Tag Archives: black hair

rice water

so what are the benefits of using rice water? you may have heard that rice water defines your curls. it does! so i’ve started to incorporate rice water into my weekly routine. below i’ll go into why and how i use it

WHY-

i started using rice water because i was reading about the benefits of protein treatments and how the proper moisture protein balance really is what will define your curls. so i wanted to incorporate more protein. rice water is a low grade protein treatment- it’s not heavy like the ones you can purchase. i like that because i don’t have to worry about it making my hair super hard. since using it, i’ve had less frizz and more definition.

HOW-

so normally the day before i want to do my hair i put a mix of rice and water into my mason jar. i leave it sitting out on the counter til i use it- i make sure it sits for at least eight hours. OR i’ll boil rice and add extra water and pour it into a cup. from either method, i pour the water into a cup, making sure that there is little to no rice in it. then once it’s cool (if it was boiled). i shampoo my hair. then i pour it into my hair (like a rinse) and then tie it up with a pony and put a shower cap on. i leave it in for 15 minutes, then i rinse it out. I will either then rinse it out with water or shampoo it out (it depends- if feels like a residue is left, just shampoo it) and then i DEEP CONDITION. this is essential!!! it keeps your hair from getting hard. remember the goal is the moisture protein BALANCE.

I then style as normal- i’ll make an update post on my hair care regimen- it’s changed so much.

hair care 101

hello! my name is mayah and I want to help you with your hair!

I started doing my hair myself about four years ago, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made! I went natural because my hair was limp and damaged from eczema in my scalp and stress. My hair was breaking off and my dermatologist told me the only solution was to start washing my hair weekly. So I pretty much had to go natural, at least on my off weeks (at that time I was getting my hair pressed bimonthly). Eventually, I fell in love with doing my hair and haven’t looked back since. I am so proud of the progress I’ve made on my hair, I want to share my tips and help you! I have a hair section on my blog, but I want this subcategory to be specific to giving information about the science of black hair and how to grow it!

¡Buena suerte!

my hair routine (nov 2017)

hey y’all! it’s been forever since i’ve posted my hair care routine (I actually need to do a review on this homemade deep conditioner my roommate and I made). I just wanted to give you all an update on what I’ve been doing!


this was my hair in August of 2017


this is my hair this week!

isn’t it crazy how much it’s grown?! well here’s how I did it

major tips:

  • wash once a week

I used to wash my hair every ten days, with a shampoo that helped my eczema and then co-wash every five days. I thought that doing this was helping to keep my hair moisturized. After I had my sew-in  I really realized how much I was overwashing my hair. Your hair needs water, but it doesn’t need to be washed that often. I shifted to washing my hair once a week and deep conditioning. I really like it, plus it’s easy to keep up with.

  • deep condition weekly

I cannot stress the importance of deep conditioning. What I’ve recently been doing is adding my deep conditioner (I’m using Natural Deep Conditioner by EDEN), deep conditioning for 15 minutes under the drier and then detangling after. The deep conditioning makes it really easy to comb through.

  • use a satin bonnet AND a satin pillow case

I only use satin products on my hair. I have two satin wraps, a scarf, a long bonnet, two regular size bonnets and two pillow cases. though my bonnet normally stays on, I like having the satin pillow case just in case my hairline comes outside of the bonnet. Plus the pillow cases are really pretty lol.

  • drink lots of water

I know I drink WAY more than most people do. I drink probably around a gallon of water a day. It keeps my body hydrated and my hair moisturized. You should at least be drinking half of your body weight in ounces!

  • detangle outside of the shower

As my hair has gotten longer, detangling takes a lot longer. I started detangling in the mirror outside of the shower for a couple reasons. One, I was tired of my hands turning pruney from being in the shower too long. Two, I wanted to see my hair as I was detangling it. This has allowed me to see tangles earlier so I’m not just ripping out my hair. Last week, I kept my hair in two french braids for a full week to see how much I shed, so I could get a basis for how much I should be shedding.


This is how much hair I shed after a week! I believe my routine along with detangling gently allowed for this to happen.

