Reggie for the second half of my first 1-year stretch.

Setback(s) & Problems:
I'm still stretching, so it is quite a challenge. But, my overall problem is light breakage. I am about 24 weeks post and I am trying to keep things soft and strong like I am supposed to. Still recovering from January 2010's braid/matting issue which won't be fully resolved until I get a 1 inch trim with my relaxer in August, which will put me at 1 year post relaxer!!!

Solution to breakage problem: oil and/or conditioner pre-poos overnight, (C-W-C method), detangling with Mane 'n Tale detangler before every pre-poo and wash, TRESemme vitamin e conditioner mixed with sweet almond oil (sao) as a final rinse-out quick conditioner, Aphogee 2-minute, Ion Repair solutions (not currently using), LOADS of PATIENCE and GENTLENESS, air-drying in braids or rollersets and my new friend: Lustrasilk Aloe Vera super detangling cholesterol. Washing and conditioning in 6 braided sections and super low-maintanence styles like my headwrap and clipped up-do's.

Current hair status: A little past SL/CBL in the back and CBL and NL on
the sides, moderate/light breakage, soft but ends are still not as healthy as I would like. I am exactly 24 weeks and 1 day post relaxer. My goal is to get my stretching regimen down while my hair is not very long, and so far...it's working!


Current solutions to try: Continue to listen to my hair, day-to-day, week-to-week- and month-to-month. DO WHAT WORKS. Using my blog as a journal to remind me of what is going on AND getting off of the product-junkie bandwagon. I research now for techniques versus products.

A. Using a lighter touch when combing, detangling, and braiding/setting. I know it sounds redundant, but I am naturally heavy-handed and I have to keep reminding myself. I only use my shower comb when detangling.

B. Detangling: I like detangling in the shower with my hands first then the comb next, in four sections with TRESemme Vit e (only). I have not found any other conditioner that gives me the kind of slip I can trust. This month I am testing Dove daily moisture as an alternative, but TRESemme Vitamin E is my staple. Detangling outside of the shower requires Mane n Tale Detangler and a moisturizing liquid leave-in.

C. The bi-weekly protein treatments with Aphogee 2-minute, ORS replinishing pak and Aphogee leave-in are helping me combat my breakage issue.

D. Styling: Since school is in, I have been wearing my head-wrap and so far, I like it.

E. Moisturizing: I will re-committ to moisturizing, sealing and baggying every night. My hair likes Doo grow, olive oil and coconut oil over the ORS carrot oil (for the winter).

F. Shampooing: I learned at 6 months + post relaxer I really must detangle with a detangler and pre-poo overnight every time! Castor oil, evoo, coconut, and/or sao overnight before wash day; and/or my Lustrasilk Aloe Vera detangling conditioner (a moisturizing conditioner on the ends for the C-W-C method) For June 2010 I used HE HH or hydralicious or TRESemme (Note to self: I have been having so much fun trying different cheap moisture conditoners. HE conditioners work well 1-10 weeks post while lighter cons like TRESemme vitamin e and Dove daily moisture work well 10+ weeks post for my pre-poos. When I run out of hydralicious, I will try LTR after my next relaxer).

G. Luke warm and cool water all the time works well and I will continue to do this indefinitely. I also did one ACV (1 part acv to 7 parts water) rinse that month which my hair loved! So I will do one this month. I also want to fit in black tea once a week before I d/c so that it can slow up some of this shedding.

H. I didn't have time to even look at my hair during the week so absolutely no combing during week was easy to do. With the braids and head-wrap, it is very easy to not manipulate my hair. But, it is also easy to neglect it as well, so I will co-wash my braids daily in the shower and use that time to m/s until wash day.

Products to try: - Lustrasilk Aloe Vera Detangling Cholesterol-

Products to purchase - ORS replenishing pak in the bottle - Dove Daily moisture (large) - TRESemme Vitamin E and Smooth n Silky (largest bottles) - a new black hat (maybe) -

New Staples added to my reggie: Hair One olive oil for dry hair and V05 clairifying conditioner (for cleansing hair after 10+ weeks post); Lustrasilk Shea butter cholesterol and the Aloe Vera cholesterol (for prepoos/DC 10+ weeks post), peppermint oil (for a relaxing deep conditioning experinence).

