Nangamso

Can’t Wait To Rock My Beanie!

 Fashion & Beauty, Natural hair  2 Responses »
Apr 252013
 

Winter is knocking on our door (and a very loud knock at that!). I think we’ve all been feeling the winter chill lately and it’s time again to bring out that winter gear from last year.

I’m not a huge fan of winter because of the icy cold weather but I must say I am fan of winter gear — specifically boots, knitted jerseys and BEANIES :-) Since going natural I love rocking my beanies in the winter time. My mustard beanie from Foschini is my fave! It not only keeps me warm but I can also look stylish while at it ;-)

This post is just to show you all the different and lovely looks that one can achieve with a beanie. Here are a couple of pictures to get you excited about wearing your hair out with a beanie this winter!

 

 

I L.O.V.E this look!

 

For all you ladies who are not so keen on the whole beanie look; you can try wearing a head wrap to keep your hair under wraps AND still look pretty cute while at it :-)

Which look is your favourite? Do you like rocking beanies in the winter time or are you a more of a headscarf-kind-of-girl?

Going Back To Basics

 Natural hair  2 Responses »
Apr 222013
 

So last weekend I went to go have my hair done (it’s been a minute). I am not a fan of doing  hairstyles on my locs because I just don’t like how tight and painful the hairstyle is for the first couple of days and let’s just say me and pain are not friends…Anyway, my roots were starting to grow out quite a bit and my locs were starting to look messy so I knew I HAD to do something soon.

Just as luck will have it, I was walking in the mall with my sister minding my business when this lady with a huge afro ran up to me and asked if I don’t want to come to their salon, Afro Image to have my locs done. I was like “ummm…” “nah…” but she kept saying how quick it will be, etc. (And I’m all for quick hairstyles). I told her I’d see. And needless to say, I went to the salon an hour later.

Boy was I glad I went! Turns out the lady who came to me is the one who does the styling on locs. They gave me such good treatment – I was sold! She washed and conditioned my hair, and massaged my scalp while at it (bonus point!).

What I also liked more about the experience was the advice she gave me on taking care of my locs (the real reason for this post). I thought I knew a lot about locs but she really gave me a few good pointers that I thought I’d share with you guys (this can also apply to loose strand naturals).

Advice from a hairstylist:

1. Let your locs just be. Stop focusing on length and how long they are growing each month because then you won’t see any progress. She says just keep twisting and styling as per usual and don’t measure them or anything, before you know it, your hairstylist and people around you will be telling how long they’ve grown. So let your locs do their thing.

2. Wear a headscarf.  I’m sure we’ve seen a lot of Rastafarian ladies wearing headscarves and i think their locs grow pretty quickly, long and thick. She says the trick is in the headscarf / doek. What the headscarf does is to help your locs retain moisture and it protects the locs from constant manipulation. In other words, the more you leave your locs alone, the more you will see results. Also to prevent hair line and nape hair loss, she says you need to bind the scarf just below your nape, i.e. the scarf mustn’t touch your locs at the back and I’m sure that also applies to the front of your head…I love wearing head scarves but I’m not sure if I can wear one everyday though.

3. Hair dye makes your locs weak and  to look dull (and I do love dying my locs, lol!). She says the best dye to use is the original black hair dye or rather just don’t dye them at all. The lighter dyes tend to strip the locs of it’s moisture and shine. I guess this one makes sense, since dyes can contain chemicals that can be quite harsh to our hair. I think I’m going to take her advice on this one and see how it goes.

4. Don’t put too much hair product on your locs. Stick to one brand/hair product that works for you. Don’t pile on different types of products on your locs (I’m guilty of this). She says locs are actually low maintenance, you don’t need too many products and it’s best to apply a light oily spray every other day. So you don’t have to spritz your locs everyday. She recommended that I use Sta Sof Fro’s Moisturising Spray for dreadlocks (I haven’t yet come across this spray before). However, I’m still happy with my JO’M braids and dreadlocks spray. I’ll try out the Sta So Fro once my JO’M spray is finished.

