O_O. You guys. The egg stopped my breakage with a big red "Nope.jpg" sign.
I have had huge breakage problems all of my journey, even using loads of products that are supposed to help. They usually help some, but I'd never gotten down to the sort of breakage most of the people I follow talk about until now.
I broke four hairs this morning. Four. That's unheard of for me. Usually, that means I was running my fingers through my hair at some point in the day [usually the morning to clump or seperate curls], and four hairs broke off just from touching it. No. I parted my hair in two sections to flat twist it. I combed one half, lost two hairs, combed the other, lost two.
I probably should have tried the ApHogee Two Step, because it's an extremely hard protein, but I assumed that since I do normal protein treatments every few weeks, and/or the ORS Mayo monthly, it wouldn't help. This egg is exactly what I needed. I'll have to see how frequently / infrequently I need to do these treatments, because I've seriously not had such strong hair before without a good salon visit.
The weirdest thing is that it doesn't feel different. Normally, my hair feels different after a protein treatment, it feels stronger / fuller or something, but with the Nutiva coconut oil and other things I'd been using, I was already getting that feeling. That's another reason I thought protein wouldn't work, but other than that the only thing I did was accidentally leave a little of the black tea + apple cider vinegar in my conditioner, and it wasn't very much of that anyway. So, with all other options out of the way, it has to be the egg.
So, can egg protein penetrate hair strands? Well, I have hair that takes forever to absorb things but loses them quickly, we'll say high porosity, fine/medium [I'm beginning to think my hair is medium thickness because it doesn't do the things most thin hair can do] thickness, but densely growing, transitioning hair, and the egg protein got in. That is not to say that your hair will react the same, but maybe if it has the same qualities as mine it will.
Sealing Level Up!?
My hair is also much shinier, and it still looks very moisturized today even though it's been 24 hours since that drying fiasco. [My hair used to look insanely dry whenever I air dried. Then I started setting and it got a bit better, then I started using CF and it got a lot better, but still the max I could get was 24 hour moisture locks.] That, however, could be do to the fact that I've realized how much my hair likes oils when it is wet and started to use oil and shea butter to seal instead of conditioner. So it's either the protein is holding onto the moisture, the fact that I've been cowashing only since a week and a half ago, or the water / oil / butter LOC keeping the moisture in. It's probably a combination, but either way it's awesome.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
EGG! + Another cowash + bad hair day! [Pictures, for once!]
I finally decided to try using egg as a deep protein conditioner. I also decided to try DCing overnight again. It's been a long while since I've actually DCed, I usually just leave in the DC and everything works well, but I have noticed that if I do it for too many weeks in a row, it stops working, [around the second week?] so then I just DC instead, and restart the pattern. I knew I needed to DC because I was using a hard protein conditioner; and egg conditioning has been compared to using ApHogee's famed Two Step [instead of 2 minute], which is intense and requires immediate moisture or you will get breakage. So I did the egg, mixed with a tiny bit of raw honey, and left it on for about 45 minutes to an hour while watching TV.
Egg [With a bit of honey]:
Putting on the egg was a lot more difficult than getting it out. I now understand why people usually mix it, but I will not do that in the future because the egg is already so strong. You know how uncooked egg likes to stick together? Well it was like that. There was no way I was getting more than like a teaspoon of egg at a time, and I tried using different grabbing methods /utensils. In the end, it just took a lot longer than a regular DC would have taken to put on, but it wasn't horrible or messy. It was pretty sticky on my hands, but that was in part due to the fact that I hadn't melted the raw honey. Then I washed it out.
Left is side that had egg on it at the time, right is before I did those. As you can see, I do things in braids now, but as of this afternooon, I have clips! Finally! So that'll make everything a whole lot easier!
