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Nashe Organics

My current regimen on shorter hair

by Evenes Ruth Mafupa 26 September 2018

written by Evenes Ruth Mafupa

Although my hair is much shorter than it used to be, it’s in no way a TWA. So, I cannot just wash and let it be, well sometimes I do and then I have to deal with detangling and removing the knots afterwards. That makes it not a good idea to just let it be or wash it daily in the shower for that matter. It is however much easier and faster to handle my hair now in its shorter state which is a big plus for me. Detangling is not a session on its own. It kind of happens as I was my hair and run my fingers through it. I also can wash my hair, apply conditioner and comb it out into an afro in less than 30 minutes which is great. Below, I share with you my current regimen or routine to take care of my hair.

Wash days

Wash days are once a week and if I can pull it off, once every 2 weeks but rarely so. Once a week is more like the norm. Because I sometimes flake on my scalp, I often do a pre-shampoo treatment aka pre-poo. For that I use the Nashe Organics Moisturising daily Hair Spray, mixed with a bit of Head & Shoulders African Hair and scalp care shampoo. I apply the mixture on my scalp then go under the steamer for about 10 minutes. This helps to lift all the dandruff from my scalp so that when I wash, my scalp is as clean as it can possibly can. I will then shampoo with the Nashe African black soap, followed by conditioning with the moisturising conditioner or do a protein treatment which I only do once a month. With the protein treatment, I also go under the steamer for 15 minutes and then rinse. When I am all washed, I will apply a leave-in conditioner and you guys know that my first choice will be the Nashe Organics Leave-in styler which I love love love. What can I say, it’s one of my products. I will then either comb it out in to an afro or do large flat twists because single twists don’t hold at all due to the length of my hair. I also do wash n go’s using gel, but that is quite rare these days, especially after I started doing high puffs and enjoying them to the max. I also apply some oil on the scalp to keep it moisturised for longer. More like general skin care after a wash.

Daily maintenance

I am not doing much to my hair these days on a daily basis because of the length. When my hair is out, I don’t use anything to cover my hair since I have a satin pillowcase. In the morning, I rub my leave-in conditioner on my hands and massage it on the ends of my hair while lifting the flat sides and that’s it. When I have a style in, I cover my hair with a satin bonnet or scarf and I am spoiled rotten for choice when it comes to scarfs because I have quite a lot. Mornings are breeze when my hair is in a protective style. I basically just remove the doek/scarf/headwrap and I am good to go. I also spray my scalp and hair daily when my hair is in a protective style. Not so much when my hair is out to prevent shrinkage because I use the Nashe Organics Moisturising Daily Hair Spray which is water based. You know, shrinkage is not always welcome. However, I do use it at least twice in between washes to introduce moisture on my hair so that my hair is not dry and brittle. But I always have to do flat twists afterwards to stretch my hair.

Trimming split ends

Well, I have trimmed my hair only once since I cut it in June. Looking at how healthy my hair looks after the cut and how crazy it is growing or rather how much length I have retained since the cut, I have become less attached, in fact, not attached at all to damaged ends. If they should go, they go. No questions about that. I will choose healthier hair to longer hair anytime and so far, I am loving my healthier hair.

Getting ready to do some production

That’s all, no rocket science at all. Just sticking to what works and leaving out everything else. I’m sitting for exams again in November and for that period, I want to see if I can get away with wigging. I have not done much of that since I cut my hair. But I want to try that. Otherwise, thank you for coming by. If you have any questions, do ask in the comments section below. God bless you abundantly and be you all the time because no one can be better than you. Here is to peace, love, happiness and joy. Blessings

26 September 2018 2 comments

Events

Natural Moisture Birthday Celebration | Thank you!

by Evenes Ruth Mafupa 29 May 2018

written by Evenes Ruth Mafupa

Natural Moisture group photo

Why am I only telling you of this now and yet the event was in April? Well, it was such an epic event and I also wanted to share with you the Natural Moisture’s story. Well, just a bit of it. But I’ve been studying for exams so I could not post about the anniversary celebration earlier. After exams, I was so busy catching up with work things and only now have I managed to write about it.

Of course Joan was there. She has been part of my support system for so long and I appreciate her so much.