So at the end of the day, the best you can do for your locs  is to just let them be and you’ll see, they’ll will GROW :-) Do you agree ladies?

Side note: I’m hoping for my locs to grow to this length one day so I can finally try out this fab hairstyle :-)  Aren’t her locs  just gorgeous??!

Hair Care For Locs

 Hair care & Products, Natural hair  2 Responses »
Mar 042013
 

Okay I’ve been on this loc journey for one year now and I’m no loc expert but through my own trial &  error and reading up about caring for your locs I’ve rounded up few hair tips that will benefit anyone on this journey. As I said, I’m not an expert so any feedback from those of you who’ve been on this journey much longer, feel free to add your own tried & tested advice in the comments box below :-)

  • Re-twisting locs: A lot of sistas twist their locs at least once a month to keep them looking neat and to maintain the round loc shape. However, some people tend to over-do this and that’s when you end up with very thin looking roots and sometimes the locs can even break off. Re-twisting and styling constantly also causes a strain to your hair, thus affecting your hairline. So try to keep re-twisting and hairstyling to a minimum. Personally I like my locs thick, but that’s just a personal preference but I know locs can come in all different types of sizes.
  • Moisturising: Keeping your locs moisturised is very important as they tend to get very dry, especially if they have been dyed. It’s best to avoid using heavy-based creams on your locs like shea butter, as these tend to coat the locs and cause build-up over time. Rather opt for light oils like your usual olive oil, coconut oil and jojoba oil. These are best used as a sealant (to seal in any moisture). Do not apply oil to dry hair, this wont moisture your locs. What you can do is lightly spritz/dampen your hair with water and then seal with the natural oil of your choice. Alternatively you can make a mixture of part water, glycerine and a favourite oil and just spritz that on your hair to keep it soft.
  • Washing: Avoid too much co-washing (washing your hair with a conditioner only) like you would when you have an afro. The best is to use clarifying shampoos (e.g ORS Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo) and use light conditioners (e.g. Tresemme’s Naturals Conditioner). Try to air-dry your locs after washing them, rather than using a hair dryer and do not sleep with wet locs. Locs take a long time to dry and constantly sleeping with wet locs might cause them to build up mildew.
  • Getting rid of build-up: Applying too much product on your locs can cause build-up in the long run. This is when your locs feel greasy, or when they have those white waxy/greasy particles on them. You can get rid of this build-up by using an ACV rinse or a clarifying shampoo.
  • Colouring your locs: I enjoy putting colour in my locs but try to keep dye to a minimum. Perhaps every 4-6months should be fine. Hair dyes can be harsh on our hair since most hair colouring products contain ammonium peroxide, except for your semi-permanent hair dyes and henna. So it’s very important to do a protein treatment (deep conditioning) just before you are going to colour and straight after putting in colour. And remember to use a shampoo and a conditioner that is specifically made for colour-treated hair. Tresemme’s shampoos and conditioner for colour-treated hair are great.
  • Healthy lifestyle: Basically what you put inside your body is what you get out. So drinking lots of water and eating your fruits and veggies can ultimately contribute towards healthy locs.

Hope the above points helped :-) I would also like to hear from you, so please do share some of your own advice on how you take care of your locs.

 

Product Review: Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Colour Blend Foam

 Hair care & Products, Natural hair  2 Responses »
Feb 262013
 

Are you looking to colour your hair and want to try out a different hair dye brand that’s more gentle to your hair and wont cause it to break or be super dry?…

Well, I recommend Clairol’s Nice ‘n Easy Colour Blend Foam hair dye!

I love colouring my locs so I’m always on the look-out for a good hair colouring brand. The ones that I’ve used in the past are Dark & Lovely and Inecto. Both hair dyes have been fine but after a while they do tend to leave my locs very dry and my pet-peeve is when the hair dye drips down your forehead, neck and splatters everywhere – aghhh!

So while I was on YouTube I came across this vlogger, Loc’dGlory, and she was talking about colouring locs etc. and she mentioned that it’s best to go to a salon to get your hair dyed but if you have to do it at home she recommends the Clairol brand.