Cowashing [Since last week, I have decided to cowash twice a week, shampoo every other week]:
I used VO5 Moisture Milks Strawberries and Cream conditioner to cowash my hair, sense I've been doing a cowash only thing. My natural curls are getting more defined as the days without shampooing pass [I can only tell when they're wet because my hair is always stretched, but yeah, definitely more defined], so I might actually keep this up longer than I was planning. I'm definitely skipping this weekend's wash.
Then I did a black tea and ACV rinse, which I definitely did not wash out all the way [accident] before applying Silk Elements Megasilk as an overnight DC.
Hair as I started to put the DC on it. Left has it, right does not.
Bad Hair Day?:
So...I get up, wash out the DC, add some Grape Seed Oil and some Raw Shea Butter and start to put in my Curlformers, and about 30 minutes after I finish my mom calls me saying, 'We have errands, so if you want to come you need to be ready in 3 minutes". Well, I love going out because I'm a huge nerd who does programming and never leaves the house [yay stereotypez]. But my hair is still very very wet.
Products Mentioned List: [new section! I didn't necessarily get them from the links, but it will always be the version in the picture.]
Raw Egg [Just...eggs from a store...nothing special at all]
Worked extremely well. I'll probably do this once a month. This is the best protein treatment I have ever used, including the ORS Hair Mayo I really like, so at least I have a very cheap replacement!
VO5 Moisture Milks Strawberries and Cream -- Got this from a food store that had a hair section. .72 cent there. Don't pay more than $1. This is amazing at cowashing. Firstly, you can use as much as you want because you don't need to worry about price [looking at you, salon brands] and it gives so much slip and smells so delicious. I'll keep buying this for cowashing, and it's one of the two 'made' products I'll keep buying.
Black Tea -- Can't find a link yet, no brand that I can remember. I'll try again and update. It was 100 bags for $1. I'll probably try Lipton next, though. It works well for shedding and making the smell of ACV slightly more tolerable. [I mix them.] It also gives shine and holds moisture a bit better [I've heard the caffeine makes protein stick longer, which makes moisture stick longer, so that...sort of makes sense?]
[+]
ACV, I actually got mine from GNC. Either way, never pay more than like 3 bucks for this. It smells horrendous, even worse than the ApHogee stuff people complain about. It's so bad that I will never buy it again. It's so useful, though, and cheap, but I've heard that Aloe Vera Juice works the same way [note: Aloe Vera Gel, does not. ACV is a ph balancer, and a clarifier, AVG is a good moisturizer, but ACJ actually has the proper ph levels--I'll need a new clarifyer, though]. Maybe if I ever start buying essential oils and can mask the smell, I'll try again.
Silk Elements Megasilk Moisture Treatment -- This goes on sale all the time. Only buy it if it's on sale. Mine cost like $7, I think. Can only be bought at Sally Beauty, I think. This is a good conditioner if you've got it on sale. It works really well, it smells nice, and it moisturizes better than lots of salon brands. I really like it, and if I didn't have Hair One to fall back on [and if it didn't cost MORE when it's not on sale O_o. I'd never seen the real price before today. $15? Cray] , I might even consider buying it again.
Grape Seed Oil -- about $7-8, but it's common and you can probably find cheaper and more expensive ones everywhere. I love grape seed oil because ceramides are awesome and because my hair loves using oil as a serum, especially coconut, jojoba, or grapeseed.
Raw Shea Butter: link coming soon. I love raw shea butter for hair and skin care. I use it in my lotion, and it's much better than other lotions to the point where I've tried to use other lotion and it's just depressing. Especially because theirs usually smells better :(. In hair, I use it as a sealant with light hold. My hair loves this stuff as a sealant.
