Wash Day 2.5

This past week's wash day was on Sunday and I have been traveling so Im just now getting to this post.
I was visiting a friend so I was trying to make my wash day as quick as possible.

1) I deep conditioned on dry hair using my Vanilla Silk dream and castor oil on my scalp for about an hour
2) I washed using my organix awapuhi ginger shampoo
3) This week I chose to do a green tea rinse for the first time and it seems to be just as affective as a black tea rinse
4) I followed the rinse with my Paul Mitchell smoothing daily treatment an left that on for 5 minutes
5) I t-shirt dried for 30 minutes and applied my leave in and the Paul Mitchell serum before detangling
6) My hair was about 80% dry before I blow dried on low heat (used tresseme heat protectant before usage)
7) I flat ironed my hair on 300 degrees and it was not bone straight.

Unfortunately I don't have any great pictures of my hair because I was snowed on shortly after completely my hair:/
Then after staying at my boyfriends house for a few days my hair care regimen is pretty shot. Yesterday I flew to my grandmothers house, who is also on a hair journey so I have some new products to try tonight during my washday. I have been spoiled with my airdried hair and I am anxious to get back to her<3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">
Here's a pic from last weekend with my big fluffed out braidout

Product Reviews

On my previous wash day I tried three new products: Paul Mitchell Smoothing Super Skinny Daily Treatment, Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, and Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream. Wow all three of those products have extremely loong names! Anyway I was impressed with all three of these products....

 Get ready for moist, supple, manageable hair. This rich conditioning cream will help you get your moisture groove back. Silk protein protects and softens your hair while honey, apricot kernel oil, jojoba oil, and aloe wrap your tresses in silky moisture. Suggested use: Apply to wet hair from root to tip with an extra coating on the ends of hair. Leave on 15-30 minutes with a plastic cap. Rinse, apply leave-in conditioner, and style. 
Ingredients: Water,Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol,Stearalkonium Chloride,Vanilla Butter(coconut oil,palm oil,vanilla planifolia), Honey, Simmondsia chinensis(Jojoba) Oil,Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Prunus armeniaca(Apricot Kernel) Oil,Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey,Dimethyl Stearamine,Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein,Panthenol, Lactic Acid, Germall Plus,Fragrance

1) First up is the Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream from the Silk Dream website. I ordered this product on Monday March 4th and I received it on Friday March 15th. The smell reminds me of something I would eat like vanilla frosting, and the consistency similar to frosting as well. You can literally turn the jar upside and nothing falls out, so it's pretty think. When applying it to my hair it melted in like butter, so I was happy my hair absorbed it. I left this on my hair for 45 minutes with heat and used the steaming method under my hooded dryer. When I removed my cap and rinsed it out I extremely happy with my results. My hair was soft, yet strong, because of the silk proteins. Sometimes some deep conditioners can leave my hair kind of mushy, especially when left on for 45 minutes. After t-shirt drying my hair felt very close to the way my favorite DC (Kera Care Humecto) leaves my hair. I feel like this product is interchangeable between my Humecto which is exactly what I was looking for (yay!). Days later I have not had to moisturize and seal, which means this product as kept my hair moist for several days at a time. This product will definitely be moving up to staple status and I'll be buying the 16oz next time b/c unfortunately I only ordered the 8oz container. This product ran me $10 which is fairly reasonable in my eyes.

Next up is Paul Mitchell Smoothing Super Skinny Daily Treatment.
Smoothes and softens. Time is precious; make the most of it. Our exclusive super skinny complex helps reduce dry time so you get smooth style faster. Helps repair and protect hair against damage.

Water/Eau/Aqua, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone, Trideceth-12, Cetrimonium Chloride, Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, C11-15 Pareth-7, C12-16 Pareth-9, Glycerin, Polyquaternium-37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Ceteareth-20, Cetyl Esters, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Pg-Propyl Silanetriol, Triethyl Citrate, Bisamino Peg/PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl Pg-Propyl Dimethicone/Algae Extract/Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Anthemis Nobilis Extract/Lawsonia Inermis (Henna) Extract/Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Extract/Rosmarinum Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract/PEG-12 Dimethicone, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Magnesium Chloride, Magnesium Nitrate, Fragrance/Parfum, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool.

