Now as we all can tell, Old Man Winter is here to collect all the moisture and sunshine out of our lives to leave our lips, skin & hair parched 😒 But no worries, I have compiled some quick & useful tips on taking care of (y)our hair during the winter. Now bear in mind as I am compiling this mini list, I am also educating myself as I go along. Also, I’m quite lazy when it comes to things like this (judge me not) so I’ve selected the simplest steps to do below:
1. Wash hair less often –
Great news for those of us that dread wash day! Because shampoo tends to strip your hair of its natural oils, you want to lessen how many times you wash it. So, if you were washing your hair 4x in a month, you can reduce it to maybe 2x instead. You can also opt for Co-wash – short for “conditioner-only washing.” It means skipping shampoo and relying solely on conditioner.
2. Deep condition like crazy! –
As often as possible, I would say once or every two weeks should suffice. I was using the Hollywood Beauty dc for a while but I now make my own deep conditioner DIY Deep Conditioner but any over the counter conditioner should suffice. Please make sure to read ingredients before purchasing.
3. Wear protective styles – such as braids, twists, weave, crochet wigs; this way your hair gets to rest, while your ends are protected & aren’t exposed to the harsh climate. The duration of time you keep your protective sytles in is entirely up to you.
4. No shower cap!
Yes, you read right, leave that shower cap alone! The steam in your bathroom while taking a shower will do wonders for your hair’s moisture retention. What I do after I shower is I seal the moisture my hair just retained by applying oils (I use Olive oil/Castor oil). If you’re antsy about not wearing a shower cap at all, you can poke holes into it, that way you’ll still get some sort of moisture.
5. Wear hats with satin/silk lining –
Kinda like Skatsz hats ha! Would you look at that, 😂😅 No, but seriously there’s no point in doing all that work to retain moisture only to throw on a cotton/wool hat that’ll suck out it all right out; leaving your hair brittle & dry and prone to breakage! Whoo chilay hahaha I wish you guys could hear me laughing so hard as I write these blog posts yo!
Do you have any winter hair care tips you would like to share? Comment below xx
By now, a good majority of us have seen the Netflix original ‘Nappily Ever After’ starring Sanaa Lathan. I actually counted down to see this movie, ever since I heard Sanaa shaved her bald for the role – I found it intriguing. I wasn’t aware of the book, so I didn’t really know what to expect but it was a really good movie with an even better message – Love yourself & be comfortable in your own skin!
At the start of the movie, Violet, (Sanaa’s character) was obsessed with being unrealistically perfect, especially with her hair; stemming from childhood traumas & her mother’s constant reinforcement. However, as the movie progressed, the trajectory of her character was one that was very much relatable; going against the grain in life. Whether you’re a natural or not, we’ve all experienced “the big chop” in a sense – a need for a fresh start at life for one reason or another. Violet, went from an impromptu shaving of her head due to a meltdown to actually being reintroduced to her natural hair & loving it. She of course struggled with her decision at first but eventually got a hang of it (boy can I relate). With her confidence reinstated in herself, her big chop being the catalyst, she eventually stopped seeking validation in others & began valuing her own feelings about herself.
It’s an empowering movie that tells us that our own hair, black hair is indeed beautiful just the way it is & we don’t need to alter it to be deemed acceptable. As mentioned in the movie, it’s not that black women should feel guilty about wearing anything other than natural hair, whether it’s weaves, wigs or other protective styles. Rather, it’s that they should know that their natural hair is just as beautiful as any other type, and they are worthy of respect regardless of how they choose to wear their hair. It’s a powerful message, especially for this new generation of natural enthusiast coming up – to show that it is never too late to (re)discover yourself, love yourself, stand up for yourself & be comfortable in your own skin!
Here’s Sanaa talking about her big chop & her feelings after
I put up a poll on IG to ask if people still thought the word “Nappy” was a bad word;
I was genuinely surprised that the overwhelming majority voted that they didn’t consider “nappy” a bad word; I personally don’t either. Though I understand the history behind the word, it was all the more reason it was great to see us embracing a word that was once (& probably still) has negative connotation about Black/African hair.
Have you seen Nappily Ever After? What are your thoughts? Comment below xx
I know I’ve been crazy inactive, so instead of me apologizing only to be inactive again, I’m just going to do better 🙂
So, topic of today is African Threading – A traditional method used for centuries across Africa to stretch afro hair without heat; it is also commonly referred to as Banding Method. African Threading is known to be a great way to retain length, stretch hair without heat, thus averting the chances of getting heat damage & breakage (we all know how heartbreaking that can be) & also can be worn as a protective style.