  • trim your hair (NOT YOU A PROFESSIONAL)

Getting trims are so important to maintaining healthy hair. I get a trim just about every time I need one- since I go so long with curly hair, I get them close to every time I get my hair done. After a trim my curls are so bouncy and beautiful. You should get your trim done by a professional- they went to school to learn how to trim properly and it is impossible to accurately trim your hair. My hairstylist has been doing hair for at least 20 years and told me she still struggles trimming her own hair. It’s just hard. So let someone else do it for you! And make sure that person is a professional.

  • keep a regime

Keeping a regime is crucial. As a college student, I’m busy. So I want to make sure that I can manage my school work, personal life and hair. Knowing how I’m going to do my hair helps me manage it all.

actual routine:

  • Wash day

Normally I wash my hair on Saturday or Sunday. I use Shea Moisture’s Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Restore Shampoo. I normally wash three times.

  • Deep Conditioning

I use EDEN’s Natural Deep Conditioner when I deep condition. I lather it on my hair, then I put on a clear shower cap and sit under my drier for 15 minutes. I detangle outside of the shower; then I rinse my hair out with lukewarm water, then after it’s all out I use cold water to seal in the moisture.

  • LOC

After I rinse out the conditioner, I put a cotton t-shirt on over my head to dry it. After a while (I can leave mine on for like an hour and be fine, but I try to leave it on for like 10/15 minutes- my hair retains a lot of water), I take my hair down.

L (Liquid/Leave-In)- I spritz my hair down lightly with water. I then use Aloe Vera Gel (just regular from target) and Miss Jessie’s Leave in Condish.

O (Oil)- I use OGX Coconut Milk and Shea Butter. I try to limit my oils because I can get heavy handed (lol). When I use too much oil my face ends up being really oily. So just using the Coconut Milk with Shea Butter has really helped.

C (Cream)- I use Cantu’s Coconut Cream and Camille Rose’s Curlaide. I like the coconut cream becuase it’s really thick but the Curlaide leaves my hair feeling more hydrated so I use both.

  • Protective Style

I try to make sure that I do at least one protective style a week. Last week, I did french braids and left them in all week (I did wear a turban for about 3 days because the braids got a little too curly to wear out). This weekend one of my friends twisted my hair. That was on Saturday night, so I wore twists Sunday and Monday. Tomorrow, I plan on taking the twists down. Since twists work really well for my hair type, I will just add aloe vera, coconut milk and shea butter each night until I wash it again (this will preserve the curls and keep my hair moisturized). I love aloe vera gel because it goes on really easy and keeps my hair looking really nice (but it’s not water based so putting it on twists won’t ruin the twist out). Shea butter also can work as a cream!

These are recent pictures of my hair straight! I’ll do a blog pretty soon on how I care for and maintain my straight hair without heat!

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions! 

1 year down

My hair growth journey has been interesting. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t have a cool story about why I went natural. I went natural because I didn’t have an option. I was 15, my hair was falling out, I was constantly in and out of the dermatologist trying to help my ezcema. See as a baby I had cradle cap, which apparently comes back as hormonesnchange. I also had eczema in my scalp, which lead to extreme itchy, which is why my hair was falling out. I almost even had a bald spot from scratching my hair. My dermatologist told me I had to start washing my hair every week (at this point I was getting my hair done every two weeks), so that my hair would continue growing. I was on a peak of my journey, my hair was growing, but my scalp was still itchy. I was put on an antihistamine and given shots in my scalp. Eventually the itching stopped. But I still had to wash my hair every week so I continued being natural on my off weeks. I loved it. After a while I didn’t even want to get my hair done anymore. That eventually turned into my hair journey. I’ve technically been natural all my life (no perm, no heat damage, etc) but wearing my hair curly was different. I learned as much as I could on black hair, and applied it. Having this blog helped, it made me accountable- I wanted to help people so I stayed up to date on hair techniques. My hair has grown tremendously in a year. Here’s a picture of my hair May 13th, 2016.

(me and my best friend on her prom day)

then this was May 10th, 2017


It took a lot of work, time, money and efforts to get my hair to the state it’s at now. I hope this blog post lets you know that you can do it. No matter your hair type, financial situation, you can do this. good luck!