Archives February 2022

Protecting your lovely locks

Who doesn’t love the herbaceous scent of rosemary essential oil? Combine that with tea tree oil and a few other choice ingredients, and you’ve got magic! We all know that we need to nourish and protective our hair and scalp throughout the year, especially those cold and dry winter months. So it was a no-brainer for me to craft my own rosemary hair growth spray that had all of the benefits I want without the additives. f you have sensitive skin like me, you’re constantly on the hunt for hair and scalp sprays, oils, etc that boost moisture and promote growth. After spending copious amounts on money on many black hair care products, I’ve come to realize that DIY-ing some of my hair care is the way to go.

Why I love my rosemary oil

I not only love herby essential oils and infusions, I’ve found that they also work well for my sensitive skin from head to toe. This rosemary hair growth spray is a natural offshoot of that. Rosemary essential oil has so many skin health benefits as well as tea tree oil. When I first came up with this recipe, I had already tried store brands that made similar claims. But when I read further, I found most of the beneficial ingredients all the way at the bottom of the list! So with some research of my own, I tried a variety of ingredients that had the benefits I wanted. Rosemary has a history of being great for hair and scalp health and so does tea tree oil. Other ingredients like lavender, almond oil, etc equally contribute to skin health.

Why a  rosemary hair growth spray rather than an oil

While I’ve always been a fan of hair oils, I’ve since found that water-based sprays work better and are less prone to build up and mess. I get all the benefits of the essential oils and natural moisture from the water itself. The aloe vera gel gives the hair an extra boost of hydration and strengthens the hair as well. Not only that, it enhances elasticity (reduces breakage) and shine!

By DIY-ing my own rosemary hair growth spray, I get all the benefits and non of the added chemicals. This is not my only DIY recipe for 4C hair. You can check out another awesome spray right >>here<< ! As with any thing else, always check to make sure you don’t have a sensitivity to any of the ingredients. This is one of the main reasons why I started DIY-ing a lot of hair and skincare products. I got tired of expensive products that either didn’t deliver or irritated my scalp or skin.

What you will need 

1. Rosemary essential oil

2. Peppermint essential oil

3. Organic almond oil

4. Filtered water or distilled water

5. Organic aloe vera gel

My thoughts

Like I said before, I’ve tried almost every hair growth and moisturizing product out there for natural hair, and not been impressed. Apart from that, most of them either don’t have the amount of the beneficial ingredients they claim, or they’ve got extra stuff that’s just bad for you.

This is also why I say, ingredients matter and knowing what’s in your food and personal care products matter. To be honest, when I created this rosemary hair growth spray, I was only thinking of myself, family and friends. Then, it occurred to me that other folks could also benefit, especially if they want to avoid harmful ingredients. As much as these mega corporations would like to believe how complicated and exclusive it is to make, it really isn’t. This is a simple recipe and can be further enhanced depending on what benefits you’re looking for. On another note, if you have sensitivities or are taking certain medications, consult your health care provider!

Bringing it together

In a ceramic or glass container, combine your almond oil and essential oil blend. Next, add in your aloe vera gel and mix thoroughly before adding in the filtered or distilled water. After mixing, transfer a portion of your mixture to a spray bottle and vigorously shake before spraying and applying to your hair. In general, this rosemary hair growth oil keeps well in the fridge for a few days and a new batch made fresh every couple of days. Check out the YouTube video below for this recipe!!

A day for you

Every year we get excited and anxious over Valentine’s Day. Excited because spring is not far off and anxious because, a lot of us are looking to be coupled up! Too much emphasis is on “coupling” and not enough on selflove and selfworth. That’s why it’s also a perfect time to really hone in on self-nourishment and selfcare. So, here’s 5 Valentine’s Day Selfcare ideas to get you through the rest of February. Needless to say, selflove is not a one of but a practice we should carry 365 days a year.

Valentine’s Day

While we celebrate Valentine’s Day as a day for lovers, love and, romance the day itself, has its origins in both pagan and Christian beliefs. The Catholic Church recognises three saints named valentine. But it’s unclear who the actual Valentine was for which the day is named. Who ever it was, he was martyred and became a saint according to catholic tradition. In pagan tradition, it’s actually an offshoot of the feast of Lupercalia, an ancient roman pagan festival held on February 15.  While the modern version of Valentines Day is soft and romantic, Lupercalia was anything but! It was violent, bloody, full of animal sacrifice and rampant sex.

