@##$% Straight Girls Say to Curly Girls

I subscribe to all curly girls, regardless of the curl. All I need is good info about curls. So when I got this in my video feed a few weeks back I was surprised! Watch and you'll see why!


This Curly Haired YouTuber helped me to see a few things:

1) All curls require prep work (I thought looser curl patterns just woke up all ready to go)! LOL
2) Products and Technique are important
3) No matter what curl you have, you can and probably will hear hurtful comments.

Thanks for the laugh Waterlily716. Check her out on YouTube, she's got great information for all us curly girls.

Using Amla or Shikakai Powder as an Alternative to Shampoo

My Personal Ayurvedic Hair Care Routine

I've been doing something without realizing it. I've been shying away from "shampoos", and just cleansing my hair. My last incident with shampoo was about 3 weeks ago. This was after a 4 week stint of going without shampoo. That day, I thought, "let me wash my hair and get any build up off". Mind you, the only build up I could have gotten was from my butters (Shea, mango, etc) and oils. Those aren't bad things to have on the hair strands, but I kind of wanted to start fresh (for styling purposes).

Optimal Coil Shine, Definition, Soft Feel on my Adjusted Regimen

So I parted my hair vertically (from my forehead down to the nape). On the left half, I co-washed with my Giovanni 50/50 Conditioner. On the right half, I washed with my Giovanni Moisture Shampoo. Both sides had all natural products without harsh ingredients. The side with the Conditioner finger detangled very easily, appeared elongated, was shiny, and soft. The side with the Moisturizing Shampoo was knotted, had a patch of single strand knots (which I had to cut out), felt scary...ready to knot, and had shrunk up (especially compared to the other side). 

I knew the shampoo side was "clean", but I didn't like the price that I had to pay to get it clean. It caused me some length, and a lot of my time. I thought, "how can I still cleanse my hair, without shampoo effects"? I remember using the Amla and Shikakai powder, and thought to check that out again. Also, as an additional protection, I decided to do my deep conditioning/oil treatment before I even used the Amla or Shikakai. 

I did this revised hair regimen for my next wash day, and the results were PHENOMENAL! My hair became butter soft from my deep conditioning. I had such an easy detangling session (about 7 to 10 minutes).Then the Amla exfoliated my scalp, and gently scrubbed off anything that was sitting on my hair strands. AND even after cleansing my hair with the Amla, my hair was soft, already detangled, and ready to go!

THE AFTER-EFFECTS of this regimen:

After doing this routine for 1 month (2-3 times), I find that my coils "pop". No "ashy" sections. My length shows better during curly styles. My scalp loves this regimen.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

Not everyone's hair is going to like this regimen. Some people show allergic reactions to the Amla. It may be necessary to play around with different products and different routines to find the one that works best for both hair and scalp. This works out best for me due to the tangles and single strand knots that I experienced while working with shampoo. I was tired of dealing with single strand knots, so I had to tweak my regimen in an effort to reduce/eliminate them. My finding is that it is very effective in reducing single strand knots for me. If you struggle with knotting...........this is worth a try!

What's My Hair Length Looking Like Now? Two Strand Twists Grow That Hair!@

My Mini/Micro Twists on Natural Hair

 2ND SET OF 2 STRAND TWISTS FOR THE NEW YEAR

 Hello Dolls! I know it's been a minute, but it's been so hectic on the home front. In an effort to not to have to deal with hair, I spent 2 days twisting up my hair!!! Yeah, 3 hours on the first day, and about 4 hours on the 2nd day. My wrist started to hurt! No joke.

Anywhoo, just popping in to share some thoughts on this whole two strand twist situation. I love them. I'm still sticking to my decision to keep them from getting wet. I let the steam from my shower work on them. So they get moisture. I also mist them in the morning or at night with a mist bottle, and then put my favorite oil of the day. For this week, I'm using hemp seed oil! 

I bought a lot of 4 different oils, and I'm learning what they do to my hair separately. Loving the hemp seed oil so far. Great for my hair and face! Softens everything and calms down any inflammations (which I have bouts of).

Comparing December's set of twists (left) to the new set (above in red top), the recent ones are way smaller (maybe even micros). I like them both! When the twists are done smaller, they stretch down longer, so that's something to consider, anyone seeking length with their twists. They also look a bit more meager (skinny). That's okay for me right now. As soon as I take these out, there's gonna be some "big hair wearing" LOL! 

