Last Week's Hair Regimen Review 10/18

I had intentions about having ONE way of doing my hair and abiding by that structure. But the truth is:

1. It's not that much fun to do the same thing week after week.
2. My lifestyle is not predictable enough to do the same thing
3. Work- out hair is still a work in progress...

So, from now on, i'm working to build that structure. But first will just do my best, live in the moment and see what methods work and what doesn't. For me the key to a structured Hair regimen will be about

1. Applying it to my unpredictable lifestyle
2. Making it fun, inspiring and something to look forward to.
3. Injecting commitment and consistency to see growth and health results.

Which brings me to last week's regimen which was completely different than the one before.

Monday - Washed my hair and DC'd. I loved the results after two DC's with the shea moisture. My hair felt different than before like it was heavier and i think its the moisture retention that has gotten better just from two DCs.

Tuesday - Had my hair in twists and kept it in for a day and a half and then unraveled for work that evening.

Wednesday - worked out in the AM and co-washed my hair. i pulled it up in a half up and half down for it to air dry and it air-dried pretty straight in which it was left in a low-bun for the rest of the week.

Thursday - Friday :  kept it in bun and on Friday did a video recording in which it almost looked straight completely! So air-drying without twist or braid - it is a 'thing'that I might want to try and see what else I can do.

Softest hair in a long time

It's been a long time since I felt my hair feel this soft. This Shea moisture DC are working. Putting that castor oil in bumped it up a notch too. Why bother change what is already working? I will be repurchasing that Shea moisture DC. 

Kept my hair in twists for 24 hours. Took it down and trimmed the ends. CertAinly not a uniformed look with my straggly ends but I kinda love it anyway. 

Last weeks Hair Regimen 10/11

Last Monday I put my hair in a mask Deep conditioner. Detangled. And then braided my hair into cornrows.

Not bad for the first try but ill get better as I go along. 

Tuesday - kept my hair in the cornrows. I took an early morning spin class. Showered but didn't wash my hair. I let some water go down my scalp and ends but not drenched. Put my leave-in in. 

Wednesday - I took the braids out around 3pm. Loved having my hair in this style. It was in cornrows for 2 days and the curl pattern was defined. 

From Wed-Saturday - I put the kinky curly knot leave in on the ends and pineappled my hair at night. I wore my hair out and did some half down / half in a bun. 

Today, I did a mask again. With castor oil mixed in. I did it on dry hair this time and found my hair responded really differently than last week on damp hair.

I am ready to meet my Hair

My hair journey has allowed me to experience my hair texture. While learning how to moisturize and maintain curly hair while my hair was relaxed, I had already begun the process of learning about my hair. I started to embrace my hair even back then while relaxing. But I always came short when it came to stretching. 

Stretching was fun and healthy. It introduced me to braidouts and curly styles that made being curly more fun. After a while, braidouts was my go to for a few years. I started texlaxing to get more texture. But everytime I hit 3 months of new growth I had to get a touch up. And I would have a sigh of relief as I witnessed my new growth smooth out and make my hair instantly longer! 

I will miss those days as I truly learned to love my relaxed hair. But that sigh of relief once I hit that 'creamy crack'. It is a similar feeling to the memory I have of first getting my hair relaxed. 

I was so tired of my hair. As a young girl wanting to be in, most girls had their hair relaxed already and I was slow on the trend. Truth is there was no environment that provided me to love my natural hair. My father was the closest. He was preachy about his disgust about how women's side burns would fall off. He didn't approve. But he was lame in my eyes. And too forceful, there was no love for the curls or the beauty of the hair. With him it was about justice. My mother seemed to do the best she could with our hair and I think she loved it and didn't want us to relax too soon. But she eventually knew that we would have to because of her understanding of "fitting in" and looking the part. There was no history or practices related to regiment or maintaining beautiful natural hair. So basically my natural hair had no chance. It was a Martyr to my culture and environment. I couldn't wait to have it look pretty and straight. I breathed my first sigh of relief on that first day I had my hair relaxed. 

My how time has changed. And the woman who I am today appreciates where she has come from and looks forward ahead. And yet even still as we charge forward we go back to the basics, the basics of being natural. 

Now that I am long past 3 months post relaxer, I see that the biggest mountain was turned to a molehill as my sister once wrote. The hump that I had to overcome was my mental relationship with my hair. When I saw the new growth as a relaxed chick, I was scared of it. I did not know how to deal with it. It is way thicker and less tamed. Now, I see the difference and I smile at the beauty of the health of my natural hair. And I sigh a different sigh, a deep sigh of goodbye... To the days of being relaxed. 

