Washday | The Low Bun Experience

This past Friday couldn't get here fast enough. For some reason my scalp was itching like crazy! Well actually I know what the reason was. My hair just needed a good washing. Here's how the washday went:

• Detangled with Mane N Tail Detangler
• Applied Keracare Humecto conditioner
• DCed with Gold N Hot conditioning cap for about 20 minutes
• Rinsed and shampooed with Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo
• Rinsed and applied a small amount of the Generic version of Matrix biolage detangling conditioner.
• Did a final rinse and t-shirt dried my hair for about 30 minutes.
• Applied my usual leave ins using the L (Chi Keratin Mist) O (GVP Smoothing Serum) C (Kimmaytube Leave In) method. 
• Allowed my hair to air dry and then moisturized and sealed using my Giovanni Direct leave in and coocnut oil. 
• Massaged JBCO into my scalp and sealed my ends.

Style: I'm about 2 weeks away from getting my next relaxer and this is normally about the time my
hair decides not to cooperate. Meaning high buns, mid-cenetered buns, etc are out of the question. Previously I used to force my hair into a high bun, but this time around I decided to rock a low bun. Because I air dried my hair I had the biggest, softest low bun I think I've ever created without using a filler! I was so amazed I even took a comparison shot to see how far my hair has come in terms of growth! Oh and to jazz up my low bun I threw on a cute headband and a fun pair of earrings. I'm all for low maintenance no muss no fuss hair styles and that's exactly what this low bun did for me!

How was your wash day? Have you checked out our washday linkup? If not join us!

Sidenote: My latest beauty favorites video went live on my youtube channel! I mentioned some awesome affordable products! 

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Bed, Bath, & Beyond's Health and Beauty Section!!!

So I am so excited to share what I discovered today in Bed Bath and Beyond today!!! Lately when reading some of my favorite beauty blogs I keep seeing people mention that they've spotted some of the latest and greatest makeup items in Bed Bath and Beyond. Who would've thought! Well I happened to be near one today and out of curiosity decided to check out the health and beauty section. Y'all I was blown away! Not only does Bed, Bath, and Beyond have a great makeup section, but they have a HUGE Hair product section! AND to make it EVEN better they also have their own generic brand called Harmon Face Value of some of the top product such as Paul Mitchell's 'The Detangler' and Matrix Biolage's 'Detangling Solution'. To top all of this off if you are signed up to receive Bed Bath and Beyond's coupons like I am we are talking about HUGE savings here! I also noticed that the prices seem to be better than Walmart or Target. Oh and did I mention that Bed Bath and Beyond accepts any competitors coupons! I was so mesmerized that I had to take a few pictures!

Cowash Thursday!

This is a really quick post! I know I've been super quiet lately...blame it on working night shift and trying to readjust to my normal day to day schedule! Anywho in between work I've been on a serious workout regimen lately, which means long days in the gym and sweaty hair (gross I know). Because of that I've vowed to cowash my hair at least once a week in addition to my weekend wash day. On today I hopped in the shower and rinsed my hair thoroughly for about 1-2 minutes with warm water and then applied my hair one. I massaged it into my hair for about 30 seconds and rinsed. I then applied my GVP conditioning balm to my hair from root to tip and put on my new deep conditioning cap.
 I let my conditioner sit for about 10 minutes and then hopped back in the shower and rinsed it out (this reminded me of why I deep condition first on my wash day!). Lastly I applied my normal leave ins and tied a silk scarf around my edges to slick them down and air dried! I was left with very soft manageable hair.

Midweek Cowash Success!

Well it's still winter here on the east coast...in case you couldn't tell I'm over it! Anywho, because of this cold weather by the time I'm ready for wash day my hair normally feels a bit dry. As Ive mentioned in my 7 tips to successfully stretch your relaxer blog post you have to listen to your hair and as of lately my hair has been saying that one wash a week isnt enough. I decided to nip this problem in the bud before incurring any immediate breakage by trying a mid week cowash. Now I haven't cowashed in forever. I used to do it every week but between studying and my work schedule I was just too busy plus I didn't see where the added manipulation was helping my hair any. Now mind you my cowashing process then was a lot more complicated. After putting some serious thought into how I could make this process work for my hair while still being as quick and painless for both me and my schedule I think I've come up with a very simple low manipulation routine! Here's what I did.

1. I rinsed my hair thoroughly for 2-3 minutes with warm water
2. Next I applied my hair one to my scalp and the length of my hair and gently massaged my scalp being careful not to cause any unnecessary tangles. I let it sit for 1-2 minutes and then rinsed.
3. I then applied my GVP Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm (can you tell that this product has quickly become a favorite of mine?). I let it sink into my hair while I showered and washed my face. 
4. I rinsed the conditioner thoroughly out of my hair and tied my hair with my turbie twist to soak up as much extra water as possible. 
5. Lastly I applied my leave ins, which consisted of my kimmay tube leave in with a twist and a dime sized amount of my Chi silk infusion serum. After this was done I sat under my dryer on a medium heat setting for about an hour. 

Notice, I did NOT detangle my hair during this wash. As a matter of fact I didn't  use a comb at all during this cowash. To detangle I just used my fingers while rinsing out my conditioner. Initially I was worried that my hair would dry and be a hot tangled mess, but instead I was left with extremely soft, moisturized, fluffy, and tangle free hair! I was so pleased with my cowash experience that I'm thinking about adding it to my weekly regimen! 

Here's a picture of the final results. I know it's a bit blurry, but I was sleepy and didn't feel like pulling out my camera! 

Happy growing :)

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! 

This Weekend's Wash Day and Hair Style

My original plan was to wash and rollerset my hair this weekend, but after working a week of night shift and being just downright exhausted rollersetting went right out the window. Ultimately I opted to wash and and semi air dry my hair. Here's what I did.

• I deep conditioned with my Silk Element Kera Minerals Smoothing Deep conditioner on damp hair. You can check out my review here.
• Next I rinsed out my DC and applied my hair one. I massaged the hair one into my scalp and let it sit for about a minute and then rinsed it out. 
• After this I applied my GVP version the matrix biolage conditioning balm. This stuff is a great rinse out conditioner and detangler for my hair. I let the conditioning balm sit on my hair while I showered and then detangled and rinsed while in the shower. 
• I wrapped my hair in my turbie twist for about 10 minutes to soak up some of the excess water and then applied my leave ins (kimmaytube leave in mix with a twist and Chi Silk Infusion). 
• After applying my leave ins I sat under my Gold N Hot bonnet dryer for about 1.5 hours and alternated between the cool and hot heat setting to dry my hair.

That about sums up my wash day! However, after my hair was done drying I decided to try out this pin curl bantu knot out combination hair style that I saw on Evelyn Thomas' youtube page. I loved my results...especially since my last bantu knot out was a disaster! I'm considering this a protective style since my hair isn't quite where I want it to be to make a big juicy bun and my ends did not come into contact with my clothing or anything else! However, this is at least a low manipulation hair style that would be great for the spring and summer months! Here's a picture of my results...

It really came together after the curls fell. Next time I will do more individual pin curls to give it a fuller look! 

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