A year in hair....well almost

'Hair as a metaphor for life', is how the idea behind our blog has been summed up.


Sounds ridiculous? Well, not really.  For me definitely and for Miss Karla, there's a lot of truth in that statement.  What we've done with our hair has, many times reflected what we were or weren't doing with ourselves.  Karla for example this year finally took out her braid extensions, writing about the experience here.  They had become her equivalent of a hair blanky that she was slowly having to ween herself off,  and now, she's having a whole heap of fun with her new, freer do.  I can personally vouch that her shiny, super soft head of healthy hair is looking very cute indeed and is currently accompanying her are she gets ready to fulfill one of her life dreams: dancing with a famous Rio Samba School for Rio Carnival 2014.


My hair.....hmmm, my hair is hanging on in there despite some odious instances of neglect this year.

Fascinator, pompadour &
victory rolls for a
40's style party

At the start of 2013 I was all about trying new stuff. I was all over the retro updos (left), pinning, headscarves and quiffs. I dusted of my Curlformers like I said I would and managed to master my own take on a Rose the Riveter do (below right).  

At some point this year my hair and I entered into a long distant relationship. As I got busier, more stressed and feeling less like my myself the fun of experimenting fizzled out. Lack of time and inclination meant that chunky twists pinned back in simple updos became my go to style. Quickish, practical and low maintenance, praise be!

Scarf purchase courtesy
of Brixton Market

In May I finally visited the hairdressers for a straighten 'n' trim, my first in 2 years (I know, I know, will never, ever leave it that long again to get a trim), the split ends and fairy knots were too much to bear.  Sadly, there are no joyous pics of me frolicking about with my shorter, straight hair, and it wasn't coz I couldn't fix my face long enough for pouting over the shorter length to take a decent pic. Truth be told I was disappointed that despite my careful maintenance, my bra strap length hair (yep it was that long, sniff) was getting sizeable chop coz the ends were in a sorry state.  However, better more consistent care would have prevented that in the first place, so I had to take it like a big girl and remember my hair was better off. Anyway, aside from that I was too busy and too feeling stressed to give a damn about posing for hair selfies, which I suck at taking anyway.

Kanika's Hair regime

My regime is very simple and I do the same thing throughout the year.  I reckon I can get away with this because in London, the seasons can meld into one!  Humidity can be a challenge, but it's rarely too hot or cold to bother with fancy pants, seasonal specific regimes. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!   However, I have also been too lazy, cautious and poor to experiment with lots of different products and techniques, so my reggy has remained pretty much the same for the last 3 years.

I have a lot of hair and try to treat it as gently as possible, but lawdy sometimes it tries my patience! This is what I have to deal with.

Crazy girl hair  - 

Big 'n' poofy at the root, stretched at the ends 

& producty. Time for a wash!

Hair texture

My hair’s like an unruly child, who hates doing what it’s told and loves to run wild and free. It’s thick, dense, with I think normal porosity (but I'm still trying to work that out) and type wise it's a mixture of 3C & 4A. I haven’t properly checked the length for 18mnths when I had my last trim (I know, I know, I’m bad) but it’s about bra-strap length. Here is good guide from NaturallyCurly.com about texture typing.