Wash Day: Good & Bad

During the week, I never got the chance to do anything to my hair due to the fact that I was very tired from classes. Today, I decided that enough is enough so I grabbed all the products that I needed to wash my hair.

The last time I washed my hair was 2 weeks ago.

Pre-poo: I did a hot oil treatment using EVOO, EVCO, Vitamin E, Grapeseed Oil and a few drops of Jamaican Mango & Lime JBCO. I left this in my hair for 30 minutes without heat.

Let me say that my hair is a firm believer for using a pre-poo prior to shampooing with a sulfate based shampoo. I rinsed out the oil with warm to cool water and proceeded with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Shampoo. My hair didn’t feel stripped; just soft and fluffy. I towel dried my hair to get some of the moisture out.

For my DC, I used a protein based conditioner: ORS Replenishing Conditioner + 2 tsp Aloe Vera Juice and two shots of V05 Moisturizing Conditioner. Within sections, I applied to my hair and let it sit for 1 hr 15 minutes without heat.

OMG!!! My hair felt so soft. My new growth was very defined and felt like butter. I did not want to step out the shower but the water was too cold for my comfort.

I t-shirt dried my hair for 15 minutes, add my leave-ins and sealed everything in with EVCO and Garnier Fructis Serum. For the night, I air dried in a bun.

The Next Day: I woke up like WTF!!! My hair was very frizzy, It would not lay down for the life of me and it looked very untamed. That’s why I do not have any pictures because I was trying to figure out what’s going on. I took my bun down and my hair was very tangled. It was crazy because I fully detangled my hair last night.

Screw you high porosity! Tonight I’m going to grab my bottles to wet my hair again to fix it. The next post will have pictures!

Much Love,

Tamara

Stretching Update

How is my hair after 12 weeks?

Let’s just say that I’m having many, many, many set-backs. But, I’m not giving up on my hair! Since I’ve been taking care of my hair, I gained about 1-1.5 inches of new growth.

Here are the benefits of this stretch:

• Lots of new growth. 
• More shine since I bought JBCO. 
• Bigger bun :) 
• Soft hair.
• I can see what my new growth looks like!

The issues of this stretch:

• Boring bun. 
• Uneven hair. 
• Shrinkage. 
• Thinning edges. 
• Tangles. 
• Dryness. 
• Frizzy hair. 
• Rough edges

Things I need to work on:

• Avoiding the bun look. 
• Learn how to do other protective styles. 
• Keeping my hair moisturized.

How’s your stretch going?

With Love,

Tamara

Wash Day

Clarifying Day

My hair has been through hell baby! I don’t even remember the last time I shampooed my hair. YUCK!! What I do know is that I’ve been constantly adding a DC, Oil, Protein treatments to my hair. There is so much product buildup that my hair is beginning to matte and shrink like crazy.

I decided to create a new and improved regimen. (Decided to go back to the basics!) So, it’s time for a fresh start.

I’m clarifying my hair with ION Purifying Solutions Hard Water Shampoo. In the shower, I parted my hair into 4 sections and used warm water to help remove some of the buildup on my hair. I only used the shampoo on my scalp. My hair felt stripped but it didn’t feel dry or stringy.

I towel dried my hair to suck up the excess water for 15 minutes. I then applied my light protein treatment deep conditioner. I’m using Profectiv Mega Growth Anti-Breakage Strengthening Deep Conditioner. This stayed on my hair for 45 minutes.

I did not want to step out of that shower because babayyy, my hair felt so soft and had a lot of slip. The whole time, I was touching my hair because this deep conditioner gave me LIFE!

After washing the DC out, I did an ACV rinse in each section. For my mixture I used 2 parts water + 1 part ACV. For example: If I wanted 6 oz, I would use 4oz Water and 2oz ACV.

I then t-shirt dried for 30 minutes; added my leave-in: African Pride Shea Butter Moisture Intense Leave-in Conditioner and coconut oil and proceeded to detangle.

For 2 hours, I air dried my hair and it took so long for my new growth to dry. Finally when it dried, I moisturized and sealed at 70% dry to tame my dry hair. At 90% dry, I applied JBCO to my scalp.

For the overall day, I loved that my hair is loving what I did to it for the day. At first, my hair was really dry. Once I clarified it, my length came back. As for the deep conditioner, it gave me life and a lot of slip. The ACV rinse made my hair feel a little dry but after t-shirt drying, my hair felt super curly!!!

How was your recent wash day?

New Possibilities: Castor Oil Challenge

Castor Oil Challenge:

As you guys should now, I am registered on Hairlista which is a website where Relaxed ladies, natural ladies, transitioners, etc, come together to talk about hair products and all things beauty. On the website, it consists of groups that one can join and I’ve had my eye on the Castor Oil Challenge. I always wanted to join but I couldn’t afford the oil, let alone figure out where to buy it. But finally, I had the opportunity to buy it! You can check the post out here. Or on the blog. Since I’m waaaayyyy far behind on the challenge, I wanted to start on a good start by their challenge but bringing it on to my blog so that people can watch me on this journey.

