DIY Shea Butter Hair Cream

Ingredients:

150g Shea Butter

50g Coconut Oil

14-28g (1/2 - 1oz) Beeswax (depending on how stiff you want it to be)

1/4 cup of oil (I use a mix of Macadamia Nut Oil and Castor Oil)

10-20 drops of Fragrance oil (if you want)

An empty pot (just clean out one of your old hair cream pots that you no longer use)

I know some people prefer to whisk their Shea Butter mix, but when you whisk any mixture you mix air into it. When I used to whisk my hair mix, it quickly became rancid and I would find mould growing in the cream - not nice! I decided to melt the cream instead, so it would last a lot longer. If one person is using this mix it should last about 6 months. 

I added beeswax so the mix wouldn't be too greasy (Shea Butter is quite greasy) and because the wax really helps to seal in moisture when added to damp hair. You have to make sure you cool the mix with the lid off for a few hours so any steam that builds up will be able to escape or you might end up with bubbles of water in the bottom of the container. Finally it will two days to fully harden to a butter-like consistency (but you can use it after a day) and store it in a cool, dry cupboard.

I bought the Shea Butter, Macadamia Nut Oil and coconut fragrance from Freshskin, the Coconut Oil is the KTC version from Asda (it was a 500g jar for £1.99!) and the beeswax I bought from eBay.

Maz x

Three Styles For That Awkward Length Of Natural Hair

Hey guys, we all know that when you get to that awkward length you feel as if there's not much you can do with it. But I'm here to help! Here are three easy styles to do for short/medium length hair. The first two are especially nice for transitioning hair.

Zee xx

My Puff Crème!

Hey y'all! I’m hoping you’ve seen my video on three hairstyles for short 4c hair, if not, why don’t you check it out here eh?

In that video I created a puff (one of my best yet) using a mixture I created quite a while back at the start of my natural journey. If you’ve ever had a problem slicking down your edges and products such as Eco Styler Gel don’t work, then my puff crème is definitely something you should try out.  It’s a very moisturising equivalent to gels which can typically leave your hair feeling crunchy, dry, brittle and not to mention flaky! 

With 4C hair, allowing our delicate edges to become brittle alongside our already tight curl pattern can lead to breakage and loss of our edges. Yeah... I’ve been there before :/  So try this out if you’re looking for soft, moisturised and slick edges. 

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons of Vegetable Glycerine 
• 4 large tablespoons of Eco Styler Gel (I use the Moroccan/Argan Oil version)
• 1 and a half tablespoons of Sweet Almond Oil
• A large empty container
• A spoon to mix the ingredients together

It’s pretty simple… just dump all of the ingredients into your clean pot and stir well! The mixture should become a white colour with a slightly heavier consistency than the Eco Styler Gel you’ve used. That’s it!

I normally spray my edges lightly with water before I apply this, but if my hair is well moisturised, it can also be used on dry hair. It leaves no flakes, smells delish and dries clear. I hope you find this useful. Let me know how it works! 

Zainab xx

End Papers - Yay Or Nay?

Hi guys! I do love my old twist-out but now that my hair is a bit longer I've decided to become a bit more adventurous style-wise. I thought I 'd try something with a little more va-va-voom, so I decided to try out a Twist & Curl! There's also been a bit of hoo-ha about end papers and whether they're any use so I decided to test them out, and being the poor student that I am, I found a suitable alternative that is in your kitchen cupboard - greaseproof paper!

The perm rods have tiny bumps on them which sometimes grab on to strands of my hair so I first wrapped all of the rods in paper for protection.

I twisted about three quarters of the way down the twist and then rolled the endpapers on to the end of the twists on the left side of my. All the twists on one half (in the picture I am facing you so it's the right side) have endpapers on the actual end of the twist. The other half have the untwisted ends left bare (in the pictures the left side) and I wrapped them around the paper covered rod. The side without end papers took me about 30 minutes to do. Putting the end papers around the twist was quite fiddly and difficult at first so it took about 20 minutes longer to do that side, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. It ended up taking an hour and half to put 24 twists in my hair.

My L side

My R side

When I finished the twists

 I then left them to dry overnight and the next morning removed the rods...

Removing the perm rods from my left side

R side with no rod

L side with no papers

So the left side with the end papers was a lot sleeker than the R side and had better curl definition. After I had removed all of the rods and before I had separated, this is what my hair looked like:

Then I separated the pieces (I split each segment into two or three) and fluffed out my roots, here is the end result:

Both ways have their pros and cons. I would say that with end papers you get much more curl definition but it's a lot more fiddly to put on the papers so takes longer to do. On the other hand without end papers you sacrifice curl definition and end up with a fluffy airy 'fro look but obviously it's quicker to do as it's less fiddly. Of course you could just have fewer twists which would significantly cut down your time.

