Wash day @ 7 weeks post + ORS Nourishing Conditioner

Today's wash and deep condition was relatively easy for 7 weeks worth of new growth.

First, I deep conditioned on dry hair using Organic Root Stimulator Nourishing Conditioner.

After leaving it on for an hour with my heat cap, I rinsed it out and shampooed.

Then I air-dried my hair with a t-shirt for about 15 minutes, and applied some Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Split End Protector. Even before applying the moisturizer, my hair felt very soft and smooth.

Today my comb was able to glide easily through my hair, and at seven weeks post that is something to rejoice about!

Usually at this time I would already be experiencing major tangles and friction when de-tangling after deep conditioning. Today I experienced none of those problems.

Firstly, I attribute my results to the ORS Nourishing Conditioner. This is the second time I've used it, and both times it left my hair very soft and smooth...even my thick 4c new growth! It did a marvellous job in increasing slip and leaving my hair well conditioned.

For my hair, it seems to be a light/medium protein. I actually like it better than the ORS Replenishing Conditioner, which was my main staple. The Nourishing Conditioner is less sticky, absorbs into my hair easier and makes my hair a bit smoother.

*Beware! Some may find that the ORS Nourishing Conditioner has a peculiar smell...the first time I used it I hated it! In my opinion it smells like play dough and faintly of bananas...today however, it wasn't that bad since I am a little used to it. My results outweigh the odour so I'll continue to buy this conditioner.

Secondly, I think deep conditioning on dry hair has also helped to reduce tangles and friction between my strands. Like a pre-poo, DCing on dry hair added strength and slip even before shampooing, allowing my hair strands to glide past each other with relative ease.


However, even after using the conditioner I still experienced noticeable, short strand breakage when de-tangling. It was no where along the lines of my previous stretches, but still unusual! My ends are thinning too. Before DCing, I dusted my ends in the hope that it would reduce breakage but it looks like I need a proper trim...and I thought I was protecting my ends well! I guess not...

Guuuurl look at those ends.

Honestly, I'm a bit discouraged because when I did my self-trim 7 weeks ago I thought it was thorough...and now it seems that my hair has gotten damaged since then. So I'm really not sure why I'm experiencing breakage. Is it moisture/protein levels, manipulation or something else?? My ends aren't horrible, but if I don't take care of them as soon as possible I might have to trim more than I'm comfortable with when I relax my hair.


But in all things, I give thanks. I'm trying to stay optimistic and I'm determined to regain thick, healthy ends as one of my 2013 hair goals.


How have you been caring for your hair recently? If you're busy busy like me you know its not always easy!

Love,
~Hatter

Airdrying: T-shirt method changed my whole experience!

Shout out to Fancy Flair Lady for sharing her experience with the T-shirt method!

Today I washed and deep conditioned my hair, and instead of my usual rollerset I decided to air dry.

Now, before I tried the T-shirt method I did not like airdrying. My hair would become puffy, slightly rough and very dry.

However, about two weeks ago Ms Fancy Flair Lady posted her wash day in which she simply used a T-shirt to absorb excess water from her hair after washing it. I remember watching a video by Sunshine of hairlista.com with the same method, but because she did not show how her hair looked after drying, I wasn't motivated to try the method at the time. However, seeing a recent post spurred me to try it out for myself.

Today was actually the second time I tried it, and I used the same old, 100% cotton T-shirt and wrapped it around my hair, leaving it to soak up the moisture for about half an hour.

My results?

My hair was soooo soft and fluffy! I honestly thought the ladies who praised the T-shirt method over-exaggerated, but trust me they did not! My hair cuticles were flat and smooth, and my hair was incredibly soft, even before adding my moisturizer. Anndd my hair mooooovesss! *swishes hair back and forth* Before, my airdryed hair was always stiff and dry and did not have the movement and fluffiness I'm experiencing.

I think the major difference between using a towel and a T-shirt is that the smooth cotton texture of my shirt did not ruffle or raise my cuticles like the rough, abrasive texture of most towels. The T-shirt allowed my cuticles to stay closed and lock in my hair's moisture.

My hair after moisturizing and de-tangling. 

This method is definitely a good alternative for weekly rollersetting for me as it gets my hair smooth without using any heat at all. I think my results are almost as good as rollersetting! My hair also dries faster and I'm not restricted to sitting under a dryer for an hour waiting for my hair to dry.


T-shirt method, you are here to stay!

Have you tried the T-shirt method?

Ta ta!
~Hatter

Unfortunate wash day @ 8 weeks post: learning from my mistakes

 

On this last stretch I encountered increased breakage that I've never experienced past 6 weeks post since on my hair journey. During my last wash on Saturday at 8 weeks post, my hair emerged from the shower extremely tangled and matted! :( Unfortunately I didn't have my detangler on hand and so it took the better part of an hour to detangle. Even with my patience I ended up with a large ball of broken and shed hair! If that wasn't enough, I think my hair was starting to break at the demarcation line, something I've almost never experienced before. Grrrr

Looking back I can try to evaluate some possible causes of my unusual wash day experience:

• My regimen, even at 8 weeks post was exactly the same as at my first weeks post relaxer

I think this point may be the root of my problems. I've often read many relaxed ladies describe the changes they make to their regimen as they go deeper into a relaxer stretch. I know I should have adapted my regimen too, but honestly, ain't nobody got time for that! LOL 

Ok back to being serious....

