Home Made Hair Food!

Hi All

When I go to get my hair done at Abaka, Don uses this really nice smelling product on my hair. It makes my hair colour look vibrant & it smells delicious!
Don makes this himself & I have no idea what he puts in it.
Based on that, as I don't go there at the moment, I thought I'd try making something myself.

Shea butter is meant to be a good moisturiser. I've never used it before as I always found it too thick. No one wants build up, ESPECIALLY in locs & that stuff in pure form almost looks like peanut butter!

Argan oil naturally contains Vitamin E, is good for skin conditions such as eczema & psoriasis & is also meant to make hair feel soft & encourage growth.

Coconut oil helps (among many other uses) hair retain moisture as well as helping to prevent dandruff.

(I'm not going to lie, both Coconut & Argan oils do have some similar benefits!)

So I basically did 2 parts Shea butter to 4 parts oil. That would be 2 parts Argan oil & 2 parts Coconut oil.
Adding a few drops of Cinnamon Leaf essential oil for its uplifting scent, however it does have benefits of its own ( has antiseptic properties among other things). Using a hand blender I combined the ingredients & then scraped the mixture into an empty (body butter) container.

You'll notice the colour hasn't changed, but I can tell you the consistency definitely has. It's much more oil like, which is what I wanted. Upon contact with skin it changes to a completely clear oil within a few seconds.

I don't want to use too many ingredients, I figure knowing what I want to achieve I should use only relevant ingredients.

I only made it this morning, but I like it! I want to use more! My hair soaked it up so quickly, I'm now worried my hair has been dry!
You'd think I'd know, but I thought it felt fine before!

I'll let you know how it works out over the next couple weeks or so.
My main aim is softer locs & sufficient moisture.
I know that everyones locs are different, so lets see what mine do with this!

Toodles.x

My Locversary & other things...

Hi All

I'm so pants!
So my Locversary - loc anniversary was on the 27th of last month. I had planned to post but recently my motivation has been blah. Just to remind you all of my hair when I started (ignore the super shine pls!):

Me a year ago:

And my hair now!

Tah dah!!!

(Camera DIY never quite works!)

I love my hair, I really do. I get so many people saying they love it & a lot more asking me about the colour!

I've been re tightening it myself the last couple days or so, it's not just motivation for my blog I lack but for most things! So far no real tangles (probably cos I haven't done that much!), but I have yet to achieve that salon perfect look in the areas I've done! I figure I'll get that with practice though (at least I hope so), but I'm still happy with the rather neat results!

I need to get one of my girls to do the back! I never understand how people do the back of their heads interlocking! If I go too far back from the FRONT of my head I start getting tangled! I need to work on it....I figure so long as what I've done covers what I haven't done I'll look alright. Though I have noticed some additional volume in the bits I haven't done....!

What else have I been up to?!
Well, as I'm not working (again or still as the case may be depending on when you last read!) I've still been sewing to keep myself entertained & I am enjoying it.
I made the below for mothers day + some bath bombs....don't know why I didn't take pictures of the bombs, though I'll probably make more. I've gone absolutely nuts on some of it. The squares are scented sachets, filled with lavender, cloves or mint/eucalyptus. I'm also trying lime & orange sachets. Keep them in your bag, your drawer or your wardrobe & the scent will permeate your clothes or bag. I made the drawstring bag they're sitting on as well (they're sitting on my mini ironing board - so glad I never threw that out!).

I've picked up a glue gun among other things, I'm trying to let my creative side run free & what little I have produced so far is actually making me want to do more. I want to do all sorts of crafts........My flat (& bank account!) however is probably unable to contain them all. I just think about things that I want to wear......Pity my ideas are way ahead of my skills!

On that note, I will leave you.
My posts are going to continue to be sporadic I think, but do keep an eye out.

Toodles.x

Cushion Cover!!!

Hi All!!!

So sewing update!
After my lesson on Tuesday I came home in high spirits! Grabbed my little bag of repairs & got to work!
I repaired my bra, would show you a picture but it's my bra! I unpicked a damaged top & found a new way to wear it which didn't require my sewing machine, happy anyway because I only wore it maybe twice! Now it's a halter neck!

On Wednesday I went to the local charity shops & found one that sold material.
I got the below for a total of £9:

£3 - 1'35 x 1'47

£1.50 - 1'20 x 1'00 (with piece missing!) 

£1.50 - 1'14 x 1'10

£3 - 2' x 1'33

I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet....Think I got a little carried away!
I did make a cushion cover (not that I need one!) just to show that I could!

(Back is solid blue)

Made out of two old fleeces I cut up & stitched together (fold over flap to tuck in at top)! My mum says she wants them...(I've been told to make another!)
I've been thinking I want to make a few hair bands/ties/scarves. I'm going to go through old clothes at my mums too!

My new obsession!

Talk soon.
Toodles.x

Goapele

Hi All,

This is Goapele. She's a natural hair chameleon. She's rocked locs, twists & canerow. I'm focusing on the locs!

She's a singer/songwriter & into human rights in a big way.

Source

Source

Source 

Source

They just look so healthy, feeling some serious envy right now. She doesn't rock locs anymore & you can see her latest look in the video below. 

Play - from new album Break of Dawn

Sewing!