I applied this product as my last step after rinsing out my deep conditioner/BTR and left it on my hair for about 5 minutes. Even after reading several reviews on this product I feel like I was a bit heavy handed and applied a little too much because it did leave my hair feeling a bit weighted. BUT on to the good news, my hair loved it! I t-shirt dried immediately after rinsing, and when I removed the t-shirt my hair was about 80 percent dry! Which is new to me, my hair never dries this fast. I re-wet my hair before applying my leave-ins and my hair dried soooo smooth. I am going to play around with the amount of product I use, but I will definitely be using this again. 

Super Smooth Results- Air dryed hair

Finally, Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum
Smoothes and conditions unruly hair

• Smoothes and protects hair with incredible shine.
• Helps reduce blow-dry time

Contains our unique Super Skinny® Complex, the finest ingredients and thermal protectants.
Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, C11 15 Pareth 7, C12 16 Pareth 9, Trideceth 12, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Isobutylparaben, Isopropylparaben, Butylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum) (Parfum), Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Geraniol, Hexylcinnamal, Linalool, Limonene

Let me first say... The way this product smells was so amazing! I seriously do not own another product that smells better than this one. It smells like watermelon candy, and just makes me feel happy lol. The actually product is lighter than I expected and it is not greasy at all. I feel like I can definitely use this when flat ironing or just wearing a straight style. I believe that this product along with the other PM product aided in the fast drying time. My hair was crazy smooth even days after my washday I found myself rubbing my hand on hair, feeling how smooth my bun felt.

My hair when air drying this past week was unrecognizable and I am so happy with my purchases. More notable was the price point that I got both PM products- I bought the PMSSDT for $8!!! and the PMSSS for $12!!! from JCP (JcPenny's). If you buy 2 or more Paul Mitchell products then you will get them at this ridiculously low price. Before coming to JCP I visited Walgreens, Walmart, Target, and Ulta, and none of these stores beat these prices. If you are a Paul Mitchell fan I would suggest heading over to your JCP salon for your next fix <3

Simple Wash Day 2.4

I'm adding the 2.4 to keep track of my weeks post because I like to go back in my blog and easily see how many weeks post I am. The 2 is for the second stretch of the year and the 4 is for the amount of weeks post. So I am washing my hair extremely early this week b/c my last wash day was supposed to be my clarifing week and my hair was definitely not clean. The braid out I was wearing quickly became weighed down and greasy. Also I have new products to try so I got a little anxious lol.

Air dried hair on the left, very smooth :)

1) I pre-pooed this week with grapeseed oil & a V05 conditioner that I did not like and I am trying to use up. I wanted a pretty saturated pre-poo b/c I knew I was going to be using a harsh shampoo. Within the next month or so I will be buying either safflower or hemp seed oil to use strictly for pre-poos b/c I love grapeseed oil too much to be wasting it on a pre-poo. Both safflower and hemp seed oil contain ceramides. (benefits of ceramides here)
2) I washed using Organic Root Stimulator Creamy Aloe Shampoo to clarify my scalp. I'm currently looking for replacement for this shampoo because it is running low and I love trying new products!
3) I used up the last of my Black Tea Rinse from the batch I made 3 weeks ago. I let the rinse stay on my hair for 20 minutes. Next week I will be trying the green tea rinse b/c I'm actually flat ironing my hair and I want to use something less harsh.
4) My Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream arrived on Friday!! I was so happy to get to try it. I'm thinking of doing a separate post to review a few products I've snuck into my regimen so this will be brief. I applied the VSCMD to my hair and since it is heated DC week I did the fake steaming method, where I put the dc on my hair then put on a cap, a heated towel, and another cap. I sat under the dryer for 40 minutes, which is excruciating long for me lol before rinsing it out. (In the picture you can see my hair after steaming with the DC and it has soaked in quite well)
5) After rinsing out the deep conditioner, I used the Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Daily Treatment  Conditioner and left it on my hair for five minutes.
6) T shirt dried for 30 minutes. When I took off the t-shirt my hair had dried significantly to the point where I had to re-wet it, which I believe is from using the PM Super Skinny.
7) I applied my Kera Care leave in followed by my new Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum. I detangled my hair and allowed it to dry about 90 percent before scooping it up into the bun featured in the picture.
Because there are a couple new products this week, I will do a separate post on my feelings of each one b/c I have a lot to say about them all <3

