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?

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! 

Protecting the Ends II

I've fallen in love with two strand twists !! My hair feels more moisturized than ever! I put my hair in twists on Thursday and left them in until Saturday afternoon. On Saturday, I took out my twists, which was a breeze. My hair is still quite defined and today is Monday. I'm planning on redoing my twists on Wednesday or Thursday night. It's wonderful to have found a protective style that works for my hair at it's current length. Additionally, my morning routine is über quick now. It took me about 1.5 hours to twist all my hair, but for me it's worth it in the long run. This week, I'll probably leave the twists in longer, at least 4 -5 days.

When my hair was in twists, at night I put the twists in 3 sections and put on a satin scarf. When I took my untwisted my hair, at night, I pull them together or made two sections. I really feel this style works well to keep my ends hydrated. Hopefully, this will help me on my goal to reach APL (stretched) by my 2 year mark (Mar 2013).

How long do you keep your twists in? Do you think twists assist in length retention?

Two Strand Twists

Tonight I decided to switch things up a bit. I've been a wash n go girl since I've gone natural. What this generally entails is me co-washing my hair twice, sometimes three times per week and wearing my hair out or pulling it back into a low puff. According to some hair specialists, it's not the best practice to wet your hair daily, as this can cause hydral fatigue, as the hair is being submitted to a continual cycle of swelling with water, stretching then shrinking as it dries.

I really want to wash my hair only one time per week, I don't think I can go much longer than that. However, without a protective style, my ends immediately get dry and frizzy, hence the constant rewetting. I've been searching the web for protective styles that might work for my hair. Right now it's in an awkward phase and I can't bun it and I don't like weaves or wigs. So, what did I do? I went to the web to for inspiration. I stumbled across a video on Youtube by HeyFranHey where she does a tutorial on two strand twists. The end results are beautiful and her hair almost looks like it's in a twist in curl, even though she's rocking twists. Then, I found a post on Curly Nikki on the Twist and Turn Two Strand Twist by Shelli of Hairscapades (major hair crush). Well, both of these ladies have long hair, so I wasn't sure if it would work for me.

The only way to find out was to give it a shot. What did I have to lose beside a few hours of my evening. On the bright side if the twists look cute I will save a lot of time. I can twist my hair on Sunday, wear it in twists until Thursday and then rock a twist out Friday and Saturday. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this could save me loads of time on my morning routine. This week, I did my monthly cassia treatment and my hair felt full, soft but I also had major shrinkage. The idea of wearing twists and stretching my hair a bit didn't sound so bad after all.

So to prepare my hair I shampooed and then deep conditioned with my FAVORITE semi-DIY deep conditioner:

1 TBSP melted shea
1 TBSP argan oil
2 TBSP cheapie non-cone conditioner

I then used my spa steam treatment and sat under my soft-hooded dryer for 1h 30mins. After I rinsed the DC out with a conditioner. This left my hair soft and tangle free.

I did about 30 - 50 small to medium-sized twists (lost count). When I reach the end of the twist, I just twirled it to hold it in place. The final result was really pretty, however, with my hair in the awkward stage my twists began to shrink and helmet head was in full-effect. I tried tension blow-drying the twists for about 2 minutes and lost patience. Then I decided to try to semi-band my twists to stretch them. I plan on leaving them like this over night and look forward to seeing how they look when I remove the bands.

Uuh, my sides are almost chin length but shrinkage is major, thus the helmet head shaped hair.

Banded twists

Next day:

Do you two strand twist, any tips for maintaining them?

xoxo

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

Protective styles. Do I have to?

I am almost 8 months post-relaxer. The date of my transition chop (TC) keeps changing from 1.5 years to 1 year. There are days like today, where detangling is a breeze and my comb just glides through my hair. And then there are days when I can barely pull a comb through my hair. This yo-yoing causes me to frequently change my TC date. As of today, my TC date is on March 5th, which is 1 year after the start of my transition.

I really want to have more length before I chop, partly due to the fact that I'm afraid of hating my hair short and curly. Tiny cropped fros are cute and look wonderful on many people, but I'm not sure if it will suit me. I'd hate to chop off myhair at and not love it, without any solution. I'm not a fan of weaves or extensions, so that wouldn't be an option. My hair is growing and I'm trying to do everything I can to keep it healthy, so it grows to its full potential. I'm eating healthy, exercising, deep conditioning and using natural oils. I've reduced my use of direct heat. The first time I used a flat-iron was last week and I hadn't used it for 3 months prior to that. However, there is one thing I am not doing a lot of and that's protective styling. 

Protective styling, often referred to as, a low manipulation styling technique (e.g. bun) that keeps the ends of the hair tucked away for an extended period of time. I really dislike my hair in buns, particularly in its current state. I have really thick new growth and my relaxed ends are thin. Add that to the fact that my hair is all different lengths! Whenever I put my hair up it just looks odd! Typically, I prefer a braid out or roller set as I enjoy wearing my hair down. I've read that protective styling is a must for length retention. However, I just really don't want to wear a style that I don't like.... So that's my dilemma, protective styling, do I have to? According to many, who have transitioned to natural hair--- yes!

I want to have really healthy hair, so if this is what it takes I am willing to try. So until the end of October, I will enjoy letting my hair down and starting next month I will challenge myself to do protective styling for 30 days to see if it really makes a difference. If by the end of November, I notice healthier, moisturized hair, particularly, my ends, I will do more protective styles. The only problem, I am not very talented when it comes to styling, so the only protective style I know of is the dreaded BUN. I'm not really a fan of buns, always thought I looked so matronly when I wore them! However, it seems like this is the only way, so I'll have to just deal with it for a little while. Guess, I'll go out and buy some cute headbands to make it a little more playful!

Peace & Love!

Just think my head looks odd when I sport a bun.