Curlformers, bought from Sally Beauty Supply because it's slightly less if you're a member, and no shipping. I love these. We know this. I mean, for Cthulhu's sake: I don't have to comb my hair, it keeps it stretched for the entire week so I have no tangles to deal with on wash day, it's a great style, it's PERFECT for transitioning. I learned today how badly my hair needs to be stretched at all times, I'd taken it for granted because I didn't have that much ng before I got them, but they are almost necessary. I mean, I can think of how I could do this without them, but given that I've tried before, several times, to stretch more than 4 months [that was my average throughout my entire relaxed life, really], but it always got so bad. I have experienced none of those issues since buying these. Also, sexy hair, shine, so much bounce and movement...it's a dream. They're a dream. OK. They're not paying me. I wish they were. Honestly, I wish they were giving me those Extra Long and Extra Wide so I wouldn't have scraggly ends the first night >_>.
New items that aren't tested much:
100 Large Clear Hair Polybands: I don't do regular hair things [like the Goody Ouchless bands] anymore because the stuff inside is disgusting and my hair keeps making it come out [if they get stretched too much; almost all have], and the part that connects them breaks my hair [it's not metal, but it still snags. In the end, it's the same as just having metal for me]. I need to get silk ones, but I lose these too much. I have small black hair elastics, which cannot be used to hold even a fourth ponytail, so I use them to tie my ends, or hold tiny sections in place. They're great for that because they break way before doing anything bad to my hair, whereas normal bands just break my hair. I have about 500 of them, so literally I just pull my hair down / the elastic down and the elastic pops off without bothering me, then I trash it if it's broken. It's a much better system for me since they're cheap and easily replaceable, whereas the others are not. Plus, the material feels like it probably doesn't suck the moisture from my hair like regular bands. These stretch a lot more, so I'm enjoying them so far.
Conair Metal Hair Clips, pack of 12:
I dunno., Nothing special. They're medium sized, duckbill-y and metal. They're MUCH better than the various ways I've tried and I don't see them getting broken. I usually do 4 parts, so 12 means I can keep them in seperate groups and I'll have some if any get lost. Wewt wewt. They are extremely bendy, tthough.
Egg [With a bit of honey]:
Putting on the egg was a lot more difficult than getting it out. I now understand why people usually mix it, but I will not do that in the future because the egg is already so strong. You know how uncooked egg likes to stick together? Well it was like that. There was no way I was getting more than like a teaspoon of egg at a time, and I tried using different grabbing methods /utensils. In the end, it just took a lot longer than a regular DC would have taken to put on, but it wasn't horrible or messy. It was pretty sticky on my hands, but that was in part due to the fact that I hadn't melted the raw honey. Then I washed it out.
Left is side that had egg on it at the time, right is before I did those. As you can see, I do things in braids now, but as of this afternooon, I have clips! Finally! So that'll make everything a whole lot easier!
Cowashing [Since last week, I have decided to cowash twice a week, shampoo every other week]:
I used VO5 Moisture Milks Strawberries and Cream conditioner to cowash my hair, sense I've been doing a cowash only thing. My natural curls are getting more defined as the days without shampooing pass [I can only tell when they're wet because my hair is always stretched, but yeah, definitely more defined], so I might actually keep this up longer than I was planning. I'm definitely skipping this weekend's wash.
Then I did a black tea and ACV rinse, which I definitely did not wash out all the way [accident] before applying Silk Elements Megasilk as an overnight DC.
Hair as I started to put the DC on it. Left has it, right does not.
Bad Hair Day?:
So...I get up, wash out the DC, add some Grape Seed Oil and some Raw Shea Butter and start to put in my Curlformers, and about 30 minutes after I finish my mom calls me saying, 'We have errands, so if you want to come you need to be ready in 3 minutes". Well, I love going out because I'm a huge nerd who does programming and never leaves the house [yay stereotypez]. But my hair is still very very wet.
- Blowdrying?: So I grabbed my mom's blowdrier [I've only ever blow dried my hair, in any way, about 5 times. Including this one and a few weeks ago when I tried the same thing] and started. But her blowdryer is old and doesn't have a 'cold shot' button, so I couldn't cool my hair down without waiting. I tried this, but just like last time my hair didn't get dry, though I did a much better job in those three minutes [plus the two she gave me] than any other time I've blowdried. Still, not doing that again. It was useless.
