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?

Almost 5 Months

I haven't had a new entry for quite some time, because I was in this beautiful place:

Yes, I was under the Tuscan sun and words cannot describe it--- it's just so romantic and magical! [Insert abrupt transition to hair here] My hair absolutely loved the warm, dry Mediterranean weather. I washed, scrunched and air dried for the duration of the trip. My waves were super defined, soft and shiny and lasted the entire day!

As the title of the entry indicates, I'm almost 5 months post-relaxer and couldn't be happier. Although I haven't been transitioning that long, I'll admit now, month 3 was super difficult! I kept threatening my hair to behave or I'd reach for the relaxer. I experienced a serious amount of shedding! Luckily, months 4 and almost month 5, have been pleasant. 

I can't speak too soon, but I think my hair has finally accepted the idea of transitioning. I experience very little shedding and my hair has never been so soft and full-- and it's growing at such a fast rate! I've limited shampooing my hair to once per week and no more. I'm generous with my conditioner, but also skip that and just wet my hair and apply leave-in, when my hair feels moisturized and clean. One thing I am going to reintroduce into my regime is vinegar rinses. I used to do them 1x month, because the water in my town is hard. I am pretty strict about flat-ironing my hair no more than 1 x per month. This allows me versatility and gives me a chance to trim dead ends -- I prefer to trim my hair dry vs. wet.

I know this is going to be a long road to travel and that I won't have a head of full and long natural hair for a few years. I'm content with the way my hair looks now, it is kinkier around the edges and curlier around the crown, but I'm learning to embrace it. One important lesson I've learned as I approach month 5, is that I should love all of my hair. In the beginning, I found myself only focusing on the new growth and viewing my relaxed hair as an accessory. However, healthy hair is about the big picture-- my scalp, new growth, and my relaxed hair too!

Here are some pictures of current styles, which are helping me a lot as I transition:

This one is super easy. After wetting my hair, I added leave in and essential oils divided my hair in three parts and plaited each part and sealed the ends with all natural Shea butter. I pulled my two front plaits towards the back of my hair and held in place with a bobby pin and simply put an Ouchless hair elastic on the back plait. Wrapped my hair (I really need a satin pillowcase) before bed, woke up and unraveled the plaits et voila:

  

Another style I like is spiral curls. Although this style is more time-consuming than the previous and does involve sitting under the dryer, I think it's still a good summer look.

Peace & Love, 

Annabel