Feature Friday: Check out Lush Strand’s waist length hair

 I would like to introduce Lush Strands, a Lagos-based hair enthusiast like myself. I stumbled on her videos on the internet and I immediately fell in love with her hair. I was really excited when she agreed to be featured on this blog. Check out her blog Lushstrands.blogspot.com and her youtube channel, LushStrand’s channel.

  1. How long was your hair when you started your hair journey? My hair was a chin length bob. 
  2. What is your current length? I am now at waist length.
  3. Please share your regimen. What do you do daily, nightly and weekly, to care for your hair?
    My regimen is as follows:
     – Conditioner wash once a week with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner 
     – Deep condition once a month
       To deep condition, I use cholesterol and olive oil. I sit under a hooded dryer for about 20mins, then rinse it out
    – Shampoo wash once a month with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo
    – I almost always airdry my hair but if I want to wear it straight then I roller set and wrap. I hardly every flat iron or use direct heat in my hair. Probably 2 or 3 times a year!
    – I wear protective styles a lot i.e. styles where my ends are tucked in and protected and styles that require little manipulation
  4. How often do you touch up/relax?  I touch up every 3 months
  5. How do you maintain moisture levels and manage breakage? To maintain moisture, I condition my hair once a week. If I have braids or cornrows, I put some water and conditioner in a spray bottle and spray my hair with it weekly. To manage breakage, I comb my hair with extreme care. I make sure to use a comb that is smooth and does not have any seams or rough edges which can snag and rip my hair. I also only comb my hair when it is necessary. In my opinion, frequent combing especially if not done carefully is a major cause of breakage.
  6. How do you detangle your hair to minimize breakage? I used to detangle my hair in the shower, but as my hair has grown longer, it has gotten more difficult to do so without causing breakage. So now, I let my hair air dry, then I detangle in sections. I also recently started washing my hair in braids. I find that this really helps reduces tangles and breakage
  7. What is the best tip you have learned to protect your ends? The best tip I have learnt to protect my ends would be using a sealant like coconut oil on the ends of your hair to seal in the moisture, avoiding hot tools and wearing protective styles that hide the ends of your hair from the elements (e.g buns, cornrows, flat twists etc). Weaves and wigs are also protective style options.
  8. How often do you wear your hair out vs protective styling (buns, etc.)?   I wear my hair out about once a month. I wear protective styles more often than I wear my hair out. I don’t experiment very much with styles: I wear buns and lace wigs. That’s about it. 

    A simple protective style

    Rocking a lacefront wig

  9. Do you use direct heat? If so, how often?  I use direct heat 2 or 3 times a year. Usually when I want to do a length check, I flat iron my hair so I can see the length. Roller setting and wrapping is a better option but my hair takes too long to dry so I go the faster route and just flat iron it. However, it is important to use a heat protectant and to limit the frequency as much as possible.
  10. You’ve made some huge progress with your hair journey. What do you attribute most to your success? Proper combing. This to me is where people sustain the most breakage. I often see people rake a comb through their hair, remove the broken strands caught in the teeth of the comb and toss them out. If you comb your hair 3 times a day and everytime you comb, you break 10-15 strands, in the course of 3 months you would have caused significant damage to your hair without knowing.
  11. Have you had any setbacks/trouble along the way? How did you overcome your setbacks? I have had lots of set backs. Mostly due to relaxers. Getting a relaxer is a very risky process and if not done properly can cause breakage. I no longer relax my hair bone straight. I leave the relaxer in for only 10 to 15mins before rinsing out. I also don’t comb the relaxer through my roots, I just smooth it through with my fingers. Most people comb their hair when relaxing to get the hair as straight as possible. In my experience, this causes a lot of breakage and is also not necessary as you can get your hair straight enough by just smoothing with your fingers.
  12. What’s your signature style? Non protective – Side part (My hair), Protective – center part (lace wig).

