Last year I carried out my first "Neno Natural's #Crazy500s Giveaway". The point of the giveaway is to show appreciation to the people that follow me by email for staying subscribed.

Last time, I gave the entire $500 to one person. However, this year, I thought I would get your opinion on the best way to structure this giveaway so please take the poll. 

1. Should I split the $500 between 1, 2, 5 or 10 people?
2. Would you prefer cash or an Amazon gift card?

Last week Christine asked, “I NEED real advice with LICE - I have struggled with lice with my daughter (coarse hair) for a month. It is just impossible to comb out the eggs with that little comb, they keep coming back...;-( tears, tearing hair out even though she has it short... I am at my wits end and ready to shave it off.... ;-( REALLY ADVICE NEEDED!!!!”

I heard Christine’s cry for advice loud and clear so I took it to my Facebook page, LongHealthyHair, to get as many different opinions on the solution as is possible because I have never had to deal with the problem.

The most shocking thing to me was the number of people that claimed that, “black people don’t get lice.” Personally, I felt offended/disappointed by the statement because we as a race always complain about how we hate being judged according to the colour of our skin and yet, it appeared that when it suits us, we use our race as a defence.

Anyhow, I decided to do some proper research to see whether there was any truth to the statement and what I did find is that the answer is a little more complicated. I actually found a proper research paper on the topic from, the University of California (2001). This is what they found:

It is true that African Americans / Black people in America have much fewer incidences of head lice than Caucasian and Asian Americans. However, Black people in Africa have as many incidences of head lice as Caucasians in America. The reason lies in the hair type and evolution of head lice.

Head Lice In America

Head lice that are found in the US prefer hair that is round in cross-section. This would be white and Asian hair. The hair of black people has an oval/flatish cross-section and this is not as attractive to American head lice, they can't latch onto it easily.

Head Lice In Africa

Head lice in Africa on the other hand have evolved to develop claws that allow them to grasp on to hair with an oval cross-sections. The African variety of head lice are not common in North America so black people in America are not as susceptible to getting head lice.

What Is The Result?

Anyone with an oval cross-section of hair in America, be it African, African-American, Black British, Caribbean, etc. will have a much lower likelihood of getting head lice.

If you’re in Africa, it doesn’t matter what your hair type is, our head lice are ninja and have adapted so that they can latch onto any type of hair, they don’t discriminate. You got hair? Then you’re fair game, only the bald survive!

The Future?

Head lice in America may over time evolve to develop claws meaning that the lower incidence of lice seen amongst black people in America will fall.

So there you have it - a simple explanation

Ref 

• Facebook discussion 1 on Head Lice
• Facebook discussion 2 on Head Lice
• Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California

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A very interesting thing happened recently: my Pinterest following doubled from 3.5k to 7k in like 2 weeks.

It had taken me a whole year to grow to 3,500 followers so I was very surprised, I thought I had been hit by bots because many of the new followers had very few followers themselves.

I contacted Pinterest to ask and got the explanation seen in the screenshot of my email. 

Apparently as a "super pinner" they are now promoting my pages to new joiners so those people see interesting posts right away. 

I am truly chuffed & humbled. I would also be very grateful to you if you followed the Neno Natural Pinterest board. 

I share amazing hairstyles every day to inspire you and make deciding your new “do” that much easier.

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Not all conditioners are made equal! Some are designed for daily use, others for weekly use and yet others for less than weekly use.

To reduce frizz: leave a little rinse-out conditioner in your hair. This works best for thick or course hair, according to the Science of Black Hair.

1. Instant Conditioners

• Designed for regular/daily use
  
• Watery
  
• Best for people with thin or oily hair
  
• Don't deep condition well, they are very much surface acting
  
• If you use an instant conditioner you also need a deep conditioner for weekly use

2. Cream-rinse (a.k.a. creme-rinse) conditioners

• Great for detangling
  
• Great for heat protection, so you can use this type of conditioner AFTER your regular condition and shampoo for heat protection element

Cream-rinse conditioners generally do not contain all the moisturizers, oils and ingredients that are strongly attracted to hair as found in a deep conditioner, a moisturizing conditioner or a protein conditioner. On average they are also thinner in consistency.

