The Process

This week I wasn’t expecting to experiment too much with anything extra ordinary, pretty much wanted to try my hand at consistency…see if I had what it took not to open that new jar of buttercreme.  Overall I did good! I pre-pooed with some leftover conditioner I’d wanted to finish for a while, and went a head and mixed my ACV rinse.  Still adding the Khoret Amen oil, but also mixing in some vitamin E oil I’d found underneath my mound of bottles.  I’d purchased the vitamin E oil at the beginning of this year and seriously forgot I’d had it! My scalp towards the end of the week was beginning to act up again…a fault of mine because I’d forgotten to moisturize regularly with my coconut oil…and I was undoubtedly stressed at work.  Stress is always a huge factor, relative to the health of my scalp, something I’ve tried to keep a handle on but failed miserably this week. 

So added to my mix went the Vitamin E oil, which if what ‘they’ say is true, will help to stimulate my scalp, improving blood circulation.  To help the process along I massaged my scalp while the ACV rinse was in my hair for a good five minutes, making sure to move in circular motions…basically just enjoying the experience! A scalp massage is a fantastic stress reliever btw! 

After rinsing the ACV, I followed with a final wash of  Oyin’s Honey Wash.  A palmful was all I needed to distribute evenly and work up a good lather. I spot checked the crown of my head for that stripped, overly clean feeling and happily found zilch! I picked up on this habit late last year as a way to distinguish which washes/rinses/conditioners were doing the best job at cleansing/conditioning my hair.  I simply create a part down the center of my hair, stopping midway and sort of inspect for buildup, moisture etc. This week I had zero buildup, and found that my hair was shinny and well moisturized. 

Spot checks also help me in figuring out exactly which conditioner or DC to use for that week.  Usually I can figure it out the day before I wash, sort of just by keeping tab on how my hair progressed for the week, and yesterday I found love again in Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose.  This was only my second time using this conditioner, and I’ll be honest it was sort of on a last/ second chance trial basis.  The first time I used this about a month ago after hearing rave reviews from the blog community,  I’d finally buckled and purchased while at the Vitamin shop (where it’s considerably cheaper than at other distributors btw!), came home…DC’d and was left very unimpressed.  At the time I couldn’t figure out why my hair didn’t react well to all the great and natural ingredients found in the conditioner, I just decided to move on.  And yet I still had more than half a bottle left, so I opted for a second chance, and was blown away by how great it worked!

I guess it’s a go-figure type thing….? What could I have done differently this time around…I’m not entirely sure…I detangled my ends with a wide toothed comb, applied the AOHR, then ran my denman through to further detangle.  I donned my conditioning cap and sat with it for 30 min before rinsing, and was surprised at how well my hair came together…and by this I mean I had virtually no frizz and my curls behaved by curling!  They honestly seemed to enjoy the combo of ACV + Honey Wash + AOHR. 

To style I applied KCKT followed by Donna Marie’s Lock & Twist Pudding.  This morning I wore my twists to work for the first time in a long time because I was a tad bit tired to unravel them.  Losing that hour of sleep is not pleasant! But again, my hair has tons of  shine and is moving beautifully…honestly I couldn’t find a better product to twist my hair! It’s easy to apply, and to apply you need very little.

 

On a side note, my internet is down this week….Arrggh! And I’m lagging behind on some product reviews I need to push out the door…some uppers and some downers I found while reviewing my old stash of things, so hopefully I can bang those out in a few days. 

 

Countdown to Spring: 11 Days

The Process Saponified

The results of my wash and twist session this week are still TBD because my hair is currently still slightly damp and in twists;-). It was a long weekend and I ended up waiting until the last minute to do my thing, but I still managed to pat myself on the back simply because I washed and twisted in record time this week!! Those who’ve ever had to sit/stand in front of a mirror with the daunting task of twisting for 2-3 hours knows of the burden I speak.  I clocked in at 1 hour 15 min this week, just in time to sneak in a snack before heading to bed.

I pre-pooed this week with some leftover Millcreek Jojoba conditioner I’d wanted to finish for some time, then followed with my ACV rinse.  I’m continuing to add my Khoret Amen Oil from Carol’s Daughter to the ACV because it seems to be a win win, cuts back on the vinegar smell and the natural oils are always an added benefit.  

