Welcome!

Hello Blog World.

I decided to start a blog on hair care, especially for my Naija peps. One of the most difficult things about living outside Naija for me is having to do my own hair. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing it, it's just that sometimes you want to walk into a salon and get your hair done by someone else and also not have to pay gazillions for a relaxer or braid service.

I have always been interested in hair; I started braiding when I was about 8 or 9. I have my mom to thank for all my skills! She would let me 'practise' at night and she would take it out in the morning to go to work. Gradually I became so good, she took my braids to work!

So I never had any formal training, just picked up most of the stuff along the way, techniques like twisting, braiding with extensions, fixing a weave (although I am not a huge fan) and applying a chemical relaxer.

Although I am not a cosmetologist, I am very chemical aware and always educating myself on new processes and also how to minimise damage to the hair and scalp. I had an A though in Chemistry in high school (I know, I know...not the same thing), so chemical processes and how they affect us have always fascinated me. I find the same joy in cooking, because for me, cooking is also a chemical process, although I think most people don't view it that way. I love the interplay of the various ingredients and how the ultimate taste is a mix of all of them.

Anyway, back to hair.

I, like most naija women I know have tried everything - jheri curls, baby curls, relaxers (lye and no lye - I will do a special on this in the near future), texturisers, natural, dyes, weaves (4 times and like I said before, not a huge fan), micro-link extensions, braids, micro-braids, twists, dreads, shaved off completely (several times). So as you can see, I have just about done it all.

A couple of years ago I decided to go natural. At first it went swimmingly, but later, it became so hard to maintain and I am a pretty time focused person and I do not think spending 2 hours on haircare everyday is productive. So after about 2 years, I decided to change the texture. Because I didn't want a relaxer, I chose to texturise instead. I did this for about a year and I had a lot of breakage.

In the end I went back to relaxers. This time I decided to educate myself better on the processes and the best way to go. Another thing I will address in this blog is hair growth for naija women and the myth surrounding it.

Well, thanks for stopping by. Hope you'll check back regularly.

Hasta Pronto!