New Protective Style: Twists

Howdy everyone,

Last weekend was a busy one. I had to go away from home for a couple of days and I was not too worried about what to do with my hair as I could wear a scarf for the funeral service I had to attend. On the first night, I moisturised my hair as usual and was detangling in sections when my comb broke! Like that was my favourite comb y'all. I didn't find it funny at all and realised I just couldn't deal with the thickness much more. 

My hair has gotten so thick over the past 6 months....I am just in a happy place right now..though I admit I'm still learning to embrace the challenges thicker hair comes with. 

So I just asked a friend the next day if there was a really good braider around and I was happy he did get me a good one. I got my hair braided up within 2 hours with 2 packs of extensions. It was totally painless. I asked her not to attempt to comb too much as I had done so already. She just made the parts and braided them up. Usually, I do not allow braiders to comb my hair especially when they section into the little parts to be braided up when I am more than 4 weeks post. Once they comb through initially with the big combs and tie it up, it's just sectioning and braiding time. I always insist on this when I meet new hairdressers; though some find it weird, they still comply. 

My braids are waist length.  I hadn't done twists in like forever and just wanted to see if it would "suit me". This was smaller than the last box braids I had, but I wanted it this size because I do want to keep them in for at least 6 weeks. I want to beat my itch to relax and really hope this helps. I will care for my hair though it is in braids as always. I will have a video up on my Youtube Channel on my braid care regimen soon.

And you know when you are feeling good about your braids, you just can't help taking a zillion photos! That's my favourite among the whole lot and hope I win your smile with mine!

Which do you prefer? Box braids or twists? 

Cheers,

Star. 

Product Review: Afroriri Luxe Hair Butter

Hello lovelies!!

This is one post that I have been dying to make a video of but unfortunately I have technical challenges so would just write everything......and hope you catch the excitement in my words as you read. It's going to be a long post .....brace yourself...*wide smile*

Afroriri Hair Butter is the product I would be reviewing today!! 

How I got Afroriri Butter:  I got contacted by Afroriri Haircare some months ago on my facebook page asking if I would love to try out their products and review. Oh glory day.....my answer was YES....and so because I quickly checked out their website and the products especially the ingredients were very inviting. They sent me the hair butter through a fellow blogger in Ghana. Their products are made in Nigeria but they have agents in some West African countries and Ukraine.

Later, I also got their black soap shampoo, detangling conditioner, luxe hair and scalp conditioner and satin cap in the beautiful bag when their team visited Ghana at the end of last year and I will review the other products in following posts. 

Size: 250ml 

Price: It is sold for 35ghs in Ghana. 

Packaging: It comes in white jar with a simple glued-on label. Nothing extremely fancy. 

Ingredients: It is made of sheabutter, cocoa butter, castor oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil....and a host of wonderful oils as on label below. It comes in the consistency of a whipped butter. 

I simply fell in love with these ingredients!! It came as no surprise to me that Afroriri butter won an award in Nigeria. Whose hair wouldn't love these rich hair goodies? With these ingredients, though the butter came solid, after a while it melted because of the hot weather. This is not a problem if you keep the jar upright where you keep it. However, because I have kids who love to play with my products, I refrigerate it to keep it solid as the product is able to seep from the closed jar even if tightly closed. I love how it easily melts onto my fingers when I use it. Also, I realised that when exposed to too much heat, the product evaporates a bit. It is best to store in a cool place. 

Scent and colour: I loved the scent from the first day. Very pleasant and toffee-like...sweet! It doesn't have the strong sheabutter scent that comes with  some other shea products. However, when I later got some other jars for my online store, the scent wasn't exactly the same as the first and the sheabutter scent was stronger for some jars. So I guess the scent depends to a large extent on the sheabutter, kernel, castor ..etc etc oils and that is understandable as their ingredients are organic. The colour also varies from jar to jar..I noticed this as well. But I had 2 jars for myself, different colours, different scents.....but the effect on my hair was the exact same. Perfectly moisturising.

