Totally Twisted (Part 4) | How To Safely Remove A Braid Install

Here's part 4 of my Braid series! In this video I give tips (hopefully helpful) as well as demonstrate how I safely remove my braid install. I will also have a pictorial of sorts coming soon showing how I removed my Senegalese twists as well!

Wash Day!

So today it was time to do my midweek cowash, which I avoided doing yesterday out of sheer laziness!

• I massaged the Tropical Isle Red Pimento oil into my scalp and spritzed aloe vera juice on the length of my hair. 

• Applied a mixture of Silk Kera DC and the One N Only Argan oil hydrating mask to the length of my hair followed by my grapeseed/olive oil mixture. 
• I placed a plastic shower cap and my turbie twist on my head and DC'd while I cooked dinner. Y'all know as of lately I've become quite creative in figuring out ways to DC while doing something else. Surprisingly I really liked this method because it allowed my DC to heat up naturally. 
• After about 20 minutes I rinsed the DC out thoroughly and applied my hair one to my scalp for 1-2 minutes and then rinsed.
• Applied Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment to the length of my hair for about 3 minutes and then did a final rinse.
• I wrapped my hair in my turbie twist for about 20 minutes and then applied my leave ins (Chi Keratin Mist, PM Super Skinny Serum, and Kimmaytube Leave in)  using the LOC method. 
• Using a head band from forever 21 to tie down my edges I air dried for about 1.5 hours.

• Lastly I detangled my hair in four sections using my hercules sagemann comb and moisturized using my Giovanni Direct Leave In and sealed using coconut oil. 

Final results: Big fluffy soft hair! I plan to bun tomorrow and try out a bantu knot set for this weekend! 

How I Prepare My Hair For Relaxer Day!

So as promised in my last wash day post I have a video detailing not only what I do the day before my relaxer, but what I do the entire week leading up to my relaxer. In addition I mention my favorite products and techniques that have consistently insured an easy relaxer application for both my and my hair stylist!

Wash Day Diaries: Something Different!

Hi guys! So today was wash day and for the most part I used the same products I've been using. I deep conditioned with my One N Only Restorative mask mixed with a bit of the Joico K-pak. After rinsing it out I cleansed my scalp and hair with my hair one and then followed up with my Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment. Once I did a final rinse I wrapped my hair in a t-shirt to absorb the excess water for about 20 minutes. Next I applied my leave ins (Chi Keratin Mist, Kimmaytube leave in w/ a twist, and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum).

I let my hair air dry for about 40 minutes, but because I have somewhere to go I decided to blow dry my hair. I haven't done that in ages! So I pulled out my Hot tool professional ionic blow dryer and blow dryed my hair in small sections using LOW heat only. My hair was so light and fluffy afterwards not to mention I could really see the growth that I've been retaining!

After I finished blowdrying I moisturized my hair lightly with my Giovanni Direct Leave in and sealed with a bit more Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum. I then pulled out my caruso steam rollerset and randomly applied the rollers to my hair using end papers to protect my ends and keep them from frizzing. After about 10 minutes I took the rollers down and let the curls settle and dry (my hair is always a tad bit damp and I've learned that styling a caruso steam rollerset immediately after removing the rollers leads to frizzy hair!).

I then decided to wrap my hair...something else I haven't done in ages! When I took my hair down I was left with light, voluminous, bouncy hair! I loved how my hair turned out! I may have to do this once a month or at least on weekends when I have somewhere to go. I think this was a great low heat alterantive that broke up the monotony of my normal wash day. Check out the results!

Relaxer Preparation!

So tomorrow is relaxer day for me and let me just say that I am so excited! My new growth has been doing it's own thing and it is time for it to be tamed!

In order to prepare for my relaxer I deep conditioned my hair on Wednesday evening with my Silk Elements Kera Minerals DC. Out of pure laziness that's the only thing I did (no cleansing conditioner or anything!). After that I allowed my hair to air dry and then applied my usually leave ins. I like to wash my hair about 3-4 days prior to my relaxer because it really helps to soften my new growth which in turn makes my detangling session A LOT easier on me. Since then I've been rocking buns.

