Protective Style: Two Strand Twisted Sock Bun

I think I've been deep conditioning all wrong. The other day, I had the best deep conditioning experience ever! I mixed Aussie Moist, vatika and olive oil together and literally saturated my hair with the mixture. Normally, I'm a bit light-handed on the conditioner. My DC results are usually good, but the other day, they were great! My hair seemed to soften immediately and it had amazing slip. After saturating my hair, I covered it in plastic and sat under my soft bonnet dryer for 40 minutes.

Something, I've learned since going natural is that my low porosity hair requires heat to feel deep conditioned. No matter how long I baggy, it will never be as effective as a heated, deep conditioner. #finally figuring out my hair

After my DC, I put my hair in a protective style to protect it from the elements. I wanted something elegant and classic. I've been seeing a lot of sock buns lately and really wanted to give it a try. I wasn't sure if my hair was long enough, but to my surprise, I just managed to wrap my strands around the donut. YAY for new styles!

After rinsing out the DC

What are some of your favorite protective styles?

Customized Baggying

Baggying is a method of deep-conditioning, where the hair is moisturized at night and covered in plastic (e.g. saran wrap, shower cap, plastic bag). The hair remains covered overnight and is then rinsed out the following day. It's a great method to moisturize the hair, as the plastic bag creates a similar effect to steaming. The hair cuticles open up, as the bag traps in heat and this allows moisture to enter the hair shaft. Every time I baggy, my hair is soft, defined and moisturized. However, there can be disadvantages if you baggy too much. If the hair is too soft and "over" moisturized from constant baggying, it can also break easily, as elasticity is reduced. This can be remedied by not over-baggying. I typically baggy 3-4 times per month and this seems to be enough for me. Another option is to introduce protein treatments into your routine to keep the hair strong and reduce breakage.

One particular problem I had with baggying, is that my hair, like many naturals, has many different textures and curl patterns. In the back of my head my hair is tightly coiled, thick, easy to detangle, however the ends are prone to dryness. The curls on crown and sides of my hair are looser, easier to moisturize, however prone to tangling. This part of my hair typically is a bit limp and breaks easily after baggying. On the contrary, the back of my head is soft, shiny and healthier after baggying. Thus to counter this problem, I came up with the solution of customized baggying.

Here's how I do it:

• I moisturize all of my hair with olive oil. 
• On the puff in the back of my hair, I add a little conditioner. 
• I cover my puff in plastic by wrapping a shower cap around it and holding it in place with a hair elastic.
• I then put a satin scarf on my head.

This method is great for me, because when I wake up the sides and front of my hair are shiny and moisturized from the oil and satin scarf and the back of my hair is moisturized from baggying. The next day, I rinse only the puff and style my hair.

Secret Product

When transitioning, I pampered my hair all the time. I noticed that after going natural, those special sessions decreased. It's as though I thought, now that I'm natural all of that deep conditioning and hot oil treatments are not necessary. So not the case!

With the temperatures on the rise and increased hours of sun (well excluding this week, it's been raining nonstop), it's important to make sure the hair stays protected and moisturized. This week, my hair felt a bit dry after returning from my vacation in France. So, I decided to revisit deep conditioning with olive oil, one of my favorite oils. I shampooed my scalp, mixed my conditioner with olive oil (1/2 oil, 1/2 conditioner), sectioned my hair in 4 parts and applied the mixture. Next, I put on a plastic cap and sat under a hooded dryer for about 45 minutes. I haven't used my hooded dryer since my transition! Upon finishing my deep conditioning session my hair felt noticeably soft. I then rinsed out the conditioner and applied my leave-in of choice, Garnier's avocado and shea leave-in (this stuff is good). Next, I decided to apply some of my coconut oil. I hadn't used coconut oil for sealing and wanted to give it a try. My hair didn't feel noticeably softer after, actually it felt a bit harder. So, I did what any PJ would do and reached for another product to remedy my not so stellar coconut oil seal. But to my surprise, I suddenly found my hands stumbling for....

Organic Root Stimulator Coconut Oil

I know the bottle reads Coconut Oil, but this is hair grease. You may ask, why put coconut oil on top of coconut oil. Well, I just had this crazy urge to revisit the old school use of grease. I used a small amount to slick down the front of my hair, into a low pony puff (see below) and I used a small amount on my ends, which are prone to dryness. 

I then put on my satin scarf for about 20 minutes. Guess what? My hair has not felt this soft, since I've gone natural-- no lie. Additionally, my curls were springy and my ends were very soft. I've been wearing my hair like this since Sunday night and I'm on 3 day hair now. I plan on doing a deep conditioner again soon. My dilemma: what resulted in this softness? Was it a combination of olive oil deep conditioner, coconut oil and grease? Was it the grease alone that rescued my locks? It's a mystery. Although, it could be that since coconut oil is deep penetrating, it takes some time to see the results and it's not an immediate result, as such when applying a leave-in. For one thing I'm going to continue my EVOO deep conditioner, at least 1 - 2 times per week. However, for the next session, I am going to seal with only grease and see what happens. I know many give grease the side-eye, but with these kind of results I'm going to consider myself an equal opportunity product tester. I'm not too thrilled about the ingredient list, so maybe if this does benefit my hair, I may look for a more "natural" grease. Another thing, my hair doesn't feel greasy, I think the trick here was applying a small amount.

Do you have some grease hiding in your closet? What are your experiences with grease?

xo