The answer is yes!  Cold water seals your cuticles and makes your hair appear more sheen like.  I noticed that when I used to rinse with a higher temperature, I would have dry looking hair after it dried.  Cold air also acts like cold water.  Notice how some blow dryers have a button that blows cold air? It’s meant to smooth out your hair.  So there you have it. To prevent the frizzes, it is best to hit that cold rinse.  If you can’t take the coldness, make it lukewarm but never hot.  Hot water produces dry hair and makes it hard for your hair to hold on to moisture.

Since I can not find any natural hair salons around (to get my deep conditioning mask), I have taken to working it all on my own at home.  I realize that experimenting is not for everyone.  Some people don’t have the time to go through all that work.  Myself included, I get lazy at times!  I like to share my discoveries and make it easier on you to try the hair masks out for your dry hair.

With honey being sticky, I was a bit antsy about putting it into my scalp.  But fear not! Here is the simple deep conditioning recipe that I used.

RECIPE

• 4 Tbsp of honey

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Using a DIY double boiler this is how we do.  Boil some water in a slightly bigger pot.  Take a smaller mixing bowl and place the two ingredients together.  I use a ceramic one or stainless steel material.  You want the mixing bowl to hover above the boiling water as opposed to touching it.  This way you have the steam indirectly heating the oil and honey.  Heat your mixture for 1 minute.  You just want it warm not scalding hot.   If you can’t touch it without saying ouch, don’t take it over to your scalp!

When the dry hair mask is ready, apply it to moist hair from root to tip.  To wet you hair, and get it ready, use a spray bottle to dampen it.  Natural hair absorbs deep conditioners more when it’s wet.  Work from root to tip as you use your fingers to detangle.  Once I finished doing this, I sealed my ends with straight up olive oil to pack on that moisture.

Wrap for 1 hour or wear a shower cap.  I like to do it on a lazy Sunday as I can lounge in my pj’s at home and do the treatment for that designated time.  After the time is up, just co-wash with cool water and you’re done.  Cool water gives you that shiny look and doesn’t dry hair like hot water.

Honey and Olive Oil work Great for Dry Hair

My natural hair is overwhelmingly thick so my recipe indicated that.  Feel free to adjust accordingly.  The reason I don’t shampoo after I deep condition is because I want to keep my hair from drying out.  There is no use to do a deep treatment only to take it away now is there.  I reserve the shampoo for another day because you can’t walk around with crusted scalp and build up!  By all means, go ahead and co-wash after the treatment.

Enjoy your soft coils and curls.

The best thing about wearing your hair natural is a light drizzle or rain does not usually become your sudden and worst enemy!  That being said, take a look below at some great examples of beautiful and fashionable ladies rocking their natural tresses, – these pictures are solid proof that natural hair is beautiful without a doubt, it can also be styled in modern way, and last but not least, hair in its natural texture is fashionable and can be worn with TOTAL CONFIDENCE. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise!

Bad and she knows it

Fierce, gorgeously untamed lioness hair

Beautiful texture, beat face, can’t go wrong!

Fabulous big chop swag

Go ahead lil mama =)

Sophisticated cutie

Wisdom of the day: Do not allow  a few tangled strands to negatively affect the relationship you have with your natural hair. Work with your texture, not against it.

Have a happy and healthy hair journey!

Sometimes the images of bone straight hair and the constant parading around of ladies with this type of hair can sort of leave the impression that natural curly, kinky and wavy hair is just downright undesirable, ugly and something one has to get rid of by chemically changing the texture using harsh relaxers. Often  natural hair is viewed as a feature that has to be covered up as much as possible and concealed under weaves or wigs (sad but true).

Now I am not saying that anybody who relaxes their child’s hair is necessarily encouraging them to hate their natural self, many people relax their hair because they feel this process is what will make their hair easier to manage, that is all well and to each their own (there is absolutely no judgement passed here).  The issue arises when their children (grown or not) decide to return to their natural roots and then the snide remarks, teasing, taunting and negative attitudes start coming from the people around them.

