Winter Hair Changes

Hey there,

The cold weather has been here for awhile and my hair has let me know recently that she isn't happy. I'll be bringing back a few things techniques and products that my tresses have always loved, namely the things that got me from shoulder to armpit length in the first place ;).

Protective styling - Now that my scalp has fully recovered and my hair is longer, I can revisit protective styling. I've mentioned previously that protective styling is one of the holy grail methods of length retention and that really is the truth-- it keeps hair away from the elements and keeps it balanced for extended periods of time with less work. I'm glad my scalp issues have calmed down just in time for cold weather. I have chosen to adopt a 50-50 protective-low-manipulation styling routine. This should keep my ends in reasonable shape, while avoiding any damage done to my hair and scalp caused by repeated tension.

No direct heat - I had some fun with my flat iron in the fall and my ends were not pleased with me. That was like the first time I had more than a handfull of split ends at once. My hair also got super duper dry and since that was the only thing that changed in my regimen, I can only assume that was the cause for the trouble. On that note, no direct heat for me until probably all of the pre-hair journey hair has been removed (1-2.5'').

Protein conditioning - Since the air is so dry during the winter, I have to use a protein-free moisturizer the majority of the time. To ensure that my hair remains balanced, I make sure to condition with protein at regular intervals to prevent any breakage due to over-moisturizing my hair.

Serum/Butter use - In the warmer weather, my hair is generally fine with a just argan or grapeseed oil to seal. In the winter time, I can't use heavier oils due to my oily skin, but I try to make good use of butters and serums which tend to have less of a greasy feel. When I am bunning, I go crazy with oil because my hair isn't touching my face or trunk, but when my hair is out I have to be more careful. I tend to seal the body of my hair with just argan or grapeseed to avoid heavy hair, but for the ends and the nape (i.e. the parts of my hair that will actually be touching my clothes and that can dry out fast) I use a serum or butter. Currently my fav products are the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Weightless Healing Dry Oil (it's a spray, that ensures even coverage and encourages my laziness ;) and the Jane Carter Nourish & Shine to keep my nape and ends from hating me lol.

Thanks for reading :),

Liebster Award

Good afternoon all,

The lovely Shika of Hair I Am World and Marie of Hatter's Hair have been kind enough to nominate me for the Liebster award. These ladies have great blogs, be sure to swing by!

How the Liebester Award works: 
1. Each person must post 11 random things about themselves (optional). 
2. Answer the 11 questions that the tagger set for you.
3. Choose 11 bloggers who you would like to give the Liebester Award.
4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you have tagged with the award to answer.

Questions (from Shika):

1. What do you love about your hair?
   I love how thick it is, and how little trouble it causes me when it's well cared for.
2. What was the last thing you drank?
   Water.
3. If you had to eat at the same fast food restaurant for a month, which restaurant would you choose?
   Honestly, McDonald's lol.
4. Harry Potter or Twilight?
   Neither, Lord of the Rings haha
5. What was the last concert you've been to?
   Trey Songz
6. What is your favorite holiday?
   New Year's!
7. What do you do for a living?
   I'm a web developer
8. What does your most recent text message say?
   "The Most"
9. Where is your dream vacation destination?
   Greece!
10. Who is your biggest celebrity crush?
    Oh my goodness... Trey Songz, I need to meet that man lol
11. What did you do last weekend?
    Spent some quality time with friends and did some shopping.

Nominations:

1. Jeni at  Just Grow Already
2. Vienna at Persian Named Girl
3. Robin at Blessed Tresses
4. Nadine at Textured Strands
5. Lesley at Fresh Lengths
6. Dr. Fomsky at Sizzling Mommy
7. Chilnell at ChilNell Chiln'Hair
8. Cecily at Tracking My Tresses
9. Tama at Simply Into My Hair
10. Shereen at WishfulLengths
11. Diamond at BeautiNWisdom

My Questions for the Nominees:

1. What is your favorite food?
2. What are you doing for New Year's?
3. What is your shoe size?
4. What style is your hair currently in?
5. What is your absolute favorite deep conditioner?
6. Chocolate or vanilla?
7. How often do you exercise?
8. What's your favorite cereal?
9. What was the last movie you saw?
10. Did you get your flu shot this year?
11. Why did you start blogging?

