Why natural oils?

Many manufacturers use mineral oil in a majority of products that contain synthetic ingredients because it’s a good preservative. Mineral oil is the result of the distillation of petroleum which acts as a saran wrap against your scalp and skin, slowing down one of the skin’s main job which is to eliminate toxins. On the other hand natural oils are easily absorbed by the skin.

Castor oil benefits

Castor Oil is rich in fatty acids, vitamin E, minerals, and proteins, and has antibacterial and anti-fungicidal properties.

Castor oil benefits for your hair
• Promotes hair growth
• Helps to thicken hair
• Excellent hair and scalp moisturizer

Avocado oil benefits

Avocado Oil is particularly great for natural hair. It is loaded with nutrients, amino acids, essential fatty acids, as well as vitamins A, B, D, and E. Avocado Oil is excellent for moisturizing, deep conditioning, improving hair strength, and boosting shine.

Avocado oil benefits for your hair
• It is also known to have natural sunscreen properties that can protect the hair and scalp from the damage caused by the harmful UVA and UVB rays of the sun.
• Relieves dandruff. It works better when blended with other oils like jojoba oil or olive oil which are also very good for hair care.

Avocado oil benefits for your skin
• Anti- aging: avocado oil increases the production of collagen, and prevents aging of the skin
• This oil is good for natural skin care, as it greatly penetrates the skin, and helps to keep the skin well-moisturized

Avocado oil benefits for your baby
• Relieves nappy rash
• Relieves cradle cap
• Great as a massage g oil when massaging their infants.

Grapeseed oil benefits

Grapeseed oil is rich with vital nutrients like protein, minerals, and vitamins such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and other antioxidants, and has many beneficial properties for the hair and scalp.

Grapeseed oil benefits for your hair
• Conditioner
• Helps reduce hair breakage and great at treating dry brittle hair.
• Good moisturiser,
• Relieves dandruff
• Promotes hair growth

Grapeseed oil benefits for your skin
• Massage oil
• Moisturiser for sensitive skin

Grapeseed oil benefits for your baby
• Good moisturiser for baby’s sensitive skin
• Relieves cradle cap
• Massage therapists also recommend parents use grape seed oil when massaging their infants.

Jojoba Oil benefits

Jojoba Oil is an extract of the Jojoba plant. Its molecular structure is similar to sebum (the scalp's natural oil), therefore is readily accepted by the scalp and does not disturb the skin’s natural balance. Jojoba is considered a moisturising oil since its molecules are small enough to penetrate the hair shaft

Jojoba Oil benefits for your hair
• Excellent  moisturiser for hair and scalp
• Conditioning
• Prevents dandruff
• Promotes hair growth

Jojoba Oil benefits for your skin
• Excellent skin moisturiser
• Eases the symptoms of skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis & eczema.
• Massage oil

Jojoba Oil benefits for your baby
• Good moisturiser for baby’s sensitive skin
• Relieves cradle cap
• Moisturiser for your little one’s hair
• Great massage oil to use when massaging their infants.

Coconut oil benefits

A Plant-based oil extracted from the kernel of the coconut with a high concentration of saturated fatty acids, lauric acid, capric acid and vitamins E and K. It also has antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial and soothing properties. In its natural unprocessed state, coconut oil has a high moisture retaining capacity and does not breakdown or evaporate easily.


Coconut oil benefits for your hair
• Excellent  moisturiser for hair and scalp
• Conditioning
• Prevents dandruff
• Promotes hair growth

Coconut oil benefits for your skin
• Excellent skin moisturiser
• Eases the symptoms of skin conditions like eczema.
• Massage oil

Coconut oil benefits for your baby
• Good natural moisturiser for your little one's sensitive skin
• Excellent for soothing nappy rash
• Moisturiser for your little one’s hair

The start of an amazing journey

San Francisco - Lombard Street (Crooked Street)

A son: the one thing I always wanted to give my husband. When I was pregnant with our first child I was convinced I was having a boy, I had all the symptoms, according to the old wives tales (For example, I am a chocolate a day kind of girl, but all I wanted was salty and hot spicy food). I was so convinced that during the Cesarean (yes I am “too posh to push”) when the surgeon said "It's a girl!", my response was "are you sure??". I am sure you are thinking I should probably keep that to myself, unfortunately my daughter will eventually know about this because it was caught on camera. I can’t deny ever saying it. Why the obsession with a son you ask? Well for starters, I’d always thought that if I gave my African husband a son he would love me for life. I know - dumb right? We all know that the counts for nothing.