Products to modify or ditch: modify plastic hair combs and rollers with a
file and clear nail polish. Ditch: V05 clarifying shampoo (I will use this to clean my combs and brushes. If I want to clarify, all I need to do is lather twice with a moisturizing shampoo), Schwarzkopf zero frizz corrective serum (way too much protein), Profective Anti-breakage strengthening mega moisturizer (was using for braids, but I do not plan to braid my hair any more) Nexxus line except the heat protexx spray (when used up because less expensive products work just the same).

Challenges:

1.No Trims (personal): April 1, 2010 til April 1, 2011 (only S&Ds)

2.Clipped Bun (Head-wrap/wig) Challenge (KISS): January 2011 til December 21, 2011
(With 3 heat passes ONLY: June, November, and December (graduation))

3.KISS Ultimate Challenge: for life and will continuously improve! ^_^

Reggie of the month:
Workout days (5x's a week):

Put hair in bun coated with Lustrasilk Aloe vera or Mane n Tale, evoo, and sweet almond oil (sao) and baggy hair while working out. Alternate protein and moisture.

Co-wash with Tresemme moisture rich/sao (every time) and do a cool water rinse.

Spritz hair with aloe juice and 911 leave-in root to tip

a. Seal with a light oil and serum then rollerset. OR

b. M/s on ends with ORS carrot oil and an oil (castor, evoo, sao, coconut, whatever) and braid.

Air dry in braids or rollerset. Always air-dry

•Wear head wrap, or braid/twist-out BUNS in clip all week with ends moisturized and tucked away.
•Nightly: m/s with aloe spritz, ORS carrot oil doo grow or evoo and seal ends and edges with castor oil and braid or cross-wrap. Baggy and go to sleep.

If my new growth becomes really unruly, then coconut milk d/c every 6 weeks or so will do the trick!

2011 Staples for Year long stretch!

The conditioners I love to use are:

• Lustrasilk's Shea Butter and Mango (moisturizing deep conditioner, mainly preferred on dry hair with grapeseed, vitamin e oil, and evoo mixed in)
• ORS Replinishing conditioner (protein-based deep conditioner; used every other weekend with heat)
• Herbal Essences Hydralicious (used sometimes mixed with the Lustrasilk)
• Dove Daily moisture (mainly used as a d/c without heat while working out)
• Mane 'n Tale (rotated with Dove)
• V05 clarifying conditioner (used as a shampoo/cleanser [NO MORE SHAMPOO FOR ME])
• Hair One olive oil for dry hair (used as a shampoo/cleanser - love it!)
• Tresumme moisture rich vitamin e (My quick-conditioner, works well mixed with sweet almond oil. I use this to detangle the hair. I USED THIS BEFORE EVERY FINAL RINSE)

My favorite leave-ins are:
( after 2 years of experimentation, I have found that my hair prefers liquid leave-ins versus creamy)

• Cold Aloe Vera juice (my #1leave-in. It seals the cuticle, moisturizes and helps with detangling)
• 911 emergency leave-in (moisturizing)[DISCONTINUED] (Can you believe they took this off of the market???)
• Aphogee pro-vitamin leave-in (keeps the line of demarcation strong!)

My water-based moisturizers are:
(after 2 years of experimentation, I have found that I have to water down most of these a little bit more for my hair)

• Herbal Essences long term relationship
• Tresumme vitamin e (works well as a moisturizer too!)

My Oil-based moisturizer:

• ORS carrot oil (for the occasional straight hair)
• Coconut oil (for straight hair as well)

I may use the following shampoo to clarify (maybe once a month) and after a relaxer

• ORS creamy aloe shampoo
• Nexxus Therapee Moisturizing shampoo

OILS!!!

• EVOO ( pre-pooing overnight!)
• Cocounut ( straight style moisturizer/sealant/occasional scalp treatment)
• Doo grow Mega thick growth oil ( for nightly sealing and for coating my hands before taking down sets)
• Castor (for sealing damaged ends and for slicking and thickening edges. Occasionally used as a scalp treatment)
• Grapeseed, vitamin e, peppermint, and sweet almond oil (for adding to conditioners).

