I'm Engaged!!!

Hi Friends,

Happy holiday's everyone!!! As you can tell from the title, I GOT ENGAGED last night!!!! I am so over the moon and feel like the LUCKIEST girl in the world. Naturally there is a hair component to this story, lol.

So my fiance (can't believe I'm saying that) and my family planned an amazing proposal and engagement party. As you guys know, I got my hair relaxed 3 weeks ago, and I haven't done much to it since then. I've just been wearing it out and straight down. Earlier this week my older sister asked me about getting my hair done, but I said I didn't think I could fit it into my schedule. I ended up wearing my hair in a pony tail while my BF and I ran errands earlier in the day. That night I knew we were going to dinner and I planned to wear my hair in a pony tail, but my BF suggested that I wear my hair down to show off my hard work (he's so sweet). I put some bantu knots in my hair in order to try to get soft waves, but that didn't work so well since I had too much oil from M&S'ing over the last 3 weeks. I still wore it out since my BF requested it and just tried to make the best of it.

By the time we got to the engagement party, my hair looked less than desirable, but it didn't matter because I was soooo happy!!!! In hindsight I definitely wish I would have gotten my hair done, but it's all good. We haven't set a date as we're still basking in engagement land, but I already know how I want to wear my hair for wedding day. I'll show you guys once I finalize the details.

Happy holidays and new year to you all!

Braids, braids, braids!!!

Hi friends! As promised, I wanted to write a quick post about my box braids.

I got them done on Monday, March 25, so I've had them for exactly 3 weeks tomorrow. I LOVE them! My stylist did them and it took roughly 5 hours. She actually started out braiding hair before she moved to becoming a stylist focused on hair health. I love the fact that I have one stop shopping with her because she knows my hair and is gentle with it. It took less than a week for them to loosen. They weren't too tight to begin with, and after the fourth day I had really good movement with them that wasn't uncomfortable. That was a BIG relief.

I have been caring for them just as a I would my normal hair. I moisturize and seal them daily, wash them weekly with my normal products (including my normal oil pre-treatment and protein leave-in). So it's business as usual even though I have braids. The other great benefit is although I follow the same process, it takes about an hour (if that) for my wash day because I don't have to detangle!!!

I would like to take more photos, but here is one that I posted on Instagram (they are pretty long...about waist length and I'm 5'7 for reference):

Until next time!

2 Year Hairversary!!!

3/31/13 marked 2 years ago that I started my long, hair journey. Boy how quickly time flies! Looking back, I've realized that the first year was a year of hiccups and lots of experimentation while this last year I truly got the hang of things.

I was natural for the first 5 months of my hair journey (I had been natural for a little less than 2 years before beginning my hair journey) and then realized that I love straight hair and straight hair styles, but I couldn't achieve and maintain them with natural hair. This was the case primarily because I work out daily. Natural hair + a desire to wear straight hair styles + daily sweat sessions do not work well. Three months after beginning my journey I got a brazilian keratin treatment (June 2011), and then two months later I decided to get a texturizer (August 2011). This was the perfect solution for my hair, but it took a few months and some trial and error to get there.

After I got the texturizer, I committed to washing and doing my hair myself weekly, but this was definitely new for me. Then life took over and I ended up back in my stylist's chair every week, getting my hair corn rowed because I had started wearing wigs. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't feel like I was making much progress in terms of length. Nonetheless, I stuck with this routine and figured I needed to be patient.

Fast forward to March of 2012 when I had a bad texturizer experience and that was it. I decided that I needed to make time to care for my hair myself because I hated the last experience I had and I thought after one year into my journey, I should be able to do my hair myself. Thank God for that experience because between March 2012 and my next texturizer in June 2012, I retained the most length since beginning my hair journey. It was almost like a growth spurt, but I know better, it was just good ol' length retention!

