Wash Day #2 of Week of May 25

EXXTREME MOIZTURE CHALLUNGE

Because making letters different makes it more extreme, right?

You may have noticed my posts are longer. I've decided to make this more informative by describing each important product / word every time I write a post. I'm doing this so that you can see how things change over time. I means I can write a review of a product several times, and see how it changes. It also means you don't have to find my older posts to learn what, for example, an anti-humectant is. Feel free to skip anything you know ^_^.

So I did my second wash yesterday and I actually used a soft bonnet hair drier for thirty minutes. New products! I just got these two days ago because my Walgreens had a *huge* sale on Shea Moisture, As I Am and a bunch of other stuff. I figured that I'd get them because I'm probably never going to see any of these products on such a large sale again, and I wanted to try them.

The night before I twisted my hair up, as you've seen below. I did that using the Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie.  I think this product may be an antihumectant. Basically, it's a finisher. It isn't supposed to moisturize, condition or anything else like that. Don't get confused! It is supposed to add shine, close the cuticle and work to prevent frizz by blocking excess moisture penetration and loss. Some of the ingredients, however, are moisturizing, including glycerin, so I don't know how well it will work for preventing frizz because of that. Since I only used it overnight, I don't have much experience with it other than it was my best twists and twistout yet.
I do know that this product is the best thing I've ever used to separate curls and twists; it causes virtually no frizz. I also know that it took a very long time to dry and a larger amount of water than normal for my hair to revert to its natural state. As it was just a twist out on an old Curlformer set, I know it's not heat damage. The only new product is this smoothie, so this smoothie is probably a very good antihumectant.  That's amazing, and I really hope that this will continue to remain true and allow my sets to last through this Chicago Summer.

Anti-humectant: By this point you should know that a humectant is a thing that absorbs water into itself. Like if you leave a strong humectant on a table, you will get that humectant + water after a few hours. Literally collected right out of the air.  An anti-humectant, on the other hand, is a thing that prevents water from penetrating it.

• Humectants are good for deep conditioning, and are good to seal into your hair so that you can hold onto the moisture you have. If you are okay with frizz you do not need to seal them and they will continue to attract moisture to your hair as long as they are in your hair, all day. The problem is if they do not penetrate, you will lose more moisture as the humectant balances itself and the air around you.
• Anti-humectants are good for when you have a style that you really don't want to revert. A lot of natural things act as anti-humectants, including most oils and shea butter, however they are not very strong. Cones work even better, and are the main ingredient in most anti-humectant products like the acclaimed Sabino products [Moisture Block, and Lok and Block, I believe they are called.] and the newer Aveda Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade. I've not used any of those products so I can't comment on them. Basically, if you flat iron and apply them, your style should not revert even in humid conditions. In fact, last I checked, Sabino had a girl enter a sauna and she left a few hours later with still straight hair. Crazy, right? I want to try these so badly, I just don't have the money.

Process:

I'm thinking of dating pictures during the process if I ever get a better camera.

Cleanse:
I used Shea Moisture African Black Soap Purification Masque.  I applied it very thickly, probably much more than I should have but on first use I like to make sure I know exactly how the product works. I did make a dent in the container, but only a small one. I sectioned my hair into 10 bantu knots again [this means I don't need to use clips. They're useful, but I feel like they're unnecessary for washing.] and quickly dampened my hair by simply smoothing water over it until it reverted. As mentioned before, this took quite a bit more water than I'm used to due to the Curl Enhancing Smoothie, but I'm glad.
I then applied the mask on my ends, and then directly onto my scalp thickly, a lot like a relaxer. I then smoothed some onto the length of the hair and knotted back up.  After doing that in each section, I worked out for 25 minutes and allowed the heat to let the masque penetrate. I then rinsed my hair in the shower in sections.

The Shea Moisture African Black Soap Purification Masque smells...weird. I didn't like it when I opened it originally, and I thought it was too jelly.  When I actually used it last night, however, the smell wasn't bad anymore, just kind of clay like. The texture was also much creamier than I originally thought and it smoothed on extremely well. You could tell where it was in your hair, and it had a nice, cooling sensation. My scalp itching does seem to have decreased a bit, but I'll have to keep using this to see the long term effects. It rinsed easily and seemed to take all the extra stuff off while cleansing my scalp. It did a much better job than the shampoos I use, and was on par with the As I Am Coconut Cowash in terms of scalp cleaning, yet not as strong on my hair. I really like this product and will use it whenever I need a good scalp cleansing and to rinse off my homemade products [which don't contain products that stick to the hair and need sulfates.]  The As I Am will now be for more harsh things, like if I use a company's conditioner(s).

Condition:
After rinsing 2 sections at a time, I'd apply my homemade deep conditioner. When I finished all the sections I reapplied it out of the shower [I do this in case the water washes some of the conditioner off.] I twisted the hair back into bantu knots and let my body heat work for a while.  While I was twisting the hair, it felt so incredibly smooth I wasn't sure what was going on.  I don't know exactly how to describe it, but the texture actually felt different. I liked it a ton, but it was definitely different.

I applied my homemade conditioner a lot more sparingly than last time. It was still a lot of product, but I figured I didn't need as much since I'd just DCed a few days ago. It felt great going on and gave me a little curl definition as well.

Style:
I took each section down, combed the hair and applied the Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie, then roller set. Then I actually dried using a soft bonnet, [and then worked out with the Curlformers! Crazy.] but I decided at the end that I wanted to just leave them in until Friday [the day I'm writing this] in case I randomly decided to go out.

The Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie is one of those products where a little goes a long way. I applied a finger tip portion to two to each two roller sections.  It smoothed on nicely, and I could feel that my cuticles were nice and closed. I got a ton of shine from this product even just from the application.
 
