LOC - The Leave-In + Oil + Cream Method

Hello Lovelies!

Today's post is great for all my curly girls out there! Yes say good-bye to frizzy and coarse dry hair that does what it wants and does not listen to you. Do you know my favourite quote...?

'' When your hair won't listen to you and it's a mess and ur just like:
I grew you myself??
I gave you life and this is how you
repay me?? ''

source: un-known genius girl.

I feel you girl. :D So this method is originally invented by my beautiful black afro american haired gals with super curly and coarse hair. And it works like a charm for everyone who's hair is is a similar state of dryness and frizziness. I am not sure who came up first with it, but the girls form naturally curly website have been raving a lot about it. This will work for thick, curly, wavy and dry hair. If your hair is super smooth, straight and silky it may weight your hair down, but why nevertheless give it a try. Just use minimal amounts and you should be fine. You always start with freshly washed wet hair.

The basics of LOC-Method are :

1. Leave in. Use a leave in you love. It is important that is mostly water based. I use Aloe Vera Gel (100% organic I switched it now to Urtekrams, which a great Aloe Gel!) You ca also use a rose-water leave in, line seed gel or even very watered down conditioner (like one drop conditioner and a glass of water). I start at my chin and go down all the length.
2. Oil. It is simple, oil and long hair go together hand in hand, they are the best couple on the planet. My favourite at the moment is almond oil, But there are tons of great oils, just find the one that makes you most happy, have a look at my top 5 hair oils. I apply 5 drops of almond oil starting and my ends and work it up about 25 cm. 
3. Cream. Use a good organic body butter. I have a wonderful one from Bioturm with a Vanilla Scent. It works great on your bumpy legs and dry spots as a real body butter but is also amazing for your hair. There are a few different organic options, even DM has two, one with Avocado and one with Vanilla too. Just stay away from Body Butters containing silicones. make sure your body butter contains generous amounts of shea butter or cache butter. You don't want that on your body and hair - it is like a plastic coat. I just ran out of my original hair butter, I have the DIY recipe here for you. I need to order some shea butter to make a new batch.

Results:

Moistutzed soft hair, defined waves. I usually brush my curls out,
but they were much more defined.

Why LOC? Does it matter in which order I apply?

Well yes it does. Applying a liquid moisturiser first and then applying an oil and cream will help you seal moisture in. You will notice that drying your hair will take much longer when you use the LOC method. But the results are worth it, your hair is much softer and finally moisturised.
If you do it the first time I recommend you to use a light hand when dosing your products, start with much less than you normally would. Otherwise it might be too much and you will end up with limp, oily and sticky hair. All happened before -.-
Let me know how this worked for you, lots of happy hair days to you,

About Loving Your Hair

Me happy and content, at peace.

Hello Lovelies!

I have been planning this post for the longest time and finally found the right words.

About the time I was fighting against my hair..

Some years ago, actually quite a long time ago after I finished high school I just had a moment when suddenly I understood what loving your hair really means. See, I have very coarse curly and thick hair that is super dry when not properly taken care of with sheabutter leave in and coconut oil. 

But my hair type is not really common in Europe - I had no idea what to do with my hair or how to take care of it. The girls in my high school class all had blonde fine and shiny super/straight hair with lots of layers. And you know what - I really wanted to look like these girls! I was flat iron my hair to get my curls and waves out, damaging my hair nearly beyond repair. And this was not enough - I dyed it bleach blonde as well. My structure became even worse of course in between washes and I was never able to achieve the silky smooth look I wanted so badly. Leave alone that when my hair is too short it curls and frizzes even more leaving me with the look of a little hedgehog.

It took some time for me to realise that I should really appreciate what I do have and start making the most out of it. Once I embraced my hair structure, colour and thickness and started growing my hair long, it really only then revealed it's beauty. Before believe me - it was a hot frizzy mess. 

No matter what type of hair you have - if straight, curly thin or thick, firstly you got to start loving it. It will only make you unhappy if you are trying to be something that you are not and it will always look fake as well. 

You can take baby steps, this is what I did. 