Since March 2012, I've been doing my hair myself with the exception of my quarterly texturizer and trim. I have no desire to be a DIYer with chemicals, or scissors...that's where I draw the line, lol! With the exception of my recent almost set back, I have retained length and feel like I FINALLY understand what my hair needs and how to maximize length retention. It took 2 years, which seems like a long time, but I'm glad I was forced to truly understand how my hair thrives.

Following are a few things that I've learned:

• Patience, patience, patience! 
• When experimenting with products, try to change only one product at a time and take note of when you introduce the new product. For example, I have my staples, and I only introduce new products or experiment with changing things after a relaxer. This helps me track/ monitor the effects on my hair.
• Focus on learning your hair and the length will follow!

Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without progress photos! 

Left: 3/31/11; Middle: 3/31/12; Right: 3/31/13

Breakage Update

Hi friends! It has been a little over two weeks since I posted that I think I discovered what is causing my breakage. Immediately after I wrote that post, I poured out all of my oil mixtures and washed the bottles with boiling water (literally) and dish detergent (I used detergent because it cleans oil/ grease). Then I made new mixtures using coconut oil as a base. I have been using coconut oil since the beginning of my hair journey and have not had a problem yet (at least I don't think). I did a clarifying wash the following week and have rid myself completely of Amla.

So fast forward two weeks and I am still seeing breakage. I believe it has subsided a bit, but it's still way more than I'm comfortable with. Also, now instead of a bunch of really small pieces, the pieces are longer. I don't know what the heck is going on. I keep reminding myself that although I thought it would happen immediately, I had been consistently using Amla oil on my hair since September (roughly 5 months), so I shouldn't expect to reverse the effects immediately. I certainly don't think it should take months for the breakage to stop, but I'm just trying to be reasonable and give my hair a chance to adjust and rebalance.

I am scheduled to go to my stylist for my texturizer in about 3 weeks and at that point I will talk to her and make adjustments to what I'm currently doing. Unfortunately, I'm also preparing myself for the worst in terms of how much I'll have to get chopped off.

At this point, it's all a part of the learning process and I know better moving forward. I'll keep you posted.

I Figured it Out!!!!!!

Hey guys - I know I have been boring you for the last 3 weeks about my stressful wash day sessions. Just to recap, when I got my last relaxer in December, my stylist and I noticed I had breakage in my hair. Leading up to this appointment, I noticed my hair was breaking, but I couldn't figure out why and wasn't really proactive in trying to figure it out.

After my relaxer, my stylist loaded me up with products and I vowed to get back to the basics that I had stopped doing as 2012 progressed. Well I've been diligently taking care of my hair, using protein weekly (which was the big thing that I stopped doing in the second half of 2012), and trying to get my breakage under control. Nothing seemed to be working. This week I ended up not doing the every other day treatments that I had planned because I didn't think that it would make a difference.

Fast forward to today, I was in the shower washing my hair, noticing all of the small pieces of breakage and I again thought back to when the breakage happened and what I changed around that time. Last year, my hair was fine (and actually thriving) from March - September. So what changed after my September relaxer? OOOHHH CRAP.....I introduced 100% Amla Oil.

Amla Oil, really? That would cause breakage? I think so! I don't know for sure ladies, but that's one of the major things that I introduced into my hair regimen around September and have been consistently using. I first purchased Amla oil in May of last year and actually posted about it, but the first bottle I got contained mineral oil and I wanted pure Amla, so I ordered another bottle in late August that's 100% pure and went crazy with it. I put it in my scalp oil mix, of course in all of my sealing oil, and it was the main oil that I was using (as in 30-50% of all of my mixtures). Over the last two weeks I've made two bottles of Amla + Coconut Oil to seal with. It has been a staple since September, and my hair has been breaking since then.

So - since I just came to this realization today during my wash day, I'm going to only use coconut oil to seal this week and complete my normal wash day next week and see if my shedding decreases. Basically I'm cutting out all Amla on my hair for the next few weeks to see if I really did figure out the cause of my breakage. I'll keep you posted!