But, lets get back to the fun of today and the notion of love and connection. The greatest thing you can do for yourself this Valentine’s Day, is to love and treat yourself how you want to be treated. These 5 Valentine’s Day selfcare ideas are just a few of the many tips and strategies I practice for myself. Let’s face it. If you don’t learn how to love and appreciate yourself, how can you expect others to know this? Standards, boundaries, etc, are all established and depend on you and the way you perceive and value yourself.

The Valentine’s Day and self love connection

When it comes to self love and selfcare, your approach should be similar to how you view Valentine’s Day-a special time for love! Selfcare and self love are special and intimate practices we need to carry out on a daily basis for a healthy mind-body-spirit. Also, how you allow other people to treat you, says something about how you see yourself and the value you attach to yourself. Are you worthy of being treated with respect, compassion, love and consideration? If all of those things are true for you, then you will have no problem expecting others to treat accordingly.

Here are the 5 ideas for Valentine’s Day selfcare

1. Take yourself on a date.

2. Make a selfcare journal.

3. Give yourself a 24 hour social media and technology break.

4.  Reconnect with friends and loved ones.

5. shore up and recalibrate your boundaries.

More on these selfcare ideas

1. Taking yourself on a date is about intentionality and perception. Also, it’s an exercise  in learning to feel comfortable with your company and not worry about how other people see you. If you’re feeling super anxious and uncomfortable about going out to a restaurant, theatre, etc by yourself, that’s telling you something. It could be anything from being a people pleaser to someone who who needs other people to give herself value. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, forces you to go inwards to the place that need your attention (i.e. healing, etc).

2. Either buy a journal for selfcare or make one for yourself. There are so many ways to customise a journal and make yours for what ever you want. A selfcare journal is a great way to do a self check on a daily basis. Also, you can use it to track your progress in terms of personal growth, documenting things you want to address, and so forth. You can also pour out thoughts without feeling like you’re being judged and it’s literally a space that’s yours alone.

3. Take a 24 hour social media and technology break and stick to it. There’s so much noise and distraction from social media and all of our tech gadgets, that we lose touch with ourselves. Social media keeps us hooked on other people’s drama and lives.  Constantly dealing in to social media traps us in comparison and competition mode and disconnected from our own lives and reality. Very little of social media is actual reality and much of it negatively affects our mental health.

More on this

When you are always looking at other people’s lives you rarely appreciate or have any gratitude for how far you’ve come. When you take a break from this, you can focus on you, set goals for yourself and take stock of life in general. Unplugging for tech and social means you can get out into nature, connect with other humans in the real world and realise that the world is huge and full of great potential.

Some closing points

4. Reconnecting with friends and loved ones is super important for our mental health. Since humans are social beings, we need real human contact and connection, not scrolling through endless pages of social media. When we spend time talking and socialising with other people we can pour into and support one another. We can share stories and life events as well as gain counsel from trusted people in our social circles. This is also a great way to expand your social circle too, when you get out and about.

5. Finally, shore up your boundaries! Setting healthy boundaries is crucial for not just your mental health, but your overall well-being. It’s how you set the terms of how other people engage with you and how you honour yourself. This is also connected to your self worth and the stories you are telling yourself about yourself! If you struggle wit being a people pleaser, setting boundaries are really hard for you.  You can read more about that in a previous post, when you click right here!

Time for some me time

As I mentioned before, these 5 Valentine’s Day selfcare ideas are just a few of the many tips and strategies I use to stay aligned and healthy these days. None of it starts out easy, but investing in yourself with help of a coach, counsellor, etc is the first step. Selfcare is a journey that empowers to reclaim all aspects of your life-from your health and wellness, to your sense of self.  There’s so much time to get on the right track to transforming your life in a way that’s meaningful for you and will also allow you to reclaim your authentic self. Also, sign up with this link for a FREE 20 min clarity session to help get started on your self are journey!!