FEATURE FRIDAY: LADE
Hey everyone!
Happy Friday! Finally getting back into the swing of things at uni – stressful but it has to be done! Anyway, here we go again with a feature – this time from Lade!
Tell us your name, where you’re from and where you live
Lade Omisore (pronounced Ladé, not ‘Laid’), I’m Nigerian and I live in London.
How long have you been natural? And why did you decide to go natural?
I went natural basically because I wanted healthier, thicker hair. My sisters and I started relaxing our hair from a very young age and, while they still had thick, healthy hair like my mum, mine was just a mess. I was always the one with the thin hair. Whenever we’d go to braid our hair, they’d always say “we’ll do Lade’s last, her hair’s thin so it won’t take much time’ and that lowkey used to cut me deep. I’m big on self-love so I tried so hard to work it and love it but it just wouldn’t work. So after ‘transitioning’ for only about 2 months, I washed my hair one day and felt like cutting it, so I did. (It was around that whole “You Only Live Once, that’s the motto” period so I was under the influence).
What’s the best and worst thing about being natural?
Best – Besides the fact that it’s just so snazzy, my hair in its natural state, without all the chemicals and heat, is a lot healthier and thicker! (*sidenote* last week, I was getting my hair done and the hair dresser said, “your hair is so thick! Braiding it must take ages!”- you know I was full on booty-popping and two-steppin’ in my head)
Worst – It can be super time consuming, especially at the start when you’re still confuzzled about everything.
Give us a brief summary of your wash day regimen:
I’m yet to settle on a regular routine. I’m still trying things out but for the last few months it’s been: finger detangle with coconut/olive oil then do about six chunky twists (my hair’s not long enough to do 4 yet). Hop in the shower, take a twist, wash that section with conditioning shampoo, rinse, apply quite a bit of conditioner (all whilst finger detangling), rinse, re-twist that section. Then I do the same for the other 5 sections. Hop out the shower, towel dry my sections a bit, apply leave-in conditioner, coconut oil and olive oil. If I’m going out the next day and want to combat shrinkage, I’ll split each twisted section into 2/3 smaller twists.
If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only have ONE hair product, what would you choose?
My organic, unrefined coconut oil! I started using it relatively recently and my hair just loves it. Coconut oil is bae.
Tell us two DOs and two DON’Ts for your natural hair
DOs: Love your hair at every length! My natural hair journey has had a lot of ups and downs (had to re-cut it twice etc) but at each stage, whether it grew a lot or a little, I’d always say to myself “imagine if this was the hair length you chose to have forever”. It really helps because you’re not constantly dissatisfied, waiting for it to grow so when it does, it’s just like a lovely bonus. Make protective styling your friend…but with sense i.e. hairstyles that will protect, not weaken and damage your hair.
DON’Ts: Fry your hair with heat. Comb your hair, especially when it’s dry. If your texture is anything like mine, finger detangling really is best.
Give us one piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to go natural
When you go on your massive YouTube binge, make sure you remember that everyone’s hair is different and will respond to different things in different ways! Whilst wash-and-go’s might work very well for one person’s hair type and texture, it may not work for yours.
Thank you to Lade for sharing with us!
Comment below or email me with any questions, share this post on FB, Twitter etc and follow on Instagram!
Tara xXx
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