Jireh Edge Control Review

Bonjour tout le monde!

Now if you're like me then you'll be following a gazillion natural hair blogs to stay up to date with the latest hair products and get inspiration for new protective hairstyles. No? Guess it's just me then! Welllllll I do and right now the hottest product on the block is an edge control made by a company called Jireh. People have been raving about its ability to provide a sustained hold for all hair types even 4C hair, (my hair is very coarse so it's hard to find a good holding gel), without any buildup. Upon first reading I thought that it was too good to be true as the couldn't possibly be an edge control that is suited to all hair types. I saw videos and low and behold, my thoughts were disproven. Confident in the ability of this edge control I decided it was time to try it for myself. 

It's very hard to locate a vendor in the UK or at least one that ships to the UK but eventually I found that the actual company Jireh ship to the UK if you order from their website. The edge control was $10 plus $5 postage and packing (£10.07 in total) and took around 5 days to arrive. THEN CAME THE DAY I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR, THE DAY OF ARRIVAL. It was good timing as my edges were being particularly unruly that day. So I applied the edge control. It slicked down my edges very well and had a very good hold. I applied the edge control all around the front of my hair and used a brush to make sure it was all very much evenly spread. The end result was very nice:

I was over the moon to have finally found an edge control that works in my hair! HOWEVER, my one downside, which is a pretty big one in fact, was that it didn't seem to hold my hair down all day. After a certain point I felt my hair didn't have the slick hold it once had, looked in the mirror only for my hair to look as though it was never slicked at all. Pretty large pittfall so I guess my search continues for the perfect edge control!

If you have any products, new or old, that  you want me to try out and review feel free to email me or ask me a question on AskFM. Until the next time!

Bantu Knot Twist-Out

It's been a long time hasn't it? I'm so sorry that it's been a whole week since my last post but I'm in the middle of sorting out a logo and some upcoming events for Divinus Ater, excitement! 

Anyway I thought I would give you all a little show of my hair when I tried Bantu knots. For those of you who don't know, Bantu knots is just a form of twisting your hair and tying it into a knot which creates the curly effect without the heat. I've actually never tried Bantu knots on my natural hair, always only when I've had weave (crazy), so I thought that would be a great opportunity. It is such an easy style to do and doesn't require too much effort. I start by parting a small part of my hair and combing out any knots. I then use extra firm hold setting lotion as I find that it creates a more defined curl without leaving behind a greasy build-up. First, start off by twisting the hair all the way to the end to create a normal twist. Then, twist the twist around itself to create a spherical, boulder like shape. Repeat this all over the head. Spray something over the hair (olive oil, castor oil) over the head to keep it moisturised and a little bit of hair spray to keep the hair looking neat. Keep this overnight. In the morning just undo the knots! Here's my initial look: 

They curls look kind of dull and lifeless right? The key to achieving defined curls is to tease and seperate the curls using either a comb or your hands. This aids creating definition and achieving the look that you please. This is a lovely hairstyle and looks great at special occasions eg. Weddings or confirmations. 

Such a quick an easy hairstyle to achieve with minimal effort, if you have any tutorials or questions with regards to hair, feel free to leave a comment below or email me. Thank you and j hope you enjoyed!

Silk Press Treatment Review - Tomiwa

I AM HERE!!! LOL

 Firstly, I would like to thank Kia for giving me this opportunity to do a feature on Divinus Ater.

In this academic year, my hair has been suffocated in braids and weaves because of A-levels. I am fully Nigerian and I have long, full and thick afro type hair. However, my hair isn’t your bog standard African hair texture. My hair is very soft and can be easily combed through, it is not hard and tough at all but regardless of the texture being soft, I still find it hard to manage. When it comes to washing my hair it is always a major task to do and I always require assistance, and even when I go to the salon, they always make cheeky remarks on how they should be getting extra pay for washing my hair. When it is left out for long periods of time, I find it quite painful combing it out every morning as it hurts my scalp (and no I cannot do without combing it). My hair has always been natural since birth; I have never relaxed it or texturised it. My mum always used to do the big chunky plaits on my hair and put hair bubbles at the end of it, they were cute at the time, but now that I am a lot older, I can’t obviously do that style anymore lol.

