Wash Day

I washed my hair today. It wasn't fun, as a result of going nearly a week and a half without de-tangling!

I washed with Shea Moisture's Deep Cleansing Shampoo.

It didn't strip my hair, which is good, because shampoos usually do...but this shampoo has good ingredients and no sulfates. 

I conditioned with my old favorite, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and I mixed it with Suave Professionals Almond and Shea butter conditioner.

 After I shampooed and conditioned (and de-tangled with conditioner in my hair) I did an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. With 3 cups water and 1 tablespoon of ACV-- I may have tweaked the measurement a little

I used the same mix of Hello Hydration and Suave and a little bit of Olive Oil, to style.

I loved the results of using this mix in the beginning of the year, but now, it's seems just OK.

I put my hair in a braid and curl style and actually cornrowed instead of doing a single braid-- something I never do because my hair is always too tangled. Today was a slight exception.

Right now my hair's in the braid and curl for church tomorrow.

I'll post some pictures of the results tomorrow after church.

'till next time...

Wash Day -- Longer Curls

 I washed my hair today and wanted to show the length of my wet hair from May 2010 to February 2011.

 

This is the length of my wet hair (no conditioner added) in May 2010

This is the length of my wet hair this month (Feb 2011)

I actually thought that my curly hair didn't significantly "grow" or "stretch" in it's naturally curly state. I guess this proves it does.

Hot Oil Treatments and Conditioner Washing

...As known as co-washing in the 'curly community'. Most curlies know what it means to co-wash, but for those who don't...it's basically washing your hair (same exact process; scrubbing, etc.) with conditioner instead of shampoo.

I co-washed today with Suave conditioner that was mixed with a bit of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and Olive oil after doing a hot oil treatment for about two hours.
My hair was decently soft after the hot oil treatment and it was pretty easy and convenient to do. A hot oil treatment will be my 'default deep treatment'. When ever I don't have much time to deep condition, I can put some Extra Virgin Olive Oil in my hair and sit with a heating cap for 30 minutes to an hour, and be good to go.

I'm Back....And So Are My Curlies!

I will, once again, like to apologize to my readers for my long absence. I've just finished with my finals and like any college student will tell you, finals time is the busiest and most frustrating time of the whole semester. I am very happy to be finished with them and I'm leaving everything to God!

And yes, my curls are back! I missed them dearly, after almost a month of having them straight.

I washed it with my shampoo, Dr. miracles tingling shampoo and conditioner

I then deep conditioned with Ev olive oil and Herbal Essences hello hydration (My favorite condish) and my electric heating cap.

After an hour or so I washed it out and poured diluted apple cider vinegar (3 cups distilled water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar) all over my hair.

I believe that I may have hard water, which is water that has a lot of minerals in it, which can have a bad affect on hair and skin. I'm not sure I have it, but I've been dealing with very dry hair even after I deep condition, so I think the water's to be blamed.

I read that diluted apple cider vinegar could really help with that...so I tried it and I love it.

I poured the cider on my hair (didn't wash it out) and my hair came out feeling very soft and moisturized.

Below are some picture. The first is of my hair(still wet) after I washed it. And the remaining few are of a second-day braid and curl.

It looks really frizzy, because although I didn't fluff it much, I was constanly touching it...I really missed the boing-y-ness of my curls :)

Ready to go Straight...and Hair Updates

First off, I want to apologize to my readers for the lack of post for the past two weeks. I had a lot of work to do, since it's almost the end of the semester and I could find no time to post. I also had my laptop sent in to have a free office program installed on it, until I can afford to download Microsoft office 7 :)
OK, I have to admit that I've, yet again, been neglecting my hair. It's not completely out of laziness, I just couldn't find time to wash and moisturize it at least once a week, which is what it demands to avoid looking like a deformed, tangled, curly mass of hay.

However, I did find time to wash and give a mini hot oil treatment with my EV olive oil. Even after I washed (with Dr. Miracles tingling shampoo and conditioner) and de-tangled with my suave with added olive oil, it still feels dry. I know my hair needs some pampering. It's been breaking at the single strand knots and split ends (which aren't only at the ends).

Like I previously mentioned, I will be straightening next weekend for my birthday on May 2nd. The last time I straightened was November 2009, which will be exactly 6 months. That means I stuck to my plan of straightening only twice in the last 12 months. I want to stick to that plan. When I straighten, which although I hate the process, I love the results, I will also do another trim. Not too much though, probably half an inch and I'll try to do some search and destroy's to get rid of any remaining knots and splits.

The two pictures below are of my hair currently. It's drying in braids with nothing but EV Olive oil, I will add some Hello Hydration later on. It's going to be pretty rainy for the next couple of days, so I'm not going to put much effort into styling.

