowing skin! Both products are worth over 10k combined!!! 
How  to WIN! 

 1. Follow @beautifullynapy and @brazencurls on instagram. 

 2. Tag as many friends as you can in this picture on the @beautifullynapy page

3. Repost any of the pictures below and #beautifullynappy and #brazencurls 

  
 4. Already follow @beautifullynapy? Follow the Blog, and repeat steps 1-3!! MAY THE BIGGEST TAGGER WIN!!!!

Competition ends of the 5th of February! 
Have fun guys! DATES HAVE BEEN MOVED TO 31st of JANUARY! DUE TO TOO MANY TAGS. GIVE AWAY IS OVER!!! 

Healthy Nigerian Buns recipe!

Happy New year guys! My last post of the year has to be about food! We know we are all eating our weight in jollof and baked goods! 

So being a fatty bum bum, I had to make buns for myself and the family, heck even my son ate self! Ever seen a 6 month old wrestle with buns?! Anyway I know this post has probably come in too late and you all have eaten all the unhealthy stuff you want, but perhaps this can be part of your 2016, healthy snack resolution.  I am no expert chef so I measured with my “eyes” really, so these measurements are roughy estimates. I felt the need to share the oh so yummy healthy recipe. 

  

  
So what you need for this simple recipe:

1. Plain flour-4 Cups
2. Baking powder- 1 tea spoon 
3. Coconut palm sugar or brown sugar – 1 Cup
4.  Honey- To taste ( as much as you like) 
5. Pink Himalayan sea Salt or sea salt ( NOOO table salt, but that’s for another post) – 1/2 a tea spoon
6. Nutmeg- 1/2 a tea spoon ( or 1 level tea spoon if the flour is a lot or you really like the taste). 
7. Vanilla Powder- 1/4 of a tea spoon
8. Vegetarian butter or margarine- 3 heaped table spoons 
9. Almond milk/ Soya milk- 1-2 Cups ( or enough to get the correct consistency.

  
Steps

• Combine the flour, coconut sugar, salt, nutmeg, baking powder and vanilla powder
• Add the Almond milk and honey to the mixture and stir until smooth
• Add butter and use a wooden spoon to mix until a thick consistency is achieved.

  

• Coconut palm sugar isn’t the sweetest sugar so you can add a bit more or less according to your tastes and same goes for the honey.
• You can use store bought almond milk, I happened to use home made almond milk because my sister already made some. 
• Leave the mixture to stand for about 30mins, so it can rise.
• Fill a pot up to half way with olive oil ( enough to deep fry the buns) and use a wooden spoon to cut bits of the mixture into the frying pan. 

  

• Fry until it’s kind of deep brown, the mixture will already be a bit brown anyway.

  
Enjoy this fluffy, delicious goodness! Like honestly the whole family loved it! No one noticed it was healthy. I used white flour, I was too afraid to try wheat flour! So let me know if anyone tries this!!! 

Bye everyone! See you in 2016!!! God bless you all! 

Season’s Greetings

  

 I know it’s a little late! But I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous  New Year.

I want to thank everyone, both my followers and customers alike for joining me this year. I have met some fun and amazing people. You all make me enjoy my job! This started as a hobby and has grown into so much more! Love you all! 

May God continue to bless and protect you all. 

lots of love
Xxx

 

Rhassoul Clay

Tadera

Hello Beautiful People!

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with new hair routines and the first on my endless list is Rhassoul Clay! Let me tell you a bit about it….

Benefits (or so they say) are as follows:

1. Softens;

2. Moisturizes;

3. Reduces dandruff and product build up (I have a LOT of that); and

4. Aids in detangling

My experience:

1. Reduced dandruff and product build up; and

2. Increased curl definition

My recipe included:

1. Rhassoul clay… lots of it! I have a full head of thick, jet black type 4C (Wura thinks I deserve a league of my own- “4D”) hair.

2. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

3. Virgin Organic Coconut Oil

I purchased Rhassoul clay and Coconut oil from my number 1 Natural Hair Consultant- Beautifully Nappy, you can buy yours HERE.

I can’t even lie, my hair wasn’t any softer, neither was it easier to manage. But I must…

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Some comedy! When your girl goes natural!

Not every time serious! Sometimes jokes! Lol I apologize in advance for anyone who this might upset. I think it’s hilarious! Although if you do considered this more than a joke then feel free to comment! Or comment if you just love it!! Lol enjoy xxx