 Thanks for reading :),

Product Review: Jane Carter Nourish & Shine

Hey there :)


Throughout the course of my hair journey (almost 18 months!), I have battled with solving various hair and scalp concerns along with trying to select the appropriate products and techniques to remedy my concerns. I had an easy time finding my staple shampoos, conditioners and pre-shampoo products, but my moisturizers and styling products were much harder to come by. Due to my skin's sensitivity to sulfates, I have to be careful with my use of silicone, and I also chose to avoid mineral oil/petroleum for much the same reason. I finally secured some moisturizers from Bee Mine and Giovanni that fit the bill, but styling products took far longer. Commercial hold products were always a thing I stayed away from due to the high silicone and/or alcohol content. A popular ingredient in many natural styling products is beeswax. I found that beeswax would irritate my scalp and create a lot of buildup in the areas where styling products were usually placed (nape and edges), and I also noticed more breakage in the length when these products were added for textured styles (twist-outs, bantu knot outs, etc).

I gave up on styling/hold products for a while until I saw that my Rite Aid was selling the Jane Carter products and I decided to take a chance. Well I'm GLAD that I did. While I have also tried shea butter in the past, I also found that leads to some breakage in the length (after doing research I found that some people found shea butter based products to be very drying; who knew!?). Nourish & Shine turned out to be the exception; from the day I started using it up until now, it gives me soft and smooth hold and rinses out clean, I don't even have to shampoo it out. My skin loves it too. It has a light grapefruit scent that blends well with the smell of my other hair products. It melts quickly when rubbed in your hands for a smooth application and a little really does go a long way. Nourish & Shine also does a great job of slicking down edges, holding textured styles and moisturizing skin with minimal buildup. Basically I'm saying, I love it and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is in search of a good natural styling product.

Rating: 5/5--Staple!
Claims: Nourish & Shine is made of all natural ingredients. Use a small amount to add shine to hair, to nourish and repair dry hair. It's great on dry skin. It will repair, soften and keep skin moist and supple.

Ingredients: Organic illipe, mango, kokum, and shea butters, grapefruit, (vegetable derived) sources of vitamins A, D & E, squalene.
pH: 7
Type: Sealant (butter)

Thanks for reading :),

 

New Product Preview!

Happy Sunday!

I decided to buy myself an early Christmas present a few days ago. I have heard so much about Kérastase products, but because of the $50+ price tags on their deep conditioners I felt that maybe that was a bit much to spend on some hair products. Well, this has been a messy year and I figured I'd try something new and entirely too expensive to cheer myself up lol. I purchased the Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense for Thick Hair a few days ago, and I tried it out last night.
I followed the directions online on the Kérastase website and left it in for 5-10 minutes without heat and then rinsed. It felt soft, smelled amazing but I am not yet blown away. I will try it a few more times and a few different ways before giving a full review. I tried it after a normal wash day, with a coconut oil pre-poo treatment, clarified and shampooed with Aussie moist shampoo and Shea Moisture moisture retention shampoo and then conditioned in the shower with Masquintense. I'll return with pictures of how my hair turned out and more info on this product coming soon :o).

Those are the results of pincurling air-dried hair after applying my Bee Mine Deja's Hair Milk. I didn't separate the curls yet, just let them fall out of the clips and I also didn't use any oil or anything yet. I'm hyped. My hair is soft, smooth and it looks nice and full. Hopefully Kérastase and I will live happily ever after lol.

Thanks for reading :),

Abbreviated Regimen

Good morning!

So, I think I've finally gotten my regimen to be less time consuming and I finally have simplified my product usage! It took almost 1.5 years but I finally got it lol. After the regimen changes I mentioned a few posts ago, I clipped down the product selection and here is what I've settled on.