Heat protection and other styling aids:

• Water (as a spritz)
• Fantasia IC serum
• Nexxus Heat protexx
• Frizz ease super serum

That's all for now!

Coconut Milk?

I have been dancing around the thought of coconut milk for the past 4 months. I have just recently discovered (since looking up from my busy life) that I am 4 months post relaxer!!! I have made up my mind that I will not be relaxing for another two months. I will put in my traditional "start-of-the-spring-semester"semi-individual braids, do that regimen for two months, nurture my hair for the three weeks following, and relax sometime in March.

Back to the coconut milk, so I was browsing various hair care boards and decided that it was time to try the milk. Tonight I plan to put in in a spray bottle and use it to saturate my hair like a pre-poo. Then I will D/C with some Dove Daily moisture and co-wash it out with VO5 kiwi clarifying conditioner. I plan to roller-set with my Aphogee leave-in and Fantasia IC heat protection serum.

RESULTS

Well, I thought that the Coconut oil was going to aid my d/c, but I was wrong. When I sprayed it on the new growth, I immediately noticed that it became silkier and more manageable (as far as detangling is concerned. I saturated my entire head root to tip and only used Dove only on the edges to stop the drip. I added a plastic baggy and wrapped that with a towel for over an 1 hour ( my intentions were 15 minutes but I fell asleep).

SO I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DEEP CONDITION AFTERWARD BUT...I was so wrong!!! My heart said stop when I rinsed each half of my head with luke-warm water. As I let it air-dry in two loose french braids, I realized that my hair felt soft and a little stronger and the new growth was a little looser!. I decided that it was okay to just detangle using my Aphogee leave-in and Fantasia serum.

Loved this experience!!!

NOTE: It is very important to avoid heat and hot water while using the coconut milk or the thicker substance in the milk will curd in your hair.

My wash day: Christmas day

Well this week has been a good week for my hair in general. I mean REALLY GOOD!

I have been looking at naturals and taking tips from them because I want to transition in 2011. I have about 2 inches of new growth that is making me want to relax. And at 18 weeks post, I am really hoping this works during the next semester of college. So, I have a full thing of Silk Elements that I have been itching to try since I ran out of ORS on standby. My relaxer journey is not what I expected (<---which is to be expected). Nonetheless, I am greatful for all of the discipline and understanding of my hair that has taken place over the last two years.



On to the week. I was really good about listening to my hair this week. I co-washed 1x. I moisturized and sealed every night starting with a water spritz first, then following up with a dab of LTR and ORS carrort oil sealed with coconut oil. I skipped the ORS on the nights I did not co-wash.



To co-wash, I rinsed the hair well for 5 minutes and slathered on Dove Daily Moisture from root to end while I did my workout as like a deep condition. After that, I rinsed my hair and co-washed with my Tresumme moisture rich in sections and plaited each section. Lastly, I moisturized with HE LTR and ORS carrot oil and sealed with coconut oil.



Friday, I pre-pooed (all day) with olive oil sealed with coconut oil. Then, I rinsed the hair with warm water for 5 minutes and cleansed it with Hair ONE for dry hair. I let that sit for 5 minutes. My hair felt soooooo good after I rinsed. Why did I go back to shampoo?! Anyway, I thought that it was time for some protein so I did the Aphogee 2-min (honestly for about 10 mintues under a cap). Rinsed and added my deep condtioner: ORS replenishing pak. I dc-ed with no heat overnight. When I got in the shower on Saturday, I sectioned the hair down the middle, then in fours on each side (this made it real easy to detangle). Since I had more time, I had more patience with my hair and I used my Jibere shower comb after detangling each section with my hands from the ends to the root. By using my hands first, I was aslo able to find those stubborn knots which I was able to clear using the rub method for knots.



**To clear out stubborn knots I just gently rub the knot in between my fingers until the hairs loosen and I pull them out a few at a time. LOVE IT!



I braided my hair in the shower in eight braids and moisturized each braid with LTR, ORS and Fantasia serum, combed it all through and re-braided putting a little curl at the end with my fingers.



Lastly, I sat under the dryer for 30 minutes (on low) to dry my hair for a braid-out.