- Flat Twisting and eggs, result: Now I have even more love for my curlformers. Normally I do not style my hair when wet because I get huge breakage, but I figured the best way to keep my hair stretched was to flat twist, so I did. I'm still not good at flat twisting, I don't seem to have the strength to pull it taught, so I knew it wouldn't be very straight in the end, but no real choice. I made it look as cute as possible and we headed out. But I had to detangle wet hair to do this. I lost less than half the hair I usually lose, when my hair is dry and straight. [NOTE: I do not comb my hair on wash days. The Curlformer sets do a great job of getting rid of the vast majority of tangles in my hair.] So the egg worked amazingly! Even better than the treatments I've bought, which is good because the main reason I tried this is that I'm running out of them. My mom said the hair didn't look bad, just kind of puffy. We were both surprised by the huge shine the eggs gave me that I normally don't have unless my Curlformer sets have dried. So, bonus points there. Seriously though, my hair tangled up on itself like nobodies business and I was unhappy that I had to take out my CF. But it was worth it because I got to leave the house. Yay!
[I LOVE butterfly clips, but have 0 clips at all {too poor}, but it was metal and worth it because it wouldn't break like the last one :S. Then I realized it's probably not big enough for my hair either way.] I might still return and get it, it is one of the bigger hair claws that exist. Instead, I bought [for less than $5], 100 hair elastics [the clear ones that are larger, I have tiny black ones that I use to tie ponytails] and 12 large metal clips. So I finally have clips!
Got back home at 21:00~ish, put my hair in Curlformers, and I haven't taken them out yet.
Products Mentioned List: [new section! I didn't necessarily get them from the links, but it will always be the version in the picture.]
Raw Egg [Just...eggs from a store...nothing special at all]
Worked extremely well. I'll probably do this once a month. This is the best protein treatment I have ever used, including the ORS Hair Mayo I really like, so at least I have a very cheap replacement!
VO5 Moisture Milks Strawberries and Cream -- Got this from a food store that had a hair section. .72 cent there. Don't pay more than $1. This is amazing at cowashing. Firstly, you can use as much as you want because you don't need to worry about price [looking at you, salon brands] and it gives so much slip and smells so delicious. I'll keep buying this for cowashing, and it's one of the two 'made' products I'll keep buying.
Black Tea -- Can't find a link yet, no brand that I can remember. I'll try again and update. It was 100 bags for $1. I'll probably try Lipton next, though. It works well for shedding and making the smell of ACV slightly more tolerable. [I mix them.] It also gives shine and holds moisture a bit better [I've heard the caffeine makes protein stick longer, which makes moisture stick longer, so that...sort of makes sense?]
[+]
ACV, I actually got mine from GNC. Either way, never pay more than like 3 bucks for this. It smells horrendous, even worse than the ApHogee stuff people complain about. It's so bad that I will never buy it again. It's so useful, though, and cheap, but I've heard that Aloe Vera Juice works the same way [note: Aloe Vera Gel, does not. ACV is a ph balancer, and a clarifier, AVG is a good moisturizer, but ACJ actually has the proper ph levels--I'll need a new clarifyer, though]. Maybe if I ever start buying essential oils and can mask the smell, I'll try again.
Silk Elements Megasilk Moisture Treatment -- This goes on sale all the time. Only buy it if it's on sale. Mine cost like $7, I think. Can only be bought at Sally Beauty, I think. This is a good conditioner if you've got it on sale. It works really well, it smells nice, and it moisturizes better than lots of salon brands. I really like it, and if I didn't have Hair One to fall back on [and if it didn't cost MORE when it's not on sale O_o. I'd never seen the real price before today. $15? Cray] , I might even consider buying it again.
Grape Seed Oil -- about $7-8, but it's common and you can probably find cheaper and more expensive ones everywhere. I love grape seed oil because ceramides are awesome and because my hair loves using oil as a serum, especially coconut, jojoba, or grapeseed.
Raw Shea Butter: link coming soon. I love raw shea butter for hair and skin care. I use it in my lotion, and it's much better than other lotions to the point where I've tried to use other lotion and it's just depressing. Especially because theirs usually smells better :(. In hair, I use it as a sealant with light hold. My hair loves this stuff as a sealant.
Curlformers, bought from Sally Beauty Supply because it's slightly less if you're a member, and no shipping. I love these. We know this. I mean, for Cthulhu's sake: I don't have to comb my hair, it keeps it stretched for the entire week so I have no tangles to deal with on wash day, it's a great style, it's PERFECT for transitioning. I learned today how badly my hair needs to be stretched at all times, I'd taken it for granted because I didn't have that much ng before I got them, but they are almost necessary. I mean, I can think of how I could do this without them, but given that I've tried before, several times, to stretch more than 4 months [that was my average throughout my entire relaxed life, really], but it always got so bad. I have experienced none of those issues since buying these. Also, sexy hair, shine, so much bounce and movement...it's a dream. They're a dream. OK. They're not paying me. I wish they were. Honestly, I wish they were giving me those Extra Long and Extra Wide so I wouldn't have scraggly ends the first night >_>.
New items that aren't tested much:
100 Large Clear Hair Polybands: I don't do regular hair things [like the Goody Ouchless bands] anymore because the stuff inside is disgusting and my hair keeps making it come out [if they get stretched too much; almost all have], and the part that connects them breaks my hair [it's not metal, but it still snags. In the end, it's the same as just having metal for me]. I need to get silk ones, but I lose these too much. I have small black hair elastics, which cannot be used to hold even a fourth ponytail, so I use them to tie my ends, or hold tiny sections in place. They're great for that because they break way before doing anything bad to my hair, whereas normal bands just break my hair. I have about 500 of them, so literally I just pull my hair down / the elastic down and the elastic pops off without bothering me, then I trash it if it's broken. It's a much better system for me since they're cheap and easily replaceable, whereas the others are not. Plus, the material feels like it probably doesn't suck the moisture from my hair like regular bands. These stretch a lot more, so I'm enjoying them so far.
Conair Metal Hair Clips, pack of 12:
I dunno., Nothing special. They're medium sized, duckbill-y and metal. They're MUCH better than the various ways I've tried and I don't see them getting broken. I usually do 4 parts, so 12 means I can keep them in seperate groups and I'll have some if any get lost. Wewt wewt. They are extremely bendy, tthough.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Cowash Day!
Whoa. So my hair has been extremely dry the last few days, and my usual routines haven't even helped. As a result, I think it might be related to the flat ironing. I cowashed my hair using just Hair One Olive Oil.
I actually followed the directions for once [in a while. I usually don't need to because I DC differently now.] then rinsed it all out and added a lot more as a leave in [which is the same as my DC at this point.]
Few things of note happened:
I braided my hair instead of the usual way I separate it, which requires extra materials that I do not have [my hair breaks bands, claws and clips with ease]. The braids actually held! Twists usually don't, but the natural part of my hair at least never unraveled even under the rain of the shower head.
That worked extremely well and made me a happy camper. I will do it from now on!
Even with all of this my hair still felt a bit dry, so I applied a lot of coconut and grape seed oil. Then it softened up and I set it. It feels great now. I really wanted to try the heat thing, but now that I think about it, my hair has progressively been getting worse each week, and this was the worst it's been. Even though it's felt great the first day and a half, I've had to deal with dryness far beyond anything I've ever encountered. As a result of this I will no longer flat iron once a week.