Rollers out and Pictures:
For some reason, my hair doesn't seem to respond when I take it out of the curler and recurl it later, because they weren't curled this morning....it didn't work!?  Well, my hair is so smooth and shiny due to the smoothie that I think my moisture will stay even longer than it already has been this week!  It is a tad firmer than I expected, but I'm actually okay with that because it feels like my curls will stay nicely defined all day. It's not hard, in fact it's soft, it's just very firm. Pictures abound!

 I always know my hair is really moisturized when it the sets come out extra short.

 Only one of them ended up curling so I just made them into bangs.

So there you have it. Today's style. I dunno what I'm going to do for tomorrow, we'll see if the moisture holds up.

Wash Day #1 of Week of May 25 2014

EXXTREME MOISTURE CHALLENGE!

It's more extreme if you add another x, right?

I'm doing a self imposed challenge of doing a major DC session three to six times in two weeks. I've done the first two on Sunday and today, Thursday. I plan on doing another one Sunday depending on if I have any major plans [though now that I have a soft bonnet I can probably dry my hair fast enough to not ruin any plans.] Basically, the very first sign of moisture loss is a signal for a DC. We'll see if I get over conditioned or something. Due to how awesome my new homemade DC, it's been three/four days instead of 1.5!

As you know, I've been bad. Cones and mineral oil abounded in my poor locks, but I found my last can of coconut oil and decided to begin anew.

Sunday Wash

I began with a clarifying shampoo to remove all the crap. I actually used two shampoos but kind of quit halfway through with the second one since it wasn't a clarifier. I used Ion Clarifying Shampoo and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny's shampoo line [I still have like 1/4 of that tiny trial bottle I got several years ago!] The one I quit on, obviously, was the non-clarifier. I did this in 10 sections, five on each side and when I finished rinsing I applied my homemade protein treatment and bantu knotted the section back up. I waited for about 45 minutes before rinsing it out and cowashing [I was determined to get my hair clean.] with As I Am Coconut Cowash, which I bought on a whim at Sally's a while back. I then applied my homemade moisturizing DC twice. Once after each two sections [I do one from left and one from right at the same time] were done, [then I'd hop back into the shower to do the next two sections] and again when I was done. I proceeded to work out hard for about 30-40 minutes, letting my body heat warm up the conditioner.

Now, I put a ridiculous amount of conditioner on my hair. I was afraid it'd either get over-conditioned or hard. It was one of those where you could see the product sweating out as I twisted my hair up. When I took it down to put the rollers in, my hair looked like I'd just applied a normal amount. My hair ate that conditioner like some sort of bawse. It was glorious. Anyway, I applied my hair moisturizer [this is new but I don't remember the ingredients and frankly, it isn't necessary.] and set.  I woke up the next morning to the smoothest, shiniest set I've ever had, but guess what? It was still damp! :(

I washed my Curlformers the night before and wet rollers = really long drying time. I had an appointment I couldn't miss, though, so I just lightly blow dried from far away with cool air. My hair has never looked that good while still partially wet, and dry was even better. I wish I had a picture, but my electronic devices tend to hate me. My day hair style was the bantu knot out you've seen:

 In a mirror

I dunno why I had on my homemade lip balm that day. Boredom?

Selfie

Dat moisture doe. Mmm.

Thuesday I rocked a twistout and on Wednesday I was about to retwist just to get my hair out of the way and get more twisting practice. Here's a pic of it half done:

 Sorry, this was the only camera I had!

I want to get better at twists, and at making my fro more round. I just subscribed to a YouTube hair girl I'd actually been following for a while and I noticed how beautifully round her hair is. I think mine might be weird because of all the relaxed hair pieces at the ends, but I'm planning to play around with it on Sunday's wash day.

Ion Clarifying Shampoo: I really like this because it gets my hair squeeky, horribly, definitely clean. I know a lot of people hate that feeling but I only use it when I know I've done something bad and need to start over. It works really well for that and I'd give it a 10/10 for this purpose. However, because of all the above, I wouldn't use it for anything else.

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Shampoo: I enjoyed this back when I was actually using shampoo every wash day. It got my hair clean but not rough, and it smelled great. As far as actual shampoos go, it's wonderful. I just don't really have a need for them anymore. It's my favourite of the ones I've used, though. Not that that's saying much.

As I Am Coconut Cowash: This product is amazing. I used to use VO5 to give my hair a nice cleaning without taking out too much of the bad stuff, but this is better in every way. I don't have to use nearly as much of the product, and so I've realised that I can actually just buy this because I get more mileage [yay, math!] per bottle than I would buying an equivalent amount in dollars of VO5. If you use it once, you get more defined, slightly more moisturized and much cleaner hair. If you go through a second time, you get really clean hair. It's versatile and wonderful. It also has a lot of slip for detangling.

The Walgreens near my house had/is having a HUGE sale on As I Am and Shea Moisture products. Since I liked the SM so much, I got some. You'll see my reviews tomorrow for m Thursday Wash Day blahblah post.

New Protein Treatment, Deep Conditioner and Face Mask Recipes!

I made a face mask last week and have applied it every other day since then. My pimples are almost *completely* gone even though I'm still working out and sweating hard. This is good.
I made a DC because I ran out of the amazing Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque about a month ago and have started DCing with coconut milk or cream recently. This time, though, inspired by my return to watching awesome hair gurus on YouTube, I tried making another DC and it worked so well my hair is still moisturized intensely two days later with tons of shine and significantly less breakage [nearly 1/5 of normal for the past two days, I might actually be able to use the Denman if this keeps up!]  and it stretches better: I can actually get my hair straight when I pull it taut to comb it [which is probably helping to stop breakage by making detangling easier.] The only problem is that overuse [I used it against yesterday. It was unnecessary, though.] makes hair sticky. I think that's related to the honey, so I'll have to use less next time.