In Nigeria we use a specific elastic shinny thread:
However, you can also use brading hair extensions or sewing thread – some people have used yarn, it’s really your prerogative (that’s a Bobby Brown reference hahaha).
Quick story: I was at the salon last weekend & a little girl, no more than 7 yrs old had gotten her deep-conditioned & it was time to stretch her hair – using that hot ass, dragon breath ass dryer, that I even as an adult still dread greatly! Chiiillleee the way she was screaming & hollering, my heart could NOT take it, I just had to approach both the mom & the hair stylist to suggest threading that poor child’s hair. Lucky for her, her mom was very receptive to any help; it was clear as day she too was in complete distress! I stood in front of all three explaining for all of maybe 4 minutes but I’m sure all the mom heard was “Your child will stop screaming if you use this method” & she was like “YESSS!” Long story short, the baby stopped crying & was enjoying her little juice as she got her hair threaded. The stylist did it in a way that it was so clean that she ended up wearing it as a protective style. I thought the absolute cutest most rewarding part was when the baby came up to me to say thank you in the most genuine heartfelt way (I almost shed a thug tear). Meanwhile, her mom couldn’t stop thanking me, asking about other natural hair tips I may have, which I was more than happy to help of course. This also inspired this blog post. It’s just so funny to me how far we’ve come only to understand that some ancient methods still beat the technology we have now.
Anywho, my sister helped thread my hair a little while ago & I sent the pictures to my mom, and she said “It’s called the Sungas style back in her day 🖤 & it grows hair by the seconds!” Here is a picture of my insane shrinkage vs when it was stretched:
Before ThreadingAfter African Threading
My hair was completely stretched & the threading was only in in my hair for about an hour! Yeah, no more blow dryer for me (crosses fingers).
Here is a really good video/tutorial on how to African Thread your hair:
Will you be trying African Threading to stretch your hair? Or is it already apart of your routine? Let me know below xx
Hey Guys – Happy New week! (Yes, I’m aware it’s Tuesday, Monday is a trial run for me hahahah)!
Okay so, I was minding my business, per usual right? Scrolling through my timeline when BAM! This lady’s video hits me in the face. Dr. Debbie Williams – A hair professional claims that rice water grows your hair faster, thicker & healthier.. say whaaaaaat?! Now being Nigerian, I eat rice like everyday & I was taught to rinse out the rice water.. not put in my hair; so this particular process is very intriguing to me to say the least. It’s quite easy to do actually, you’re literally just soaking rice in water for a long period (hours or even overnight) then you rinse your hair with its water like you would regularlly.
Here’s the vid for more info & instructions:
So what do you guys think? Will you be trying the rice water rinse?
Its a snow day here – well, really not really.. Just some flurries, but it was enough to have the grocery stores swamped with long lines yesterday with people trying to “prep” for the snow; meanwhile all I wanted to buy was cookie dough. But, one thing for certain is that, it was cold then & it’s cold now! Like 19 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact; winter has surely arrived – Perfect timing to talk about Skatsz New ’17 Collection!!!! *Insert a yelp here*
Skatsz satin lined beanies are designed to help keep moisture in your hair & avoid dryness, frizz, breakage and other damages to the hair that’s caused by the cotton in regular beanies. All while keeping you warm & toasty too, yeah, you’re welcome 😛
So, the new collection has three styles of beanies with two colors each (yeeeep)! I’ve inserted hyper links in the names of each style so you can click on it to see what it looks like on the website.
Happy New Week people! (Yes, my week starts on Tuesdays)
So, I found out last week that Skatsz had been featured on Essence Magazine!!! Soooooooooooo freaking cool!!!! Our satin lined beanies were listed among the necessities for hair care on Essence website. Ahhhhhhhh super excited! Like I literally didn’t see that coming, at all! It’s funny because I was at a workshop & we were asked to google our name to see what popped up & BOOM there it was! Here is the link for that:Essence Feature
Also, we were approached a while back by this really dope Mag: Fashion Gxd Magazine – to do an interview!! We really couldn’t believe it, like it was so surreal, because it’s like so people really know about our brand?!?!? Super exciting stuff! The whole entire experience was so great & the good people at Fashion Gxd Mag made it so effortless. We were so grateful for the opportunity 🙂
Hooolllaaaa Guys – Its Hump Day yayyy! I hope you all are holding on b/c we’re almost there! Its pretty rainy & gray here but oh well, that’s fall for ya, but I digress…
So, if you are a Black person that lives in the U.S. odds are you’ve been to at least one beauty supply store in your life; I mean, that’s just the truth of the matter. Me being a Black woman, that likes to get her hair done frequently, particularly braids style, I’ve visited countless BSS in my lifetime. With that being said, Black people are at the very least 98% of all the BSS customers (I left the 2% to be very generous). However, it’s no secret that there really aren’t many BSS that are owned by Black people (sad, I know). Beauty supply stores are usually owned by Asians (Koreans) – that often times aren’t the most welcoming (as if they’re doing YOU – the paying customer a favor) then there are the teeny tiny encounters where they are in fact a bit welcoming – though, the latter is very far few & in between.