    Signature sidepart

  13. Do you do anything additionally to support your hair? (Nutrition, vitamins, exercise)? I used to take supplements: MSM based hair, nails and skin by Solgar. If you live in Lagos, you can get it at Careforte on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island and at Health plus pharmacy at The Palms. I took fish oil for a while too. I never tried biotin but I hear it speeds up hair growth but I know someone who experienced acne breakouts after taking it so it kind of scared me off. Currently, I don’t take any supplements.
  14. You’re stuck on a desert island and you can only have 3 hair related items with you. What would they be and why? Water, Instant conditioner and a wide tooth comb. Water because it is the ultimate moisturizer, conditioner to help soften my hair and enable easy detangling AND a wide tooth comb to comb out tangles. I actually feel that you don’t need a whole lot to get long healthy hair.
  15. Looking back at your journey so far, is there anything you would do differently? Or wish you would have done sooner? Hmm, I probably would have never entrusted my hair care to hair dressers. I would have started taking care of my hair myself earlier. It was after numerous setbacks caused by unfortunate visits to hair dressers that I resolved to caring for my hair myself and it has made a world of difference.
  16. Is there anything else would you like to share that I haven’t asked you about? Or any links you would like to share? No, you have asked everything. Lol. I do have a  blog and a youtube channel. Check them out at http://lushstrands.blogspot.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/lushstrands respectively
  17. Someone is reading this right now who’s about to start her hair journey. What advice would you give her?
    Growing long hair is a commitment. You have to make the commitment and put in the effort to care for your hair bearing the following 3 things in mind:
     – Using the proper tools i.e. wide tooth combs, combs with no jagged seams or rough edges, ceramic rather than gold plated hot tools etc
     – Use the right products: This requires a bit of experimenting to find out what works for you. What works for others may not necessarily work for you. I have dry hair so I use a moisturing conditioner to co-wash my hair every week. Some people get color rinses to help thicken their hair. The key is to find out what works for your own hair.
     – Use the right techniques: Combing your hair properly, not raking a fine toothed comb through tangled hair, washing properly, detangling properly, wrapping with a satin/silk scarf at night… etc
    Lastly, be patient and remember that your hair is growing. The fact that you have to relax your hair every 4 to 6 weeks shows that your hair is growing. The important thing is to prevent breakage and retain your length. Given the right amount of TLC, you will get there in due time… happy growing.
     
About the author
Dr Fomsky

Nigerian-born Dr Fomsky is a God-lover, a wife, a mom of three, a medical doctor by day. Plus she owns a Nigerian-based online hair product store called Sizzelle.
Dr Fomsky is very passionate about hair, skin and weight management. Since she's had her babies, she's been struggling to keep her weight and her tummy down!
At night, she likes to read books, write blog posts and leave comments on other blogs. She lives in Alberta, Canada and is also the author of Solving your relaxed hair breakage book .
DR FOMSKY'S HAIR TYPE:
LAST RELAXER DAY: December 15th, 2016
BIG CHOP: January 14th, 2017
Natural Hair, Unknown Porosity, Fine Hair strands, Low to Moderate Density
CURRENT HAIR LENGTH: Unknown
FAVOURITE DEEP CONDITIONER: ??

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...





34 Comments to Feature Friday: Check out Lush Strand’s waist length hair

  1. This is a proof that we have ladies living in Africa who have done well in growing their hair long n healthy.

  2. Katchie says:

    Am highly impressed and motivated. I’ll get there soon. Thanks Dr. for sharing

  3. Joie says:

    This is really encouraging, thanks Dr fomsky

  4. Jibola says:

    Wow! This is unbelievable. I’m so encouraged. Thanks

  5. Ayi says:

    Wow! This is amazing! Been struggling with my hair for a while now. This definitely teaches me a lot I was missing out on. Thanks Doc!

  6. Daisy Ada says:

    OMG! I’ve read most of the tips elsewhere but I’ve never seen a living testimony. Waist length? This will definitely take a lot of commitment but it’s worth it. So motivated

  7. Enigma says:

    Wow!! Nice one Dr. Fomsky, right here in Lagos with us. #checkinglushstrandsnow.

