Hey guys! [#Happynaturalhairiversary]

Guess what… today is my one year natural anniversary!! YAY ME!!  I actually have been looking forward to this date for a while now  It's been a year since I cut off my relaxed ends and it's been a year and eight months since my last relaxer. Looking back on my year of returning to natural hair I often wish that I had big chopped rather than transitioned, mainly because I would like to have embraced the short hair for longer. Doing my transitioning days I didn't really know that I was transitioning, to me I just couldn't be bothered to relax my hair again. Only after the sides became quite curly did I decide that I wanted to cut my hair. I wasn't 100% sure about it, plus the people I told seemed about weary, which slightly put me off. I've learnt to not let other peoples opinions cloud your decisions because I would have big chopped probably in January of last year rather than wait until it grew more. But hey, nothing I can do know right.

  

I didn't know that this whole natural hair community existed until I had actually cut my hair, I then started discovering all sorts of information and youtube channels. It took me a while before I realised that I too could start helping out people. It started with tumblr; I posted a few pictures of my hair journey around the site and some of them were well received, I was even asked a few questions about my hair and how I take care of it. This then moved to my instagram, then to getting questions on the street, until I finally decided to make a YouTube channel in April. It's kind of a bittersweet thing that being natural gets so much attention. No other races are able to have hair events, hair talks, blogs and YouTube channels dedicated to their hair. But hey, I guess it's the Western countries we live in. Anyway, I have a tendency of blabbering on so let me just cut to the chase…whatever that may be. Just want to say that I've enjoyed this year and my goals for my next hair anniversary is to reach armpit length. I'm just about collarbone length (if I pull real hard lol). I just want to prove to myself that my hair doesn't stop at a certain length…. let's see what happens  Until next month folks,  Aida Content Creator

Hey Huggers [#Introducemyself]

So I think it's about time for me to introduce myself. My name is Aida and I am the belovedFIRST niece of Hug My Hair's Founder Dalilah Well most people mistake us for sisters because of the simple fact that she is only 6 years older than me.  Any who… I think I'll start with my hair journey. So back in Year 11 when I was age 16 I decided that I needed to look older "more sophisticated" what ever that meant. In my head in order to do that I needed a change… a hair change. The perfect way for me to do this was to get a Rihanna hair cut, meaning that I would have to relax my hair. I never wanted to have long relaxed hair because that just wasn't me, in my mind if I were to relax it, it would have to be short. Now, my father was never on my side when it came to my plan, but my mother said that I can do what I wish. So I did. After weeks of visualising what I would look like I went to the hair salon without telling anyone at school but a few friends. You see in school everyone knew me for my afro, and they would constantly want to touch and place their faces in it So I knew that they were about to get the shock of their lives!
 To be honest I really wasn't a fan of my hair when I first did it. Too flat. No volume. No UMPH! But I had to deal with it. For the first few weeks I would go to school with my hood up because I hadn't yet got the confidence to travel with my hair out. It just wasn't me. I remember the first time I fell in love with my hair cut was at prom. I found a new hairdresser and she really brought out my personality with her hair styling. I kept going to her ever since then.  My hair started to grow and I let it, whilst relaxing about every 4 months seeing as with my hair you can barely see the regrowth, especially if I straightened it. I started to miss my short hair in May 2011 and so I cut it again. By August 2011 I had shaven both sides. See, I get bored of hairstyles very easily, and so I just keep on changing them.

 

 I had my last relaxer on October 13th 2011 and haven't looked back since lol. As the sides of my hair kept growing I knew that there would have to come a time where I would have to even the rest out. And so the last time I straightened my hair was in April 2012 just before I put in my first ever set of box braids. I kept the braids in until June of that year. Once I removed them the difference between the textures was pretty noticeable and I found myself walking up the mirror and snipping off my ends randomly. I kept doing that for about a week until one day I decided to wash my hair. When I washed it I looked at myself and just laughed. I looked ridiculous. And so it began. I chopped and I chopped without telling any one. I couldn't bare to lose the front of my hair though. So I left this little fringe that I thought I would be able to work with lol. The next day I realised what a weirdo I looked like so I had to cut the rest off. I got my mum to help with the back just evening it out and there I was… 100% natural!