Wash Day

I washed and de-tangled my hair on saturday, the 10th. It was one of the best wash days I've had in a long time. I washed with diluted apple cider again, and I think that it was what helped with the de-tangling.
I then detangled with suave. I finger combed, then combed with my wide tooth comb. It took less than an hour whereas my usual de-tangling sessions usually take an hour an a half.
I 'deep' conditioned with HE hello hydration and EV olive oil, and sat with my hand held dryer for about an hour. When I washed it out, it was fairly soft. Nothing impressive, but it was decent.
I bout a 12oz bottle of EV olive oil. So I will be adding that to just about everything. :)

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

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.

The Down-side to Shea Butter

If you follow my blog, then you know how much I love She Butter. I think it's a great moisturizer. Last year, I used it for everything. I used it to moisturize my dry hair and to condition my wet hair.

I realized that Shea butter for wet hair, during the winter is not a good idea for me. While you're in your hot shower, it feels great, but once your hair gets in contact with cool air, you will realize that your hair will start to look dull and get stiff. It doesn't look or feel good.
I deep conditioned my hair with melted Shea, and heated it with my handheld dryer for about 15 minutes.
When I went to rinse it out, it felt great (it's always best to rinse Shea butter with warm to hot water). When I came out the shower to add my styler (I used Aussie again) my hair began to look dull and it began to feel stiff. I regretted using the Shea butter. I would have rinsed it out but after spending almost an hour de-tangling, I just wanted to get out of the bathroom.

Depending on how my hair looks tomorrow, I might re-do it, or leave it.

Below I've posted a picture of how my flexi rod curls looked after the NYC rain and snow this week, had it's way with it. It looks a lot like a 2nd or 3rd day wash and go.

Tedious Wash Day

Today I decided to wash and deep condition my hair. I had no idea what I was getting into. I don't even remember the last time I thoroughly de-tangled my hair.
I realized that as my hair gets longer, the harder and harder it is to de-tangle. I was actually hoping that my over- night deep conditioning treatment would have eased the de-tangling but it didn't.

Yesterday, I washed with my Dr. Miracle's tingling shampoo and conditioner. It's a really good shampoo if you have dry scalp, like I do. I'll do a review on it soon.
I then applied my deep conditioner: Aussie moist 3 minute miracle mixed with a little Extra Virgin olive oil.

I slept with that in my hair over night and woke up this morning and tried to de-tangle.
The Aussie is'nt a very good deep conditioner, because my hair was almost just as dried out as before I put it in. I was very disappointed.
I decided to use the Aussie as a style since it sucked as a DC, tomorrow I'll see how it turned out. I also used the flexi rods on my ends as well.

The Picture below is of my damp hair with olive oil, after the Deep Conditioning. As you can see it's frizzy and it doesn't look like it's been deep conditioned all night.

Wash and Style

Alright so, wash- day was postponed until today. Which means I went to school yesterday with un-washed hair. With all the preparations I was making for the first day of classes, I simply had no time for the long and tedious wash session.

The wash session really wasn't as bad as it would have been, if I had not detangled on Wednesday and yesterday. I applied shea butter and a sprayed some water on my hair, section by section, detangled, braided and added rollers to each end. I didn't take any pictures of my hair yesterday. I do though, have some pictures from Wednesday's hair, which looks just like my hair yesterday, except a little neater, of course.

Today I washed with my Dr. Miracles shampoo and conditioner. This shampoo does have sulfates, but it's near the end on the ingredients list. Plus, I only apply it to my scalp, so that way I clean my scalp without drying out my hair. I also deep conditioner and learned something wonderful! I deep conditioned with another one of my concoctions, this time it was an egg, some regular vo5 conditoner and a bit of extra virgin olive oil. I realized that that the olive oil made my hair very, very soft! I love it and now I'm going to buy some more and add it to all my deep conditioners. I styled in a regular braid and curl.

They're back....My curls, that is.

I washed and deep conditioned my hair yesterday! I washed with Dr.Miracles tingling shampoo and conditioner. I like how it feels on my scalp. I put it on my fingertips and directly unto my scalp. I deep conditioned with yogurt (yes yogurt, I wanted full fat, but there was only low fat in the fridge.) The yogurt contained 50 grams of protien, which is what my hair needed. I also added olive oil and melted shea butter to the yogurt.

It feels good to have curls again. Straight hair is cute and all but, curly hair is beautiful! I don't feel like myself with straight hair, one of my friends even told me that with straight hair I look like every other girl walking around, but with big curly hair, I look like me!

These are some pictures of my hair fresh out of the shower :)

I styled with a braid and curl, I'll post pics of that as well!