Wash Day | Flat Twist and Curl

Has it been a week already? Time sure flies when you'r having fun with your hair. And I did just that in my most recent Wash Day Experience. Here is how it went down.

DETANGLING
Just like with my last wash day I sectioned my hair in four and saturated with Mane and Tail Detangler.  I then hopped in the shower with my detangling brush to thoroughly detangle my hair with running water.  I parted each section in half since detangling in smaller sections is easiest and I braided each section once I was done.

SHAMPOO
I wanted to thoroughly clarify my hair so I used my Redken Hair Cleansing Cream and massaged into my scalp and hair (which was still in braids), then thoroughly rinsed.

PROTEIN TREATMENT
Since I noticed a little breakage I decided to finish off my jar of ORS Hair Mayonnaise.  Yay!!! I emptied a product!! But sadly I will probably just replace it with something else that I don't need to buy. Ha!

I used my Hot Head Conditioning Cap for a deep treatment.  Love this thing! After my hair cooled, I rinsed out the conditioner and followed up with Herbal Essences Naked Moisture Conditioner.

Love my Hot Head Conditioning Cap

TIME TO STYLE
I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted to style my hair, but I wanted to give my hair a break from the blow dryer and wanted to do something fun.  Since I have fallen in love with perm rods, thought I'd try my hand at a flat twist and curl.  I had no idea how this was going to turn out, but it wasn't too bad.  Some spots were a little frizzy but I actually liked the results. I thought it was going to be a big mess!

For my leave-ins I decided on Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Leave in Conditioner, coconut oil, and Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Styling Pudding.  I massaged a little castor oil mixed with peppermint oil to my scalp before taking down the twists.

I will definitely be doing this style again. Loved the curls and the volume! I realized that I've reached a point in my hair journey where I feel more comfortable with doing more with my hair and trying new styles.  I'm doing a lot more than I used to in the beginning.  Finally having fun with my hair!

So how was your wash day experience? Did anyone try any new styles lately? Please do tell and share your post in the Wash Day Experience link-up hosted by S.O.S. and JGA.

Thanks for reading, my friends! Until the next post. :)

Wash Day

I skipped washing my hair this weekend. I just didn't have the time and patience for it, so I've decided to go ahead and post on my wash day from the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.  I tried to keep it simple, but seems like it never is. Here's how thing went down:

1. Detangled my hair using Mane and Tail Detangler and my seamless comb.

2. Shampooed with CON Argan Oil Shampoo.

3.Deep conditioned with ORS Hair Mayonnaise.  My hair felt in need of some protein so that was a must for this wash.

4.Applied my leave-ins. I used Jessicurl Too Shea Extra Moisturizing Conditioner and It's A 10 Miracle Leave-In.

5. Blow-dried using the tension method.

Bun Fun! :-P

I keep trying different things to help improve my wash day.  This time around I thought I'd try loosely tying rubber bands at each section (I always do everything in 4 sections).  I was very careful with the rubber bands but I think ouchless bands or scrunchies might have been better to use.  The idea was to hold my length in place while I massaged the shampoo into my scalp. It seemed to work pretty well to keep my new growth from getting tangled; however, somehow I ended up having issues with my ends getting tangled which isn't really usual for my wash days. It's usually my roots that I'm fighting with.

I was up until the crack of dawn blow drying my hair. I still haven't mastered this yet.  It was so late/early in the a.m. that after I finished the third section I decided to get some sleep and finish the fourth section later. LOL! I grabbed a plastic cap and rubber band and tied it around the section to keep my roots from drying and matting up.  I have about 9 months of new growth.  I was SO tired, and I also had plans to drive 5 hours to my home town to visit family for Thanksgiving.  The day just wasn't going how I had planned.  I think it took so long because of the detangling and using cooler air to blow dry. Sometimes I cheated and turned the temp up to save a little time. 

 Once I finally finished, I finger combed my hair into a bun.

Without Flash

With Flash

Wash days like this definitely make me consider staying relaxed, but I am really trying to find ways to work with my hair so we can both be happy. I want to be very much sure that I don't want to go natural before I relax again. So I'm trying to hold out. My last relaxer was in February of this year and I was about 7 months post at that time. After I relaxed I really regretted it.  I would be about 16 months post right now if I hadn't. I'm trying to hang in there. It's all about trial and error and patience I guess.

So how was your wash day? Is anyone else struggling through a long stretch/transition? Do you have any good tricks to speed up your wash day? Please share!!

Don't forget to check out and share your wash day via the Wash Day Experience Link Up hosted by SOS and JGA!

Thanks for reading!

Relaxer Touch-up at 11 weeks post

So yesterday I finally relaxed after an 11 week stretch.  I decided to end my stretch mainly because I just wanted to get my relaxer out of the way and I was ready to have some "straight-er" hair.  Relaxer day was pretty long of course, but I think it went well. It was a long day/night I'll just say.

I started out by detangling and sectioning my hair into four parts.  I then coated the length of my hair with  GVP Silk Remedy that I got from Sally's (it's supposed to compare with CHI Silk Infusion) and Roux Porosity Control to protect from relaxer runoff.  I planned to begin with the back half (doing the half and half relaxer method that I've used before).  I placed metal duckbill clips along the horizontal part between the front and back half to separate the front section of my hair.  I clipped the two front sections with butterfly clips and covered with a plastic clap.

Used metal clips to separate front half

Clips help to keep plastic cap in place

I finished prepping the back half by parting each section into one inch sections and twisting to keep them separated.  I based my scalp with Vaseline as I went along.  I relaxed the back half using my green sprush. For my relaxer I used the same on that I used the last time: ORS Lye Relaxer in Normal Strength. I had my timer set for 11 minutes but I went quite a bit over.  I immediately jumped in the shower and rinsed then applied Redken Extreme Strength Builder for my midstep protein treatment.  Neuatralized with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo 3 times and then I used my Elasta QP Neutralizing Shampoo to double check that all the relaxer was gone.  This particular shampoo turns pink when there are still traces of relaxer so it made me feel better to see the white lather.  I followed up next with French Perm Stabilizer Plus for extra precaution (low pH conditioner that also aids in stopping the relaxer process.  Man oh man does my hair feel smooth after using this stuff!

Next I relaxed the front half in the same manner, first making sure that my hair was not damp from working on the back half.  Since I am texlaxing, I was almost worried that I'd left the relaxer on too long.  The roots in the back half seemed to be straighter than I expected, but I'm hoping to see some reversion there after my next wash.

I deep conditioner using my ORS Curls Unleashed under my heating cap for several hours.  I fell asleep wearing the heat cap then I just took it off and went on to bed.  When I rinsed again my hair felt so soft and smooth.  After rinsing the DC I t-shirt dried for maybe 30 min and then applied Darcy Daily Leave In and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum.  I allowed my hair to air dry with my silk scarf tied around my edges and then ended up pulling it into a bun.

Looks a little thicker and fuller than usual :-)

I think this relaxer day went well even though it was long.  I can't wait to do another almost 3 month stretch.  I figure I'll wait a little bit before going for another trim/dusting since I just had one last month.  Planning on a lot of PS-ing and no heat during this stretch next stretch.  Well until the next post folks! :)

How was your most recent relaxer touch-up?  Do you self relax and if so what's your method?

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea

Wash Day

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.

My Wash:

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.  



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