What’s your hair type?

I’m sure we’ve all heard or read on hair types. There’s even plenty of videos on YouTube.

So after a long search on hair type charts we could …well…borrow, we found a much more expanded & clear one at  longhaircareforum.com. It was posted by a lady by the username of “Silvergirl”. She shows the broader diversity of natural hair types.

Breaking it down:

There’s 4 hair types

Type 1: Straight
Type 2: Wavy
Type 3: Curly
Type 4: Kinky

Below is a visual description of the different hair types:

Please look here for a much bigger & clearer image.

Now I’ve noticed that most black people in SA fall under the last 5 groups of Type 4 hair: 4d-4h

I’d put most coloureds between group 2a and 4c (I stand to be corrected though). Having said that, I’ve also seen coloreds with the kinkiest of tresses.

I fall under one of the last 2 groups of  Type 4 hair & still struggling to find what works for my hair in terms of regime, styling & products.

What is your hair type and what haircare system works for you?

Hair accessories

Ok ladies, don’t we all just love to accessorize? You know you look good in that outfit, but there is just always that one  ‘touch’ missing…mmmhh, yip, a cute necklace, or those eye-catching earrings, or (lately) a figure-hugging belt to accentuate those beautiful African curves.

Well, its not only your clothes that need that extra touch of bling or cuteness…even that beautiful Afro or locs can look uber stylish!

Now since I’ve gone natural, I love  to accessorize my hair in different styles – from wearing headwraps/ headscarves/iduku, to adorning cute clips and headbands, in all sorts of colours and patterns. The only hair accessory I haven’t tried yet, are those gorgeous summer hats, or the poor boy hats that are normally worn in winter. Whenever I’m out shopping, the first place I visit is the accessories aisle, I’m always on the look out for any new and quirky hair accessories that catch my eyes. I must say one of the few places that are quite creative with their hair accessories has to be Foschini and Identity stores! I find they have a wide variety from casual to formal hair accessories. Foschini does tend to be a bit pricey so if you are working with a budget, you can get beautiful accessories for half the price at Identity!

So, I thought I should share with you some of the different types of hair accessories I own and love 🙂 Plus, I will also show you a few I saw from the net and think are just too adorable…

Some of my hair accessories…

My growing stash of hair accessories

A few cute ones I saw on the net… I came across this website and i just fell in love with their accessories…http://www.andreasbeau.com/

Doesn’t she just look gorgeous?!

What’s nice about hair accessories is that you can either dress them up or down, depending on the occasion and the look you want to achieve. So what hair accessories do you love to wear?

Nipha: Shortest definition of Diva

So EHP aka germ freak, Nipha agreed to be profiled on FroChic to represent the beautiful naturals rocking locs. Style doesn’t even begin to describe this girl.

Feed your eyes:

I’ve been rockin locs since April 2004

I decided to go natural because chemicals were too high maintenance and I’d relax my hair and after two weeks it was back to being kinky at the roots (need a touch up) and I honestly don’t think relaxed hair really suited me.

The reactions I got when I took the decision to go natural were amazing; when I BC’d I went really really short…I loved it and people thought it was the best thing like it “brought my sexy back” in a way. lol

What I love about my locs is that I can play around with them a lot, I can go short, curly, straight, fringe, highlights…i can do elegant to funky with them…and most importantly they never break like my relaxed hair used to.

The style I love rockin has to be the curls (Bantu knot outs).

I use Stylin dreadz spray for sheen & moisture.

My favorite hair salon right now is Dreadlock Dreams in Durban. Even though I only discovered it about a year ago no one comes close. When I’m in Joburg, it has to be Mapawu Hair salon in Braamfontein.

I had beautiful long and healthy looking relaxed hair but it jst was not me

I plan on trimming them sometime as I don’t want them to get too long (waistline length).

I still get a few stereotypes who assume I’m Rastafarian. They go as far as calling me “Jah lady” or even “Jah man” lol

My secret to the most fabulous locs: Patience & lots of love

Bedtime: I wear the great black stalking aka mgusha…lol and yes it works wonders in keeping every hair in place

Fashion: I like anything that stands out, I’m really feeling the bright coloured skinnies at the moment and wedge hills and sling bags

Holllrrrrrrrr….

Black & White: Update

Alright, I know we promised you to keep you in the loop on Ropfi & Anne’s hair growth by taking monthly measurements and failed to honour that promise.

Our apologies for that.

While Anne‘s hair is growing out steadily straight, so is Roxy’s. Only once glitch, Roxy has got braids on since December and hasn’t taken them out yet. Once she takes them out (which should be soon), we’ll take our 1st measurements and compare the two.

Li’l Olwethu

Mother to 1 year old, Olwethu (well, 1yr 5months to be precise), Kele sent us her little girl’s pictures of her beautiful natural hair. Although she recently chopped O’s hair, we couldn’t resist these beautiful pics and tips on how other mommies (myself included), who are struggling with their little ones’ hair could learn a thing or two from her story.

I never applied any form of heating on O’s hair. I just towel-dried after a wash.

When she was not wearing plaits, I would only wash it weekly with Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo (the yellow one).