I prefer the fluffier look (but then again I'm quite lazy and want everything to be done asap). The style lasted for about one week before I had to put it in a puff, however the curl definition at the ends really lasted, it remained for about 9 days.

I'll probably be doing this again and I'll film a tutorial so I can show you guys exactly how I did it.

Maz xx

Mariama's Flat-Twist Tutorial

Hey guys, recently we went to a family Christening and I decided to do a flat twist, something I never really do (too much effort and I like the fluffier afro look of a normal twist-out). Have a peek at it...

Maz xx

Which Detangling Tool is the Best For You?

Hi guys! Mariama and I recently purchased a few new detanglers: the Tangle Teezer and the Hercules Seamless Combs. We thought it would be best to make our own opinions about them and purchased them. After using them for a while now (along with our Denman brushes) this is how they all compare to one another. Enjoy!

The Tangle Teezer

PROS

• Makes detangling a quick process (it took Mariama half an hour to detangle one half of her head with it)
• Detangles gently without snagging strands
• Easy to use once you get used to it 
• Wide availability! (Although its often sold out because it’s so sought after)
• Smoothens coarse hair making it easier to twist or braid

CONS

Very difficult to get teeny hairs out

• Can become very slippery when detangling hair because of the shape but can get used to it
• Very short bristles so can’t brush through large sections of hair
• Not very easy to clean because the bristles are close together!
• Expensive for a small brush! RRP: £11.20 but can be bought for a little cheaper online. 
• Sounds as though it rips through hair  (but it's not!!) which can be off putting
• Not specifically made for afro hair so difficult to brush through coarse ends (Maz had to use the comb to go through her ends afterwards because all of the knots had bunched up and the Tangle Teezer couldn't get through)

Denman - D3 Medium 7 Row Styling Brush

We take out 4 rows instead of 3, it removes much less hair this way

PROS

• Easy to hold due to long handle
• Detangles large sections because of long bristles
• Easy to remove bristle rows to modify the brush to suit you
• Easy to clean
• Widely available and affordable RRP £6.99 

CONS

• Not very gentle when detangling (I lose more hair with the denman) 
• Can’t be used with heat styling tools as the bristles melt and snag hair
• Have to remove bristles for afro hair (although there is the Freeflow specifically made for detangling longer thicker Afro hair)

Hercules Sägemann Seamless Combs: Detangling Comb 1975 and Magic Star Jumbo Rake HS5660

PROS

• Long handle makes it easy to hold on to
• Durable product which can easily be used for years
• Can be used with heat styling tools without damage as they are made using heat resistant vulcanised rubber
• Detangles really large sections of hair very quickly and gently (especially the Jumbo Rake - it can take 30-45 minutes for Maz's whole head!)
• Less hair lost when used 

CONS

• Difficult to find in the UK
• Largest comb is very expensive and retails at approximately £15. (needs to be weighed up with its lifelong usage)
• The HS1975 detangles hair quickly and thoroughly, but still takes a little more time than the Tangle Teezer (it took Maz about 10-15 minutes longer for one half of her head)

Drum roll please...

Our winner is...

We both agreed that Hercules Sägemann ones were the best, although the Jumbo Rake is pricey (there is a mini version for £10) you have to realise that some of the comments from buyers on the website have said that their combs have withstood more than 20 years of use!! Plus you are paying for much better quality. (Ask someone to buy it for you as a gift if you really don't want to pay for it.) We do like the Tangle Teezer, but it's probably better suited to shorter afro hair as Maz had to detangle her ends with the 1975 comb.

For now, the Denman is staying in the drawer. We're using the Jumbo Rake for co-wash detangling weekly and the 1975 detangler for proper thorough wash day detangles once a month.

Here are the cheapest prices for the all the detanglers that we could find (also check TK Maxx, sometimes their hair selection can surprise you):

HS5660 Jumbo Rake (or click here for the Mini rake)
Tangle Teezer: here and here (With the one from Paks actually check that it is a Tangle Teezer, when I went to buy mine they tried to sell me one from another brand)
Denman: Classic or Freeflow. (My one was from TK Maxx for £5.99)

Zee xx

Mariama's Draw My Natural Journey!

In case you haven't seen it, here's a quick overview of my natural hair journey (there are actual pictures too at the end):

Maz xx