Instead, I think I'll just cowash more often to keep moisture in my hair. I will cowash at least once a week, and wash once a week in addition to that. [Wash meaning with shampoo]. Instead of doing my lengthy moisturising and seal sessions, which now take the same amount of time as washing, I will just wash my hair that morning. I will have more moisture, and my sets will last longer. I remember that there was a time I cowashed twice a week for a few months and I remember my hair being healither, but I attributed it mostly to coconut oil. Coconut oil is great, but maybe the cowashing [well, I should say 'completely drenching the hair in water more often'] had a greater affect that I thought.
Anyway, here is my hair in a scarf. My hair wasn't completely dry, but I wanted to flatten the top anyway.
I actually followed the directions for once [in a while. I usually don't need to because I DC differently now.] then rinsed it all out and added a lot more as a leave in [which is the same as my DC at this point.]
Few things of note happened:
I braided my hair instead of the usual way I separate it, which requires extra materials that I do not have [my hair breaks bands, claws and clips with ease]. The braids actually held! Twists usually don't, but the natural part of my hair at least never unraveled even under the rain of the shower head.
That worked extremely well and made me a happy camper. I will do it from now on!
Even with all of this my hair still felt a bit dry, so I applied a lot of coconut and grape seed oil. Then it softened up and I set it. It feels great now. I really wanted to try the heat thing, but now that I think about it, my hair has progressively been getting worse each week, and this was the worst it's been. Even though it's felt great the first day and a half, I've had to deal with dryness far beyond anything I've ever encountered. As a result of this I will no longer flat iron once a week.
Instead, I think I'll just cowash more often to keep moisture in my hair. I will cowash at least once a week, and wash once a week in addition to that. [Wash meaning with shampoo]. Instead of doing my lengthy moisturising and seal sessions, which now take the same amount of time as washing, I will just wash my hair that morning. I will have more moisture, and my sets will last longer. I remember that there was a time I cowashed twice a week for a few months and I remember my hair being healither, but I attributed it mostly to coconut oil. Coconut oil is great, but maybe the cowashing [well, I should say 'completely drenching the hair in water more often'] had a greater affect that I thought.
Anyway, here is my hair in a scarf. My hair wasn't completely dry, but I wanted to flatten the top anyway.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
#9 Wash Day!
That number is SO off now. Whoops. Well, I've washed my hair at least once week. I started leaving in my DCs permanently instead of DCing, so I have to make sure to use shampoo at least once a week now instead of cowashing all the time. Last week, I cowashed because I was expecting to shampoo later, but I didn't. It actually worked pretty well, but I'm still a bit worried about doing that.
So, last night / this morning [weird sleep habits over break! Sorry] I washed my hair, air dried and flat ironed with a total of 4 products in my hair.
I shampooed with ApHogee for the first lather and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny for the second. Then I applied Hair One Olive Oil [I don't have much left anymore. So sad, but hey I have the Argan Oil version now, so that's cool.] and set my hair in Curlformers for about 3 hours. My hair was mostly dry when I took them out. I flat ironed the pieces that were puffy and dry, waiting for the pieces that were puffy and wet to dry before doing those [meaning I didn't do any pieces that were already very straight, because I've been very dizzy lately as a result of eating about one meal a day for the last bunch of weeks.]. I used Silk Element's heat protectant spray [NOT the Olive Oil version] It turned out OK. I mean, I like curls so this is actually kind of not my thing, but I'll probably just wet them and do another set tomorrow. Plus, my hair is so thin! :S
Once again, I am flat ironing ONLY to seal cuticles, at about 220 degrees. I've been so bored with the straightness though. I think I'll try various bunning styles. I did a sock bun a few days ago. It looked nice the first day and kind of meh following. I think the sock sucked the moisture from my hair. I need a real bun thing made of silk or something.
Boring picture. My phone's battery is dead I'll post one from the bathroom in a few hours!
So, last night / this morning [weird sleep habits over break! Sorry] I washed my hair, air dried and flat ironed with a total of 4 products in my hair.