I am Ready to meet my hair

Vegetable Glycerin

Ingredient Spotlight : VEGETABLE GLYCERIN

featuring: curlynikki.com
Glycerin is far more water soluble than some of the other conditioning alcohols such as lauryl alcohol and cetearyl alcohol.

Glycerin is an alcohol, known also by the chemical names glycerol and 1,2,3, propane triol. It can be obtained via hydrolysis of naturally occurring plant or vegetable fats (triglycerides) or via chemical synthesis from petrochemicals. It is a conditioning alcohol similar to other conditioning alcohols, but it has three very hydrophilic hydroxyl (-OH) groups as opposed to a single one.

Synthetic glycerin has received some publicity as being a potential health hazard, and many consumers prefer to avoid it. It is typically produced from the starting material epichlorohydrin, which is a toxic chemical that is classified as a probable carcinogen. 

 Glycerin can be a great moisturizer and humectant for the hair. Care should be taken to use it in environments of moderate humidity.

Many heat-styling techniques can generate sufficient heat to boil the water inside the hair shaft, which can cause terrible breakage. One way to prevent or minimize this problem is to coat the hair with an emollient that seals in the moisture and that does not transfer the heat from the appliance to the hair as readily. Unfortunately, glycerin conducts thermal energy pretty efficiently (it transfers heat readily to the hair), especially when compared to silicones, proteins, and polyquaternium conditioning ingredients.

MORE INFO: http://www.curlynikki.com/2013/08/is-glycerin-good-or-bad-for-curly-hair.html

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Mask

New Addition to my beauty collection and regimen. Trying out the Shea Moisture deep treatment mask. 

I did it two days ago. My hair is very dry so I'm doing it again. At the end of the week I plan to use it with my protein treatment ORS Hair Mayo. I'm working on preparing my hair for maximum moisture before doing my next protein treatment. I'm looking forwar to repurchasing my ORS Hair Replenishing Conditioner. A light protein that I will add to my weekly DC's. And I'll only do the ORS mayo every 4-6 weeks. 

Hair Typing on 6 month transitioning Hair

I have never been a fan of Hair Typing. However, I do see the importance of understanding the science of kinky curly Hair. Learning about the moisture levels and protein levels, the response of the Hair with certain ingredients and products to achieve the desired look, these are the essentials of understanding what type of hair you have in your head. 

Therefore, I'll move forward with the hair typing system until I create one of my own. 

Analyzing my Hair, I would say that I have 4c hair at the crown of my hair. 

The curl pattern loosens and is prob 3c at my nape. 

The right side is thinner, less body ...curls are mixed 4b/c? 

Left side is thinner too, but pokes out more curls 4b/c. This might just have to do with the manipulation from the old style that I had in for the past few days. 

And the front. 

As I journey down the road of transitioning to natural, I will be able to build on what techniques I can do to enhance my hair knowing the different textures 

I have observed that curly hair likes to clump together. And you kind of have to go with the flow of that. You flow and you manipulate the hair by observing what sections naturally want to clump

Together. 

A lot of anxiety is hyped around hair typing. But I believe with kinky curly hair you can have whatever look you desire. Just because you type your hair does not mean you are confined to only certain ways or hairstyles. Truly the hair will respond to what you do to it. After all, it is a material that responds to your powers of manipulation. So we 'hair type' to understand the science to get the look we desire. And the Regimen that we stick to, is what feeds gorgeous healthy hair. The regimen begins with loving your hair and feeding it love on a regular basis. 

5 Hour Air Dried Twist-out

I figure. It's best to record all - possibilities with my hair so I become familiar with all outcomes. 

I haven't done a short-term air dried style since my hair was permed. I'd always do it with permed ends, but with two textures of transitioning hair, I've chosen to allow the hair to dry completely; taking 12-24 hours to dry. 

But I didn't plan out my hair well today and had to wash and finger detangled this morning. I put my hair into individual twists and allowed the Natural Sun to help me air dry after 5 hours or so. 

When I took the hair out, there was actually some definition. I put my hair in a half-up/half-down style that has been a go to style when I have texture but no shape. 

I used my newly purchased, Kinky Curly leave-in, coconut oil and then mango butter. I'd love to try this again and see how my hair turns out on completely 100% air dried hair. 

Hair in twists--- looking mmmaaaad tired

Took hair out after 5-hour air dry and had some curl pattern. 

