4 Not-So-Famous Oils And Herbs Great For All Hair Types

It seems our world is a highly resourceful place with natural goodness available on every corner of the earth. From Australia to the UK to the United States we are opening our eyes to wonderful pathways to beautiful hair and skin and it is not always something man-made. More often than not, nature provides us […]

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The Very Easy And Quick Large Side Twist Bun

So picture this: About a week ago you decided to straighten your hair whether it was via flat iron, pressing comb, blow dryer, etc. You enjoyed the swangin, the blingin’, and the swingin’, but now you are bit over it and now straight hair has become boring, old news. But you have either spent a […]

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Why it's More Important to Eat Healthy Now More than Ever

During this time of quarantine, it's really tempting to stock up on a bunch of non-perishable snack items and to frequent the drive-thru since it's one of the few types of business still operating.  But today I want to make the case for eating more fruits and veggies.  Not just because they'll help you ward off that quarantine weight, but because they contain a chemical compound that could actually help play a critical role in helping to fight the damaging effects of the virus.
If you're keeping up with the news, you might be aware that some practitioners are prescribing a malaria drug called Hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for the virus.  Because there have not been any double-blind studies conducted, we're not sure if this drug is the right treatment to combat the virus.  A few studies are underway so, hopefully, we'll have more information about the effectiveness of the drug soon.

Some experts claim that the drug itself isn't what stops the virus from replicating.....it's actually zinc.  Zinc may have the ability to halt the virus' replication within the cells.  The only problem is that zinc can not pass through the cell wall to reach the virus.  This is where Hydroxychloroquine comes in.  This malaria drug acts as a transporter that allows zinc to enter into the cell wall where it can stop the virus from taking over.  Again, because there hasn't been an official study conducted on the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine + zinc, we're just operating on theories along with multiple cases where this combination has shown to be effective on patients.

Here's the issue.  Because of limited testing (and resources), most people who contract the virus may never receive medical attention. Most are told to self-quarantine until the virus has run its course.  Unfortunately, many are experiencing harsh symptoms while waiting for their immune system to overcome the virus.  Not to mention that Hydroxychloroquine is in high demand at the moment and hard to access.

So what can you do if you have to "treat" your symptoms at home (or if you want to give your cells a boost of zinc)?

Find a Hydroxychloriquine alternative.   Hydroxychloriquine can bring zinc inside the cells because it's an ionophore.  Another ionophore that's readily available is a compound known as quercetin.

Quercetin isn't a prescription drug, it's an antioxidant found in many different fruits and veggies.  The only problem is that it's typically found in foods in small amounts.   Luckily for us, quercetin also available in supplement form.  In theory, when someone pairs quercetin with their zinc and vitamin C supplements, the virus-fighting power of zinc can be greatly enhanced.

So what exactly is quercetin?  Essentially, it's an antioxidant utilized by the body to fight free radicals.  It's been shown to help fight arthritis-related inflammation in past studies.   In some animal studies, quercetin was shown to suppress cancer cell growth in the prostate, liver, lung, breast, and various other organs.  You can read the list of all the potential benefits here.

This wonderful antioxidant may be a little known alternative to the increasingly popular malaria drug.  If you're putting together an immune-boosting regimen for you and your family, this supplement is worth taking a second look.  At the very least, be sure to fill your diet with foods loaded with this amazing compound:

Grapes, black (100 g)	2.17 mg
Red Raspberry, raw (100 g)	3.58 mg
Nectarine, whole (100 g)	0.11 mg
Broccoli, raw (100 g)	1.80 mg
Red onion, raw (100 g)	1.80 mg
Black tea, infused (100 ml)	1.13 mg
Red wine (100 ml)	1.14 mg

That's just a shortlist, most fruits and veggies contain it in varying amounts.

Since I'm currently taking a vitamin C + zinc supplement, I figured it made sense to add a quercetin supplement so I can maximize the power of zinc.  Especially knowing that I was slightly deficient in zinc per on my micronutrient test results.  If any of you are supplementing to boost your immune system, maybe do some research on the link between zinc and viral infections then decide if supplementing with quercetin is right for you. 

At the very least, it can't hurt to include more quercetin rich foods in our diet. 

