Hey hey Lovelies, I have a NEW tutorial up on my YouTube Channel: 2 Easy Romantic Updos, just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s another collaboration with Beauty Bulletin, and this time I use Mizani SA products.
Please check it out, comment and subscribe!
Love your curls,
When it comes to my hair and the styles I wear it in, I keep it pretty simple. It’s usually in one of 3 styles: a wash and go, a braid out or a twist out. But since I’m keen to switch things up a little this year, I’ve identified 3 other styles I’d like to try out potentially. They are quite unusual for me, but what I like about them is that they are fairly low manipulation and if done correctly one of them also serves as a protective style.
Here are the images that have inspired me to try something new this year.
Extension Braids / Twists
Aren’t these braids just absolutely stunning on Tamera Mowry? I’ve only ever had braids once before, but that was a long time ago and I’d really like to give this style a go again. For me it has nothing to do with ‘putting my hair away’ or my hair ‘needing a break’ as I usually do protective styles without adding extensions or weave. It is simply rather a case of wanting to sport a gorgeous style that I’ve admired for ages. The fact that it can double up as a protective style is simply a bonus.
Roller Set
When I say roller set, I’m referring to any types of rollers: curlformers, perms rods, flexi rods or the big yellow and green rollers many of us grew up with here in South Africa. Before going fully natural I used to set my hair often, but haven’t really done it since, and I’d love to revisit it. I follow chocolateblackdoll on Instagram where she always showcases the most beautiful roller sets. What can I say? She’s totally inspired me to give this one a shot.
Fringe
A couple of weeks ago I posted on my Instagram and Facebook that I’d like to cut a fringe, but that I’m not sure whether to do it. I took a poll by asking my followers what they thought: To cut or not to cut. To my surprise many said yes go ahead and cut it, but many others also said even though it looks great, it’s a hassle to grow out as it can look really awkward. They also said that if I can achieve the look by just pinning up my hair in the front, I shouldn’t lose the length unnecessarily. So no prizes for guessing that I still haven’t made my mind up yet.
Let me know Girls, which style do you think would suit me the most? Which one would you like to see me in first?
Love your curls,
My new video is now live on YouTube! I’ve collaborated with Beauty Bulletin and Mzansifro to bring you a tutorial and review for one of my favourite hair styles: The Braid Out. I achieve the style using products from Design Essentials.
Go watch it now, make sure you hit those ‘like’ and ‘subscribe’ buttons and share it with everyone you know. I would love to know what you all think of it, so please leave me a comment either here or over on YouTube.
Happy watching and love your curls,
As requested by some of you, I’ve just published my flat twist out tutorial for fabulously defined curls over on YouTube. It’s actually become on of my favourite styles so I’m really happy to finally be able to bring it to you.
Watch it in HD if you can.
Love your curls,
Introduce yourself
My name is Kasuba which means sunshine. I am originally from Zambia which is in South Central Africa. I am currently living, working, and building my legacy in Cape Town. I am the co-founder of Rockin Naturals, a natural hair product line that caters to the naturally conscious. In just under six months I will be marrying only the most awesome human being I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and then we will literally be BFFs (can’t wait). When I’m not being a mixtress, I work in Marketing and PR and facilitate youth camps and processes. I am passionate about literature, travel, good food, and family (sometimes in that order). I go to church every Saturday because I would be nowhere near where I am today if it wasn’t for God Almighty.
How long have you worn your hair natural and what made you decide to do it?
I have been natural for 2 years 8 months. Before I even knew I could maintain my natural hair, I had shaved my head and I rocked that look for close to a year. I then decided to start growing my hair in preparation for a relaxer. I would live in braids and weaves until eventually I felt my hair was long enough. I took down my braids and immediately relaxed my hair. The breakage was real! I couldn’t even style my hair properly. That was the deciding moment for me; a week later I cut my hair and with a little help (ok, a lot of help) from my older sister, Mwanabibi, I never looked back. I simply got tired of relaxers that promised me great hair but never delivered.
When did you first realise that you love your natural hair texture and what exactly do you love about it? Describe your hair.
To be honest, it took me a while. About a year into my journey I did a braid out that was everything! You know when all the natural hair stars and planets align and your hair comes out YourTube worthy? Yup that’s what happened and that’s when I fell in love with my tresses. I have really coily hair; like, it shrinks to more than half its length when wet. I love that it does its own thing. I wake up in the morning and I don’t know what to expect. When my hair was relaxed it was always limp but now it’s full of body and personality, just like me.
What is your hair regime, including products that you use. What do you do to keep it healthy?
Well, at the moment my regime is super simple because I am rocking a teeny weeny afro (TWA) again. Here’s what I do:
Wash
I wet my hair 5 out of 7 days a week because wash and gos are easier at this stage. Twice a week, I wash my hair with Rockin Naturals African Black Soap Shampoo. It detangles, cleanses, softens, conditions, and defines texture all in one, and it has peppermint so the tingling sensation is a bonus!