Pinned hair up. Half up / Half down --- go to staple style so far for transitioning hair. 

Product Review : Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner

This is a product review for The Jane Arter Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner. I am basing my analysis off of about two weeks of use on my Stretched or Transitioning to Natural Hair. I currently have different textures of curly and straight hair. 

I have been at a loss since my staple Leave-In, Herbal Essence Long Term relationship. And since then, I've begun to change my ideas towards keeping my hair relaxed and considering ending my relaxer routine. I have been using cheapie  leave ins from the beauty store that is just not keeping my hair moisturized as I allow my new growth to come in. And I'm on the search to find a new staple leave-in. 

My first impression of the Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-In, is a thumbs up. Since I haven't been using a decent leave in, I felt the major shift in my hair's moisture levels from the first time I sprayed this product into my hair. It has a light liquidy solution. Not thick at all. The scent is medium to strong. But I do not mind it. What I love the most is how much my hair has shifted in holding moisture in my styles. I'm curious as to what ingredients heighten the moisture in hair. 

The first ingredient is water and that's an A+++. I like that it is not a long ingredients list, and most of the ingredients are ones that I recognized as healthy and beneficial to the hair. Aloe Vera - acidic yet healing. Sage and Rosemary extracts, Henna for thickening and protection. Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein to promote the protein levels in the hair. 

There are some ingredients that seem very artificial. The Polyquaternium 7, that is right at the top of the list. This means it is very prominent in the product. Polyquaternium-7 prevents the build up of static electricity and it helps the hair hold the style. 

Closer to the bottom of the list we find ingredients that are in the product but not as much or prominent. Soyamide DEA, is a soy acid used as a way to make foam. It also builds up the thickness of the product. 

Sodium Cocoyl isethionate is not so bad. A sodium salt of coconut oil, it is a non animal derived ingredient used to cleanse the skin of oil and water. So it's like a cleaning agent in a leave in conditioner. 

Phenoxyethanol is a less toxic, non reactive bacteria killing agent. I take it as another cleansing ingredient of some kind. However since it doesn't seem to be taken from animal or natural seed or fruit, it is still a more artificial ingredient. 

Even though it has protein, I have not found it to harden my hair. With stretched transitioned hair the protein levels should be watched, so that the hair does not break. But I am comfortable to keep the protein levels high to maintain strength through this stretch/transition. 

I have skip and bouncy hair with this leave in. I enjoy having a liquid leave in for my curlier hair because it is easier to cover over the hair more than a thick creamy leave in. This leave in is excellent for detangling. And I like the bonus fact that it protects your hair from the sun. 

The directions say to spray into the air and walk through the mist. I do not do this technique. I spray concentrated to each section about 2-3 times till the hair feels like it is covered in it. This technique works for me and I have not found much issues with using it directly on my hair. Except for the fact that I might run through the bottle very quickly. It is not a very big bottle of product. I bought it two weeks ago. So we will see how long it lasts before empty. 

It is certainly a product that will reach empty because it's the best leave in I got so far since losing touch with my original leave in staple. It's not at staple status yet. But so far this is one to try. I imagine my full head of relaxed hair would absolutely loove this product. I'm curious to see how it holds up as my natural hair grows in more. 

Will follow up with an 'empties' post and final thoughts on it in the near future. 

Embracing Transitioning Hair Journey

As I journey on.... I realize that the best thing you can do is embrace the present moment. I have no desire to speed up this process. I'm not in any rush to get to my destination. I am thoroughly enjoying the ride. Yes, my hair is very different than before, but I'm enjoyin the challenge.

Truthfully there is beauty in all things, including the transition which is really the present moment which is destination in its own right. Two textures represents at the crossroads. It represents within the interim. I am slowly moving away from my straight hair and moving towards understanding and embracing my natural hair. Every moment counts. 

Casual Braid out On TRANSITIONING Hair

Yeah so I'm getting the hang of this transitioning journey. A lot of it consists of just sticking to the basics of what works and improving from there. 

Even with basic tools, co-conditioner, wide tooth comb, spray leave in and some oil, I can pull off a work-with-able look. A lot of women have demonstrated how difficult it is to transition by growing your hair out. But I'm loving the results. I love the fact that my relaxed hair had its own look, and so does my transition hair. I find it's best to enjoy and embrace the whole journey! 

Everytime I ace a hair look I'm itching to do videos. But, I'll wait and organize. As well as buy some new makeup! Yay