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6 Ways To Style Crochet Braids

Crochet braids made a major appearance in the natural hair community over the past summer. It seemed like everybody decided to hop on the crochet braid bandwagon. Can you blame them? Crochet braids are an excellent and versatile protective style for natural hair. Now that the fall is in, some ladies may still be in […]

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An Easy Everyday Protective Style

You got up this morning and your hair was in a mess. You tried a low bun…boring.  What about a high ponytail? Nah, the high ponytail is kind of out of style. What about just wearing your hair down and out? No ma’am, you need something new and fresh. You need a style that is […]

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How to Make Your Own Shampoo Bars

I don’t know about you, but I love making my own products. You pretty much know what is going into your hair when you make your own stuff and you get to customize your products to your hair’s liking. I have heard of making soap bars, but I have never heard of making your own […]

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Don’t Be Intimidated By The Sweat! Tips To Help You Get A Good Workout

I love working out and I love to sweat. Now that the weather is changing to the cooler seasons, I am even more motivated because it’s not so hot and humid for my workout regimen. The one thing that I have to make certain is adjusting my hair schedule to suit my work out schedule. I mean, I […]

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Stylist Feature – Tiffany Jones

Introduce yourself and which salon if any you work at… Hello, I’m Tiffany and I’m a stylist in the UK. I’m currently in the military and do hair from my home after work and weekends. How long have you worked as a licensed cosmetologist (or equivalent in your country) and where did you get your […]

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Too Busy To Do Your Hair? Here Are 4 Tips You Can Use To Help You Fit Hair Care Into A Busy Lifestyle

So my husband asked me the other day, “Sweetheart, I love you but your styles have been mostly buns instead of the creative-extra-put-time-in-your-styling-options styles. What’s up?” I answered, “Awe I love you too…but say hello to your son…” Now I know that’s a cop out answer and I know it was not ideal to put […]

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Dyeing Dark Natural Hair Blonde WITHOUT Bleaching!

While all of our posts here at BHI is for everyone, this particular post will definitely have the hair coloristas and aspiring hair coloristas up on their toes! So while surfing around YouTube the other day, I stumbled upon this tutorial by Tricia Montaque on how to dye dark natural hair to a honey blonde […]

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Dopamine Detox // The Key To Fueling Your Motivation Like Never Before!

Prior to the start of the nationwide quarantine, I learned something critical about how my daily habits fuel my unproductive behavior.  As soon as I learned the root cause of my lack of motivation, I went straight into action to make immediate changes.  Since those changes have been implemented, I've experienced a huge surge in motivation and productivity.

The solution is simple, but also difficult.  There's a little bit of willpower involved but, I promise you, if you commit to giving this a try, you will not regret it.
For several weeks, I've noticed that I struggled whenever I had to work on tasks that require focused attention.  The harder it was to stay focused, the less motivated I was to even start on certain projects.

It was a dangerous cycle.

Everything changed once I was reminded about the critical role dopamine plays in human behavior.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, meaning it sends signals from the body to the brain. Dopamine plays a part in controlling the movements a person makes, as well as their emotional responses. The right balance of dopamine is vital for both physical and mental wellbeing.

Dopamine plays a huge role in how we experience pleasure.  When we do something we enjoy, we get a little dose of dopamine as a reward.  That chemical release feels good and causes us to constantly seek out more.  This is why addiction is crippling.  The person becomes solely focused on experiencing their next dopamine hit at the expense of everything else.

Prior to my shift in behavior, most of my day was spent seeking out dopamine inducing activities:
-I constantly snacked throughout the day (in search of the reward associated with eating something sweet or salty)
-Whenever I was online, I was always refreshing my newsfeed in search of updates, funny, or random content to consume.
-I procrastinated on meaningful tasks and activities.

Even though I knew that refreshing for the 100th time wouldn't produce any new valuable information, I did it anyway.  You know why?  Because the brain releases dopamine in anticipation of a certain activity.  So even the thought of doing something mindless seemed pleasurable even if the act itself didn't produce the outcome I was looking for.

I talked about this realization with two people who immediately said they could relate. They too engaged in mindless behavior at the expense of their creativity and productivity.

Once my eyes were open to what was going on, I immediately put a plan in place to turn things around.  Basically, I had to recalibrate my brain to find pleasure in even the most "mundane" activities.  The first thing I did was make a mental list of all the tasks I was putting off because I wasn't motivated to do them.  Next, I identified the simplest items on the list and proceeded to do them one by one.

Guess what happened next?

I started experiencing little "jolts" of dopamine as a reward for my efforts.  Soon, I craved the idea of tackling my list as a new source of enjoyment and accomplishment.  To ensure that I increased my chances for success, I limited my distractions by reducing my screen time, also known as a dopamine detox. This morning I received my report that my screen time was down by 30% last week.  Ideally, I'd like to drop that number even lower over the next 7 days.  The less I expose myself to the influx of random content on social media, the more enjoyment I experience in getting things done.

I found a great video on Youtube that illustrates this phenomenon perfectly.  Hopefully, this revelation will change your life as it did mine.



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Stylist Feature – OHannahs Hair

Introduce yourself and which salon if any you work at… Work at OHannahs Hair Studio. How long have you worked as a licensed cosmetologist (or equivalent in your country) and where did you study? 29 years in the Beaury Industry. Studied at Calhoun Area Vocational Center (Michigan). What is your specialty, relaxed, natural hair, locs […]

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