I have witnessed a few friends and acquaintances who have relaxed their hair to the bone and some of them literally have just a few helpless strands left ( yes, even the Donald Trump comb-over, a prayer and a splash of holly water could never save them). -Some of these ladies have a burnt scalp, bald spots and  the scarring to show for all those years of fighting texture, – yet they are headed to the salon every few weeks in order to get their regular ‘touch up’ and more of that creamy crack dragged through their strands.

Most of these ladies mentioned above have expressed how negatively they were received in the past upon trying to go natural by allowing their relaxed hair and sadly the most negative comments came from within their immediate families and from people such as mothers, fathers, brothers and other siblings! Comments such as ”nah that steel wool is not cute”, ”stop this foolishness I’m booking you an appointment from your perm and even worse was ”she now has that slave hair”! Can you imagine being on the receiving end of such negative comments and how they can break down a person or even worse, a child!

The main point here, is we as grown ups need to start appreciating and loving our hair regardless of texture and curl pattern, in doing so we will be able to show and teach our present and future children to love their own hair even in its natural, stubborn, frustrating and feisty state. When our children love their hair, they will not succumb to other people’s definition of what is beautiful and what is not, to them the discouraging and critical voices of acquaintances will simply become opinions that simply do not matter and a white noise .

We absolutely have to let our daughters both little and grown that their hair is beautiful and they themselves are beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully made. So what if their hair is kinky! – That is something that they can learn to embrace and work with overtime.  After all, the hair they were born with is here to stay and its theirs to keep. So even if they rock a weave or a wig, they will at least love what is underneath.

Pass this on to other ladies in your circle and share this wonderful positive message of encouragement to the women in your life that you care about.

Have a happy healthy hair journey!

I am a natural lady and I was wondering what your experience is with flat irons?  Do you straighten your natural hair?  If so, I have thick, coarse, hair and was wondering what flat irons work best!  I am almost at the point of giving up.  I went on Youtube and saw the Milstan Feather Flat Iron!  It looks great and probably something that can handle my coarse, thick hair.  Help! Any opinions will be really appreciated.

Thanks is advance,

Abigail

To elaborate on the message we sent back to Abigail…

Straightening natural hair is something that is feared by many ladies who are in the process of keeping their hair in a non-manipulated state.  Personally, I like to have a straightening session to get that length check and trim away those spit ends.  With that said, it’s been more than 8 months since I last used some heat!  A part of me is lazy to go through that thick hair.  First you have to wash it, then heat protect it, then section it… how about I just braid it and leave it alone.  This has been the procrastinator in me.  The only reason I would straighten my hair would be to see my growth process.

My experience with the regular flat irons have been disappointing.  My hair ends up all dry, no movement and just purely uninviting.  This is the reason I don’t flat iron often.  I have yet to find that one iron that makes me go gaga!  That and the fact that there was a young man who conned me with a fake CHI on Kijiji (beware of that).  Anyhow, the only time I have been able to get my hair dead-straight is when I went to the salon a few years ago.  They used some type of iron but I don’t remember the type and my hair was the most straight it’s ever been (I still adore my coils but nothing wrong with a bit of a change).  Here is what I did to make sure I don’t get dry hair that leads to breakage.

Use Protection

When you want to straighten natural hair, you want the prep work to count so your hair will remain protected.  You also want to try to make the heat process is a one time thing not a frequent part of your hair routine.  I know there are some naturals out there who won’t even touch heat and some who use it on the occasion and others who can’ t live without the flat iron.  Regardless, you always want to deep condition your hair in preparation of getting in contact with heat.  I actually found a way to limit heat by avoiding the blow dryer completely.  How do I do it? By stretching my hair naturally.  This way I get the just enough length to work with the flat iron.

Abigail, this is actually the first time we are learning about the Milstan Feather Flat Iron.  Thanks for letting us know.

