Wash Day | Getting Steamy With It

Hello all! Another week has gone by and another wash day post has been created around these parts.  This time I made sure to get in as much conditioner as possible on this wash since I pretty much skipped any conditioner on my last wash day which you can read about here. I don't know...it just felt wrong somehow. I just had to make up for it in this weeks Wash Day Experience. 

DEEP CONDITION

This week I decided to revisit deep conditioning on dry hair after receiving a tip on speeding up my wash day from Lizzy over at Lisa's Journal. It's been a long time since I started my wash day with deep conditioning, so I figured I'd give it a try. I mean, I'm not really feeling the shower hopping life, but it has been my life for the past....hmmm...how long have I been on this hair journey?? LOL

I started off by massaging my scalp with coconut oil.  I then applied She Scent It Banana Brulee Moisturizing Deep Conditioner.  I had almost forgotten I had this and decided I'd finish off the jar. Another empty from the stash! YES!!!

For an extra boost of moisture, I decided to dust off the old steamer.  My hair was sectioned in four. I twisted each section into a large bantu knot and sat under my steamer for about 20 minutes.  I allowed a few minutes for my hair to cool off.

***Table Top Steamer Tip***

If you have a table top steamer, using an ironing board is a great way to easily adjust the height.

SHAMPOO & CONDITION
Next I shampooed my hair with 40 Carrots Retinol Rich Shampoo.  This shampoo is very gentle so I opted for this shampoo to keep me from feeling like I washed out the benefits from my dry hair deep conditioning session. I followed up with Herbal Esscences Naked Moisture Conditioner and rinsed thoroughly. I actually exited the shower without having to jump back in. Yay!

LEAVE-INS & STYLING
I decided to do another twist and curl with larger flat twists and larger perm rods.  For my leave-ins I used Annabelle's Perfect Blends Moisturizing Hair Cream and Macadamia oil to seal. I set my twist and curl with Eco Styler gel.

I was worried that my hair was not dry when I took it down the next morning. I felt a slight bit of dampness so there was some frizz going on; but I was still fairly happy with the results. I guess it wasn't too bad. I had a few compliments at work. Also when I was at Walmart a woman complimented me and asked if I had done my own hair.  She wanted to know if I could do hers. LOL! I am definitely no stylist. Just practicing and having fun. Ha ha!

Well how was your wash day experience?  What fun styles have you tried lately?  Please do tell. Head on over to the Wash Day Experience Linkup and share!


Thanks so much for reading!

July Goals

Wow! Another month has flown by! My how time flies when you're having fun.  Well with the new month comes new goals (some recurring) of course.  Before I get into my July goals, let me first recap my goals for June.

June Goals Recap

1.  Heat free styling - FAIL ... Well I was doing very well not to have used any form of direct or even indirect heat since April.  Well....Friday June 28 I did a ponytail rollerset and allowed it to air dry overnight.  Saturday afternoon I decided to break my no heat rule and flat iron my roots.  I was getting ready for a get together with some friends and really wanted my hair to look cute so...that was a FAIL.  However that was the ONLY time I used my flatiron so I think I still did pretty good.

Results of my ponytail roller set after flat ironing roots

2.  Deep Condition With Steam Once A Week - SUCCESS- I successfully DC'd using steam every wash.  Proud of me on this one!

3.  No new hair purchases for the month - I also claim this as a SUCCESS - I was not including accessories just hair products i.e. shampoo, conditioners, oils, etc.  It was very hard, and believe me I walked down the hair product aisle every chance I got, but I did not buy anything.  I even held out on the Wal-Mart salon's Buy 1 Get 2 Free sale (I was really eyeing that PMSS Daily Treatment).  It so happens that my awesome sis purchased a bottle for me as she bought some items for herself. Woot!