Disclaimer: Every bit of information below is from my own memory so I apologize if it's bit off. In an effort to not lie, anything that I can't remember the validity of is not included. Feel free to tell me if something is wrong, especially if you have links to scientific articles.

Face Mask:

1:1 [3 TBs?] ratio of Turmeric powder and Bentonite clay, 1TBs of AVG, 1/4 TBS of honey, 1.5 TBs Castor Oil [this was an accident, actually...], 1 TBS Grapeseed oil [what I meant to use], ACV to desired consistency.

This makes...a lot...of this. For my skin stuff, I don't really know how many uses I get out of things. Several weeks, generally.

Turmeric is a thing that apparently tons of people already own [I didn't]. It's a curry powder and is delicious. It's also one of the most healing things in the world. It's actually higher on my list than Aloe Vera Gel! I use them both, though. It's great for healing spots, bumps, bruises, etc, but nothing open. It's amazing at fading closed scars, discolouration, and it leaves the skin so soft and smooth you might be surprised it's your skin, but it stains something fierce. Turmeric also stunts hair growth, so try not to use it on problematic areas where you want more hair. It is good if you're trying to slow some thing's growth, like legs or facial hair.

So, If you are white [not Caucasian necessarily, but if your skin is pigmented white] use this very sparingly. You will be yellow for a few hours if you use to much, perhaps even overnight! If you're darker, it'll make your skin look more golden. Some people don't like this but I actually think it's cool. Just make sure you use a yellow / red / black towel! Seriously! Mine is red. Do this every time you wash your face for the next like two days or so. Make sure you thoroughly clean your sink, and don't ever let little spots of clay sit on any surface. If you wait too long, you'll need to get some actual detergent or something, and do a hard cleaning. I get mine from Trader Joe's because that's where I saw it the first time. I haven't researched brands yet, but it works so...


Bentonite clay is another healing ingredient. Honestly, it's like a lower powered version of turmeric or aloe vera.  It's good at removing minerals and oils and other things you might have lodged in your skin.  It's not as good as Rhassoul clay, and the PH is different, so you must balance it out before applying it to your skin. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is amazing, it's just surrounded by other, slightly more amazing stuff :P. When I use this to make cleansing hair masks, it sometimes develops a weird, jelly-like texture. I'm not sure what causes it, but it's still usable, just strange.


Aloe Vera Gel you probably know about this already. It's incredibly healing, doesn't agitate even sensitive skins and is great at healing acne. This is better than turmeric for cuts, open wounds and burn type things. It's good at healing bumps and bruises as well, less so for spots and hyperpigmentation. It's amazing for itchy skin relief, it's the major reason my legs aren't causing me to scratch holes into my pants. This was a serious, costly issue for me.

Honey is a humectant, which means it attracts moisture to itself. It is rumoured that AVG is as well, and glycerin is probably the most humectant of all of them because if you leave it sitting out [open] you can see a great deal of water in the container. I would like glycerin to try, however, I do not have the money. Honey has multiple bodily uses: hair, skin and food / natural sugar. Glycerin would only be used for hair and possibly skin for me. Honey has a bunch of micronutrients and imparts shine, but in very high prolonged [probably more than a cup, and for several hours with heat] exposure, it can lighten hair. You might not want this, so make sure you always wash out the honey before it can work [it is the same process as lemon, just a lot healthier for your hair]. Generally, normal use will not create this issue. Now, heating honey [or anything] tends to destroy the nutrients. As a result, I do not heat my honey. I make a simple syrup with honey dissolved in water [takes a while] and I use that in all my products. I also use it on things I'd normally put syrup on.  This does means my concentration of honey is pretty low, unless I add a whole lot of syrup, but honestly you don't need that much honey unless you really want to lighten your hair.

Castor Oil is an amazing antibacterial oil that promotes hair growth, because of this, people apply it to their scalps weekly or so. I've done this, but it hasn't been a dramatic increase.  I mostly do it because my scalp needs more moisture [I have extremely dry, itchy, skin] and it's the only oil I trust to not break out my scalp [except maybe grapeseed.]  I tend to add a bit of it to skin products, but it is slightly drying when not balanced with other carrier oils.  Castor oil is a key ingredient in oil cleansing, which I do every other day alternating with this very mask!
There is debate between whether castor oil or Jamaican black castor oil is better. The difference is only that, at the end, they add the ash from the seeds back into the mix.  Honestly, it smells bad and I'm not sure I really need ash in my oil so I haven't bothered. I don't think the nutrients come from burned residue, for reasons stated above, but I'll probably end up trying it eventually.  I accidentally added way too much of this, but my skin seems to be okay.
This oil makes the most wonderful serum/sealant, because it's thick, smooths the cuticle and imparts a lot of shine. It's the reason I haven't bought Vitamin E oil yet, I don't need a serum any more, I just use straight Castor Oil instead..

Grapeseed Oil is an extremely light oil that is noncomedogenic. That means it can't clog your pores. A lot of oils claimed to not be able to clog my pores, yet they did. Grapeseed and castor are literally the only two oils that I can use on my skin without breaking out.  Coconut, while great for my hair and for food, breaks me out. Jojoba broke me out even though it's a wax esthor and not an oil, and even mimics the sebum [natural oil] in skin, apparently. So did every other oil I own, so grapeseed goes into my lotion, hair oil, face masks, etc. I even use it as a heat protectant [I used to use jojoba, but it didn't end up having enough different uses for me to keep it. I'm very picky on that matter.]
Grapeseed oil might contain ceramides, a protein-like chain that does wonders for people who don't need too much protein or who might have issues using normal proteins, but I need a much harder protein.  This doesn't make my hair stronger, but it does work well in my hair oil as the only nonpenetrating oil. [EVOO and Coconut oil are penetrating, and I've heard that Argan can as well.]
When oil penetrates the hair, it acts like a protein and holds onto moisture for you, it also prevents the hair from absorbing so much water that it swells and becomes weaker, which is called hydral fatigue.