You have to forgive me; I had been contemplating this idea for a long time, since I was very young. The main reason for my preference of the boy child was hair.

Yes you read that right hair (vhudzi). Anyone who knows me will know that I could not care-less for my hair. I was happy and am still happy to spot a bald hairstyle, it’s simple. I grow my hair and chop it when I get bored. So the idea of having to deal with a baby girl's hair was a little bit off putting, surely with a baby boy the haircuts would not be a stress? As luck might have it, my husband and I have been blessed with two beautiful girls. Ndana's hair is a big challenge, very kinky (thanks to mum) and sparse (thanks to paternal genes), Atida's hair looks much better but she is still young so it's too early to call it.

And so began the journey of discovering #naturesownsolutions, a journey as straight as San Francisco's Lombard Street.

As a mum, I want only the best for my kids, therefore organic hair products were a no-brainer. I trolled the hair shops and hair salons for "natural" organic hair products for black babies with no luck. There are so many different brands to choose from it was mind boggling. I finally found what I was looking for, I loved the products but it costing me dearly. The products were a delight, they smelt good and after a few treatments, the hair was more manageable. Being the penny pincher that I am, I was not willing to spend that much money on hair products. I had to make a plan because the mainstream products marketed for Black African children were not an option. Having done a lot of research on hair care, looking at the various lists of ingredients, I realised these products were full of "bad ingredients". According to various sources, mineral oils / petroleum, parabens, sulphates, fragrance, propylene glycol and others are no good for our kinky hair. It was back to the drawing board for me and more internet research! This time the results were more reassuring, the internet is full of natural hair bloggers advocating for the use of nature's own products to grow and maintain kinky hair. So, armed with virgin coconut oil, unrefined jojoba oil, extra virgin olive oil (yes the one from my kitchen) and unrefined Shea butter, I have the daily care of my girls' hair under control. Every weekend I am in my kitchen cooking up a storm, no not to eat but to feed the hair. Alternating between protein and moisturising treatments, the weekends are never dull. The weekends in our household are now reminiscent of my childhood weekends when Sundays were dedicated to hair plaiting to make sure everyone’s hair was nice and neat for school. I have come from knowing nothing about hair to making my own treatments and plaiting (kuraka mabhanzi) the girls' hair all on my own. We don’t have it all figured out yet but we are getting there, part of the fun is finding out what works well for one’s hair and in my case, three people's hair, yes I said three, because I too have been inspired to grow my hair naturally.

As for the son that I so longed for, I live in hope. Maybe if we are blessed with a son I can enjoy the same level of excitement that my husband is greeted with every day when he comes home from work; apparently mum's arrival from work is a non-event. I need to teach these girls that mum's the word.

  

Relaxed hair

Hi! So I am one of the many women out there who couldn't handle their natural hair anymore and decided to relax it. I accepted the challenge of having to maintain it more than I did my natural hair. My hair has been relaxed for 4 years now. At first I struggled with the maintaining and I always used to have my hair in weaves. Then last year one of my friends set me a challenge to see how long my hair can grow in one year. So out came the weave in February 2013 and I got a re-touch.