Conditioning/Deep conditioning:
I don’t normally condition after a shampoo because African Black Soap shampoo is sulphate free so it is not so rough on my strands. I do a weekly deep condition with yoghurt, honey, and Rockin Naturals Hot Oil Treatment – I love to mix hair concoctions! Although, since my second big chop, I have reduced deep conditioning to once every two weeks.
Sealing and Moisturising
For me sealing is the most important step in my regime because my hair loses moisture quite quickly. I seal with Rockin Naturals Shea Butter Hair Pudding which contains coconut oil and olive oil. My hair loves the stuff — the shea keeps it soft and fluffy and the cedar wood essential oil keeps dandruff at bay. When I don’t wet my hair in the mornings, I spritz it with Rockin Naturals moisturising mist. Although, at the moment, I am doing Mandy’s Winter Hair Growth Challenge, because long hair haha!
What have your experiences been as a natural, including reactions from friends, family and colleagues.
When I first cut my hair, one of my closest friends told me I looked like a man. That cut me deep because, when I was a child I went to a school that didn’t allow us to relax our hair so mine was always short. When I moved to a school that did allow it, I was teased about looking like a boy. After a while though, the experiences became more pleasant. More people asked me what it is I do to make my hair look so good. My family has been great. They are always so supportive of the things I do. Also, when I did feel like giving up, my fiancé was always there reminding me that it is part of who I am.
My second big chop has been a whole new learning experience because I am coming from a place where I have already accepted my hair and the stigma surrounding it. Now, when people ask me wide-eyed why I cut it I just say “It’s hair, it will grow back”.
Do you know of any other women/girls who wear their hair naturally in your community?
Shout Outs!
Because of the nature of my business I know many but a few have made an impact in my journey:
Mwanabibi Sikamo – my stunning big sister who has supported me through my journey and who has been like a mentor to me with regards to my business, my hair health, relationships, and life really. You get the point. I love you.
Timothy ‘Nice Beard’ Stuurman – not a woman, but he has been there from the beginning of my journey, encouraging me to build my brand and product range and, even if he’s balding, he uses Rockin Naturals products on his beard so technically he’s a natural. I love you.
Ashleigh Davids – confidently quiet, she has taught me about self-love and self-acceptance; beauty that shines from within.
Amanda Cooke – the passion is real here! She’s an inspiring woman always willing to lend a helping hand. A big haired sister with an even bigger heart.
Eleanor Barkes — we haven’t met yet, but I just know…
Have you experienced any opposition from anyone in your life regarding how you wear your hair? Have you ever been made fun of?
Like I said before, I have been told I look like a guy. Other than that, there hasn’t really been any opposition to the way I wear my hair. I have been lucky enough to be in circles where what I look like is secondary to the value that I add as a human being. Now, when I look back at people who teased me for looking like a guy, I just chuckle and think how sad it is to impose your insecurities on others.
Do you ever experience any moments of doubt about your natural beauty?
This was a big issue for me during my school years. I am dark skinned (and I don’t mean Garnier dark; I mean you better put your flash on if you’re taking pictures of me at night dark) and this was always perceived as unattractive. I began to believe I wasn’t beautiful enough. Now I can laugh at how ridiculous that notion is and, while sometimes I might feel unattractive because my hair is not co-operating, or my skin has decided it wants to mimic a Vaseline slathered child (you know, the Sunday look back in the day) on some days, I no longer doubt my beauty because it doesn’t only result from what I look like.
What is your hair goal?
It used to be neck length (NL), shoulder length (SL), bra-strap length (BSL) and whatever other length abbreviations are out there. I was so keen on having super long hair, I hardly ever trimmed it even if I knew I needed to keep my split ends in check. Now my goal is simply healthy hair. The length is a bonus.
What is your best hair advice to someone who is thinking of returning natural, but who is apprehensive about doing it?
Do your research and find out what works for your hair. It’s not one size fits all. Good hair comes from the inside.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt during your natural hair journey?
On a personal level, I have learned to listen to my own advice. I was always warning women about dying their hair and how drying it could potentially be and then I threw my advice in the trash and dyed my hair. It didn’t break but the dyed tips just needed so much more moisture than my roots, so it was almost impossible to take care of the two textures.
That’s where my second big chop and my second mistake came in. Since going natural, hair dressers have just not been on my list of people I can trust. Nonetheless, I decided I needed my dyed tips cut off so I went to one of those la de da hair salons that you find in the mall (because they’re trained for this stuff and they know what they’re doing supposedly). Biggest mistake ever! She cut my hair great and then we did a blow dry and a flat iron and the heat damage was appalling — looking back I probably should have sued or something because this has become a mini PR nightmare for me. A week later, I had to cut my hair again, hence my current TWA. Conclusion? Listen to your hair.
