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 !