4. Workout three times per week - FAIL - I started off really well, but it started to fall apart toward the end of week two.  This was the one that I knew I would have the hardest time with.  My summer class kind of held me up on that end. Summer courses are so much more demanding because you're cramming a whole semesters worth of material in just a few weeks.  Work, class, studying, and hair took up most of my time. Lol

My Goals for July

1. Exercise at least 3 times a week
2. Continue to steam once a week
3. Tea rinse once a week
4. Drink 1 cup of bamboo leaf tea nightly
5. No more than 1 new product purchase this month (I better pick something good)
6. Up my water intake (64 oz per day including my cup of bamboo leaf tea)


I'm hoping I can hold up this month. I should definitely be able to get my workouts in since I have a little more time.  We shall see.

Were your able to report success with your June goals? What are your goals for this month?

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea 

My Goals for the Month of June

Jeni at JustGrowAlready.com and a few other bloggers have inspired me to start setting monthly goals for myself.  It's definitely a good idea to make a list of mini goals or steps toward achieving your long term goal.  It's probably a lot better than just going with the flow like I've been doing.  I need to start making myself accountable. So here goes:

My June Goals

1.  Continue heat free styling for the month of June. 
On this note I am proud to say that I have not used any form of heat styling on my hair since April 28 (direct or indirect).  I've been in Air Dried City and think I'm getting better at it the more I practice.

2.  DC with steamer once a week.
Just pulled my steamer back out recently and remembered how much softer my hair feels when I use it.  Time to put this steamer back to work.

3. No hair purchases for the month (unless I'm replacing a staple).
I'm on a mission to get my stash down to the basics.

That's not even all of it :-(
Although a good bit of it was given to me & I happily accepted. lol

4.  Workout at least 3 times a week this month. 
I've gradually started inching my way back into the gym, but not as often as I should. Hoping I can keep it up.

There are some other things I'd like to work on, but these will be my focus for this month.  I'm definitely going to try to stay on top of these goals this month.  Hopefully I can report back that I achieved them all.  The one I'm most worried about achieving is my working out goal since I work full time and am taking a summer class right now. This is going to be the hardest, but I'm going to try for sure.

What are your goals for the month?

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea

Relaxer Update/L4LPSC Update

So I relaxed this past Saturday after a little over 6 weeks.  I know I know....to soon right.  Well I have been texlaxing so I wasn't worried to much about over-processing any previously relaxed hair.  The main reason was because I wanted my hair to be decent and manageable for my visit to to see my family next week.  I think I may have been able to go a little longer now that I've got my new ponytail roller set routine going.  My hair has been a lot easier to deal with since starting that and I've been finger combing a lot more as well.  Next stretch, I'm hoping to go 8 weeks.  Now on to the deets...

I switched from my mild relaxer to the ORS regular strength relaxer.  I mentioned that I was planning to switch this up a while back.  My synopsis is that ORS regular strength is similar to the mild relaxer I had been using, as far as the texture left to my hair.  I went over the 10 minutes per each half of my hair that I meant.  It may have been more like 15 or so but I still had some texture.  I think this should be labeled as a mild relaxer.  So I used the half and half method as I have previously.  This time I did my halves vertically instead of horizontal.  Once I rinsed the relaxer I did my protein step and neutralized using ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo.  After neutralizing I applied French Perm Stabilizer Plus to my hair (worked into a lather and let it sit for 1 minute).  This is a low pH (2.5) conditioner that helps return the hair to its normal acid balance after relaxing.  I will have to do a review on this to give a lil more detail.



Please excuse the mess in the background

  After rinsing the French Perm Stabilizer and the applied Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner and sat under my steamer for about 30 minutes.  After I finished DCing I wanted to let my hair cool off before rinsing a laid down to watch a little TV.  Well I was doing my hair kind of late so I actually fell asleep with the condish in my hair for a few hours. LOL!