Prepooing with Oils is a must for me!

My favorite oil to prepoo with is EVOO. I am an olive oil girl. Although, I would like to try Avocado oil and Macadamia nut. On my journey I also use cold pressed castor oil and EVCO (extra virgin cocconut oil). I also like Sweet almond oil for various uses like the hair, skin and nails. Bottom line...oils are a must!!!

My co-washing friend: TRESemme Vitamin E Moisture Rich Conditioner

I started using this as a pre-poo/dc at the beginning of my hhj. I used to workout with the conditioner in my hair.

A year and a half later, I realize this is an excellent co-wash when mixed with sweet almond oil.

I got the oil for $6.99 at Whole Foods and the TRESemme at Sally's for only $3.89 for a 40-ounce bottle! I added 1 tablespoon of oil for every 10 ounces to get wonderful results.

I used this as a co-wash last night, at almost 18 weeks post, to reduce manipulation, increase moisture (as a co-wash and leave-in), and to style hair while in the shower.

METHOD:

• I rinsed my hair thoroughly for about 5 minutes under the warm shower
• I gently squeezed the excess water from my hair and brushed my teeth (this gave my hair about 5 minutes to get rid of some of the water)
• I added the conditioner in 3 sections from root to tip (and lathered, so this let the conditioner sit for 5-10 minutes).
• Rinsed with luke-warm/cool water
• Squeezed out excess water and added a dime-sized amount to ends and edges and put in a wet bun with my silk wrap scarf.
• Once my hair was 30% dry, I removed the scarf, moisturized and sealed and tied my hair down with a dry silk scarf and baggied my ends.

RESULTS: The next morning, I lightly moisturized with TRESemme and sealed with castor oil and bunned my soft hair.

My HHJ Mainstays

There are a few quick things I need in my hair journey.

1. I love tweaking my regimen every 30 days. See my format here: http://keepitsimplesista.ning.com/profiles/blogs/may-2010-reggie-note-to-self. I'm only a year and a half into my hhj and my major set back was not listening to my hair. Trying to put it on a schedule was, for lack of a better term, stupid.
2. I must, must, must take my vitamins. Besides being for my overall health, they are great for energy (I feel slightly sluggish without them), and excellent for rapid hair growth.
3. I MUST work out everyday. I may rest on some Sundays, but usually I am doing something daily. Even if my family and I dance for only 30 minutes, I have to move. My favorite routines are on bodyrock.tv. These intense workouts are reminiscent of P90X or Insanity. MOST IMPORTANTLY: tracking my weekly exercise takes my mind off of watching my hair.
   
4. Flat irons, hot curlers, and pressing combs are a NO-NO in my regimen. As much as I am tempted, I do not use these tools because I have abused them in the past. So now I am forced to learn what to do with my hair without them because I don't own any.
5. Oils for: prepooing, mixing with co-washes and dc's are a must! Coconut oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil and cold-pressed castor oil have helped me tremendously on my hair journey.
6. Blogging is best for tracking what I do in a chronological manner without the fuss. I've tried the hand-written thing, taking pics, forums, Microsoft word, Microsoft one-note, notepad and other methods, but blogging seems to be the neatest, easiest, and most fun.
   
7. Last, but certainly not least: A GENTLE HAND WILL RULE THE LAND. My main issue with breakage is that I am a heavy-handed chick and that needs to stop (not to mention I rarely get manicures).
   

Tonight's reggie

So, I am 17 weeks post and so far this stretch has been the most successful yet. I am learning to change my reggie every 30-60 days to keep up with my hair's ever-changing needs. Right now I have sl relaxed strands sitting on top of a 1 and 1/2 inch afro. The different textures are driving me crazy!!! So it's time to braid it up. Prayerfully the braids will last me all summer semester (I'm almost a senior in college!! Glory be to God!).

Tonight I plan to:

• Pre-poo with evoo (it would be castor oil but I ran out, I am a big fan of castor oil)
• Wash with hair one olive oil
• D/C with my mix of Lustrasilk's Shea Butter Cholesterol plus, HE HH, and a tablespoon of each of the following oils: Vitamin e, tea tree, grapeseed, and sweet almond.