Dry deep condition/hot oil treatment prior to shampooing
Shampoo once a week
Conditioner wash one-two times per week (usually after work outs)
Detangle on 50-60% wet hair after applying leave-in and argan oil
Style

Here are the products that I currently have stocked. Some of them I haven't done reviews on, that's coming soon :):

Shampoos:
Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo, Aussie Moist (clarifying), Nexxus Therappe (mild clarifying prior to heat use, protein treating or rollersetting)

Conditioners:
Aussie Moist (co-washing and DCing), ORS Hair Masque (light protein), Nexxus Humectress (for rollersetting, heat styling), Nexxus Keraphix (medium-heavy protein treatment)

Leave-ins:
Rusk Smoother, Silicon Mix Bambu, Rusk Healthy Treatment (light protein spray)

Moisturizers:
Giovanni Direct Leave-in, Mizani Butter Rich, Bee Mine Deja's Hair Milk

Stylers/sealants:
Jane Carter Nourish and Shine (for smoothing updos and hold for curly styles), Organix Macadamia Nut Dry Styling Oil, Argan, Coconut and grapeseed oils, Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide (heat protectant)

Tools:
Solia 1'' Flat Iron, Magic Star Jumbo Rake

Have you made any regimen changes recently?
Thanks for reading :),

Salon Visit and Length Check

Good evening,

I planned to wash my hair this weekend, air-dry it and then trim it but I was feeling lazy and now that I am much closer to the dominican salon I went to during my pre-hair journey days, I decided to stop by. I figured I would carry on my wash day the way I normally do, pre-poo, wash, DC, etc so I did some work at home and then brought my desired products with me to the salon. Here are the steps and the products used for this wash day:

1. Pre-treated at home with coconut oil on my scalp and coconut/sweet almond oil on the length.
2. Shampooed 3x (she slipped that last one in smh lol) with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo.
3. Deep conditioned for 20 minutes under hooded dryer with ORS Hair Masque (love this!).
4. Rinsed.
5. Applied leave-in (Silicon Mix Bambu), rollerset on gray rollers (2''?) and sat under the hooded dryer again for an hour.
6. Since I hate wrapping my hair, I just had my hairdresser apply argan oil and comb out the curls.

After I left the salon, I realized that my roots still had the dents from the rollers and I also needed to trim my hair. I applied Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide to my hair in sections and flat ironed my roots with my Solia 1'' flat iron on 300 degrees, dusting each section as I went along. So here are the final pics, and I guess this is my first length check since July. 

I would say that I'm mostly at armpit length, and now the layers in the back are a bit past that. While I still have way more trimming and maintenance to do, I am still hoping for bra-strap length by the summer.

Thanks for reading :),

Relaxer Update #4

Hello all!

I know I'm late but I certainly do hope that all of you had a delightful thanksgiving! I relaxed my hair on the 18th after a 12 week (!) stretch. This stretch didn't go too badly. I had very little demarcation line breakage, which for me is rare (I usually start to get that around 10 weeks). I was reflecting on what was different this stretch that seemed to leave my hair in better condition. I increased my co-washing, reduced shampooing to once a week, utilized styles that ensured smooth ends while air-drying (flexi-rods, pin curls, etc) and mostly just low manipulation styles. My ends held up well, but since I wear my hair out most of the time, I will dust my ends just to reduce tangling and for aesthetic purposes :).

As for my relaxer, it was the same process outlined in my last relaxer update. The relaxer processed well, though I did burn a bit, and that of course is something that I certainly could live without lol. Here are my relaxer results:

(looking the crankiest lol)

I let my hair air-dry and bunned for a few days until wednesday night. On wednesday night I co-washed with aussie moist and let my hair dry to about 80% and then put in flexi-rods (the 11/16'' gray ones for the body and the 3/4'' blue ones for the front of my head). Those were my results :). My hair seems to be past armpit length and I think it may be below shoulder blade (BSB) at this point. I'm hyped! I think I finally found a great way to manage my hair while being able to enjoy the progress I've made. I will be dusting, straightening and doing a length check shortly. I want to see how this stretch treated my ends. If they aren't too crazy, 12 week stretches may be my new thing :o).