Avoid the Dry Hair and Heat Damage If you Decide to Use this Iron

To reduce all that heat from the Milstan flat iron, you should avoid putting it in the oven or on the stove.  Use the golden hot ceramic stove.  You can also purchase such ovens from your beauty supply store I believe.   I would let the iron cool a little before using it on my natural hair.   You can test the heat.  The secret: use a towel.  Right after you take the straightening iron from the ceramic stove, let it cool for about thirty seconds.  Then place it on the towel.  If it burns the towel, it will burn your hair.  If it’s too hot, use a damper towel and rub the iron on there to bring the temperature down.

To get that shine you see on the video, you should run the back of the flat iron on the outer parts of your natural hair.  The ceramic gives it that shiny polish.  Once you get the shine, now place your hair in between the plates and pass the feather flat iron just like you would a regular hair straightener.

To recap what you will need:

-Get a golden hot ceramic stove

-Heat protector.  I like Silk Elements but there are many more out there.

-A deep conditioner prior to the straightening session

-A towel to test the heat

-Stretch your hair prior to using heat.  We discussed a few methods on

1. How to Curl Hair Using the No Heat Method

2. 5 Ways to Stretch your Natural Hair

Q: Do you straighten your natural hair? If so, what is your experience with the feather flat irons?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

How is the wind going to caress my hair if I shave my hair! These are the thoughts of a vain woman coming into light at how beautiful bald women can be.

I am talking about voluntarily getting out there with a shaver in one hand then hitting the streets with a short buzz.  Some women are more comfortable with wigs, some weaves and some, straight up natural hair.  Having hair is like a blanket that covers you and makes you feel more secure.  I admit that sounds a bit vain but think about the way you exit the house in the morning. It’s a safety net knowing you can throw on a wig or style your natural hair…

It’s empowering to see women who go out there bald and confident.  They are not trying to prove anything.  These women are just being themselves.  We’ve seen ladies like Cassie, Laura Mvula, Kaone Kario and Lupita Nyong’o look gorgeous while wearing a more shorter hair style.

Laura Mvula: British soul singer-songwriter

Cassie: American recording artist, dancer, actress and model

Kaone Kario: South African model and TV presenter

Lupita Nyong’o: Kenyan actress and filmmaker. She will be in a movie that I can not wait to see: Twelve Years a Slave

Amber Rose: Le ex Beau of Kanye West and current wife of Wiz Kalifa

Shaving your hair varies from individual to individual.  Some ladies do the big chop to access their natural hair faster than a transition.  Some ladies do it to beat the heat in the summer and some just do it because they like the style.  You can hit the barber for that nice, smooth, shave to start you off.

Q: What would you do if you someone shaved your head and you had to exit the house the next morning?  Can you see yourself out there with a bald look? Would you let the world see the graceful scalp that usually holds your hair?

Why Vegetable Glycerin?

Vegetable glycerin is naturally hygroscopic. In  layman terms, this simply means that it absorbs moisture from its surroundings. This is one of the reasons glycerin makes for a great ingredient for any moisturizing hair care or skin care products. You can also combine and mix other ingredients such as carrier oils, essential oils, herbs etc. into glycerin for added benefits.

Benefits of Vegetable Glycerin on Natural Hair

1.  Curl Enhancers or Flexi Rods

You can use these right when your hair is moist (not too wet or dry).  Leave them in until your hair is completely dry! Then remove them and divide your hair into sections and braid or twist.  You get more length to work with by using this method.

2. Braiding

You can apply some Shea butter to your strands before you braid.  Then divide into sections.  You can now remove the braids in the middle of the week and style your hair into a bun or twists.

3. Banding:

This is the process of detangling wet hair then dividing it into little sections.  Then take each individual section and put bands around the hair shaft.  You can also use yarn to do this.  To remove the bands or yarn, wait until your hair is dry.