Wash Day Stress Continued

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and will celebrate Dr. King's holiday tomorrow!

This is a quick wash day update. I did follow through with doing a light protein treatment every two days after my last wash day in hopes that this would help curb my breakage. Welp, if this made a difference, it was very minimal. My hair is still breaking at a higher rate than normal and way more than I am comfortable with. The interesting thing is that my ends seemed a bit more pliable and easier to detangle this week than normal, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of whether the additional protein is helping or hurting.

I am going to try the same routine this week again (protein every two days) and see if there is a gradual improvement. If I don't see a difference next week, I'm likely going to try Carol's Daughter Monoi Repairing Hair Mask. I'm sure this seems pretty random, but my Mom has a sample of the Monoi Repairing Collection 3-piece starter kit, which is designed to prevent breakage. I have used the shampoo and conditioner before for mid-week washes and have no complaints. Before using this, I am going to research the ingredients to understand if it is a moisture or protein based product. If this does help reduce my breakage, it may provide some insight into whether I need more moisture or protein moving forward. (I clearly think I'm protein deficient right now). Wish me luck ladies!

HHG

Wash Day Stress!!!

Ok- instead of sleeping right now as I should be since I have to go to work tomorrow, I'm writing this post about my wash day/ night. I just washed my hair because it had been over a week since my last wash and I have definitely gotten in the habit of washing weekly.

So as I reported in my last two posts, my focus is on stopping the breakage issue I'm currently having and getting back to basics. Well honey, not only does it seem like my attempt to whip my hair back into shape has not started working, but my hair seems to be breaking MORE than it was before AND the pieces are LONGER!!!!! WTF - I'm not going to have any length after my next relaxer at this rate.

Today I didn't start out with the oil treatment because I needed to clarify and although my stylist advised otherwise, I think it sort of defeats the purpose to start out with an oil treatment and then do a clarifying wash...right? Anyway, so I did a really good job shampooing my hair and did notice some breakage, but wasn't too concerned. When I detangled though, all hell broke loose. I'm so distraught because I seriously feel like I'm headed to set-back city.

I decided I'm going to give it another few washes before I think of another plan, or talk to my stylist. I will admit that this is only my second wash in my process to get back on track, BUT it's quite scary when things appear to be getting worse instead of better. I decided that I'm going to implement a mid-week protein treatment. The oil treatment that I do before my shampoo is a protein treatment, so in about 2-3 days, I'm going to put this on my hair for 20-30 minutes with a hot towel (my hood version of a steam treatment, lol) rinse it out, and then apply my leave-in. A few days after that will be my normal wash day and I will start my routine with the same oil treatment as ususal and go through my wash day routine.

This is sooo stressful! I really feel like my progress is being threatened big time. Lord willing my hair will continue to grow, so I will be able to recover from the breakage, but I'm just starting to get some traction, UGH! Ok, until next wash day...

Have a great weekend!

Back to Basics Wash Day

Happy new year everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and new year.

I spent the majority of the holidays in South Africa, and returned home on new year's eve. South African was beyond AWESOME and I will do a special post on my trip, and of course my hair!

As a true hair enthusiast, the first order of business when I arrived home was to wash my hair, lol. I had been traveling for over 24 hours, but somehow mustered the strength to do my hair. If you remember, during my last relaxer and visit to my stylist, I confirmed that I had a breakage issue that I needed to nip in the bud by getting back to basics. I also said that I would do a better job of tracking my hair moves so that I could more easily pinpoint when things go wrong. So here's to beginning that process!

My wash day entailed most of the above products, starting from left to right:

• Phytonectar Pre-Shampoo Ultra Nourishing Oil Treatment: I usually use the Phyto Huile d'Ales Pre-Shampoo Intense Hydrating Oil Treatment, but my stylist insisted that my hair needed something stronger. She suggested that I apply this before washing my hair as instructed and then wrap a hot towel around my hair to create a "steam treatment." My stylist is a firm believer in steam treatments and I get them every time I go to her. I left this on for 20 minutes
• Phytoneutre Rebalancing Cream Shampoo: This is my clarifying shampoo - after taking the picture, I decided to forgo doing a clarifying shampoo this week because I want to maintain my schedule of doing it 1X per month on the first weekend of the month
• missPhytospecific Magic Detangling Shampoo: I followed the oil treatment with my regular shampoo. I made sure to not be lazy and did two thorough washes
• Phytosesame Express Hydrating Conditioner: I used my normal conditioner to comb and detangle my hair
• Phytospecific Energizing Concentrate: Phytospecific is the line of Phyto products designed for relaxed hair. The concentrate is a protein treatment that you leave on your hair. I think this is part I of why my breakage problem began - I got lazy started experimenting around June of this year with what products I thought really made a difference and those I thought I could do without. In that process, I got rid of my protein treatment...bad idea especially since I tend to go heavy on oils and overall moisture. After rinsing my conditioner, I sprayed my hair evenly with this, paying special attention to my ends
• Phytospecific Integral Hydrating Mist: This is my leave-in conditioner and part II of why I think my breakage started. I stopped using a leave-in around September because I finished my bottle and didn't think it was doing much for my hair. I'm still not necessarily sold on a leave-in because I M&S daily and feel like I'm just covering the leave-in with my M&Sing (not sure if that makes sense to you guys). Anyway, I sprayed this over the concentrate and called it a day

I've been paying close attention to my breakage when I M&S. I don't have much, but I don't normally have much when I M&S. The real test will be during my next wash day. I was supposed to wash today, but got tied up with other pressing matters, so I'll wait until next weekend. Hopefully I'll start to see some difference in my breakage.

Until next time, HHG!

New Love

A few weeks ago I purchased Amla Oil. I was curious about this oil because last year I purchased Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream and really liked it. Although it took a few uses, the cream made my hair crazy soft and moisturized. With that, I figured that since Amla Oil was a key contributor in the hair cream, it would likely be great on its own.

I purchased the Amla Oil from a nearby Indian grocery store. I read that the popular brand, Dabur, contains mineral oil + other oils. I'm not overly anti-mineral oil, but I did want to ensure that I purchased the brand with the least amount of additives. With that, I purchased Bio brand. There aren't any ingredients listed on the box, so it was hard to confirm in the store, but I googled the brand once home and it seemed fine.

So far, I love Amla Oil: 

• The greatest issue that I have is the smell - it is very strong. It doesn't stink, but I don't love it. Aside from that, everything else is cool. 
• Amla is a very thin oil - it's very liquidy and not as thick as a grapeseed, jojoba, etc. It has a green color, which apparently can darken hair over time, so if you are concerned with darkening your hair color, you may not want to use this. 
• According to the description of it's uses (listed on a website with details for this brand), Amla Oil creates a healthy environment for hair to grow and can help increase hair growth up to 7X faster than normal. I didn't purchase this oil as a growth aid and don't necessarily believe the claims, but if it does increase my hair growth as an added bonus, I'll take it! 
• I currently have Amla mixed with my scalp oil concoction (Amla, Vitamin E, Castor, and Jojoba), as well as mixed with EVCO as a sealant for daily M&Sing. Just as with the Qhemet cream, when I first started using the Amla, I didn't notice a difference, but after a few days, my hair was consistently soft and moisturized.
• Lastly, over the last 3 weeks I have used Amla with a new deep conditioner that I purchased (I'll talk about it in another post), and it has been great! I use a generous amount of conditioner and then spray the Amla oil on my hair, place a plastic cap and my turbie twist on for a few hours, and my hair is like butter!

I will continue to use Amla Oil moving forward and hope that my hair continues to respond well! HHJ

New Goodies!

