African Thread with EDEN BodyWorks- A Review.

Hey Guys!

Last week, I mentioned that I would be experimenting with heat free stretching through a method called African Threading.  

Caution: Mini rant ahead.

I must admit;  I war internally with an element of selloutness disloyalty that arises from submitting to the term "African" threading.  There's an aspect of irritation that I constantly squelch whenever it comes to any African related narrative, since African things from African places rarely get their own specific identities. 
It's a curiously stubborn theme that's repeated ad nauseum, which seems to swing between the mundane and forgettable instances to the jarringly obvious.  If you're lucky enough to hail from countries above the Sahara, with the exception of South Africa, or if you originate from countries at the horn of the continent, then you're most likely exempted from the otherwise indistinguishable murkiness of all things 'Africa'.  
There's African culture, African music, African dance, African literature, African science, African clothing, African food, African drumming, African oil, and unfortunately, even African threading.
I can factually list at least five countries where people thread their hair.  But, I get it.   There are always those who state that there are too many African countries to always mention each time.  
Right.  
That excuse only illustrates that it's never really about convenience but more about dismissal.
I never hear broad phrases like European culture, North American drumming, and Asian dance.  Do things like that even exist?

Wack juice.

I'll stick to calling it threading.

Growing up in Amakohia, Imo State as a wee school girl, every few weeks, my mother would charge one of our available aunties with the duty of toting my older sister and me to the market, to get our hair prepped for school.  Any Naija school girl worth her weight, knew that neat and presentable hair was absolutely mandatory for school.  A non-negotiable.  If you failed the test of carrying decently coiffed tresses, you were possibly subject to the wrath and ridicule of your teachers, perhaps even the headmistress.  

I'm speaking from personal experience here, ya'll.

I can still recall a school assembly where I was summoned to stand in front of the rest of my primary two peers, as Exhibit A What Not to Wear, the Alvan Ikoku Primary School edition.  My Aunt Celia had sewn a huge bow for me, that I'd proudly displayed in my hair at school one morning.  So, along with my bleached white socks, gleaming brown sandals, and my uniform starched and ironed to perfection, I'd strutted to the front of the assembly to face my classmates, and was promptly humiliated as my headmistress admonished the rest of the students to never come to school with hair accessories that didn't match our school colors of purple and white.  My six year old self never saw her reprimand coming. 

Lol.

My mother always allowed us the choice between a plaited style or something done with eri (thread).  I'd always pick eri, because the styles seemed more elaborate, quicker to do, and not as painfully teeth gnashing as cornrows often were.  She'd saddle us with packs and packs of thread for the hairdresser to use, and would then scamper off to shop for fresh vegetables and fruits.

 Three to four packs of thread would quickly be unraveled and wound around the hairdresser's knee and elbow.  An end would be snipped and the batch of threads would be thrust into my tiny hands to hold, as she commenced to work.  Her fingers moved so swiftly, that I'd hear the threads whirring in my ears, as she marched across my head, efficiently completing row after row of stiff spikes of threaded hair. 

Occasionally, I'd wince up in pain, as the whirls of thread tightened around the base of my hair clenched in her fist.  Most hairdressers, noting my scrunched up face, would offer commiserating clucks, murmuring  "Ocho mma", seeking beauty; the shortened form of the universal mantra many of us have heard and might even identify with, "beauty is pain".  

Elegant, no?  
An hour or so later, she'd secure the ends of the threaded hair, bend them all at a 90 degree angle, and I'd emerge with a variation of something like this: 

You couldn't tell me my hair wasn't fresh!

The Review

Several weeks ago, EDEN BodyWorks graciously sent over a kit of products within their JojOba Monoi Line for me to review on GTG. 

I'd been toying with the idea of blowing out my hair a final time this year, but I did not want to subject my hair to extreme heat, even from a blow dryer set on medium.  My previous blowout, earlier this May, had resulted in hair that felt extremely parched, and I was dreading receiving similar results again.  After viewing a video by GirlsLoveYourCurls, on attaining stretched hair by threading, I remembered that I had packs of thread in my closet that I hadn't used in years.

My hair has been plaited and tucked under Lauren 

 ever since my last deep condition and detangle session. So, for the blowout look, I applied the JojOba Monoi Hair Milk to dry hair, and gently dry detangled *gasp* with my Denman or Goody's  Pro brush. 

 Note:  I still do not recommend combing dry hair.

The Ingredients

JojOba Monoi Hair Milk

Water (Aqua), Polysorbate-80, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Coco Nut Oil, Tiare Flower, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hydroxypropyltimonium Honey, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid

$9.99 for 8 oz. jar

JojOba Monoi All Natural Hair Oil

  Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Coco Nut Oil, Tiare Flower, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract

$9.99 for 4 oz. can

The hair milk has a runny and lotion-like consistency.  The instant I poured some out in my palm, I immediately felt it wouldn't moisturize my hair sufficiently, because of how thin it was in texture.  So, I also mixed in a few squirts of the hair oil into my hands and applied both to my hair.

The Product Claim

"... JojOba Monoi All Natural Hair Oil contains natural pH balancing elements to decrease dandruff and itchy scalp without oily buildup... leaves hair silky and full of shine... is a perfect for use on braids, locks, twists, coils and other natural, relaxed and color treated hairstyles."

"... JojOba Monoi Hair Milk is a natural cocktail of Coconut Oil and Vitamin E... delivers antioxidants that replenish and rejuvenate dry brittle hair... reduce split ends to leave hair soft, shiny and manageable."

 I unraveled a pack of thread to approximately, 24 inches in length, and holding a chunk of hair in my left hand, I added a 5 inch portion of thread to the section of hair, and then I proceeded to wrap the remaining long portion of thread around the base of hair with my right hand, gradually moving down the entire length of hair.  The ends of my hair were also wrapped in the thread, but left untied, since I knew I'd be unraveling the thread in a few days.

The Verdict

Two days later, the thread was unraveled and I brushed my hair out, revealing gloriously poofy hair that was soft and adequately stretched.  The lightness of the hair milk actually worked well to find the balance between imparting enough moisture for softness and still preventing reversion.  

 The oil left behind a lovely sheen

I would definitely recommend the JojOba Monoi hair oil to anyone who isn't a cheapie like I am.  (Remember, I like my hair products to be super affordable and accessible.)  It smells great and I love that it's packaged into a canister with a spray pump.  Hair milks are hit or misses with thick, dense hair types.  The JojOba Monoi hair milk would work best as a moisturizer in textures that are medium density with finer strands. 

As for threading?  I love!  Though, it takes a day to get good results, and there's additional brushing that I don't care for, I love that I can still get awesome stretching with absolutely no heat.

 If you're ever without electricity, and still need your hair to look blown out; thread it!

__________________

**On a more sobering note-

Please forgive my awkward attempt at trying to relate frivolity to a completely devastating situation many of us are currently dealing with. :-( **

To everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy, our hearts and prayers are sincerely extended to you and your families.