I shampooed with ApHogee for the first lather and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny for the second. Then I applied Hair One Olive Oil [I don't have much left anymore. So sad, but hey I have the Argan Oil version now, so that's cool.] and set my hair in Curlformers for about 3 hours. My hair was mostly dry when I took them out. I flat ironed the pieces that were puffy and dry, waiting for the pieces that were puffy and wet to dry before doing those [meaning I didn't do any pieces that were already very straight, because I've been very dizzy lately as a result of eating about one meal a day for the last bunch of weeks.]. I used Silk Element's heat protectant spray [NOT the Olive Oil version] It turned out OK. I mean, I like curls so this is actually kind of not my thing, but I'll probably just wet them and do another set tomorrow. Plus, my hair is so thin! :S
Once again, I am flat ironing ONLY to seal cuticles, at about 220 degrees. I've been so bored with the straightness though. I think I'll try various bunning styles. I did a sock bun a few days ago. It looked nice the first day and kind of meh following. I think the sock sucked the moisture from my hair. I need a real bun thing made of silk or something.
Boring picture. My phone's battery is dead I'll post one from the bathroom in a few hours!
That pony is so tiny. Weird to see my hair so flat and thin. O_o
Flat Ironing...can help retain length and moisture!?
Whoa, my readership seems to have jumped a bit in the time I wasn't posting. I wonder what that means O_o. Anyway, I've been really busy since there were finals and now it's summer break. I had a few things to do [I went to ACen, for one] but now it's very close to my birthday and I'm just relaxing.
So, I bought more Hair One, of the Argan Oil variety, since I said that's the only real hair product I'm going to buy more of, but Sally's gave me a free heat protectant, and I didn't have one before so I decided why not. So now I have Silk Elements' thing. I'll review it at the end of the month. I started attempting to flat iron once a week. Why!? You were doing so well, you might say. Which is weird, since you're talking to a computer screen. Cut that out.
Well...my hair had stayed at the same length for a few months now, even though I decided not to relax anymore. I know that yes, my relaxed hair is still fragile, but I've had growth where I've retained all length per month when I was flat ironing. I asked myself why, and decided to flat iron my hair for ACen [since I was going as Martha Jones. A character who wears her straight hair in a spiky ponytail, though my hair is longer and didn't spike as well >.>] When I did, I noticed that my hair was how it usually is when I [read: not my stylists] flat iron, it feels more mosturised, and smoother, but I still didn't see the most important thing. When ACen was over, I did a curlformer set with my usual homemade LOC [except the cream is actually Eco Styler Gel now, and it works *great* for a protein boost!]. When I took my hair out of the curlformers, it felt more mosturised than normal. I realised what probably happened was that the heat makes my cuticles lay down for a much longer time than anything else.
Benefits of flat ironing [WHAT?]:
If I flat iron once a week at low [220-ish] heat, I can retain moisture better and longer because my cuticles stay sealed until my next wash, even after I have re-moisturised my hair to do a Curlformer set. While there are very few benefits for flat ironing, I do know that I've gained length while flat ironing far too many times a week, from back when I used to have heat junkie tendencies. I have been very afraid of it since then, but now I think it might help, because I also manipulate less when my hair is flat ironed, because I feel less of a desire to style it. So, all of this month I plan to flat iron once a week at low heat and see if my hair retains more length than normal. Though, in the future, I am planning on doing it once every other week at the most. Tl;dr low heat means better moisture retention and less manipulation throughout the week.
My regimen:
Well, I'm still trying to use up products that I got back when I was a product junkie. So, I've been unfortunately using things that don't work as well for my hair as my homemade products and / or Hair One, but here it goes.
Keep up the Protein: since I'm doing flat ironing again, I will do a protein DC probably about every other week [that seems to be the frequency my hair likes, as long as I use a protein leave in a few times a week].
Moisturize: as often as needed, even more than once a day if it comes to that.
