Hair pH balance

pH (potential of hydrogen) is the measurement of how acidic or alkali a substance is, the scale ranges from 0 to 14, acidic between 0 - 6.9 (lemony taste), in the middle we have water with pH 7 (water taste) and from 7.1 to 14 is alkaline (soap like taste). 

Our hair and scalp are pH 4.5 to 5.5 the level is this low as the body helps us fight off fungi and bacteria, therefore at this rate the hair cuticles are laying flat and closed up.

Alkaline products cause the hair cuticles to open up, and acidic products cause hair cuticles to contract. High alkaline environment causes a buildup of fungi and bacteria, this is due to products that strip your hair and scalp acidity i.e. relaxers are very alkaline with the presence of sodium hydroxide (pH 10 to 14) and calcium hydroxide (I just found out this is the same product that is used in sink de-clogging products, it is proven to burn through hair and grease! Yikes! Neutralize that hair neutralize it!!! This got me very scared, but women all over the world have shown it can be used in a safe way!)

For curly hair the cuticles are already partially open, therefore for women with curly hair it’s even more important that we get our hair back to the normal hair balance! Straight hair ladies have less of an issue with this, as their cuticles are already laying flat.
What needs to be done...:

1.     Use a natural acid to bring your hair into an acidic pH range, these natural acids are ACV diluted as its pH 4, Aloe Vera juice is great! Lemon is too acidic pH 2!! Closed cuticles means less frizz!

2.     Use products that are pH balanced

3.     Always use a leave in conditioner in your hair after washing, water is neutral pH so will increase the hair pH balance, therefore using a leave in conditioner that has aloe vera or natural acid (ACV) will bring the hair to its pH of 4.5 to 5.5, provided its mixed well, make sure to touch up with the leave in conditioner in between washes as it evaporates. A good homemade conditioner by kimmaytube is Aloe Vera Juice, Jojoba oil and castor oil, mix and check pH. Or my personal favourite silicone free conditioner, and oil and water, cheap and does the job

4.     Finish off washing hair by giving it a blast of cool water that will close the hair cuticles.

No nos!

1.     Don’t use baking soda to clarify hair, a lot of ladies on the net use baking soda, its fair too alkaline! At about 8 to 9 pH

2.     Lemon is too harsh on the hair it’s at pH 2!! This needs to be diluted and pH checked

What I am taking away from this

1.     Cool water rinses after every wash day to help close up the hair cuticles

2.     Leave in conditioner after every wash and a top up mid week with my home made leave in.

3.     Try ACV I need to find a good natural ACV and have it in my spray bottle to use with my washes as an end

Happy Hair Journeys ladies :-)


‘Discover and rediscover a passion’

Hair Dreams.....ZzzzZzzzZzzz

For my next relaxer day which is scheduled for the 29^th August that will be 12 weeks post relaxer (Thinking about stretching for an extra week maybe 13 weeks, making it gradual. My last stretch made me lose quite a bit of hair, so
I will be stretching with caution. My dreams for 11 weeks for now:

1.       I am bra strap length; I think I am 3 inches away from BSL so I can only hope, 1 inches of growth each month!

2.       My ends are thicker than at my last relaxer, I know this will be something I will attain over time as I cut my ends. But I will still be monitoring it

3.       More flowy hair, during my last relaxer my hair was dry and crunchy and brittle (hence the breaking) this time round I really want to have a lock down on the overall health of my hair!

4.       No more shedding!! I was pretty much in tears during my last relaxer; my hair was just dropping off!!!

5.       If all is going well try and stretch to 13 – 14 weeks making my relaxer day 5^th or 12^th September 2013, I am hoping this is the last of my relaxers in 2013 and next relaxer will be when am celebrating my 1 year hairversary, when am hoping I will be MBL, hey it’s a dream, you have to dream big or not dream at all!!  

How I aim to get these goals

1.       DCing! Alternating between moisture and protein

2.       Protective sytling, I think I have this on lock down.

3.       Keep myself rehydrated always

4.       Only use direct heat, after my relaxer days.
5.       M&S, I think this was the reason for my breaking hair just before my relaxer.

6.       Work on keeping the hair pH balance to its normal pH levels, this should help me with shine and flowyness I am after. Next stop researching on how to get my hair’s pH balance on lock down

Happy hair journey ladies :-)

‘Develop your sense of humour’

First blog request!

I got my very first blog request off Stephanie from a post I did in March when I was 3 months post relaxer, I had a protective style on. I have been asked to make a tutorial of this protective style. I have never done videos before I have included the link to the Youtube clip that I got the style from. I have also attached my results below :-)

This had inspired me to try doing my own tutorials of protective styles which I will posting.

Protective Style

In words......

Step 1 – Section the front of your hair with a side parting.

Step 2 – With the larger side of the parting, section enough hair for a 2 strand cornrow

Step 3 – With the remaining hair tie it up in a pony tail as you work on your two strand cornrow in the front, make sure you put the ponytail towards the side of where the two strand cornrow will end as you will be connecting the ends

Step 4 – secure your two strand cornrow.