3. Deep conditioners

• Boost moisture
  
• Boost protein
  
• Strengthen the hair strands
• Should be ideally done weekly or every 10 days
• To improve product take-up, I wear a shower cap, blow dry on top of it for a couple of minutes then wear a thick scarf over the shower cap to trap the heat

4. Moisturising conditioners

• Boost moisture
  
• Boost hair elasticity
  
• Reduce frizz
  

5. Protein conditioners

• Temporarily rebuild damage along the hair's cuticle
  
• They are surface acting so when you wash your hair you remove this protein
  
• Also contain moisture boosting element unlike "protein reconstructors / treatments"
  

Protein reconstructors / treatments

• Not really a conditioner because a conditioner is designed to boost moisture and protein treatments don't do that at all. In fact, you have to condition your hair after using one
  
• Act on a deeper level, i.e. they penetrate the hair shaft they don't just act on the surface
  
• Ideal for porous or damaged hair
  
• If your hair is already healthy and balanced they will dry your hair out so don't overuse

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Ref: The Science of Black Hair, pages 78-80

Because kinky and curly natural hair behaves very differently depending on what it's exposed to and in contact with, understanding how it responds to hot water vs. cold water can help you to manage your natural hair better. This article will help you to decide when to use hot vs. cold water on your hair.

Warm Water is great because:

• It loosens dirt and oil so it can be washed out easily
  
• It opens up pores and the hair cuticle to improve product take up
  

Unfortunately it also makes hair look more frizzy!

Therefore, it's great for the beginning of the washing process.

Don't use hot water on your hair though! Hot water:

• Can damage the hair cuticle; this is because heat causes the cuticle to lift dramatically and it might eventually peel or crack off the surface of the hair
  
• Will leave your hair feeling dry

Cold water is great because:

• It closes up both the scalp's pores and the hair's cuticle layer
  
• By flattening the cuticle it increases the hair's shine and reduces frizz
  

Therefore, it's important to finish your hair wash off with cold water - I also do this for my face. Rinsing your face off with cold water helps to reduce acne (obviously in addition to drinking lots of water and trying to eat well) this is similar to sealing off the hair cuticle with cold water. 

In summary, cold water pores and cuticles to shrivel up warm water makes them open up.

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A while ago I went on holiday and unfortunately discovered that the conditioner I had taken does not work for my hair.

I was away for two weeks in a country where products for natural black hair are not available; I desperately needed to condition my hair so I googled for simple, natural methods and was surprised to find that the ingredients in Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator were mentioned as being good for conditioning hair and for hot oil treatments.

I washed my hair with water, sprayed Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator on, put a shower cap over my head for a couple of hours, then I rinsed my head with cold water and plaited it.

I didn't add any moisturiser at all because my hair was already adequately oily. What you see me unplaiting here is the result of that hair conditioning session. I kept the plaits in for the duration of the flight back and for a couple of days when I got home. 

Given the choice, I would rather mix essential oils with my conditioner but I am very happy with the results I achieved using just Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator.

If you want to make your own oil use any one of the following as a base:

• Jojoba oil 
  
• Grapeseed oil
• Coconut oil
• Sweet almond oil
• Pure, unrefined olive oil
  
• Avocado oil

Then to that mixture add three or four of the following essential oils:

• Lavender
  
• Rosemary
  
• Cedarwood
  
• Thyme
  
• Ylang Ylang
  
• Bergamot
  

That's pretty much it! Enjoy.

The above said, note that this was a short-term solution and that this is not a "real conditioner" but something you can add to your routine. It is essentially a hot oil treatment. At the moment I do a hot oil treatment similar to this every other week before washing and conditioning my hair.

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First things first, what's matted hair? Your hair becomes matted if you go to bed without twisting it for a couple of nights. It sticks together and flattens against your scalp - a bit like I don't know, a mat? 

Because it's normally dry as well, you can't just comb it out of its matted state. It would cause lots of breakage and be quite painful.

There's a simple solution:

1. Spritz your hair with water. I normally add my essential oil blend, Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator, to my water.

2. Don't try to lift the matted hair out immediately. Put a shower cap over your head then go about your business.

3. After about 15 minutes, the hair will be soft enough to deal with. It will feel completely different. You can spritz more water onto it if you like. Finger comb it and you're good to go.

Simple as A, B, C. Or 1, 2, 3 in this case.

One of my friends gave up on being natural because she simply couldn't deal with matted hair and as the only natural haired black person in her boarding school, there was no one to turn to, ah well.