4 Week Update

New growth shot 4 weeks

I am officially 4 weeks post! I have decided to do a post about every 1/3rd, 2/3rd, and at the end of my stretch updating the stats on my hair. So the first 4 weeks have been pretty great as far as maintenance. I have not used any heat since my last relaxer, and I have used flexi rods, twist outs, and braid outs to maintain my hair.

Positives- At four weeks post I have a crapload of new growth and in some areas I'm convinced it's more than a half inch. My hair has been fairly manageable which is expected at 0-4 weeks post but it's still noted lol. I have been able to have fuller buns and ponytails with this stretch (yay!) In middle school and the beginning of high school (before I began to wreck havoc on my hair, I was the ponytail/bun queen. Both my ponytails and buns were so full and bouncy. For years I have only worn  buns with inserts or "donuts" until last November, and I only wore air dried or "textured" ponytail. Well at about 1 week post I wore my first straight ponytail and years and it was swanging and bouncy-- the little things. I still have a ways to go before I get back to where I started but I'm happy with my progress.

Negatives- This past week I tried a new soap/shampoo on my hair during clarify week which completely disagreed with my hair. Although the Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap is amazing as a face wash, I'm trying to figure out how many uses I can get out of it. I suffered a slight shedding problem around weeks 2&3 but once I made a new batch of BTR they seemed to subside.

I've used my NTM leave-in as my moisturizer primarily plus sealing with grapeseed oil
I'm not sure if I will be using any half wigs or u-parts to get me through this stretch. I might just leave that to the cooler months b/c I'm having too much fun experimenting with my hair. You never know though next week I may have a full lace wig so who knows.

 To the left are a few products I will be trying out during the next coming up weeks. I am so excited to be trying both the Paul Mitchell products and Silk Dreams line. Awhile back I used to love the Motions leave-in, which I plan to use on straight hair, so I am going to give the new formula a try. Also I have not gotten around to purchasing a Seamless Comb (there are just too many things on my wish list) so I found this detangling shower comb at my local beauty supply for $1.99.

Wash Day Braidout

This week I am 3.5 weeks post but in some parts of my head it feels like 5! The crown of my head definitely has a 1/2 inch of new growth but my hair in general is pretty manageable. I was pretty uninspired this washday b/c I was disappointed that my new product hasn't arrived yet. I considered putting my washday off until it came but that was impossible especially with this castor oil challenge I'm doing.

I began today's washday by pre-pooing with olive oil and castor oil and massaging it into my scalp. I left the pre-poo on for about 15 minutes, b/c I really wanted to get into the shower b4 the hot water was depleted for the night.

 It was also my clarify week and I just started using Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in Hemp Rose. So far I love it to wash my body/face with and I had read that a lot of people love it as a shampoo.---Yea not me it's way too thin and I feel like I used a lot more product than I really needed. And even after all that my hair didn't feel clean the way my face/body does with the soap, or even the way my hair normally does after my usual shampoos.

I squeezed out the excess water and sprayed my black tea rinse on my scalp and raise and left that on for 25 minutes. I think I may be a spring shedder b/c my shedding has increased as of late. On top of the BTR I applied my DC (KeraCare Humecto, Hello Hydration, Olive Oil, Castor Oil) and left it on for 35 minutes.

When I rinsed my DC out my hair felt okay and I t-shirt dried for an hour. My leave-ins this week were the Kera Care and I used the Organix Penetrating Moroccan Oil Serum to detangle my hair. I lost very little hair due to the BTR I believe. I left my hair dry about 90%, which means super big hair, then started to style it. 

