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 Techniques that use to work are also no longer valid.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! 

Guess Who's Back......

I know I have been MIA for a VERY long time! Life just got in the way. I had to learn how to balance being a mother to two active children, working full-time as a registered nurse, being a wife, and still making time for myself. Exhausted doesn't even begin to explain how I have been. Along with being busy, I honestly just lost interest in my hair journey. During my relaxed hair journey I focused a lot on health AND length. Seeing my length goals obtained helped motivate me to keep going with my journey. While transitioning the frequent cuts trims made it difficult for me to see the progress my hair was making and thus I became bored.

 I've decided to come out of my hiatus and recommit to my healthy hair journey. I miss trying new styles and being interactive with you all. I also noticed that I was more accountable for my hair when I was joining challenges and interacting with other hair bloggers. I honestly miss obsessing over taking care of my hair.

I'm going to cut straight to the chase and answer the question you all want to know: What is going on with your hair? At this moment I'm protective styling with box braids. I have had these in for exactly 2 weeks. I went to an African Hair braiding shop in my area to get them done. I'm not sure how long I will keep them in, maybe 6-8 weeks. I do not have a regimen yet. I'm still researching dry shampoos and seeing if I want to implement that into my regimen while in box braids. Have you ever tried dry shampoo? Share your experience with me along with what brand(s) you recommend!

Front view of my braids (about 3 days old)

Back view hours after they were done

As far as my natural (non-weave)  hair, I believe I have about 3-4 more inches of texlaxed hair before I'm fully natural. I did notice heat damage at the top of my head where I had a leave out from my sew-in in June. I plan to grow that out and slowly trim the damaged areas. I will be sharing my products and regimen in a later post. I have a transitioning/big chop date in mind and I will be sharing it once I commit to it. 

Straight hair after a trim in late September. 

I look forward to continuing to share my journey with you! I'm back and more motivated than every to reach my goal to long healthy hair! With that being said, welcome back to Blutiful Blaq Hair! I'm back.......

p.s. I have been keeping up with many of your blogs via Bloglovin'. Even though I don't always comment, I do read them. 

Hair Cut and Huge Announcement

Yesterday I posted a picture of 3-4 inches (my estimate) of cut hair on my Instagram account. The picture above is the one posted. I also sent a picture message to my best friends and they demanded to know what I had done. I know you to are dying to know what I have done. Before I share that story let me start from the beginning.

As most of you know my last relaxer was last June. What you didn't know was that after relaxing my hair I started to have regrets. My last stretch lasted 6 months and during this time I contemplated transitioning to natural hair. After finding out I was having a daughter I wanted to teach her all about growing healthy and long natural hair. I wanted her to be able to properly care for her natural hair so that if she decided to relax her hair it wouldn't be from a lack of knowledge. I then decided what better way to teach her than to show her. Later I decided this was not enough for me to make the commitment to transition. My hair was starting to break badly at the line of demarcation so at that time I felt the best thing to do was end my stretch

After texlaxing my hair I became bored with my hair and my hair journey. I found myself gravitating more towards those styles that look better with natural hair, well in my opinion anyways. After having a discussion with one of my best friends she shared with me that she had interest in going natural as well. Long story short I decided to make the commitment to transition to natural hair! I honestly didn't plan to share this information until I was a year post relaxer. I wanted to make sure I was fully committed to this journey and I am. I decided I want to do a long transition over a course of 2 years. Instead of big chopping I plan to do a couple mini chops. 

This brings me to my Instagram picture. I planned to do my first cut after my wedding in June, but now that I'm leaning more towards a sew-in, I figured the length of my hair wouldn't matter that much. I have been having the urge to cut some of my hair because I want to see what my natural texture will look like. Today after seeing some pictures on IG of beautiful natural hair of all textures I went to my bathroom and found my hair shears. I brushed my hair straight back and grabbed half my hair and cut. I then grabbed the second half and cut. After cutting I wasn't upset nor did I have any regrets. I actually felt that I am closer to reaching my ultimate goal of becoming fully natural. I actually thought "It's just hair!". My hair is a little uneven, but I am okay with that for now. I plan to do a 2 month no direct heat challenge so the next time I straighten my hair I will make sure it is even. My next mini cut will probably take place after my wedding. 

I can't believe I'm finally sharing that I am transitioning to natural hair! I hope you continue to follow me as I embark on a new hair journey. I will be sharing my ups and downs as I have been doing with my relaxed hair journey. I'll also continue to provide information on all hair types. This will not turn into a natural hair only blog. All information I have provided and will continue to provide can be applied to hair of all types.

About 3 weeks before mini chop

Post Mini chop