Hi friends - I hope you all are having a great weekend and enjoying the early peak of Summer (for those in the Northeast)!

I purchased these bottles a little over a month ago after seeing them on Jeni's blog. I had been in the market for glass bottles to house some of my oil mixtures and products, but didn't commit to finding what I needed. Once I saw her post, I decided to use the same vendor. Glass bottles are great to store products in because they contain less potentially harmful chemicals than their plastic counterparts (such as BPA).

I purchased the following and love them!

 

From left to right:

• 6 oz: I use this bottle for the oil mixture that I apply to my scalp on a daily basis. This has a dropper so it allows for easy and controlled application to my scalp. 
• 6 oz: I'm currently not using this bottle, but I'm sure that I'll find some use for the pump.
• 6oz: This bottle has a spray nozzle which I LOVE for M&Sing! I previously had trouble getting just the right amount of oil to seal my hair. Now, I actually fill this bottle with EVCO, warm it up if it's not liquid, and then spray it on my hair after moisturizing for even distribution on my strands! It's also a bit less messy than applying the oil with my hands - #winning!
• 3oz: I purchased this bottle for traveling. I've been traveling a lot lately and need to be able to transport whatever oil(s) I need in my carry on bag!

Until next time!

Mid Week Wash

I decided to wash my hair on Wednesday because it just felt icky. I know that probably sounds really gross, but I think in my quest for maximum moisture, I had been going a bit too heavy on the oils and moisturizers. As a result, my wig was greasy, the scarf & wig cap that I wear under my wig was greasy, and it just wasn't good. So I washed everything - wig, scarf, cap, and hair.

I decided to do a clarifying shampoo with my Phytopanama + Intelligent Shampoo because I am out of the Phytolium Energizing Shampoo. After clarifying, I intended to shampoo with a sample that I received, but I grabbed a sample conditioner instead of shampoo. I ended up conditioning with Phytodensium Anti-Aging Mask. I realized while I was using this that my stylist uses this on my hair every now and again (I recognized the smell which is yummy!), so fortunately I wasn't using anything that my hair wasn't accustomed to.


All in all, I'm glad I washed my hair because it felt A LOT better afterward. It was more moisturized, softer, and just better. I always love the way my hair feels after washing, conditioning, etc., but I'm too lazy to do it more than 1X per week. However, since I'm washing in corn rows, it's a lot easier and quicker, so I think I may start washing my hair 2X per week on a regular basis. 

The Moisture Saga Continues

The greatest takeaway that I got from unbraiding my hair last week is that it is dry. Since learning this, I have stepped up my mission to figure out what my hair likes. This is especially important because although wigs are a great protective style, they can easily zap all of the moisture out of your hair, so you must take special care to ensure that the moisture remains!

It's been a heck of a week of trial and error because I have been trying different combinations of moisturizers to see if I can hit the spot. I decided to try a moisturizing technique posted by EbonyCPrincess of Longing 4 Length. The technique involves applying a liquid moisturizer, followed by a creamy moisturizer, and sealing with an oil. I have been using my Phyto Hydrating Mist leave-in conditioner, which I LOVE, as my liquid moisturizer, followed by Amla & Olive Heavy Cream, and sealing with grapeseed oil.

Well this week I came to grips with the fact that I really like grapeseed oil, but my hair doesn't love it, at all. It just sits on my hair. Prime example - one night I followed the triple moisture technique, using the grapeseed oil to seal. I used a VERY generous amount because my hair ALWAYS feels dry. I slept with a plastic cap because I didn't want to ruin my linen. When I removed the cap the next day, the oil was just dripping off of my hair and there was literally a puddle at the bottom of the cap. I definitely know I went heavy on the oil, but based on the amount that was still in the cap, that confirmed for me that my hair didn't really absorb any of it. Long story short, I think I have to add grapeseed oil to the same category as EVOO (click for my earlier experience).