If you want to try out this challenge, make sure that you fill me in or you can do it on Hairlista. Here is the challenge:

Castor Oil Challenge: 3 Months

Basic: Apply Castor Oil to a clean scalp 1-2 times per week

Advanced: Apply Castor Oil to a clean scalp 2-3 times per week

Ultimate: Apply 5-7 times per week. You must deep condition with 1-2 tsp mixed with your deep conditioner and/or use it to seal your ends.

Rules:

1.    Must be 100% Castor Oil

2.    Must be applied to a clean scalp

3.    Report any changes to hair

4.    Upload photos

5.    No other growth oils can be used

This challenge was started March 11, 2014. You’re welcome to join at your own time!

Just Purchased

Profectiv

Mega Growth

Anti-Breakage

Strengthening

Deep Conditioner

Price: $3.49

Purchased: Wal-Mart

Amount: 15 oz/425 kg

Promises:

Infused an ultra-protective blend of natural oils and conditioning proteins that strengthen hair deep inside for stronger, longer, healthier looking hair.

Whatever your textures or hairstyles, Mega Growth defends against breakage, split ends, and dryness by helping:

-     Rebuild hair strength deep inside

-     Protect against styling stresses

-     Restore softness and natural shine

For Best Results:

Generously apply to damp hair after shampooing. Spread evenly from roots to end coating hair liberally. Leave-on for 10 minutes thoroughly rinse and style as desired. For more strengthening, leave-in a light amount after rinsing.

Tips for Mega Strengthening:

Use a plastic cap or sit under dryer for 10 minutes for deep penetrating heat activation. Rinse & Style as desired.

Finally, I have a deep conditioner! But, it’s a protein based conditioner. I have to change my regimen a bit so please stay tuned for the update!!

Overall, this DC smells really yummy and I cannot wait for my hair to try this. Maybe for my next wash day…

Coming Soon: Updated Regimen & Wash Day

Ingredients: Aqua, Paraffinum Liquidum/Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Propylene Glycol, Polyquatemium 37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG-1Trideceth-6, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Persea Gratissima Oil/Avocado Il, Triticum Vulgare Protein/Wheat Protein, Glycine Soja Protein/Soy Protein, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Dimethicone, Steareth-2, Steareth-20, Phenyl Trimethicone, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Methyl Paraben, Propylparaben DMDm Hydantoin, CL 19140/Yellow 5, Cl 16035/Red 40, Cl 42090/Blue 1, Parfum/Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Citral, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lilial, Linalool

Just Purchased

Jamaican Mango & Lime

Jamaican Black Castor Oil

-Coconut Nut-

Price: $6.99

Purchased: Beauty Supply Store

Amount: 4 fl oz/118 mL

Promises:

·        Nourished

·         Prevents Breakage

·         Adds Sheen & Moisture

·         Natural Ingredients

·         Aromatherapy

Yasssss baby! I finally got my JBCO and I plan on doing soo many things with it. My main priority with this JBCO is to take care of my edges and this small bald spot. I do unfortunately have a receding hairline on both sides of my hair. I had them since I was born. I hope and pray that this JBCO will help my bald spot as well as my receding hairline. If it doesn’t help my hairline, then I will understand that hair will not grow there and I’ll be okay because it’s not a huge problem for me.

Stay tuned for my JBCO Hair Challenge!

Hair Update

Girl, Where Have You Been?

I want to deeply apologize for not updating anything on my blog! Here are the reasons why I couldn’t post anything:

1. I’ve been very sick! I’ve been going through it as well as my hair!! I’m being so honest with you guys….I would wash my hair and prep myself to post the next day and I would get really sick! I don’t want to go into detail about it but my whole day would be shut down.

2. My school requires an internship program. I decided to work at a hospital for the program and it was a really great learning experience. Even though I was worked like a dog. (No complaints because I passed with an A!) At the end of the day, I would go home and sleep because I was so tired.

3. As for my hair, I don’t know what’s going on. Since I’ve been really sick, my body would sweat and cause my hair to be fried! At times I wanted to give up but I stuck it through because I’m tired of my hair looking like this! My hair has been constantly dry and I’ve been really slacking at times. But I’m going to step up my game by:

·         DC frequently

·         More Hot Oil Treatments

·         Co-wash often

·         M&S (every-other day)

·         Baby my ends

I’ve realized that my hair is very, very, VERY uneven, especially in the front! I’m going to do my ultimate best to make my hair even.

You will see later on in my posts.

Stay Blessed,

Tamara