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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Natural Hair: Surviving Cold Weather

Before, I discuss my cold weather regimen, I'd like to take a moment to say my thoughts and prayers are with those back home, who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Related to weather, now that jack frost is tapping on our front door, I've made some slight adjustments  to my hair routine. Thought it would be a good time to do an update on my routine.

Pre-Cleanse
Pre-pooing is not really my thing. I've heard it's really good for your hair, blame it on my laziness. I'd like to try it in the future, we'll see. For now, I bought Dabur Fall Control Cream, which is supposed to reduce shedding. It contains olive oil and cactus juice. All you have to do is apply it 15 minutes before shampooing. I'll try it out over the next few weeks and report back later...

Cleanse
I wash my hair with diluted shampoo, mixed with glycerin and aloe juice once or twice (if I feel like I have build-up) per month. Alternatively, I do a rhassoul clay cleanse in lieu of a shampoo.

Condition
I condition my hair once per week and every time I wash my hair, I deep condition, with heat. First, I gently detangle with a slippery conditioner and a wide tooth comb, rinse and coat my hair with a moisturizing conditioner, mixed with aloe (and depending on the season honey). I put on two plastic caps and sit under a bonnet dryer for 30 - 45 minutes. I let my hair cool 10 - 15 minutes before rinsing it.

Moisturize
Lately, I've been leaving a small amount of Tresemmé Naturals in my hair. I don't liken this to the curly girl method, because the amount is very small and I only apply it to my ends. This helps my ends stay soft and supple despite harsh elements. This is something I do during cold weather, but not so much in summer.

Seal
I seal with coconut oil, vatika oil or olive oil. I apply this to wet hair and then I put a small amount of leave-in (concentrating on the ends) on my oiled hair. My hair literally feels like butter and I can go 4-5 days without moisturizing again.

Style
I'm keeping it simple now that the cold has kicked in. I usually just wear my hair pulled back. I did a lot of twists in September, but have done them less this month, blame it on laziness. =)

Preserve
At night I tie a satin scarf around my edges, I leave my hair up in the bunny tail (kind of like a pony tail for natural hair). I leave the bunny tail exposed and do not wrap the scarf around it. I do sleep on a satin pillowcase, so my ends aren't rubbing against a drying material. I found that leaving my ends open and not wrapped at night leaves my hair full and also more moisturized. Not sure why, but wrapping my ends tends to make them dryer.



Finally, we can't change the weather, but there are some things we can do to combat it. Next week, I'll be on the lookout for a humidifier. I live in the mountains and it's quite dry in the winter. I'll make sure my hair and skin stay hydrated by using a humidifier at home.

So that's it! Pretty simple, basically, I'm only styling and cleaning once per week. Easy peasy.


What kind of adjustments are you making to adapt to weather changes?

Saturday, October 27, 2012

October Hairdates: Vatika Oil + LOC



What is the current length of your hair?

When wet, the back of my hair reaches my shoulders. My sides are still growing at snail speed. :/ Patience, patience. I hate the mullet look (see 2nd pic) it gives me, so if I wear my hair out, I usually pin my sides back. I threw in a pic of my hair from January (Transition chop) - I've come along way without even realizing it!

JANUARY 2012
OCTOBER 2012









 






















Saturday, October 13, 2012

Bye bye dry ends

I'm about one year and 6 months natural. Can't believe how fast time has flown by! I finally have started to understand my hair's needs and what works best. It's taken a lot of trial and error and experimenting! Currently,I'm winning the battle against dry ends and I think that's all due to my new styling method. Sunday I put my hair in twists, wear it in a twisted updo all week and undo the twists and wear my hair out for the weekend. Thus far, dry ends have not been an issue with this technique. What are some of your methods for battling split ends?


Saturday, September 29, 2012

September Update: Twists and Giovanni Smooth as Silk

 September 

What is the current length of your hair?




What products are you currenty loving?
Still loving Tresseme Naturals - This not only gives me great slip, but is also super moisturizing!
Giovanni Smooth As Silk - As the name implies, this protein treatments keeps my curls silky, bouncy, strong and moisturized!
Kinky Curly Knot Today - Great slip, nice smell and moisturizing!


What's your current wash regimen?
  • Cowash 1 - 2 times per week, depending on the style.
  • Shampoo (using my special mixture) twice per month (every 14 days).
  • Apply an oil, apply a leave-in.

How have you been styling your hair?
Blown out braid outs and twists. Blow drying my hair allows it to stretch and gives me a bouncier, looser wave pattern. Twists are great for moisture retention and keep my hands out of my hair for about a week. Those are basically my top 2 to-go-to fall stylesl. Besides twists and blow outs, I wear my hair pulled back.

Twists in a bun

Blow out, braid out

Blow out, braid out


What challenges have you faced?
Edges, I've always had thin edges, but I want to make sure I don't put pressure on them . I try oil my edges with castor oil and try to alternate my styles.




Awkward length, unless my hair is stretched or in an updo. I'll be really happy to reach shoulder length unstretched. Patience is a virtue.

Any drastic changes to your regimen or hair?
LOC (liquid, oil, cream) method changed my life! I've been testing out the LOC method a few months. Alternating back and forth between LOC and LCO (liquid, cream, oil). Here's what I've noticed. The LOC method leaves my hair soft, supple --- it feels like butter-- and moisturized, much longer than the LCO method. Although, my curls are less defined with the LOC method, I feel a major difference in moisture, especially my ends. I rarely use the LCO method, unless I'm planning on doing a wash-n-go. My LOC ingredients consist of water, coconut oil, then a leave-in, typically Kinky Curly Knot Today.


Would you like to offer any hair advice for this month?
If your ends are dry and brittle trim them and try to deep condition every time you wet your hair. Now that we're experiencing dryer weather, I make DCs a vital part of my regimen.

Happy September!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Moisturizing Shampoo Recipe


This month has been loaded with exciting updates, thus I've been blogging more frequently than I thought I would! Guess fall is the season for change and experimentation!

Update on my previous fall style: I was able to wear my blown out braid out for a total of one week! I'm really impressed. I tried to go 2 weeks, but I am finally accepting the fact that my hair cannot go longer than 1 week without washing. It was like this when I was relaxed and it's still the case now that I'm natural.

This is an update on a slight change in my routine. Shampooing. I simply can't go without shampooing. As dry as it makes my hair feel in comparison to co-washing, it cleanses my scalp and removes buildup and grime. Co-washing only just doesn't cut it for me. On the contrary, I hate how drying my shampoo sessions can be. I use a sulfate-free gentle shampoo and it still does a number on my hair.

Recently, I got the idea to doctor up my shampoo as I would a conditioner, when doing a deep treatment. I squeezed some shampoo (Giovanni Tea Tree Tingle) into an applicator bottle, added water (rough measure: add 1/4 - 1/2 the amount of the shampoo used), a big squeeze of vegetable glycerin, a TBSP Neem Oil (you could use your oil of choice) and a small pump of KCKT leave-in/detangler. I shook the contents gently, sectioned my hair into four parts and applied it only to my scalp. The results: a clean and rejuvenated scalp and hair that did not feel to stripped but still clean.What's best my hair did not tangle much and felt soft to touch. I'm happy to have tried this and now I won't dread wash day as much as I used to!

Have you tried adapting your shampoo to make it more moisturizing? What are some of your favorite recipes?