Protecting the Ends in the Summer

At 8 months I transitioned chopped. Back then, maintaining healthy, moisturized hair was super easy. Now at 14 months, keeping my hair moisturized involves more work than before. To whip my ends into shape and to prevent becoming dry and brittle, I've stepped up my routine. I implemented 3 nightly deep conditioning treatments:
Prepoo once per week, the night before I plan on shampooing. I generally apply coconut oil on dry hair, concentrating on the ends. I then put on a plastic cap and leave it on overnight.

Once per week I do a dry deep treatment. On days when I plan on cowashing, I apply conditioner to dry hair, concentrating on my ends. I then put on a satin cap and leave it on overnight. The next morning I wet my hair and detangle. The tangles seem to melt away.

Once per week I do a deep conditioner overnight on damp hair.

3xs per week may be a bit extreme, however I'm sleeping during all treatments, so it's not so demanding. I'm already seeing remarkable results, my ends are much softer and tangle less. We live in a warm and dry environment, thus it's important that I adapt my routine to fit the elements. I feel like I'm on my way to healthier summer hair with this new regimen!

Another measure I take is sealing my ends with an oil that penetrates the hair shaft. Every night I place a small amount of oil on my ends before going to sleep, when I'm not doing a conditioning treatment. The oils that work really well for me are: argan, olive, kukui and my whipped shea butter mixture (cocao butter, shea, argan and monoi).

Finally, I've purchased a couple of cute summer hats and baseball caps to protect my hair during peak hours (12 -3). This is especially vital if I plan on spending a day at the beach.

Is your hair summer ready? What products and routines do you use to maintain healthy hair during the summer heat?

xoxo

Hair Dessert

Recently, I tried some new things out on my hair. I'll just describe the procedure and results.

1. Honey Deep Conditioner:

Method: Mixed 1 TBSP Olive Oil, 2 TBSP Honey, Conditioner. Placed a plastic cap on my head and went under my hooded dryer for about 30-40 minutes. Rinsed with warm water to effectively remove honey.

++ Oh lala, my hair felt immediately moisturized and SO soft. I noticed my new growth was super shiny afterwards and looked so replenished. My relaxed hair responded to this well, however I could really see the results on my natural hair. My next day braid out was very soft, defined and shiny.

2. Under Water Detangling

Method: With hair full of conditioner, lie down in the tub, submerse hair in the water and detangle.

+- Comb did glide through hair a bit easier, however the position required to do this and the effort it takes is not worth it.

3. Wash and Detangle in Sections

Method: Place hair in three sections and hold in place with a clip. Saturate hair with water and co-wash one section at a time (do not rinse), continue until all sections have been conditioned. Return to the first section, add water and detangle, rinse conditioner, repeat for the other sections.

++ This is the only way I'll detangle and condition from now on. Before my hair tangled a lot, so I've learned the key is to work with smaller sections. This reduces tangles and breakage.

4. Tight Curly Method (slightly adapted)

 I read about this method on Curly Nikki, it looked really promising. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if this method was possible on transitioning hair--- and didn't find any info online. I basically conditioned twice (using the section method), detangled and did not rinse out the second application of conditioner. After this I scrunched a little and attempted a wash n' go.

+- Leaving the conditioner in my hair made it shiny and very soft, I will try this again! The Wash n' go, didn't look horrible, but also didn't look great... think I'll have to wait until I'm fully natural to try to style with this method. However, I do believe it works well as a nourishing leave-in.

Tonight, I simply dampened my hair with a mixture of setting lotion and oils, sealed with coconut and other essential oils, put my hair in three plaits and wrapped it. We'll see if I'm able to maintain the moisture and shine for more than one day.

Other than these new methods, I continue to drink lots of water, eat my fruits and veggies and work out. This weekend, the weather was gorgeous so I went on a hike with a friend. When I got to the top, I had this breath-taking view, which made me feel so small and blessed!

Peace & Love

5 Month Post Update

I'm happy to say that I'm more than 5 months post-relaxer and my hair has recovered nicely from my recent protein overdose. It feels soft and moisturized and is no longer a frizzy nightmare!

 I will probably do a protein treatment again towards the middle of this month, but only if my hair feels prone to breakage. On another positive note, the conditioner and shampoo I purchased a few weeks back are working wonderfully. I was worried when I saw alcohol under the list of conditioner ingredients, but it turns out the specific alcohol, cetearyl has good properties for curly hair. I stumbled across this website, which apparently from the fan base is HUGE in the curly hair community: http://tightlycurly.com/Ingredients.aspx. This is what the Tight Curly Method founder, Teri says about cetearyl alcohol:

"Used as an emollient, emulsifier, conditioner, and thickener. Not the same as SD alcohol or ethanol. This is actually a mixture of Cetyl Alcohol and Stearyl Alcohol [Hunting (Conditioning) pg 142]. This is one of the ingredients I like to see near the top of a conditioner's ingredient list. When left in very curly hair it adds needed weight without being greasy."

I've always been a product junky, but would like to find my staple products (keep my money in my bank account, where it belongs). My new rules of thumbs are:

1. To use the products I have and buy new ones when those run out. I can always add essential oils to a shampoo or conditioner to increase its moisturizing properties.

2. Never have more than 2 of a product (shampoo, conditioner, protein treatment, etc.). I always like to try different things, however if I switch up products too much, I'll never know what works right for me. Not to mention, I'll stop invading my husband's "half" of the cabinet.

3. Experiment with items already in my home such as olive oil, which I added to my cheap conditioner last month and this worked wonders*!

Wonders meaning, my hair felt moisturized and detangling wasn't as horrible as usual, however it is still a task to detangle transitioning hair--- requires A LOT of patience!!

Proof of my product addiction:

Products from my drawer

Products from my medicine cabinet

I'm thankful everyday that I finally decided to stop relaxing my hair and transition! I only wished I had done so sooner. If anyone is reading this and contemplating going natural (big chop or transition), I would highly recommend it. It took me so long to realize how beautiful natural hair is, I feel bad that I've suppressed my curls, coils and kinks all of these years. 

I have also set a new heat goal for myself. In one of my entries I wrote that I flat iron my hair once every month. I don't want to incur damage when my hair is all natural, so I would like to reduce my use of heat. I've read horror stories about people experiencing irreversible damage to their curl pattern due to heat styling tools. My current goal is to flat iron my hair every other month (i.e. 6 times per year). I will use other styling methods such as protective styles and roller sets. When I do flat iron, I am going to try to let my hair air dry the day before and reduce the heat setting on my flat iron.

Tomorrow night, I'll try a homemade honey treatment that I've concocted and a new detangling method....will report results later!

Peace & Love