Apple Cider Vinegar:  This is a highly acidic substance that is good for hair and as a supplement. I do not use it for such and will probably switch to either regular vinegar or aloe vera juice [which is more acidic than the gel].  It smells very harsh, but is the best way to make a basic solution more acidic to close the cuticle. It imparts shine and smoothes hair like no other substance I've ever used, but sometimes might give your hair a red tinge [at least, in my experience. It seems to have done the same to a few other people as well.]
I use this a lot, and have actually bought a second container in case the AVJ doesn't work as well, because PH balance can be the difference between frizz and curls. I like curls, so...

Extremely Hard Protein Treatment:

Black Tea [Try for less than 4oz]

Gelatin

Apple Cider Vinegar [1.5 tsp]

Good for one wash. Seriously, this stuff expires quickly and you can't really stick it in the fridge unless you want protein jello. Use it all / don't make too much!!!

First, make black tea as black as you want, preferably with less than 4oz water. After removing bags / straining, pour that into a pot and boil it. As it starts to boil, add the gelatin [I use a Knox packet] and stir so it mixes without clumping. I then took it off the heat and added about 1.5 tsps of ACV.

Make sure you wait for this to cool down! Also, the idea of using gelatin comes from the Sciency Hair Blog, which I love...so much. I mean...science? Yes plz.
 
Why?
Black Tea helps shine, the caffeine is a DHT blocker which halts shedding [if applied to scalp] and it darkens hair slightly. This is not permanent, but if you want blacker, shinier hair, you should use this at every wash! I have before/after pictures on this blog that might help give you an idea.  Every time I stop using this and then remember to do it again, I wonder how I forgot [probably because it's tea! Heh.]

Gelatin is a VERY hard, protein. This is serious, probably stronger than the loved incredibly hard Two Step Protein Treatment by ApHogee. I've never used it, so I can't say. So beware if you are even a LITTLE protein sensitive to not do this treatment. Only do this if, like me, all those store bought protein treatment never worked for you :(.

Apple Cider Vinegar [see above].

Extremely Moisturizing Deep Conditioner:

Raw Honey [2TBs]

    Random extra honey - not necessary

Coconut Milk 7-8 oz?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 4oz?

Aloe  Vera Gel  2oz?

Enough for 2-3 conditioning sessions [4-5 if you have less hair/use less product]. Please refrigerate this unless you deep condition your hair like every day. I'm doing every third day for two weeks [it's a personal challenge] and even I stuck it in there. Things only last as long as the shortest expiration date, and coconut milk is pretty fast.

Once again, this is extremely concentrated. You might over condition your hair with it. You guys remember how I love that 'full' feeling? Coconut Milk is the only thing that's ever given me too much of that feeling and weighted my hair down to the point where it seemed like I must have flat ironed it or something.
I put the raw honey [Ys Eco Bee Farms, but this doesn't matter] into a container, but this was still hard so I let it sit for a little while. I took a can of Coconut Milk [Thai Kitchen. Honestly, the brand doesn't matter but this one seems to be the thickest I've tried.] and poured uhh, about...7oz of it into a different container, so I didn't use the whole can. I poured the rest onto the honey and mashed it a bit until most of the honey melted. Then, I randomly came upon more, non raw honey which was syrupy and just poured some in there...why not? After waiting for that to melt [I could have mixed it, food processors are awesome, btw.  You might not know all the amazing applications if you don't have one, but they're incredibly versatile!] I poured in EVOO. I'm not sure how much, I just kept pouring until it looked good. It created a layer over the top of the rest of the ingredients so I mixed it with a spoon. Much later, I squirted what was probably 2oz of AVG into the mix and stirred.

Raw Honey: [See Above]
Coconut Milk: As you probably know by now, Coconut Milk is the best conditioner that has ever touched my hair. End of discussion.  Why? It really sinks into my hair. So here are some facts about coconut: coconut oil is the most penetrating oil of all the ones that actually penetrate [well, of the tested ones...science may march on after this post, lol.] It is comprised of really healthy fats that are just incredibly tiny and can actually get into the strands and prevent hydral fatigue by making up that space for you.  Because it penetrates so well, it can act as a protein, helping fortify your hair from the inside without actually causing as much damage as a person with protein sensitivity may normally receive. Coconut milk, therefore is a super penetrating liquid AND oil combined into one amazing conditioning ingredient. I couldn't go without this stuff, it's my one true staple.  People use coconut milk as a 'natural relaxer' because it weighs down your hair due to how much of it actually penetrates. It makes my hair significantly more springy, shiny, conditioned, strong, healthy and defined than literally anything else.  When I do roller sets following a coconut milk DC, my hair comes out smooth and basically straight. When I apply it to my hair, my natural curls spring right back up [they tend to get droopy while I do my whole washing process] There's no tugging or pulling to get anything flat [which I can't really do with my tender head.] and my hair stays moisturized for longer than any other product as well. Seriously, try this. Trader Joe's sold some for like 1 or so last I was there, that might still be a thing.   I do have an article about coconut milk, so I won't say anything else :P.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil:  Tons of people use and love this without exactly knowing why. I didn't actually ever get any until this year because I had coconut oil, but this is cheaper and more readily available.  It's the second most penetrating oil, and it's incredibly useful in a DC that you're going to warm up. If you can't get extra/virgin coconut oil, get some EVOO, heat it up and do a hot oil treatment. The results are a win!
Aloe Vera Gel: [See Above]

So there you have it. I mostly posted this so I could remember the amazing ingredients in these super strong treatments. In the time of writing this, I actually DC'd again and my hair breakage is still so little that I used my denman in the front! Amazing~
I'll try to post pictures of the set in the morning!

Did my mother's hair last night!!! Also, see my hair in a mostly-natural bantu knot out!

