My Regimen

It's Sunday aka Wash Day.

When I'm at work I get approached by plenty of people asking what I use in my hair and although I preface with , "This may not work for you but..." I catch them making mental notes of everything I say to them.  

Now I've been natural for about 20 months now (although it kinda feel longer) so I have a handle on what works and doesn't for my hair.  

For those of you who are curious, here's a summary:

- Prepoo with Vatika Oil & JBCO

-Co-wash or shampoo (depending on my mood) with a conditioner of choice or Bee Mine's Ayurvedic Shampoo Bar

-Finger Detangle

-Try to Deep Condition weekly under a dryer with either Miss Jessie's Super Sweetback Treatment or ORS Hair Mayo (my cheaper alternative to the SST) While I have the DC in detangle my hair again with my Ouidad Double Detangler and twist each section.

-Rinse and wrap with a t-shirt til hair is damp.  

- Add Kinky-Curly Knot Today, SofnFree Strengthening Creme, Roots of Nature Butter Whip Coil Cream to each section and retwist or braid, sealing the ends with Karen's Body Beautiful Butter Love

And here are the products:

That's about it.

Not too complicated.  

I've tried a lot of different methods out and I find this is one that seems to work best for me.  But of course that doesn't stop me from buying and trying different products.

What's your Wash Day procedure look like?

Coming Into the Home Stretch

Can't believe I am 3/4 of the way through my first year since I chopped my relaxed hair off.  I'd say that it flew by but it didn't really, lol.  I have a plan to see if I can kick my hair growth into overdrive.

Here's the plan:

Provided I don't have a sulfur allergy, I am going to apply the Bee Mine Hair Growth Serum to my scalp every other day.

Henna every 3 weeks,

and shampoo with my Ayurvedic Shampoo Bar every 3 weeks.

Other than that my regimen will probably remain the same.  Wash weekly (unless I'm having an amazing run with my hair then I may stretch it) Deep condition on those wash days and moisturize/seal when I see fit.

I really don't know how well this is going to work.  It's more to test the rate of hair growth.  It has been said that hair grows at a rate of 0.5 inches per month.  So this is my 4 month challenge (Technically 3 months and one week because Feb 9th marks 9 months)

Stay Tuned.

In My 2 Months as a Natural…

Time is flying; it definitely doesn’t seem like I cut my hair 2 months ago but it has been.  I’m starting to develop a regimen which will probably change as I start to run out of products and want to experiment with new ones.

Once a week:

-I deep condition overnight with either a mix of oils or my mix of HEHH, olive oil and honey or if I’m feeling a little lazy I’ll DC for an hour under a dryer the day of.

-Finger comb right before I hop into the shower and divide my hair into sections

-Cowash with Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle, Trader Joe’s Nourish or Aussie Moist.

- Rinse my hair with cold water to reduce frizz

-Squeeze excess water out of my hair with a t-shirt.  I don’t do my twists/braids on soaking wet hair, it works better damp.

- Run a mix of JBCO and coconut oil through my scalp.

-Section my hair, applying a dime size amt of Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Smoothie as my leave-in and a dime size amt of shealoe focusing on my ends especially.  I then detangle with my Denman and twist/braid.

-After that’s all done, I’ll seal with whatever oil I grab first and throw on a scarf.

When untwisting:

-I rub my hands in a little Shealoe and untwist from the bottom up.

-After all are unraveled, I fluff my roots with my fingers.

-Spray a little of my spray bottle, not enough to undo the style just to refresh my hair, and I’m good to go. Depending on my outfit, maybe a headband, flower, or bow!

Before going to bed:

Depending on what look I’m going for the next day I may spray my hair all over and twist again or use my Shea Moisture Style Milk to retwist loosely.  I rarely sleep without retwisting my hair.  Seal my ends, scarf and sleep.

So far, I’ve learned that my hair doesn’t like to be soaking wet.  Gel and I do not get along but I’m gonna give EcoStyler a try for the sake of experimentation.  My hair likes being in stretched styles, wash and go’s lead to a tangled mess.  I trim randomly whenever my ends just don’t seem right.  The easiest way for me to trim is while my hair is twisted.  I don’t cut very much off; I “dust” my ends, maybe a ¼ inch at most. I must moisturize and seal my ends daily because my hair dries out very quickly which leads bad ends.  I’m partial to chunky looking twistouts as opposed to super defined ones.  One of my future posts will be a length check so I’ll have something to compare when I hit the 6 month mark.  That’ll be my next “In My _ Months as a Natural…”