I think that as my hair gets deeper into a stretch:

1. I may experience issues with porosity as my cuticles remained raised (from repeated airdrying) This increases the chance of my hair losing moisture faster, remaining in a weak state and thus snapping and breaking off. 
2. I need to condition more often. Co-washing mid-week may help restore precious moisture to the line of demarcation between my natural and relaxed hair, helping to restore elasticity and prevent breakage. 
3. My hair needs. more. protein. Now its a proven fact that my hair loves protein! I definitely think that from 7 weeks post and onwards I should use the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise to deep condition weekly. This conditioner has more protein than my weekly staple conditioner (ORS Replenishing Conditioner) 
4. From 6 weeks post I repeatedly had my hair braided, (cornrowed) several times a weeks. Although the manipulation done to create this style might have increased my breakage slightly, I'm inclined to think that the first three points made my issues worse. 

I'm going to try to make a conscience effort to adapt my regimen as I go deeper into my relaxer stretches. Using the points above, I'll draft a new regimen, post it and evaluate its effectiveness at preventing (and stopping!) any potential breakage, tangles and knots at 8 weeks post relaxer. 

How do you adapt your regimen during your relaxer stretches?

'Tis all for now!

Hatter

Hair journey progress! : The Evolution of my Wash Day

The purpose of a hair journey is to make significant progress towards one's hair goals: whether health, length or both. I can happily say that I have experienced noticeable, positive changes in my hair since the beginning of my hair journey. One of these areas is how I wash and condition my hair and my subsequent results.

At the start of my journey in December 2011 I could not successfully wash, condition and dry my hair. (Sounds incredible, I know!) Wash days were literally an experiment- I tried various methods and tweaked my variables in the hope that I would find what worked for my hair!

Some characteristics of my previous wash process:

1. I washed all of my hair at once (i.e. I had never heard of washing in sections)
2. Following from number 1, my scalp was never properly cleansed in my crown area (eww)
3. Washing all my hair at once led to tangles, tangles and more tangles! (Much more than now!)
4. Airdrying was not good for my hair back then. When I say "not good" I mean that my hair wasn't healthy enough to withstand airdrying in a loose state. Looking back, I think I had issues with porosity and raised cuticles as my hair would dry like a lion's mane, and twice it took over 12 hours for my hair to fully dry.
5. My rollersets were fit to be laughed at...Seriously. In the beginning I would fumble and place two or three rollers before giving up, exasperated. 

Some characteristics of my present wash process:

1. I now wash my hair in four sections, focusing on shampooing each one seperately before moving on to the next section.
2. Washing in sections ensures that my entire scalp is cleansed.
3. Using sections also leads to less tangles as the hair is parted, allowing my fingers to access my scalp easier and disturb my hair less.
4. I can now airdry without my hair crying and begging for mercy (yay!). Now my cuticles lay smooth and my hair dries flatter in about 2-3 hours. I definitely attribute this to the general improvement in my hair's health, the new techniques I've adopted and using products more suited to my hair.
5. I can rollerset! (woop woop!) It took three or four desperate efforts before I could rollerset my entire head. For the past five or so weeks I've been consistently airdrying because I'm lazy it's easier and quicker. However, today is wash day and I'm eager to set my hair.

I feel encouraged when I can look back and notice improvements in my hair's health. "Health before length" is what many black ladies prophesy and I'm definitely eager to see my growth and length retention increase as my hair's health also increases.

What progress have you made in your hair journey? Write it down and track how it further improves in the near future as you continue to take stellar care of your hair. =)

Ta ta!

~Hatter

Wash day & air-dried hair

Yesterday I did a pre-shampoo treatment, (pre-poo), shampooed and deep conditioned my hair.

The products I used include:

Pre-poo

ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturising Conditioner, Applicator bottle with the ORS, olive oil and eucalyptus oil.

Pre-pooing with the Herbal Essences was definitely a good idea. When I rinsed it out my hair already felt soft, smooth and conditioned. =)

Shampoo and Deep Conditioner

Motions Professional Lavish Conditioning Shampoo,  ORS Hair Mayonnaise

Today I tried (read: tried) to strand test my hair to see if it needed more moisture or protein. My hair did feel a bit stretchy, and since I relaxed my hair five days ago, I went with protein. (ORS Hair Mayonnaise)

After lightly towel-drying my hair, I applied some Neutragena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave in Cream and sealed with ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils (I will never get enough of this product!) Then I air-dried my hair in the four sections I washed it in. When it was about 40% dry I detangled. Detangling was muchhh easier than the last time when I air-dried my hair. I think its because I let my hair dry a bit before using a comb. When I detangle on soaking wet hair, it just clumps together again and causes more tangles loool. 


I was thinking of doing a flexirod set, but my hair was so soft and straight that I'll wait until the weekend when I have an event to go to. =)




Happy huurrrday!
~Hatter