Tswana Kinks

Hi everyone. I’ve been gone for a long minute(2020 and adulting got the better of me 😩). I hope you’ve all been well.

I’ve been taking good care of my hair; I experiment a lot with natural ingredients and my hair has been responding exceedingly well. I’ve never been one to do length checks but there has been a noticeable change in how voluminous my hair is. My hair is thicker and whatever brittleness I might have struggled with previously seems to have disappeared. The moisturizing deep conditioning treatments I’ve been using have led to this noticeable curl definition especially at the ends of my hair. My hair is thriving all round, so in that regard I can’t say 2020 has been all that bad 😀😀

Do you experiment with your own mixtures? Please share below if you do. How have you been taking care of your hair lately? Are you looking into trying something new?

Like, follow, share and comment.

Stay well.

I hope everyone is doing well. Let me start by thanking everyone here for the amazing support, this page is almost at 2000 likes 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾.
I really appreciate this and I don’t take your comments, likes, messages and shares for granted.

What is my hair type? Let’s get to know our hair.

This page is dedicated to sharing with all natural hair enthusiasts how to properly take care of and nurture as well as grow healthy Afro-textured hair, with special emphasis on hair described as Afro-kinky hair or 4C hair.

I’ve been asked several times to help with clarifying what hair type one has. This is a very controversial issue, especially in the online natural hair community. Hair as a human trait is diverse; to then try to break it down into a few types/groups/classes that each one of us should fall into is a huge challenge as there might be cases of over-representation of certain types and under-representation of others (e.g. tightly coiled Afro-textured hair). Whilst many believe in hair typing, there is also a substantial number of people that don’t believe that they should box their hair by classifying it into these named hair types but rather they describe it in detail with relation to how it looks, behaves and how it responds to products.

Hair type is complex in that it comprises multiple variables such as curl pattern, texture, porosity, density, width and length.

My discussion today will be solely based on Type 4 hair, which most of us here have. We’ll be focused specifically on curl pattern and texture. Subsequent posts will address hair porosity, density, width and length in greater detail. There are three subtypes of Type 4 hair: 4A, 4B and 4C. The letters A, B and C denote the diameter of the curl or coil pattern with 4A having a relatively looser, more defined curl and 4C being the least defined with tightly coiled curls. Checking for curl pattern should be done on clean, damp hair that has no product in it.

Knowing your hair type as described here is a great first step to understanding your hair and knowing what kinds of products to try out but by all means, take this only as a guide not as the be-all-end-all of hair types. You might have a combination of hair types and your hair might behave differently from what is described on paper despite your curl pattern matching the description. Take this as an opportunity to learn even more about your hair.

As usual, please go through these pictures that are accompanied by text that describes in more detail the topic at end. Like, follow, share and comment with questions and let us know what your hair type is or how you’d describe your hair.

Stay safe.

What do I do to make my hair grow?

Let me start by thanking everyone who responded to my previous post through likes, follows, comments, shares and messages. I was really blown away by your responses and I was inspired to come up with more content you’ll hopefully find useful.

The easiest answer to the question above is that hair grows. The rate at which hair grows varies from individual to individual though depending on various internal factors (genetics, diet, diseases, medications etc) and external factors (haircare, products, climate etc).

I’ve always thought about what the first thing I’d say to someone genuinely asking for advice on how to grow their natural hair would be. I’ve put together a series of pictures under each of which you’ll find a tip on retaining more length.

Please leave a comment below and share how you’ve been able to retain length and how you take care of your hair. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments section or message me privately. Please like, follow, comment, share and tag anyone who might find this interesting or useful. Save this post and revisit it at your convenience.

Lastly, I’m really interested in knowing what you’d like to see me discuss on this page. Leave a comment.

Stay safe.

Customized Haircare for Dry 4C Hair

Dry hair is the number one complaint amongst people with 4C hair. It’s a really frustrating problem to have as dry hair just does not seem to thrive and does not look or feel great.

I’ve listed a majority of the products I’m using that have come a long way in assisting me with dry hair. The list starts off with taking care of hair in a protective style or refreshing a style when your hair is out and goes on chronologically through all the steps of wash day.

All of these products last ages, they are available at Clicks or Dischem where there is an even more varied range of products. Feel free to experiment as you please, get online and read reviews before you make a purchase.

I always see buying natural hair products as an investment. I don’t have to replenish these supplies every month so it has been easier for me to get one or two products a month, or to cash in on a 3-for-2 deal for certain brands.

Please like, share and comment with all the questions or suggestions you might have. Save this post and go through it when you need a reference point in future 😉

Stay well.

I get asked almost daily how I get my hair to look as healthy as it does. This has happened enough times for me to finally consider sharing publicly all the information I’ve accrued over the years on natural hair care.