I was a bit skeptical at first because I’ve never seen a face of a black woman on this hair colour brand, so I was a little hesitant to try it out at first. But then I thought, hair is hair, so it should work just as fine on my hair too! Luckily, I was with my sister when we both wanted to colour our hair and we landed by the hair products aisle at Clicks… I then somehow managed to “convince” her to buy it and and try it out. Well, it worked perfectly on her;  so a week later I dyed my locs too! :-)

I must say I’m impressed with this product. Its been a week now since I’ve coloured my hair and it doesn’t feel dry at all! I also think doing a protein treatment before & after colouring the locs also helped. I used Organic Root Stimulator’s Olive Oil Hair Masque for the protein treatment.

What I also like about this brand is that non-drip foam! You mix everything in the squeeze bottle, which is provided in the box, shake, and then squeeze the bottle. The foam then appears and you apply that all over your head. It was very easy and quick! And there was a lot of dye too. Read here for the easy step-by-step application process: http://www.clairol.co.uk/en-UK/products/nice-n-easy/home-hair-color-foam/science-ingredients

Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Colour Blend Foam is a bit pricier at R75.00 but I think its worth it :-)

Do you have any hair colouring brands you swear by and can recommend?

 

My One Year Loc Anniversary!

 Natural hair  6 Responses »
Jan 232013
 

Wow can’t believe it’s been a year already! It’s amazing how time flies!

I did “starter locs/dreads” on the 5th of January 2012 (yes, this post is over-due :-) ) & a year later I’m still loving my locs! They do require a loooot of patience (but hey Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?) and at one point I even wondered if they even were growing at all! It was until about 8 months loc’ed that my family and friends started noticing the increased length and not too long I also started to notice a difference :-) .

This is how my locs looked, a year ago…

 

And this is how they look now….

 I had just retwisted my locs…  I also need a new hair colour now; this one is not fading away so nicely.

I must say they have really grown and it appears they have  fully loc’ed now :-)

I’m very happy with the way they’ve progressed and I’m looking forward to another year with locs! Woop woop!

Hair Colour Inspiration!

 Natural hair  No Responses »
Jan 092013
 

Thinking of colouring your hair this year and not sure what colour to go for?… Here are a few pictures to get you started!

 

I love this colour on her. It really suits her skin tone.

 

 

 

(Images via Essence.com)

 How to take care of your coloured treated hair

Once you decide to put dye/colour into your hair, you have to make sure you give it some extra TLC to prevent it from getting too dry and causing damage to it. Many hairstylist will tell you though, that colouring our hair is not always advisable as the chemicals in the dye can be harsh on the hair but I think if done right and in moderation it should be okay. Then again, its an individual choice :-)

Personally, I like putting colour in my hair but I always try to stick to a colour that is closest to my own natural hair colour, so I would normally go for your dark browns, hazelnut brown or spicy auburn.

These are some of things to remember when taking care of your colour treated hair:

  • Condition, condition, condition! Try to condition your hair more often than you would if you didn’t have any dye in it. Deep conditioning your hair is also best (i.e. leave the conditioner in your hair for a longer period – over night or for a couple of hours). I would recommend using Organic Root Stimulator’s Hair Mayonnaise.
  • It’s also advisable to give your hair a protein boost before and after adding colour to it. There are a variety of conditioners on the market for such, for example,  Organic Root Stimulator’s Hair Repair Nourishing Conditioner.
  • Have at least one shampoo and conditioner which is specifically made for colour-treated hair. I will recommend TreSemme’s Colour Revitalising Shampoo and Conditioner.
  • Keep re-touching of colour to a minimum. (I would say once every six months, but rather see how your hair copes with the dye)
  • If you are still not 100% sure about the colour you would like to go for or dont know if it will suit you, try going for a semi permanent dye first. Then you can always wash it out after a couple of washes.
  • Lastly, rather have your hair coloured by a professional hairstylist. They will know how to apply the colour properly. DIY is not always the best way to take. I can attest to that :-)

All the best with choosing the right colour for you!

