“Where can I buy natural hair products in Nigeria?”

I literally typed these words on Google when I started looking for natural hair products, lol!! Seriously though, the results were not very encouraging but I discovered some blogs and facebook pages. I also typed something like this “Where can I buy Carol’s Daughter hair products in Nigeria?” ha ha ha ha, lol! Funny but I got one result that led me to Amaila’s facebookpage. By the way, Carol’s Daughter is one of the most talked about natural hair product line, it is founded by Lisa Price. She is also the founder of the Transitioning Movement, which is a website where you can find all kinds of information on transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. So here is a list of addresses, blogs and websites you can get your natural hair products, most of them are online. So you basically place your order online and they deliver to anywhere in Nigeria.

1.       The online Ahia Natural Nigerian: You can get your skin and hair care natural oils and butters from this online store. Orders can be placed any day but deliveries are made only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

URL - http://naturalnigerian.com/ahia-natural-nigerian-marketplace/

Email – orders@naturalnigerian.com

2.       The Kinky Apothecary, Nigeria’s first one – stop natural hair shop, opened recently in Victoria Island Lagos.

Address – L’espace 19A Olosa Street, Off Karimu Kotun, Victoria Island, Lagos.

URL - http://thekinkyapothecary.blogspot.com/p/apothecary.html

Email – orders@thekinkyapothecary.com

3.       Olori is another online based store. I have gotten a couple of products from them. They deal mainly on hair creams, shampoos, conditioners and some oils.

URL - http://www.olori.com.ng/shop/

Email - sales@olori.com.ng

4.       Amaila hair care products: Deals mainly on Carol’s Daughter and Shea Radiance hair product brands. You can place your order on their facebook page and they’ll definitely get back to you.

URL - https://www.facebook.com/AmailaHairCareLagos?fref=ts

5.       Vanity Oils: They deal mainly on various natural hair and skin oils.

URL - http://vanityoils.com/FindOurProducts.html

Email – info@vanityoils.com

Phone no: 07030306302, 07034250239

6.   Casa Bella Beauty Store: In this store you will find the Cantu Shea Butter Line, Carol’s Daughter Line, The Giovanni Line e.t.c. You can find them in The Palms Mall Lekki  and Ikeja City Mall in Lagos and then Polo Park Mall in Enugu.

That’s all folks, I promise to update this list once I discover more vendors. Let me know if this was helpful.

Disclaimer: I was not paid in anyway by these vendors to do this, I just felt like sharing this information I gathered from personal research.

Journey to healthy hair, Relaxed or Kinky...

Funmi from Nigeria. Source: www.blackgirllonghair.com

I've been getting questions on a how to develop a healthy hair regimen and the kinds of products to use. I'm far from being an expert on the subject but I love to share information. So I just decided to do a post on my blog about “A healthy hair regimen”.  The information I have listed here is mainly the result of personal research, which I have done since I decided to start taking better care of my hair. I have been practicing these for five months and I have seen some results, though I would not say I have a completely healthy hair, I can say I am on my way there!! So these are a couple of findings I have made after going to numerous websites, blogs and vlogs:

1.       Be ready to invest in products that are good for your hair type: I put this as the first because we are so used to dashing to the salon and allowing the hairdressers use whatever products they have no matter what quality they are. I used to do this a lot but not anymore, though my hair suffered for it. Anyway you need

a.       SULFATE FREE SHAMPOO, a good example is DUDU OSUN (BLACK SOAP). Yes I said it, Dudu Osun is good for your hair!!! I found this out when I watched this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29XZPLa8dOM. By the way she is a Yoruba girl living in the US and her hair is lovely.

b.      Good natural rinse out, deep and leave – in conditioners, like the VO5 product line, the GIOVANI line e.t.c.

c.       Natural hair oils and butters. Like coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, castor oil, jojoba oil, peppermint oil (essential oil use in drops with other oils).

2.       Wash your hair at least once a week: For me this was a surprise because I only use to wash my hair like once a month or two months even, lol!!! It is funny but I was seriously ignorant about hair care until five months ago. For me I wash once a week, sometimes I do what I call co washing (please look at the hair language tab to find out what this means).

