Monday 31st May 2010

So, I thought it would be a good idea to explain fluff week. We’ve already discussed protective hair styling and the benefits of wearing your hair in this manner, but, for me,fluff week is also of equal or even greater importance.

After wearing your hair in protective hairstyles like braids or weaves for a month or two, it is imperative that your hair gets a quick break before it is restyled. This is when I partake in fluff week.

Once your hair has been unleashed from its protective styles, wash and deep condition your hair. This is of paramount importance since your hair would have been braided down for a while.

Now there are different ways to deal with your hair, once it's been deep conditioned. Obviously if you have made the decision to transition your hair, you want to keep heat-styling to a minimum since you don’t want to put your hair under any undue stress. Therefore, you can do braid outs, or twist outs and then allow the hair to airdry. This is not a method I employ all the time because I find it makes my hair a little frizzy so I do at least semi blow-dry at the moment. I find it useful to alternate between these methods. I first spray in a leave in detangling all-singing all-dancing conditioner. Then I begin the process of drying the hair in sections. When the hair is partially dry, I use a moisturizing heat protectant serum or hair lotion, and then fully dry the hair. Now at this stage, it's important to note that I’m not drying the hair so that it lays straight or has a curl. I’m merely trying to get rid of the excess water but at the same time seal in the moisture from the products. So rather than using a comb/pik attachment I just kind of use my fingers to move the hair about whilst I dry.

Once sufficiently dried, I then grease my scalp lightly with a nice light hair oil. During fluff week I tend to use a lighter product too when my hair is braided since I don’t want to weigh down my hair with excess product. Then, I twist sections, about 6 to 8, and cover my head with a silk scarf or satin bonnet.

During fluff week I tend to do a style which I consider lazy but I have been told by colleagues and friends looks quite "regal". It's a style I favor since it doesn’t require pulling my hair into a ponytail etc which I think in a transitional period could cause undue stress and tension for the hair follicles as well as annoyance for me since a ponytail requires taming edges.  For my fluff week style all I need is 3-4 hair clips and a head band.

It looks like this:

And here is how I accomplish this look.

1. First put on a hair-band. I tend to use ones which are silky in texture and about half an inch thick. Im not a fan of massive cotton headbands since I think wearing them all day will dry out your hair. I have a little trick for instant headbands which I will explain later.
2. Once the headband is comfortably and snugly placed with about a centimeter of hairline visible in front of it, unravel the twists or braids and finger comb through… or finger fluff since you want to create a bit of volume.
3. Loosely pull back sections of hair and clip to the back.
4. Adjust to taste.

 So as I mentioned before, I have a little trick to create instant headbands which are silky enough not to cause friction on your hair and stylish enough for daily wear. 

Sometimes, it's only through realizing certain products are useless that you are then able to find alternative uses for them. Now ladies, have you ever purchased a strapless bra and wondered what the point of the included straps are? I mean seriously if you want to wear a bra with straps you’d wear one with the straps built in wouldn’t you?

Well ladies I have a very simple idea for what you can do with those otherwise useless included straps.

These can be styled in multiple ways, maybe try wearing two different colours or attaching an adornment like a broach to add interest.

                                                 How to make head-bands from bra straps.

Wednesday 2nd June 2010

I found a new shampoo ladies (and gents too of course)!! This isn't particularly new; Im not a person who sticks to any one particular brand when it comes to shampoos. As long as it cleanses without stripping my hair and is reasonably priced then I'm happy. I am a firm believer that, within reason, it doesn't actually matter what shampoo you use to cleanse your hair, because the main action is the same.. you are washing away dirt and excess sebum. You are using it as a product to help remove excess product and residue build-up from your hair follicles. Conditioners on the other had, I don't mess with,they NEED to be the business!!! I have my staple products which I tend not to stray from, especially leave-ins. Once you find something you like, stick with it!

So far ladies, it seems as though its holding up well. I straightened my whole head of hair this weekend for the first time in a few months, just to check on length progress, end health etc, and the texture was really soft pliable, almost relaxed in look, but, for the most part ok. I have had to contend with both humidity and rain (typical English weather- unpredictable!) , and so far it appears that my hair isn't nearly as frizzy as I thought it would be (and would usually be in those conditions). This I do not put down in totality to the shampoo, but, i think in conjunction with my other products, the result is good!

Friday 4th June

 pt 2!

THE SHOW!

So...Monday was the Show. In its new venue, and after 29 long serving years, the anticipation was high. The second May Bank holiday is synonymous with AFRO HAIR AND BEAUTY LIVE; this year was clearly no exception. From the moment the doors opened at 10:30am the place was Packed!!! Showcasing everything from books to body shaping corsets to holiday homes in the Caribbean (which supposedly weren't Time Share properties) to lace fronts to lotions and potions, there was tons to see.

My one criticism is that there wasn't much in the way of actual Afro hair. The two stands I did see which had a focus on natural hair care were 1) the Mixed Chicks range and 2) a stand which dealt with Locs and how to care for them.

Possibly there was more on the Sunday, but, it would appear that the focus of Monday's show was fashion. There were quite a few nice fashion shows, with beautiful designs (and also very beautiful models). Go to the new Re:Belle YouTube channel www.youtube.com/rebellenation to see some of the great designs which were on show.

I did enjoy what turned out to be a long old day. I've been contemplating a lace front recently as a transitional tool, and was able to get some very useful information on them.  I have a consultation with one of the suppliers this evening to see what will suit my needs most!!! I managed to get some brilliant books too, related to hair care, such as Textured Tresses by Dianne da Costa.

I also have samples galore (great for a product junkie like myself) so I will have tons of product reviews to offer you all over the coming months.