The Many Faces of Natural Hair

A lot of women are transitioning from permed to natural hair these days, some don't wear their natural hair, some do. I went natural in September 2011, i have loved every bit of it and yes, i am never using a relaxer on my hair again. I recently just cut my Afro but will start growing again soon. When i started growing my fro, a lot of my female friends and even strangers always asked how i maintained my hair, products i use, etc. So i decided to get someone who is more of a Natural hair buff than i am to give women tips. I dragged her away from her blog, lol, but that's what friends do. Here's what Sandra has for you ladies.

Hi my name is Sandeey and I'm a "Natural Hair-olic". What I mean is... I'm obsessed with my naturally Kinky, Coily hair. I stopped retouching my hair in June 2010 and haven't looked back ever since. People keep asking if I'd ever go back to using relaxers and my answer is always "never". I have nothing against ladies with relaxed hair but its certainly not for me...not anymore.

I have always had long hair. When I was younger, my relaxed hair attained bra-strap length. I have almost attained that length with my kinky hair, in about 3 years now. As a result, people tell me that natural hair is good for me, since long hair is in my genes. I guess there's some genetic aspect to the rate of hair growth but come on! That can't be all! Everybody's hair grows. That's a fact. What we have to learn is length retention. Treat your hair with care and it will get longer. I guess I'm partly on this natural hair journey to prove that. When I get past bra-strap length, it'll be proof enough that we contribute to length retention. My ultimate hair goal is waist length! #FingersCrossed.

Finding the right hair regimen has not been easy for me. I even modified it recently. I have tried so many products and some have proved to be excellent. I won't go into it in details but I will give you guys a general idea. I wash my hair every weekend and only comb on those days. It's quite easy to comb and detangle natural hair when it's damp and coated with moisturizing products. Before I wash, I saturate my hair with Almond or Olive Oil. I wash my scalp with an anti-dandruff shampoo (Selsun Blue), and use a deep conditioner after (Gentle Touch Deep Conditioner). After rinsing, I do not use a blow drier or any other form of heat to dry my hair. I wrap my hair with a towel without rubbing, to absorb the water. When my hair stops dripping, I moisturize with a leave-in conditioner (any good one) and seal in the moisture with my Shea Butter and Almond Oil mixture. This gives my hair some sheen. I always do this in sections, comb and then two-strand twist my hair to stretch it. When my hair is dry, I unravel my twists and style away! I re-moisturize during the week whenever it feels dry. Some people find this time consuming but I'd rather do it myself than sit in a salon every weekend.

As I said earlier, I'm obsessed with natural hair and this led me to start my own blog.  Well specifically, I started the blog to show others how to maintain natural hair. I show them the many faces of my naturally kinky hair which includes the good, the bad and the frustrated! #MoreGood. People keep asking me what I do to my hair so I let my blog speak for me. It's much easier to tell them..."read my blog and find out"! Let me not write a novel here before you guys yawn and nod off.

We should be proud of what we have. Natural hair is what it is...natural. As someone out there put it "we do not GO natural, we RETURN because natural is where we BEGAN" .

Blog: http://hairoflife.wordpress.com (or click on a direct link on the side bar to get to her blog)
Instagram: 'hairoflife'

Ok ladies, be sure to follow Sandra's blog and also on instagram. I know i've picked up more tips from this post, now i cant wait to grow my hair back. Lol. More pictures of Sandra's hair below.

Love Lowla