Wash, Deep Condition and Trim

I washed and deep conditioned on Monday. I used diluted Apple Cider Vinegar to wash and I deep conditioned with mayo, an egg and EV olive oil. I wanted to try the deep conditioner that was suggested by a reader but I had no bananas. I will try it the next time I have some soft mushy bananas.


I really had to get my hair trimmed, so I blowdryed my hair on low heat and kept it stretched out by banding (placing scrunchies down the length of the hair).

Before The Trim

My friend trimmed my hair. I asked him to trim off an inch and I think he did a great job. It's not a significant difference, but I do hope it helps with the tangling and breaking.

After The Trim

....And Then There Were None. The Twists are Out

Yup, my twist are out! I was bored and they were frizzy, so after a week and about 2 days, they're gone.
I put braids in last night to keep it from tangling. I think that I'm going to keep it stretched out until I get my trim then I'm going to wash, deep condition and style.

P.S: Don't laugh at my lack of muscles, I'm working on it. :)

Making it Last

I don't think I've ever written about the way that I do my two-strand twist. It's not a big thing, but I know it has helped me a lot when it comes to helping my twist stay in longer.

I always braid the first inch and a half of my hair and twist the rest of it. I find that doing this prevents the roots from getting frizzy to quickly and prevents it from unraveling at the roots by the 3rd day or something.

Mini Two- Strand Twist..Once Again

If you've been reading my blog, then you know that two-strand twist are a way for my hair and I to get a break from each other.

It's been getting on my nerves because it's time for a trim. I usually trim my own hair when I straighten it, but I'm not suppose to straighten until May. So I'm trying to work something out. I was thinking about getting one of my close friends to do it for me again, he did a good job last time I straightened (and he's straight :)

Since I'm not straightening until May, but I need a trim now, I was thinking that I can leave my twist in until spring break starts (March 29th) and get it trimmed, while it's in a twist- out style. At least that way it'll be close to being straight, and I'll be able to get an even cut.

I realize that trimming a decent amount of hair while my hair is in a two strand twist style, yields uneven hair and my hair is uneven enough.

The only problems that I have with leaving my hair in a twisted style for a long period of time is tangling due to shed hair getting caught in the twist and lack of creative ways to style it.

I've seen some ladies on hair forums with beautiful twisted styles, but i either don't have the tools or skills to duplicate them :) I definitely will keep trying. For now, I've been wearing a bun, it's not bad but, it's not me.

Mzmillion, a beautiful natural on naturallycurly.com, suggested a great home made deep conditioner that I will definitely be trying. Mayo, banana and olive oil, hopefully during spring break I'll be trying this.

Baking Soda and Conditioner Deep Treatment

I've been on YouTube lately and I've watched quite a few videos about people deep conditioning their hair with baking soda and regular conditioner.

I've been looking for a deep conditioner on a budget and I figured with all the great results everyone was having, if this worked for me it'll definitely be a keeper.

All hair are definitely not the same! My hair felt as dry as before I put it in.

What did I do?

-I washed my scalp with Dr. Miracles shampoo and conditioner. It did leave my hair with that sqeaky clean, straw-like feeling. But I figured that my deep treatment will fix that.
-De-tangled with suave and my wide tooth comb (Took about an hour!!!! Extremly fustrating).
-Applied the mixture: 1 cup of conditioner (suave and a little vo5), 1/2 cup of baking soda and about a table spoon of EV olive oil. I applied it section by section.

Right now I'm sitting with my hair air drying in braids. I am thoroughly fustrated with my hair and I've decided i'm going to put it in mini twist for the next two weeks. I'll take them out over spring break.
Hopefully I'll find a good Deep conditioner. I'll have to revisit my old friend apple cider vinegar, it gave me soft shiny hair the last time I used it.

