karkar oil

Chebe Powder

I heard about Chebe Powder for the first time, early last year, in 2018 and I didn’t even know what it looked like and had never set my eyes on it. A lady that comes to our natural hair salon, Nashe Hair Studio, often asked us to stock it and she vowed not to get it from any way else. She wanted to get it from us.  Let me brag a bit here. Because of our amazing service when it comes to natural hair products and online shopping, our clients sometimes, literally beg us to stock some product brands. Another customer actually told us that she knew where we could order it from in bulk but she preferred dealing with Natural Moisture when it comes to natural hair care products. How awesome is that?

So, since we didn’t know nothing about Chebe, Google is our friend. We researched and found out the crazy hype that was going on about the Chebe powder. After being natural for a good 8 years now, I have seen these hypes come and go and really, I thought this was one of those and did not pay too much attention to it. After watching the videos of those women from Chad, I was only thinking of the fact that their hair was obviously of a looser curl than ours and who knows, it’s probably in their genes to have long hair. For real, to me it was just a craze that would pass. But when I used it, my views were quite swayed. Maybe it’s not all in their genes after all. And according to Miss Sahel, the hair along the hairline is not long because they do not apply the Chebe powder to it. However, all the hair that has Chebe applied to it, has less breakage. This I understand. However, my question here has been the hair growth cycle  that everyone has genetically determined. If mine is 2 years, the length can never get to that of a person who has 6 years in the growth phase. However, arresting breakage is a big step in growing longer hair. At the average 6″ of hair growth a year, in 2 years, a person should have about 12″ of hair if there is no breakage. And in 3 years 18″. Wow! Let me not get too carried away.

As months went on, some clients started bringing it with them to the salon to have their hair braided after applying it. That is when I managed to see, feel and even smell Chebe for the first time. These clients also told us of the amazing results that they were getting since thy started using it and that aroused my interest even more. Their hair looked super healthy. Although some of the hair was quite tangled and I blame that on how they were applying it to their hair, all in all, the Chebe powdered hair looked strong and healthy. I had to try this Chebe powder thing. And I did.

A bit of background. If you are living on mars, you probably need an introduction to Chebe Powder. Well, in July 2017, Miss Sahel posted a video on Chadian women and how they use Chebe powder and why it is a secret to their long hair. If you have not seen the video, well, you can watch it here. Miss Sahel Chebe Video. And looking at the lengths of hair these women are dealing with, you can understand the craze. However, I would like to clear some things before we get carried away. Chebe powder is not applied on the scalp so there is no way it can make your hair grow faster. It is supposed to arrest breakage because it is applied on the hair shaft.

What is Chebe powder

Chebe Powder

Chebe powder is actually made of a number of ingredients with the main ingredient being Lavender Croton which is what is called Chebe or Chewe in Chad. Another type of the shrub is also called Lavender Gratissimus and grows in most parts of Africa, in Zimbabwe it is known as Gunukira. The Chadian women then grind the Chebe seeds mixed with cherry kernels, Mastic gum, clove and some perfumes to make what we know as Chebe Powder.

And that is what we sourced for and in no time, had it delivered to us, straight from Chad. At a huge cost of course. That is how we started selling Chebe powder and that is when I had a chance to try it on my hair as well. Which was late last year. And now, I am telling you my experience.

I have used Chebe powder for about 5 times to date and I do it the busy natural way. There are a number of ways that one can use Chebe powder. You can do it to the book like what Miss Sahel shows in the video or apply it more or less like a hair mask which you will rinse out later or do it like I do. Mix it with my sealing products and leave  it on my hair for the week.

How I use Chebe powder.

Chebe mixture

Ingredients.

1 Tbs Chebe Powder

1 Tbs Nashe Organics leave-in conditioner,

1/2 Tbs Nashe Organics Unrefined Shea butter

1 tsp Karkar oil or any oil of choice. At first I  used to use castor oil.

I mix all the ingredients together in a small container or jar and then, after my hair is washed and conditioned, I apply the Chebe mixture onto my hair as I do African threading to stretch my hair or some twists. I keep them in for about a week and then wash my hair and re-apply the mixture. That’s it.

Chebe mixture comes out more or like this.

My experience with Chebe powder.

What I have found out though is that, making the Chebe mixture, saves me so much time in the application process. I am a real sucker for quick tricks to get my hair done in the shortest time possible. In this case, I just need to apply one thing to my hair and that is the mixture. My leave-in conditioner is water based and that keeps my hair moisturised through out. The Shea butter and the oil also help with sealing the moisture in and helping Chebe powder to stick to my hair for longer. How cool is that? Instead of applying the water, then then Chebe powder and then the oil and, and. I’m getting tired just writing about it. After applying the Chebe mixture, I do chunky twists, chunky braids or African threading and then I leave it on my hair for about a week before taking it out, washing and repeating the process. I normally wear a cap, a wig or if my twists are neat enough, I will leave them out.

covering up for African threading

Afro Wig

My results from using Chebe powder.

Not sure if my hair growth can be attributed to Chebe powder but yes, my hair has grown so much sometimes I’m even shocked it is this long already. Not much thickness I’m afraid. It is still the way it was before when it comes to that. However, I have noticed way less breakage and my hair is relatively softer after taking out the twists. And the only thing that I can attribute that to is the Chebe mixture. I have noticed as well that Chebe powder and my scalp are not exactly friends. This does not come as a shock though. When I was doing my research about Chebe powder, I read that there are some people, like me, who have sensitive scalps who may trigger dandruff if the Chebe gets to their scalp. This I noticed was the case with me when I applied Chebe powder and then did flat twists which I know now was not a good idea. My scalp got so itchy it was not funny. I had to take out the twists prematurely and wash my hair. So if you are like me and have a sensitive scalp, then you may want to take precaution and not do styles that will transfer the Chebe powder on your hair to your scalp. All in all, I am happy with Chebe powder.

hair growth with Chebe powder

Have you used Chebe powder? What do you mix it with, if you do mix it with something? I may want to try your combination sometime. I would also like to read of your experience with Chebe powder or Karkar oil. Let’s have a conversation.

Love

Eve