What colour are you thinking of getting? Or if you are rocking some colour now, what colour did you choose?

Event review: Shop & Mingle Fashion Extravaganza

 Fashion & Beauty, Natural hair  7 Responses »
Dec 072012
 

About two weeks back we received an invite from P&H Boutique  to a “Shop & Mingle” event which was to be held at La Passant in Sandton on 5 December (the event was a joint venture between P&H Boutique and Ruutos Hair)… We were quite intrigued to check it out and see what it’s all about – its not everyday that one can just do some shopping and mingling :-)

Unfortunately Nipha, our resident Fashion Contributer, couldn’t make it to the event as she is based in KZN and Matlhodi also had other commitments, so I took my sister, Zama, along. She loves fashion so I knew she would be game.

The event was held in a nice intimate venue at La Passant restaurant. The chairs and tables were all taken out so there was enough space for P&H boutique and the other small businesses there to display their merchandise. The floor had a number of clothing rails with clothes on but there was enough space for people to walk around, check out the clothes on display and just mingle (there was a downstairs and an upstairs area). I really liked the vibe in the room, very chilled, and it was nice to see everyone dressed so fashionably. Well, the dress code was “High Fashion”, after all.

 

 

 The entrance to the venue. There was a red carpet as you walked into the venue. Very smart.

 As you can see  there was enough room for everyone to walk around and look at clothes as well. It got busier as the night went on; by  7:00pm the place was pretty full.  There was also a cash bar where people could buy cocktails. 

 

We all received hampers when we arrived. The hamper consisted of one or two magazines of either Grazia, Destiny and Destiny Man; as well as a 50% discount voucher for a shoot at Joe Strydom Photography. I must say the hamper was disappointing (I was expect just a tad bit more goodies) but I guess it’s to be expected since entrance was free if you RSVP’ed.

 

They had a few men’s clothes on display; so the event was not only catered for ladies. I also saw quite a number of guys in the crowd.

 

 Mangwanani African Spa was also on hand to give “express” massages. I thought this was a great idea. It was at a cost though. lol.

 

And of course I spotted a few naturals in the crowd (had to take their pics!) and these ladies were kind enough to allow me to take a few pics of them :-)

Mbali from Hunadi. She was such a lovely and bubbly lady. Here she is standing next to some of the clothes she makes. I loved her designs!

 

 Serake. She and her gorgeous full afro just stood out for me from the crowd. Lovely hair!

Xoli from Epitome. Love the bald look! She and her business partner, Sannah, run a style makeover company. They offer advice on how to dress for your body type and which colours work best on you, etc. Quite informative I must say.

And I met Wisaal!! :-) I was excited to meet her as I’m fan of her blog Wiscellaneous (check it out, you will love it!). We were actually coincidentally standing next to each other while waiting to get into the venue and I recognised her face from the blog. Such a beautiful lady.

My sister, Zama, and I

I think the event was organised nicely and we had fun. Vimbai, former Big Brother housemate, was the MC and we saw a glimpse of her but we didn’t see her addressing the crowd unless maybe she did that before we arrived or after we left. We didn’t stay too long, we were there for about 2 hours or so.

I must say the price tag on most of the items on sale was quite steep for us; but a lot of the clothes, accessories and bags were hugely discounted (but not enough that we could afford to buy something lol). What we enjoyed the most was just meeting new people and just mingling :-)

Loc Update: My locs At 8 Months

 Natural hair  3 Responses »
Oct 232012
 

First, let me start of by saying: “I. Love. My. Locs!” :-)

I’m really glad that I took the decision to lock my hair 8 months ago because I’m really loving the journey so far…

I know I promised to give you an update when my locs reached 6 months but life just took over the past few months, but I’m very happy with the way my locs have been growing thus far.

So, this is how they looked like when I started locking my hair in February…my “starter dreads”.

 

And this is how they look like now, at 8 months…(I had just finished washing them and I put on some coconut oil. I then decided to take a few pics while they were air-drying…lol)

 

(please excuse the glare from the sun)

(I’m due for a re-twist soon! My roots look very matted in this picture…lol. But you can see the length quite nicely here.)

As you can see in the above pictures they have finally fully locked!!! Yippy!

This is how my hair regimen looks like now:

  •  I wash my hair once a week with Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo. I like it because works well to get rid of any build up I might have on my locs, without stripping away any moisture. This shampoo has Macadamia Nut Oil which gets easily absorbed into the hair follicles and scalp. I no longer do co-washes, as much as I used to when I had an afro. I find that my locs get easily clogged-up with grease if I only use just conditioner on its own.
  • I then follow on with the Tresemme Naturals conditioner with aloe vera & avacado (its silicone-free) and sometimes I use the Tresemme Colour Revitalize Conditioner (it’s specifically made for colour-treated hair and it helps to prevent the colour of the dye from fading away too quickly). I then leave this in for about 5 minutes and then rinse it out.
  • Afterwards I dry my hair with a towel (I dont rub the locs but rather just squeeze out the excess water with the towel); while damp I apply my JO’M Dreadlocks Oil Cream and Avon’s Moroccan Argan oil or just plain ol’ Coconut Oil. Then I leave my locs to air-dry.
  • I try to use fewer hair products on my locs, as I find that I get a lot of build-up very easily and I prefer using a lot more oils rather than hair moisturisers. Oils are much lighter on my locs.
  • I also only re-twist my roots about once a month. I don’t want my locs to be too thin :-)

Colour:

I know I shouldn’t be colouring my hair that often, but since I’ve had my locs I’ve coloured my hair three times!! *bbm can’t watch face* I just love experimenting with colour though :-)

When I started locking I coloured my hair with Inecto’s Hot Chocolate hair dye (see the first picture above). Then I wanted a lighter shade; so after 3 months I dyed my hair Caramel Blonde. I found this colour to be too light for my liking, almost going towards orangey-copper, so I then toned down the colour by dying it Dazzling Brown, after two months. That is the colour I now have at 8 months loc’ed.  I’m happy with the colour I have now but maybe after 6 months or so I want to try a lighter brown, almost close to blonde (the same colour that Letoya Mangezi – Ayanda of Isidingo- has on her locs).

I colour my own hair at home with Inecto hair colouring products but I think as my locs start getting longer or when I finally decide to try that honey blonde look I will definitely seek help from a professional hairstylist :) I also find that with colouring your hair at home, the dye doesn’t get to certain parts of my locs and I get these small few patches of uncoloured hair – not great.

Since I’ve been colouring my hair I find that my locs are a lot more drier than usual so I try to do regular hot oil treatments or just deep condition them every two weeks.

Now I’m just looking forward to the 1-year mark with my locs!

Two Hair Moisturisers That I’m (Really) Loving Right Now

 Hair care & Products, Natural hair  4 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

Confession: I’m a hair product junkie!…:-)

But lately, I think  I’m more of what I will call a “recovering” product junkie :-)

Why I say this is because I’ve stopped being obsessed about getting hold of EVERY single hair product I see at the hair care section of Clicks (my fave aisle). I find that I always end up using only half of the product or even just a little bit, all for the love of searching for that IT moisturiser! lol.

So I’ve recently decided to rather stick to what I already have at home (until the product is finished) or to stick to 1 or 2 staple products  which I really like instead of continuously pursuing to find the “ONE” (which I don’t seem to know exactly what that is – hence I’m a product junkie ).

I recently bought 2 hair products which I wanted to try out…JO’M Dreadlock Cream and Avon’s Moroccan Argan Oil leave-in treatment.

And, I LOVE them!

1. Avon’s Advanced Techniques 360 Nourishment Moroccan Argan Oil leave-in treatment

 

There’s a lady at work who sells Avon products and she was doing her usual rounds with the Avon booklet. I just flipped through the booklet and came across this Moroccan Argan Oil tratment which was going for only R45.00 (not too bad…). It’s a small bottle – consisting of 30 ml of pure Morrocan Argan Oil.

I’ve heard of Moroccan oil before from some hair blogs and on how good it is…its up there with the likes of Olive Oil and Coconut Oil. So, I had to try it.

I’m not kidding when I say this golden liquid is GOOOD! Its very thick in texture, so I just squeeze out one drop and apply it throughout my whole head. The trick is to apply it on slightly damp hair. It really does a good job in sealing the moisture and my dreads stay moisturised the whole day!

This one is definitely a keeper! I think for those that have loose natural hair, it can work great on twits, twist-outs or even just to keep your hair nourished.

 

2. JO’M's Dreadlocks Cream (with Glycerine and Grapeseed Oil)

I’ve seen a couple of reviews on this product so based on the positive reviews,  I decided to try it out. Plus it says “Dreadlock” cream and since I have dreads now, all the more reason to try it out :-)

JO’M h recently changed their packaging and it looks very colourful and eye-catching! However, its only the box that has changed but the bottle cover still looks the same. I unfortunately threw out the box since it was such a hassle to keep taking it out the box every single time I wanted to use some, hence it looks different in the picture above. But if you go to Clicks, you’ll find it by the JO’M products. The labeling is very clear, so you wont miss it.

I think what makes this product so great on natural hair is that it contains glycerine (which acts as a good humectant), Grapeseed oil (also good for sealing in moisture) and SHEA BUTTER!

It reallly gives moisture to my hair and its quite thick in texture. I think the Shea Butter does an excellent job in soften the hair. When I apply it in the mornings, my dry locs are instantly soft and supple again. Even though the cream says its for dreadlocks, any type of hair can really benefit from this moisturiser. Price-wise it cost me R46,50.

After applying the cream, I then seal allll that goodness with the Moroccan Argan oil treatment and I’m ready to go – that easy!

I’ve been using these two hair products  for about 2 weeks now, and I am VERY happy!

 

Post by Nangamso

Product Review: Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo

 Hair care & Products, Natural hair  3 Responses »
Jun 292012
 

Yay!! Finally, it has landed on South African soil! *happy dance*

 

 

Yes folks, its the one-and-only Aussie brand which I’ve been hearing and reading about on most overseas blogs and vlogs for as long as I’ve been natural. When I started my natural hair journey a lot of (overseas) naturals were using hair products that I was unable to find at my local Clicks, Checkers or Pick n Pay – much to my frustration! One of the products which I saw creep up every now and then in most natural’s ‘must-have‘ list of staple hair products was the Aussie brand. So you can understand my excitement when I found out we now have this brand here in Mzansi *big grin*

I actually found out about it by accident, after I saw a tweet from one of my friends raving about this new hair product  called Aussie – and how lovely her hair smells after using it. And I was like “Whoa, hold on! Aussie??!” Initially I thought she perhaps might have shipped it over from overseas but you can imagine my excitement when she told me she got it at  good ol’ Clicks!

The product junkie in couldnt wait to make my way to Clicks and try it out & thats what I did!

While I was at Clicks I quickly popped opened the bottle, and yip, it really smells soooo good & I’m someone who really appreciates hair products that have a good smell; that’s a big plus for me.

I then decided to buy the Miracle Moist Shampoo because firstly, I have too many conditioners, and secondly since i’m growing my dreads I prefer to use less conditioner than before (I used to co-wash my afro three times a week!). I find that my dreads seem to be more prone to product build up (if I don’t clarify regularly) and conditioners do not really help to get rid of that build up – instead it creates even more build up. Ugh.

But at the same time I wanted a shampoo which will also give my hair added moisture without drying it out….and this product does just that!

Its has a very thick consistency – another plus – and it lathers on very thick. Once I worked it into my hair, there was a lot of foam and I could feel it stripping away any residue and build up I had accumulated, while keeping my hair soft. After I rinsed off my hair it felt squicky clean and smelled oh-so-good!

Unfortunately it is more on the expensive side, around R65 a bottle BUT I didnt have to use a lot when I was washing my hair…so I think a little does go a long way :-)

Try it out guys and let me know what you think!

Love,

Nangamso

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