Hi All

Not sure how many of you are interested in sewing, but I have a sewing machine.....(& a sewing box!)
It's been gathering dust on the windowsill for the last 2 years or so (since I bought it basically!)

I didn't take textiles in school (should've done!) after year 9 though I made a bag for my last project.

Stitched on the doggy by hand (It came off! My Nan put it back on. Popper button to close bag) 

 As well as a popper button, there is a zip covering the main compartment (zip & popper button?! I think I wanted extra points!)

Rip where strap meets bag, why I stopped using it (caused by heavy hard back book!)

There is a problem, (always is with me!). I can barely remember how to use one! I tried to give myself a brush up when I first bought my machine, a diy one.....Didn't work!
I've been keeping an eye on Groupon, as on a couple occasions I missed discounted sewing lessons.

Well now I have one, 3 hours for £25 here: Creative Sewing Studio

The previous ones I'd seen were here: Beyond Fabrics

I'm sure there are many other places but these are the 2 companies I have seen on Groupon taking their beginner/basic/refresher course from £65 - £75 to £25. (I love a bargain!)
You are able to bring your own machine from home (which I think makes sense).

Now I can't be the only one that has ripped a hem or the under wire has popped out of my perfectly fine & relatively new bra! Rather than replacing them, as I have a sewing machine, I should be repairing them & after my refresher course I have every intention of doing so (I have a little bag of items that require repairing or can be practice scrap).
Not to mention has anyone seen Super Scrimpers on Channel 4 (Mondays at 8pm)?
They're showing little tricks you can do with a sewing machine that will repurpose items you may otherwise throw away (The whole show is NOT about sewing though!). Last week was making cushion covers out of anything you'd throw away, old tea towels, clothes etc. So yes! I need to brush up on my sewing.

I've found sites that have free tips & patterns, so after Tuesday (yes! My lesson is on Tuesday!!! I can't wait) & my little bag being emptied of all it's bits I have plans to do a new settee cover (sounds ambitious, but considering I use fleeces as settee covers, I'll just cut out the damaged bits & piece them together!).

If you are more advanced than me, here are some of the sites I have found for when I've brushed up:

Free Sewing Patterns Daily
Free Needle
Burda Styles
All Crafts

They're either free or have free sections.
Enjoy!

Toodles.x

My Hair Colour

Is currently Schwarzkopf XXL 43 - Red Passion (PERMANENT DYE - requires mixing)  underneath, with Crazy Colour 56 - Fire (Semi permanent - this brand doesn't require mixing, they advise to place on pre lightened hair) on top.
The pics from my visit to Abaka are Schwarzkopf XXL 37 - Hypnotic Red (PERMANENT DYE) with Fire on top again.
I dyed it in mid December, if you look at the boxes you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference, 43 has darker undertones (close your left eye & tilt your head to the right! Just joking).

(It's a lot brighter in person! Also has more orangey undertones)

It's applied on top of bleach. I'm sure I've talked to you guys about  how my hair dislikes colour without bleach.
I didn't do it myself! I have a friend who's a hairdresser & did the bleaching (& the colour) for me.
She did foil wrap some locs, so I wouldn't have a solid block of colour.
We, amazingly enough, didn't take any pics of the process, I think we were too tired when we started!
Just mentioning this because I see a lot of searches regarding colouring natural hair (someone typed in sorrel wash & I popped up! I HATE sorrel).
I'm only trying to bleach once a year (hopefully reducing whatever damage it may cause), but I do colour a lot more frequently than that!
As Crazy Colour is a semi permanent colour that doesn't require mixing, whenever my locs get that dull faded look (& I notice!) I just top up with that to make the colour 'pop' again, approx every 6-8 wks.
I like colour & despite my hesitancy to use some products, dye just does not seem to factor into that equation.

Its hard to take a good pic yourself! (SXXL43 & CC56)

Send me a message if you have any questions or would like to get in contact with my friend (she's fully qualified & does home visits!).

Will talk again soon.
Toodles.x

Black Logo T's

Hi All

So, I think I have 2 black (as in black persons image) logo t's. One that doesn't fit (in my opinion, my girls say that whole bottom of the belly think on show is cute?!) & one that I got at my old place of work as it was artist merchandise.

I'm always trying to find things & after todays search am wondering if I've not been looking hard or if someone realised that there IS a demand for them in the UK market after I originally started looking.
I found some websites & Redbubble.com (the below link takes you straight to the results) is currently my favourite one to look at.

Afro T-shirts & Hoodies

My favourite images follow. The prices on the site range from £13.02 to £30 (which is the highest I've seen). The average is around £16/17.

Source/Purchase £16.68

Source/Purchase - £17.36

Source/Purchase £16.12

Source/Purchase £15.38

Source/Purchase - £16.61

Source/Purchase - £13.64

Source/Purchase - £16.74

So, the good thing about this site is you can choose the style of T (mens, womens fitted, long sleeved etc or hoodie!) you want it printed on, whether its the back or the front of the T & the colour of the T itself. A preview is then generated based on your choice.

(Yes, that does mean I was too lazy to change some of them from mens!)

There are nearly 300 images, though I'm not sure why some of them come up in that search!

But take a look, the above are just my personal faves!

Other sites with ranges include:

Cafe Press Afro T's
Zazzle Afro T's

Also try changing the search to 'dreadlocks'. There aren't very many, but there are a few ('I see Dread People'!).

Toodles!x