I love the thickness of them, the colour and those curly spirals! Too beautiful! Do y’all agree??

You can follow her on Twitter @clairemawisa

We are pleased to announce the lucky winners who will be attending the launch of Nubian Nature:

*Welzi Sikhondze

*Jeanedeane Billings Booysen

*Nokx Maseko

Congratulations!!!  Ladies, please remember to send us your email address if you haven’t already. We will send you more details on email. 

See you at the launch!

***

We come bearing good news…no wait…actually it’s exciting news. There’s a new hair product line in town!! You may ask “what’s so special about this one?”. Well let’s paint you a little picture..(a) 100% local (South African) (b) Sulphate-free shampoo (c) No mineral oils (d) Paraben-free (e) Petrolatum-free…bona!! *happy dance*

What we love about this new hair care range is that it’s natural…by naturals. We met with the two ladies behind Nubian Nature hair products and it was so reassuring to see two black women with healthy-looking natural hair albeit different hair textures, Mummy & Shereen.

As we sat there listening to their hair journey stories, on how much they used to spend on overseas’ hair products and their frustration of not finding good products in South Africa, we found ourselves nodding to every line they uttered.lol After months of research, home-made concoctions, (human) testing and and and, they finally came up with natural formulas that (as they put it) work. If the hair we saw on these ladies’ heads is anything to go by, Nubian Nature is sure going to be a household name for naturals in South Africa (and possibly neighbouring countries).

They’re launching this line on the morning of the 25th of May 2013 and have 4 seats still available for our readers.

So if you reside in or are able to make it to Johannesburg on the day, we’re giving away those 4 seats to:

The first 2 readers who will:

1. Follow us on Twitter (@frochicblog)

2. Then follow Nubian Nature (@nubiannature)

3. Tweet us & Nubian Nature in one tweet with the words “I’m #HappilyNatural”

The first 2 readers who will:

1. Like our Frochic page

2. Like the Nubian Nature’s facebook page

3. Comment on both pages with the line “I’m happily natural!”

Winners will be announced on Friday, 17 May 2013.

We are sooo excited to be featured in the Winter issue of Glamour Hair magazine! We’ve known about the feature for a while now but we’ve been waiting (patiently) for about 2 months to see the final product. And now it’s finally on the shelves and we absolutely love it!

It was also great to be featured side-by-side with Aisha (aka Cosmogirl) of MyFroAndI. It was great to finally meet her in person at the photoshoot. She is such a beautiful lady with a great personality We had so much fun and of course chatted about all things hair.

We received 5-star treatment; the set was very professional looking and the glamour team (stylist & make up artist & photographer) were an absolute pleasure to work with. It was all lots of fun! Our photographer was great; he made sure that we felt comfortable and that we gave our best poses . 

Here are a few behind the scenes of what went down:

Face time: Nangamso (right) & Aisha (left)

Matlhodi getting dolled up (never mind the peeping bra)

The photographer showing us how it’s done.lol

Aisha doing her thing

Matlhodi looking photo ready.

Putting on the finishing touches

Here is the final look in magazine

The final look! Find us on pages 62 to 65.

A closer look

Shout out to Glamour Hair magazine, Michelle Brownlee-Smith and her team for giving us this awesome opportunity!

I took a friend along to avoid being biased since I sort of knew the owner.lol. We went for a full body aromatherapic massage. The story behind the choice is quite funny (we had initially chosen Swedish massage until they unpacked the difference between it  and the aromatherapic massage). Anyway, I took out my protective hairstyle with an intention to test their natural hairstyling skill but after my grumpy-black-hairstylist experience at the Sorbet Dry-bar opening, I decided otherwise. I did ask Sne though if they catered for natural hair to which she said yes; and the ORS products on display made me believe.

The massage was nice, I just happened to get what seemed to be a trainee therapist as I had to constantly ask her to apply more pressure – the other therapist who was working on my friend at some point even came over to my bed to give her a few pointers. But I could tell my friend was reallly enjoying hers as I didn’t hear even a single complaint or comment from her. Below are a few snippets of some parts of the place:

Their prices aren’t too steep either:

Would I visit them again? Mos def! I actually wanted to get a manicure but time wasn’t on my side. The place is very easy to find as it’s on Jan Smuts Avenue…by the corner (even better).

Oh…did I mention they’ve incorporated a bridal store just by the spa. It’s called Kaello Bridal and promises very chic bridal dresses and gowns (for sale & hire) at prices that won’t break your bank.

Ncooh…doesn’t this photo just make you all broody?!! lol

Salome & her son

When I look at him and can’t believe his mine or that he can bring so much joy to my life by his pure assistance I kiss him… just like in the pic.

Salome

Andrea (right) & her mom

“I really admire & love this lady to bits she is my best friend & the most down to earth, fun, loving woman I know.”

Andrea with her son

Some of her favourite mother & child pictures

Eish yah neh…

This is just too precious.

“Lol sorry it’s only natural hair related I can’t seem to find anything in the “outside world” that fascinates me much.”

– Andrea

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?

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??!

I’m sure there’s thousands of articles out there on hairtyping but what I loved about this one in particular is that Nicole focused specifically on black hairtyping, and left out all those obvious Caucasian type As and Bs; better yet, she advised on how to look after each type. So here goes (and this is just an extract from the article, you may follow the above link for a full one).

Type 3 Curls

Description: Type 3 hair has a curl pattern with clearly defined spiral curls when the hair is wet. The hair tends to be springy and achieves natural, springy ringlets with wash-and-go’s. The loose curls of type 3 hair can either be as wide as a jumbo marker to as thin as a pencil. Larger curl sizes are most frequently identified as type 3A and 3B, while smaller curls are called 3C.

Styling & Products: If your curls are type 3, your hair responds well to curl-defining gels, mouses and creams. Your hair tends to have a natural slickness to it, and is easier to achieve styles that require sleek edges such as updos and topknots.

Maintenance: Shampooing type 3 hair with a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo is highly recommended. Your hair dries out very easily, so it’s important to use moisturizing conditioners after each wash. Since your curl is naturally looser, heavy creams and butters tend to weigh the hair down and make it feel greasy. Instead, opt for lighter moisturizers with a serum-like formula to help maintain hydrated hair and shine.

“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.” – Stevie Wonder, singer

“I am grateful every day, and they remind you every day of what matters in life. You just feel so fortunate that you are lucky enough to be somebody’s mother and share that love. I love moms.” – Angelina Jolie, actress

Mothers’ day is around the corner and we thought why not celebrate it by sharing mother-and-child pictures with you our dear readers; so please go crazy by sending us your favourite mother-and-child photos.  Please note this is one of those let-your-hair-down, non-hair-related features.

It could be pictures:

1. Of you and your mom (or any mother figure – aunt, gran, mentor etc).
2. Of you and your child – son(s) or daughter (s).
3. Your favorite celebrity mom & child.
4. A cool pic you may have found online (like the above).

Along with your picture, please send a few lines on why it’s your favourite photo and perhaps the story behind it.

Note the following:

• This is not a competition
• This is not a “natural hair” feature; we’re only celebrating important people in our lives.

Kindly send your snaps to frochic@gmail.com and we’ll post them as they come in.