Well, it all started in April of 2013 when I formalised everything, opened a bank account for the business and started making products for sale. Then, I had a simple business plan and I was going to mainly sell Shea butter and some oils that I already used in my hair routine. Besides, the reason why I started Natural Moisture is to share the products I was using and mixing for myself in the kitchen. Let me remind you that, then, there were not much products in the shops that were specific for natural hair. Most of the African hair products were so full of mineral oil and you guys know that mineral oil is not really great on our hair. So, as a solution to this, most naturals, including myself had to make do with a lot of DIY. But not everyone is gifted in DIY and there was definitely a gap in the market. I wanted to create a solution. But, let me confess. I was kind of asked, maybe nudged a little to sell products and I took up the challenge. It wasn’t my great idea. It was an idea that a lot of my readers came up with and asked if I could make products for them as well. I took up the challenge.

Friends like these are for keeps

Natural Moisture has grown from strength to strength, from the small storeroom that was about 6 square meters big to a warehouse in Eastgate ext. 21 and now in Edenvale. When I look back to where we started from, I am always thankful to God for He has brought us so far. More than we ever thought to be possible. I thank you as well, the readers of Natural Sisters who have supported our business so much. As we strive to give you the best products and the best service, we are also grateful because you are there. Without you, there’s no business. You are the boss and you rock big time. So yeah, thank you. I appreciate your patronage.

Tebogo, thank you for coming. It’s nice to know someone really appreciates your work especially if it’s someone you also admire so dearly

And now, we have been around for 5 years. Wow! what a milestone? Let me tell you now, that’s huge. Really huge. Being in business is the hardest thing I have ever done. It’s really hectic you guys! But no regrets. At least for now. I have learnt so much running Natural Moisture. You know, I didn’t sign up for most of the stuff that doing business brought along with. Like the admin part, accounting, and don’t talk of marketing. It’s a lot of work. Managing people brings with it its own challenges as well. So yeah, after 5 years, I have learnt huge stuff. I was kind of pleasantly surprised as well when I was approached by this lady, an aspiring entrepreneur, back in 2016 and she needed a mentor. I was like, “really, me a mentor” Because I had been there before, I helped her start her own business and now she is all settled and often laugh about it when she calls and says, “Hello Mentor” Well such requests are coming more frequently these days and I have a few ladies that I am mentoring into business at the moment. I mean, why not? I’ve learnt a thing or two about business and I’m always ready to share that.

Some people are just naturals at being MC, Thanks to Tari for being such an awesome one

Natural Moisture Staff. Without which the awesome service and great products would not be possible.

Besides Shea butter which was our initial offering, we now have a lot of products that we offer on our online shop and in store in Edenvale. We also have a leave in conditioner called Shea Argan leave in conditioning styler which has become a darling for a lot of people. Most people tell us that it is the best leave-in conditioner they have used in their life. And I agree. Come on, what can I say? Of course our products are the best. We make them. He he he.

Thanks to Aisha for gracing the event and being the keynote speaker

We celebrated our 5th Anniversary on the 21st of April 2018 and you guys, it was epic. There was so much love, so much afro, so much talk and so much laughter. We had a good time. We had it at 22 5th Avenue in Edenvale where the shop is now based. We also officially launched the Natural Hair Salon, Nashe Hair Studio. We had such a beautiful time. There were a lot of friends present as well, people who have meant a lot along my journey and still mean a lot to me today. It was more like a reunion because mostly we still chat online but do not get together often. Natural Moisture is where it is today because of the help of these amazing friends. All the advice, encouragement, the tweeting, Instgraming and actually buying from Natural Moisture has got us this far. Trust me. It means a lot to me and the business. My blogger friends also took the time to review my products and that’s like wow. Amazing. Friends like mine are for keeps guys. No matter how you look at it. Without a great support system, not much can be done with significant success.

It was great to talk to Matlhodi in person after a long while

I need to also mention my family, hubby mostly. He is Natural Moisture more than we care to realise because we don’t even give him a salary for all the hard work he does. But most of all, for the support he gives everyday, for believing in my vision for the business and being there all the time, being my best friend and critic, business partner and the most understanding and accommodating human I have ever known. Thank you so much.