1. What hair structure do you have? Straight? Great! Try out hair styles that will not change your structure and give you a silky smooth look - e.g. the lazy wrap bun which does not give you bun waves. Curly? Try to nuture your hair with aloe vera gel, use the t-shirt towel method and try conditioning only to keep your moisture in and your curls crunchy. Wavy? You are like me, I am sure your hair will be very happy about braids at night with some hair oil in it so that you hair can keep it's natural waves. You hair will be most happy when you let it be in it's own natural structure and reward you with shine and non/frizz :)
2. Colour! Are you in the silvery blonde or ashy blonde department? Try a silver shampoo that let's your hair shine and removes yellowing from the sun. You are a golden blonde or dark golden blonde? Wonderfull, try chamomile rinses and if you want to go lighter - lemon rinses to naturally lighten up your hair. You have black hair? You lucky one, normally you don't need to do anything. So many people are jealous because you have naturally the most shine. But why not try black tea rinses to add a burgundy glow to your hair and indigo once your greys start to show up. You are a brunette or red head? Wonderful you can use henna rinses, henna glow or henna treatments to intensify your own redness like I do. I use a hair treatment once a month with 2,5 cups of cassia (''colourless henna'') 1 tablespoon of henna and 1 tablespoon of Amla and 2 tablespoons of Shishakai. It gives my natural auburn just enough ginger shimmer in the sun without really changing my hair colour. 
3. Hair State! Well firstly we need to start pampering your hair. Try to be gentle. No heat please at all costs if possible, unless you live in the antarctica and are inuit. Be nice to your hair - take your time brushing, use a good smooth wooden comb or my favourite - a horn comb. Use good ingredients - there are affordable organic options for all budgets and even good affordable silicone free products.You don't need to spend a ton on expensive salon products or super high marketed organic options. Listen to your hair - is it dry? Do a deep conditioning treatment before each wash. Is it very oily? Use a mild shampoo and try to stretch your washes so it gets used to produce less oil. 

Wise saying. Beauty.

Now, it might be that you are still fighting against your hair in one or another sense. But I do have some tips for you. Believe me every hair type and colour is beautiful. You have trouble seeing that? Go to pinterest and google your hair type, you will find thousands of beautiful pictures of your natural hair state. Make your own inspirational board :) 

I believe that once you make peace with yourself - your hair you will always look beautiful. I find the most beautiful people are the ones that are content and always look at the bright side. Your hair might be super frizzy - but it sure does make a gigantic beautiful thick braid as well. Try to always focus on the good aspects. The bad things will vanish and mostly the things you find vaults in are beautiful for other people. Beauty always lies in the eye of the beholder. Such a very true wise saying. This also applies for other things, like your body type, your colours and complexion, your height and many other things. Never forget that we all struggle to an extent and even the prettiest person might be extremely insecure and awkward in certain areas. Once you radiate your own inner peace - you will always be beautiful. Inside and out. 

Current Hair Care Up-Date

Hello Lovelies!

I think it is time for a current hair care favourites post :) 

Here is an update of the products I currently love!

Aubrey Organics Island Naturals and Jojoba and Aloe for very dry and coarse hair

I love Island's Natural Shampoo from Aubrey organics - it is a very rich shampoo with lovely golden coloured herbal pieces in it. It moisturises the hair very thoroughly. In combination with Jojoba and Aloe Conditioner - great! - these two will be the death of dry and frizzy hair. The downside: if used too often in a row, they will weigh my hair down and leave an oily film. 

Mild clearing shampoo - Urea 5% Balea 2 in 1

That is why I use the Balea 5%  Urea Shampoo and Shower Gel. The Balea Shampoo doubles as a body wash is very mild and will remove any film or oiliness. The downside is that there are not a lot of nutrients - so I will just use this shampoo maybe once or twice a month as a clearing shampoo

Easy Gym Solution / Balea Professional

I have been going to the gym on a very regular basis every second day, since I gained some weight over the holidays :D  For the gym the very affordable Balea Professional Shampoo and Conditioner are a great easy solution. I am currently using the brown shampoo and conditioner because I love the smell of these so much - they smell like almonds,caramel and chocolate :) It is a heavenly smell. This duo also contains brown sparkling pigments and helps to intensify my auburn tones.

From the Balea Professional line I have also used the Repair Hair Care Line and the Oil Repair Line - I do like all of these three versions although I love the brown series the most. Please beware that this line will dry your hair out on the long run because it contains PEG and film-bildners that coat your hair. The reason why I like to use it occasionally is because I get very easily detangled hair which is great after a quick Gym workout. 

Now my favourite oil is the Weleda Rose Oil - it is a great oil as a leave-in and deep conditioning treatment before you wash your hair. The smell is wonderful very herbal and not too sweet or flowery. It smells like wild roses. It is a great body oil as well gets absorbed easily and will leave your skin very soft and glowing! It is a very pricey oil and I usually get it for my birthday as a gift :)

It contains mainly jojoba oil, sweet almond oil and rosehip oil. A lot of cheaper organic oils are based on sunflower seed oil and do not contain these high quality organic oils. If you buy a rose oil make sure you check the main ingredients to ensure that your rose oil actually contains rose <3 .

The ingredients are wonderful as well:
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Rosa Moschata (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Oil, Fragrance (Parfum)*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Citronellol*, Benzyl Alcohol*, Benzyl Benzoate*, Geraniol*, Citral*, Eugenol*, Farnesol*.