13 Weeks Post and I Can't Wait to Texlax

Happy Monday!
For yesterday's wash day I..

1. Prepooed with coconut oil for  30 mins under a heating cap.
2. Clarified with VO5 clarifying shampoo
3. Deep conditioned with Kera Minerals Smoothing Conditioner for 2 hours under a heating cap.
4. Black tea rinse
5. Porosity control for 30 secs.
6. T-shirt dried for 30 mins.
7. Added S-curl to my new growth and Cantu leave in and argan oil to the length of my hair for my leave-ins and air dried under a silk scarf.


Everything went really well. I had minimal shedding and some tangling. The Kera Mineral conditioner gives me so much slip so detangling  in the shower was not as bad as it usually is at 13 weeks post. I thought the s-curl would make my new growth dry a lot softer than it did though. It moisturizes my new growth so well during the week but as a leave-in it was a little weak. Maybe I didn't put enough...

Cantu Shea butter leave-in conditioner is an old staple of mine. I decided to repurchase it because (1) I'm trying to go back to old staples that worked for me before I became a product junkie and (2) as i get deeper into my stretch I do experience more breakage at the demarcation line and I was hoping that a protein leave- in would combat that.

I only have 3 more weeks left in my stretch! Hopefully I don't get too much breakage between now and 3 weeks from now. I am trying to make it to APL by August 12 and Full APL by October 26th (2 year hair journiversary!) I know I'm a slow grower, so I always give myself some time to reach my hair goals.

Here's a shot of my new growth with conditioner on it.

Deep Conditioning with Kera Minerals Smoothing Conditioner (13 weeks post)

Here's the flat twist/faux bob protective style I decided to wear today.

Flat twists in the front and ends tucked under in the back

How did your most recent wash day go?

A Cowash and a Braidout- 12 weeks post

Hey! Yesterday I did a co wash. Here's how it went...

1. Prepoo with ORS Replenishing conditioner mixed with olive oil, almond oil, and castor oil. I left this in for about two hours while i did laundry and worked out.
2. Co washed with Joico Moisture Recovery Conditioner (LOVE)
3. T-shirt dried for about 15 minutes
4. Added Creme of Nature Argan Oil leave in conditioner and One n Only Argan Oil
5. Air dried in a bun for about 6 hours before I did a braid out.

It was an okay wash day. My hair has been feeling really 'mushy' lately which lets me know that I need to incorporate come more protein in my regimen right now. I usually keep ORS Replenishing conditioner pretty consistent in my regimen to keep my protein balance, but I've been such a product junkie lately and have been straying from what I know works for me. Smh. Not a good look. After using the replenishing conditioner my hair felt better but not good enough, so I'll be sure to work some more protein into my next wash day.

As for the braid out I used Elasta QP moisturizer, Bee Mine curly butter, and grapeseed oil. I tried to record a tutorial but it wasn't as good as I would like...so I'll have to do another one at a different time. Here is how the braid out turned out (unfortunately its not the best quality...I snapshoted it from the braid out tutorial fail).

Unfortunately I got caught in the rain later in the day and I was left with poofy hair. I wasn't complaining too much because my hair was still kind of tamed and super soft!

At night I just re braided. I only had to add some argan oil to tame frizz, but other than that my hair was still moisturized :-)

Talk to you soon!

My Hair is Not Afraid of Water

Yesterday was independence day and I knew that there would be a lot of water fun involved so I had to prepare my hair. I have come across a lot of African American women who shy away from water activities because of the 'hot mess' of hair that usually follows. However, I know exactly what works for me to prevent my hair from damage if I know I am going to go swimming, go to water parks, or go for a dip in the lake (yesterday I went kayaking for the first time!...it was hard) Here's what I do...

Before entering water I always get my hair really wet in a shower or I just toss bottled water on it. This fills my hair follicles with clean water. If the follicle is already filled with water, this makes it harder for chlorine or any other things in pool water or lake water to get in.

I then seal the water in with an oil. I carry a little 4oz bottle of oil around with me when I know that I'll be doing water activities. Yesterday I used grapeseed oil (picture below). Oil will act as a protective barrier to things in the water that may dry out or damage your hair.

 

I like to put my hair in a bun after this to prevent tangles, but sometimes the bun comes out on its own depending on how much activity is going on in the water. Lol

After all the water fun, I make sure to wet my hair with clean water again and seal with oil. When I get home I will find the closest available time to shampoo wash (if i was in chlorine water i will clarify) and deep condition my hair.

It works for me! How do you protect your hair for water activities?