I was watching Dr. Oz the other day and saw how you can use Apple Cider Vinegar for dandruff. No matter what I do my scalp dries out pretty quickly so I decided to give this a try. You just put half Apple Cider Vinegar and half water into a spray bottle and spray directly onto your scalp and leave it on for at least 15 minutes before washing.  I tried this treatment this evening and it worked great. I usually still have traces of dandruff after I wash and with this treatment my scalp was totally dandruff free. Love it =).

I frequently get stopped in stores, at work, at school, or wherever I may be by people asking about my hair.  So, I decided to do a post about it for other people who may be wondering the same things. Below are the most commonly asked questions.

Q: What Kind of Shampoo Do You Use?

I like to experiment with different shampoos. I haven’t found a shampoo that I absolutely fell in love with yet. I do tend to gravitate shampoos and conditioners that have coconut oil or olive oil.

In the past, I used Suave Tropical Shampoo and Crème of Nature Sunflower & Coconut Shampoo. Anyone says Suave is not good for natural hair but my hair loves it.

Currently, I am using Palmer’s Oliver Oil Formula with Vitamin E.

Next, I plan on trying out Suave Coconut & Shea Butter Shampoo because my hair tends to flake no matter how I moisturize it.

Q: What Do You Use On Your Hair To Make It Grow So Fast?

I don’t know if there is a secret formula to making your grow. I believe it is what it is. Sometimes it’s just genetics. I’ve always had fast growing hair. I don’t do anything special to make it grow. I don’t care what I do to my hair; it’s going to grow fast.  This is my second time going natural. The first time I around I didn’t do anything to my hair at all. I washed it, slapped on some gel, and wore a puff 90% of the time and it grew pretty fast. This time around I do a lot more to my hair. I do wear a lot of protective styles (i.e. yarn braids and two-strand twists) which may help but I think it’s growing at the same rate as it did the first time.

Q: What Do You Use On Your Hair To Moisturize It?

I don’t use any “traditional” hair moisturizers in my hair, meaning none of the products I use are found in the hair care aisle. The products I regularly use are: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, and 100% Aloe Vera.

Olive Oil can be found at your local grocer in the cooking oil aisle.

Coconut Oil, I believe can also be found at your local grocer. I’ve only used Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, so I’ve never seen it in stores.

100% Aloe Vera is most commonly found near the lotions.

Q: Who Does Your Hair? Do You Do Hair?

I do all my own hairstyles. I learned a lot of the styles I do from watching YouTube videos. I’ve tried doing other people’s hair but I’m not as talented at it as I am at doing my own hair. I am able to do the hair of people who have a texture similar to my own but I’m not good at other textures at all so I don’t do other people’s hair at all unless they are personal friends or family.

This video shows my technique for a braid-out mid-wear re-braid. I sometimes wear my braid-outs for up to four weeks. However, there are times when I want to give my braid-outs a “fresh” look. That is when I do a re-braid.

Also, I have a big surprise at the end of the video…our new Natural-ness Knit Satin lined hats.

Below are pictures and an older video that I’m just now getting around to posting (forgive me ).  It’s a simple braid-out created using cornrows, which gives the hair a nice texture all the way to the roots (scroll down for video).

Before removing my braids for a braid-out, I also make sure to rub coconut oil on my braids.  This gives my braid-outs a nice shine.

I usually just do a regular braid when styling my hair for a braid-out.  In this case, I decided to try cornrows instead.

Using cornrows for a braid-out, creates texture all the way to the roots.  When I use regular braids, I notice that the roots of my hair is usually not textured.

In addition to the coconut oil, I also used products from Kinky Pride for this braid-out.

Below is a video of me removing the cornrows and styling my hair into this braid-out:

(Scroll down for new blog posts)

Each hat is lined in polyester satin (satin color may vary)

We’re pleased to introduce our new line of knit hats featuring a protective satin lining! We designed these hats for those who want to create a more stylish look or the hats can be worn to simply protect the hair on those cold days.  The protective satin lining creates a barrier against the yarn that can pull or rub and damage the hair.

Available in small and medium (fits most) adult sizes.

Free FedEx shipping on all orders (United States only – no international shipping)

Size/Color Options

Tan small $25.00 USD Tan medium (fits most) $25.00 USD Brown small $25.00 USD Brown medium (fits most) $25.00 USD Light Grey small $25.00 USD Light Grey medium (fits most) $25.00 USD Dark Grey small $25.00 USD Dark Grey medium (fits most) $25.00 USD Black small $25.00 USD Black medium (fits most) $25.00 USD

Please welcome Inesa of 4CNaturalHair who was kind enough to share her tips for shampooing and maintaining kinky twists!

Haaaaaay! I am just loving these Kinky twists. I thought that I already knew how to wash and care for my kinky hair in this protective style, but after doing a little research, I was wrong.

