Heatless

After 1 year (April 2012-April 2013) of not applying heat to my hair, I can say that I was able to maintain length, but not grow it. Therefore, this next year's theme will be protective styling. While I did enjoy wearing my hair straight, I would like to see how much I can grow over the next 12 months.

    

Oh! And that whole post-my-regimen-each-week thing was too much work for me. I realized it wasn't much of a regimen and I was just washing/co-washing/deep conditioning whenever I remembered to. But now I will follow a more strict regimen with:

Hair Lessons Learned from Science

#1 rule of manipulating different variables - only change one thing at a time

I'm finally home from my summer internship and decided to do a deep clean of my hair. I looked in my mom's cabinet and thought I hit the holy grail - 2 different shampoos and 1 conditioner. I decided to combine all this with my regular conditioner and ended up applying the following to my hair (in this order):

1.  Creme of Nature Kiwi and Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo
2.  Nairobi Detnagling Shampoo
3.  Jane Carter Nutrient Replenishing Conditioner
4.  Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner

Needless to say my hair came out stringy and was shedding in clumps. Which product caused this? I have no idea except that it wasn't my normal conditioner (the Fructis). Why? Because I added so many new products  at once. Maybe they all work fine separately but, together, leave my hair chemically imbalanced (pr maybe they're all just horrible for my hair). Next time I'll try one new thing at a time. 

Rhetorical Natural Hair Questions

Have you ever wondered the answers to these questions? Either I find they are so controversial that there is no one answer or it's impossible to find a solution. If you have any answers, please reply w/the solution and your hair type.

1. How can I achieve the perfect wash n' go?
2. Is shrinkage a good thing?
3. Is natural hair for everybody?
4. What's the best shampoo for my hair?
5. How can I make a dry patch grow back? (no seriously, it's been about 2 years without growth)
6. Is the hair typing system that big a deal? They're just numbers, right?
7. How can I part my hair perfectly?
8. Should I go see a dermatologist?
9. Should I take vitamins specifically for my hair's health purposes?
10. What are the quickest and flyest protective styles?
11. Which is better - a satin pillowcase, scarf or bonnet?

The Essentials: Shampoos and Conditioners

Ever hear to be on your P's and Q's? Well for today's purposes, I want you all to be on your R's and S's. You don't need to natural hair as this applies to all hair types! First up:

R: Regulate
The government does not regulate shampoos so it doesn't need to fulfill its promises of being volumizing and moisturizing. Therefore we need to READ the ingredients.

S: Sebum
Sebum is a collection of fatty acids which your hair naturally generates. In excess, it can make your hair look shiny or oily. Most conditioners are composed of sebum-like compounds which coat the hair shaft - hence the moisturizing effects.

R: Reconstruct
Good conditioners contain hydrolyzed protein, helping to strengthen the hair shaft.

S: Sulfates & Silicones
Basically sulfate strips. Silicone blocks. Now let me explain more...Sulfates are usually found in shampoos. They get a bad rap for being too harsh on hair and drying it out. But, shampoos are supposed to strip oil. It gets rid of the product build up. So it's kind of a good thing that it strips. HOWEVER when not mixed with less harsh cleansers, it can do some serious damage. Some think it's best just to stay away from sulfate and just find a different way to remove build up.

Back to silicone. Silicone is a lab-created product. It's an oil and if you look at a previous post, you know that oils form barriers. With conditioners, this barrier can help form something called slip which makes it uber easy to comb hair while wet. But make sure you use water soluble shampoos. The other kind just creates build up and is kind of pointless.

Now that you know a little more about shampoos and conditioners, you can stay on your R's and S's!


p.s. Has anyone heard of using beer as a conditioner? Apparently it helps to strengthen your hair (find more home-made conditioner ideas here)

To Shampoo or Not Shampoo. That is the Question

Recently one of my roommates friends who is also natural was shocked to hear that I use shampoo. She said that shampoo contains sulfate which damages natural hair. But then I think to myself *How am I supposed to clean my hair?!*

Plus on other blogs I hear of people using shampoo and their hair looks perfectly fine.

What do you all think? Do you shampoo or not?

YouTube is Expensive!

I'm sure some of you out there can attest to this - watching YouTube videos is expensive!

You watch 1 video and the natural chica is using a new product. You watch a product review and see what a great job it does on hair. Then at the end of the video, the chica says how cheap it is and where she found it...which of course makes you want to purchase it.

So..needless to say, I've decided to try out some new products. Just ordered them from Amazon/eBay..still have to pick some up from target/CVS but here's the list so far:

shampoo: creme of nature sunflower and coconut detangling shampoo

conditioner: garnier fructis triple nutrition conditioner

leave-in conditioner: mixed chicks leave-in

deep conditioner: miss jessie's super sweetback treatment

henna: jamila (w/vatika oil)

somethin special: aphogee 2 minute reconstructor

ladies - if you've used any of the above, do they get a thumbs up or thumbs down from you?

Back!

Pre-poo complete. Here's how I did it. Pretty similar to the video I learned from. But with cooler audio and captions.

1st Do at Pre-Poo

Hola chicas,

So today will be my first attempt at pre-pooing. I shall let you know how it goes soon. Basically pre-pooing is a way to help moisturize the hair before washing it so that it's easier to manage when washing and after washing.

I finally decided to try it out after watching this video which made it look so easy. Try it out and let me know how it goes!