4.  Double Stretching:

This is the process where you’re using two stretching methods one after the next.  In this one, you can use banding followed by flexi rods (for example).  Once dry, you will just braid your dry hair for the night. I like double stretching because it gives me the full effect.

5. Styling Creams

When you are wearing your stretched hair, you want to limit the use of watery sprays (e.g. hair spray) that will revert your stretched hair.  Go for natural hair oils like almond and coconut oil to tame frizz.  For softness, try hair butters like avocado and Shea.

Enjoy these methods to stretch your hair naturally without using heat.  Always condition and prepare your mane for the stretch.

Q: What are your favorite ways to stretch your hair au naturale?

When your armpits spend all their life in a dark place with no air and light, the last thing you need are clogged pores in that area!  Not many women know this but the stuff you put under your armpits can be quite harmful! Personally, I’m allergic to the antiperspirants and the regular deodorants.  I found that they broke the skin around my armpits and made me break out in a rash.  The rash is itchy and uncomfortable.  I abandoned all those toxins for a natural deodorant.  Well ladies, and gentlemen, it’s really time to start listening to our bodies.  Your body is trying to push out those unnatural ingredients that are present in your regular deodorants!  It’s the body’s system saying NO.

Carcinogens in Deodorants/Antiperspirants

Aluminum Chlorhydrate is the substance that irritates me!  It’s Scary to know that it’s linked to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s!  I don’t care what anyone saying that “it has not been proven“.  When it come to my health, I’m not taking that gamble to wait and find out.  Most cosmetic companies won’t toot their own horn so, you owe it to your body to check out the ingredients in your antiperspirant.  The toxic chemicals will get your eyes wide and popping.

You Still Got to Be Stink Free!

The pure act of blocking sweat is unnatural.  Sweat is a way to rid your body of all those toxins.  What we don’t want is that odor that comes with it.  I’m not saying that you should walk around with stinky armpits!  Talk about how to loose friends and alienate those around you.  You should only be deodorant free if you live far far away by yourself and you’re a hermit!  Bacteria is what causes your underarms to smell.  What most body care companies do is to try and clog your pores with all these synthetic substances in an attempt to block the bacteria.  What Lafes Deodorant Stick does is use mineral salts to accomplish the same thing!

How I apply this Deodorant

Exfoliate your armpits (daily) when you take a shower.  This ensures you work on a clean canvas.  It also helps get rid of that darkening that can happen under there.  Follow up with moisturizer (daily).  I always prep with a cotton pad and hydrogen peroxide (a cotton ball absorbs too much of the product).  This helps kill any per-exsisting bacteria and makes you fresh longer.  Wait for it to dry then wet the stone and apply like regular deodorant.

Why I Love the Natural Lafes Deodorant Stick

1. It’s so easy to use. I just pop open the lid and run the stick under warm water.  After the stick gets moist, I just apply to my underarms.  No mess since this is a solid stick!

2. It’s clear so no annoying white marks on my clothes.

3. It’s Aluminum Chlorhydrate free! Instead of this scary chemical, they use mineral salts to combat odor-causing bacteria.

4. Fragrance free! You can choose scented one but, I find scents are irritating to me especially when my armpits are not getting well ventilated all day.

5. They support breast cancer awareness and prevention!

I am an active person.  Will this natural deodorant keep me sweat free?

I notice that I do still perspire with this natural deodorant stick once I start doing something actively.  However, the smell is not there!  When I work out, I want to get the toxins out via sweating and I don’t understand why anyone would want to completely block the act of letting your body flush toxic stuff out!  What I would recommend for someone who wants to go with a more active stick choose the Lafe’s Active Roll-On.  There are other brands out there but this is the only one I have experimented with.

Your skin’s very absorbent.  It will inhale what you give to it.

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*This is not a paid/sponsored post.  That deodorant you see was bought by yours truly for $5.98!  If we find something that works, it will speak for itself and we shall share.

Q: Are you aware that deodorants could be dangerous? What natural alternatives are you using?