So I am officially over my hair right now. My scalp is so sore and I'm certain its because I've been pulling my hair back too much. I'm not interested in it shedding crazy because of too much tension, so I'm done with protective styling for a while. My hair will just have to be out for a while! Although I'm almost 8 weeks post and feeling lazy, I now have to meticulously care for my hair. I have to keep abreast of my deep conditioning, cleansing, moisturizing and sealing and make sure that the first available time my hair can be put into a satin cap that I do exactly that. So I'll probably be doing fun hair things since it has to be out in low tension, heat free styles.
So now for the wash day. I put my coconut/sweet almond oil mix on my scalp and then proceeded to take the twists down with some macadamia nut oil. I left the oil in for about 15 minutes then hopped into the shower with my Neutrogena Anti-Residue clarifying shampoo and went HAM lol. I shampooed my scalp one time and then applied the shampoo to the length (not on my ends though), I rarely do this with shampoo but I wanted all of the silicone out. After that I tried a new product, my hair felt like it needed some protein, but with more moisture added, so I figured I'd give the Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) Olive Oil Hair Masque a shot. I followed the directions and left it in for 5 minutes with a plastic cap on my head, then rinsed in warm-lukewarm water. I have to admit, the slip on that conditioner was BANANAS! My hair at almost 8 weeks post detangled with almost no effort, so cheers to ORS for that. My hair felt very soft and smooth in the shower, but it felt like there was a bit of film on my hair, and when I stepped out of the shower my hair felt hard while it was still wet. I was concerned, so I also tried a new leave-in, the Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine leave-in conditioner. The Sleek and Shine leave-in seemed to soften it up, but it didn't really help with detangling so I brought out my trusty Rusk Smoother leave-in. It felt filmy at first, but after it dried my hair was so soft, strong, smooth and fine smelling. I was pleased. I left it out on Wednesday and to kick off my no protective styling period, I figured I'd pin curl my hair Wednesday night to give it some shape. I moisturized my ends with Bee Mine Deja's hair milk and sealed with my coconut/sweet almond oil mix. I spray aloe vera juice/water on my sore spots and put my hair into 9 big pin curls. I wasn't sure how it would come out, but I have noticed that it's important to pin curl after the moisturizer dries so that the dents from the pins don't remain. I took them down this morning with some sweet almond oil and lightly spritzed them with aloe vera juice. I'm writing this around 3pm and I have to admit, my hair is still moisturized, bouncy and smooth. I am extremely pleased with the results. I hope my hair can stay healthy without the protective styling, I know it can be done, but I also know that means I have to really be on my game. I'm going to add some pictures as soon as I get home!
phew I finally got some natural light to take these pics :). these were taken at the end of the day when the curls fell.
i like them, and more importantly my hair is still very moisturized!
How do you maintain your hair's health and maximize length retention when your hair is out?