Thanks for reading :),

Co-washing and Scalp Update

Good morning!

My wash days have been more scattered than usual, but I have just been focusing on paying attention to what my hair needs and low manipulation styling. A few post ago, I mentioned that I chose to pare down my regimen due to time constraints, seems I made that choice at the appropriate time. I have less time, and I am now in a different environment with fewer hair products than usual. In my next post I will detail my abbreviated hair regimen.

Now to update about changing my routine from shampooing twice a week to shampooing once and co-washing at least once, but usually twice. The first week didn't go so well, with a lot of flaking and some itchiness. I used coconut oil on my scalp and prior to co-washing I either add some coconut or grapeseed oil to the length. The coconut oil seemed to contribute to the flaking, so I stopped that and remembered that since I'm going to be using surfactants less often that I will need to do fewer moisturizing things for my scalp. I swapped the coconut oil for aloe vera juice (which is an astringent for skin, and it also curbs shedding #winning) mixed with water and spray it on my scalp prior to co-washing. Success! So my scalp stays clean, my hair gets to smell like Aussie Moist (mmm) and I don't have to spend most of my week in the shower lol. So far adding the aloe vera juice has made shampooing only once weekly bearable, but in cases where I have far more time, I will probably go back to shampooing and deep conditioning twice weekly.


As for my scalp, it's been temperamental, but the aloe vera juice has been helping. I've had a bit of flaking, but it hasn't been too bad. I've also used sulfate shampoo two weeks in a row and I'm sure that hasn't helped my scalp's condition. I will be shampooing this weekend, so hopefully that will reduce the flaking and stop the itch. In terms of tenderness, my scalp has been a champ. It was protectively styled for much of the last week (buns and updos) with minimal tenderness and no excessive shedding. I even mastered my first high bun for today (!!!!) after last night's co-wash. I haven't had the patience or time for too much styling, so I'm glad that bunning hasn't caused any problems yet, but I am sure to vary the position of my buns, make sure that they aren't too tight and I still try not to bun more than 3-4 days a week.

It seems that the changes I've made to my regimen haven't affected the condition of my hair, and I seem to still be retaining length. I am almost 11 weeks post, and around now I usually start to get a lot of demarcation line breakage. So far, that seems to be minimal and I am willing to chalk this up to the increase in co-washing and decreasing manipulation. I will be relaxing in a week or so, and I hope that this next relaxer goes well, so that I won't have to focus on my hair too much for about a month or so.

Thanks for reading :),

What's going on currently...

Hey all,

I was born, raised and still currently reside in a coastal section of South Brooklyn, unfortunately this area as well as the other low-lying areas on the East Coast were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Sandy. My own home was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy, but I have to say that I am truly blessed that my whole family is safe and that we have a safe, comfortable place to stay. I am praying for everyone in the regions affected by the storm and I hope all of you are safe and healthy. As far as posting goes, I will try to post whenever I get the chance, but internet and cell phone service has been spotty and I'm not sure how much longer it is going to remain that way. I have been trying to keep up with my regimen to keep my mind off what's been going on, and so far I think it has helped.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Birthday Time ;)

Happy Sunday!

I turned 24 on Thursday, so I celebrated the occasion last night :). Good thing I did a trial run of heat styling the week because a few adjustments needed to be made. I basically followed the same wash day techniques from last time (excluding Keraphix because that shouldn't be used weekly), including deep conditioning with Nexxus Humectress, rollersetting and then flat ironing. I then flat ironed just my roots since the rollers left my ends so smooth. I have a hair pic from the party, but since I was running late (as usual lol) I couldn't take pictures before I left :p.