So what I learned this week is I like the idea of layering the moisturizers, but I need to get a cheaper liquid leave-in because the Phyto Mist is pricey considering the amount that I use on a daily basis, and I need to return to my beloved EVCO. This is the only oil that my hair seems to love. I did some research on LHCF to see how some of the ladies are handling moisture issues and found that the LOC method is popular (it's the same as the one EbonyCPrincess posted, but the order of the oil and creamy moisturizer are switched). I will try the LOC method and see which one I like best.

I also searched for a good liquid leave in moisturizer. I narrowed it down to Carol's Daughter Tui Leave In Conditioner and Paul Mitchell Awapui Moisture Mist. I went to Beans Beauty and asked the salesman his opinion on what would be a good product that's similar to the Phyto Mist, but cheaper (this guy has been selling hair products at this store for at least 10 years - no bull). I mentioned the Paul Mitchell, but he suggested Mastey Leave-In Moisturizer. I am not familiar with Mastey, but he mentioned that this was a lightweight, moisturizing leave in that would do the same as the Paul Mitchell, but without the preservatives, wax, and potential for build-up. I'm excited to try it and let you know what I think.

Sorry for the long post, but that's where I am on my quest for maximum moisture! Let me know if you are familiar with Mastey and your thoughts!

Lesson Learned!

I guess it's not called a hair journey for nothing.

I went to my hairdresser to get my oil + steam treatment, shampoo, etc. and hair re-braided. In preparation for the visit I decided to take my cornrows out myself so that I could do a little detangling and release the shed hairs since my hair has been braided for 4 weeks.

I wanted to take my braids out myself as an experiment to see if it would reduce the amount of tangling that I have when I get my hair braided at the salon (I don't have a lot of tangling, but I don't want any!). The long and short of the story is, when I go to the salon, my stylist does not comb my hair, at all. Which is a good thing for the most part, but by not combing my hair and depending on the shampoo and finger combing to get the shed hairs out, I wonder if she's getting them all? Any shed hair left in my head hangs onto the "good" hair and creates knots. So that's why I'm trying to experiment on what the best approach is - me detangling at home first, or going to the salon and following her process.

I'm glad I decided to do my hair myself because I learned a few lessons:

1. My hair is DRY! Don't ask my how/ why because this was baffling to me. I did not M&S before taking out my hair, but I would think the fact that I do heavy M&Sing on a daily basis would mean something? Not so much. The only part of my hair that wasn't dry were the end of my braids and back of my hair where the oil collects (gravity at work), and the part closest to the root because I oil my scalp daily. I mentioned in an earlier post that I didn't love the moisturizer that I was using and this just confirmed that I need to find a new one because it's not moisturizing anything!
2. Aloe Vera Juice (AVJ) did not save the day for me. I have heard so many great things about AVJ so I was really excited to use it during this process. I have been mixing AVJ with African Braid Spray and using this as my daily moisturizer. When I started using this mix, I assumed it was the African Braid Spray that was throwing the moisture off, but after using AVJ by itself yesterday to try to detangle, I noticed that this is what's making my hair feel weird and dry after I use the moisturizer. I will give the AVJ another try just to make sure that I'm correct, but I think I may have to write this off once I finish using what I have.
3. My hair NEEDS to be damp when detangling. I NEVER detangle my hair when it's dry, so why did I think it was a good idea this time? Instead of a light bulb going off in my head to empty the spray bottle of AVJ and add water instead to help detangle my hair, I decided to try the AVJ for two braids, slap on some Amla & Olive Heavy Cream, spray some grapeseed oil and hope that somewhere along the way my hair would soften up enough to successfully comb out - EPIC FAIL! By the time I got to the last two braids, I sprayed my hair with water to dampen it and the comb just glided through. 
4. I think I may have caused some breakage by combing my hair while dry. Initially I was only seeing shed hair which is to be expected. But by the last few braids, I started seeing breakage, but I think that's because my hair was bone dry and I was trying to comb it out. After I dampened my hair, there were no more small pieces. I hope I don't pay for this mishap by having to get a deeper trim in April when I relax again.
5. When I actually got my hair done, the proof was in the pudding...my stylist has such a hard time braiding my hair because it was so tangled! She had to work A LOT harder than usual to braid my hair. 