This video is long overdue, but here it is.  My daughter recently celebrated her 4th birthday and I wanted to come up with a cute style for this special occasion.  I decided to style her hair using Curlformers along with Kinky Pride’s Shea-Loe Butter and Twist and Loc gel, and the SNO Natural Herbal Hair & Scalp Therapy.  Here are the results (scroll down for video):

Even though I had 40 Curlformers to work with, it was not enough.  I decided to remedy the situation by styling the top of her hair into two pony tails and adding the Curlformers to the ends.

I borrowed this set of short and wide Curlformers from my sister Coco.  I ran into another problem, the Curlformers that I was using was designed for up to 9 inches of hair.  I quickly discovered that my daughter’s hair is way longer than that…

To solve that problem, I two stranded twisted the first few inches of hair (in some cases 3-4 inches) and added the Curlformers to the last 9 inches of her hair.

The Kinky Pride and SNO Naturals products gave my daughter’s hair a nice healthy sheen.  It’s hard to find products that do that because of her dry/cottony hair type.

Initially, I planned on untwisting the two strand twisted roots of her hair, but after removing the Curlformers, I decided not to.  I really liked the result.

All ready for her 4th birthday party!

Video Notes: This is my demonstration on using Curlformers on my 4-year-old daughter along with my review of Kinky Pride’s Shea-Loe Butter, Aloe Vera Lock & Twist Gel and SNO Herbal Hair & Scalp Therapy. These products were not purchased by me, but were sent to me after I contacted the co-owner and asked her if I could review her product. I fell in love with the Kinky Pride products after they were demonstrated on my hair at the Tennessee Natural Hair expo. You can see that video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iva8Wsy4NE

Kinky Pride products can be purchased here:http://snonatural.com/products/products.html

Be sure to check their site for a list of the product ingredients. I will also list the ingredients on our website: http://www.natural-ness.com

Music credits:

“The Natural Hair Song”, was written and performed by Anitra Jay (http://www.AnitraJay.com). You can download the song for free at: www.facebook.com/anitrajay

Instrumental “untitled” and created by Francis “mr. faia” Turner

Thanks Anitra & Francis for sharing your talents!

I have really thick hair and it’s difficult for me to get my puff as low as I like it. So, I developed a new technique to get my puff positioned exactly where I want it instead of directly on top of my hair all the time.

Products used in this video:
Goody Ouchless Hair Elastics – To tie off bottom half of hair
Scunci Headwrap Flat No Damage - To accessorize puff
Large Black Mum Hair Flower Clip - To accessorize puff
Eco Styler Olive Oil Styling Gel - To smooth out the front of the hair in order for it to lie down
Deluxe Satin Tie Band Black  - To help hair in front to lie down. A second one of these scarves can also be used to tie back the puff.

For step-by-step instructions on how I created this puff, watch the video below:

I shared these pictures in my Kinky Pride product review video (seen here), but I wanted to post pictures of the style for those who have not seen the video.  Here is the result of my first attempt at doing rope twists on my own hair:

Although I am not new to a rope twist out as a style (I’ve been doing them on my daughter for quite a while now), I had never tried the style on myself.

To create a rope twist-out, you divide a section of hair into two strands and you twist each strand before your twist the two strands together (see video link above for detailed instruction).  You later remove the twists and voila…you have a rope twist out!

Twisting each strand before twisting the two strands together gives you a tighter twist with less shrinkage.

It also gives your resulting twist-out a slightly different texture which is what I was looking for.

Products used to create this style: Kinky Pride Shea-Loe Butter and Aloe Vera Lock and Twist Gel (see my video link above for my review of these products)

Description from Ouidad website:

Double Rows of teeth eliminate difficult knots and prevent curls from springing back and re-tangling.

Longer Teeth reach through the most dense curly hair.

Fewer Combing Strokes help curls remain defined and frizz-free.

Spaced teeth are just the right width for detangling knots.

Rounded Tips on teeth are soft on the scalp.

Time Savings since curls are prepped to be styled or washed in half the time.

Products Used:

Ouidad Double Detangler

Creme of Nature Shampoo, Detangling Conditioning, Sunflower & Coconut, 15.2 oz.

Creme of Nature Leave-In Creme Conditioner for Dehydrated Hair, Lemongrass & Rosemary, 8.45 oz.

Product Review:
I loved using the Ouidad Double Detangler on my hair. I always had easy to detangle hair but I still couldn’t stand the detangling process. The Ouidad Double Detangler glided through my hair with ease and got rid of my toughest tangles. It only took me about 15 minutes to detangle (14:54 to be exact) which is a lot quicker than normal. Plus, usually after I detangle my hair I have to sweep up little beadie beads that have fallen to the flood, but there were no beadie beads to clean up after using the Ouidad Double Detangler. I would recommend it.

Click on the video below for a live demonstration: