Rosemary and Olive Oil Home Remedy

=> Bring 1/4 cup of olive oil to a warm temperature ( I would highly suggest that you use a double boiler for this or the double boiler method to avoid injury/burning yourself. Make sure the oil is warm NEVER HOT!).

=> Pour the warm olive oil into a bottle and add in 5 drops of rosemary essential oil.

=> Massage this oil mixture onto your head ( focusing mainly on your scalp  and your ends).

=> Cover your head for 20 – 25 minutes with a plastic shower cap.

=> Depending how dry your scalp was, you can choose to use a moisturizing shampoo/ conditioner to wash off the oil

=> Use moisturizing shampoo and conditioner for washing off the oil.

In order to see the best result its best to do the rosemary and olive oil hair treatment at least twice a week. If you suffer from a super flaky scalp, try adding 3 drops of tea tree oil to the mixture to treat dandruff/ flaky scalp. Do this treatment regularly and you should start to see results in a month or so (again, every person’s scalp and hair is different so for others results will be seen right away and for others it could take a month or two).

Please note: Since this product contains rosemary essential oil, in order to avoid oxidization, please store any left over oil in a cool dark place and away from sunlight.

Growing natural hair requires patience and tender love and care.  I remember when I had my big chop!  There was a time when my hair was growing really fast and a time when things went on a plateau.  The plateau phase is so frustrating for hair growth!  It’s like watching paint dry all day.  I guess I was Ms. Impatient until I started a hair regimen that actually showed results.  Castor oil was one of those hair growth remedies that I adopted.  It’s worked to add shine and thicken my hair. Talk about lustrous.  I usually mix it with almond oil and coconut oil to help lock the hair moisture and promote the process of growing out my hair.

How To Use Castor Oil for Hair Growth

Castor oil is a multitasking agent when it comes to a lot of hair problems.  It’s a preventative measure to natural hair loss. We’re talking shedding and breakage.  So I like to mix this with virgin coconut oil (my favorite).  Coconut oil works with castor oil to make your hair super soft and lustrous.

• Heat some water in a pan.  Put some oil (coconut oil + castor and you can add some almond oil) in a small bowl and place the bowl in the pan with the hot water.  The hot water will heat the oil in the pan indirectly.

• Divide your hair into sections.  Then spray your hair so it’s moist enough.  Moist hair absorbs products better than dry hair.  Apply your oil mix focusing on your ends.  When you get to your scalp, move in circular motions. Circular motions stimulate blood flow to your scalp as the oil evenly distributes.  The key is to use a small amount of oil on your hair since castor is thick enough as it is.  A little goes a long ways!

• After you’ve applied the oil mix, pull your hair together and cover with a shower cap.  I would leave the shower cap on for one hour.  Sometimes I cover and leave overnight but, when I am sleeping with the oil mix, I don’t wet my hair or spray it.  If you cover your hair when it’s wet, and you go to sleep, you invite bacteria to grow in the moist environment on your scalp.  That’s one experience I will never forget!  My scalp was breaking out because of this and you want to avoid breakout on your scalp since that affects the natural hair growth process.

• Shampoo your hair once a week so you can clarify your scalp and prevent oil buildup from happening.

Carrier oils work to deep condition your hair by keeping moisture in your hair.  When I started my oil routine, I really noticed that my hair was growing and was much softer to the touch.
You really can use this oil for scalp and hair problems.  It helps with thinning hair and encourages hair growth.

I’ve started massaging my scalp daily for 5 minutes.  Mixing coconut oil, castor and almond oil have been my most favorite remedies.  They work to remove dead skin cells from my scalp and prevent flakes.  I really feel my hair has changed from feeling dry and brittle to soft and more elastic.

Your natural hair will look and feel….

Lustrous, voluminous, strong, soft, manageable and healthy.

If you have dry hair, I highly recommend bringing castor into your life.  It’s one of the best conditioners to lock in moisture.  If you want to say bye bye to unmanageable, frizzy, hair, this is your go to remedy.  If your natural hair feels like a dessert, let it drink from the springs of this mixture:

1. Castor oil

2. Coconut oil

3. Almond oil

If you are going to bed with your oil conditioners...

Again, like I said before, if you find that your scalp is breaking out, use castor oil.  It has a lot of antibacterial and anti-fungal elements.  Please please don’t sleep with a shower cap while your hair is still wet.  This is one way to grow fungus on your scalp.  If you are doing an overnight castor oil session, don’t spray your hair with water.  Just cover with the shower cap after you’ve applied your oil. Your scalp will heat up the cap with it’s own natural heat to condition your hair.  No water needed.  The fungus that can grow on your scalp can lead to hair loss.

If you’re going to do a 1 hour oil conditioning session…

If I’m not doing an overnight treatment to my hair, I always like to steam my hair for a few minutes after my 1 hour oil conditioning session. No I don’t have the Huetiful Steamer yet but, what I do has always worked.  I cover my head over some hot water basin.  I drop a few drops of mint essential oil into the water and steam myself for 15 minutes.  It opens my facial pores as well as the scalp pores.  This allows the oil to have a deep soak into the scalp.  Hello hair growth!

Hair conditioner has been dismantled and over-analyzed.  Sometimes the whole “do this not that” concept can be quite confusing.  How long to leave it on? Can you leave it longer than recommended? Let’s talk about rinse out conditioner.  It seems easy like ABC but can be puzzling when it comes to applying it after your shampoo.  The back of the bottle makes the directions very point form and they don’t tell you how to maximize the moisturizing benefits of your conditioning session.

Your Ends Need it the Most

Your natural hair has old and new hair.  Your ends happen to be the older stuff than the roots.  With the ends being a little older, they need all the moisture they can get.  Your roots are closer to your scalp so they’re able to mooch off some of those natural scalp oils (sebum).  So apply conditioner to the ends.  I like to apply it and rub my hair in between my palms till the ends are completely saturated.

When you finish this application, apply conditioner to your whole head.  So the trick is to get the ends first.  If there’s a day where your bottle is running on empty, save it for the ends.

The Scalp Can Do Good All By Itself

Before hair conditioner came along, the scalp was working overtime producing sebum.  That ship was sailing in the open waters of nature.  It was delivering oils to your dry locks and self maintaining your natural hair.  With that said, moisturizing agents are created for the actual hair.  They coat your hair length and the coating makes your cuticles lie down.  When your cuticles lie down, your hair is much softer and you get less frizz.  Have you ever looked at hair that is overly flat ironed/blow-dried, it has a dry texture that is often frizzier and lacks sheen.  That is because the cuticles have been lifted. So you really should apply the conditioners to your hair shaft.  The scalp is already doing it’s own thing.

A Cold Rinse

Rinse on conditioners are supposed to be left in for about 5 minutes followed by a rinse.  A cold rinse gets you all ready with a more shiny mane.  I also love the way cold water doesn’t dry my hair.  I noticed when my natural hair used to feel so dry after I used a higher temp of water.

Use an Old Shirt

An old shirt keeps the frizz away.  Towels have static causing material that lifts your cuticles and makes your hair frizzy!

The answer is yes!  Cold water seals your cuticles and makes your hair appear more sheen like.  I noticed that when I used to rinse with a higher temperature, I would have dry looking hair after it dried.  Cold air also acts like cold water.  Notice how some blow dryers have a button that blows cold air? It’s meant to smooth out your hair.  So there you have it. To prevent the frizzes, it is best to hit that cold rinse.  If you can’t take the coldness, make it lukewarm but never hot.  Hot water produces dry hair and makes it hard for your hair to hold on to moisture.

Since I can not find any natural hair salons around (to get my deep conditioning mask), I have taken to working it all on my own at home.  I realize that experimenting is not for everyone.  Some people don’t have the time to go through all that work.  Myself included, I get lazy at times!  I like to share my discoveries and make it easier on you to try the hair masks out for your dry hair.

With honey being sticky, I was a bit antsy about putting it into my scalp.  But fear not! Here is the simple deep conditioning recipe that I used.

RECIPE

• 4 Tbsp of honey

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Using a DIY double boiler this is how we do.  Boil some water in a slightly bigger pot.  Take a smaller mixing bowl and place the two ingredients together.  I use a ceramic one or stainless steel material.  You want the mixing bowl to hover above the boiling water as opposed to touching it.  This way you have the steam indirectly heating the oil and honey.  Heat your mixture for 1 minute.  You just want it warm not scalding hot.   If you can’t touch it without saying ouch, don’t take it over to your scalp!

When the dry hair mask is ready, apply it to moist hair from root to tip.  To wet you hair, and get it ready, use a spray bottle to dampen it.  Natural hair absorbs deep conditioners more when it’s wet.  Work from root to tip as you use your fingers to detangle.  Once I finished doing this, I sealed my ends with straight up olive oil to pack on that moisture.

Wrap for 1 hour or wear a shower cap.  I like to do it on a lazy Sunday as I can lounge in my pj’s at home and do the treatment for that designated time.  After the time is up, just co-wash with cool water and you’re done.  Cool water gives you that shiny look and doesn’t dry hair like hot water.

Honey and Olive Oil work Great for Dry Hair

My natural hair is overwhelmingly thick so my recipe indicated that.  Feel free to adjust accordingly.  The reason I don’t shampoo after I deep condition is because I want to keep my hair from drying out.  There is no use to do a deep treatment only to take it away now is there.  I reserve the shampoo for another day because you can’t walk around with crusted scalp and build up!  By all means, go ahead and co-wash after the treatment.

Enjoy your soft coils and curls.

The best thing about wearing your hair natural is a light drizzle or rain does not usually become your sudden and worst enemy!  That being said, take a look below at some great examples of beautiful and fashionable ladies rocking their natural tresses, – these pictures are solid proof that natural hair is beautiful without a doubt, it can also be styled in modern way, and last but not least, hair in its natural texture is fashionable and can be worn with TOTAL CONFIDENCE. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise!

Bad and she knows it

Fierce, gorgeously untamed lioness hair

Beautiful texture, beat face, can’t go wrong!

Fabulous big chop swag

Go ahead lil mama =)

Sophisticated cutie

Wisdom of the day: Do not allow  a few tangled strands to negatively affect the relationship you have with your natural hair. Work with your texture, not against it.

Have a happy and healthy hair journey!

Sometimes the images of bone straight hair and the constant parading around of ladies with this type of hair can sort of leave the impression that natural curly, kinky and wavy hair is just downright undesirable, ugly and something one has to get rid of by chemically changing the texture using harsh relaxers. Often  natural hair is viewed as a feature that has to be covered up as much as possible and concealed under weaves or wigs (sad but true).

Now I am not saying that anybody who relaxes their child’s hair is necessarily encouraging them to hate their natural self, many people relax their hair because they feel this process is what will make their hair easier to manage, that is all well and to each their own (there is absolutely no judgement passed here).  The issue arises when their children (grown or not) decide to return to their natural roots and then the snide remarks, teasing, taunting and negative attitudes start coming from the people around them.

I have witnessed a few friends and acquaintances who have relaxed their hair to the bone and some of them literally have just a few helpless strands left ( yes, even the Donald Trump comb-over, a prayer and a splash of holly water could never save them). -Some of these ladies have a burnt scalp, bald spots and  the scarring to show for all those years of fighting texture, – yet they are headed to the salon every few weeks in order to get their regular ‘touch up’ and more of that creamy crack dragged through their strands.

Most of these ladies mentioned above have expressed how negatively they were received in the past upon trying to go natural by allowing their relaxed hair and sadly the most negative comments came from within their immediate families and from people such as mothers, fathers, brothers and other siblings! Comments such as ”nah that steel wool is not cute”, ”stop this foolishness I’m booking you an appointment from your perm and even worse was ”she now has that slave hair”! Can you imagine being on the receiving end of such negative comments and how they can break down a person or even worse, a child!

The main point here, is we as grown ups need to start appreciating and loving our hair regardless of texture and curl pattern, in doing so we will be able to show and teach our present and future children to love their own hair even in its natural, stubborn, frustrating and feisty state. When our children love their hair, they will not succumb to other people’s definition of what is beautiful and what is not, to them the discouraging and critical voices of acquaintances will simply become opinions that simply do not matter and a white noise .

We absolutely have to let our daughters both little and grown that their hair is beautiful and they themselves are beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully made. So what if their hair is kinky! – That is something that they can learn to embrace and work with overtime.  After all, the hair they were born with is here to stay and its theirs to keep. So even if they rock a weave or a wig, they will at least love what is underneath.

Pass this on to other ladies in your circle and share this wonderful positive message of encouragement to the women in your life that you care about.

Have a happy healthy hair journey!

I am a natural lady and I was wondering what your experience is with flat irons?  Do you straighten your natural hair?  If so, I have thick, coarse, hair and was wondering what flat irons work best!  I am almost at the point of giving up.  I went on Youtube and saw the Milstan Feather Flat Iron!  It looks great and probably something that can handle my coarse, thick hair.  Help! Any opinions will be really appreciated.

Thanks is advance,

Abigail

To elaborate on the message we sent back to Abigail…

Straightening natural hair is something that is feared by many ladies who are in the process of keeping their hair in a non-manipulated state.  Personally, I like to have a straightening session to get that length check and trim away those spit ends.  With that said, it’s been more than 8 months since I last used some heat!  A part of me is lazy to go through that thick hair.  First you have to wash it, then heat protect it, then section it… how about I just braid it and leave it alone.  This has been the procrastinator in me.  The only reason I would straighten my hair would be to see my growth process.

My experience with the regular flat irons have been disappointing.  My hair ends up all dry, no movement and just purely uninviting.  This is the reason I don’t flat iron often.  I have yet to find that one iron that makes me go gaga!  That and the fact that there was a young man who conned me with a fake CHI on Kijiji (beware of that).  Anyhow, the only time I have been able to get my hair dead-straight is when I went to the salon a few years ago.  They used some type of iron but I don’t remember the type and my hair was the most straight it’s ever been (I still adore my coils but nothing wrong with a bit of a change).  Here is what I did to make sure I don’t get dry hair that leads to breakage.

Use Protection

When you want to straighten natural hair, you want the prep work to count so your hair will remain protected.  You also want to try to make the heat process is a one time thing not a frequent part of your hair routine.  I know there are some naturals out there who won’t even touch heat and some who use it on the occasion and others who can’ t live without the flat iron.  Regardless, you always want to deep condition your hair in preparation of getting in contact with heat.  I actually found a way to limit heat by avoiding the blow dryer completely.  How do I do it? By stretching my hair naturally.  This way I get the just enough length to work with the flat iron.

Abigail, this is actually the first time we are learning about the Milstan Feather Flat Iron.  Thanks for letting us know.

Avoid the Dry Hair and Heat Damage If you Decide to Use this Iron

To reduce all that heat from the Milstan flat iron, you should avoid putting it in the oven or on the stove.  Use the golden hot ceramic stove.  You can also purchase such ovens from your beauty supply store I believe.   I would let the iron cool a little before using it on my natural hair.   You can test the heat.  The secret: use a towel.  Right after you take the straightening iron from the ceramic stove, let it cool for about thirty seconds.  Then place it on the towel.  If it burns the towel, it will burn your hair.  If it’s too hot, use a damper towel and rub the iron on there to bring the temperature down.

To get that shine you see on the video, you should run the back of the flat iron on the outer parts of your natural hair.  The ceramic gives it that shiny polish.  Once you get the shine, now place your hair in between the plates and pass the feather flat iron just like you would a regular hair straightener.

To recap what you will need:

-Get a golden hot ceramic stove

-Heat protector.  I like Silk Elements but there are many more out there.

-A deep conditioner prior to the straightening session

-A towel to test the heat

-Stretch your hair prior to using heat.  We discussed a few methods on

1. How to Curl Hair Using the No Heat Method

2. 5 Ways to Stretch your Natural Hair

Q: Do you straighten your natural hair? If so, what is your experience with the feather flat irons?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

How is the wind going to caress my hair if I shave my hair! These are the thoughts of a vain woman coming into light at how beautiful bald women can be.

I am talking about voluntarily getting out there with a shaver in one hand then hitting the streets with a short buzz.  Some women are more comfortable with wigs, some weaves and some, straight up natural hair.  Having hair is like a blanket that covers you and makes you feel more secure.  I admit that sounds a bit vain but think about the way you exit the house in the morning. It’s a safety net knowing you can throw on a wig or style your natural hair…

It’s empowering to see women who go out there bald and confident.  They are not trying to prove anything.  These women are just being themselves.  We’ve seen ladies like Cassie, Laura Mvula, Kaone Kario and Lupita Nyong’o look gorgeous while wearing a more shorter hair style.

Laura Mvula: British soul singer-songwriter

Cassie: American recording artist, dancer, actress and model

Kaone Kario: South African model and TV presenter

Lupita Nyong’o: Kenyan actress and filmmaker. She will be in a movie that I can not wait to see: Twelve Years a Slave

Amber Rose: Le ex Beau of Kanye West and current wife of Wiz Kalifa

Shaving your hair varies from individual to individual.  Some ladies do the big chop to access their natural hair faster than a transition.  Some ladies do it to beat the heat in the summer and some just do it because they like the style.  You can hit the barber for that nice, smooth, shave to start you off.

Q: What would you do if you someone shaved your head and you had to exit the house the next morning?  Can you see yourself out there with a bald look? Would you let the world see the graceful scalp that usually holds your hair?