Friday 6 March 2015

My haircare regimen

Since starting my hair journey back in 2010 my hair care routine has changed so much. But, today I'm going to tell you what I've been doing consistently.

I typically wash my hair when I go home for the weekends (university student) which may end up being once every two weeks or once every three weeks. By this time my hair is pretty knotted so I begin by:

1.Deep conditioning: I'll use a conditioner that I bought like Tresemme  or combine some home ingredients for a DIY conditioner. I'll leave this on for 30mins or overnight depending on how much time I have.

2. Then I'll detangle my hair.

3. Then I get in the bath/shower and wet my hair with warm water (to lift/open hair cuticle- to help removal of dirt and product from hair) and add shampoo to my scalp. I dont have a staple shampoo so I use any one for now- mostly Vo5 shampoo. I dilute my shampoo to lessen how much dryness I experience because I do use sulfate shampoos. I eyeball it and put about 7 drops of shampoo, a few drops of essential oil (rosemary or tea tree/lavender oil) and I fill the rest of the bottle with water. Then shake shake. 1. This saves me some money on buying shampoos and 2. cuts down the dryness experienced using sulfates. Also helps with antibacterial purposes because I have alopecia. See below- Yes that's diluted shampoo not ginger beer :D

4.If my hair feels dry from shampooing (which it normally does) I'll reapply conditioner and spray with apple cider vinegar rinse (for shine)

5.Rinse out with cool water (closes cuticle- promotes shine and seals in moisture)

6.Apply shea butter and air dry

7.Dust my ends (Yes I do this each time I wash just to maintain the health of my ends.)




Styling:
  • Wash n Go Twist out (done when I'm pressed for time): If I'm going for a wng twist out while I'm doing my cool rinse I put my hair into the amount of twists I want for my twist-out. I normally start out with four sections then break sections down into small twists. I like running my hair under the water because it defines some of the waves/ coils that I have- then I twist the section. I put my hair into a old t-shirt and do whatever I have to do. I will retwist just the front twists because they'll become loss and run shea butter over my twists. Boom! Unravel the next day.




  • Longer lasting twist out (if I have more time on my hands): Before step 6 (from above) I apply aloe vera gel to my hair in sections then apply shea butter, twist and make a little chiney bump (bantu knot) on the end. Let it dry and I'll wear the twists for a few days before unraveling. This twist out lasts for more than a week without any retwisting. Mohawk below is a week old twist out. :)



































Protective Styling:
Following all the steps above in my wash routine. I'd bun my hair, wear a tam, updo, chunky twists and the occasional mini twists.


Heat Regimen:
If I'll be using heat I follow the same steps has stated above except my deep conditioner will be a protein treatment and adding shea butter and air drying are skipped. I'd apply Carol's Daughter Hair Milk and Tresemme Thermal Protectant and blow dry. I blow dry on high heat and do the cool shot
(helps to make a smoother blow out because cool air helps cuticle lay flat) on each section that I blow dry. These same steps are applicable to flat ironing. I dont have a set time for doing this as I used to so when it happens it happens. Normally happens when I need to trim and/or do mini twists. shrug*




                                                     Alopecia Care:
I massage my bald spot with an oil blend (coconut oil + rosemary or tea tree/lavender essential oil) and apply a bit of tension while doing this. Plus I also add essential oil to my diluted shampoo to help keep my scalp free of bacteria and promote growth.
Picture on the left was 2013. On the right was Feb 2015



How you liking my new hair shape?

Happy regimen
What's yours?



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