In certain parts of the world, like the UK and the US, the shift from relaxed to natural hair is referred to as the “natural hair movement”. Do you think it’s viewed in the same light in South Africa? What do you think of this phenomenon?
I definitely think the movement has spread to South Africa. More and more women are returning to natural. I honestly think it is more than just hair. It is empowering women to accept themselves for who they are and, in turn accept others. Personally, it is shutting out the messages the media throws at me, telling me my hair is not beautiful enough, sleek enough, long enough, conventional enough, and embracing it as it grows out of my head.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Just that they don’t need to take the whole natural hair thing too seriously. It’s a journey of enjoyment and constant learning. Do you — what works for others won’t necessarily work for you. Embrace your hair, not Tracee’s, or Amanda’s, or Nomthandazo’s.
Is there anywhere else where our readers can find you online?
Website/Blog: www.rockinnaturals.co.za
Instagram: @rockinnaturalssa
Twitter: @rockin_naturals
Facebook: Rockin Naturals
Hello Lovelies!
I’m so excited to announce that I’ve just published my first ever video tutorial over on my YouTube channel! For all of you who’ve ever asked how I achieve my big hair, I’ve made an easy to follow 5-step tutorial on how I do it. Maybe my routine can help some of you too. And remember, it’s not about the products, but more about the technique you use.
I hope you enjoy it and if you’d like to see more videos from me, make sure you like, comment and subscribe!
Love your curls!
After having worn my hair in wash and go’s for 2 solid weeks, I was in need for a serious detangling session over the weekend. I usually detangle with coconut oil and conditioner, but for some reason I wanted to only use coconut oil and leave it in my hair overnight, as I know that coconut oil can really penetrate the strands deeply if left in the hair for a number of hours. Due to sheer laziness I ended up not doing it on Friday night, but found my myself holding my jar of coconut oil in front of the heater to melt it down somewhat on Saturday morning, ready to tackle the mane with oil only. I’d barely started when I stopped to ask myself why on earth I would think applying oil to my dry hair would be a good idea?
I know that there are many curly girls out there who detangle just with oil, and I thought that I wanted to get in on the action too, but alas, it was not for me. Here I summarised the reasons why damp detangling works so much better for me than dry detangling.
Damp Detangling
Conditioner / Water and Oil
Dry Detangling
Oil only
Detangling is necessary for all naturals, whether you choose to do it with a comb, your fingers, a brush, or any of the nifty detangling tools on the market. And whether you choose to do it on dry, damp, or soaking wet hair is up to you, but I would definitely say that experimenting for yourself to see what you prefer is key. Ultimately the goal is to get get rid of as many tangles as possible without sacrificing length.
Do you detangle on damp or dry hair? If you detangle on dry hair please share some of your tips and tricks below.
Love your curls!
x
Hello Beautiful Ones
I hope you’ve all had a brilliant week! This is just a short post to wish you all a lovely weekend. It’s been a busy week and I haven’t had much time to blog, but I wanted to stop by quickly and thought I’d post this picture where I’m wearing this lovely over-sized head-wrap. I feel like I’m properly channeling Erykah Badu with this one.
To say that I’ve been quite lazy with my hair over the last 2 weeks would be an understatement (I’ve even skipped my weekly deep conditioning sessions – oh shock horror!), so I’m planning a proper spa weekend for my tresses: an overnight coconut oil pre-poo and a tea tree shampoo in the morning, followed by a soothing masque as a deep treatment. It’s ok to fall off the wagon every now and again, but let’s not make this a habit!
Let me know what your plans are for the weekend, hair related or otherwise.
xxx
A week ago I participated in a style challenge in one of the natural hair Facebook groups I belong to. The challenge was to come up with 5 different hair styles over 5 consecutive days. Admittedly, this was a bit of a challenge for me as my daily styles during the week mostly consist out of twists, braids or buns. Nevertheless, I put my creative hat on and came up with the following 5 fairly simple to achieve styles.
Let me know which style was your favourite as well as which one you’d like to see a tutorial of as I’ll be featuring the style with the most requests/likes in one of my upcoming You Tube style videos. On that note, please stop by my YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button. I’m very new at making videos, and so would definitely appreciate your support. You can also follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for daily inspiration, styles and tips.
Day 1 – The Side Swept Fro
Day 2 – The Angled Fringe
Day 3 – Pompadour Up-do
Day 4 – The Classic Top Knot Bun
Day 5 – The Chic Turban
Love your curls!