 

 I had read and watched videos about making sure that my hair had water and was moisturised. I think I took that a bit too literally because I actually wet my hair with the shower head everyday for the first couple of weeks thinking this was what I was meant to do lol. Either way my hair was growing. I mainly used olive oil, water and shea butter seeing as I had thrown away all the products that contained ingredients that were not good for my hair (mainly petrolatum and mineral oil). These are still the main products I use in my hair and I guess they are working. Here I am almost a year later with areas of my hair longer than they have been in years. I've only used heat on my hair once since the last time in April 2012, and that was April this year when I blow dried it. I've decided that I'm only going to blow dry it once every April just as a little no-heat anniversary present lol.   I have recently started a YouTube channel dedicated to me and Fluff (that's her name) the channel is called EyeDahFineMe. The name stemmed from the fact that I spell my name as Eyedah on most of my social networks because it is very rare for people to pronounce it properly, so I thought this would help lol. I wanted to incorporate this in my channels name and so I started thinking about what I believe in. I believe that my hair does not define me much like any other of my physical feature. I define me. And that's where it came from.  Okay, that was a pretty quikc introduction and I doubt I covered everything but I just wanted to say hi  Speak to y'all later  Aida

photo credit: Joey Ivansco / AJC

My partner - an indian man (though anyone would mistake him for a white man with his milky skin and green eyes) has always said that if we were to have a daughter then I would be the one to take care of her hair. I didn't protest (I secretly loved the idea) however I was on curlynikki.com and came across a blog post with the title 'Brown babies with pink parents' which made me think twice. It describes the love and and battles that white men and women are faced with when caring for their black children's hair. One story in particular made me fluffy inside (maybe because the girl is just so cute!?) So I thought i'd share it with my readers and indirectly shame my partner into wanting to take shared control of our hypothetical daughter's hair.  In 2005 Professor Cliffton Green and his wife Jennifer adopted Miriam Tigist Green (pictured above at age 4) from an Ethiopian orphanage. This is her hair unbraided before her father has tended to it with his "weekly loving touch."

 

Initially, Cliffton and his wife Jennifer were uncertain of what to do with her hair and considered just letting be - as a sign of freedom. They wanted people to accept her regardless of her looks.

 

Here Cliffton has assumed his hair twisting position in the centre of the living room, strategically placed infront of the TV. I remember when my mother would braid my hair - television was so necessary if I was to be expected to sit still for hours and hours.

 

Half an hour into the twists daddy's little girl let's out a yawn. The Greens learnt not to try to do Miriam's hair before church because it would mean that they'd have to rush. They wanted to take their time and learnt that what was at stake was more than aesthetics - caring for Miriam's hair was a litmus test of their parenting.

 

Doing Miriam's hair allows Cliffton to bond with her. Cliffton said that his father made him "feel like he'd hung the moon" and that he wanted the same for his children. "It's a little gift he gives her, the little joy of feeling nice and getting good vibes from other people," Green's wife, says.

Who takes control of the children's hair in your relationship?

#Number One - Eggs in your hair

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs - Do they really benefit our hair? Arguments for eggs: -Contains a lot of protein and conditions the hair - Strengthens the hair - Increases thickness - It's natural - Rich in Vitamin A, D and E (vitamin A helps in the production of sebum which works to cure dandruff, vitamin E helps increase the absorption of oxygen and vitamin D helps promote hair growth) - The yolk makes the hair glossy/shiny Arguments against eggs: -It's meant to go in us, not on us. - Doesn't contain hydrolyzed or quanternized proteins (small enough to penetrate hair, less than 2500MW). - Egg protein molecules are too large to repair/change/penetrate the hair. - Doesn't change the condition of the hair - just coats the hair strand. - natural/unprocessed proteins have a negative charge, hair has a negative charge as well, therefore there's no natural attraction to adhere to the hair. - No lasting effect. #Number Two - trimming Makes your hair grow faster Trimming - Does it really make your hair grow faster? Arguments for trimming: - hair stops growing or slows down when cuticle layer thins - trimming triggers new growth -regular trimming can make your hair look longer because the ends of your hair tend to be thinner as they are the oldest parts of your hair so regular trimming makes the ends appear thicker and therfore more visible = longer looking hair Arguments against trimming: - your hair folicles determine how fast and how long your hair grows - trimming does not affect this #Number Three - you can 'Repair' damaged hair Can damaged hair be repaired? Put simply - no. Products that claim to repair split ends or repair damaged hair are lying to you. Damaged hair is damaged forever. Products can only alter theappearance of damaged hair. So please don't try to 'save' split ends because they can travel up the hair strand and damage the whole strand if not cut off early.