Last night my mom, who is a serious relaxed head who dislikes managing her natural texture, finally asked me to help her with her hair for a new [free] look.  She normally rocks a ponytail, a salon Just-Relaxed and Flat-Ironed look, or long braids.
I'd offered to do it for her before but she's always gone to other family members or just waited and paid for a salon visit. It's been a few years since I got up on my hair game and she recently saw me with four flat twists and made a comment on how she wanted to change up her hair. This past week, she asked me to show her how to do the twists, but she didn't seem very confident in trying. I told her I could rollerset her and she decided she was willing to try it.
So, while she played Backgammon [I think...might have been Pachisi, I wasn't paying much attention] I conditioned and roller set her hair.
I've been really bad recently, you guys. Like, cones and nonCG all over the place since I ran out of my conditioner and we  lost all my coconut milk moving out of my dorm [though, I found a can this morning!!! I'm planning on trying to get back into it some time at the end of this week with a serious cleanse and then restarting. Sigh.]
So, on my mom's hair, especially since she doesn't care about cones or anything, I used the following:

Process:

I dampened her hair with a bit of water to make it more malleable, then applied Hair One Argan Oil, to her strands and roots. I then slowly combed out her matted roots, taking care to not irritate her scalp [though, she said it was fine. I'm not sure if she was just being a nice mom, though!] I used my old broken Hercules Sagemann comb to detangle and followed up with some Garnier Fructice Sleek and Shine Anti-Frizz serum [have I mentioned my old room mate gave this to me? It smells great...it's good if you're doing a flat iron / don't care about cones week, but I prefer Paul Mitchel Super Skinny] then I followed with my modified Denman brush. It did like no damage to her hair, unlike mine, so I ended up doing every section this way. I want to say I used about 9 sections.

• Her hair is severely broken at the crown, all the way up to the natural hair. The fact that her natural hair is fine means the relaxer is doing serious damage to her hair, which is especially obvious because of how incredibly thick her natural hair is. It's a much more dramatic shift than mine [mainly because her relaxed hair is pretty thin], which I had previously thought was pretty damn dramatic.

After detangling and smoothing, I set her hair on Curlformers and it took her hair about 2.5-3 hours to dry. I didn't even know hair could dry that fast! Anyway, she took it out and it looked great. We fluffed it up a bit with out fingers. It's actually the same style she gets from a salon, so she liked that...but what she said after is what really surprised me. She said "Whoa, it's so soft."

I know this might seem weird to you, but I've never heard my mom remark on the quality of her hair, just the look. She seemed to really appreciate how much more manageable and soft it was, so my Ultimate Plan (tm, right?) To Get My Mom To Do Her Own Hair [not including relaxers, if she still wants those, I can see how hard that'd be to do to your own hair.] is underway! So, we'll see how well this continues, how long her hair holds onto the moisture, etc.  Unfortunately, I'm not posting a picture because my mom doesn't like her info on the web! Sorry!

As for me, I did an overnight bantu knot out and ended up with a curly fro. I felt like being glamorous so I applied my homemade tinted lip balm and took a picture. It was not this shiny when I originally applied the balm, but I think my skin warmed it up and made it shinier or something. Here's a pic to make up for the lack of one above:

It's weird to see the results of something I used to do with relaxed hair look so incredibly different. Here's a pic of an old overnight knot out on relaxed hair:

Flat Ironed Hair

Hey guys, it's been a while, I know.
I've been really into fitness and hair styling + fitness = reversion. As a result, I haven't really done much because it's been like 'Well, I'm just going to sweat it out in a few hours and I could use this time to actually work out.'
Before my most recent thing, I wanted to say that I tried to start using cones to see if  I could reap the benefits a few people have received. Nope. I clarified and went back to my routine.

Now, my hair's happiness has been suffering because I tried washing it then using ridiculous amounts of gel to get it to stay. Spoiler alert: that doesn't work. The hair near my crown reverted and the rest of it was stiff and hard. I ended up bunning it forever until last night when I finally realized I couldn't keep it like this. [I'm sure my friends were unamused as well...]
Last night, I cowashed my hair with VO5 then deep conditioned with ORS Hair Mayo [I know, I know, but I hadn't made any gelatin and I was literally just getting out of the shower and didn't have much of a choice. :( I ran out / have VERY little left anyway, so it won't happen again.] I left that in for a few hours while working out to get a DEEP protein treatment, and then I rinsed it, semi-dried my hair under a turbie twist, then finally applied coconut milk which I left in overnight under a shower cap.
I woke up the next morning and my hair was only mildly wet, as I'd hoped. I set it with Curlformers while applying my oil mix, and went to one of my awesome jobs where no one would see me, MUAHAHAHA.
After work [only two hours], I got back, made a ton of pastries [none of which came out well] and then took out the now dry set. I flat ironed on about 270°.
Out of the set, my hair was already much better looking than it had previously been. Almost every piece was very smooth, it was moisturized...I could have just left it like that if I weren't trying to test this out.
Anyway, here are the results:

My hair is still the same it's always been, right below the bottom of my bra. It's about 3/4 natural, or more...