I wanted to leave my hair out for a while to give my scalp a break from the tension of braids and weave. I stumbled across the silk press and thought I’d give it a try. I had my doubts that it would break my hair or damage the texture of it. But after speaking to my hairdresser, she said that the only way it would break my hair is if I did it every so often. (By the way this is my first time straightening my hair). 

A silk press is when they wash and blow dry your hair thoroughly. They then apply a small amount of silk press conditioning moisturising cream (which prevents heat damage), not too much so it’s not greasy, but enough to make your hair waterproof from the humid air.  

I have given it a try and I love it! My hair is so manageable now; it’s so soft and very light! The bonus is that it is my natural hair, no chemicals at all and if I shampoo it, my hair will bounce back to its natural state. The only question is ... How long will it last?

Thank you for reading my feature on this fantastic blog and I hope I was able to be of help to you all.

Continue to support Kia with Divinus Ater,

Tomiwa x 

Natural Hair Problems

I've been natural all my life however I've started taking serious care of my hair since November. Even though many of you may believe that it may be easier for me as I haven't transitioned from relaxed to natural or because I haven't done the big chop, don't be fooled! I have natural hair problems as do all of our fellow naturalistas! Below I'll list some of my common problems that I face on a daily basis;

• Washing my hair - Hair feels so fresh and clean after washing but I've vowed my whole life to use minimal heat so I let my hair air dry. AIR DRY. Let's just let that sink in for everyone. When washing my hair, I dedicate two consecutive days to it because in order to restore my hair back to its natural length, a lot of stretching needs to take place which can be boring and time consuming. 

•Shrinkage - I think I share this opinion with almost all of my fellow natural friends when I say that shrinkage is the bane of my existence. I can step out of my house on a hot summers day with a fantabulous Afro and return home to see my hair and shrunk down so much that I struggle to tie it into a ponytail. This makes my hair styling very restrictive!

•Hair products - You walk into the hair shop on the hunt for a new conditioner only to be swamped by an abundance of products. The staff have very minimal knowledge on black hair and the best products for specific hair types so your having to wade through a jungle of products not knowing the first place to look for a conditioner. This can be infuriating and tempt you to give up! 

•Protective Hairstyles - The vital part of growing long, healthy natural hair is to keep it in protective hairstyles for the majority of the time. This is a fairly easy task but if you're like me then you get bored of hairstyles very quickly. I find that I run out of protective hairstyles that I can do on my hair making it a pain to do!

You may share one or perhaps all of the same problems that I have but I'm here to tell you that there is a solution to each;

1. Hair washing without heat can sound impossible however it is completely doable. Simply stretch out your hair once dry by wrapping thread around. Make sure it is tight and leave it over night. This should give your hair the blow dried look without the heat, keep repeating until you reach your natural hair length.

2. Shrinkage is such a common problem for naturals that there have been many products which have been developed on the market to combat this problem. Research online for the best anti-shrinkage products and enjoy rocking your 'fro during the summer. 

3. Sadly I can't change shop layouts but I can help you change the way you navigate around the shops. First determine what you need eg shampoo. Look across the shelves in terms of products for example look at the whole dark and lovely range which should be together. Then narrow your search down to the item you're looking for and decide whether it takes your fancy. I personally prefer to buy products made for toddlers or young children as they mostly contain the essential oils required for healthy hair growth minus the chemicals. 

4. Finding new protective hairstyles to replicate can be hard but the answer is even easier - media. Whether it be Pintrest, Twitter, Instagram or black hair magazines, the medium for sourcing out new hairstyles is never-ending!

There you have it, if life gives us lemons, we cut them up to make lemon water. Hope that helped, if you have any blog post request or want to contact me , feel free to email me or leave an anonymous comment on ask.fm!

Biotin Challenge - 2 Month Review

Before everyone starts shouting I know it was supposed to be a one month challenge (that was my original plan), but at the one month marker I decided that any significant changes that were to be seen from my hair would appear after another month of use. SO, without further ado, here is my biotin review!

