From A to 4z

The look on your face when you realize that you’re onto a good thing. I enjoyed another week of a super simple routine and my hair loved it.So much so, that I didn’t feel inclined to moisturize as the days went on (not a habit I want to get into, but it felt nice all the same not having to do it.) ... In determining WHAT you should use, question WHY you are using the product, tool, or technique.When you stick the things that YOUR hair requires you will end up with a simpler routine.When you end up with a simpler routine you’re less stressed about doing your hair.And your hair becomes less stressed as well. Who is more stressed out about having your hair done?You or your hair? See more

After washing your hair, final rinses are a great way to add shine (or sheen), impart softness, or even add life to your coils.ACV, AVJ, tea, and even honey are all rinses that people use to smooth the hair shaft, close cuticles, and balance the pH of their scalp.But have you tried beer? Last week, I decided to give it a go.I’ve heard about beer rinses for quite some time, but I’ve always had the preference to drink it. But I managed to get a hold of some b...eer powder, so here we go! Beer is typically made fromyeast, barley, water, and hops and contains B-vitamins and proteins which are great for fortifying your hair.It also acidic helps to close the cuticle and add body and shine to your hair.Beer rinses are also believed to improve elasticity of your hair and the hops in the beer is a natural astringent which helps to tighten your scalp and strengthen your follicles. If you are using bottled beer, it should be left out overnight to go flat before using it on your hair.The bigger/wider bowl you use, the greater surface area the beer has allowing it to oxidize faster.Beer rinses can be used the same way that you would use a ACV rinse. I used the beer rinse in place of conditioner at the end of my soapwort root wash without rinsing it out.I’ll be honest, it was hard to tell just what effect, if any it had to my hair, but I plan on using it for a while to how well it plays with my herbal hair washes.I mixed 1 tsp of powder to 1 cup of water.The smell wasn’t strong and I no longer smelled like pub night after a couple of hours. Have you tried ever tried beer on your hair? See more

When people talk about of healthy hair, shine is one of the characteristics that come to mind.But many of us with highly textured hair don’t have shiny hair.Instead, our hair is said to have sheen or a matte appearance.We’re falsely led to believe that this is strictly a result of unhealthy hair. Asian and Caucasian hair tend to have a circular and oval shape respectively and their strands tend to have a uniform thickness along the length.This allows light to... reflect sharply off of the surface of the hair strand.Afro hair is naturally curly or coily.It tends to have an elliptical shape and an inconsistent thickness along the strand, getting thinner in the areas where the strand bends or coils.This causes light to diffuse or refract off the strand in an inconsistent manner.In addition to this, darker hair also tends to be shinier and even though many of have dark hair, not all of us have black hair which can contribute to naturally dull looking hair. Conversely, you may have noticed that your natural hair glows more when you are wearing a style where your strands are clumped and uniform (twists, twists outs, braids, braid outs, pressed hair, etc.) as compared to when your hair is in an afro.This is because the clumping and uniformity of the strands reflect light better. I think this information is important to know when we develop hair regimens and analyze the health of our hair.This is also important to keep in mind when we compare our hair to someone else’s.Instead of putting undo stress on ourselves that 4c hair is naturally unhealthy or that we’re doing something wrong because it doesn’t shine, we can celebrate yet another difference that makes our hair unique. How important is shine to you?

Did you know that by changing the tension when you twist, you can play with how voluminous your hair looks? To vary the look of my hair, I like to play with the tension of my twists while maintaining the same parts. This can also be done with braids. Volume can be easily manipulated with our hair type and so keep this in mind when you are comparing your hair to other people's. ... What are your tricks for increasing or decreasing the volume of your hair.