Bentonite [Calcuim] Clay washes and the Denman Brush [and the Hercules Sagemann]

So, I've had Moroccan Red / Rhassoul clay for a while, but it's mildly expensive so I mostly use it on my skin.  I got Bentonite because it's cheaper and doesn't stain [I actually have two red towels just for the red clay! Sigh.]
I use it for hair and skin care, actually, but I've taken a break recently because clay is a little harsh and my face hated the stage makeup I've had to wear.
Anyway, I've been using the clay in my hair because some people use it instead of shampoo or as a cleansing conditioner.
Calcium Bentonite Clay:
It's absolutely amazing. My hair feels clean but not stripped, and is a little darker/richer and much shinier than before. The only problem is that it's a bit hard to wash out completely. Incidentally, it's also difficult to get off your face.
I use several [plastic, do not let metal touch clay!] tablespoons of Bentonite Clay, a little Rhassoul Clay [a spoonful or maybe just half of one], a few spoonfuls of raw honey, some grape seed oil, coconut oil, castor oil [not measured, but not much either] and a lot of coconut milk, followed by enough Apple Cider Vinegar to get it to the right texture. I've actually tried white distilled in it's place and while it's good, I don't like it as much, but I'd use it in a pinch, definitely. I applied it to damp hair and left it in for a few hours. When I rinsed it out, my hair was soft, didn't have many tangles and just much healthier looking and feeling. I use it after my weekly gelatin protein treatment and my hair feels full. In fact, applying more coconut milk to my hair actually makes it feel too full, (weighed down even!) so I don't do much afterwards other than setting it.  This is a great way to cleanse and really condition hair deeply, adding moisture and shine while getting rid of all the previous buildup.  I'm planning on keeping this up whenever I have the time to clean up after it, because it is a bit messy and the rhassoul clay can stain if you let it sit.

Denman Brush:
Buy this at Sally Beauty Supply
My Hercules Sagemann comb broke backstage! No idea how, but it's very sad, so I decided to try using my modified Denman again.
Ok, this does rip my hair out, so I have to use it when my hair is as detangled as possible. Due to the exaggerated ripping, I've learned when optimal combing conditions are for my hair; very slightly damp. Not enough to revert so much [enough to look like a blow-out] and not dry either. I lost about 75% of my normal hair from detangling with that. It's still way too much hair, but now that I only comb once a week it's slightly less horrifying.
Well, it definitely smoothed my hair quite a bit. Denman brushes do not define my curls like they do for some people, even when using the antistatic pad, but my hair is so smooth after the set that it's seriously like I flat ironed it. It's smooth, detangled and the cuticles are flat, which to me is the entire benefit to flat ironing.  It's a shame I had to lose more hair than with my Sagemann, because if not I'd used this every single wash day from now into the end of time and space.
Notes on Sally's / Denman: I wish my Sally's stocked the D41 because I bought the D4 and it's bristles are closer together. I don't like that, and whenever I have extra money [ha!] I'll buy the 41, which is made for curly hair [unlike the ones that don't end in 1, which are for straight hair.] Maybe it'll rip out less hair and I can use it more often. Also, make sure you're getting the Denman and not one of the many knock offs offered at Sallys. I had to look around for a bit. Unless you want the knock off, then just buy one of the ones that doesn't specifically say Denman on it. I figured, first time, I'd buy the brand. [Did the same with Curlformers and now I'm very glad.]

My hair after the Denman, set, remove, and one night of sleep.

[I know, my CF sets still only last until I go to sleep :(]

See the smoothness of mini-buns / crown, even one of them was shining from the no-light in this room, which is saying something. Anyway, I'm just going to do a big bun after my comb arrives. Speaking of which...
Hercules Sagemann:
Buy this at HotCombs
So this is a wider-tooth comb, but not one of the huge ones like you'd expect. I've reviewed this before, I believe, and I thought it was good but I didn't have much to compare it to. Now I realise how incredibly amazing it is. This is by far, the single greatest comb I have ever used to the point that I do not even want to try another comb and risk it.  I lose no hair to the actual comb; nothing is stuck in it, everything I lose is from prior strand weakness / manipulation. The hair in the sink from this comb is the same amount as I lose from finger detangling. It's smooth, it doesn't tug, there are no horrible steams to slowly chip away at my hair and it's two combs in one.  I've only used the fine side for flat ironing and back when I was doing the 3 Comb Smooth thing, but I think I'm going to use it next time I need to smooth my hair out and compare it to the Denman in terms of detangling, smoothness, and hair breakage to see which I should use for the best set.  I mean, other than the mysterious breaking [into THREE peices :(], I have nothing bad to say about this comb at all! The only thing I could hope for was a rat tail at the far end so I could make parts. Seriously...I just... I just love it, okay? I take it everywhere I'm staying over a night. When I have money I'll buy another so I don't have to live even a day without this bad boy, even though I only comb once a week. Best hair tool besides Curlformers.
Notes on HotCombs / Hercules Sagemann: So I'm pretty sure hot combs is the exclusive retailer, but I've ordered from there twice, [my new comb is coming today!] so I trust them. I also enjoy that the writing is etched in along with being white. When it fades [quickly] due to oil, the etching is still there! Whoo~

Bunning!

I was in a play the last two weekends, and yet did not do anything to my hair because I just didn't have the time, unfortunately. Luckily, it just needed to be in a bun [I was Mrs. Trent in Murder's In The Heir, a murder mystery where the killer is chosen by the audience.]

Nurse Withers on the left, Mrs. Trent on the right.

It was a sock bun, so less big than I'm used to, as seen here:

Here is a closeup of that sock bun from two different showings:

 Incidentally, in the days before the play I had time to do my hair every day, so it looked like this for a few hours before going back to being a bun:

Fun stuff, right? Anyway, my hair doesn't actually appear to have gained any length, and I'm thinking it's because my old and relaxed hair is super weak, because I have sections with no straight hair left, but the natural hair is the right length [so it's not actually breaking, but I will trim it just in case during my BC at the end of the year.]

This is how long my natural hair was in the beginning of January:

 Middle of February:

It's at my chin now, actually, so I guess the castor oil is working.

I know I haven't taken any texture shots, but it's because I don't like how thin and wispy my relaxed hair is compared to my huge, bouncy, shrunken coily 4b hair.  I adore my texture; even my mom was like 'What did you do to your hair to make it look like that‽' when I showed it to her. It had clarifying shampoo on it, and this Ion Clarifying Shampoo defines my hair something fierce. I was cleaning my bang to see if I needed to shampoo. I don't ^_^.