Thats the current length and i am aiming to get it so BSL (bra strap level) not sure how long that will take but i have started the journey. I use Bare Naturels products to moisturise and seal my hair which i do every night. Castor oil i use on my scalp once every week and on my hairline and nape every night. i use the shea butter mixed with the oils to moisture and then i seal with jojoba or coconut oil which i ever i choose on that particular day. I love the oils because they keep my hair moisturised without weighing it down. i used to use hair grease but this was not for everyday use so my hair always used to be dry. My ends used to be so frizzy, it would look like i had never relaxed them. So i started wrapping and moisturising and sealing every night and now i have ends that listen. Now i can afford not to wrap it for a night or two and still have it in a comb and go condition (which never used to happen) .

i am stretching out my relaxers, so i have not re-touched since February. The re growth is getting a bit much, i am still learning with a lot of help from youtube how to handle it. I still moisturise and seal every night but because of the regrowth, i do more protective styling for bed . Right now my favourite is the two braids which I sometimes rock out to work, lol. They are not always neat, they don't have to be.

then when you take it out, it looks like this,

 i am still learning and hopefully soon i will reach my BSL goal. i will let you know how my next re-touch goes, not sure when i will do that yet...i am currently 9 weeks post relaxer.....

Hair Days Fun!!

So much for this mummy pursuing happiness! I seriously need to get serious. Been having cake and biscuits since my son cried for a HUGE Easter egg decorated cake which he only had a few crumbs of. I have since picked up nearly a kilo and need to get it off me!!!
Besides eating the delicious chocolate cake over Easter, I took the time to bond with my sister-in-law over our girls' hair. First up was a Caramel Treatment I got from this site http://www.blackhairinformation.com/hair-care-2/hair-treatments-and-recipes/the-caramel-treatment-a-natural-hair-softener/ followed by an Avonana (avocado and banana) Deep Conditioning Treatment courtesey of http://beauty.about.com/od/organicbeauty/r/Banana-And-Avocado-Deep-Conditioning-Treatment-For-Dry-Hair.htm. Now as much as we love to cut corners (by we I mean me), I recommend you not do that here. I skipped sieving the Avonana mix and it was so dramaful trying to get the banana out of Mikie's hair! We had tears! So after a bribe (sweets!), she calmed down and I managed to do up her hair in my favourite hairstyle. Wool standing buns! Lol... I know there is a more sophisticated name for these, but its just flown out my head and I will kick myself when I remember. Unfortunately she still had banana bits in there but we had passed her limits so...
Easter Monday and she had managed to unravel my tight knots! Serious, she can be trying. I know its her hair but does she have to mess my work of art? Anyways! I set down and got to work. I still had banana bits to comb out. Her hair was SUPER soft! I mean extremely! Besides the SUPER softness it was straight! Now try it out and see for yourself. Reminded me of when my mum used to stretch my hair with a hot comb heated over an open fire. Without the burnt hair smell of course. True story! So it turned out to be an easy day and we simply sprayed our ACV conditioner and got a fresh batch of a new product in the Bare Naturels Appointed Oils range. It was a smooth gorgeous smelling Mango Mousse! This is rich and creamy and a little applied to the damp hair was more than enough to soak it. Changed our do to 3-strand twists and its so soft and light her hair bounces as she moves about! Now the Mango Mousse, I kid you not, is divine. Tried it on my skin and it was GOOD! Other products have left my skin greasy but this was GOOD! Place your order and feel for yourself!
I never really enjoyed hair days but my advice to you, let Bare Naturels bring fun back!

Before the After!

This is for perspective sake. Few will ever know where we came from. And this was one of the good days!

Happy Mummy!

Now that hair worries are seemingly a thing of the past, I have my own worries that I am going to be focusing on. Weighty ones! Lol... It's all about control I know but today I was craving a Napoleon slice from Cafe Nush and I went and bought 3 for me and my two friends. There being comfort in numbers and all! Kikiki... I really wanted to know I wasnt the only one eating that delicious fat ladened treat. They loved it coz it is divine! Anyways, I am trying to change and be more responsible and not undo all the hardwork from gym with a slice. I will document my journey to my happy weight, more for encouragement and to shame me into good behaviour. That said I am still working on a plan and will only officially start my journey on Monday. I'm currently warming up on the sidelines lol... Any tips that have worked please pass on. Need all the help I can get to shed theses 16kgs....
p/s Today was a slow day at the gym and worked off 340calories....

Happy Hair!