And some pictures of second day hair. The first time I flat-ironed, I completely forgot how to maintain straight hair and I used the wrong moisturizers and didn't set it at night, mostly due to laziness yet again lol. This time around I remembered to set it, and what to use and I didn't go too crazy. I do now remember why I hate heat styling my hair, my hair is sooo much drier after. This time, however, I put small 3/4'' flexi-rods in my bang and I pin-curled the rest of my hair. At night I applied coconut oil to my scalp and some argan oil to keep my ends moisturized. This morning I used a small amount of Mizani Butter Rich Deep Nourishing Hairdress on my nape and ends and sealed with argan oil and applied Organix Moisturizing Macadamia Oil Dry Styling Oil to my nape (which btw, smells super good, is very light and I love it :). Here is my second day hair:

 

I think I did a better job of managing my hair this time. It's still soft, flowy and moisturized. Although I love the look, my hair just isn't a fan of direct heat so I won't be doing this often.

And to all of my ladies on the East coast, be safe!!


Thanks for reading :),

Wash Day + Flat Ironing!

I hope everyone is having a delightful, or at least productive, Monday!

This was kind of a big weekend for me, my birthday is in a few days, and although I've been meaning to get to this for weeks, I've either been too busy or too lazy to begin the process lol. My plan was to do a full rollerset with magnetic rollers, let it air dry overnight and then flat iron my roots after it was dry. Last night I remembered why I put this off so long, because it really does take forever lol. Anyway, here are the wash day steps:

1. Pre-shampoo treatment with grapeseed oil and Carol's Daughter Tui Moisturizing Hair Smoothie on the length and coconut oil on my scalp. My hair was super dry, so I figured I'd add conditioner to my pre-poo to soften my hair prior to washing.
2. Shampooed once with Nexxus Therappe. To remove build up prior to heat styling.
3. Shampooed once with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo.
4. Applied Nexxus Keraphix to damp hair and left it in my hair for about 10 minutes without heat while I showered. My hair felt super smooth and strengthened after use, Keraphix really is the best.
5. Deep conditioned with Nexxus Humectress for 15 minutes with heat, let it cool and then rinsed with cool water.
6. Then t-shirt dried, added my leave-in (Rusk Smoother, no argan oil this time) and then finger detangled. 
7. I then rollerset my entire head on medium sized rollers.
8. I left the rollers in for about 18 hours and then took them out.

 

The rollerset after it was completely dry.

Now after I took the rollers out, I did something that I haven't done in about 15 months, I used my flat iron! I used my 1'' ceramic Solia flat iron (it's pink!) on 300 degrees and began to flat iron sections the same way they were rolled the night before--that saved a lot of time. To each section I applied a small amount of Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide, combed through and then flat ironed. I am a huge fan of the results as well as this heat protectant!

My nape - the first completely flat ironed layer :)

 

The final results. This actually turned out far better than previously expected ;)

I am thrilled with my results. My hair is super smooth, light and my roots actually got pretty straight, so for 8 weeks post I am extremely impressed. This was an experiment to see how my hair straightened this many weeks post relaxer, as well as a trial run for birthday weekend. Prior to my hair journey this would've turned out to be a disaster. Hmm... now to see how I can manage this for the week (including gym time) will be fun lol.

Thanks for reading :),

Regimen Changes

Hey there,

Now that fall is officially here, I can comment and honestly say that this was a great summer for my hair. I learned a lot, experimented and I think I have found a way of managing my hair that will give me consistent, reliable results that isn't so time consuming that it is unsustainable. I am currently in the process of applying for a few post-baccalaureate programs, so next fall I may be back to school. This has me seriously considering my regimen and the time I devote to my hair, and how much of this I can realistically keep up with when my schedule becomes more hectic. Rather than wait until that occurs, I've decided to start making some adjustments while I still have the time to alter techniques if necessary. So here are a few of the things that I have either added or re-instituted into my regimen while making adjustments:

Combing - I stopped using combs for probably about 6 months at some point during the last year. While not combing certainly reduced the amount of breakage I encountered on a daily basis, my detangling sessions were taking entirely too long and I would become either frustrated or tired. I opted to reintroduce combing about 2 months ago with the arrival of my seamless combs (thanks to Ebony of L4L for the idea :). I have to admit, seamless combs changed all of the expectations I had of combs prior to use. Although I only comb damp hair on wash and co-wash days, regular combing has seriously decreased my detangling burden and keeps my hair smooth and managable throughout the week. #winning.