Step 5 – Now we will be making the bun (you can use extensions to make a thicker bun, I will just use my hair) Section the pony tail in 3 equal section, twist the first section and wrap it round the ponytail to make a bun

Step 6 – Twist the other hair using the 2 strand method and wrap it around the opposite side to the other strand to make a bun

Step 7 – For the third section twist use the same 2 strand twisting method and then take the end of the two strand cornrow you have done in the front and continue twisting them together, after this, secure this among the bun you have now created.

Step 8- to make the hair style all clean, you can use gel for the fronts and place it under a hair scarf to flatten you fronts.

Step 9 – after 10 minutes your hair should be all done and ready for the world!

This is how mine turned out!

Happy Hair Journeys ladies!

‘Start your day in a positive way by thinking positive thoughts’

Hair Waffle

Start of a fresh week, my plans for this week, 2 DCs both with Vatika Deep Conditioner.

I went shampoo shopping over the weekend and I got the L’Oreal No Sulphate shampoo a 250ml bottle for £5.99, this is definitely not as affordable as my usual Tresemme Naturals line, but I thought I should try a shampoo which is sulphate free and has no Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, as these cause porosity in the hair and really strip the hair strands. I also got a heat protectant, this was from the Tresemme line up to 230 degree heat protection, this was a small bottle for £1.89 and finally I got the highly raved about Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment, I really can’t wait to use this! I will be reviewing each of the products I got! Next wash day is Tuesday!

I also loving the thickness of my hair, everyone thinks am going natural!! This obviously means volume volume for me!
Also I have controlled my breaking significantly, I can only put it down to the DCs and the black tea rinse with I plan on continuing with, I will however, cut it down to once a week as opposed to bi weekly with every wash day!

This weekend I also had hair envy, one of my closest friend who is not even on a hair journey has reach mid back length I would say! Super super jealous look at her hair below! She has got this over a few years I would say about 3 years, due to constantly weaving her hair, her hair is ALWAYS in a weave!! Due to this she has achieved maximum length retention, am not sure about the overall health of her hair, as I haven’t seen here hair yet (except in pictures, I can’t really comment on it), but the length is definitely there! This remains me of Ebony from Longing4length and her personal hair challenge. I really thought of getting my weave out as well, but my boyfriend really doesn’t like me in weave *sigh* as he has been very support with everything on the hair journey, I think I should meet him half way! He doesn’t understand why we have more oils in my hair basket than the kitchen but he has nevertheless been super supportive!
I really want my hair to grow! Like now!!!
I removed the split ends from my hair; it was a dusting exercise not a major trim but it made me feel super happy!

Happy Hair Journeys ladies :-)

‘Try to make at least 3 people smile each day, beginning with yourself’

Wash day - 1 week post relaxer

1. Pre poo – 15 mins with warmed up castor oil under a heat cap with a blow dryer

2. Shampoo hair - Shampooed hair twice with Tresemme low sulphate vibrantly smooth shampoo

3. Black tea rinse – Using 3 black tea bags I boiled the tea let it cool down and rinsed my hair with it 4 to 5 times, catching the run-off and rinsing again

Deep conditioning – I used ORS Hair Mayonnaise and mixed it with 3 drops of peppermint and 3 drops of lavender essential oil, and Argan oil.  I sat with my heat cap and using my blow dryer heated my hair for 1 hour 30minutes. ( 30 mins with heat)

4. Cool water rinse – to finish off I rinsed my hair with cool water and used Aussie 3 minute conditioner, towel dried my hair

5. Leave in conditioner – For my leave in conditioner I used Aussie Moist Leave in Conditioner and detangled my hair with a wide tooth comb, also sprayed my home made moisturiser 

6. Styling – I two strand twisted my hair in sections and secured it with flexirods and let it air dry, I also cut off 1/2 an inch from the ends 

7. M&S – I moisturised the following day with Phil Smith ArganOil Moisturiser (I got this free with my Cosmopolitan magazine, and has been working really well, it a water creamy based hair lotion, I have been looking for some in the stores but haven’t been able to find any!), and sealed with castor oil.

2 products I am in need of: 

1) Hooded dryer, 2)Hair protectant

A treatment my hair is in need of: 1) Trim

What am liking in my hair journey:

1) Tresemme shampoo, I have come to rely and trust this product, I used to used ORS Aloe Shampoo on a constant basis so that is all I am comparing to really, will be doing a review of it soon

2) Black tea rinses – this has really helped me significantly reduce shedding and breaking I believe, will be writing about my experience of black tea rinses soon

What I would like to try:

ACV rinses – I have done this once before and I thought it work really well I will have to start it again and be more consistent with it to see if it’s of benefit

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies!! :-)

‘Life is too short to waste time hating anyone or holding a grudge’