My 'To-Try' List

There's been a couple of things that I've wanted to try. Money is the main reason I haven't yet bought and tried these things. Being a college student, the extra money I have is usually put toward things such as lunch :)
I will however, try these things when I have enough money. So what are these things? They are:

1) Henna- I have wanted to try henna for some time now, especially after hearing such great things about it.
2) Deva Curl Conditioner- Curly Nikki fans know what I'm talking about :). I've wanted to see how this product would work on my hair.
3) Curl formers- After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I definitely want to try these curlers.

Well, these are all I can remember for now, but this list is ever growing.
What do you want to try?

Twist- Out Results

These are the results of the twist-out. If you read my last post, I wasn't expecting any defintion. I got defintion but not the kind I like. It resembled deformed curls.
The back (the area around my ear) which it the softest texture, came out nice, but the rest of it....was just ok. It does feel moisturized though.
I'm going to be extremly busy this weekend, so I'm not going to be able to wash and deep condition tomorrow. I'll go it as soon as possible. In the mean time, I'll be spritzing and twisting, to keep the moisture up.

Updated Winter Routine

My previous winter hair care routine involved washing and styling once a week and rubbing on the Shea Butter when I feel my hair needed it.

After experiencing the intense dryness and breakage, my new routine involves:
Day 1: Wash, deep condition and style.
Day 2: Unravel braid or twist, fluff, apply Shea all over and go. Pull up into a pineapple pony for the night.
Day 3: Spritz with my concoction (Suave conditioner, water and a bit of Olive oil) and re braid or twist.
Day 4: Same as day 2.
Day 5: Same as day 3.
Day 6: Start all over again.

I'm hoping to follow this regimen. It seems like it's a lot of manipulation, but it's actually not, because I will be lightly finger combing, not using a comb.
I probably won't be able to follow this exactly, because there are times when I have to focus on my work. But I'm hoping for the best though.

Right now, I'm sitting here with chunky twist, after I spritzed and finger de- tangled. I'm not sure if I want to add rollers. I might actually aim for a twist out, haven't worn that in a while. I'll try to post some pictures of the results.
I'm not expecting definition, because my spritz had has no hold. I'm expecting big and fluffy. :)

Curly Fustrations and Winter Hair Tips

Lately, I've been getting very frustrated with my hair. The tangles, knots, dryness and breakage has been driving me up the wall! This winter has been extremely hard on my hair. I don't remember last winter being this bad. I believe that this was because last winter, my hair was much shorter and much easier to deal with.

This winter, my hair is longer and there's more of it to handle. I also know for a fact, that I have been lacking in the moisture department this winter.
As a result of, the lack of moisture my hair has:
1) Been extremely dry
2) Been tangling and knotting up a lot more
3) Been splitting at the ends and those ends are breaking off.

For some reason, I thought I could do the same things I was doing to my hair during the warmer weather. Big Mistake!

In the winter, hair needs more MOISTURE!
During the summer, I would condition and style and that would be it for the next couple of days, maybe even a week later.
I forgot that the winter calls for a different hair routine. One which includes twice as much moisture, than the summer routine.

I believe that in the winter, hair also needs PROTECTION!
I wear my hair out 99.9% of the time. I love big hair and I feel my best when my hair is big and bouncy. I also have yet to find, at this time, any way to keep my hair protected in a style outside of two strand twist and braids.
Early January and early February, I wore two-strand twist. In January I kept the twist in for three weeks and at the end of those weeks, I had a tremendous amount of tangles and shed hair. Which was a huge frustration for me.
For right now, my way of protecting my hair is making sure my ends are sealed with Shea butter before I go out into the cold winter air.

I have also stepped up the moisture, by spritzing my hair with a water and conditioner mixture, during the middle of the week. Tonight, I had the time (not much homework), so I decided to spray the mixture on my hair, de-tangle a bit and braid up each section.
I've noticed that my hair feels a little softer and I'm not seeing little bits of my hair breaking off.
I will keep moisturizing as much as possible to make sure, my hair doesn't dry out anymore.

Bottom line: I Can't Wait For Spring! :)