Anyway, stay tuned for a post about Bentonite [Calcuim] Clay and the Denman brush, if you please. Either way, have a healthy hair journey!

Curly Girl Method and Tightly Curly Method and Natural Hair Routines! Oh my! [HAIR RAMBLE]

So I don't use shampoo unless my hair feels really coated.  I co-wash almost every time I wash, and I leave in my deep conditioner.  I make almost all my products and at this point nearly all my remaining products [none of which I will be repurchasing, as I have home made recipes I like] are all natural.  It's weird how this happened, because I just wanted to save money!
My hair loves natural things: I've never used a store bought DC that worked better than coconut milk, I've never used a leave-in better than EVCO/EVOO/Grape seed oil mixed, I've never used a sealant better than shea butter [if I need hold] / castor oil.  While silicones never seemed to really mess up my hair, they didn't do much to make it look or feel better either.  Sulfates just make my hair rediculously frizzy, so I stopped using those as well. Leaving in my conditioner is the only way for me to have hair that is moisturized for more than the first 24 hours after I DC and still not even more than 48 hours! I ended up inadvertantly doing CG/TCG with natural hair products without even knowing what they were until about 2.5-3 years into my journey!
It's not like my hair is great, and I sometimes use shampoo and silicones. I'm not officially doing any of this, but it's usually to correct a problem and then I usually have to correct whatever problem was caused by using those products -____-.
I will say, though, that these practices have finally started to show some results.
My hair never looked wet when it was until this week. It always looked dry even when soaking wet. Using coconut milk and [this new product I just got] as well as cowashing with VO5 without having shampooed at all for a few months seems to have improved my hair's ability to absorb water.  This is great! I thought it was just a textural issue and not a moisture one, but this is actually defining my curls [they even CLUMPED FOR A FEW MINUTES last night!] and improving my moisture.  My hair's feeling and appearance is more constantly good as well; my hair is now flat iron glossy from roller sets!  I can consistantly make it soft every day, so I don't have the 'oh crap' moment in the morning when my hair feels horrible and I have no idea how to fix it.
Shine/Gloss/Sheen: The absolute most I could get before was light sheen, after a set or flat iron.  I would say a shine is when your hair is reflecting bright white, and a gloss is when it looks 'done' but not necessarily blinding.  I will say that I'm okay with sheen, I actually prefer it because it looks healthier in my eyes, but I never realized my hair could actually be like this without heat. I'm going to BC at the end of this year [that is a definite "Yes," I'd previously been struggling with cutting off my relaxed hair, because I care too much about my natural hair and I wanted the relaxed hair to take all the damage, LOL. That's horrible, isn't it?]  I know that my hair will be long enough for me when this year is up, so maybe I'll do it on NYE or something. [Assuming the castor oil doesn't make it grow so fast that I can just cut it on my b-day or something. That'd be really cool, but I don't know if castor oil will really make my hair grow any faster and I'm not counting on it.]
I played with my natural hair during my wash last night—no sections since I left my clips at school—and I really love it: I loved it poofy, defined, whatever, it was just great all around!] I want my natural hair to be as healthy as possible when I BC, so I'm very glad this natural no-unhealthy-products thing is working.
So I'd recommend people try the CG/TCG methods, if they can't happen into working products like I did, because those methods are tried and true, and obviously for good reason if I accidentally started them!

Coconut Milk - My Official Natural Conditioner

I just realized I never posted this...
Coconut Milk is a natural, very moisturizing, light protein conditioner.  I used Trader Joe's version because it was $1 and...I was there.  This stuff really defined my curls in a way I never thought possible.  Once again, I believe I might be 4b instead of the 4c I originally thought I was was, and this product is a lot of the reason why.  I used approximately 1/2 of the can, and it was fairly thick / creamy and went on like any store bought DC.  I left it in under a shower cap for a few hours and washed it out to reveal glossy [well, in comparison to the utter and complete dullness that is my normal wet texture], moisturized hair.
This stuff elongated my natural curls because of how moisturizing it was, and though I'm not too big on the importance of this; it actually made my edges soft and flat. Seriously, this is the best deep conditioner I've ever used and it's just coconut milk.

I swore I was going to buy more of this and DC with it every time, and then that totally didn't happen for months, because I forgot. I recently bought more [Thai Kitchen's version, though] and have decided to also use it as my water based leave-in [as opposed to the oil one, and the cream, but I don't do LOC that faithfully anymore do to my 7 inches of natural hair waiting to revert from a set, lol!].

Anyway, this is my DC now, barring any crazy result from the light protein [my hair loves protein, so honestly, this is probably best since I keep forgetting...]
Healthy hair!

EVOO and Castor Oil: my two new amazing staples!

Over winter break, I finally got my hands on some extra virgin olive oil and some castor oil.  The olive oil was just the best looking/price one at the store I was at when I thought abuot it, but the castor oil I specifically went to the natural store near my house to obtain.

EVOO is one of the three oils scientifically proven to have a small enough structure to actually penetrate the hair strand. This is a type of moisture.  Most people argue that moisture can only be obtained from water. I completely disagree with that, but I do think hydration can only be achieved through water.  Of course, I don't think hydration is necessary in all cases, but I do think some form of moisture are necessary for healthy hair growth.
Because of the penetrating property of EVOO [which is shares with coconut oil, another oil I adore as you all know, and avocado oil, which I have never used] I decided to add it to my leave-in.  My leave-in used to be coconut oil, for moisture and grape seed oil for its reported ceramides and sealing properties.  Now, I have added EVOO to the mix.
My last post was about flat ironed hair—and I apologize for the lack of pictures [my phone is...broken, driver-ly speaking.]—but I could never keep my flat ironed hair moisturized. The cuticle was just too closed for anything to penetrate.  This mixture not only moisturised my hair, making it softer, silkier, shinier and more well defined, but it also made my hair weightier.
I said at least a year ago that I love it when my hair feels full and weighty, because it seems like the moisture has been trapped within my hair and it just feels healthy. Well, when I got home, I put the new mix on 1/4 of my hair, and just castor oil on 1/4 of my hair.  When I came back a few hours later, the ponytail with the EVOO on it literally fell, hard, out of the holder. It actually surprised me, and made me jump a little because I expect my hair to be molded to the shape of the holder. I'll get a little swing/bounce, yes, but my hair, especially at the root, does not like to fall.  This fell like it was actually wet.  My hair clearly loved the EVOO and I will continue to use it every day that I need more moisture.

