This Lazy Natural’s Confessions

Hello people!

Before I go into today’s post, I’d like to apologise. On this blog, we try hard to keep things simple, to show that this natural thing isn’t as hard to do as people think it is but sometimes I do a lot. So, if I have ever made you feel discouraged like natural hair is super high maintenance, I’m really sorry. I like to play with my hair, but as I’ve said time and again, I know my hair doesn’t NEED all that attention. 4C hair actually prefers to be left alone.

Pamper your hair when you can, as often as you can, but your hair won’t leave you if you don’t have time to baby it. I’ve been a very lazy natural lately. This is quite interesting for me because I am (or I used to be) a major planner. Lists for days. Shopping planned wayyyyy in advance. Between the end of last year and the start of this one, I amassed a great haul that saw me through most of 2015. I don’t have as much free time as I used to, so I have had to prioritise. If I’m stressed during the week, the last thing I want to spend my weekend doing is installing mini twists, or even washing my hair. And it’s nothing to feel bad about.

I realise that my attitude has somehow become much more like MeeMee’s, and we call this an “anywhere belle face” attitude. You don’t feel like washing? No wahala- we’ll figure it out. How to style? Oh snap. I don’t need this right now. I’ll sort it out in traffic or something.

I don’t always like the outcomes of spontaneous hair planning, but this is definitely freeing. It has reminded me that it’s not that serious. Sometimes, you have to ask yourself- are you wearing your hair or is your hair wearing you? *fake deep much? haha*

My cheapest trick remains mud washing. Bentonite clay + ACV + Honey is enough to wash my hair, free up tangles, and impart super moisture to my strands in one step. It occurred to me a couple weeks ago that instead of clogging my drain with the clay, I could wash my hair under the tap at the back of my house. LOL. Don’t judge me, haha. It’s definitely more comfortable to do this outside than in my small shower stall, where the water pressure isn’t all that great for rinsing. Plus, that drain doesn’t get clogged and it’s much easier to clean. See? This is one of the side-effects of being a lazy natural, you get creative. I’m naturally a big sufferhead (personality bordering on extreme Type A) but now, I find myself thinking about short cuts. You know how they say working hard isn’t the same thing as working smart? It’s the same thing here.

I’ve realised that I don’t quite like the way my hair looks in a puff if there isn’t some sort of manipulated texture to it (that is, from braids or twists or something).

Super puff. Stretched after 3 days as Simbi, see below. This was a good day 🙂

My hair is dense, so when it’s dry and shrunken somehow, it’s not that easy to fluff into a puff I can be proud of. But, the less fluffy puffs are still good to go. I could start the week with a fluffy puff, and go to bed like that every night. By Thursday, Friday, it’s too “tight” for my liking but it’s all good still.

Hard day. Tight puff ( ._.)

I’ve worn my hair like this a few times.

The first time, they called me Simbi at work, but the people loved it on Instagram. I was feeling like Wizkid or Davido or something that day. Like Insta was my own Ojuelegba Shitta. (What am I saying?) It’s really simple. You twist your hair in chunky twists and hold the twists together somehow. I like doing this on dry hair because it’s easier for me to make neat twists. It’s cute, and functional. Just make sure the parts are neat. Also, I love the super-stretch it gives me.

So, I must confess that right now, I do not have a fixed regimen per se. I wash my hair in some way on the weekends (co-wash, mudwash, sometimes I shampoo & deep condition). As I mentioned in this post, my staple products are tired of me, my stash is pretty much gone now & my anyhow attitude won’t let me buy products that I haven’t researched well well- so I have had to scrape and make the most of the stuff I have. In scraping, I recently rediscovered a sample of Design Essentials shampoo that was in my goody bag from The Nigerian Natural Hair and Beauty Show in May.

I’m in love with it, and I absolutely have to find it later in life. I have never really really liked a shampoo before but this one? Design Essentials sabi the work! I also discovered by accident, that while the Nature’s Gentle Touch leave-in conditioner isn’t great, their Cholesterol treatment is a great help. It has amazing slip. I used it to detangle my hair one day before washing, and that was amazeballs. I then co-washed after, and my hair was in great condition. Loved it. There was also one weekend where I washed my hair, moisturised with the Nature’s Gentle Touch leave-in and sealed with Kuza Indian Hemp cream. Terrible idea. Hair was so dry by the next day!

Last week, I received product lines from Ultra Black Hair and Midas Naturals to review. I will have my reviews ready in some weeks time, so on the product front, you can say I’m going to be having some consistency for a while. 

What's in the bag? 👀 @brazencurls, the new line from @midasnaturals. First impression: it's cute.

A photo posted by Ekene & Marilyn (@thekinkandi) on Nov 15, 2015 at 7:46am PST

This “anywhere belle face” life is alright but, I’d like to return to having structure in my hair affairs. One of the advantages of having a routine is, you don’t have to spend so much time on certain decisions. Planning for my hair (at least loosely) is definitely something that will help me as I try to be more fiscally responsible, and more productive with my time. The way my mom looks at me sometimes when I’m fussing with it on weeknights ehn, the thought that she might cut my hair when I’m asleep has crossed my mind a few times. For these reasons, going forward, I’ll definitely make sure I have a plan for at least the first quarter of 2016.

Also, it’s important to note that while I have been skipping vital wash day elements like pre-pooing, sometimes deep conditioning, I do not detangle my hair dry without using a conditioner, and I almost always go to sleep with a hair bonnet. Styling on dirty hair is still a no no. Tried that last Friday night and my flakes were seriously on fleek, lol!

That’s all from me for now. Any law school people in the building? On request, I’m preparing a post about coping with natural hair, and life generally in NLS. Let me know if you would like that. 🙂

I know I’m definitely new to the Lazy Naturals Club. If you’re here too, it’s your own turn to confess in the comments. The Kink and I remains a safe space to be your own type of natural. ^_^

Love,

AB,

xx

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