I think my current regimen would be a good place to start otherwise I might forget to write it down all over again! Haha. So here goes... Actually I'm realising that this is kind of a boring post to write! Especially considering the fact that I have three yummy food posts in the works! Haha. I love blogging about food, there's just something so satisfying about reliving those moments where I bit into an amazing burger! Okay, back to hair.
I think the reason I don't really feel like writing this post is because I'm disappointed with the menial length of hair I retained this quarter of the year. I know I should be more focused on health and not length but sometimes it's so hard not to grow impatient, just the other day I was thinking of chopping it all off again and going natural, but I'm trying to be patient and give it till the end of the year at least! I've only been on this journey for 7 months you see, but hair envy is real! Lol. I just want my locks to flow already, or at least look thicker! Here's what I've been doing to my hair:
Monday's are wash days and I:
Shampoo with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo. (I clarify once a month with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo).
Do a green tea rinse to combat shedding.
Apply ORS Hair Mayonnaise for 20 minutes because my hair loves the stuff!
Condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner for 45mins to an hour.
Air dry my hair in a cotton t-shirt for 60 minutes
Apply my leave-in; I recently switched from Motions Nourish Leave in Conditioner to Dr Miracles Leave in Conditioner, I've been searching everywhere for Cantu Shea Butter leave-in but all the stores near me are permanently put of stock! I'm in need of a really awesome leave in.
Allow my hair to finish drying without the t-shirt.
And then depending on what time it is as I usually wash in the evenings, I either moisturise with ORS Carrot Oil and seal with Sweet Almond oil or I just tie my hair up and moisturise and seal the next morning.
This has been my regimen from the beginning of the year, the only addition being green tea rinses and also switching from ORS Carrot Oil to Kids Organics Shea Butter Detangling Moisturising Hair Lotion (goodness that name is such a mouth full!) at about 12 weeks post when my new growth needs some TLC to stop it from drying out so easily! So on to some pictures:
I'm definitely claiming proper shoulder length now! Next stop is collar bone length which looks about an inch or two away, sadly! OMG can I just stress the importance of reading up on stuff before you try it right now? So I was looking at my regimen as I wrote it down and trying to see what differences I've made between January and March where my hair grew quite a bit and March and now where it hasn't really grown at all and the only major difference was doing tea rinses. So I went to my best friend, google, for help to see the negative impacts of tea rinses and the very first thing that came up was an article from curlynikki.com, here saying that tea rinses can STUNT growth! Now I was like hold up, say what?! But as I read more I realised I had been doing some fundamental things wrong, for instance I never took the tea bags out of the bowl until I was ready to use it, which was hours sometimes, when really you're only meant to leave in the tea bag for a minute or two to get a weak brew! Lack of knowledge is no excuse as my hair showed me these last three months, but now that I've identified the problem (I think) at least I can try and correct it and see how I do in the third quarter of the year.
Hmmm, hair posts aren't that bad! I'm washing my hair right now and going to try a roller set tonight, I'd do a post on the outcome later on if it turns out nice, or even fairly acceptable. :)
Ciao ladies!
Reni x
P.S. I really need to do something about the middle of my hair, the breakage is disastrous! Look how much shorter it is! Any tips? Also I made a length check post so you can see all of my progress pictures from the beginning of the year here: Length Check Progress Pictures
Hey, im also on a journey lol, who isnt? I vowed to get to middle of my back by next year may. Something I also read upon/ watched youtube videos is cowashing. So instead of washing with shampoo which tends to dry your hair out, wash with conditioner. You hair would feel great aftewards and it will clean it in case you were wondering if conditioner cleans. You also want to wash the base/roots and let the product seep to the ends, you never want to just roll it all around because it tends to break. The tips will really help. I went from my shower looking like a crime scene with hair all over after a wash to hardly any breakage, even after i come out and comb with a wide tooth one. I also have tons of the cantu shea butter :p If you are coming home in december i can bring it for u?