What do you think they are talking about?

As Natural Moisture keeps growing I trust that we will celebrate another 5 years to make it 10 years in business and even when I am about to give up, I will look at where we have come from and remember all the effort by so many people to make sure that this business is a success. I will remember that this is not about me. I may be the Captain of the ship but there are a lot of people on the ship and I better make sure the ship does not sink.

Some people become more like friends after a while. Just remembering that in natural hair and blogging lies the friendship.

I tried to choose some real cute pictures to include in this post but there were so many which were so beautiful, I found myself with more than 60 photos that I thought should be part of the post. So, in the end, I made a slide show so that I could use most of the pictures. I hope you will like the slide show. If you do, please hit the thumbs up button. Have you subscribed to my channel? If you haven’t, please do subscribe so that you don’t miss any of the videos I put out. Yeah including slide shows. I may not post often but when I get a chance, I will always post. In between studying for exams of course. Your girl needs to study you know. Improve on knowledge and actually grow career wise. So, that’s past now until July when I write again. So, while that’s a little far away, well not too far, I will post all I can and actually get to edit those videos that I recorded and not had time to edit and post. This post is long already so let me end it here instead of going on and on. God bless you.

Here is the slide show

And some more pictures.

These young ladies were so refreshing at the event. Thank you for coming Shiloh and Victoria

Oh, nice to meet see you after so long. Thank you Ncomeka from Wooden Mirror the blog and Shereen from Nubian Nature for coming. Very kind of you

People were wondering who my make up artist was. Well, it was Kudzai. She is good right? Well, you can book her for your event or special occasion as well

We had goodie bags as well. Awesome hey!

Thank you Hope for coming. Meant a lot to me considering you inspired me to go natural in the first place

29 May 2018 0 comment

Hair Uncategorized

Good bye 2016. What a year…

by Evenes Ruth Mafupa 31 December 2016

written by Evenes Ruth Mafupa

As 2016 comes to an end, I took some time to look at the happenings of the year and realised it was quite a hectic year with so many highs and a lot of lows as well. I started off this year with the motto, #IWantToLive. I felt as if 2015 had passed me by unawares but girl I didn’t know 2016 was going to be a hurricane.

Firstly I took to studying again and so my purpose to really LIVE in 2016 was destroyed right there. Who lives while studying? As if that was not enough, I enrolled into a business incubation. The Awethu Project. That was really something and let me say, very beneficial. The amount of work you put into it though is gigantic and I barely lived in the end. I will give you some snip peeks into the program if you are in business and considering a business incubation. Maybe in another post or a vid. Let me know if you would be interested in that.

In March, Master Card Africa was looking for a small business that was using iKhokha as a form of payment to do their launch of Masterpass payment system. And my God directed them to Natural Moisture. That paved the way for knowing some really nice people from both iKhokha and Master Card. Working and interacting with such high level professionals opened my eyes even wider to the opportunities out there. A lot of media personnel in the finance and digital space also came to our little shop in Johannesburg North. It was both humbling and I realised then that I was doing something worthwhile and my business is making a mark no matter how small

Some features on eNews then followed together with a feature in a United Nations documentary on how I use the internet and social media in my business. While I was with Awethu, I was also featured on a Chinese channel, CCTV as a woman entrepreneur with some awesome women who are also working hard in their businesses.

On cctv when I was under the Awethu incubation

Mid year, Head & Shoulders South Africa invited me to be part of the influencers for their African Scalp & Hair Care range and was part of the Launch on the 29th of September. Was interviewed by Anele Mdoda and she kept butchering my surname. How Mafupa ends up as Mapufa after being corrected several times, ah I don’t know. No worries though but I found it funny considering I think Mafupa is a straight forward name. The launch was really awesome though and the people I work with are really awesome. I liked my 5 seconds of fame…

with Anele at the Head & Shoulders African scalp and hair care launch

Later this year, I was invited on 702 to be part of the interviewees for an early breakfast show with Relebogile Majotja. That was awesome as well and a week later, I was on Maggs On Media. Girl, that was the peak. It was sooooo cool. I enjoyed the interview as well though it felt like Jeremy Maggs was kind of on edge, making sure he doesn’t say something that’s too sensitive or step on some toes. I felt for him really. But it all went well in the end.

on Maggs on Media

In November, Natural Moisture finally launched the much awaited, so much worked on Nashe Organics, Shea-Argan range. We had been working on this range since January 2015 and kissed a few frogs at first but finally things started moving later this year and we finally launched. I was so happy and still am, especially when I get the feedback from our customers about how they love this range and how it has changed their natural hair lives. As I used to say to our formulators that I don’t want to launch a product for the sake of launching. I want a product that does actually work on kinky natural hair. And only when I was certain of that, did we manage to launch. This is one of my big achievements for 2016.