So it's been 2 weeks since the rice milk trial and I haven't gone back to it. I guess I should officially declare it a miss! Thankfully Mikie's hair has been thriving inspite of the misses! At the moment we are using a made to order cream from Bare Naturels Cosmetics. It works wonders on her hair and smells divine too with a subtle blend of rosemary and cinnamon. Soft and manageable hair were words I would never have associated with my daughter but now I so proud of it I cant keep my hands off her hair. I even get questions on whether its natural or relaxed. For hair that was on its way to the barber, my little girl's locks are a delight. If you have issues with hair, I recommend Bare Naturels Cosmetics. Get in touch and maybe they will be able to assist you get delightful locks!
Cant wait for our next batch! It so lovely its moreish!

Castor oil challenge - will my daughter's hair respond?

So, my eldest daughter's hair is dry, thin and grows at snail's pace so I thought the castor oil challenge might just be the way to go. You might think that I am a little crazy but I am quite serious - I am not even going to try and reinvent the wheel with this one! One of my favourite natural hair bloggers NenoNatural has a well-documented castor oil challenge so I shall just follow hers.
Here are the details of the challenge NenoNatural's Castor oil challenge.

I shall not be using the essential oil for my daughter, I got my castor oil from Bare Naturals Cosmetics. I will document the progress here. Wish us luck!

Day 1 Before the challenge

What every man thinks about apart from sex - book review

My husband bought me this book, didnt realise that it was going to be quick read. The pages are blank, yes all blank. Amazon is selling it, people are buy (I live with one of these people) and even leaving book reviews , check this one out http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RPCBBAFI16UEG/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1849531986&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=266239&store=books.

My comment? #SMH

What say you?

Coconut oil to treat nappy rash

Bare Naturels Cosmetics Coconut oil

So my youngest daughter has just turned 1 and we transitioning from formula milk to cows' milk. I have not yet quite figured out why but this just seems to coincide with the onset of nappy rash, it happened with my first daughter as well.
At the first sign of bum redness out comes my Extra Virgin Organic coconut oil (Supplied by Bare Naturels Cosmetics). I apply the coconut oil directly to the affected areas. Coconut oil works well to treat mild cases of nappy rash.
Of course if the nappy rash is severe consult a doctor.

Weekend of pampering - the hair

The hair Shea butter

I love this recipe because my daughters' hair is extremely dry and responds really well to this cream. It leaves her hair nice and soft, making it easy for me to plait it. I have used Shea butter, a great moisturiser and added coconut oil in addition to the avocado oil.

Ingredients (Supplied by Bare Naturels Cosmetics )

• 1 cup Shea butter
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 4 tablespoon avocado oil

Whip everything together until a nice texture is formed.

Directions for use

Apply to damp hair as often as you deem necessary

Weekend of pampering - the body

I really need a body scrub, back to the kitchen it is then. This weekend lets start with sugar

Sugar and jojoba oil body scrub

Jojoba oil is an excellent moisturiser

The ingredients  (I got all my ingredients from Bare Naturels Cosmetics, exception the sugar of course which was in my kitchen)

100ml jojoba oil

500g  sugar

5-10 drops of lavender oil

Mix ingredients together.

Direction for use

Rub on skin, massage, relax in a warm bath and rinse. I figure this will be a good one for the relaxing evening bath. Lavender will have me sleeping like a baby.

Comments after first use

Skin felt really silky after a nice soak. Loved it.

The body butter

In my recipe I have used Shea butter, a great moisturiser and added coconut oil in addition to the avocado oil. Coconut oil has many benefits but the reason its in my face cream is because it contains anti-oxidants that help prevent wrinkles. The rosemary will make my cream smell nice.

Ingredients (I got all my ingredients from Bare Naturels Cosmetics)

3 tablespoons Shea butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

I tablespoon avocado oil

2 tablespoon Glycerin

2-3 drops of rosemary essential oil

Whip everything together until a nice texture is formed.

Directions for use

I plan on using the cream twice a day as I would any other body butter

Comments after first use

Loved the texture and provided the moisture my dry skin needs.

Weekend of pampering - the face

So now that the facial skincare products that I loved have run out, I have decided to make my own. When I was deciding on a skincare brand back then, I remember reading that at my age (I shall not say what the age is) an avocado based face cream is best. Avocado is an excellent moisturiser and contains sterolins which help the skin produce collagen. I am using avocado oil where I possibly can (So no collagen fillers for me hopefully.).

