Wash Day Wednesday's!!

I'm so sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I caught a spring cold that kicked my butt for literally a week! I'm finally feeling well enough to get back to blogging and to wash my hair! I will be getting a relaxer and a dusting/trim this weekend so today's wash day is all about protein! Because I'm relaxed I try to keep my tresses both healthy and strong and the best way to do that is to have protein as a steady rotation in my regimen. Here's what I did.

1. I parted my hair into 4 sections and very lightly detangled each section and then applied some random oils to my scalp and to the length of my hair. 
2. I sat under my Gold N Hot conditioning cap for 10 minutes and then detangled my hair a second time ( I try to remove all of the shedded hair before water touches my hair to prevent matting). 
3. I then applied my CC's naturals marshmallow (review should be up by the end of this week!) to each section of my hair and then applied the last of my KeraPRO restorative deep conditioner to each section.
4. Again I sat under my conditioning cap for about 15 minutes and then rinsed each section of my hair thoroughly.
5. Lastly I applied hair one to each section of my hair as well as my scalp and rinsed after about 2 minutes. 
6. After my final rinse I wrapped my hair in my turbie twist for about 45 minutes. 
7. I then applied my kimmaytube leave in and about a quarter sized amount of the GVP 'Paul Mitchell's Skinny serum'
8. I then tied a satin scarf around my shoulders to allow my hair to air dry straight. I got this idea from PrettyWitty77 and so far I'm loving it! 

That's it for this wash day! On Friday I plan to do my usual relaxer prep steps in order to prepare for my relaxer this Friday. You can read that post here. 

KeraPRO Restorative Treatment for Dry to Very Dry Hair Review

Price: $10.99 although you can catch it on sale for $5.99.

Place of Purchase: Sally Beauty Supply

Ingredients: WATER/AQUA/EAU, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, STEARYL ALCOHOL, ISOPROPYL PALMITATE, DIMETHICONE, BEHENTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, HYDROLYZED KERATIN, HYDROLYZED RICE PROTEIN, GLUCOSE, COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL, CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS (SAFFLOWER) SEED OIL, HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE, CETYL ESTERS, SILICONE QUATERNIUM- 16, GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, PROPOXYTETRAMETHYL PIPERIDINYL DIMETHICONE,OLYQUATERNIUM-37, PROPYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, CETRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, DISODIUM EDTA, PHENOXYETHANOL, C11-15 PARETH-7, UNDECETH-11, TRIDECETH-6, BENZOPHENONE-4, PPG-1 TRIDECETH-6, UNDECETH-5, BUTYLOCTANOL, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, METHYLPARABEN, BUTYLPARABEN, ETHYLPARABEN, ISOBUTYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, LIMONENE, FRAGRANCE/PARFUM

Directions: Use with KeraPRO Shampoo. Apply to clean hair and massage through the lengths and ends. Leave for 5 minutes. Rinse well.

Promises: KeraPRO Restorative Treatment is an intense nourishing treatment saturates hair from roots to ends for the ultimate restorative therapy for extra dry or stressed hair. Contains scientifically-advanced glucose, lipid and keratin protein actives. Locks nutrients deep inside the hair fiber leaving hair soft, shiny and healthy.

My Thoughts: The one thing I love about Sally's is that they always find a way to make a ridiculously priced product more affordable, which is exactly what they've done with the KeraPRO product line. This line is a cheaper alternative (or replica) of the L'oreal Keratase products, which can range anywhere from $20-$60 per product. I've used this product for the past 3 months as a light protein treatment for my hair. I love the consistency of this product because it's not too thick, but it's also not runny. I also love that it comes in a jar because it makes the application process so much easier...not to mention I'm one of those people who will save jars and reuse them (I'm not ashamed!).  Although, this product left my hair feeling stronger I did not get the softness and suppleness I was hoping to get from this product, however my hair was not left feeling dry and tangled the way protein conditioners have often left my hair feeling in the past (a MAJOR plus in my book).  Overall I think the KeraPRO restorative treatment is a great product, but I don't see it becoming a staple in my regimen.

This Weekend's Wash Day!

So this past weekend's wash day was all about change. I decided to try a couple of different things for my wash day and for the most part I was pleased. This weekend was my protein wash day. Here's what I did...

• I applied coconut oil to my scalp and deep conditioned on dry hair with my kerapro DC, but this time I added some random oils I had lying around in my arsenal along with some glycerin and tea tree oil. I noticed a huge difference in the way the conditioner left my hair feeling just by adding those few ingredients! 
• Next I rinsed and then applied my beloved hair one focusing on my scalp. I don't know if I'll ever leave that stuff alone :). I let the hair one sit on my hair for about a minute and then rinsed. 
• I applied my GVP matrix biolage conditioning balm and detangled in the shower with this. This is still a great rinse out conditioner in my opinion. One of these days I'll have to try it as a cowashing conditioner (when my schedule permits). 
• After this I applied my normal leave ins which consisted of my kimmaytube leave in mix with a twist and a dime sized amount of the chi silk infusion. I also ran across my aphogee green tea keratin mist and decided to give it a try. I'd tried it previously and hated it, but I was also trying 50 other things at the time so I really don't know if I hated it or not. I sprayed a liberal amount on my scalp/new growth and some on my ends.
• Once this was done I sat under my dryer (using mainly the cool setting) and dried my hair.
• After my hair was done drying I moisturized with my giovanni direct leave in and sealed with coconut oil

Overall I was very pleased with my wash day results, however I don't believe I will use the aphogee green tea keratin mist on my ends any more. They were left feeling a bit more rough and dry than I'm used to. Other than that I believe I may add the aphogee green tea keratin mist to my daily wash day. I'll keep an eye out to see if it helps with shedding and this gives me a way to use up the product! 

Here's a picture of my air dried hair...

                         

For church I decided to pin curl my hair and pin it up. This is a great protective style for those who may not be quite able to bun yet! 

Relaxer Day Prep

Ok so as you guys know I received my relaxer at 10 weeks post on last week. The relaxer application process was so easy for both me and my hair stylists simply because I made a few tweaks to my relaxer day prepping process. I washed my hair on Wednesday and received my relaxer on saturday. Here's what I did.

First I deep conditioned with my kerapro deep conditioner. I chose this conditioner because it contains protein which in turn would provide my hair with added strength prior to my relaxer. I plan to do a review of this product soon in a later post!

After rinsing out my conditioner I cleansed my scalp with my beloved Hair One cleansing conditioner being very careful to use only the pads of my thumbs as I did not want to irritate my scalp. I let the hair one sit on my hair for approximately 2 minutes and then rinsed it out.

Next I applied the GVP version of Matrix Biolage's 'Conditioning Balm'. This is a great rinse out conditioner that I use to detangle my hair. After rinsing I wrapped my hair in a turbie twist for about 2-4 minutes and then  applied my usual leave ins which consists of a bit of my kimmaytube leave in, keracare foaming wrap lotion, and a dime sized amount of the GVP Chi silk infusion.

After applying my leaves ins I decided to rollerset my hair in an attempt to help my new growth lay down. This was the best decision I could have ever made! It made detangling the night before my relaxer so easy and it also made it easier on my hair stylist as she did not have to try and carve through my unruly new growth!

In the past I've just washed my hair and left my new growth alone, which always made it harder on myself and my poor hair stylist. Even though rollersetting was quite time consuming at 10 weeks post I've decided to make this a permanent part of my relaxer prep day! I loved the results and the smoothness of both my hair and new growth.

This is the amount of hair I loss from detangling the night before my relaxer

Here's a texture shot of my new growth

KeraPro Sale at Sally's Beauty Supply!!!

So thanks to Ebony C. Princess and Jenni from Just Grow Already I have been itching to get my hands on the Kerapro product line at Sally's for the longest, however I refused to pay $10.99 for each product! I've also been on the hunt for a nice light protein conditioner to put in rotation into my almost cemented regimen (post coming soon on that!). Finally Sally's heard my cry and decided to have a fabulous 2 for $10 sale on kerapro along with some other great products. Check out the ad here. I absolutely cannot wait to try these two products! So to all of ladies out there who are kerapro fanatics this sale will be going on all throughout the month of December!