Castor Oil is packaged in one of two forms. Black, and...whatever non-black is called. Black castor oil is castor oil where the ash from the bean was also added to the mix.  It is believed [though not proven] that the ash from the plant is also helpful for hair, so many like to purchase black castor oil.  I had no such ideas about the ash, and honestly, it sounds like it smells bad. Do not get me wrong, I will definitely try JBCO or something in the future, but I simply did not feel like it was necessary. Castor oil is naturally yellow-ish and smells very nutty. I'm not a fan of the smell, but it fades quickly. Since I use it at night, I don't have to smell it after putting my scarf on anyway.
The paragraph above mentions me putting castor oil onto 1/4 of my hair.  That part of my hair felt a lot softer than the 1/2 control and 1/4 EVOO mix. It felt smoother and was much shinier.  I loved the results, because it seemed to really help my cuticles flatten properly. While it felt better than the mix, I knew it wasn't actually penetrating.
So my new routine for when I do not want to add water to my hair is to use my mix and follow it up with castor oil to seal. My ends look healthier and healthier every day.
I also use Castor oil as a scalp massage. I've heard it can help growth, but most importantly I have no oil in my scalp, and I've realised that dry scalp could be causing some of my issues. Now, every night I do a very short scalp massage with a small amount of castor oil, and my roots are seriously loving this new attention. They're much softer and more malleable now, and I have a lot less flakes than I did before.  I plan to add castor to my face wash in the future, and I might let you guys know how that works as well.

Overall, though I didn't think this would happen, both of these oils are now my staples and the sheer amount of moisture they've only contributed to my hair makes me much happier with my progress.

I have a new hair product that I will write about in possibly a month, it is a DC and I got amazing results last night, [my mother bought it for me] and I also repurchased coconut milk [Thai Kitchen] and used that. I know that together they resulted in just the best hair ever, but I don't know if one of them contributed more or less, so we'll see!
Have great hair days, lovelies!

Flat Ironing Once a Month!?

Firstly, sorry for disappearing.  I honestly haven't been doing much of anything with my hair since starting to use home made products and being swamped with classes. Even over Winter break I didn't do much to my hair. :(


So you guys know how lazy I am and the fact that flat ironing simply takes me way too much time. I decided to change it up, though, because I knew I wasn't going to do anything to my hair the last month of school [loads of things, including finals] and flat iron.  I knew it would probably only last until I got home because, as you also know, my hair gets REALLY dry a few days after flat iroing and I just DC it.

It didn't! So, I DC'd per normal [which for me was shampooing with ApHogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair → I have now used all of this! It was really good but I'm going poo-less [except my clarifier for if I do something crazy, but that should be a few times a year as opposed to once every two weeks.] so I will not be repurchasing. I DC'd with Silk Elements, added a ton more as my leave in [I either do this or simply don't wash out the DC.]

I flat ironed with a medium amount of heat protectant, instead of the loads I used to use [paranoia, man!] and did it at 220°-280° in the sections my CF set came out in. All in all I probably did slightly more than those 42 sections, and my hair felt and looked amazing. It had slightly more swing than just a CF set and was much shinier. You know, normal flat ironing stuff.
At night I applied generous amounts of coconut oil before my various sets, which included headband curls and bantu knots.  As it turns out, this generous application of coconut oil really helped my hair stay moisturized.  Instead of being afraid of weighing my hair down, I allowed it to finally take in what it so desperately wanted and I ended up going the full month before washing my hair again!
This was about a week into break, when I decided, what the heck, I'll flat iron again and see if my new oils  [next post will be about these] will work even better, or if this was a fluke.  I flat ironed again, same temp but even less [still probably too much, you guys have NO IDEA how much I was using, lol] heat protectant, right after a DC with Hair One Argan Oil [I will not rebuy HO! I know, this was my only HG product, but I've realized now that my home made products are good enough that I will not need to repurchase this. It's a great feeling!]
My hair had less swing than before, and was just as shiny as when I took it out of the CF. In fact, I almost didn't flat iron because my hair already looked and felt great from the intense moisture. Once again, I didn't care about weighing down my hair [and I've learned that my hair doesn't actually get 'weighed down' in the less movement/stiffness category, but it does actually weigh more, causing it to move more and be less stiff! Amazing!] and I used my new oil mix.
Wow. Once again, this oil will be my next post because I feel like it deserves it's own topic. They're two oils you've probably [almost definitely] heard of but I only just got them.
Halfway through, my hair was great, but I thought something was missing. I realized it was protein, so I did a really ghetto version of a protein treatment and my hair literally got softer every single day until I reached this weird peak of amazingness that was so awesome I could not keep my hands out of my hair.  Unfortunately, I couldn't sustain it, but I remembered how much my hair loves the protein [this was mostly hydrolysed wheat] and I'll use it more often. I need to buy a protein treatment, since it's so difficult to naturally make products with small enough protein molecules to penetrate, but I couldn't find what I wanted [Aubrey Organics GPB].
In the end I only went two / three weeks with this hair because I just really wanted to play with my natural hair texture again, but it looked great, and I got tons of complements every time I went out.
I will not be flat ironing again any time soon, but it is great to know that I can do it without causing dryness, especially with the time it takes to flat iron my hair!
Have great hair days, guys and gals!