The face cream

In my recipe I have used Shea butter, a great moisturiser and added coconut oil in addition to the avocado oil. Coconut oil has many benefits but the reason its in my face cream is because it contains anti-oxidants that help prevent wrinkles. The lavender will make my cream smell nice.

Ingredients (I got all my ingredients from Bare Naturels Cosmetics)

3 tablespoons Shea butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

I tablespoon avocado oil

2-3 drops of lavender essential oil

Whip everything together until a nice texture is formed. This formula made approximately 115g of cream.

Directions for use

I plan on using the cream twice a day as I would any other cream

Comments after first use.

Loved the texture, I had used the face serum so it was a little hard to judge if it had the right amount of oil.

The face serum

My serum has jojoba oil because its an excellent moisturiser and also helps reduce wrinkles.

Ingredients (I got all my ingredients from Bare Naturels Cosmetics.)

50ml Jojoba oil

50ml avocado oil

5 -10 drops of lavender essential oil

Mixed the oils together, shake vigorously.

Directions for use

I plan on using the serum at night before applying the cream

Comments after first use.

Loved it a lot. It reminded me of a serum I used to pay £48 for (I shall not name the brand.). I am so very excited about this one, I cant wait to see the long term results.

The face wash

Not too sure about the wash, oatmeal has excellent cleansing properties apparently

Ingredients (Can find these at you local supermarket)

1/2 peeled Cucumber

2 tablespoons Oatmeal

2 tablespoons Plain unflavoured Yogurt, with active cultures

Whip everything together until a nice texture is formed.

Directions for use

I plan on using the cleanser twice daily wish me luck

Comments after first use.

This was a lovely surprise. I had used the face scrub below so I wasn't sure how the cleanser was going work. It passed the test, all the sticky honey and sugar was gone after cleansing.

The face scrub

Ingredients (Can find these at you local supermarket)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 tablespoons sugar

Mixed the 2 well

Directions for use

I plan on using the scrub twice a week.

Comments after first use.

It was rather sticky but it wasn't rough on the skin, I really expected it to be rough.

Hit or Miss???

I once more went experimenting in the kitchen with a recipe I chanced upon thanks to my trusted friend Google. Having kids with super kinky hair, anything with "soft hair" grabs my attention. Below is the recipe for the leave-in spray I made;


Rice Milk Spray

In a 250ml spray bottle add
2 tablespoons of rice milk -plain
2 tablespoons rosemary essential oil
2 Tablespoons of an oil of your choice... I used coconut oil
Then fill the rest of the spray bottle with water..

Make sure that this mixture is shaken prior to each use because the oils ,milk and water would separate.

  

When I used this on my daughter's hair, the mixture felt a bit thick and sticky. It didn't soften the hair but made it feel heavy. It was manageable and it was a painless process to get her hair done. I was left a bit disappointed by the whole adventure. This was two days ago...

Today I decided to redo her hair and when I undid the locks, I found really soft hair. It was a pleasant surprise because I was expecting straw like texture. Really confused now about my feelings on the spray... I might just try it again and use a different oil instead. Maybe avocado????

Please try it out and give me some feedback...

Laters...

Banana and honey foot treatment

So being the optimist that I am, I am already looking forward to summer. But my feet are no where ready for sandals, cracked feet are an eye-sore. After search the World Wide Web I was back in my kitchen cooking up a remedy.

Foot before treatment

The recipe

Ingredients
2 whole ripe banana
4 tablespoon Honey
2 tablespoon jojoba oil
Coconut oil (for massaging feet after treatment)

Preparation
1. Chop the banana and place in a mixing bowl
2. Add the honey, jojoba oil
3. Blend until the mixture is smooth

How to use
1. Soak feet in warm water for 20 minutes
2. Scrub feet thoroughly
3. Massage the banana mixture onto the feet and leave on for about 30 minutes
4. Wash feet with warm water and dry
5. Massage feet with coconut oil concentrating on the cracked areas. Wear socks overnight.

NOTE: I intend to use as often as necessary until you see results, I will update on progress.