Flexi-rods - These rollers truly are bananas. They make my ends as smooth as magnetic rollers, for a similar length of time with about 25% of the work. I'm not really sure if that can be beat. I find that my ends remain smoother for a few days at a time so I experience less dryness, breakage and way fewer tangles. Flexi-rods will certainly be a new staple in my regimen.

Silicone - I'm going to be honest, my hair and silicone have always gotten along well, it's really my scalp and silicone that can't seem to see eye-to-eye. Even since the beginning of my hair journey, I opted to keep my silicone-containing deep conditioners because they aid in detangling, as well as my leave-ins because they aid in moisture retention. However, I kicked silicone out of my daily routine because I didn't want to have to use sulfate shampoos more than once or twice a month. Recently, I added a daily moisturizer that contains dimethicone (gasp! lol), Mizani Butter Rich Deep Nourishing Hairdress, it works fantastically. It keeps my hair smooth, and moist for the entire day all while smelling simply delicious. I just have to be sure to clarify more frequently now.

Less Shampooing - Let me just say, this isn't completely by choice. I've always shampooed my hair twice a week because my scalp is oily, I work out often and my scalp gets pretty irritated when left dirty for extended periods of time. However, since my wash days take so long now (pre-poo, detangle, shampoo, DC, detangle, air-dry/style...), I will absolutely not have the time to do my second wash during the week. I have decided to co-wash twice a week and do my full wash day routine (including shampoo) once a week. This is a fairly new addition and I am still evaluating how my hair and scalp feel about this. I have to co-wash more often because my scalp has never gotten completely clean from co-washing, but at least its a much shorter process.

These are just a few ways in which I am cutting back on the more time consuming parts of my regimen; less time spent styling due to more co-washing and flexi-rod use, more combing fewer marathon detangling sessions and smoother hair and silicone is well, awesome, when used moderately lol.

Thanks for reading :),

Product Review: Silicon Mix Bambu Leave-in

Good morning gorgeous :),

If I could rate the most important part of my hair regimen that has drastically cut down my breakage, before deep conditioning, moisturizing + sealing and protective styling, I would have to rate no direct heat as the #1 thing that really changed the game for me. Along with the elimination of direct heat, comes alternative methods of drying the hair in less damaging ways. Since I'm far too lazy to sit under a hooded dryer, I quickly became acquainted with air drying. When I first began air drying, I was faced with  poofy results that led to detangling and breakage issues. Rusk's Smoother leave-in conditioner was the first leave-in cream that I fell in love with for giving me sleek, detangled results from air drying, my one issue with it was that it wasn't pH balanced.

Silicon Mix Bambu Leave-in

The Silicon Mix Bambu Leave-in for me is comparable to the Rusk Smoother Leave-in in terms of ability to detangle, smooth and soften. It has a lotion-like consistency, is pale yellow in color and has a persistent, yet light, fresh scent. In addition to it having the qualities that i usually look for in a leave-in, it's also pH balanced so it closes my cuticles while my hair is damp leading to sleeker air dried results. This leave-in is easy to spread and a little bit goes a long way to ease detangling on t-shirt (or towel) dried hair. I will say that it feels a bit heavy when it is first put on the hair, but as it dries its weighless. I would say that the perceived heaviness when first applied is what makes detangling go even faster. I am a huge fan of this leave-in, I haven't yet tried it when doing a magnetic roller set, but it works just as well for flexi-rod sets as it does for air drying. For my protein and silicone sensitive ladies, this leave-in contains both. However, since this leave-in contains silicone and protein I would suspect that it could be used in heat styling as well. I would absolutely recommend this leave-in conditioner to anyone who needs help detangling damp hair or wants smoother results from air drying or rollersetting.


Rating: 5/5--Staple!