Have I noticed any growth between these twists and the last set (I believe the last set was done in December and lasted until the 2nd week in January. Definitely! I'm at bra strap length now (which is hard for me because my bra strap goes pretty low LOL). I mean, in inches, I'm measuring 14'' right now. I plan to flat iron in March (just for the fun of it).

Oh, and I wanted to mention that the way that I stretched my hair for the twists, caused my ends to look the way they do (they look like they're loose). So, the stretch you do prior to your twisting will cause your twists to look a certain way. I used a failed roller set attempt (yeah, I'm still trying Hahaha), as my stretch for the twists. That means I put heat on it, but my hair still came out fuzzy. So my ends started out fuzzy, but with the use of the misting and oil, they just look like they're untwisted. My ends got jokes.

For now, I'm having fun with these, but stay tuned, some styles and texture ideas for your two strand twists soon to come.

Deep Conditioning To Prepare For a Sucessful Wash N Go

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU DEEP CONDITION?

It's been a long time since I've taken the time to deep condition my hair. I really see the difference when I do a deep conditioner. My coils show up differently. Without a deep conditioner, my wash n go's are harder to define, has extreme shrinkage, is less shiny. Let's face it, our hair loves, craves, can't get enough of oils! Keeping your hair hydrated, and then coated with the right oils will keep your length. Not only that--it will put to a stop those "bad hair days", due to dry, dull, lifeless hair.

Coils With Just Water. This is my Hair Texture Without ANY Product

It took me several times to figure out how to do my ideal wash n go. At some points of my hair growth journey, my hair wasn't at a good "length" or "shape" to do a nice wash n go. I've done posts on the wash n go, with many technique options. I feel that the foundation for a successful wash n go is: firstly, trimmed ends, and secondly, well conditioned/moisturized hair. This will get the coils to pop from roots to ends. Bypassing the unintentional frizz (sometimes I choose to include frizz in my wash n go).  

So the next picture is after I did a deep conditioning treatment (mayo, eggs, avocado, extra virgin olive oil)--blend well, or avocado chunks will be hard to remove! I kept it on for about 20 minutes while wearing a plastic cap or two. The mix didn't feel all that great while in my hands, but my hair loved this intense oil infusion, and I'm pretty sure it will show it's approval over the next few days of my wash n go wear.

Wash N Go Mostly Dry. Coils Spring Into Action After Deep Condition Mask

 

 

 

The deep conditioning mixture I used (everything from my kitchen), is tailor made to hydrate, nourish, and is filled with proteins and vitamins. This will help with elasticity, strength, body and shine. The fat soluble nutrients of the mayo are great for shine and deep conditioning properties! Any time you feel like you're struggling with dull hair that doesn't have shine, this mix could be the solution (if you don't just have product build-up). I think you can see it in the picture, but my hair definitely has shine, define, and feels very soft. It's still a little damp, but will be all dry by the morning.

HOW I DID MY WASH N GO

I used Giovanni Conditioner to define my coils. Underneath the Giovanni Conditioner is the Shea Moisture Curling Souffle. The technique used to apply these products was to simply coat the hair section by section (4 sections total). I wanted some more length this time, so I'll stretch it tonight by wearing a low, banded ponytail. If I wanted more body, I would "pineapple" it on the top of my head.

I bought some Haas avocados (buy 1 get 1 free), and wasn't able to eat it before they spoiled. I was so disappointed! But I put these avocados to good use. One went into my hair, and the other is going on my face tomorrow.  I've been having very dry skin as the weather gets cooler, and I'm not used to that. Just like my hair, my skin appreciates true moisture.

I'm gonna wear this wash n go through to Saturday. Hubby thought I looked "very cute", so I'll take that as a sign that he liked the results I got from the wash n go (the Victoria's Secret Sexy Bra doesn't hurt the whole scene either LOL).

Hair With Only Shea Moisture Curling Souffle. More Oils!!

Never Fear Shrinkage Again! Stretching From Tight Coils to Kinky Straight

THE BASIS FOR AN EFFECTIVE STRETCH

If you want to stretch out your coils quickly, while still maintaining the movement, softness, workable texture, this post is for you.

