Pascaline Laure - Natural Hair Care - Type 4 Hair - Kids Activities - EN FR

EN (English) DIYs ingredients samples for a full wash day - Basic Mixture - PH - Dosages  DIYs ingredients samples for a full wash day Pre-poo :  1 oil (olive oil, avocado oil) or 2 or 3 different oils (olive oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil) or aloe vera gel + oils or conditioner + oils Cleanser : clay mask (water, rhassoul/bentonite/kaolin, tea tree essential oil) black african soap shampoo / alep soap shampoo / castille soap shampoo (water, soap, tea tree essential oil) Deep treatment : yoghurt/avocado/banana/conditioner/mask, egg, honey, oils, essential oils    Moisturizing and styling : L : Homemade leave-in (aloe vera gel, olive oil, castor oil, vitamin E)  C : Homemade cream (aloe vera gel, shea butter, olive oil, castor oil, vitamin E) O : Olive oil, Avocado oil, Grapeseed oil, Castor oil   B : Homemade whipped butter (shea butter, olive oil, castor oil, vitamin E) G : Homemade flaxseed gel (flaxseed...

EN (English) Building your staple hair products When starting your natural hair journey, even for beginners, there is already a lot of things (tools and basic products) to buy. Hence, you generally don't want to spend too much money on store-bought product you don't even know yet if they are going to work well on your hair. So, where to start? Full wash day with recommended DIYs and/or recommended affordable store-bought products is certainly the first way to go and gradually you figure out what best works for you. Once you have your goto DIYs and your staple affordable products, then you start incorporating more expensive recommended store-bought products little by little and you figure out if they work for your hair compared to your already preferred products (DIYs, affordable products). This comparison will help you to decide whether to introduce them as staples into your hair routine and also prevent you from spending unecessary money. Trying new products isn...

EN (English) Looking for balance between moisture and protein The health of your hair depends on the balance between moisture and protein. Hair is made of proteins (amino acids) called keratin. Here are some signs that your hair needs more moisture : 1. Your hair has low porosity 2. Your hair takes time to air dry 3. Your hair is dry 4. Your hair is crunchy or stiff Here are some signs that your hair is crying out for a protein treatment : 1. Your hair has high porosity 2. Your hair air dries very quickly 3. Your hair has lost its elasticity: Is your hair hard to curl or even losing its natural curl? 4. Your hair is Limp or Stringy. Hair that is limp (without energy) or flat (dull) is a definite sign that your hair needs a protein treatment. 5. Your hair feels Gummy or Sticky. This can happen if your hair is chemically processed too frequently or your hair has suffered an excessive amount of damage or suffers of moisture overload (hygral fatigue) 6. You’ve recently colored your h...

EN (English) Deep Treatments and (Ingredients) Samples  Deep Treatment or Conditioning Process Fully saturate hair with products and work in sections (2 to 12 sections). Detangle hair while fully saturated with fingers first, then with a wide tooth comb and if you have enough slip you can further detangle with a detangling brush. Use some heat and keep your conditioner a little longer than recommended, if you have low porosity hair (hair that has difficulties to absorb products). Hence, use tepid water, plastic cap, heat cap, tepid/hot towel or warm up just a little your deep treatment using boiling water (bain-marie).  Don't over condition regularly, for a whole night for example : around 1 hour is enough, in general, for low porosity hair if you use some heat. Deep Treatment Types There are different textures of deep treatments : 1. water (water based infused with plants or herbs or seeds or powders) 2. oil (oil based infused with plants or herbs or s...

EN (English) Unstyling, pre-poo or pre-cleaning, cleaning Un-styling/Taking down braids/plaits/tresses for wash day and pre-poo 1. Spray water on the braids and oil them  2. Unravel a braid  3. Spray water and oil the unravelled braid, if needed (pre-poo) 4. Detangle with fingers and then, if needed, detangle with a wide/medium tooth comb, according to the braid size, in order to remove shed hair and tangles  5. Move to the next braid 6. Put your hair into sections gradually (2 to 12 sections) == Pre-poo or pre-cleaning without braids to unravel Spray water and oil hair. Put hair into sections (2 to 12 sections). Pre-poo is done in general with water and oil. We can also use any product that ease hair manipulation like conditioner, detangler, aloe vera gel if necessary. Pre-poo allows to pre-detangle hair (finger, wide/medium tooth comb). Pre-poo reduce the stripping effect of shampoo. Pre-poo nourrishes, softens and eases the hair manipulation...

EN (English) How to manipulate (detangle, style, unstyle) your hair to reduce breakage? Knowing how to manipulate your hair is very important in a healthy hair care routine as well as products used. Products nourrish, moisturize and also ease hair manipulation.  Here are some tips when handling particularly type 4 hair. 1. Be patient and gentle with your hair.  2. Work on damped, oiled, (deep) conditioned or moisturized hair. You can use your favorite detangler as well.  3. Put your hair in sections (2 to 12) and work (detangle, style, unstyle) in even smaller sections. The longer your hair is going to be the less sections you are going to need. The looser your curl pattern is the less sections you are going to need. 4. Use your fingers first to detangle your hair : finger massage your hair (preening, praying method), gently pull and separate your hair, finger comb your hair.Then use a wide tooth comb and if you have enough slip, you can detangle more wi...

EN (English) Hair Characteristics and Types 1. Curl-pattern (1-straight , 2-wavy, 3-curly-coily, 4-kinky-coily) : How your hair looks like? Important for hair manipulation (work in sections, detangling process, approriate tools) and products choice (based on ingredients and their importance or concentration in a given product). 2. Density (Low/Light/Sparse, medium, High/Heavy/Full) : How much hair do you have? Tests: 1. Do you see your scalp without having to manipulate your hair? 2. Bun size (<2inches, 2-4 inches, >4inches) ? Important for product texture choice. Accordingly, one can choose light (low density), thick (high density) or a mix of light and thick products. 3. Width (Thin/Fine/Small, medium, Thick/Large/Coarse) : How large is your hair strand? Tests: 1. Take a hair strand an compare it to half of the width of a thread (<, =, >). 2. Take a hair strand and put it in front of a light. If you can't see the strand then your hair is fin...

