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Monday 30 April 2012

Hair Care Secret: Deep Condition!

For a couple of years now I have recently started wearing weaves and up until recently with the whole health and beauty craze that I have been caught up in, I decided that I not only wanted to take care of my own hair but it grow it out long.

My hair is relaxed and the other day probably around the beginning of the year, I went to get my hair relaxed in a salon - My mum usually relaxes my hair, and she's really the only one I really trust in my hair and sometimes I trust her to cut my hair but she gets a bit too trigger happy, and everyone knows for a black woman those couple of inches that she hacked off made a difference!

When the hairdresser was finished with my hair I was amazed with how much my hair had actually grown, but being away at uni I don't really know how to take care of my hair and so I would naturally leave it in a bun, which is not the healthiest option for afro-hair as too much tension on the strands can break the hair.
So I put my hair back in weave. Whilst I was back in uni, the hair started getting old so I decided to take it out and wear my natural hair, which was a nice feeling to have my hair out for a while however because I'm used to the length of weaves I don't feel comfortable with how short my real hair is in comparison. But I did it nonetheless, pretty much because I had no choice in the matter.


I decided to do some research on taking care of my natural hair specifically for afro-hair, and to my surprise (sarcasm) there wasn't much information for this and the little information I could find I held onto and tried it out. I wanted to test it out before I told you my secrets but I was too excited and I just need to share lol.

To start off with, lets talk pre-hair craze care. I would usually wash my hair with Aphogee Deep Moisture shampoo and Aphogee Balancing moisturiser conditioner and I find these products really great for my hair and leave my hair soft and silky and to think I randomly just stumbled on this product! I introduced these products to my mum and she took it a step further and purchased the Aphogee 2 step protein treatment and her hair has looked really healthy since.

Deep Moisturising Shampoo
Balancing moisturizer 
Two-step protein
Although these products are good for my hair and have aided my hair growth, these products may not provided the desired effects for you, but I still say you should invest in these products (maybe not these particular products) but browse through the Aphogee range. These products can be purchased here (Amazon) and here (Ebay) however, they are available at your normal hair & beauty shop and the price range is £2.99 + depending on the product you buy!


Now that we got the pre-hair craze care out of the way, I can tell you about the real secret! So obviously natural remedies are better for your body in general, and since I have been on this health & beauty craze I tried to ascertain the best products for me and now for you.

It all started with a little bottle of Moroccan Argan Hair oil, you will find loads of reviews and videos on the internet about this product and how amazing it is, which I 100% agree with but this little bottle of argan hair oil turned into a little bottle of Macademia hair oil, which is said to be even better than Moroccan Argan oil, I also came across the benefits of using natural olive oil and using natural coconut oil, well by this time my hair was spinning with all these little facts (but on the plus side the Macademia hair oil smells AMAZZZZING well the bottle I have lol) so I did more digging and found that oils like these are really good for your hair and nails (which is a plus because my nails have actually grown since using this), I found myself a recipe and have never looked back!

Recipe:
Pure Coconut oil
Natural Olive oil (not the cooking kind)
Macadamia Oil
Moroccan Argan Oil
Honey
Aphogee Conditioner

Now you don't have to use all of these oils at once although I do, but this is what I use. It is completely up to you with how much you put in also.

Method: Mix altogether in a container make sure the oils are melted you can do this in the microwave or in a pot on the stove however be careful I tried melting coconut oil in the microwave and lets just say there were some sparks.. Mix in some conditioner and mix until oils have blended in with the conditioner to create the consistency of paste. It doesn't matter if the mixture is hot or cold as long as it doesn't burn you, you should be fine. Once you feel it has reached the right consistency, part and apply this to your DRY hair making sure every inch is covered from root to ends (especially the ends as they can get really dry)

(I usually leave this on my head for like an 45mins to an hour with a shower cap on my head, or you could improvise with a plastic bag lol. This is essentially a deep condition. Deep conditions are especially important for afro-hair as our hair is naturally dry whereas in comparison european hair is oily. If you think about it, if/when you go to a salon which is probably every 6 weeks (if your hair is relaxed) you get your hair deep conditioned, but why wait so long when you can do it cheaper and in your own home with products you probably already own?!)

Method continued: After you feel it has been left on your hair for enough time, rinse, shampoo and dry and style as usual. 

Your hair should feel smooth, soft and silky. After drying I grease my scalp as usual and use Tresseme heat protectant spray before blow drying.

There are many benefits of a deep conditioning - replenishing your hair with natural oils and making the strands stronger. You should definitely deep condition if you use a lot of heat in your hair, because of this new health & beauty craze, I have tried to use heat less and less on my hair as that is extremely damaging for hair and I believe it works.


I would just like to say, that I am not a beautician or have any qualifications in hair care, these are products that I have researched for myself and used on myself that I have seen made a difference to my hair.

I hope that this has helped you as much as this has helped me.

Good Luck 
xo


P.s. I will update this later with a picture of my hair length! Or you can see in my post about my foundation routine my hair length (here)

xo
















1 comment:

  1. I have issues with my hair too. Some haircuts make my hair have too much volume and I look like a mushroom. Even though my hair is straight, it is very untamed. It's so difficult to find a hairdresser who knows what looks good on you.
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