How To Make Homemade Detangler For Natural Hair: Nigerian Virgin Hair Care

Posted on by Luchi Madubuike

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Homemade detangler for virgin hair in Nigeria

Introduction

My seven-year-old daughter dreads getting her seventeen-inch natural hair done. The step that scares her most is detangling. Sometimes I threaten to shave her mane off for peace. Of course, her response is always a big “NO!”

African textured hair is naturally coily/curly, with each strand winding up against the next as they grow outward from the root of their follicle. As a result, this produces a network of knots and tangles that require you to unravel them regularly. The process of separating these clusters of matted hair strands is called detangling.

Additionally, we have hair strands covered with a scale-like structure called a hair cuticle. When the hair absorbs moisture, it swells, causing the cuticles to rise—the raised cuticle of each hair strand snags on one another, creating tangled hair. In Nigeria, the air is almost always humid; you can already imagine what that means for natural hair. 

What Is A Detangler for Natural Hair?

A detangler for natural hair is a conditioning product that helps coat virgin hair strands to add slip to the hair. The hair-detangling product makes virgin hair soft and smooth to comb. 

In Nigeria, many people wonder how to comb their natural or virgin hair. Nigerian natural hair is generally perceived as problematic, stubborn, dry, and difficult to manage.

It is essential to incorporate a detangling step when washing your natural hair. Removing knots and tangles before shampooing the hair will make the hair-wash process easier for you and your child, as the case may be.

These homemade recipes for detanglers for natural will help eliminate the bucket of tears that comes with detangling your child’s hair.

1. Aloe Vera Detangler for Natural Hair

aloe vera homemade detangler for natural hair

During my final year at the University of Nigeria, I had a hot water accident one weekend at home. I had boiled water to pick chicken feathers. If you have picked chicken feathers before, you will know how hot the water must have been.

As I made my way outside the house, carrying a big bowl half filled with hot water, the door I had opened seconds earlier snapped back, hit the bowl of water and SLASH!!! The hot water poured on my body, and the scream for help followed.

Thankfully, my mother, who was home then, used her fresh aloe vera plants to salvage my skin. Otherwise, I would have ended up with severe burns on my skin.

Aloe Vera Gel is generally known for its ability to soothe burns. But it also has benefits for natural hair growth. According to this article, Aloe Vera strengthens hair with its active ingredients and minerals. Aloe Vera Gel is also known to help with itchy scalp and reduce scaliness caused by dandruff.

What You Need to Make Aloe Vera Detangler for Natural Hair

What you need for making detangler for natural hair
What you need to make homemade detangler for natural hair

Steps

  • Add Muna & Luchi Strengthen and Grow Oil, Aloe Vera Gel and vegetable glycerin. In a bowl, combine the ingredients by using a whisk.
  • Add Vitamin E and a few drops of your favourite essential oil. I am using Ylang Ylang essential oil for this recipe because it is mild for children and smells terrific.
  • Please apply to the hair one section at a time, gently removing knots and tangles, or gently use it to loosen an old style.

2. Aloe Vera Juice and Leave-in Conditioner Natural Hair Detangler

Aloe Vera Juice is from the Aloe Vera plant and is highly moisturising. This natural hair detangler spray recipe is much like the typical water mixture and a leave-in conditioner. However, I prefer Aloe Vera Juice because ordinary water could introduce many microbes into the mix. The activity of microbes in normal water is usually why your homemade detangle spray stinks after some days.

What You Need to Make Aloe Vera Juice and Leave-in Conditioner Natural Hair Detangler

Steps

  • Pour the Aloe Vera Juice into the spray bottle and add about four pumps of Muna & Luchi Break Free Leave in Conditioner. 
  • Shake the mixture vigorously until it forms a pale white liquid
  • Use this to spray on your hair or your child’s hair for a smooth detangling process
Homemade detangler spray for natural hair
Homemade detangler spray for natural hair
Homemade detangler spray for natural hai

3. Aloe Vera Juice and Vegetable Glycerine Homemade Natural Hair Detangler Spray

Vegetable Glycerin is a clear, odourless, syruplike liquid made from coconut, soybean, and palm oils. Vegetable glycerin acts as a moisturiser for skin and hair, and you can read this article to find out more.

I have found that Vegetable Glycerine works well with Aloe Vera Juice. Therefore, both will form the main ingredients for this homemade detangler for natural hair recipe.

