I am 4 weeks post today so I decided to clarify to begin this wash. I never ever thought about clarifying or even knew that it was necessary. Who knows, I may have been clarifying all the time and just didnt know. Before my HHJ I would just use whatever shampoo or whatever conditioner but now I understand that there are different types of shampoos(moisturizing, clarifying, chelating, sulfate free, etc.) and conditioners (moisturizing, protein) etc. and they each serve a specific purpose.
Clarifying shampoos are used as a means of removing product build-up from your hair. As you continue to add products to your hair such as hair sprays, gels, serums containing cones, or if you live in an area with hard water, etc. your hair shaft can become clogged which prevents additional nourishment from penetrating the hair. You're basically getting rid of the "bad" stuff to make room for more "good" stuff. When using a clarifying shampoo, you should always followup with a moisturizing shampoo as clarifying shampoos are usually somewhat harsh and drying. It is best to clarify at least every four weeks.
1. To clarify I used Redken Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo, it was gentle yet my hair still felt squeaky clean.
2. Next I followed up with Lavender Mint Moisturizing Shampoo (this was a generic brand that I purchased from Sally's Beauty Supply a while back). It's supposed to compare with Paul Mitchell products. It does the job. :)
3. Next I decided to do a protein treatment to reinforce my tresses. I used Redken Extreme Strength Builder Plus for this step. I didn't use heat but allowed it to sit on my hair for maybe an hour and a half to two hours. I'm hoping it will also help curb some of the breakage I've been seeing. I have split ends now since I unfortunately missed out on my trim after my touchup. I want to wait until I can straighten my hair before getting a trim. Heat in the L4L Protective Styling Challenge is a no no, but I need want a trim ASAP!
4. Deep conditioned using Redken All Soft Heavy Cream ( I guess it was a Redken kind of a day). Lol! I wanted to DC using my steamer, but it was late and I wasn't in the mood to get it out and put it together....another reason that I wish I had one with an adjustable stand. Maybe one day I will upgrade. I ended up leaving the DC in overnight. I was just too sleepy to fool with my hair anymore.
5. The next morning I rinsed out the DC and I applied Roux Porosity control to each section (I've been doing everything in 4 sections) for 30 secs then rinsed. My hair did not have any slip at all after the DC or the Roux, which I was unhappy about.
6. I then squeezed my hair dry with a t-shirt (NEVER rub dry!!!) then I let it air dry for a while so I could detangle on dry hair before my rollerset.
7. I applied my leave-ins (DB Daily Leave-In, PMSS Serum, and I put a little Carols Daughter Monoi Repairing Split End Sealer on my ends) and re-wet my hair for my rollerset. After putting in the rollers I sprayed some heat protectant on my exposed hair before sitting under the dryer. I was a little more frustrated with this set. This is my third time rollersetting since my earlier post which you can read
here. Here are the results:
I managed to get a pretty good texture shot of my texlaxed/bone straight. This was taken right after shampooing before I applied the protein conditioner. My texlaxed hair is pretty wavy but you can't really tell too well in the pics.
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| texture shot |
I'm so excited to see the amount of texlaxed hair I have. So eager to be 100% texlaxed soon. I keep picturing myself wearing big fluffy buns. I actually think buns are really cute. A bun on me now just looks really pitiful...lol. Anyway, who knows maybe texlaxing will help me work my way to natural if I decided to go that route.
How was your most recent wash day? Are there any beginners giving rollersetting a try? How is that going for you?
Have a wonderful Easter weekend,
and thanks for reading!
Andrea
