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About

Who Is From A to 4z?

From A to 4z Shop

My Natural Hair Journey

From A to 4z with wet 4c natural hair

About

From A to 4z

Hi, I’m Janice also known as From A to 4z! I empower 4c naturals to take control of their hair care and to celebrate their unique texture. Using natural / clean hair care products and simple hair care principles, I will help you to achieve your hair care goals.

Contact

For collaboration, media, questions about my program, and general inquiries:

info@fromato4z.ca

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🌿 Plant-based hair and beauty
🌺 Hair styling without any fuss
👇🏿 TAP HERE to elevate your hair care journey

I stand by these two tips for advancing your hair

I stand by these two tips for advancing your hair care:

📸 Taking pictures regularly, and
📒 Journaling

Journaling is useful for making note of precisely what you did to your hair, when you did it, why you did it, what techniques you use, and how your hair looked and felt afterward. Making notes also helps you to replicate your outcomes which, over time, leads to consistency. And as we know, consistency is key!

Photographs on the other hand can reveal all sorts of truths that you may not have been able to see. Our brains aren’t very good at perceiving incremental changes. However, when you line up several photographs over a period of time, you can see how your hair has adapted to your routine.

Over the 12 years of being on my hair journey, I’ve found that my hair suffers most when I stop taking pictures and making detailed notes about my hair.

Now, each week, I take note of my ayurvedic formulations, which days I wash my hair, positive changes to my diet or routine that might impact my growth, the styles that I wear, and even my level of shedding. All of these things tell me a story of what I do to my hair and help me to predict future outcomes.

Do you journal? What are some of the things that you include in your notes?

It's been over 3 years since I've put down all com

It's been over 3 years since I've put down all combs and brushes. No regret.

Will I ever go back to them? Maybe, but to them I'm going to enjoy the retention that I've been experiencing.

New blog post and video. See link in bio.

If THIS ingredient isn’t part of your hair care

If THIS ingredient isn’t part of your hair care lineup, then you’ve been doing it all wrong…
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Self-love.

When I first started my hair care journey, learning to truly love my hair was one of the hardest things to do. Sure, I thought that I had cool hair and that my hair was special, but I still had to fight not to internalize the message that my coils should be looser or that my hair should be silkier or even that my hair needed to be longer.

Sure, I’ve been growing my hair out and trying to achieve longer lengths, but now it’s more to prove to myself that different things that I’ve heard about hair care aren’t necessarily true. In doing so, I still have to fight against messaging that says, “your hair can’t be healthy if…” or you “have to do this in order to…”. Rules are meant to be broken and one size doesn’t fit all. Blocking out the “noise” is the only way to truly enjoy my hair and the journey that I’m on.

If there’s anything to be learned from the results of the last hair trend, it’s that you need to learn and know your own hair and not to be afraid to modify any hair are routine or idea to suit your own needs. When we start to doubt the true beauty of our coils, our own true beauty, we create damage to our hair that is worse than any mechanical, chemical, or heat damage. We cement, psychologically, a pattern of disruption to the overall health and enjoyment of our hair.

When you have self-love at the forefront of your hair care routine, everything else starts to fall into place. The process becomes less frustration and setbacks turn into learning opportunities.

How much do you love your natural hair?

Originally, my children and I shared the same hair

Three of my children are still on their long hair

Three of my children are still on their long hair journey. Since they seem to have all the hair in the world, their hair routine is different than mine.

Like my hair routine, theirs was born out of necessity to manage both my time and my sanity. Unlike my hair, I use shampoo on their hair, and I wash their hair monthly. Now that they all have waist length hair and are involved with weekend activities, finding time to wash all heads, especially on the same day, is extremely difficult. My daughter’s hair takes the least time to do, but the boys' hair can take 3+ hours to wash and put into large plaits.

💦 Top left: Hair with conditioner
💦 Top right: Hair with conditioner rinsed out
💦 Bottom left: Blown out with @revair
💦 Bottom right: Braided

In regards to styling, DS3 (second picture) is extremely tender headed. I only put his hair in two strand twists or box braids since I've found that cornrows cause his scalp to flair up and blister. Interestingly enough, part of the reason why I don't wear cornrows is because I found them to cause my scalp to itch, even when I didn't use extensions.

To be fair to my camera roll, I’m going to post

To be fair to my camera roll, I’m going to post some of those images alongside new content.

And since I’ve been away for a minute, in lieu of a re-introduction I’m going to post 5 things about myself and my hair.

⌛ My name is Janice, and I’ve been natural for around * counts fingers * around 12 years. My desire for caring for my natural hair came out of frustration with having natural hair for most of my life, but not knowing how to take care of it and make it look as long and healthy as many of the ladies I was starting to see online.