3.       Deep condition at least once in two weeks: This is almost the same thing as what local salons call “steaming”. I do my own by mixing my regular conditioner, GIOVANNI SMOOTH AS SILK CONDITIONER, with coconut oil, peppermint oil, castor oil and olive oil. I apply this to my hair and then cover with a plastic cap for about 30 mins and then I rinse it out. I do not currently use heat in my regimen so I don’t sit under a dryer for deep conditioning.

4.       After washing your hair and rinsing out the conditioner, you apply your leave in conditioner (cream based product) and then apply your oil. The leave in conditioner puts moisture in your hair while the oil helps to seal the moisture in. You can re moisturize your hair in between wash days if you feel it’s dry.

5.       Protect your hairline whenever you want to put in attachment (hair extensions) or weave – on (weaves) on your hair. Most of our local salons in Naija try to pick the living daylight out of our hair line when braiding it. That part of the hair is very sensitive and should be treated with gentle care. Tell them not to braid it too tight. I have noticed that a majority of Nigerian women, including me, have damaged and thinning hair line due to tight braids, Ghana weaving, tightly sewn weave on and use of chemical relaxers. You can corn row that part before you braid and apply natural castor oil daily, it really helps.
6.    Invest in a silk scarf or satin bonnet. You cover your hair with a silk scarf at night (an old waist slip will even do, lol!!). The silk material will help keep the moisture in your hair while you sleep unlike the hair net we normally use.

7.       Trim regularly. This can be done every four to six months or as much as you think is needed. The areas close to the tip of every hair strand is the oldest part, it is usually either split or knotted (single stand knots). The splits and the knots impede hair growth, so it does the hair no good. Trimming these parts regularly ensures the health and growth of the hair.

8.       Learn and practice doing your hair yourself. Most of us are so dependent on the hairdressers at our local salons; we put the fate of our crown in the hands of these women. I am not saying you should never go to the salon but at least, politely let them know how you want your hair treated. They may frown at you for a while, but when they see the results, they will be your friend and even ask you for tips!!

There are a whole lot of other things to know about caring for your hair, but this is a good start. I will make another post on places I know you can get natural hair products in Nigeria, especially Lagos.

Have I left something out or do you have other healthy hair tips? Please type it in the comment box below.

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My Dominion City Camp Meeting 2013 Experience!!

CAMP MEETING 2013

Hello peeps, I just thought I should share my Camp Meeting 2013 experience with you. First of all I’ll explain what it is all about. Camp Meeting in Dominion City is a four day, Easter weekend program we have at our church. It is like the highlight of every year, where we take time out from the city, our work or any other thing that keeps us busy and “away” from God. Also every member of the church, no matter where you are in the world, attends. It also serves as a time where we meet friends from different cities that we haven’t seen in ages. Every year's Camp Meeting is different from the rest and this one was what I call SPECTABULOUS!!!! LOl!! I had an awesome awesome time in God’s presence. There were wonderful prayer, praise and worship sessions that left my heart feeling light and illuminated. WOW!!! I had a great time!!

My Pastor, Reverend David Ogbueli. One of the most humble men of God I know, God bless you sir!

This year, the theme of the meeting was “Seeing and Owning the Future: Global Trends”. This theme is particularly interesting in the sense that as Christians we are not only equipped to live in the church but also to live in the world considering the times we live in. One major topic that our father, Reverend David Chuwkudi Ogbueli talked about was on “the Law of Reflection aka The Principle of Reflection”. What I understood from this message was that we are to do things exactly the way God does His things. Yeah I know cliché, right? But if you think about it, even though we hear this every day, getting to practice it is where the problem lies. If you go through the gospels (Matthew, Mark Luke and John), you find that Jesus asked that God glorify Himself through Him, Jesus John 5: 19, in most of His prayers. So when we pray, we can include that as our major prayer point. We can ask God to give us His grace to do things that glorify Him. We can also ask that He glorifies Himself through us John 17:1. It could be in our work place, in school at the hospital, anywhere! Prayers really change things, not just circumstances but it also changes us!

So for me, it was another significant time in my life. I received the blessings that God released to the people. I knew in my heart of hearts that all prayers I made have been answered, I am only waiting for the physical manifestation of my requests!!

God's Dominion City Generals.