I've been enjoying my coils with all of my co-washing and conditioner wash n go's. I haven't stretched my hair in a while. I had gotten pretty good at "ironing" out the kinks/coils safely and quickly. The texture that I get from specific techniques and products are neck and neck with what one would get with a blow out from use of a blow dryer. I would even go as far as to say it's even more stretched than the blow out. How? When I do a blow out, it seems to get "bushy" quickly. The reversion begins at the ends so quickly with a blow out. With this technique, the ends don't revert like that, so the hair and the hairstyle are gonna be predictable. Lets get on with it then.

This process starts with your wash. Ideally, I co-wash and then deep condition. Adding shampoo into this technique tends to work against the stretch process. Shampoo has a drying factor that actually springs my coils into action and helps them to coil up tighter. If shampoo is necessary (product build-up, etc), then I go ahead and shampoo.

De-tangle. Thorough de-tangle will get the stretch started, and ensure that once the hair is stretched, that it's moveable. Doesn't make sense to have stretched hair and you can't have fun with it and style it how you want. Styling on stretched hair is half of the fun! While the hair is coated with my best conditioner is when I like to start with my fingers and go under the running shower and do my finger detangle. Next I use my wide tooth comb (Jilbere) shower comb. Finally, I use a detangling tool that has teeth that are closer and will effectively prepare my hair for a stretch. All tangles should be removed by your finger detangling. The fine tooth detangling tool is simply to "smooth" the hair through. Avoid new tangles by working with your hair in sections, and twisting or braiding up those sections once you're finished detangling.

AIR DRY. Let your hair air dry some (about 50%).

Moisture. Now your hair is clean, conditioned, detangled, only damp, secured, and ready to stretch. Choose your moisturizer for your stretch based on the ingredients and how your hair will react to it. I like to use butters at this point. If I put a moisturizer that has mostly water, I am encouraging my coils to hang around. I will just use the water that's already on my hair, and lock it in with my butters. I use a homemade mix of mango butter, shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, jojoba oil. Be generous, but don't make the hair greasy.

6 Plaits. Situate your hair (parting) in the direction that you want it to go. If you want hair coming towards your face, then place a plait in that direction. 6 plaits is all you really need for this stretch.

Shea Moisture's Curling Souffle REVIEW: A CLOSER LOOK AT MY COILS

MY SEARCH FOR THE TRUE WASH N GO

I do not kid when I tell you that I'm searching for a way to wet my hair in the shower and slap a product on it quickly, and then be done with my hair. 

That's what I did to achieve the "cutesy" styling that I wore in the these two pictures (above and below). One bobby pin and 1 small hair comb later, I was done. My hair air dried. What product did I use to define my coils? The shea moisture curling souffle! I didn't like this product as a curl styler at first, but I realize that I had the wrong expectations of it. Now that I used it just to stop my hair from swelling up into a frizz ball, I realize the beauty of it. It actually froze my coils (in a not so crunchy way), and gave me shine! I originally wanted it to weigh down the hair like my conditioners that I use for my wash n gos. The Curling Souffle is not thick enough!

Look at the definition from the Curling Souffle! I realize when I take the time to put a product on, and really look at what it's doing, then I will have a product that I can use towards my styling. Look at the shine that it gave too!






To test out what can be done with this slapped on product (Shea Moisture Curling Souffle), I put my hair in a bun, to see how it would look stretched out. Can the product keep my coils intact? Lets see...

 By pulling my hair back into this simple bun, I was able to have a style while stretching for the bigger coily fro. I noticed that my hair felt soft and light when I pulled it down from the bun (about 3 hours later). I simply added some shea butter/mango butter/oils mix throughout and fluffed as I went. I got a nice, big, bouncy head of fluff with coils at the end (the coils were preserved while in this bun).

My stretched out coily fro

My stretched out Coils are fluffy, soft, still textured, and highly coily at the ends, since the ends were not involved with the stretch. For night time, I plan to pull the hair back into a banded style ponytail, while leaving the coily ends out. Gonna sleep on a satin pillowcase so I can keep all of my moisture. All in all, I'd say that Shea Moisture Curling Souffle is a keeper. I've already figured out 2 ways to use it that help to shine and define my hair! I'd be interested to see what it does to other curl sizes. Might try it on T's hair just to see how the looser coil reacts to it.