🌿 I love DIY hair care, and my routine is definitely not like most natural haired girlies out there. I mostly use herbal treatments, I finger comb, and heat isn’t part of my regular routine. (Be sure to check out my latest YT video for more on my routine.)

🍫📺 My guilty pleasures are sweets and reality TV. While, I admit that chocolate and cheesecake are not great for optimal hair growth, I’m hoping that distressing in front of franchises like LIB [insert country] and RH [insert city] counter the negative effects of the sugar. 👀

👩🏿💻 One of my goals this year is to learn basic Python. I’ve been volunteering with my children’s First Lego League (FLL) club. While, I’m strong on the project management component, I think that I could be even more helpful if I learned how to code and even build.

🪮 After all of this time, I STILL do not know how to style hair, so I’m forever living in my two strand twists. Over the past two years, I’ve come to realize that my hair thrives in mini twists that I can leave in for 2 or more months. This doesn’t make for a very exciting Instagram feed, but it’s helping me to reach GOALS.

Drop a line below to say “hi” and tell me something about yourself. Or, feel free to ask me something that you’ve always wanted to know about me.

I've been on my HHJ for over 12 years. Over this

I've been on my HHJ for over 12 years. Over this time, I've learned so much from YT hair "gurus" and trained stylists alike. While they've taught me a LOT, I've also learned that if I listen to my hair, I can learn so much more.

Not everything that I do to my hair follows conventional wisdom. But that's perfectly OK. I finger detangle, clay wash, use Ayurveda...and more.

Check out the link in my bio if you want to find out more.

What unconventional hair practice works well for your hair?

The twists are in! It’s been three weeks since

The twists are in! It’s been three weeks since this install, but they’ve been holding strong. This set took about 13 hours to install, but I know that I can wear them for quite some time without issue. Initially, my goal was to keep them in for 2 to 3 months (approximately until the beginning of September), but I’m wondering if I could wear the same set until December? 🤔

My strategy for keeping my twists to last a while without webbing:

👉🏿Senegalese/rope twists are compact, similar to braiding. Their compactness holds the individual strands in place which means that they don’t have the ability to move around within each tendril. Limited movement means less chance of knotting and meshing.

👉🏿Smaller twists allow me to wear them longer. They don’t seem to get or look as messy as larger two strand twists. In this manner, smaller sections mean that if a strand does stray, there are less strands for it to wrap around and get tangled into.

👉🏿Keeping my hair moisturized reduces single strands knots (SSKs). For this purpose, I say, “yes oils and yes butters”. Also, yes to leave-in conditioners. These products keep my hair lubricated so that at the end of the three months, the strands aren’t like Velcro and the tendrils separate easily. I also will heavily oil the ends of my hair so that there is less chance of them getting SSKs when I manipulate my twists into other strands.

👉🏿I wear my ends off of my shoulders often. This could be in the form of buns, ponytails, beenies, and scarves.

What are your tricks for wearing your twists and braids longer?

It’s always good to measure your ingredients whe

It’s always good to measure your ingredients when making your recipes. Normally, if I’m making a hair wash for the entire family, I measure the amount of water that I need. This time I eyeballed it. What I ended up with was far more product than I could use.

I washed two heads of hair and jarred the rest for later use – above. After washing the remaining four heads of hair, I still had two jars left. I used some of that in a subsequent clay mix and threw away the rest. I didn’t want to chance using the mix beyond a week after making it.

This recipe worked out well:

Reehta nuts -- cleansing
Sidr -- cleansing
Shikakai -- cleansing
Fenugreek – soften hair
Amla - regulates sebum production

Sometimes reetha can leave your hair feeling stripped and dry, however, this combination left my hair feeling manageable.

Have you tried washing your hair with reetha? What was your experience?

The threads are now out. I find that threading so

The threads are now out. I find that threading sometimes teases the ends of my hair so that they look worse than they really are. Despite that, after taking the threads down, I waited for the full moon and trimmed my ends. They now look and feel much better.

When I install braids in my hair, my method for moisturizing and sealing is different than when I install two strand twists. With two strand twists, I tend to create all of my twists BEFORE adding leave in conditioner and oils to my hair. When I braid my hair, I tend to apply my products AS I’m installing the braids. This is partly because I use a lot of tension when breading and the hair is more compact, which I believe makes it harder (for me) to properly introduce moisture into my hair after the fact. With twists, there is more space between the strands because of the nature of twisting and therefore they allow more of everything to flow through easier.

Confession: Part of the reason why I don’t wear braids much is because I feel like they show my true density. I want hair! More hair! 😂 I’m kidding, but only because I know how much more work it would take to manage it.

Do you manage and treat your braided hair and twisted hair the same way?

