Product Review: Shea Moisture Kids Extra-Moisturising Detangler

I was gifted this product by Amadiva Salon on Riverside Drive and I was really eager to try it because: 1) The Child's hair is extra extra tangle prone. 2) Despite the fact that 90% of Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus range doesn't work for me, I still like their products because they have good ingredients.

Guest Bloggers Wanted!

Whether you're a newbie writer or an already established blogger, whether you want to feature your gorgeous hair or locs journey or are transitioning, whether you just have something funny, interesting or relevant to say, we want to hear from you. Send your article to mybigfatafro@gmail.com for your chance to appear here! 

Hair Wars and The Two Year Old

I've been smugalicious for the longest time about doing The Child's hair. Every time a parent moaned to me about not being able to get their child to sit for his or her hair, I would tilt my head to one side, gaze at them earnestly with compassion brimming over in my eyes and shake my head slowly to convey my sympathy. 'Poor you', I'd commiserate, squeezing their shoulder reassuringly. Well, all that has come back to bite me in the bum-bum (2 year old speak).

Is Length The New Curly

When I first went natural, I did what all naturals do. Trawled the blogs and vlogs of all the popular naturalistas, soaking up the ambiance. What I didn't appreciate then was that everyone's natural hair is different; I was looking at curly haired naturals doing curly hair things and I thought that's what all natural hair did,as long as you had the right products or tools. I armed myself with curl enhancing products (I should have shares in Shea Moisture), gels and denman brushes and off I went. As an eternal optimist, it took me ages to realise I was going nowhere, fast. I was burning up all this time, money and effort yet my hair just sat there looking...kinky. And kind of smooshed. Where was I going wrong gaddamitt?! 

nuff said..

During this time, I was suffering chronic dryness and breakage, because I was focusing more on stylers and manipulating my hair a lot. All that smoothing, shingling, praying, brushing curl-enhancing business meant I was handling my hair a hell of a lot. Then a friend gave me a tub of Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter and that was really my turning point.

Is Dr. Bronner's Stealing Kenya's Coconut Oil?!

Gotta love a sensationalist headline. 

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There has been a recent shortage of coconut oil on our shelves. The good stuff, that you can cook with and all. That's because the main oil we used to buy suddenly vanished. The news trickled out from suppliers that they were fulfilling a major international order but that it would once again be available locally from December. 

Fat chance!

Loving My Mini-twists!!

I was washing off a henna gloss late yesterday afternoon wondering what to do with my hair when I remembered a naptural85 video on her installing mini twists. If you know me, you'll also know how lazy I am when it comes to my hair. It's usually in two flat twists or large two strand twists during the week and a high bun during the weekend. If it's open at all. So mini twists were the last thing I was considering; it took naptural85 four or five days! 

But talk about subliminal messaging! I found myself twisting the first few with a sinking heart. And once I was started, there was no turning back. 7 hours later...  (in between mummy duties) et voila! 

blurry pic hides the red, tired eyes well :)

Simple Regimen For New Naturals

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No matter how lazy a natural you intend to be, it is important to have a regimen in place for keeping your hair moisturised. Moisturised hair is strong, healthy and has a natural sheen. Below is a very simple regimen for any new natural struggling to develop a routine.

Locs R Us: JC and Nara

There are only two hair styles I miss and both of them are natural:

1. Very short hair that used to take me to the barbers shop where I would get patterns cut into my head.

2. Threaded hair as a child and before my mum tied it back it would stick out all over the place on my head like an alien.

I can't remember when I first wanted dreadlocks but I do remember having endless battles with my hair before I did.

I had done it all to my hair from curly perms to super weaves and everything else between.

It never felt right. Partly because all of those styles didn't fully reflect my developing values.

Partly because as the kind of woman who looks in the mirror about once a week, it all seemed like too much fuss.

Finally, the year I was due to graduate as an Osteopath/Naturopath I decided to loc my hair.

Coconut Oil: Should You Use Virgin or Refined?

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Why have I spent all weekend eating coconut oil? No, I'm not pregnant. Neither am I storing fat for winter (not deliberately anyway). Coconut oil is growing in popularity among naturals and I am often asked which oil is best for hair so I decided to do some research (including taste and smell tests) for this post.

First things first; there is no such thing as Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO). Say what?? Yup. It's true.  All coconut oil is either Virgin or Refined. There is no production standard for EVCO in the same way there is for EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) so although some coconut oils (not local ones) may label themselves Extra Virgin, this is really no more than a marketing ploy and some brands have started changing their labelling as more people cotton on. 

So, is Virgin better than Refined?

Product Review: Shea Moisture Co-wash Conditioning Cleanser

This review has been a looooong time coming. I was gifted this product by Amadiva Salon on Riverside Drive about 6 months ago and I was super excited to try it out. 

I decided to test it on my daughter as my hair would have eaten that tiny bottle (237ml) for lunch so the little one lucked out. 

What's In It:

The Joys Of Holidaying With Children

all these toys are MINE!

Not hair related. 

Holidays pre children: 

carry book, towel, beach cover-up, phone, sunglasses, sunblock and lip balm to pool. Spread towel on sunbed. Lie down. Read. Swim. Browse. Nap. Drink cocktails. Wake up with stinking hangover. Rinse and repeat. 

Holidays post children: 

Dear Dark & Lovely...

Photocredit: missonal.ca

Or perhaps, more accurately, this open letter should be addressed to L'oreal, as the parent company of Dark & Lovely. 

A month or so ago, Dark & Lovely ran an advertising segment on a local radio station marketing, among other things, their new range of natural hair products soon to be released in East Africa: Dark & Lovely Au Naturale. The adverts blew my mind. And not in a good way.

Product Review: Terresentials Pure Earth Hair Wash

I hadn't given clay washing much thought until I watched naptural85 enthuse about this product. I've been using Tints Of Nature Sulfate-free shampoo since I went natural and, although it works fine, it leaves my hair feeling a little stripped straight after so when I got the chance to buy Terresentials mud wash I thought, 'why the hell not'. 

Why Use Clay To Wash Your Hair?

Photo credit:shakara-naturaltips

Using clays to clean hair is growing in popularity in the natural community but, for the longest time, I resisted jumping on this particular bandwagon because I simply didn't understand or even really believe the hype around it.

I decided to do some research and although I'm still not 100% sure I 'get' it, these are the main reasons some naturals prefer clay washing their hair: