My First twistout- Washday

1. Prepoo w/ coconut oil & olive oil 25 minutes
2. Wash w/Kera Care Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
3. Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor- for shedding
4. Black Tea Rinse- started shedding too much this week 20 mins
5. DC w/ KeraCare Humecto creme conditioner, Hello Hydration by Herbal Essences, Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily deep conditioner, & castor oil 20 mins...  under my conditioning cap. I've been looking for something to alternate with the Humecto, that makes my hair feel just as wonderful. Hopefully the SilkDreams website opens shipping up soon so I can order the Vanilla Silk Conditioner!
6. t shirt dry for about 45 mins
7. My hair was about 70% dry once I applied my Kinky Curly Knot Today & detangled. I used to love this detangler/leave-in during the summer but for the past couple of months it has been giving me a sticky film on top of my hair. I'm not sure if I am using too much, or if it is just the weather, but I'm hoping I figure something out b/c I have 2 unopened bottles from Christmas:/

TWISTING OUT-
I let my hair hang dry for another 10 minutes, then I separated my hair into 4 sections. On each section I used my Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk mixed with a small amount of EcoStyler Alma oil. I distributed the mix throughout each section and sealed with coconut oil. Each section created about 4 twists, which created about 16 twists overall. It took about an hour to twist my whole head and apply satin rollers to my thin bone straight ends. I tied down my edges and put on a satin bonnet to sleep in.

The next morning results:

Not happy with the results... Great effort, bad execution. I may have to hold off on the twist out until after all my straight ends are gone.

Ended up pulling it back into a low bun.... thinking of trying a flexi-rod set soon!

First Wash Day after Relaxer

The first washday is always so bittersweet for me. I love the fact that my hair has been straight for a few days, but with all of the working out and oils it tends to get weighed down. Also it is so different to go from 12.5 week post hair last washday to silky smooth >1 week post hair today. I feel so bald when the water hits my hair, and my hair actually felt really heavy when it was wet. I cannot imagine how it will feel at WL or even MBL!!

1) So I pre-pooed with coconut oil & olive oil for a little over an hour
2) Washed hair (in halves b/c it seems to get really tangled now that it is a little longer) using Organix Repairing Awapuhi Ginger Shampoo
3) Applied my pre-made BTR- I have to get my hair thicker so BTR's are a must this stretch. I left this on for 30 mins
4) After 30 mins I put my DC mixture of (KeraCare Humecto, Long Term Relationship Conditioner by Herbal Essences, JBCO, and EVOO. I got under the dryer with a plastic cap for 20 mins- this stretch I want to use heat with my DC every other week
5) I left my hair cool off before rinses off in the shower. Once my DC was rinsed off I did an ACV rinse (2 capfuls of ACV with 2 cups of water) to finish off my washday. So far I have only used ACV rinses on the washday following my relaxer, I plan to do more research on them before performing them more regularly. Does anyone else acv rinse frequently?
6) I T-shirt dried for 45 minutes, and applied my leave-in ( Neutrogena Triple Moisture Leave-in) and lightly detangled
7) I didn't know what to do with my hair so I put in two french braids that I will undo this weekend for a braid out

Relaxer Update #1

Today I relaxed my hair after 12 weeks of stretching! Well not me personally, but I came home for a weekend and my beautician gave me a dose of the creamy crack lol. Last night I separated my hair into fours and detangled my hair with Mane n' Tail detangler so that it would be a little easier on her. I was in and out of the shop in about 2 1/2 hours. It felt great to have someone else deal with my hair for a day so here are the results.

(An official length check update will be posted soon under the relaxer update tab) I am definitely arm pit length now with about 2 inches to BSL to go. I would like my hair to be a lot fuller, like the top of my hair so I will continue to trim about an inch off every six months. My next trim is scheduled for May 2013, overall I am happy with my progress :)

 

Washday Update

    Washday was this past Wednesday but I have been soo busy that I haven't had a chance to post. I was on campus from 9am to 7pm so when I got home I still had a lot of other things to do including washing my hair, packing my bags for the weekend, and cleaning my apartment.
    So I started with a brief prepoo of coconut oil on the length of my hair. I am slowly learning how to effective use coconut oil in my hair journey. I do not like to use it to seal my hair because it tends to make it very hard and wiry. I have found that my skin absolutely loves coconut oil, along with my scalp and nails! So for now it is just used to prepoo or on my scalp. I followed my prepoo with a scalp massage using both coconut oil and castor oil.
   I washed my hair using Organic Root Stimulator Creamy Aloe Shampoo, because I like to clarily my hair every four week and also because this is relaxer week for me. Then I applied my black tea rinse to my scalp and hair for 20 minutes. It was actually still hot because I forgot about it and brewed it at the last minute- pure touture lol. After 20 minutes I applied my DC which consistented of KeraCare Humecto, Hello Hydration by Herbal Essences, Olive oil, and a small amount of JBCO. My DC stayed on for about a half hour before I rinsed it off.
   I t-shirt dried for 30 mins and scarf dried for another thirty. I applied s-curl to my new growth & my NTM leave in while I detangled. Lastly I sealed with Elasta QP Mango Butter, and my new favorite, grapeseed oil!

Look Back on the Last 12 weeks

        Okay so I am in relaxer prep mode and I am currently preparing to do my hard protein later on today. I will be relaxing this upcoming Saturday and wanted to reflect on my last stretch. After the previous stretch I was pretty disappointed in my efforts as far as caring for my hair.
Some of the things I added this stretch were:
         Obviously starting a blog lol, began taking supplements, drinking 60 or more oz of water daily, Black tea rinses more frequently, finger detangling & scalp massages, DC with every wash, exercised regularly (I did take about 3-4 weeks off during the holiday season), consistent pre-poos, and a weekly co-wash in addition to wash day. So I am praying that I see some real results this weekend!!!

This relaxer stretch was a little over 12 weeks, and here is how I got through those long 3 months...

Here is weeks 1-3 I usually play around with my straight hair, along with different braidouts and buns.

 (Weeks 4--6) This is my super long u-part wig that I made, its 18 inches and I sew it on and off every washday. I played around with the parting, and even adding a braid for a few days.

Here is week 7 I did a pretty horrible rollerset and did not take many pics because of how much I hated it. I definitely need more practice with those.

Weeks 8--10 I made another u-part wig which was just about shoulder length. I did not have many pics of this one, which is fine b/c I plan to re-wear it during the beginning of my next stretch. I even made my mom one that is very similar to this one, which I will be installing on her this weekend, ( post maybe?)

My last 2 weeks included a Bantu Knot Out which is featured in a previous post. And bunning of course! So I had a lot of fun with the stretch, I plan to do a 13 week stretch next time with 7weeks under a wig and 6 weeks of fun protective styles.

Kera Care Wash Day

Products used this Wednesday Wash Day

 This wash day I felt like my hair was pretty balanced. Whenever my hair is not in a protective style, in addition to my wash day I add in a Cowash mid week. These co-washes have been improving the moisture of my mane.

So I began my wash day by finger detangling with coconut oil and proceeded to do a scalp massage. I massaged my scalp using coconut, olive, and castor oil; then I used the remaining concotion to spread over my hair for a 45 minute pre-poo.



I washed with the shampoo pictured above, KC Hydrating Detangling Shampoo, and followed with the KC Humecto Creme Conditioner which I love sooo much. I actually got out of the shower with the conditioner for about 15 mins to watch some of American Idol, because my hair really loves this stuff.

Once that was rinsed out, I grabbed the remaining Black Tea that is kept in my mini fridge and sprayed my roots and length of my hair. I placed a conditioning cap over the BTR and a stocking cap and left on for about 20 minutes.

These bone straight ends have to go!

My DC this week was the KC Intensive Recovery Masque (I'm not really sure if that is the name but its picture above as well lol). In a bowl I mixed the KC with a squirt of castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, and honey. I left that on while I did my Insanity DVD, and when I rinsed out my hair it was extremely soft.

After t shirt drying for an hour, I sectioned my hair into 4 parts, and began to detangle. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful my hair felt after today's wash. My leave- ins were the KC leave in and the NTM leave in.

One section of my hair partially dried and detangled

After detangling I used the LOC method to moisturize and seal. NTM + Coconut oil + Elasta QP Mango & Lime Butter, then twisted each section, put on my scarf and went to bed!

I am eleven weeks post this wash day which means I only have 1 more wash day until my relaxer hallelujah!