Claim: Contains Bamboo Extract a natural product to regenerate and nourish the hair and Silicones to smooth and give shine. Prevents hair breakage and split ends. Vitamins A, E, F, H (Biotin), H, Pro-Vitamin B5 (Panthenol), H8 (Inositol) and Horse Chestnut Extract improve the health and beauty of the hair, helping it to grow longer.

Ingredients: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Phenyl Trimethicone, Cyclomethicone (and) Dimethiconol, Isopropyl Myristate, Glycerin, Polyquaternium-70 (and) Dipropylene Glycol, Silk Protein, Bambusa Vulgaris Extract, aqua, Polysorbate 20, Alcohol Denat, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, PABA, Inositol, Panthenol, Linoleic Acid, Biotin, Citric Acid, Diazolidinyl UREA (and) Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance, FD&C No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6.

pH: 5.5
Type: Protein containing leave-in conditioner

Thanks for reading :),

Wash Day

Hey there ;),

My hair was due for a wash on Tuesday after a hard weekend of time spent at the gym. It felt a bit waxy, so I decided to use a mild sulfate shampoo to clean off the silicone. These were my wash day steps:

1. Pre-poo with coconut oil on my scalp and the length, with heat for 30 minutes. 
2. Shampoo one time with the Neutrogena Triple Moisture Cream Lather Shampoo. This is one of the few sulfate shampoos that I still own. It was mild enough to clean my hair without stripping it.
3. Shampoo one time with the Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo.
4. Deep conditioned with Aussie Moist with heat for 30 minutes.
5. Rinsed and t-shirt dried for 10 minutes.
6. Applied leave-ins: Silicon Mix Bambu Leave-in and argan oil on my ends. I have really been enjoying the silicon mix leave-in, review next post :).
7. Lightly finger detangled, then combed through when hair was about 70% dry to complete detangling.
8. I then let my hair air-dry to about 90%, applied the Giovanni Direct Leave-in and added seven 11/16'' gray flexi-rods to my ends.

I left the rods in overnight and put a hair net on to keep them all in place. I much prefer to add some type of roller on wash days now, even if it's just to my ends. My ends stay smoother for longer periods of time, I notice less breakage, fewer tangles and I don't have to moisturize my hair as often throughout the week when rollers are used. I'm most likely going to continue to set for the duration of this stretch, and since flexi-rods require far less manipulation than magnetic rollers I will most likely be using those.

Fortunately, I was able to snap some pics of how my hair turned out during the day. Here are the results:

 

 

Note that one flexi-rod that was left lol, but thats about all the hair I roll on those rods for really loose curls,
and then put them into a hair net to keep them from flopping around too much

Thanks for reading :),

Versatile Blogger Award

I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award! I would like to thank Nadine, Diamond, and Cecily for the nomination :). These ladies have some fantastic blogs, be sure to pay them a visit.


To Do List
1. Thank the Blogger that nominated me.
2. Share 7 random facts about me.
3. Nominate 15 bloggers who are relatively new to blogging
4. Let nominated bloggers know they have been nominated.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award to my post.

7 Random Facts
1. I am all about sleep. I can sleep whenever and wherever lol.
2. Law and Order SVU is my all time favorite show.
3. I love greek and roman mythology.
4. I would love to visit Greece someday <3.
5. I don't really like chocolate that much.
6. I thoroughly enjoy techno and think it should be played more often lol.
7. I love leopard print items (clothes, phone case, shoes, etc :)

Nominees :)
So many people have already been nominated, I may have trouble finding 15 people who haven't been lol :)

1. Ashley the Fashion Guru
2. Blessed Tresses
3. Aneesah's Healthy Hair Journey
4. Healthy Hair By Special K
5. Fulltime Feminine
6. Lexi Minty Fresh
7. Simply Into My Hair
8. Donna Dell
9. Hairly Obsessed
10. Hair I Am World
11. Guyanese Sista

Also, I know I have seriously been slacking on posts, my life has just gotten unexpectedly hectic :/. I will be stepping my game up for October though, including a giveaway for birthday month!