For those who have been asking about it, I’ve finally updated my regime. Not too much has changed in the last year, but I have incorporated a few tweaks. My routine does tend to change slightly with the seasons (Japan’s seasons are extreme) and when I’m travelling, but for the most part I keep it fairly constant. In order to meet my 2015 hair goals, which you can read here, I’ve adapted my routine to the following:
I follow this process once a week.
1. Pre-poo and Detangle
I pre-poo and detangle my hair before I wash it to ensure it does not get stripped of its natural oils during the wash process. Pre-poo simply refers to a hair treatment before you wash it. And detangling my hair before I wash it means I’ll have less tangles to worry about in the shower. I use my favourite oil for this – coconut oil. About an hour before I wash I divide my hair into four sections and spray each section with a bit of water to dampen it slightly and then I apply the oil liberally. While I work it into the hair I start detangling. Sometimes I’ll work conditioner into the hair instead of water and apply the oil on top. This combination provides loads of slip and is especially effective if your hair is super tangled. After I’ve completed each section, I’ll twist it up and out of the way until all four sections of hair have been saturated in oil. I’ll leave this on for anything from 30 minutes to an hour before I jump into the shower.
Products
2. Wash
I wash the hair in the same 4 sections I had during the pre-poo and detangling sessions and twist up each section before I move on to the next. I focus on my scalp and let the cleanser run off to my ends. During the Summer months I’ll alternate between washing with a gentle sulphate-free shampoo and a cleansing conditioner, but during the dry Winter my scalp benefits more from washing with shampoo only. So I’m saving my yummy co-washes for the warmer months.
I do however apply a regular conditioner to each section after I’ve washed it and leave it in while I wash the other sections. Then I rinse it all out just before I apply my deep conditioner.
Products
Cleansers
Conditioners
3. Deep Condition
I deep condition my strands every time I wash it, i.e. once a week. After I’ve washed it I apply a commercial product or make up my own DYI deep conditioner. I continue to work section by section and twist up each section before I move on to the next. Once I’ve applied the deep conditioner to all my hair I pin the four sections to the top of my head, cover with a shower cap and a warm towel and leave it on for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
This year I’m alternating moisturising and strengthening deep treatments on a weekly basis to ensure stronger strands as my hair is getting longer.
Once I jump back into the shower to rinse I detangle the hair under the stream of the shower. If I need more conditioner to help this process along, I’ll reach for one of my regular ones.
Products
4. Moisturising, Sealing and Styling
After I’ve rinsed out the deep conditioner, I wrap my hair in an old cotton scarf or a T-shirt to absorb most of the water. Working in sections again I’ll start by applying a leave-in conditioner. I follow that up by sealing in all the moisture with coconut oil and currently my home-made whipped shea butter cream.
Then I twist the hair up into 2-strand twists and let it air-dry over night, wrapped up in a silk scarf. I always sleep on a silk-lined pillowcase since I don’t actually own one made of silk.
Products
Leave-In Conditioners
Butters / Creams / Stylers
Oils
5. Weekly Maintenance
During the week, I keep the twists in for 3-4 days, after which I need to restyle. Once I’ve taken them down I’ll wear my hair in another protective style, or at the very least, a low manipulation style, like 2 braids on each side of my head, jumbo twists or buns. These styles I re-do every morning. I mainly wear my hair out over the weekends, in which case I’ll wear a braid-out or a twist-out. But like I said I want to up my protective styling game over these Winter months, so I may just continue with protective styles over the weekend as well.
To maintain the moisture in my strands I spritz it with a little water daily, applying a bit of leave-in conditioner, shea butter cream and finally some oil. (Layering the products like this is also referred to as the LCO and LOC methods of moisturising – see this post for more info on this method.)
I’ve been thinking that I’d like to keep my twists in for longer, which I’ve been trying over the last 2 weeks. But in all honesty they tend to go puffy and frizzy by the 4th day, even if I do re-moisturise and seal. So for now I’m going to stick with my modus operandi above.
As usual, I make sure that I wrap up my tresses in a silk scarf every night.
I’ve also just recently introduced a completely new product into my regime, which is a spritz made from bay rum, bergamot essence, placenta, castor oil, aloe vera juice and water. I spray this on my hair, mainly at the roots 2 – 3 times per week, but more on this in a later post. 🙂
I realise that I’ve written quite a lot here and that it seems like a lot of steps, but actually it’s not. With this regime I literally saved my hair and brought it back to life when it was breaking off so badly when I first moved to Tokyo. My hair is now longer and healthier than it’s ever been, so while it’s working for me, I’m going to stick with it.
Hopefully my regime can help some of you if you’re still trying to figure yours out. Although I do use other products as well, the ones listed in this post are the ones I currently have in high rotation. If you have any questions regarding my routine, please leave it in the comments section or feel free to Tweet or Facebook me.
Love your curls!
ELEANOR J'ADORE 