Natural head Family

I went to visit my 2 nieces yesterday. They both stayed with the same friend. My sis's daughter N came from the U.S. She's married to a lovelyAA man and has a little tot.

This is the tiny tot S with her natural coily curls in all it's glory. She's just too cute...

This is my U.S niece's hair. She's ALL natural and has been for years. And yes this is ALL her own hair...Flat ironed. I ran my fingers through it and it was silky and soft! It's actually a lot thicker than in the pic. I won't go near heat myself, but if straight is your look, doing it without chemicals is the way to go. I don't slate anyone using heat bc hey my 2nd daughter, (chemical- free...erm if you don't count dye), has curly/wavy hair- all natural and is best friends with her hair straightener. So let's not split hairs about natural, napptural etc I'm just glad we can all look at relaxers/perms with the side-eye Lol.

This is my France niece N who lives in...Nice hehehe. My brother's daughter. She's married to a french'broni' and has a 5yr old daughter M. N has locs. Her hair is simply amazing. The thickness, the texture....She's had a variety of styles from twists,locs,closecrop,afro,now locs again. It's clear she's heading for a lion's mane!

This is the sideview of N's locs. Nice eh.

Me and N. I can't believe these kids now have kids of their own. I mean it was just yesterday I was changing their nappies , combing and plaiting their hair.....

i guess we must have done something right somewhere,somehow, along the way cos both my daughters, and ALL my nieces shun relaxers/perms and are natural.

Apple cider vinegar or other vinegars?

How to make a vinegar hair rinse using Apple Cider Vinegar and essential oils.
Put 2 cups ACV or other vinegar in a glass jar(with lid)
Add essential oils. I added peppermint, clary sage,lavender, orange,thyme,rosemary about 6 drops each.
Mix it well. Cover and allow it to sit for a day or 2 to blend well.
To use: mix 1/2 tbs with 1 cup water. use these proportions and use as a last rinse. Massage well into the scalp.


I used an old salsa jar.

Making sure it is well mixed. Leave it to sit somewhere for 1-2 days. The EOs enhance the conditioning properties of vinegar and stimulate the scalp as well as masking the smell (if you're one of those that hate the odour)

People often wonder if ACV(apple cider vinegar) is the only vinegar that can be used as a hair rinse. You can really use ANY kind of vinegar. You can use different types of vinegars such as white wine vinegar,even distilled white vinegar can be used. All vinegars share similar acidic properties and will clean your scalp and restore ph balance to normal. However ACV, especially organic RAW ACV with the'mother of vinegar' in it has peculiar properties of it's own. It has minerals and chemicals that make it particularly good for taking internally. It detoxifies, has potassium to help prevent brittle teeth and hair loss, pectin to lower cholesterol,malic acid-anti viral anti bacterial & anti fungal,Calcium to promote strong bones,Ash, which helps your body maintain proper Ph levels,Acetic acid which slows digestion and can help lower glucose levels, to name a few benefits. Many refined vinegars will have most (not all) of the nutrient value stripped, even refined ACV, but there is still great benefit in using (refined)vinegar as a hair rinse and conditioner. So if all you have is white wine vinegar or rice vinegar, go ahead and give it a go. (dilute it!) It will remove scaly build-up,give you a truly clean scalp, make the hair cuticle smoother, get rid of dandruff. Generally, it's great for keeping your locs and your scalp happy&healthy!

Home-made shampoo&Shea-coco-Aloe

I'm mixing stuff again. I got a request to make my shea butter mix for someone. This is my sheaCocoAloe which contains raw shea butter, raw cocoa butter, organic extra virgin coconut oil, hempseed oil amongst other yummy ingredients. Very nourishing for dry skin.

Black soap shampoo: You know the drill.....put small chunks of black soap into a bottle and add filtered water. I also added organic aloe vera Juice,organic extra virgin coconut oil, clarysage,thyme,frankincense,orange,peppermint,cinammon,teatree essential ols. This time I added fragrance. Cinammon and nutmeg and almond milk fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are man-made chemicals so may not suit everyone. I suggest you limit it to a tiny amount if adding these to you home-made shampoo.

Achimota School dinner/dance

Back view of crinkled hair. For some reason, my hair does better holding crinkles than it does curls. These crinkles will last until I next wash my hair.

(pls ignore the busy-ness in the background. I was in my husband's studio)

I went with my friends Anne and Lorraine to the Achimotans fund raising dinner/dance yesterday. Anne was exhibiting some Art work too, so I helped set up. I am wearing a KENTE cloth in a simple classic style. I crinkled my locs and put a matching flower in the side of it. Black shoes,black clutch-bag, black wrap(not in the pic)

Coconut oil

This Extra virgin coconut oil is excellent. It smells & tastes delicious. It goes on my sclap in my spritz and in some of my cooking. I got this from iherb.

This is a cheaper coconut oil. It has no smell. You can find it in some of the asian shops here UK. Holland and Barrat and some health shops have coconut oil but it's waaaay overpriced..