Nashe Organics Shea-Argan Range

The African Hair awards came and guess what, Natural Moisture, my baby, my very own baby, won the 2016 Best Natural Hair Product Range award. How awesome is that?

African Hair Awards

And just this month, Natural Sisiters, this blog was awarded the Top 50 Natural Hair Blogs badge. This is the whole planet earth we are talking about. I know I only come in number 32 but to be on the same list as Naturally Curly is like another kind of awesomeness. So honoured

I also worked with different publications which saw my posts and advice on how to manage natural hair being featured in different magazines both online and print media.

And as of the lows, I had many this year, trust me a had a lot. But on the 12th of Dec, the lowest of them happened. My father-in-law passed on to glory. As much as I am at peace for him, I still hurt because he is no longer here with us. He was such a gentle, well organised, prayerful, wise man. Before he retired, he was a Pastor at a local Baptist church in Kadoma Zimbabwe. We will miss him so dearly and I feel for Gogo Mafupa who has been married to him for over 60 years. That’s a lifetime really and I know life will never, ever be the same without her friend. So hubby, oldest son and I drove to Zim for the funeral on the 13th of December and only came back to SA on the 19th.

On our way back from Zimbabwe

So after the death of my father-in-law, all other lows weren’t so low anymore. Forgot about them and now I am thankful for what God has put on my lap. Mostly good health so that I can work as hard as I want, great family and friends for much needed support, opportunities that I know only God made them come through and you for sticking around on this blog and making my many hours of writing worthwhile.

I am blessed, I am blessed,

everyday of my life I am blessed,

when I wake up in the morning

Till I lay head to rest

I am blessed, I am blessed.

Come, on sing with me if you feel blessed as well.

I am blessed, I am…

Till then, have a healthy, blessed 2017 and make sure you keep laughing, keep smiling and you keep loving while I do the same here until it becomes so contagious and the world becomes a better place. How about that…

Hugs*****

31 December 2016 5 comments

Events Hair Natural Moisture Natural Products

Introducing Nashe Shea Argan Range!

by Evenes Ruth Mafupa 3 November 2016

written by Evenes Ruth Mafupa

Wow, Finally, our much awaited conditioners are here. Like on the shelf now. It is both exciting and sounds like unreal that they are actually now available for you. It has been a very long road. It has taken almost two years to get here and at some time I felt like giving up the dream but then I knew I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did. So I soldiered on. And here we are…

This is the Nashe, Shea-Argan Range. We have a Moisturising Conditioner, which is a rinse out conditioner and can also be used as a deep conditioner, Moisturising cream leave-in conditioning styler and the Shea Argan Hair Serum. I am still working on a shampoo which will be out soon. I thought to bring these still to you because it has been long since I promised that something will be coming. I also didn’t want to bring something to you that I would not use. SO only when I was completely happy with these, that’s when I decided to roll it out to you guys.

Since Natural Moisture has evolved in to more of a retail brand, we decided to put all our products, that are produced and packed by us under Nashe which is a Shona word meaning “with the Lord” and being a Christian, I know I can only do what I do with the Lord. Plus it sounds really cool. SO Natural Moisture will continue to provide you with the comprehensive natural hair care products you have always loved and will be listing a number of other local brands that I believe are really great brands, I have used them and I know they will be a blessing to you and your hair

Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I will leave that to you to tell me how you like our range. We will be showcasing our new range at the upcoming Ethnic Hair Show at Southgate Mall this weekend from the 5th to 7th of November. Please come and say hello at our stand.

Blessings! Smiles! Hugs!

3 November 2016 8 comments