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Showing posts with label LOC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LOC. Show all posts

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?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Braid Out Day 2

The other day, after trying out the LOC method, I put my hair in braids and styled my hair in a braid out. I really like the look on day 2 more than on day 1 (no pic featured). To maintain the style, I simply put my hair in 4 loose plaits and place the ends on rollers. I haven't noticed a major difference between LOC (liquid, oil, cream) and LCO (liquid, cream, oil) on day 2, I still had to refresh my hair with a little oil and water. The only difference I notice is that the LOC method imparts more shine than LCO. So 1-point for the LOC method! Maybe I should give it some time before I decide, which method better suits me.





Tuesday, July 10, 2012

L.O.C Method

 Yes, another acronym to add to the natural dictionary! When I first went natural, I have to admit, I didn't see the point in sealing. My hair was in the twa stage and was relatively easy to moisturize. After washing my hair, I'd just slap on a little leave-in and call it a day. Now that my hair has grown out of the twa phase, I realize the importance of keeping my ends well moisturized and protected. Thus, I never skip the process of sealing my ends after washing my hair. However, to be honest, sealing my ends was always sort of a ritual, based on popularity among the natural community. It was almost a rite of passage to wash, add a leave-in and seal my ends. Unfortunately, even taking these measures did not prevent my ends from being brittle and dry. Thus, weekly deep conditioning and/or baggying sessions have helped me combat dry ends.

Well, lately I got to thinking... "maybe my routine of applying my leave-in and sealing is not doing much for my hair." Ever since I saw this article on Curly Nikki on the LOC method, I've been tempted to try it. The idea behind LOC is that you have a liquid, then oil, then cream on your hair. This is supposed to result in sealing each layer with the goal of maintaining moisture. Today, I tried this method for the first time. It's too soon to say whether there is a difference, however, I will provide an update towards the end of the week. So far, what I can say is that my hair has never looked this shiny after moisturizing. That's already a positive!

Tonight I washed my hair, deep conditioned, then applied coconut oil to my hair in sections. Next, I added a generous amount of my leave-in and detangled, then braided it. I'd like to do a braid-out tomorrow and hope the LOC method will result in more defined and moisturized hair.

Do you LOC?

UPDATES: See my September and October posts for more on the LOC method, which I love by the way!