PROS

• Small tablets, easy to swallow - I'm not a big fan of tablets and even more so struggle to swallow them however the size of these tablets made it easy to swallow.
• Contains all of the minerals and nutrients that your hair needs - No need to worry about the contents of the tablets, it contained all of the good stuff that your hair requires.
• Helps encourage healthy hair growth - I definitely saw substantial hair growth when using these tablets which is obviously desirable.
• Alongside proper hair care and TLC, results seen within a month

CONS

• Makes you break out - I've been lucky all my life with the fact that my skin isn't spot prone but since the consumption of biotin, I've noticed more frequent breakouts which isn't really ideal
• Hair growth - This may not sound like a con but please let me stress this to you, HAIR GROWTH ISN'T EXCLUSIVE TO YOUR SCALP. You have hair all over your body so once you commit to taking pills which speeds up the rate at which your hair grows, be aware that that means you will have to pick up a razor more often!
• Uneven hair texture - Whilst biotin did encourage my hair to grow as it says on the packet, the hair growth, even though it was substantial, was undesirable to myself. The hair growth that came to be was very obvious as it had an extremely tight curl pattern and was ferociously coarse compared to the texture of the rest of my hair. This made my hair harder to look after and having to adapt my hair care regime to this change in texture.

Here are some pictures so you can see the length of my hair:

As you can see my hair has grown which is what every naturalista wants to see. However the change in hair texture to my new hair growth has put me off continuing using biotin. Although I've experienced this, some people may not experience the same change making biotin an amazing supplement for them so do not be deterred! If you want to then I urge you to give biotin a try so you are able to draw your own pros and cons from this product. Perhaps there are other supplements on the market which achieve the same goal with the number of downsides minimised, I shall make it my aim to track them down!

For now, feel free to get in touch via email, ask a question anonymously on AskFM or just leave a comment if you have any questions you may want to ask. Until the next time!

Week 2 - Protective Hairstyle #2

Sorry for the late posts guys! I've been so busy coming up to the end of my examination period but here I am and I promise my posts will be more regular now so I'll give you a double post whammy today! This weeks protective hairstyle is my twists. This hairstyle does take a bit longer to do compared to my previous french braids hairstyle but it is still a lovely hairstyle to do. It is a very easy hairstyle to achieve, just divide your hair into sections and twist your hair!

I find it easier to part my hair in half and then divide the halves into sections purely for ease. It is a really nice hairstyle to do which I do when I'm busy during the week at sixth form and keeps my hair neat and tidy. I usually either tie my hair back or up to keep it out of my face.

And there you have it. A simple twist updo which looks smart and is very practical and is appropriate whatever the occasion, hope you enjoyed!

Week 1 - Protective Style #1

So as many of you will already know, this is my favourite protective hairstyle and it's basically two giant french braids. There are two ways of doing this hairstyle, most people cornrow with the braid on the inside however I've never been able to do that hence my braids being on the outside. I do this hairstyle on myself, usually once a week and spray my hair with oil and tie down with a silk scarf at the end of the night. I do either a middle or side parting however I prefer side as it looks nicer to me. I simple start by braiding one side of my head as if I was doing a cornrow and plait all the way down to the end. I repeat this on the other side and either pin the ends down with bobby pins or use a hair band to tie the ends back. I recommend this hairstyle for anyone with a busy schedule and may not have time to do their hair every morning, very quick and easy and looks fab!

Just as a finishing touch I usually gel down my edges with Gorilla Snot to keep it in place. There's my first protective hairstyle for everyone, if you have any questions on how I managed to achieve this then feel free to drop me an email or leave a question on ask fm, I promise I don't bite!

Grow Your Fro - Protective Style Challenge

Hey everyone! 
I wanted to inform you guys about a challenge that I've decided to take part in. It is the 30 Day 'Grow Your Fro' protective style challenge whereby you must keep your hair in various protective styles for 30 days. It is run by @strawberricurls and @maria_antoinette on instagram and it's a chance for everyone to get involved and see some hair growth! There are various weekly giveaways and tips, all you have to do is sign up:

www.strawberricurls.com/GrowYourFroPSC

You will receive updates via email. I think this is a great challenge, not just because of the giveaways but as your own personal challenge so I'm going to post weekly pictures of my various protective hairstyles and watch my fro grow, hope you guys get involved too! Feel free to get into contact with me either via email or ask fm, au revoir!