I don’t always thread my hair to stretch it, but

I don’t always thread my hair to stretch it, but when I do, I make sure to make sure that the ends of my hair are completely wrapped.

Wrapping my ends securely like this allows me to wear my hair down without worrying that they are going to suffer friction damage, from my clothing.

Before threading my hair, I go heavy with the moisturizer and the oils to make sure that my hair doesn’t dry out from the treads. I keep the threads in for one week at a time. By the time I take the threads out, my hair is still moisturized and it has been exposed to minimal manipulation.

What’s your secret for protecting your ends?

You most certainly can wash your hair in twists!

You most certainly can wash your hair in twists!

I have to say that it does take some getting to know your hair and the products that you’re using in order to get this method to work.

DO be picky about the products that you use when washing your hair. If your shampoo raises your cuticles a lot, there’s a good chance that you’ll run into difficulty with your hair meshing when it’s time to take your twists out. Shampoos and cleansers that aren’t followed up by adequate conditioning can leave your hair feeling rough and will cause a Velcro effect between your strands.

DO consider the size and tension of your twists. Larger, looser twists will allow hair strands to move around during your regular daily wear and moreso when you are washing your hair. This can make it difficult to avoid meshing when you’re washing and then not refreshing your twists. Smaller, tighter twists will anchor your strands in place, disabling them from moving around too much. This is truer still if you are wearing rope twists.

DO pay attention to how much frizz you get after washing. The frizzier your hair is, the more strands of hair were dislodged from their starting point, which means the greater chance you have of meshing and knotting. This tends to happen quicker with looser, fluffier twists. Silkier surface textures will also allow for hair strands to slip out of place faster, as do shorter hairs that do not match your overall length (i.e. breakage or new growth).

DO consider how you wear your hair after you wash it. We all love to wear our twists out, but binding your hair either at night with a hair scarf and/or throughout the day in styles like buns and banded ponytails will help to minimize the amount of frizz after washing.

I tend to wash my hair weekly and can keep my mini twists installed for up to three months (so far) without having to worry about any serious meshing using the tips above.

Do you wash your hair in twists? What are your tips for extending wash and wear of your two strand twists?

I'm still trying to figure out what a "failed twis

I'm still trying to figure out what a "failed twist out" is.

I only use three products in my hair: a liquid (often water), a water-based moisturizer, and some oil. I don't use extra holding custards or styling gels. I try to pay attention to the amount of tension I apply to a twist, but I don't dwell on any unevenness to the pattern.

If I create too much separation on one tendril, it means that I have the opportunity to create something unique with my style. I've failed my hair plenty of times, but it has never failed me.

If you just go with the flow (of your hair), you will rarely be disappointed.

Every so often, I learn something about my hair th

Every so often, I learn something about my hair that I should have already known. My hair will show me things and I take it for granted that it behaves a certain way under certain conditions, but I don’t actually PAY ATTENTION to what I’m seeing. I don’t halt what I’m doing and consider this to be something that I should strategize against or work around.

What I’ve learned this past week is that my hair doesn’t really like the loose, jumbo twist flex (unless it has been fully stretched, first). Over the course of the week, loose twists allow my hair to shrink and my strands to coil on themselves. It gives my ends room to find friends to make pacts with and as a result, I end up with a ton of knots. Not good.

I think for the next while, I’m going to stick with twists that are either smaller, tighter, or both.

What does this all mean? That today when I trim my ends, I might have to do something do a trim instead of a micro-trim. I’m not happy about that, but I’ll consider it a lesson learned.

A few years ago, I noticed that I looked better in

A few years ago, I noticed that I looked better in warmer colours rather than cooler colours. This resulted in me buying a whole lot of pink clothes. It occurred to me that my neighbours must think I wear the same outfit every day. 😅

What's your favourite colour?

Yucca root is still one of my favourite herbs for

Yucca root is still one of my favourite herbs for cleansing my hair. This plant contains saponins which produce foam when shaken in water and act as surfactants or mild detergents.

After straining the yucca root, the bubbles seem to disappear. But after shaking it, you can see that they are very much present in the herbal shampoo.

Have root tried it yet?

. Clay masks and twists? It IS possible to use c

.
Clay masks and twists?

It IS possible to use clay and ayurvedic masks while your hair is in two strand twists. It might take a few tries to get over the learning curve, but if you can get it to work for you it is so worthwhile.

Some tips for using clay while in two strand twists:

💦 DO consider the type of clay or ayurvedic herb that you are using. Some clays and herbs like bentonite, rhassoul, sidr/zizyphus, etc. are quite gritty and can be difficult to wash out. Clays and herbs like kaolin, fenugreek (hydrated), can make the wash day experience manageable.