 

After rinsing out my deep conditioner I applied my leave-ins (DB Daily Leave In Conditioner - Sweet Creme and PMSS Serum).  Finally I was able to pull of a wrap! Haven't been able to do that in a while.  I missed my wraps.  I tied on my silk scarf and let my hair air dry overnight.  The next day I flat ironed my roots because I had planned to go get a trim, but didn't quite make it that far.  Here were the results:



without flash; wearing my length check tee from JGA



with flash; I hate how thin my ends look; texlaxing should nip
this in the bud in time

L4LPSC Update
After mentioning the flat ironing, I think I am officially DQ'd from the L4LPSC.  I also used the flat iron at my last relaxer on Jan. 16. :-(  But those were the only two times.  I've been doing pretty well with the protective styling, though not creative.  I didn't even think about it until just now.  Oh well, I think I'm doing okay for a struggling newbie.  I will have to do better though.  Well, until next time. :]

Thanks for reading!

Andrea

Wash Day - 2/7/2013

So I did a wash on Thursday.  I was not very happy at the end of this wash I must say.  Still can't figure out what to do with my hair since I have about 2 inches of texlaxed hair.  I suck at protective styling and roller setting, plus I've been trying to avoid doing anything that will put any stress on my nape, because I'm still trying to nurse it back to health.  Still leaning toward purchasing a wig.  I need to do a lil research before I do this.  It may be my number one option for protective styling and relaxer stretching at the moment.  So on to my wash details.  I kind of switched up my routine this time.

1. Started off prepooing with oils:  Argan Oil (contents:  argan oil and sweet almond oil) on my roots and Matrix Biolage Delicate Care Organic Certified Oil (contents: olea europaea oil/olive fruit oil, isopropyl palmitate, argania spionosa oil/argania spinosa kernel oil, lavandula angustifolia oil/lavender oil, linaldol). The Matrix Biolage oil is part of their color care line; the instructions say to apply from mid lenghth to ends, so I used the argan oil closer to my roots.  I sat under my heat cap for about 20 minutes.

2. After prepooing I detangled my hair with my seamless comb, parting my hair into 6 sections and braiding each section.  I secured the ends with ouchless ponytail holders.  I decided to try this out after reading about the  technique on Miss Kibibi's blog (author of the Five Hair Archetypes).  It's a great way to keep your hair from tangling while shampooing  Next time I will use more braids.

3.  I hopped in the shower and shampooed using Organix Repairing Awapuhi Ginger shampoo.  Another trick I got from Miss Kibibi's blog was to dilute the shampoo with water in an applicator bottle so you can apply the shampoo directly to the scalp.  I'm trying to put more focus on cleansing the scalp since this is the purpose of shampoo.  Shampoo is harsh on your hair strands.  Doing my shampoo this way I can focus more on cleansing my scalp and of course some of the shampoo will run down my hair gently cleansing my tresses in the process.  I think it would have been easier to cleanse my scalp if I had done more braids.

4.  Next I did my black tea rinse and let it sit on my hair for a few minutes.

5. I then rinsed out the black tea and applied PM Super Skinny Treatment to my hair.  Man let me tell ya....this stuff is the truth! lol! My hair feels oh so soft afterwards.  Love it!!!

6.  Finally I DC'd with my Kera Pro Restorative Treatment.  Another fave of mine!  I sat under my steamer for about 20 minutes.



7. After DC-ing I applied Roux Porosity control for about 30 seconds and rinsed.

I tried squeezing my hair dry with a t-shirt.  Next I applied my leave-ins:  Darcy's Daily Leave In and PMSS Serum.  My hair was about 75% dry at that point.  I could figure out what I was going to do to my hair.  It was getting  late and I had to be at work the next morning.  I always worry about my hair looking decent for work.  I thought I could get away with doing a wrap, so I tried wrapping my hair and spraying a little water to get it back wet again.  This was sooo difficult and remember I have thick texlaxed roots.  I definitely experienced some breakage. :(  When I took down my hair in the morning after letting it air dry overnight, it was not what I had hoped.  Puffy roots galore!  I ended up clipping back as usual.

I'd wanted to try out a roller set, but didn't have time for that.  I wasn't sure how plain air drying would turn out.  I just didn't know what to do.  Sigh.... A wig or sew-in is sounding better and better by the second.  Ah well, maybe the next wash will be better.

How was your most recent wash day?  Is anyone else having texlaxing issues?  What are you doing to combat this problem?

Thanks for reading,
Andrea