I’m ecstatic that winter is over because the ‘fro does not appreciate the harshness of the cold season. My hair tends to be really dry (particularly in winter), so dry that I can hear the straw like scratch when I touch it (nooooo) so most of the time I have it covered with what is called protective styling in the natural hair world. What protective styling basically is, is anything that will have your own hair not exposed. That includes braids, weaves, cornrows and all other hairstyles that are mostly extensions.
Besides using water to spray my hair daily ( Combined with leave in conditioner and oil) , weird I know, by it works… I do a lot of hot oil treatments or similar ones to restore the moisture and have it in it’s liquorice flavoured cotton candy textured glory 
As I mentioned in a previous post, I usually use the African Pride Olive Miracle Oil and I mix the oil with normal glycerine. I warm it up in the microwave for about 15 second, not any longer because it will burn me and apply it liberally on my damp hair. I use the very same glycerine that I abhorred as a kid when my mom tried using it on my hair and skin. Now with age and hair experience, I find that glycerine does wonders for one’s hair, especially if one has dry hair like mine. And it is reeeealy affordable ( 
always a plus) cost less than R10 at almost all grocery stores for a 100ml bottle!
Glycerine-100ml
The chemical make up allows glycerine to draw moisture from the air to my hair which is exactly what my hair needs. I love that glycerine helps moisturize hair but I don’t like that it is not so great for hairstyles that require my hair to be out and bouncing about like twist outs and braid outs because it causes hair to shrink and tighten the curls and then there goes your perfect twist out ( why you no be bouncy ‘fro? 
) . The choice then comes between the perfect hairstyle or moisturized hair (deepest sigh).
Twist out- Not my own
In order for me not to choose I tried finding hot oil treatments in the stores,so I don’t have to mix my own. Took me a while (surprise surprise) but I eventually found Dr Miracles Hot Argan oil treatment. The sucky thing is that it comes in a three pack with other treatments that I didn’t want and it is rather pricy (weeping accountant). The upside though is that my hair feels amazing after using it. It leaves my hair with that bounce I love and it is tangle free! …. Well for a few days (#Natural hair problems).
The treatment I found also happens to have glycerine as one of its ingredients. Surprisingly the glycerine doesn’t cause my hair to shrink as I expected it to. I still don’t know why that is, but I’m not complaining at all!
I eventually started using the other parts of the three pack, they are actually leave in conditioners. Leave in conditioners are different from normal conditioners in that they are not as heavy on your hair, they are lighter and more moisturizing therefore allowing you to not wash it out and leave it in the hair. Similar to the Avon one I mentioned in my first SA hair products review. One of the leave in packs was a Coconut Milk leave in and I used it a little every second day and after washes. Even though I didn’t want it at first, I was happy with the outcome so I was glad to have found it because it also smells amazing.
Dr Miracle leave in conditioner
I also found a new type of butter, different from the Shea one I used before. This is Avocado Butter. I’ve found that it works pretty much the same as Shea Butter so I guess I’ll interchange them until I find a different brand to compare with.
New Avocado butter
Old Shea butter
I’ve tried to find out why my hair is as dry as it is and it all leads to my curls (again, extensive research) . The tightness of the curl doesn’t allow enough of the natural moisture from my scalp to reach the rest of the hair, making it dry. The dryness causes my hair to break and that is what has kept my hair as a TWA for years. It really is a catch-22 because the curliness is what I love about my hair!
On another note, I have also found that men also tend to have dry hair so I think the leave in conditioner could also be used by men who have dry hair like mine. The men won’t lose their men cards by using this because they’ll have awesome hair (tehehe… Right?)
Lenny Kravitz Afro
I’m still looking for more hot oil treatments, or similar ones that will give my hair the moisture it thrives on, and not as pricey as the one I found.
In the mean time, people with dry hair should try the products. The beauty is that your hair doesn’t necessarily have to be curly (coily if you have an afro) for you to try the products…. and I’ll still be on the look out
