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 :),