This week I really didn't want to do anything special so I did a 2 braid, braid-out on pretty big hair. Here are the results... 

Wash Day Flexi-rods

Twist out turned braid out last wknd

I tried a few new things this week which prolonged my washday but I did not mind. I actually look forward to washday and crop out about 5 hours to finish it. I try to multi-task during this time as well; cooking, catching up on homework, catching up on my shows lol. I also do a brief co-wash on Sundays that just consists of a cheap conditioner (hello hydration or VO5 moisture milks) and follow with an instant conditioner. Anyways here are the steps to today's long wash day

1. Pre-poo w/coconut, olive oil, honey 30ish minutes

2. Wash w/ Organics Awapaui Ginger Shampoo-- I really do need to use the shampoo more often b/c it is amazingly moisturizing yet makes my hair feel clean.

3. I made a fresh batch of BTR and left it on for 25 minutes. I am still not likely the amount of shedding I've been having this last week.

4. I applied my DC over my BTR and this week my DC is the KeraCare Intensive Restorative Masque mixed with Castor Oil & Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This week is my DC with heat week ( I cannot commit to it every week so I do it every other week) and after doing a porosity test last week I determind that I have extremely low porous hair. Which means I need a little extra help moisturizing-- so I tried to fake steaming method. After applying my deep conditioner and putting on a processing cap, I put a hot towel on top of the cap and my conditioning cap over the top of that. Then I sat under the hooded dryer for 25 minutes.

5. I wanted to do a clear rinse for the longest- like literally 4 months and I kept asking my beautician to do one with my relaxer but she always "forgot".  So I bit the bullet and used the Jazzing Clear rinse in #10 and left it on for 25 minutes.

6. I t-shirt dried for about 20 minutes and applied my KeraCare Leave-In and the Organix Moroccan Penetraiting Oil Serum. Next I detangled--- and my hair felt amazing!!! I'm assuming this is from the clear rinse but it detangled so easily and it felt so smooth!

7. I applied my flexi rods and slept in them over night under my bonnet.

8. Results--  It was different lol... The last time I did flexi rods was last July on shoulder lengthish hair about 7wks post. Today my hair is about 3 weeks post and APL, I think next time I will set the flexi rods differently to get more of what I'm aiming for. This looks similar to my BKO.

Flexi-rod from 7/4/12

Health Update

This is totally un-hair related but ah well. SO about a month ago I posted about Insanity and Supplements. So far I have been on point with my supplement regimen! I'm not sure if I listed them before but I take 1-2 garlic 1000mg, 1000mcg biotin, 2 prenatal gummies from Vitafusion, and 1 One a Day Women's Active Multi Vitamin. My water intake has been great! I've been averaging about 60oz a day, and I am ready to make that about 80oz.

Now my exercise regiment is another story. I was exercising everyday for 3 weeks straight! But then I suffered a terrible hangover last Sunday that got me off of track smh. So all of last week I did not do a thang. Now yesterday I tried to do start back up with Insanity and of course now my DVD drive is not working!!! So I drove to campus and worked out in the rec, which is what I plan to do until I get my computer checked out. I was getting a tad bit bored with Insanity anyway so maybe this will encourage me to try other things and classes at the rec. Overall I have noticed some visual changes in my body and I am started to see a little definition in my abs!



Since I'm back on my fitness kick I decided it was time to join one of the many fitness sites to keep me on track and motivated. I joined myfitnesspal yesterday and I love it! It tracks all of the foods you eat, along with your goals, exercise diaries- the works! My favorite part about the site is the fact that it has an app that you can scan and record all of your foods you eat throughout the day. I have also discovered a great supporting community that is similar to the one I found on various hair forums. I'm all for supporting one another on our various life journeys.

I think that is about it, I'm thinking of starting a different blog for fitness but until then I will randomly update on LLL. If anyone has a myfitnesspal, leave your username down below and I will follow you: mine is boonNDharts

Lets go #SexyBodySexyHair2013