My December - January Protective Style

I planned to get a weave installed for the winter months but after taking out my mini braids and having a week resting time, I changed my mind.  The reason is that I really enjoyed being able to treat my owm hair whilst wearing a protective style, without any extensions getting in the way.

So I opted for cornrows this time.  This healthy hair journey has definitely  changed the way I see my hair and my thinking too. In the past I wouldnt have ever considered cornrows without extensions but here i am now wearing them with pride.

When I had my mini braids I followed every step of my current regimen. By the end of the 5 weeks, the ends of my hair were getting tangled because I was washing 3 times in a week.

So I have decided to make a few changes; 

• Wear these cornrows for maximum 4 weeks 
• Wash and deep condition once a week. (protein deep conditioning - shampoo - moisturising deep conditioning )
• Include a mid week cowash only if necessary 
• Overnight baggying 2 - 3 times a week to help with moisture

My Decision To Transition To Natural Hair

I never thought that one day I'd go natural,  it's never crossed my mind but I found myself toying with the idea in the past weeks.

A couple of things made me come to that decision;

• Firstly, I have just one hairdresser who relaxes my hair (about 6 miles from me) and I haven't been able to get her on the phone for sometime,  she might be on holiday out of the country. In the past when this happens I'd always go for a plan B till I'm able to book an appointment.
• I've got two daughters, my first is now 2 years and 9 months old,  I've always styled her hair and since I started my hair journey,  I also have been researching about natural hair care for her. Got me thinking how much I want her to grow up loving her hair especially if there aren't many with her type of hair around her. If she sees mummy loving and embracing her own natural hair,  what better example would there be? Mummy and daughters same regimen,  same products, same hair. ..Hmmm I do have a dream!
• And then of course no more harsh chemicals,  no more havinf to deal with two textures. 

My last relaxer was on the 29th of May 2015. I've watched a lot of transitioning youtube videos and would like to transition for a year or even two but I don't think I'll be patient enough. The more I look at my hair in these mini braids the more I want to do a 'small chop' :-D, but I'm thinking of having a weave installed next month to see me through the harsh winter months, that will keep my hands and eyes off my hair for a while.

I'm really excited about going natural especially now I've discovered the world of healthy hair.

Heat Conditioning Cap vs Bonnet Hood Dryer

My regimen calls for deep conditioning twice a week and with heat. I currently use a silver bonnet hood dryer attachment which does the job except that I have to be stationary, which typically means the best time for my kids to need me. 

They also are attracted to the dryer's noise and love to poke at the inflated hood when in use ..I'm lucky to get a full 15mins lol.

So I ordered this microwaveable heat conditioning cap which arrived today. 

Features

• Heat-Treat... The revolutionary Hair Conditioning Heat Cap. Simply pop in the Microwave for 2 minutes for the most deepest conditioning your hair would ever have had
• One size cap to fit all (black) - Easily slips on and off whether you have short/medium/long hair
• Comes with 3x Jenoris treatment sachet's so you can use Heat-Treat instantly
• Keep cap on while working, cooking, getting ready for a night out, so easily to use when you are just around the house!
• The heat from Heat Treat opens up your hair cuticles allowing conditioning treatments to nourish and replace moisture to the inner hair shaft

DIRECTIONS FOR USE: 
1.Dampen hair and then pat dry 
2.Comb through your selected hair treatment (you get 3 with this Heat-Treat offer) 
3.Warm Heat Treat in microwave for 2 minutes 
4.Place warmed Heat-Treat cap on your condition covered hair for a minimum of 3 minutes (for deep healing, you can keep the cap on for upto 20 minutes) 
5.Remove Heat-Treat Cap when suitable - and Voila... Rinse your hair and reveal your lovely treated hair 

This ticks all the boxes for me and I can't wait to use this for my next wash. 

Updated 18/11/2015

I used the heat cap on my shampoo wash day. After I applied my protein prepoo , I microwaved the heat cap for 2 mins on high,  and placed it on my head. The heat cap is a bit heavy and not as light as a shower cap. 

Being used to the continous heat produced by my bonnet hood dryer , I didn't feel the heat from the heat cap at all. I found myself lifting the cap up to feel the inside of the cap as I couldnt tell if it was hot or not. It took about 20 mins to cook off completely. For the deep conditioning after shampooing,  I microwaved it for 2.5 mins and that was perfect, I felt the heat all over my head. By 20 mins, it still has some heat left in it.

I love the fact that I could move about , go about my business whist my hair was being pampered  (without blazing heat :-D) and my kids didn't even notice!

I thought the heat cap would be a replacement for my bonnet hood dryer but no, I shall be using the heating cap for its ease and the bonnet dryer when I really need an intense deep conditioning treatment. 