Coconut oil or better still, Extra virgin coconut oil is one of my favourite oils. The oil can nourish each strand and penetrate into the hair shaft. It softens the hair, prevents breakage and dryness. It has anti-fungal & anti-bacterial properties and adds strength and vitality to hair. It's an excellent emmollient, a rich source of fatty acids. Coconut oil can help stimulate the growth of new hair in some people. It can be used to conditon the hair. Try not to overuse as it's a heavy oil and might be solid even at room temperature. Put a little on your fingertips and massage into the scalp and down your locs. Use sparingly on the scalp. You want to nourish, not clog your scalp.

Cous-cous Jollof

This is an alternative to the usual Jollof made with rice. I used wholemeal couscous. As usual. I took some shortcuts..... I got 2 chicken breasts and chopped them. I spiced them with season-all, garlic and a little black pepper. I sliced 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 scotch bonnet(chilli). Heated a little veg oil and put the chopped chicken in. When it was nearly 'pink-free', I put in the rest of the ingredients and fried them all together until onions looked translucent.
I added a can of chopped tomatoes. Actually I blended it first cos my kids don't like lumps. I squeezed in some tomato paste and stirred it all up. I put in 2 knorr chicken stock cubes. I let it all simmer for a bit.(10 min?)

I emptied a can of sweetcorn into it. I put in some chopped sweet peppers. I adjusted seasonings adding more black pepper, salt etc. Let it simmer some more until it tasted right.

I put in about 400g couscous and stirred it all. I allowed it to remain on very low heat for about 5 min. DONE! Sprinkle some chopped corriander on top. I hardly ever really cook with precise measurements. Just go by gut instinct!

KELEWELE-spicy ripe plantain

'Chopped and spiced uncooked ripe plantain'

This is spicy ripe plantain Called Kelewele. A popular snack in Ghana. It's sold after 6p.m in the evenings by the roadside, at junctions, near bars or wherever people congregate. Often accompanied by fried or roast peanuts. The kelewele woman will deep fry large amounts and you stand in a queue and get yours in a banana leaf or newspaper. My bro who's been addicted to this since he was a kid, bought us some nearly every evening in Ghana.(Actually he loves plantain in every form, mashed, boiled, fried, roasted, frittered, doughballed...) My kids are hooked. This is my version:

Get a nice soft ripe plantain.

Chop into small pieces.

Blend a little onion, garlic, scotch bonnet(or chilli) ginger.

Add some coconut oil(vegetable oil is ok) and mix.

Oil a foil covered tray.

Spread it out on the tray.

Bake in the oven.

It works just like you deep fried it. I cheated on this one and used powdered onion,garlic,chilli and ginger. The fresh stuff does give it that extra- more authentic taste

CREATING BEAUTIFUL LOCKS ON A DIME. Get the book!!!

This is a must- have book. If you can only afford 1 loc book, then let it be this one. Written by Michele George as part of the KNOTTY TRUTH series,it aims to empower the woman who wants to grow locs, help her embrace the beauty of her crown thereby free-ing her from hair slavery. It focuses on and contains everything you ever wanted to know about locs. How to start, how to maintain, how to take them down. All your questions are answered in detail. This is a How- To manual covering every type of loc in existence today. The book begins by giving you the background and history of locs. The author's holistic approach is evident throughout the book, and it's packed with natural recipes and the like. For those of you with a scientific mind - you won't be disappointed because you get the get the chemistry, the biology and the physics.(I wasn't suprised when I found out that the author is the holder of multiple science degrees!) Detailed diagrams break it all down for you. The research was thorough. What's more, the reader is treated to lovely before and after photos.Ordinary women who started their locs with various methods. Many of them DIY-ing. It even includes interviews with some of them, an absolute delight! Michele has taken the mystery out of locking. There's even a section on how to take down - with photos, if you ever want to cross that bridge. Like a breastfeeding mum who digests the food before feeding her babe, she has done all the hard work by revealing, analysing, uncovering,setting forth and getting down to brass tacks everything you want to know about locking and made it available to you- need I say more?

It's available on Amazon, or from http://cheleski.blogspot.com/.

Cosmetologists,stylists, natural hair consultants will be using this comprehensive guide in their shops/classrooms. Get yours while it's available.

Personally I was amazed at how much information there was contained in this book. I've been locking my hair since 2005 (except for 4 months when I unlocked) yet I learned a great deal reading it. I've already began to implement some of what I discovered and my locs are well on their way to being healthier than ever before.

What! More hair pictures? It's a hair blog afterall

Just back from church where there was a (Ghanaian)baby dedication. We wore'white' cloth to support the family. White can be all white, black&white,blue&white,or other pale colour with lots of white background.
Anyway, I took some shots of my hair to show the latest failed attempt at curls. I know you wonderful ppl gave me sound advice to use some setting lotion. I was a bit scurred of putting it in my hair so I used aloe vera juice instead. whilst that was very healthy for my hair, it could not hold the curls.

I'm not one for styling much and will go months without. So curling in the space of 2 weeks is really something. The thing with locs is, it still manages to look'done' even when the curls fail. Basically you're the only one who knows the truth. Everyone else think your hair's great.

I wasn't posing, the wind blew my hair into my eye at the opportune moment.