  8. Ghlonghair says:

    Fabulous hair!! I get more and more convinced that we can all have this hair length and health if we just take care of our hair properly!!

  9. Ola says:

    Your hair is really long and healthy. I rely more one finger combing

  10. hossana says:

    Dis is soo encouraging but i want to ask if dis can be done on a virgin hair?

    • Dr_fomsky says:

      Virgin hair needs more of co-washing than actual shampooing, which was what she was doing. So to answer your question, yes..Yes it can be done on virgin hair. All you need is to use products that are specific for natural hair. Take care Hossana!

  11. hossana says:

    thank u very much.But can i use d exact products she used or specifically for virgin hair? nd i have a relatively soft hair.I don’t really understand wat co-washing means.And if i can’t could u pls help me wit d right kind nd their prices.

    • Dr_fomsky says:

      Since your hair is natural, it would be better you used conditioners specifically for natural hair e.g Tresemme naturals, Suave naturals
      , etc. Since you have a relatively soft hair, then co-washing would be great for you. Co-washing is applying a conditioner to your hair instead of using a shampoo. That’s what Lush strands used to do. She used shampoo only once a month. To read more about co-washing, please read HERE

  12. hossana says:

    thank u sooooo much

  13. hossana says:

    its me again…i would really like to know if it is necessary to deep condition after conditioning with suave Naturals Conditioner and if Generic products are good for virgin hairs? and is Ion clarify shampoo good for virgin hair? Is Tropical Isle Living Jamaican Coconut Black castor oil good too…? Last but not the least…are Jason Kids Natural daily shampoo and detangling conditioner great for virgin hair..wow!!! finally..’

    • Dr fomsky says:

      Hi Hossanna. I don’t have natural hair but my daughters do. I use Suave naturals mango Mandarin for them. I leave it in their hair for about 2 minutes and then rinse it off. Sometimes, I leave it till evening and then rinse it off. Afterwards, I don’t use any other conditioner for them. Their hair usually feels very soft afterwards. So, I think using another conditioner afterwards depends on how soft and moisturized your hair feels after using the Suave.
      Yes you can use Ion clarifying shampoo for natural hair but yoi should use it about once a month.
      Some GENERIC products are good for natural hair like GVP Conditioning balm and GVP The Conditioner. Some are not e.g GVP silk remedy.
      Although Jasons all natural conditioner for kids contains dimethicone, I think it is okay for natural hair when used with the corresponding shampoo because the shampoo contains cocoamidopropyl betaine which I think removes dimethicone from the hsir. Whew!

  14. Dr fomsky says:

    Hi Hossanna. I don’t have natural hair but my daughters do. I use Suave naturals mango Mandarin for them. I leave it in their hair for about 2 minutes and then rinse it off. Sometimes, I leave it till evening and then rinse it off. Afterwards, I don’t use any other conditioner for them. Their hair usually feels very soft afterwards. So, I think using another conditioner afterwards depends on how soft and moisturized your hair feels after using the Suave.
    Yes you can use Ion clarifying shampoo for natural hair but yoi should use it about once a month.
    Some GENERIC products are good for natural hair like GVP Conditioning balm and GVP The Conditioner. Some are not e.g GVP silk remedy.
    Although Jasons all natural conditioner for kids contains dimethicone, I think it is okay for natural hair when used with the corresponding shampoo because the shampoo contains cocoamidopropyl betaine which I think removes dimethicone from the hsir. Whew!

  15. hossana says:

    thank uuuuuuuuuuu…the generic products i mean are the detangler and the hydrating shampoo…seriously i’m really GREATFUL for finding time to reply all my TROUBLESOME questions…thank u sooo much.

  16. magdaline says:

    what products can I use for my relaxed hair?please

Leave a Reply to Dr_fomsky Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *