Today's Hair: Daytime Deep Condition

Here's my experiment for today. Yes, even during the work week I can't stop myself from experimenting! I'm doing some daytime deep conditioning with baggying using Chicoro's method. I've been getting frustrated by breakage, splits and fairy knots, but I'm not ready to get a professional trim just yet. My search and destroy missions as well as mini trims every few weeks have not been enough to rid myself of most of the splits. Now I see I have to take more drastic measures to fight them in order to retain length.

Products and tools I used: Suave Tangerine conditioner, Africa's Best herbal oil, spritz of water, comb, oil soaked ouchless ponytail holder, plastic wrap, black trouser sock.





Here my hair is all wrapped up in plastic and a black trouser sock. Tuck any exposed plastic wrap under the sock.


Took a big piece of ribbon and wrapped it all around the sock.

Flax Seed Gel

I made a batch of Flax Seed Gel (FSG) for myself since a lot of curlies swear by this as an all-natural, non-polluting (like some hair products can be), inexpensive and effective gel. It's quick to make and if you're on a budget you can't get much cheaper than this!

All you need is flax seeds, water, a bowl or covered container, and a strainer. Some people add other ingredients to their flax seed gel. For my formulation I also added some hydrolized keratin for an even stronger hold. Be warned though that FSG is not a sweet smelling concoction, nor does it look very pretty. It's pretty much the consistency and color of snot, but don't let that scare you.

How to make it? Well everyone has their own formulations, and I've only made this a few times before so I don't have a set formula. But the basics are to boil flax seeds in water (let's say with a ratio of 0.5 cup of seeds to 1.5 cups of water). Remember, the ratio of seeds to water determines how thick or thin your gel will be. If you want a thicker gel, use more seeds and less water. If you want something thinner, use more water and less seeds.

After about a minute of boiling you should see a foamy film develop. You know it's working then. Once you get to that point lower the heat a bit, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 5 more minutes. This gets out as much gel as possible. When it's done cooking, pour the gooey liquid through a strainer and into a heat-safe covered container and allow to cool. You can put your mix in the refrigerator to set the gel even faster.

When it's ready use it as you would any other hair gel.. to do a wash & go, or for braid- or twist-outs, etc.

Oh and just a quick warning on preserving this. You can add a little acid (i.e. lemon juice) to help this keep for a bit, but since this is a natural product it will go bad after a while. FSG should keep in the refrigerator for about a week.

Rollersetting on my mind

I'd like to attempt another series of rollersets now that I found some end papers on sale at Walgreens ($0.99 for 500, so I got two packs!)

I've got a two different sets of rollers, magnetic and foam. I'd really like to try out the long flexible rollers like this, perm rollers, or mesh rollers. I wish there was a way to test out the different rollers without having to go and buy a set! It looks like that's what I may have to do in order to figure out which method works best for each set of rollers.

I've done rollersets with my magnetic rollers before. The results are usually good however the rolling process takes a long time for me since the rollers are always slipping out of my hands. The foam rollers are okay but they leave that annoying dent from the closure piece, and they're usually a smaller size than I'd like. I have seen foam rollers in the 1 in. size, mine are about 3/4 in. at the largest. They're actually best for a pony tail rollerset However, usually when I rollerset I'm looking for a much looser curl than my normal look.

Another thing that would probably help me in my quest to perfecting the rollerset would be a hood dryer, not the soft one, but the hard bonnet. There's one available at Sally's that I'm checking out, but I have a few other spots that I may want to check before I spend my money on Sally.

And of course I will post pictures of my results, whenever I get all my materials together that is..

TTFN.

November 2009 length check - are we there yet?

I learned how to French Braid this month. It just sort of happened spontaneously as I was attempting it, and it came out successfully so I had to take a pic! I've seen it done so many times before in real life and on you tube videos, so I knew the theory, but my fingers never really knew how to braid properly.. all of a sudden everything came together (my memories, theory, and my fingers) and I wound up with this style. :) I have a feeling that I'm going to be wearing a lot more of these kinds of twist-braided styles over the winter months.





It's getting somewhere, painfully slowly (but surely). I just need those top layers to reach as long as the bottom of my neck.. then I'll officially be out of the "block hair phase" of hair purgatory. This is a day 1 braid out from the french braid pictured above.

Conditioner Trials

So I got a tip that Target had Herbal Essences conditioners on sale, and I thought "Why not test out a few different formulas?" I stocked up on my favorite Curls and Waves Conditioner, and picked up the Long Term Relationship (for long hair), Break's Over (breakage formula), and Color Me Happy (for the hell of it). ;) That's my plan for the winter as I continue this growing process. For the months of December 2009, January and February 2010, I'll try out each conditioner formulation --assuming each bottle even lasts a month. I'll use them as I would doing my normal everyday routines for wash and gos and/or protective styles. It's less humid in the winter so I may do more out styles. Stay tuned for updates starting in December!

Random thoughts ...

I would love to go darker with indigo/henna... or should I just stick with the color I am now to avoid having to do a color transition later?

I've got splits and single strand knots up the wazoo..Having the urge to cut it all off again so I have healthy hair.. is this just part of the process of waiting for the length to happen? Maybe if I just get it shaped up I'll feel better... I'll never reach my goal if I don't work my way through this hair stumbling block.. I'm a third of the way to my goal, so why stop and chop now?

This too shall pass?

Kyu!

I made it to yellow belt! I've been doing a combo of judo/jujitsu at my gym for about 4 months now, and I made my first rank this weekend. I'm still wearing a white belt, but I've moved up a notch. I'm a little bit more dangerous now so watch out bad guys!

Work appropriate in black

I have my hair in a 2nd day half-up braidout, held back with the African butterfly clip. Note that my tats and nose ring are all visible.



In the bottom left pic was my 1st day single-braid out.



Bottom right, is my full outfit.

What I did Today

Well actually it was yesterday, but I did a little self-dusting on my ends. Hair was trimmed with hair cutting scissors on dry hair so I wouldn't have to worry about how much it would shrink. You can't even tell that anything was taken off. I am wearing a pretty comb to keep my hair up and away from my hands, clothes, etc. Currently I'm wearing it in this rolled style, and it's low stress on the hair which I hope will help me retain length. I would rather lose a little now than a big chunk later..

I think I'm gonna go ahead and call this a protective style.

The Basics - Product application order

A lot of curlies have questions about just exactly which order products are applied in the hair. Well the first disclaimer would be to Do Whatever Works Best for You, and also that there are no hard and fast rules to this. It's trial and error until you get a regimen that works.

For me, I apply most of my products while I'm still in the shower either with fingers or with a wide toothed comb. I try to use as few products as possible to acheive the look I need, and actually some styles look best with little to no product. Looking to get more volume? Use less product. Trying to reduce on frizz? Use more product. That's my formula and I'm sticking with it.

Let's say I wanted to do a wash and go this is how the order goes:

1. Conditioner wash and rinse hair.

2. Wring out excess water from hair, and apply approx. a tablespoon of rinse out conditioner for both halves of my hair, rake or comb through and do not rinse out.

(2a. If it's really humid I might rake through a tablespoon or two of gel.)

3. Seal the ends with an oil or shea butter.

I generally keep my product application in this same order.. moisture, conditioner, gel, oil/butter. This is what has worked for me and maybe it will work for you. I think it's important to give hair moisture first and foremost, and then add everything else at the end as needed.