I nixed on the co-wash this week and opted for a honey wash, courtesy of Oyin Handmade.  I picked up a bottle while at one of their distributors here in BK and loved the ingredients, the fact that it doubles as a body wash…and the smell is yummy!  It’s a ‘wash,’ but not a shampoo, it has no harsh chemicals, sulfates or cones, but delivered amazingly well! Honey is of course it’s main ingredient, along with organic aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, walnut oil, glycerin extract, grapefruit seed & green tea extract. All the goodness is saponified with castile soap making the consistency creamy and almost silky once applied to the hair.  It suds up almost immediately and is quite easy to apply.  I hardly used more than a small palm full to get the job done which is an immediate added bonus.  I picked up an 8oz bottle for ten bucks and have no regrets! I haven’t used a hair wash/shampoo since last year when I stopped using shampoos with harsh detergents, but this was a surprise treat nonetheless.  After rinsing the honey wash, my hair felt ridiculously soft and conditioned.  I was honestly a bit taken aback at how pliable my hair became.  My curls were well moisturized which meant they were well defined and separating on their own before detangling.  It’s never an option for me not to DC or semi DC, but the way my hair was feeling after using the honey wash, I was seriously considering. 

But I had yet to detangle, so I added my Curl Rehab DC and detangled into small sections, sat under a conditioning cap for 25 min, rinsed with cold water then applied KCKT & began twisting in sub-sections, this week trying Afroveda’s Curly Custard.  It’s aloe based mixed with jojoba, coconut and lemon oils, shea butter and other essential oil blends.  My hair is still in twists so I can’t gage on the day after moisture factor, but when I was applying I had good vibes.  It went on smooth, and moisturized well enough. I’ll take the twists out tomorrow for a better review.

Overall my favorite find this week is hands down the Oyin Honey Wash! I’d even venture to day it’s more like a hair wash AND conditioner in one, so in the summer for quick & easy wash and go styles this would work fantastically well!

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! And if you’re along the east coast buried under several inches of snow….we’re almost there;-).

The Process

Yeah for long weekends! Monday was a national holiday which meant I stayed the hell home like a good employee;-). It really did feel like perfect timing, having that extra day to hit the streets and run the errands I’d needed to run for the past two weeks.  Nothing spells relief like finally doing your laundry after weeks of starring at a pile of crazy…!

But I digress to say that even amidst the lazy holiday weekend I did manage to do my hair…gave it it’s weekly dose of TLC on Sunday by ways of a Pre-Poo, ACV, Co-Wash and DC.  All good stuff.

I finally restocked on KCKT last week, and while at my BSS picked up a new conditioner for my co-wash.  Giovanni’s Tea Tree Triple Treat Conditioner was a bit of a random purchase on my part, but my scalp missed that good ‘ol tingly feeling, you know that effervescent sensation you can only get from products that contain peppermint or tea tree? When in moderation, my scalp loves! This was my second purchase off of the Gionvanni line, the first being the direct leave in, and my kudos ranking for their stuff is growing! It worked as a better than average co-wash conditioner because it cleansed  without stripping, while leaving my hair feeling sufficiently conditioned, and low behold there’s a good reason why! Over at Jillipoo’s blog, there is a great recap on the importance of co-washing and the need for an added surfactant to ensure proper cleansing.  Some harsher surfactants are ones typically used in everyday shampoos, common ones are sodium laureth sulfate & ammonium lauryl sulfate.  But others that are less harsh and less stripping can be found in some good cleansing conditioners. Giovanni’s Tea Tree formula does carry a gentle cationic surfactant, Behenstrimonium Methosulfate, which in plain terms just means it provides sufficient conditioning while adequately cleansing the hair.  Yeah…alright, no more curl chemistry info, you can click here to learn more about surfactants.

After co-washing with the Tea Tree, I applied my ACV rinse then followed up with a mini-DC using Curl Junkie’s Curl Rehab (strawberry ice cream scent!). An added bonus for ANY DC is the luxury of using as little as possible to get the job done, and this does so in a pinch with just the right amount of slip for detangling!

Before applying my ACV, I did manage to play part mixtress by adding a bit of nourishing oil to the mix.  I used something I’d had lying around for a while, but never found purpose in using. Khoret Amen Hair Oil by Carol’s Daughter was something my hair had grown accustomed to after my second BC and late last year I gravitated towards it once again.  It’s an olive oil base “infused with lavendar flowers and sage herb, then blended with essential oils of  ylang-ylang, clary sage, and bay leaf to aid in restoriing hair’s health and beauty.”  If used separately it makes for a decent hot oil treatment, and the infusion of patchouli and cedar wood helps to ward off itchy scalp and has anti-inflammatory/anti-fungal properties.  All well and good, yes…but with it’s herbal woodsy smell…it cut back significantly on the ACV odor I’ve been fighting with!

After my mini-DC (25 min under heating cap) I styled with KCKT and twisted with  Blended Beauty’s Happy Nappy creme. I untwisted my strands last night to cut back on my morning regime, and this morning am rockin the do just right! The one thing I did cut back on this weeks was my unrefined shea.  Basically there was zero need because the Blended Beauty creme has a strong shea base and I am almost certain I overmoisturized last week on my first attempt.  I think that was a good call on my part because my hair feels less weighed down and less product heavy;-)