What You Will Need to Make Aloe Vera Juice and Vegetable Glycerine Natural Hair Detangler Spray

  • 1 cup Aloe Vera Juice
  • 3 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
  • 3 tablespoons strengthen and grow oil
  • 2 teaspoons of Vitamin e
  • A few drops of essential oil of choice (optional)*
  • A spray bottle
Homemade Detangler Spray for Natural Hair
Homemade Detangler Spray for Natural Hair
Homemade Detangler Spray for Natural Hair

Steps

  • Combine all the ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake vigorously.
  • Although this may not form a perfectly mixed liquid, it works very well as a leave-in detangling spray for virgin hair.

Another great ingredient to include in your homemade detangler is Apple Cider Vinegar. Due to the acidic nature of Apple Cider vinegar, it aids in smoothing down the cuticles, thereby promoting slip for the detangling process.

Check out these articles to learn about homemade detanglers for natural hair apple cider vinegar.

Homemade Natural Hair Detangler: 10 Recipes and Step-by-Step Instructions

How to Make Your Own Homemade Hair Detangler – Byrdie

3 Homemade Hair Detangler Recipes – Mommypotamus

If you are still thinking of a gift to get a loved one this Christmas, click here to read the article I wrote about Gift Ideas in Nigeria this Christmas

Regularly detangling your natural hair is vital if you are serious about growing long virgin hair. To achieve a smooth detangling process, you need a product that will enable your fingers, wide-tooth comb, and brush to glide through your hair strands with minimal breakage. You can create an effective homemade detangler for your natural hair using simple ingredients such as Aloe Vera Gel, Vegetable Glycerin and Apple Cider Vinegar.

Did you find this article helpful? Let me know if you will try any of these recipes in the comments section below. Please do me a favour by sharing with your family and friends using the social buttons below. Thank you!

Fill out the form below to sign up for the five-day FREE email course on how to grow your child’s virgin hair.

WASH DAY ANATOMY

Posted on by Luchi Madubuike

 

It’s been a wonderful season this year and trust me every new day comes with a new expectation, one of which has prompted me to begin the ‘Wash Day Anatomy ‘.

Depending on the part of the world where you are located, I’ll still remind you to be safety conscious as the season of pandemic is gradually fading away. Always stay safe by all means and follow the Rules of the New Normal by washing your hands often, observe social distancing and of course, always keep a hand sanitizer and nose masks close by.

Let me first enlighten you about the Word ‘ANATOMY’. What is anatomy and where did it all begin? The term ‘anatomy’ derives from ancient Greek meaning ‘dissection’ or ‘to dissect’ and involves a study of the structure or internal workings of something.

However, In Wash Day Anatomy, I will be dissecting the processes of Wash Day for your child’s hair. I will break down the five main aspects of a wash day, taking it one-aspect-at-a-time, so that you will understand it and apply them in your child’s hair routine. There are five (5) main aspects of a washday which are; Takedown and detangling, Pre-poo, Shampoo, Conditioning and Moisturizing/Styling. By mastering the basics, what’s the best place to start? In a nutshell, let’s break down the basics of the first aspect which is “STYLE TAKE-DOWN AND DETANGLING”.

 

STYLE TAKE-DOWN AND DETANGLING

This involves the process of how to loosen your child’s hair style with no hair loss and detangling the hair for a full wash day.
What you will be needing:
1) Your fingers
2) Water in a spray bottle
3) Ouchless bands and clips to secure sections of hair.
4) Light weight leave -in conditioner
5) Wide tooth comb

As much as possible, avoid things like toothpicks, tight tooth comb because this will cause snags and mid section splits that causes weak strands resulting in breakage.

STEPS TO TAKE – DOWN AND DETANGLING

STEP 1 – Secure the entire head of hair with an Ouchless band. Click to Shop at our store for your child’s hair Ouchless band and other accessories .

STEP 2 – Take the hair 1 twist at a time or 1 corn role at a time.

 

 

STEP 3 – Spray water on that section to be taken down in order to lubricate that section, Moisten it and make it easier for your fingers to take it down. Do this for 3 – 5 mins.

STEP 4 – Begin loosening the hair with your fingers by taking one corn role at a time. You have to be as gentle as possible as you can in this step.

While loosening your child’s hair, you may come across some stubborn twisted knots heads, DON’T, I REPEAT, DO NOT PULL IT OR RUSH IT.

All you have to do is to lubricate that strand with water or conditioner and take your time to loosen the knots.

