Wash Day (Last Week)

FYI: This post was written last week after my wash day. I didn't get around to publishing the post until today. 

This wash day went very smoothly. My main focus was moisture. Since becoming fully natural in January I have been having a hard time trying to maintain moisture in my hair. Being able to maintain moisture seems to be a very common battle amongst new naturals. After a couple months of trial and error I think I may be close to finding my solution, but first let me share the steps to my wash day. 

1. I decided to pre-poo with coconut oil for about 30 minutes with saran wrap and a plastic cap. This was my first time pre-pooing in a very long time.  I think I will be adding this to my regimen because it definitely contributes to moisture.
2. Cowashed once with Shea Moisture Mango and Carrot Extra Nourishing Shampoo from the kids collection. I used this simply because it was the only other shampoo I have at home is a VERY stripping and drying Ion Clarifying shampoo. The Shea Moisture Shampoo is the one I use on my daughter's head and thus I used it to remove any product build up I may have had from my wash and go last week. I then followed up with a lather of Tresseme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner. Did I tell you all how much I love the Tresseme Naturals Conditioner?!!
3.  Next I deep conditioned with L'Oréal Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm overnight with a Saran Wrap and Plastic Cap (total about 20 hours). I finger detangled with this conditioner in my hair under running water.  My hair was amazingly soft afterwards.
4. I t-shirt dried for about 5 minutes and then added my leave in conditioner by As I Am. I then sectioned my hair and did a protective style using  Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream and sealed with Jamaican Black Castor Oil.

Here I am 24 hours later and my hair is very moisturized. To keep this style up over the week I worse a bonnet overnight and retwisted/rebraided 2 days later. I find that there are a few products in my stash that keeps my hair amazingly soft and moisturized:

• Tresemme Naturals Nourshing Conditioner
• As I Am Leave In
• Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream
• Castor Oil

 I also realized that pre-pooing with an oil is a must along with moisturizing and sealing every 2-3 days. I don't find it necessary to moisturize and seal my hair daily. I also plan to make my own spritz using Aloe Vera Juice.

Rebuilding My Regimen

I know you have heard many transitioners or naturals talk about how their hair and its needs have changed over time. I can now attest to this. Products that use to work for my hair no longer work or don't work as well. Techniques that use to work are also no longer valid.

Here is an example: I use to wash my hair in one big section. As I got further into my transition I realized this method did not work as well for me. I experienced more breakage and tangles with this method. I learned quickly that I had to change my technique of detangling my hair to sectioning my hair into 2-4 sections depending on my hair's current state.

Because of changes in the state of my hair I realized I needed to rebuild my regimen. Figuring out what your regimen will be can be quite complicated if you make it. So many questions may run through your mind. How often should I wash my hair? What products do I use? Should my regimen change with the seasons? The truth of the matter is that you may not always know the answer to these questions right away. It may take some trial and error to discover what works for your hair. Your regimen could and should change over time. Keep in mind your should be consistent with your regimen to have a fair evaluation of what works for your hair and what does not. Remember no two head of hair is alike and what works for someone else may not work for you.

Some key components and steps that should be the basis of every hair regimen (in my opinion) include:

• Cleanser (shampoo or co-wash)
• Deep Condition
• Leave in conditioner
• Moisturizer
• Sealant (Butter or Oil)

Some things that you may want to include in your regimen, but may not be necessary for everyone includes:

• Pre-poo or pre shampoo treatment
• Hot oil treatment
• Tea rinse
• ACV Rinse
• Henna
• Clear rinse
• Steam treatment
• etc.

For my regimen I have had time to discover what works for me and so my regimen was created. These are the steps that will almost always be completed on my wash days:

1. Co-wash every two weeks. Clarifying my hair will replace a co-wash at least 1x a month.
2. Tea rinse at least 2x a month to reduce shedding
3. Deep condition either before or after co-wash/shampoo. When using a clarifying shampoo I will always deep condition after washing. When deep conditioning before I co-wash, I will follow up with a conditioner rinse. Conditioner rinse is referring to a 3-5 minute conditioning treatment to put moisture back into my hair.
4. Apply a leave in leave-in and possibly follow up with moisturizer (Note: My leave in may also be my moisturizer).
5. Apply a sealant which will more than likely be an oil.
6. Style as desired.

A few things that I may incorporate whenever I feel necessary will be clear rinses, pre-poo treatments, hot oil treatments, and oil rinses. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about my new regimen let me know. Again, thanks for following my journey! 

Revisiting Old Habits

Photo credit: Google Images

As I look back at old post I realize that my hair is more healthy now than it has ever been. I credit this success being from the products I used, but most importantly the techniques I used. When I first started my hair journey I washed and deep conditioned my hair every week and moisturized and sealed often. Pre-pooing, or pre-shampooing is the one technique I feel contributed significantly to my health of my hair. Pre-pooing is a treatment applied to the hair before shampooing. 

The purpose of a pre-poo is to maintain or add moisture to your hair after it shampoo. Shampoo is known to strip the hair of it's natural oils. Pre-poo is most commonly done with an oil or conditioner. However you can use other things such as honey. I have used them all and I feel they all work great. If I had to choose a favorite it would definitely be honey. Although it can be messy, it leaves my hair amazingly moisturized! When I pre-poo with a conditioner I MUST follow up with a deep conditioner in order get the best results. 

Some time ago I cut out pre-pooing my hair. I started deep conditioning on dry hair and felt this was the same thing as pre-pooing. I failed to realized that I skipped a key step, following up with a conditioner after shampooing. Even though I use a sulfate free shampoo, some of my hair's natural oils are still stripped. This leave my hair not being as moisturized as it should be. I am currently 8 months into my transition. As my natural hair becomes more prevalent, I notice my hair is more dry. I need to do everything I can to retain as much of my hair's natural oils and thus I have decided to make a few changes in my hair regimen.

First I will go back to deep conditioning after I shampoo. This will ensure that I'm adding the moisture back into my hair after it is stripped from the shampoo. Next I will begin pre-pooing again. I will probably pre-poo mostly with oils and/or honey because these two work best. I'm hoping that by adding these two steps, my hair will become more healthy and moisturized during my transition. I will have a post on my "revised" hair regimen soon. 

What are some techniques that you simply can not live without during your wash day? Do you Pre-poo? What's your favorite product to pre-poo with?

Wash Day (My dryer is here!!!)

I ordered my LCL Beauty Salon Hooded dryer on wheels last week Friday and it was delivered yesterday Friday 11/3/12. The shipping was right on time and I could not have been more happy! It took me probably an hour to put together only because I'm not very handy and I was waiting to for my Honey to assist me. So for an average person it would probably take 20 mins or less. So far it's durable and heats great. It's way too soon to do a review, but I will make sure that I will post a review a month from now.

Source: lclbeauty.com

This week I decided to do a hard protein treatment because I plan to relax next week. I'm 11 weeks post and I'm not about that life!!! My new growth is so thick and my hair is having a hard time holding moisture. I think this is due to the change in weather (it's getting cold here) and my lack of energy time to moisturize my hair. I just started my new job a few weeks ago and it's kicking my butt! I love it, but my body has yet to adjust. This is how this weeks wash day went.

1. Pre-Poo with EVOO and EVCO for 30 mins under my hooded dryers

2. Clarified with Ion Clarifying Shampoo

3. Shampoo washed with CON Argon Oil sulfate free 

4. Hard Protein treatment with Aphogee 2 Step Protein + the Balancing conditioner w/ hooded dryer until hair was hard

5. Conditioner Rinse with CON Argon Oil deep conditioner (I probably should have DCed with heat, but I was feeling lazy.

6. Leave in conditioner CON Argon Oil leave in spray + GVP's PM Super Skinny Serum

7. Air-dried overnight in a bun

I tried to detangle my hair in the shower, as usual, but my hair was not cooperating! I know it's because of the hard protein treatment. I ended up detangling as best I could in the shower and finishing up once I got out. I had to add the leave in and serum to make detangling easier. I also noticed my hair has been shedding a lot lately. I will be incorporating garlic pre-poos in my regimen in the near future. I also noticed my edges have been thinning  This could be due to tension caused by bunning. I plan to do less buns after my relaxer. when I do decide to bun I will make sure they are not too tight. Maybe I'll try the Southern Tease bun. I also plan to purchase some Castor oil soon. 

What has been going on with your hair? What are your hair plans?

The not so Wash Day

So today was suppose to be a wash day, but things didn't go as planned. I did not The opportunity to wash my hair and I doubt I will get through it tonight. I still have to go home and cook dinner. I will wash tomorrow after u get home from the gym. I'm thinking about doing a braidout til I think if another style.

Yesterday I tried EVOO "pre-poo" yesterday. Well it was more like Real Queen's Greenhouse Effect. I put EVOO on my scalp and hair, put on a plastic cap, and a scarf. I went to bed and let it sit in. My hair was so soft in the morning. Too oily, but soft. It worked wonders on my new growth.

I think I have the potential to become a product junkie. I can't go in a store without stopping through the beauty supply aisle. I went to Sallly's and bought the tangle tamer. I'm really excited to be trying it out. I even got a $5 off any order $5 or more. So I plan on going back sometime next month when the new sales kick in. I have a few things on my "wish list" that I am dying to get. I will share my list in a later post.