So, when I wanted to get my bob braids done earlier this month, I decided to do a search for a Black-Owned beauty supply stores near me (even though there is a BSS right up the street from my house), I found a couple but they were a bit further than I anticipated. However, not one to be easily deterred, I kept searching & stumbled on this gem in Baltimore MD – Beauty Plus Their website is not up & running just yet, but you can find all the info you need on their Facebook page, which I’ve already linked above. Though it took me about an hour & a half to get there (I was determined yall), I was so grateful to make it because… To be honest, I don’t think I can ever fully articulate the feeling I had walking into a BSS & seeing that a Black person actually OWNS it, like wow! It was my first time ever in an opened & running Black-Owned Beauty Supply Store!
My happy ass & Megan (Store Co-owner)
Sorry for the grainy pic but it looked much clearer on my iPhone -__- & I wish I took way more pics but thats is all I have.
The customer service was great! The store was very neat & had everything I needed for my braids. It was super easy to find, especially for my geographically challenged self (judge me not). I spoke with Megan for bit & asked her how biz was doing, she replied that the support from the community has been overwhelming from day one; which of course, warmed my heart. Honestly, before Megan even made the statement about the community being so supportive, I was in the store for all of maybe 6 minutes (because ya girl was parked by a meter that I didn’t pay for, shhh) & while I was there at least two other customers came in & bought stuff! So, I definitely got a sense of what she meant by support from the community.
All in all, I was super impressed, but more so grateful – its hard to explain. I was so excited!! Definitely just became my go-to beauty supply store!
The great news is there are more & more Black-owned supply stores springing up in the country, thank God! Here are some links that have lists of Black-Owned beauty supply stores:
How is the Beauty Supply Store scene where you live? Have you ever been to a Black-Owned BSS? Do you plan to? As I was finishing up this post, I thought to myself: I wonder if this is the case outside of the US?
Okay, so I took my sister’s braids down last weekend and she had it in for too long like 8 weeks (yikes, I know) but that’s not the point of this post hahah, I’ll judge my sister later.. So because she kept her single braids in for a while, she had some build up especially because she’s so active, (gym: which equals sweat) plus she oils/moisturizes her scalp every other day (which equals product build up) & a bunch of random lint from scarf etc. All of those factors into what I call Braid Gunk. You know the sticky build up you get after wearing braids or any protective style for too long? This:
By the way her hair has grown sooo much!
Yeah, she had quite a bit of that. Well, instead of fighting through what seems like a losing battle by trying to finger detangle through that mess. I used Apple Cider Vinegar & water mixture as a detangler. Which made getting rid of that gunk a breeze!
Here are the simple items I used to make the ACV water detangler mixture:
Bragg ACV
Water
Spray Bottle
Table Spoon
I used the organic ACV that was already in my kitchen (thanks to my sis and/or brother) You don’t have to use this same brand, this is just my preference since it was both organic & free!Then I filled up my old Bath & Body Works spray bottle. It previously had olive oil inside so I rinsed that out & I filled it up with water more than 1/2 of the bottle. I didn’t measure, I simply just eyed it.I poured the ACV into a table spoon & added it to the bottle filled with water. I did this step two times – Meaning I poured 2 tbl spoons of ACV into the spray bottle.Finished ACV & Water Mixture. Hopefully you can see the color change in the spray bottle after the ACV has been added but not much of a difference in the amount of liquid inside.
I was so impressed at how much easier the process was using the ACV detangler that I actually recorded a whole vid, because you know, I just had to share the gem! Here it is below:
*Bonus* = The ACV basically cleaned her scalp like a shampoo would, so after we were done, we just deep conditioned using my homemade hair mask, here’s the link for that ===> DIY Deep Conditioner
Lemme know what you guys think below. Will you be trying the ACV & water mixture as a detangler? What do you typically do to get rid of your braid gunk?
I’m working on my ACV post (which should be finished soon) & I saw this hilarious meme & just had to share! This is an ode to the holy grail of natural hair products before all the fancy stuff we have now. For me, it was Ultra Sheen, Doo Gro & Super Gro.
Skatsz 