ReplyDeleteHahaha @ the shower looking like a crime scene! That's how mine looked the last time, it's getting better with time but still not great though. As for cowashing, do you do it instead of washing with shampoo? Or like in the middle of the week to keep your hair moisturised? I really wanted to get to APL this year but somehow I doubt that's going to happen! Lol.
DeleteOh yes please! I'm going to London soon but if I don't find any there I might need you to bring me a lifetime supply! I don't know why it's so difficult to find, I used to see it on the shelves all the time and now it's just gone.. *sigh*
Thanks for the new ideas!
I don't know what it is about that W that loves me also, I feel like I can never get rid of it! Patiencs is the hardest thing about this journey!
ReplyDeleteA few things I thought about while reading your post, maybe it could help:
That Hair mayo has protein, it can be a light or medium protein depending on your hair so I would suggest using it every other week instead of every week, too much protein can cause breakage. I think, like me, you don't need as much protein as when you first started your journey because your hair is not as damaged as it was in the beginning.
I have never done tea rinses because one common thing I have read about with ladies who do is the stiffness they get, so they usually use something very moisturizing after or with it, I am not sure if it is with all types of tea though but you can check that if you never did, I don't think the tea rinse and protein is a good combo weekly. The Motions and the Dr Miracle leave-ins both has protein in them also, don't know if you noticed that even though you switched.
I know we need proteins but maybe you can try using more moisturizing products in your regimen and see how it goes. I am new to my journey also and I am no pro, I am just being honest in what I thought. Happy Hair Growing!! :)
Eeeek! I'm so glad I posted my regimen because seeing all the protein all laid out like that I realise this is probably the cause of all my breakage! I stopped using the Motions because of the protein it had and obviously didn't read the Dr Miracles ingredient list carefully because I'm only just noticing that it DOES have protein in it too!
DeleteGreat advice Candice! I'm going to have to give my regimen a complete makeover before my next wash day, moisture, moisture, moisture! As long as I don't over-do it like I did the protein! I'm off to do some more research on the products I use now.
Thanks again! x
Ooo me loves hair posts :) I know is very easy to get hung up on the slow growth of your hair but remember, every day of you hair jouirney is progress. You are always learning something new to better the long-term state of your hair :D
ReplyDeleteMy 2 pence:
From what I've found throughout my HJ, to minimise breakage you can do the following-
figure out the porosity of your hair (hair strand in glass of water test); minimise manipulation of your hair during the week (protective styles is a way forward); patiently detangle hair before you wash it; wash in sections (butterfly clips baby!lol); co-wash your hair (I'm new to this.I still feel my hair isn't clean but I've been co-washing my hair every other week and it ain't so bad actually. Had little to no breakage, just shedded hair); stricking that moisture-protein balance just right (I find, for my hair anyways, more moisturising products is better for the hair with the use of protein based products every now and then); Jamaican Black Castor Oil is da bomb for improving the thickness of your hair; moisturise and seal those strands as often as your hair requires it; protecting your hair at night with silk scarf/bonnet/pillow...
Yeah, that's all I can think of right now lol. If anythings else comes to mind I'll let you know :)
Mo x
yaay! Thank you for adding your 2 pence in! Porosity sounds like a good thing to figure out, eventually at least! I get so confused with information overload sometimes, it's annoying! I can do everything in sections, literally everything except rinse my hair! my whole head just gets wet! LOL. I need to figure out the technique and try and change some things in my regimen so hopefully I see improvements by my next length check!
DeleteThanks again! :) x
Was passing, read 1 then 2 and on and on.... You write with brightness and clarity. The way you extract positivity from situations is amazing and yeah bookmark does the job anytime you have so many tabs you might need later.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this comment made my slightly gloomy day a whole lot brighter! Thank you so much, glad you like the blog :) Bookmark is an awesome feature that I really don't use enough, I have to keep that in mind. I've also started "pinning" tabs so they don't close even if the browser crashes! Learn something new everyday!
DeleteHope to hear from you again soon! :) x
Uwc. Glad you like what you do so you won't stop anytime soon. Everyone likes a dependable blogger!
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