When taking down your child’s hair, it’s very important to do it with TLC (tender, loving care) because this is when your child would experience the most mechanical manipulation during the entire wash day session.

STEP 5 – Put away the chunk. After loosening about 10 twists, the chunk is a portion of the loosed twist or corn roles that needs to be set aside in loosed Jumbo twists.

The reason for putting this away is so that, the particular section of hair would not get tangled and matted up again while loosing other twists.

At the end of this Style Take – Down and Detangling Session, you should have a head of hair that is filled with Jumbo Twist all ready for the PRE – POO session.

You can buy all hair accessories and tools needed to be used from our store. If you need a one-on-one hair consultation session with me, send an email to munaandluchi@gmail.com and tell us if this information is helpful to you for your child’s wash day in the comment section. You can also invite your friends to read this blog post, drop a comment acknowledging you and stand a chance to win one of our hair care products!

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MUNA’S FIVE YEAR LENGTH CHECK

Posted on by Luchi Madubuike

 

Here are the rules of the “new normal”; Rule number one, wash your hands regularly with a soap, for at least 20 seconds, under running water. You don’t have running water? No problem, just make a little hole in a sachet of water (its 10 bucks each), then ask someone to help you pour it out over your hands, that’s running water! Rule number two, maintain social distancing, though I find us violating this rule as I go around town, but hey, we are all still here aren’t we? Rule number three; wear a face mask when you go out, this is really crucial for obvious reasons.

 

Did you know you can get a free mask from us if you shop up to N10, 000 worth of goods from our store?

 

Lastly (and this is extremely important), if anyone must touch your baby’s hair, let it be you or someone you trust, especially when you have to do a 2020 LENGTH CHECK like I did with Muna’s Hair!

 

For the past five years, I always make sure to do a length check on my daughter’s hair on her birthday. Doing a length check, helps me see how much progress we have made based on the work we have put into her hair care in that year. It also lets me know the effects of the changes implemented to her regimen, based on how much progress (or set back) we make. Below I have listed the current length of Muna’s hair from three main sections; the Back, the Sides and the Front. The pictures show the measurements of the various parts of her hair, using a tape measure;

                                                                                                                   

  

 

Let me mention at this point that last year, after doing Muna’s length check, she had an average length of 151/2 inches, and I trimmed off 2 inches all through her hair. In other words, Muna gained up to 3 inches more this year, but that means incremental length is only about an inch and half overall. Her hair suffered dryness and breakage at the end of last year and partly the beginning of this year, I guess this contributed to the minimal length retention. But we doubled up on moisture and kept styling simple, single twists only. I also made sure I kept her ends away by always packing her medium twists into buns. Click HERE to get a free 30 minutes consultation call with me. If you look closely at the images of Muna’s length check over the years, you will notice that her hair has basically remained on the same spot on her back, a little below bra strap. It’s obvious that a little girl is getting taller than her hair grows! Lol! However for the fifth year, its closer to waist length than it is bra strap.

Front Length – 16.5 inches  

Back Length – 13.5 inches

 

Side Length – 14.5 inches

I know you’re probably thinking at this point “How can I achieve this for my daughter?” I am here to show you how I did it and let you know that you can do it too. I offer a step-by-step guide on Child Hair Care in my online consultation sessions. There is a program for everyone and what’s more is that we are currently offering great savings on all our hair care programs, so this is the best time to jump in. Click here to find out more, offer ends on the 31st of May, 2020.

 

Now that Muna is 5 years old, I will implement some changes to her routine. Henceforth, I will be including some herbs to her regimen hopefully we will be able to see some improvement in the coming year. From now on she will be using only products I formulate myself (Muna & Luchi Care Products), since we are about to launch our own brand soon! Be the first to know when we will be launching the Muna and Luchi Care Products, by clicking HERE.

 

If you are looking to be equipped with more information on how tackle your child’s specific hair care challenges, you could enroll in my FREE email course, BECOMING A PRO HAIR CARE MUM. This course is super packed with what you need to know, to take full charge of your child’s hair care. Send me an email of any kind of questions or concerns about your child’s hair care. Send to munaandluchi@gmail.com, I can’t wait to hear from you.

 

 

#munaandluchi

#toddlerhairjourney

#lengthcheckupdate

#childrenhaircare

 

PS: These products will be officially launched from Muna & Luchi Hair Care by July!  Stay tuned!

If you will like to get details about the products I used on her hair, click HERE.