ANDREA -  #hugmyhairbeautyspot 

H: Introduce yourself

A: Hi everyone! I am Andrea aka Dreya... I'm a 25 year old mom of one, Baker soon to be Pastry Chef and flourishing business owner and ofcourse a Naturalista!!!

H: Describe the moment you were spotted by Hug My Hair

Hahaha... chatting about Erykah Badu's 'fro pic and how I can't wait to replicate that pic!

H: Have you always liked your curls/kinks/coils? if not how did you come to embrace your natural hair?

A: I never minded my hair, which I believe was my biggest problem...it was just there! Growing up relaxing seemed to be a right of passage (kinda like a black barmitspha - transitioning from child to teenager/adult), so as soon as I turned 13, I pestered my mom if I could relax my hair... I didnt enjoy the whole process though as despite my following the hairdresser's advice...dont comb hair the day of the appointment etc, I still ended up with ma-hu-ssive (covered my entire scalp) burns! After that I only relaxed about 2-3 times a year and then did my first big chop in Year 10.

I rocked my 'fro in puffs and twist until in college I started experimenting with the hair straighteners and by the time I left college... dying my hair became a major staple. I found a really good hairdresser, who was my neighbour at the time, and everytime I had the urge to do something different... her house( when she wasnt at her salon) was my first point of call. She did my next relaxer, as I wanted a bob, which was not possible on afro hair (trust me I tried)... I loved it for a while and got bored (story of my life), started wearing extensions and unknowly transitioned.. which was easier as I started working as a receptionist at a Natural Hair Salon. I continued dating natural hair then cheating with relaxer (one time I relaxed my hair myself, and both sides fell out - I ran over to her house and had her shave some more off the sides and rocked my hair with both sides missing) until my daughter was a few months old and I realised how much of an impact I had on her life and the way she would feel towards herself.

I wanted her to believe that she was beautiful even with the kinks that grew out of her scalp and the only way for her to see that - was to fully embrace who I was when I decided to stop with the relaxing and keep my kinks. So on December 31st 2010, I did my BC... my motto was New Year, New Hair!, and I have not looked back since. Trust me it was not easy... I looked in the mirror and I looked like I was a cross between Tito Jackson (during the "I want you back days") and Wanda Sykes... after the 2 months I wore my hair constantly in braids as it was hard not having hair in my face. But I did enjoy washing my hair, shaking it and then leaving the house... Now I can't see myself without my 'fro... though sometimes she doesgets on my nerves... I love her...!!

H: How would you describe your hair texture?

A: My hair texture is confused...LOL... Its curls in some places... and in some it's like cotton. My hair is a mash up of all textures! LOL

H: Tell us one 'Do' and one 'Don't' for your hair type

Do- Moisturize Moisturize Moisturize Don't - Don't wear your hair out toO often... protective styling is a must!

H: What advice would you give to somone considering going natural?

A: My advice is do it... But remember that your natural texture is alot different to your relaxed texture. Enjoy it and become your own hair whisperer... listen to what her hair needs and do it... having a routine is good, but knowing what your hair needs is better. If your hair feels dry, that's the time to moisturize it. If it feels dirty, thats the time you wash it!

H: How do you love to wear your hair?

A: I love wearing my hair in high buns or high puffs and recently updo's has become another staple hair style of mine!

H: How often do you wash your hair and what products do you use?

A: I wash my hair, when it needs it and for co washes - Herbal essence hello hydration has become the must for me or when I'm doing the works... I will deep condition on dry hair with mizani deep conditioning mask or have a a hot oil treatment with a mixture of oils - coconut oil (love love love holland and barretts organic coconut oil), jojoba, olive and argan oil. After washing I use my Direct Giovanni Leave in conditioning spray then anorganic shea butter mix on my hair , seal it with argan oil or coconut oil and twist or braid.

H: Describe your WORST hair day

A: My worst hair day is when my hair (at that time I call her Eva) decides not to work with me... so those times you will find her in a puff or bun or headscarf or a combination of all the above.

H: Is there a blog or website where we can find you?

I don't have a blog or anything about hair... But you check out dessert business facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sweet-Hibiscus/202188803189328