DC once a week, or at least before every heat session. Do not ever flat iron without having done an intense moisture treatment beforehand. This is a general rule fore everyone.
Do a Set and Airdry: immediately after washing, set hair with no setting product and air dry in it. This way the hair will be stretched already and you don't use any more heat than necessary.
Flat Iron on low heat: Never above 300. I'll probably just stay at 220 in general, though. I'm not really trying to get it straight, the sets do that.
Optional--put hair back in set: This is the only way my hair will get completely straight. As mentioned before, flat ironing my hair doesn't tend to make it completely straight, the natural part is straight but still entirely too thick and noticeable. I'm usually okay with it, but I've found that putting my hair back in the curlformers right after the heat makes it get completely stretched.
Stay tuned for my latest wash day!
So, I bought more Hair One, of the Argan Oil variety, since I said that's the only real hair product I'm going to buy more of, but Sally's gave me a free heat protectant, and I didn't have one before so I decided why not. So now I have Silk Elements' thing. I'll review it at the end of the month. I started attempting to flat iron once a week. Why!? You were doing so well, you might say. Which is weird, since you're talking to a computer screen. Cut that out.
Flat Ironing once a week, why?
Story:Well...my hair had stayed at the same length for a few months now, even though I decided not to relax anymore. I know that yes, my relaxed hair is still fragile, but I've had growth where I've retained all length per month when I was flat ironing. I asked myself why, and decided to flat iron my hair for ACen [since I was going as Martha Jones. A character who wears her straight hair in a spiky ponytail, though my hair is longer and didn't spike as well >.>] When I did, I noticed that my hair was how it usually is when I [read: not my stylists] flat iron, it feels more mosturised, and smoother, but I still didn't see the most important thing. When ACen was over, I did a curlformer set with my usual homemade LOC [except the cream is actually Eco Styler Gel now, and it works *great* for a protein boost!]. When I took my hair out of the curlformers, it felt more mosturised than normal. I realised what probably happened was that the heat makes my cuticles lay down for a much longer time than anything else.
Benefits of flat ironing [WHAT?]:
If I flat iron once a week at low [220-ish] heat, I can retain moisture better and longer because my cuticles stay sealed until my next wash, even after I have re-moisturised my hair to do a Curlformer set. While there are very few benefits for flat ironing, I do know that I've gained length while flat ironing far too many times a week, from back when I used to have heat junkie tendencies. I have been very afraid of it since then, but now I think it might help, because I also manipulate less when my hair is flat ironed, because I feel less of a desire to style it. So, all of this month I plan to flat iron once a week at low heat and see if my hair retains more length than normal. Though, in the future, I am planning on doing it once every other week at the most. Tl;dr low heat means better moisture retention and less manipulation throughout the week.
My regimen:
Well, I'm still trying to use up products that I got back when I was a product junkie. So, I've been unfortunately using things that don't work as well for my hair as my homemade products and / or Hair One, but here it goes.
Keep up the Protein: since I'm doing flat ironing again, I will do a protein DC probably about every other week [that seems to be the frequency my hair likes, as long as I use a protein leave in a few times a week].
Moisturize: as often as needed, even more than once a day if it comes to that.
DC once a week, or at least before every heat session. Do not ever flat iron without having done an intense moisture treatment beforehand. This is a general rule fore everyone.
Do a Set and Airdry: immediately after washing, set hair with no setting product and air dry in it. This way the hair will be stretched already and you don't use any more heat than necessary.
Flat Iron on low heat: Never above 300. I'll probably just stay at 220 in general, though. I'm not really trying to get it straight, the sets do that.
Optional--put hair back in set: This is the only way my hair will get completely straight. As mentioned before, flat ironing my hair doesn't tend to make it completely straight, the natural part is straight but still entirely too thick and noticeable. I'm usually okay with it, but I've found that putting my hair back in the curlformers right after the heat makes it get completely stretched.
Stay tuned for my latest wash day!
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