The longest I’ve ever had relaxed hair was from 2006-2011. Prior to this, I had spent more than half my life with short natural hair. I woke up one day late in 2011 and decided I had had enough of relaxed hair and just cut it all off; this is how my first big chop came about. My next and final big chop was around March 2013 when I cut off the straighter/looser ends of my hair from a godforsaken “blowout” treatment which really was hair relaxer being called cute things 🤣

My natural hair journey began right after that second big chop. As a proud graduate of the University of YouTube, 😂😂I had to unlearn everything I knew about taking care of relaxed hair, and spent countless hours learning about my hair type and how to moisturize, seal in moisture and stretch natural hair. I soaked in all the information I could get and went searching for the right products. Armed with Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in conditioner that I had found at my friend’s house and a jar of coconut oil, thus started my simple regimen of moisturizing my hair and sealing in moisture then stretching it in two strand twists and allowing it to air dry completely. As I got hold of more products and learnt more and experimented even more, I stumbled across what instantly became one of my staple products; Shea Butter. I would not be exaggerating if I said shea butter single handedly transformed my hair journey. Natural oils and butters are amazing when it comes to nourishing natural hair, especially Type 4 hair (more on this in later posts).

But how do you get your hair to look/be this healthy?

First things first, our genes are largely responsible for the decks of cards we’re dealt when it comes to hair. I have a head full of dense, tightly coiled or kinky hair. I have been blessed with a voluminous head of 4c hair which I’ve come to loving call Tswana Kinks. My individual hair strands are of a medium thickness. I inherited a rather full hairline from both my parents with barely any visible sparsity. It’s very important to consider genes when it comes to hair because even with the utmost amount of care, if your hair is sparse, there is only so much you can do to make your crown fuller (but worry not, with a touch of natural hair sorcery you too can learn how to give the illusion of a much more voluminous head of hair 😉). The rate at which hair grows also differs from person to person-it’s very important to keep this in mind so remember,

Secondly, where your genes end, your natural hair care practices take over. This is where I learnt I could go over and above what nature had blessed me with to get the hair of my dreams.

1. I take care of my hair myself. I detangle and wash my hair, deep treat it, style it, trim it etc all by myself. I made a decision in 2017 that I would only go to a hair salon twice a year to get my hair blow dried and I’ve stuck to it. Even then, I still go to the salon with washed, deep treated and detangled hair. Learning how to take care of your hair yourself ensures that your hair gets the best possible treatment each time. Not a lot of hairstylists are well versed on taking care of natural hair so they’ll pull your hair until it snaps and breaks, use inappropriate tools and then blow dry it bone straight with no heat protectant and this is how you’ll end up frustrated with a ‘fro that will not flourish. Taking care of your hair yourself and experimenting with different products and techniques ensures that you get a feel for what your hair loves and what it does not agree with. This is priceless because over time, you’ll be able to build up your own regimen made up of all of what your hair thrives on.
2. I treat my hair like it’s fine silk. I am extremely gentle with my hair. This largely has to do with the fact I am very tender headed but trial and error has led me to the realization that my hair thrives when I handle it with the utmost care. I get asked how I manage to comb my hair and the answer is always a chuckle but the truth is that I only comb my hair when I wash it, with loads of conditioner in it and using a wide tooth comb. I start by slowly and carefully finger detangling, then I’ll use the comb and work my way up starting at the ends, gently combing a few inches at a time until I reach my roots. The only other time I’ll comb my hair is if I need to blow dry it or if I want an immaculate hairdo. I go to sleep on a satin bonnet without fail each night. This protects my hair from friction against the pillow and other fabrics.
3. I do a deep treatment on every wash day without fail. Tightly curled hair like mine needs all the help it can get in staying moisturized, and the first step towards that is a deep treatment that will nourish, repair your strands and replenish all the moisture lost through the cleansing process so your hair is ready to absorb all the other products you’ll pile on it. If you’re experiencing chronically dry hair, this is where your journey to remedying that begins.
4. A healthy scalp is where it all begins. For years, I got away with not washing my hair as often as I needed to and I thought I was winning. On a whim, about two years ago I decided to stick to washing my hair every two to three weeks. Over time, the results spoke for themselves and I realized that I had been sleeping on my hair’s potential to grow. I stepped it up a notch and started incorporating scalp massages with a DIY Ayurvedic herbal oil infusion and my hair as we speak is saying all the right things praise God hallelujah 🙌🏾🤣
5. Low manipulation protective styles are where the gold is at. This is a controversial one because most people’s ideas of “protective styles” are actually detrimental to their hair journey. Tightly braided intricate and “neat” styles such as box braids, carrot, very thin cornrows might give you the break you want from your hair but they will not give your hair the protection it needs but instead will lead to hair thinning and hair loss and let’s not even mention the edges that might never recover. I wear my hair in two-strand twists almost entirely at this point. For a professional look, I just put them up into two space buns and that suffices. If I have to be honest, this is the biggest reason behind why I’ve been able to retain this much length. I do not wear my hair out as much as I used to a few years ago (twist outs/braid outs) and this has led to healthier ends as they stay tucked away.

This is only one of many questions that I’ve been asked over time. I’m planning on answering more. Please leave any comments or questions you have below.