💦 DO take time to fully rinse the mask out of your hair. Sometimes, due to the kinks, curls, and bends in our hair, our hair needs a bit more water to be able to get rid of the mask. Take additional time to work water through the roots of your hair down to the ends of your strands.

💦 DO follow a clay or ayurvedic mask with a conditioner with good slip. The conditioner will allow the particles of the mask to slide right through your twists.

💦 DON’T be afraid to try this method on twists of various sizes. Depending on the tightness of your coils or the surface texture of your hair, you might find that some sizes of twists work better than others.

💦 DO take into account of how many times your hair can handle being washed before meshing starts. Much like developing a trim schedule, take some time to learn how many washes it will take before you will have trouble taking down your two strand twists.

Have you used clay or ayurvedic masks on twists or braids? What are your tips for a success?

I find it interesting – and sometimes a bit frus

I find it interesting – and sometimes a bit frustrating – with how my hair intensely reacts to the interaction between water and air. I think that I could describe my hair’s ability to coil and shrink as “extreme”. Since my routine doesn’t involve heat, I rarely get to enjoy the full length of my hair.

The hair on the left side of the picture was the section that I started with (a couple of hours before). I only use water to create my two strand twists, and I apply my moisturizer and oils after I finish the entire set. The hair on the right side of the picture was the side that I’d complete just before taking the photo. After I finish twisting a section, I can watch as my hair will start to contract on itself. This is both fascinating and frustrating.

I’ve also come to notice that my hair doesn’t contract much more after it is subjected to weeks of washing. However, once it is loosened for a twist-out, then contractions start again. This can happen in the absence of additional water being sprayed on it.

At the end of the day, I love that my hair is healthy and has the ability to do this. #teamshrinkage

What are some things about your hair that you’ve learned to love?

My trim strategy for this year was to micro-trim e

My trim strategy for this year was to micro-trim each month and then quarterly, I would carry out my regular trim maintenance.

In January and February, I micro-trimmed my ends removing roughly 2 to 3 turns of a coil of hair, or 1/16th of an inch (pictured right). In March, since my hair was in mini-twists, I decided that it would be better to trim my hair the way that I have been doing for years. With this kind of trim, I would use my thumb as a guide and cut upwards of 1 inch of hair (pictured left).

For my March trim, I started to give my hair a “regular” trim, but noticed that I was actually cutting a lot of healthy hair. When I previously, developed this method my ends would always be scraggly by the three-month mark and this amount of trimming was necessary.

Instead of proceeding with a full trim, I opted to micro-trim instead.

What I learned about my hair from this micro-trimming (dusting) vs “regular” trimming session:

👉🏿 Monthly dustings, or micro-trims have been enough to remove most of my split ends and single strand knots (SSKs). I have been dusting my ends using the lunar cycle since March 2023.

👉🏿 Trimming works to help transition damaged ends to healthier ends without having to immediately sacrifice your length. Trimming also aids regular maintenance if your hair is prone to damage.

👉🏿 Maintaining my ends using mini-trims has been beneficial when it comes time to take down my mini twists since the ends aren’t ragged and don’t wrap around themselves.

👉🏿 Regular micro-trims reduce and sometimes eliminate the need to do regular trims.

👉🏿 Taking time to examine the state of my ends, between my quarterly sessions has made a big impact on how my hair looks and behaves.

👉🏿 Micro-trimming allows me to remove damaged hair while still preserving length. It’s not always necessary to remove large amounts of hair in order to maintain healthy hair. I have the ability to vary the amount as required.

What have you learned about your hair through trimming?

Alternatives to coconut oil for pre-pooing… No

Alternatives to coconut oil for pre-pooing…

Now that I’m spending more time in the shower on wash day, I’ve re-introduced pre-pooing with oils into my hair washing routine. While coconut oil is a great way to protect your hair from accepting too much water or from drying out when you shampoo, some people find that it can leave their hair feeling stiff and rough. Here are some alternatives to coconut oil in your pre-shampoo routine:

🧴 BABASSU OIL If you haven’t tried Brazilian oils and butters, you need to give them a shot. This particular oil, also known as cusi oil, has been my oil of choice when substituting for coconut oil in my hair care routine.

🧴 UCCUBA BUTTER This Brazilian butter is made from the fruit of the ucuuba tree. This butter also helps to improve shine an elasticity in your hair.

🧴 AVOCADO OIL This highly penetrative oil is also rich in minerals and vitamins. In addition to protecting your hair from water damage, it helps to increase elasticity and prevent breakage. This oil can help to reduce dryness on your scalp.

🧴 OLIVE OIL This highly absorbent oil is easy to find and can help you to prepare your hair for your next hair washing session. In addition to its penetrative properties, it also helps to improve elasticity and is believed to reduce DHT production.

What is your pre-poo oil of choice?

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