On tonight I pulled out my handy Silken childs detangling spray and began the daunting task of detangling my new growth. The last time I received my relaxer I skipped doing this and my scalp was not too happy with me! I started with the very back section of my hair and spritzed my detangling spray on my new growth only. Next I gently massaged it into my new growth and then proceeded to detangle using the orange wide tooth rat tail comb pictured below. After detangling my new growth I then detangled the length of my hair using my hercules Sagemann seamless comb followed by a random seamless comb that I have in my stash. I repeated these steps until I reached the top part of my hair. Fast forward an hour later and I finally finished. Last I parted my hair into two sections and moisturized with my Giovanni Direct Leave In conditioner and sealed with coconut oil.

As much as I did want to go through my usual relaxer preparation steps I know my hair and my stylist will thank me tomorrow :)

Washday Fun

So as much as I've been enjoying my 1 week post hair it was definitely time to wash and deep condition it. Here's what I did...

1. I applied my oil mix (grapeseed, olive, and coconut oil) to my hair in 4 sections and sat under my gold n hot conditioning cap for about 10 minutes. 
2. Next I detangled each section with my hercules Sagemann comb.
3. I spritzed my hair with my CC's naturals Marshmallow & Burdock root tea (you can read my review here) focusing on my roots.
4. I then applied a mixture of my Silk Elements Kera Minerals DC, Silk Dream Vanilla Silk DC, with a splash of glycerin and a squirt of my oil mix mentioned above. 
5. Next I sat under my conditioning cap for about 20 minutes and then hopped in the shower and thoroughly rinsed my hair. 
6. I applied hair one to my scalp and the length of my hair and left it on for about 1 minute and then rinsed.
7. After squeezing the excess water from my hair I wrapped it in my turbie twist for about 30 minutes while I did odd chores around the house. 
8. I applied my leave ins (Kimmaytube leave in mix w/ a twist and some GVP Paul Mitchell Skinny serum).
9. I tied a satin strip around my edges and allowed my hair to air dry (I didn't have time to sit under the dryer because Mother is coming to visit and I like to have my house spotless! yay!)
10. After my hair was about 80% dry I gently detangled my hair again and then applied my normal moisturizer (Giovanni Direct Leave in) and sealant (coconut oil).

Wash Day and a Growing Bun!

So I'm officially 1 week post relaxer, which means that the main focus of my wash day is protein! Here's what I did...

• I did a quick hot oil treatment with a mixture of grapeseed oil, olive oil, and coconut oil. Instead of sitting under my heated conditioning cap I threw on my shower cap and placed my turbie twist on top of that to create a natural heat. 
•  After about 20 minutes I detangled each of the 4 sections of my hair with my new hercules sagemann mini rake comb (see post here)
• Next I applied my One N Only Argan oil Restorative mask mixed with a small amount of the GVP Joico K-pak and sat under my conditioning cap for about 15-20 minutes.
• I thoroughly rinsed out my deep conditioner and spritzed my CC's naturals Marshmallow & Burdock root tea on each section of my hair (See the review here) and allowed it to sit for about 2-3 minutes. 
• After rinsing out the tea I applied my hair one cleansing condition to my scalp as well as the length of my hair. 
• I did one final rinse to rinse out the hair one and then applied my turbie twist for about 5 minutes. 
• I applied my kimmaytube leave in mix with a twist (see post here) as well as my GVP Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum and sat under my bonnet dryer for about 45 minutes using the cool setting.
• Lastly I applied a tiny bit of my ORS smooth N Hold pudding and Eco styler argan oil gel to my nape and edges and tied a satin strip to smooth out my edges.

After finishing up my wash day process I decided to venture out and get myself a pedicure. In need of a quick style that did not require too much hassle (because quite frankly I didn't feel like it!). I smoothed my hair into a bun and was pleasantly surprised to see that my bun is growing in size and thickness!!! Check out the pictures below :)  On the right is my bun right now! 

My first tiny bun that I did a few months after my hair cut

My bun right now! 

Weekly Find...sort of (Hercules Sagemann Seamless Comb)!!!

I've been debating purchasing a seamless comb for probably about a year now. I remember when I first saw the prices of the Hercules Sagemann seamless combs I scoffed and vowed to never purchase one! However, 9 months into my revamped hair journey I slowly became convinced that I needed this comb in my life! I'll admit EbonyCPrincess of Longing4Length and Jeni of JustGrowAlready helped to convince me (see posts here and here). I purchased the 'Magic Mini Star Rake comb from www.hotcombs.net for $14.95. So far im very impressed with the sturdiness of this comb and if I love it as much as I think I will I definitely plan to purchase more in thr future. I plan to do a full review soon!