Thanks for reading :),

Wash Day -- New Products + Flexi-Rods

Hey there,

So I have been slipping on my posting a bit recently. My mind has just been all over the place recently, but luckily I have been keeping up with my hair routine even though I haven't been posting much. For whatever reason, this weekend's wash went extremely well. I feel like I've performed this wash tons of times, but it somehow turned out really well. This wash day went down on saturday afternoon (I know, mad late lol) and here are the steps:

1. Overnight pre-poo treatment with Kinky Curly Perfectly Polished Hair Oil (I've used this a few times, still not impressed--especially not for the price, but I'm making it work) and coconut oil.
2. I rinsed out like 15 hours later and shampooed twice with diluted Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo. I recently started diluting this shampoo, more on how and why next post!
3. I deep conditioned with Organic Root Stimulator Hair Masque for 20 minutes with heat.
4. After the conditioner cooled, I rinsed it out and finger detangled under running water.
5. I t-shirt dried for about 10 minutes, then applied my leave-ins: Silicon Mix Bambu Leave-in (love this!) and argan oil.
   I must confess, I think adding the leave-in may have been too much protein for my hair. It didn't break while detangling, but it was far more tangled than usual, it was also a bit dryer too. 
6. I finger detangled, combed my hair out and let it air-dry loose.
7. When it was about 90% dry, I moisturized with Deja's Hair Milk and sealed with a combination of argan oil and the Jane Carter Nourish & Shine. 

After doing that, my hair was super hydrated, smooth and tangle free and for whatever reason it remained that way until Sunday evening! On saturday night and sunday morning all I did was run a bit of argan oil through it and that was all. My hair had been straight all weekend, so when I arrived I decided to toss some curls in it because you see, i recently FELL IN LOVE with flexi-rods! Why didn't anyone tell me these things were so amazing lol?! It makes my hair look like a full magnetic rollerset in a fraction of the time.

So last night, I lightly sprayed my hair with water, finger detangled and applied Mizani Butter Rich Deep Nourishing Hairdress (I figured I'd give my Deja's Hair Milk a rest for a bit) in sections. I then rolled my hair onto eight, 11/16'' gray flexi-rods, put on a hairnet and called it a night. As usual I was running late for work (lol), so I couldn't snap pics this morning but I took some when I arrived home.

 

 

I'm shocked at how well these held up after being done on mostly dry hair! 

I'm sold on the flexi-rods :).

My hair is also super moisturized and still bouncy with a great smell. Mizani FTW lol. I'll use this a few more times and then I'll review it, but if the results continue to look, feel and smell this good, this may just become a staple.

Thanks for reading :),

My Sister's Update #2

Good afternoon!

Janelle hit me up with her 2 month update! Lol, she loves this hair stuff so much I don't even have to remind her to update me :). She sent me a pic of her wash day results a week after her relaxer.

She relaxed two weeks ago at 8 weeks post with a no-lye relaxer (she forgot to ask her stylist for which relaxer was used. I told her to get back on that! lol). I had her incorporate the mid-relaxer protein step (using a protein treatment after rinsing out the relaxer but before neutralizing) using the Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Pak. She noted that her hair had more body immediately after relaxing, she was pleased (apparently her stylist was too :).

She left her hair down for the week after her relaxer and bunned for a few days the next week. Here is her wash day run down down at 2 weeks post: 

1. Coconut oil pre-treat at home.
2. Rinse at salon. 
3. Organix Moroccan argan oil sulfate free shampoo
4. Aussie 3-minute deep conditioner
5. Under dryer for 10 minutes
6. Rinse and roller-set
7. 45 minutes under dryer
8. Wrap in a satin doo-rag and go! 

 Post wash day pic :)

 

A few bun shots

Janelle comments:

Much softer and stronger and growing at a nice rate. Great body only 2 weeks after relaxing!

It looks to me like she's retained a bit of length since she began. Stay tuned for another sister update in 1 month!

Thanks for reading :),