New Product Update

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 I told myself I wouldn't buy any more hair products but because my hair easily gets dry, I decided to add another moisturising conditioner and a moisturising leave-in conditioner (discovered that the Cantu shea butter leave in conditioner is protein based) to my collection. 

Already in love with the Elasta QP brand, the Elasta QP DPR-11+ Deep Penetrating Remoisturizing Conditioner was one that came out on top as a cheap and very good moisturising deep conditioner both for relaxed and natural hair.

Luster's S-Curl " No Drip " Activator Moisturizer also has good reviews and can be used as a daily moisturiser and as a leave-in conditioner.

I have come to realise that my hair needs more moisture and so I can't wait to try these products out.

Clarifying Wash Day And My Mini Braids

I finally had mini braids installed, my thoughts are low manipulation style, easy access to scalp for cleansing and massaging, and more impressively no changes to my regimen. I'll be keeping it this way for maximum 6 weeks (with my regimen of weekly washes I'm not sure it will last that long).

In preparation for my mini braids, I started off  (the day before ) with a coconut oil prepoo, covered in a plastic cap with heat for 15mins then left it for about an hour before rinsing and then shampooing with my clarifying shampoo - Kera Care 1st lather sulfate free shampoo,  followed by Creme of nature argan oil sulfate free moisture and shine shampoo.

The clarifying shampoo gave my hair a different kind of "clean" feeling, to previous shampoo washes using a moisturising shampoo. It was obvious that all the build-up of products had been removed.

I then proceeded to deep condition using my Elasta QP intense fortifying conditioning treatment mixed with jamaican black castor oil covered in a plastic cap with heat for 15mins . I had a couple of things to do in town so I placed a scarf and black hat over the plastic cap and went about my business.

 Washed it off hours later in the evening, t shirt dried, applied Cantu shea butter leave-in,  air dried, moisturised with ORS Olive oil moisturizing hair lotion, sealed with coconut oil and massaged my scalp with jamaican black castor oil. Important note to self: Never be in a rush to detangle when hair is wet, always wait for hair to be at least 80% dry!

The next day was a non- nursery day for my 4 year old son and my (almost) 3 year old daughter, so I had mini braids done at home by a stylist and it took about 4.5 hours in between settling sibling squabbles and attending to my 5 month old baby phew!

I've got the scantiest hair you've ever seen but hey let's see how it would look after a couple of months into my journey :-D . I am very hopeful :-D

2 Week Update

I have been following my healthy hair regimen for 2 weeks now and can say my hair is definitely healthier than it was prior to starting the hair journey. I'm still learning a lot about my hair and how it reacts to the various products and techniques.

So far my favourite product is the Elasta QP Intense Fortifying Hair Conditioning Treatment which I use as a moisturising deep conditioner. (Directions After shampooing, apply intense by massaging in from roots to ends. Gently comb evenly to distribute. Rinse. For dry hair leave-on for 10 minutes using plastic cap. Rinse thoroughly with warm water.)

This was one of the first products I bought when I started my hair journey and as it was mid week already, I decided to quickly create my current regimen , used it on its own on dry hair and covered in a plastic cap for about an hour, without heat . I immediately noticed whilst rinsing my hair that it felt stronger and there was no hair being washed out. I then proceeded to co-wash with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration conditioner. I like the fact that this product is infused with olive oil, avocado oil and coconut oil amongst other good ingredients.

My hair is left feeling soft and moisturised afterwards, whether used on its own or mixed with some of my oils, with or without heat ( I now use always with heat and add at least one oil e.g olive oil, castor oil). I wish it comes in a size bigger than 354ml because I use it twice a week but I will definitely be buying it again. 

Some things I have learnt;

• Moisturising and sealing my hair in 4 sections leaves the inner regions of my hair still dry, 8 sections work best for me.
• I usually leave deep conditioner in my hair for as long as possible (hours), and I get itchy scalp when rinsed out. So now I make sure not to apply the conditioner to my scalp but to roots and ends only.
• My hair can not take a generous amount of the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in conditioner. I had to wash it off my hair the first time I used it.

Creating A Regimen

I am currently on maternity leave so this regimen will definitely change when I return to work. It's very easy to get over excited buying new hair products but I intend to keep things simple , find out what works and take it from thete

Monday: Wash day
prepoo with a light protein deep conditioner mixed with oil(s) (extra virgin olive oil/coconut oil ) , place plastic cap over my hair and then sit under a dryer for 15mins.
Rinse
shampoo with sulfate free moisturising shampoo 

Rinse
moisture deep conditioning treatment (mine already infused with penetrating oils ), place plastic cap over my hair and then sit under a dryer for 15mins .
rinse
T - shirt dry for 10 mins

Apply leave in conditioner 

moisturise with moisturing lotion
Use wide tooth comb to detangle hair gently from ends
Seal in moisture with virgin coconut oil