So the key takeaways are that I MUST find a better moisturizer to use with my braids and I will not be "detangling" my hair again at home before getting it done. The most I will do is unbraid my hair, but no combing. I caused more harm than good in the end. I wouldn't have known the outcome had I not tried it, but lesson learned!

New Moisturizer

Lately I've been on a hunt for a good moisturizer. Well - maybe I shouldn't call it a hunt because I haven't actually purchased and tried any new products, but in my mind I've been on a hunt for a good moisturizer. It's very easy to become a product junkie (PJ) during your hair journey, but I actually have this weird thing about me where I like to finish something before I start something else. So the point is, I was very excited to finish my Phyto 9 Daily moisturizer/ leave in conditioner because that meant I could try a new moisturizer!

I decided to give the Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream a try based on the rave reviews of Qhemet Biologics products by Just Grow Already and The Awkward Stage, two hair bloggers with beautiful locks! Fortunately, Qhemet products are sold in my area, so I was able to hop in the car and take a short drive to get this moisturizer (along with a corned beef special sandwich from my favorite delicatessan in the city...I'm a foodie). While I was at the store, I almost purchased the Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee to use for co-washing and detangling, but I did not like the smell at all! I was also close to buying the Moringa Tree Coditioning Ghee, but I figured I would sit tight and see if I liked the moisturizer first.

I'll start using the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream after the next time I co-wash. I hope I like it!

Greenhouse Effect Update

The last time we met, I had just taken an oil bath in EVOO. Well I tried the Greenhouse Effect again on Saturday night and I woke up with better results. My hair felt a bit more moisturized and I didn't have oil dripping from my curls, but I knew I would have to bite the bullet and wash my hair on Sunday evening.

I have been experiencing breakage and haven't been able to get it under control so I decided to try a homemade protein treatment. Traycee from KISS posted this on her blog and I decided to give it a go. 1 egg, beaten until frothy, mixed with 1 c of water and 1 tsp of oil of your choice. I made the protein mix and it seemed like a lot (I later learned that the 1 c of water was way too much). I added the mixture to a spray bottle because it was watery and I wanted to ensure that I covered all of my strands from root to tip. I covered my hair with a plastic cap for 15 minutes and then rinsed. After I rinsed, I deep conditioned for 30 minutes to restore the moisture and then went through my normal wash day routine.

I did 1 clarifying shampoo just in case my hair had some build up, did a regular shampoo, added my conditioner and then detangled in sections. As I shampooed my hair, it didn't feel any different after the protein treatment so I don't think the treatment worked. I think it was too watery. Not to mention that as I was detangling my hair, I found pieces of cooked egg in the back. After I detangled, I twisted my hair, rinsed with cold water and then added my protein leave-in and regular leave-in.

All in all, last weekend was NOT a good weekend for my hair and various bright ideas/ experiments! Hopefully I'll have better luck moving forward. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude because I'm still learning my hair and what works well, but this stuff is for the birds!

I Don't Know What to do With This Hair...

As you know, I've been having a little issue recently with figuring out how to keep my hair moisturized. After wash days, my hair always feels moisturized for a few days, but by the end of the week, it starts to feel dry and brittle. I M&S daily or every other day with my moisturizer (see regimen page) and EVCO.

Don't ask me why I thought this would be a good idea, but yesterday I was surfing hair blogs and random You Tubers and got the bright idea to try the Real Queen's Regimen. I figured since the goal is to get your hair to a "greenhouse" state over night, this would be perfect because I would wake up with moisturized, soft hair. Sounds great, right? So I kicked off my attempt at the Real Queen's Regimen by DOUSING my hair in EVOO mixed with EVCO.

Just to add some color to how this whole thing went down - I went into the kitchen, grabbed the EVOO and poured about 3/4 cup into a container. My BF looks at me perplexed and says "What are you doing?" I smile and slyly run to the bathroom to begin mixing some EVCO in the EVOO. I return to the kitchen to melt the EVCO in the EVOO and he's like "Babe! OMG - You can't put all of that in your hair...you'r going to clog your pores!!! I don't know much about hair, but that's too much oil!!!!" I laugh and return to the bathroom. My BF is very curious and intrigued by my hair experiments, so while I'm literally making the largest mess possible, pouring all of this oil on my hair, getting it on my neck, in the sink, etc. he comes in and is like "you cannot be serious right now!" So I put him to work, told him to grab the cup, and pour some oil on the back of my hair where I couldn't reach very well, LOL! Long story short, when all of the oil in the cup was on my hair, I had A TON of oil on my hair, neck, etc. You're supposed to put your hair in the style you plan to wear it before covering it so that the next morning you can just remove your head wrap and go. So I placed my hair in my normal pineapple position for sleeping (this helps keep my curls for my twist n curl), slapped on a plastic cap, and added my normal scarves on my hair. Technically I should have put a hat, or some other covering on my head to create the "greenhouse effect," but I wanted to try it my way first. I placed a towel on my pillow to catch any extra oil and called it a night.

This morning when I woke up, I went to the bathroom for my normal routine and while I'm brushing my teeth, my BF looks at me and says "what is that?" I'm like what...I look in the mirror and there are literally streams of EVOO RUNNING DOWN MY NECK, LOL!!!! Gravity clearly took over since I was no longer lying down. I took off the scarves and plastic cap and my hair looked as dry as normal, but with beads of oil sitting on top. I would call this an HUGE FAIL! Overall my hair did not feel moisturized and I was really sad.

As I went throughout the day today, I literally had oil collecting on the bottom of my curls that I would have to remove with my hand so that it didn't drip on my shirt. AND the headrest in the car looked like the couch on Coming to America when the Soul Glo family stood up!

I think where I went wrong is that I used too much oil (as I'm sure you guessed) and I used EVOO, which I know my hair doesn't love. I tried EVOO before and didn't think it worked well, but figured I would give it another shot. Welp - that's one oil that gets crossed off of my list for good!

So now I have all of this oil in my hair and a normal person would wash their hair, but I don't have time to wash and I'm a sucker for punishment, so I'm planning to put on a plastic cap, place a hat on, and try to get this greenhouse thing going again to absorb some of this oil.

So sorry for the long post, but I had to share my adventure! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Is my Hair Moisturized?

I ask myself this question on a regular basis, but I haven't come up with an answer. When I first started my hair journey in March, I kept my hair in cornrows under a wig and would M&S 2X daily to ensure that my hair was extra moisturized because I have always had really dry hair. I think at that point I was also extra excited to implement some new habits into my hair care practices since I was just beginning my LHJ.

After life became a little more hectic, I switched to M&S’ing 1X daily or every other day. My hair seemed to do fine with this level of moisture, but recently I've been wearing my hair out and it feels a bit drier. The ends feel moisturized, but the top of the strands do not. My hair feels soft, but I'm not sure if it feels moisturized? Since my hair has a history of dryness, I'm not sure if the moisture that I'm feeling now is just an improvement vs. my normal hair, or if it is legitimately moisturized?

I'm not really sure what to make of this, but I decided to be patient, continue to monitor my products, frequency, etc. and hope that my hair is ok. I wish I could feel someone else's moisturized hair to get a sense of whether I'm in the ballpark or not. Please feel free to comment on how you figured out how your hair should feel – thanks!