Promises and Uses: Locks in moisture in hair strands, conditions hair making it softer nad more manageable. Strengthens and thickens hair and protects from dryness, split ends and shedding. Use as a leave-in conditioner, on slightly damp hair before blowdrying, as a scalp conditioner between braids and weaves and as a steam treatment. With continuous use, you will notice softer, fuller and richer hair. 

This product is extreeeeeemely moisturising for my hair. I would say that these promises are so true for my hair...100% convinced! It is just amaaaaaaazing that when I moisturise my hair with this butter, it just comes alive. No matter how dry, dull, tired-looking it is, as soon as I apply this butter, my hair feels like I just had a hot oil or deep conditioning treatment. I have used this product for over 4 months, and I still have the same feeling of awesomeness. My hair still loves it totally!! A little goes a long way so a jar can last for many months. A great deal is also that it works for all hair types...natural, relaxed, texlaxed, loc'd hair can all enjoy this butter.

I have tried this product in all ways except as a leave in conditioner on wet hair. It worked great as a deep conditioning treatment and I leave mine in overnight or for no less than 4 hours before shampooing. I usually deep condition on dry hair. My ends "heal" instantly and I can let my hair down confidently..... and I also love the volume I've got over time. I have less breakage and my hair looks and feels better, has great shine and is more manageable. I started using it initially on my hair as a moisturiser only but for the past month, after I saw some progress photos and the mention that  it was a growth aid too I have been applying it to my scalp and I have noticed thicker new growth as well. It promises to help grow hair in 4 weeks, and I believe it really does. I would keep applying it to my scalp every 3 days as I do currently. I wish I had time to apply it to my scalp everyday. Can't imagine how much new growth I would have had to deal with. 

Would I purchase this product?

Absolutely! YES, YES and YES as long as my hair keeps loving it. It is a 5 star moisturiser for me. It is currently my most loved every day moisturiser.  It is reasonably priced and lasts very long. And from the reviews I've got from other users in Ghana, Afroriri hair butter has come to stay!! I just love it!! 

Where can you get Afroriri hair butter to buy? You can contact Afroriri Haircare on Instagram @afroririhaircare and check if they have agents in your country. 

Have you tried any hair butters?


Cheers,
Star. 

Wash Day: Hot Oil Treatment

I had been skipping hot oil treatments for a long while now. My ends were looking so dull and thirsty, coupled with my big tangling woes; it really was time to infuse some moisture deeply into my strands. I felt the strong need to give my hair a treat.

A hot oil treatment is a process to help condition, restore moisture and treat damaged hair by heating up an oil (or mixture of oils) and applying directly to the hair. Heat can be added by covering head with a shower cap and sitting under a hooded dryer for 15-30 minutes. This can be done on damp hair or dry hair as some prefer to shampoo before applying the oil.

Yesterday was another marathon wash day as I was juggling chores and babies and work. I just couldn't do it all at once. Once I had heated up and applied the oil, I covered my head with some plastic bags and a shower cap. After some hours, I finally got myself under the hooded dryer and sat for 15 minutes. Once out, I did a few chores before I proceeded to wash as usual. I did a black tea rinse and did a homemade protein treatment with an  egg ...hehhehhhee...something I saw on a vlog and decided to try (details later). 

 

It was very late at the time I got to rollersetting. After the first 2 rollers, I decided I was tired and wouldn't continue but rather airdry. Detangling was still a challenge. I sat for a long while lazily chatting on whatsapp....and then I decided to complete the rollerset. Took 30 minutes!!  Once done, I sat under the dryer for 30 minutes.

My hair was completely dry...but not crisp as I don't like that anymore. I just massaged in my T444Z hair food, moisturised with Hawaiian Silky 14-in-1 (thanks Rubie!) and sealed with Ghanaian black castor oil. I wrapped it up for the night and styled it this morning.

 I loved my wash day results and though I still have a few inches of "old" hair to cut off. I will cut it off in full confidence that it will grow right back!! I also have to figure out a way to even out the bangs I got as it makes the right side of my hair way shorter than the rest.

 

For me, I will always tuck my ends in no matter what. 90% protective styling as I want to retain as much length as possible. I am not too far from my end of year goal and I don't want setbacks anymore.


Have you tried hot oil treatments?


Cheers,
Star.