EN (English)  Hair growth cycle and what to expect Disclaimer 1 : Everyone's hair is beautiful no matter what texture it is and no matter what length it is. It just has to be healthy. Disclaimer 2 : This section is about estimation of growth. Of course, you can go past that estimation or never reach that estimation for whatever reason (health, consistency, bad habits, ...). For most (healthy) people, hair grows on average about half an inch (1,27cm) every month. However, some people grow their hair slower or faster than average according to their genetics. On the other hand, each hair strand has a lifetime and between starting to grow and falling out years later, it passes through different stages : anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen. The anagen stage is the growing phase and lasts between 2 to 7 years (also a genetic factor). Moreover, in our head there are always strands that are in different stages at the same time. Hence, for most people, after 2 to 5 years o...

EN (English)  My Big Chop and Length Check Hi there! I finally did big chop my remaining relaxed ends on the 22nd of September 2019 after about 13 months of transitioning. I am so happy! I am going to wear my hair "out" more often now. Can't wait to show you what I'm doing with it. I did my length check on damp hair and my hair is about 5 inches long for the most part. == Note 1 - My hair actual length is approximately 5 inches (13cm) after 13 months of transition (measured in september 2019). My hair hence grow for about 1cm per month which is a little less than half an inch (1,27cm). Note 2 - My daughter monthly hair growth is approximately the same rate as mine (1cm per month). After 8 months of a hair care routine, I measured her hair (may 2019) and waited for 3 months to measure it again (august 2019). Her hair is currently about 11 inches (27cm) long -measured in august 2019-. Her hair was stuck at about 8,6 inches (22cm) before I started...

EN(English)  Wash Day Steps  Full Wash Day Main Steps 1. Pre-poo or Pre-cleaning or Un-styling and/or Sectioning and Pre-detangling on damp hair 2. Cleaning 3. Deep conditioning treatment on damp hair 4. Moisturizing on damp hair 5. Styling (low manipulation styles or protective styles) Frequencies observed, in general, on a regular basis : every week, every 2 weeks, every month. Wash day is the spine of a healthy hair care routine. == Full Wash Day Routine Detailed Steps (some steps may be optional) A. Preparing hair for a new style 1. dampen, oil and/or un-style hair 2. sectioning (2 to 4 sections, preferably into ponytails) 3. pre-poo with water and oil and/or conditioner in addition to a detangler if necessary and pre-detangle (finger -gently pull, separate-, wide tooth comb or detangling brush) 4. put back into sections (2 to 12 sections, preferably single twists or single braids or bantu knots)   5. cleaning : shampoo (alternate betwee...

EN (English)  Natural hair care basic products  When statrting your natural hair journey, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the products available on the market and lauded here and there. In the end, there is a significant amount of products you can use. Here is my list down below ordered by "relevance".  Of course, you don't need to have all of them at the beginning. Actually, you should buy them gradually and figure out as you go in your hair journey if you need more products so as to create your own personal list. Basic Products A. Natural Organic Oils and Butters Penetrating oils (that have the ability to penetrate the hair shaft) : olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil.  Note: For coconut oil sensitive persons, always mix coconut oil with another (penetrating) oil before using it and see if your hair reacts better. If not, then avoid using coconut oil. Sealing oils or half-penetrating oils or butters : almond oil, grapeseed oil, jbco -jam...

EN (English) Natural hair care basic tools When statrting your natural hair journey, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the tools available on the market and lauded here and there. In the end, there is a significant amount of tools you can use. Here is my list down below ordered by "relevance". Of course, you don't need to have all of them at the beginning. Actually, you should buy them gradually and figure out as you go in your hair journey if you need more tools so as to create your own list. Tools Combs (wide/medium/fine tooth comb, tail comb) Detangling Brushes Elastics/Scrunchies, Headbands, (Bobby-)Pins, Clips, (Rubber-)Bands, African Threads, Buns Soft brush, Toothbrush  Spray Bottle Silk/Satin Bonnet (normal and big size) Silk/Satin Pillow Case Microfiber Towel Plastic Cap - Stretchable Plastic Film Heat Cap Ornaments (beads, rings, cauris, colored threads) Hairdresser Scissor Extensions Wig Cap Wigs (glueless wigs, headband or...

EN (English)  Why I decided to go natural and my one year transitioning time  I was natural until I went to the university. Then, I relaxed my hair and keep doing it until recently because I found it easier to manage. It all started when I was taking care of my daughter's hair and I didn't really know what to do. She didn't have a routine and neither did I. I just knew I wanted things to be different for her. I wanted her to be proud of her natural hair and not ask me for a perm because I wasn't satisfied with my relaxed hair either apart from its "easiest manageability". Besides, I really wanted her to stay away as much as possible from those chemicals. My daughter started feeling a little bit uncomfortable with her hair.  So I thought I should find a good routine and beautiful styles for her hair  because I was barely doing anything but washing, putting some oil or pomade and doing some quick style. Moreover, I was using too much heat on her hair...

EN (english)    About Natural Hair Care Type 4 Welcome to my blog! My name is Pascaline Laure and I am a mother of 2 children. I will be documenting and sharing here mostly my natural hair journey as well as my daughter's hair care routine and also some activities with my kids.  Every article will be published in english and in french.  I hope this blog will be informative, helpful and entertaining. ====