April Recap

April has been a very good month for me and my hair. I have done more than what I expected to do to my hair. I've done 2 dry flexi-rod sets which came out pretty well. Now I want to get the spiral look with flexi-rods. Like the one Ebony in this post or Shika in this post. Co-washing has become

1. M&S nightly- Fail! One day I will get better with this. 
2. Oil scalp at least 3x/wk- Fail!! 
3. wrap hair with a satin scarf nightly- Fail! I started off doing great, but then I slacked off. 
4. Co-wash at least 1x/wk- This is very important since I'm further along in my relaxer stretch.- Success!!
5. DC 1x/wk- I'll probably do this with my co-wash on dry hair because my responds well to DCing on dry hair. Doing it this way also eliminates a step when washing. - Success!
6. Wash at least bi-weekly- I will attempt to wash weekly, but with 25 days left before graduation I have an exit exam, paper, last exams, and finals. I don't want to commit to more than I can handle.- Success!!
7. Low manipulative styles 95% of the time. I will probably bun so that I won't have to manipulate my new growth.- Success
8. No direct heat- I only plan on one set this month for the roller-setting challenge and then it's back to bunning.- Success

Flexi-Rod Sets. The last two pics are from the set. The same color shirts throws it off.

Buns for the month. Top 2 pic is an air-dried pony tail

Black Tie Gala Hair and OOTN (Pic Heavy)

Last Saturday I attended a black tie affair for my formal band director at Tuskegee University. He was celebrating 40 years with the university and a gala was held in his honor. It was absolutely beautiful! Well I told you how my hair didn't come out the way I wanted and I wasn't too pleased. I totally forgot my blog automatically posts to my FB page and some people who went to the gala commented and told my they thought my hair looked nice. I even received positive feedback from my in-laws. They were very impressed when they found out I did my own hair.

After looking back at pictures I realized my hair was not as bad as I thought it was after all. My thoughts may also have been swayed by the various comments I received. But at any rate I am much more receptive to trying another wet flexi-rod set. Before I share pictures let me share what I learned from this experience:

1. Keep a positive attitude- This definitely affects my level of motivation. 
2. When using end papers I still need to roll my hair over the ends- I didn't get this concept at first and I ended up with some frizzy ends.
3. When rolling the front of my hair I need to put my hair under the roller.
4. If the curl does not come out right I can always re-roll on dry hair using a moisturizer.
5. Do not be heavy handed on the foam lotion or it will result in hard hair.

I know you came here mainly to see the pics so here they are. Enjoy!

My son with his tux on looking so handsome!

Outfit

Dress, Flower Belt, Shoes & Earrings- White House Black Market

Saturday Night Wash

Yesterday was a pretty easy wash day. I did a pre-poo with EVOO for about 12 hours. I then washed with a new shampoo I got a few days ago L'oreal Everpure Hydrating Shampoo. It's sulfate free and is sold at Target and Walmart. I got tired of looking for a sulfate free shampoo near my home. I decided to try this out after seeing it several times in the store. I will not give a review until I have used it several times.

I DCed overnight with ORS Replenishing Conditioner. I hate DCing overnight b/c I don't like sleeping with a damp head. I especially hate waking up with one. I had to DC overnight because my son was ill and he wanted his mommy. I did apply my DC differently than usual. This time I sectioned my hair vertically into about 6 parts and applied the conditioner from the root to the tip. I felt this way was better because every part of my head was thoroughly conditioned. I love this conditioner. It makes my hair instantly soft and it melts into my hair!! Love it!! I put on my cap on and a scarf and that called it a night.

The next day (mid-day) I rinsed out my conditioner and t-shirt dried my hair for about 30 minutes. I forgot to do a final rinse with cold water. I then applied my LTR leave-in, detangled using my wide tooth comb and sealed with Argon Oil. I air dried using a scarf to lay down my edges and the top of my head. I really have to do a post soon on the benefits of air drying. I love the way my hair looks after I air dry!

After I air dried to 100% I decided to do a flexi rod set. This was my first time doing one and I was pretty excited. I watched several YT videos to prepare me for this.The products I used were:  Lotta Body Wrapping Lotion diluted with water 1:4, wide tooth comb, and fine tooth comb. At first I diluted the wrapping lotion 1:3, but noticed it was a bit sticky after putting in a few rollers.  I used almost 3 bags of purple flexi rods (16 total) to do my set. It took me about 30 minutes maximum. They are really easy to put in! I sectioned my hair into four sections with my fingers so I could minimize parts when I combed out the curls. I did the front two sections first and then I did the back two sections. I used my fingers to make vertical subsections and sprayed each section thoroughly. My hair was already detangled well, but I did ran through each section with a wide tooth comb before doing so with a fine tooth comb. I wanted to prevent any breakage. I did not roll in an angle that would give me longer curls. Instead I rolled the hair as if using a magnetic roller. I used this video as a guide. This is what my hair looked like once I was done setting.

I put on a head scarf and bonnet and let it dry overnight. Sleeping in the flexi rods was very uncomfortable, but I made due. There were several times throughout the night that I wanted to get up and take them out. I took the rollers out mid-morning and there were about 2 or 3 still a little damp. I didn't bother to re-roll them so I expected a little frizz when they dried.

Before finger combing

One side is longer than the other. Longer side are the pieces that didn't dry

**Updated**

I will not be using lottabody Wrapping Lotion. It left my hair hard and dry. I will be going back to a foam lotion. I'm so happy I only bought the sample size. I  have heard this in reviews, but I had to see for myself. I'm not sure what brand I will be trying next, but I know it will be a foam. Foam seems to work much better for my hair.