Scalp massage using jamaican black castor oil 

Thursday : Cowash day
Moisture deep conditioning treatment, place plastic cap over my hair and then sit under a dryer for 15mins
Rinse
Cowash with moisturising conditioner
Rinse
T -shirt dry for 10mins 

Apply leave in conditioner
Moisturise with moisturising lotion
Use wide tooth comb to detangle hair gently from ends
Seal in moisture with virgin coconut oil

Scalp massage using jamaican black castor oil 

Saturday : Cowash day
Cowash with moisturising conditioner
Rinse
T - shirt dry for 10mins 

Apply leave in conditioner
Moisturise with moisturising lotion
Use wide tooth comb to detangle hair gently from ends
Seal in moisture with virgin coconut oil

Scalp massage using jamaican black castor oil 

Daily:
Morning - moisturise and seal
Night - Moisturise, seal , cover hair with satin scarf

Other
Comb only on the wash days, finger detangle most of the time, simple protective styles . Avoid heat

 

My current product list:

Weekly Shampoo

Creme of nature argan oil sulfate free moisture and shine shampoo 

Monthly shampoo

Kera Care 1st lather shampoo sulfate-free clarifying shampoo 

Cowash conditioner 

Herbal essence hello hydration conditioner 

Weekly light Protein deep conditioner

ORS Olive oil replenishing conditioner 

Monthly medium protein deep conditioner 

ORS hair mayonnaise 

Moisturising conditioning treatment 

Elasta QP intense fortifying conditioner 

Leave-in conditioner 

Cantu shea butter leave in conditioner 

Moisturiser

ORS Olive oil incredibly rich oil moisturising hair lotion 

Oils

Extra virgin olive oil

Jamaican extra black castor oil  

virgin coconut oil 

Tools

Wide tooth comb 

Hand drier and hood bonnet attachment 

Plastic caps

My First Steps To A Healthy Hair Journey

There's a wealth of information out there on growing healthy hair and I spent a lot of time researching. (I cut down on my Facebook time and focused on my hair :-D) 

Time to apply what I've learnt so far..

What was I doing wrong?

My regimen was all over the place (did i just call it a regimen?) , retouched twice a year, had weaves/ braids in for at least 3 months, washed whenever i felt like it, rarely deep conditioned, greased my scalp regularly (that i did :-D) and for moisturising and sealing ..(eh what ? )

My current products had to be reviewed 

ORS uplifting shampoo 

I've come to realise that the only shampoo I  had and used was a clarifying shampoo, which would have made my already dry hair even drier. 

ORS Olive oil replenishing conditioner 

ORS hair mayonnaise

I deep conditioned maximum 3 times a year and without heat (didn't understand the importance of heat deep conditioning ), had no moisture treatment either.

 No wonder my hair wasn't healthy. 

Luster's Pink oil moisturizer hair lotion contains mineral oil and petrolatum.  Indian hemp hair and scalp treatment has its first ingredient as petrolatum. These I immediately stopped using. 

 ORS olive oil incredibly rich oil moisturising hair lotion

It was now time to shop for new products.

.

Herbal Essence hello hydration conditioner as a co-wash conditioner. 

Elasta QP intense fortifying conditioner as a moisture treatment. 

Kera Care 1st lather shampoo is a sulfate free clarifying shampoo

Jamaican black castor oil 

Cantu shea butter leave in conditioner 

Creme of nature argan oil sulfate free moisture and shine shampoo

Virgin Coconut oil

Next step was to build a regimen that would work for me.  

How It All Started

My last relaxer was on the 29th of May 2015, 2 weeks after having a baby girl :-).

Then had kinky twists done about a week after relaxing and kept them in for almost 4 months (over did it this time because the twists looked even better with time plus new baby). I did wash my hair a couple of times with shampoo, greased my scalp and used oil spray occasionally.

When the twists came out there were knots everywhere .I can't remember dealing with that many knots before, so I took to Google to find out ways of detangling knots after braids . .that led to the beginning of my hair journey... .one search led to another and the rest is history.  I stumbled upon a lot of black hair care information and for the first time ever came across the term 'healthy hair'.

I used to think it wasn't possible for black hair to grow beyond shoulder length  (not that mine has ever got there but my sister's has). I just didn't think it was possible and even if it was,  my hair "naturally" wasnt the type.

Thank God for google and you tube,  I've  now come a long way in understanding the science of our black hair  (didn't think hair needed any studying ) in the last few weeks.

Healthy hair to me personally means
- being able to wash my hair without seeing half of my hair in the bath tub even when all I've done is run water through my hair.
- retaining length
- hair that doesn't feel or look dry all the time
- hair that can survive the UK dry weather
- hair that just wouldn't break so much when combed.

My mission is to get my hair to a healthy state and maintain it !