Her hair has always been soft and manageable, so i didn’t need to do any detangling. Johnson & Johnson baby oil did the trick.

She mostly wore it in plaits, so usually after a weekly wash, I’d plait it and then later in the week undo the plaits to let her scalp breathe.

Doing her hair was never a struggle like it is with many babies. We had to be creative. So what I’d usually do is distract her by putting her on my mom’s back (she loves it) and then do her hair without any hassle.

When she turned 1yr 2m, I switched her hair products from Johnson & Johnson baby oil to Kubi range (hairfood and spray). The baby oil had started giving her a rash on the scalp.

I cut her hair for the 1st time a few months after her 1st birthday as she started to look uncomfortable. She’d constantly scratch her head & I would sport traces of dandruff(clearly the baby oil had already done the damage)

@2 months

@9 months

I’m planning on growing her hair naturally again as I’m against chemicals on hair, until she decides otherwise later when she grows up. For now, what mommy says goes.lol I’m surely to emphisise the fact that her hair is beautiful as natural as it is….just needs more maintanance. Natural is the way to go and since hers is extra soft, maintaining it wont be much of a problem.

Happy Birthday O

Isn’t she just adorable……

with mom 'n dad

After the chop

Still cute…

Grow baby, grow…

Its 2010, a new year has started and I’m super excited.., except my hair is just bogging me down. Why?…Well, I’m just feeling a little bit frustrated lately with my natural hair growth. I just seems to be taking soooo long get it to the desired length and thickness. I know one needs to be PATIENT and all (as Nomalanga mentioned in her hair story) but sometimes it seems like I’ve been patient forever, but still no growth, lol…(OK, I know I’ve only been natural for like 7 months, but still…)

I don’t know if its because I haven’t worn my hair in braids or cornrows for a while now since I become natural? I’ve been letting my hair to grow ‘freely’ (a.k.a: to avoid the pain that comes with putting braids in, lol) but it still seems like I keep seeing the same length each day and there is no progress 😦

For some strange reason, when you wear cornrows or braids for a month or so, by the time you take them out, you hair seems to have grown an inch or two! Could it be that one tends not to fuss too much on the hair growth that by the time you loosen the cornrows, time has flown and your hair seems to have grown overnight?? Hai, I don’t know…

Do you guys also get frustrated with your natural hair growth, and do you have a specific regimen or use specific products to encourage growth?..

Or perhaps there really is no “quick-fix” solution; except for just good ol’ patience 🙂

My hair 7 months natural

Love and blessings,

Nangi

Nomalanga: fierce natural beauty!

Meet Nomalanga, a 20-something year old performer and arts and culture activist. Nomalanga has been natural for 9 years now and was kind enough to share some of the different hairstyles she has rocked over the years – enjoy!

My hair care regimen

Biggest natural hair care must haves: shampoo, conditioner, hair food and hair spray. The single most powerful ingredient though is PATIENCE!

For the afro do’s I keep an afro comb and hairspray handy and for the braids and the cornrows a soft brush is key to keep them nice and tidy. I wash my hair at least once a week and these are the products I swear by:

• Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo – restores moisture
• Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner
• Caivil Natural Options Hair and Scalp Nourisher Spray with Tea Tree oil
• Caivil Natural Options Moisture Mold – great for dreadlocks (thickness and texture)
• Caivil Natural Options Hair Food – for keeping hair nourished and healthy

I am always prepared that natural hair WILL misbehave. When all else fails – I simply wear a headwrap.

What prompted me to go natural

When I was at Art School I became quite the scruffy kind along with being a workaholic and spent every waking moment at the art studio. Grooming and looking pretty were so unpopular and a huge waste of time so I just let everything go; including my hair. One day someone said to me “hey you have such nice dreadlocks” and I was like “what dreadlocks?!” Turns out my hair had locked for lack of combing it and I hadn’t even noticed. I then decided to keep it as it was because it was easy to manage. I could just get up in the morning and go! It’s been 9 years now and I wouldn’t go back for anything!

Styles I like to rock

When I want to look cleaner and more polished I rock my Cornrows. I either have my whole head cornrowed or I leave the back undone and comb the afro out.

The afro look is also one of my favourites – I look like my mother back in the 80’s when Afros were hot. It means a lot to me to look like her.

My signature look over the last 3 years has been my long ethnic braids with the side fringe. When I’m rocking this look I feel sassy, stylish and sexy!

Now, that is what we call FIERCE natural beauty!

Happy New Year!

Here is to a blessed and fabulous 2010! Finally, the 2010 we have all been waiting for is here baby! Our country has been waiting for so long for this year to arrive, the year that the whole world will touch down on African soil to experience the beautiful game of soccer being played here in Mzansi.

As FroChic we want to continue providing you with as much information as we can regarding natural hair care. We plan to have more product reviews, feature more naturals rocking their hairstyles with pride and many more other exciting things!

We really value your support and we hope to hear more from you this year…and remember you too can be featured in our blog by just dropping us an email on frochic@gmail.com.

Have a great 2010 y’all!

Much love,

Matlhodi & Nangamso