A shift in regimen: How hard was it for YOU?

[Pooks]

I just scratched my head, and I have a (very slightly) dirty scalp!

I am so proud of myself , I have managed not to cowash for more than 7 days!! It was so addictive before, just believe me this is a milestone, lol When I first started my HJ just over a yr ago I was cowashing constantly, like 6 days a week!


The reason for me slowing down on my cowashing, apart from the fact that my workout regimen has gone to pot in the past few weeks , is that I was trying to adopt a more lo-mani approach. Don't know if it has/will work for me and my hair, but I'm giving it a go for a while.

How, when and why did you make a significant shift in your haircare regimen? How easy/hard was it for you? How did the shift affect the length/health of your hair?

 

[HoneyA]

I had to tweak my regimen. When I first started I was washing 2-3x a week and I noticed that my hair would be thin at the ends even though all I wore were PS. I just figured it was too much manipulation so I cut washing down to 1x every week or two, combed 1x a week or two and my hair has filled in nicely. It was hard at the beginning because it seemed like the thing to do here on LHCF was wash at least 2x a week but then I said ok I'll try washing less and manipulating less. It worked and my hair has just got thicker and thicker ever since. I co-wash now too but it's on the same schedule as regular washing.

 

[Pooks]

Now I wonder how I ever went 5, 6, 7 even 8 weeks without washing my hair, and then I was using heavy duty petroleum laden GREASY products, ugh! I feel my commitment to the lo-mani way of life will depend on my protective style - in plaits, I don't know how long I can resist the call of the showerhead, but if I felt I would be doing my hair a disservice by doing it so often... help a sista out please!

 

[LovingMe87]

I've been on my HHJ since 2007 and I still have a hard time sticking to the regimen I know will help maintain the growth I receive. I LOVE wetting my hair, but I know that wetting my hair frequently means that I have to deal with single strand knots! Also I know that using the flatiron more than once a month is bad for my hair. When I used to go 2 months without the flatiron my hair was a lot thicker and I had less split ends. For the last month I've been trying to wash, deep condition, detangle and rollerset once a week and then wear braidouts until I wash again. Hopefully I can continue this and report later if it's helped my hair thicken up!

 

[Pooks]

I've been on my HHJ since 2007 and I still have a hard time sticking to the regimen I know will help maintain the growth I receive. I LOVE wetting my hair, but I know that wetting my hair frequently means that I have to deal with single strand knots! Also I know that using the flatiron more than once a month is bad for my hair. When I used to go 2 months without the flatiron my hair was a lot thicker and I had less split ends. For the last month I've been trying to wash, deep condition, detangle and rollerset once a week and then wear braidouts until I wash again. Hopefully I can continue this and report later if it's helped my hair thicken up!

Interesting. If my hair is loose, which it rarely is for more than 3/4 days, I will stay away from cowashing and just mist before bantu-knotting or braiding for bed. I haven't been suffering from single strand knots that much of late, probably because I've been consciously keeping it stretched.

I know your hair will thrive if you stay away from heat, I can literally see a texture change midstrand on most or my hair and this is just from blowdrying, so yeah, your hair will thicken up, stay strong and tell the flatiron you got a renewed mind!

 

[Pooks]

I especially want to hear from my natural beauties who are quite a ways into their HHJs - at what stage and length did you move into cruise control retention reggie mode? Details of reggie before, reggie when you calmed down please.

 

[Ronnieaj]

When I first went natural, I do believe I WASHED my hair every day. I quickly learned to co-wash every day, but I am not a fan of wet hair, and I have A LOT of hair. I used to only do twists for twist outs, but I don't like the way they look for longer than a day or so, so I'd always be constantly redoing my hair. Finally I said ENOUGH!!!

Now, I do my hair twice a week, three times max if my hair is feeling like it really needs it. I wash on Saturdays, do a protein DC, and twist my hair. I leave it in twists until Wednesday, when I wear a twistout on Wednesday and then cowash that evening. I wear a wng for 2 days, but I don't rewash; I just mist and fluff on Friday. Twice a week is more than I did when I was relaxed, but significantly less than I did when I first went fully natural. My hair is happy because there's really very little manipulation to it, so it's growing thicker and healthier than before.

 

[TrendySocialite]

Nothing like going natural to shake up your regi! LOL

Very few of my products work well on my natural hair. So I'm pretty much at square one... I'm just now beginning to find some things that work. It's hard, I've spent way too much money already trying to get my staple products for my natural hair. But in a way it's fun...I just miss having consistent "good hair days" LOL

 

[charmtreese]

The first year or so in my HJ I was airdrying after every co-wash. Well my hair grew but it prefers rollersetting to airdrying. Also I had to go from self-relaxing to returning to the salons for my touch up. Both changes were pretty easy for me to shift to.

 

[Pooks]

Bumping...

 

[hillytmj]

I recently switched reggies, and I'm glad that I finally found a new one. I wasn't resistant to changing it; I just had no clue about where to begin!

I started trying to tweak it back in March/April when I realized that my hair was texlaxed on the ends (rather than bone straight like the rest of my hair) and was frizzy, tangled and excessiely dry. I started by using less setting lotion so the ends wouldn't stick together. I also increased the amount of moisture/sealing to protect the ends. This summer, I switched shampoo/condish lines to a more ethnic based products rather than Biolage (too drying on those texlaxed ends); incorporated CHI Straight Guard lotion (it helps smooth my ends and gives the perfect, bouncy rollerset) and started using Stabilizer Plus (a porosity/PH-balancing product recommended by my grandma) on the ends. My hair is much more manageable now and seems to be thankful for the changes. I'm actually enjoying doing my hair again.

 

[Pooks]

Anyone else have a reggie shift trauma (or not) to share?

 

[beana]

Great thread!

Its really hard for me to stay consistent and even develop a regimen... TIMING is the only thing in consistent with. So i consistently wash every 5-7 days, relax every 10-12 weeks, etc etc.

A while back i used to CO wash every 3 days and wear twist outs, my hair was a matted tangled mess after a while.. i stopped that quickly.

 

[msa]

Well right now I'm trying to go from rinsing every/every other day to every two weeks. I'm sure I can do it, but I just so love rinsing my scalp every day. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but I'm going to try.

 

[Pooks]

I know exactly what you're going thru msa, I know the only reason I'm succeeding so far in this is because of the style I'm rockin currently! If I was in my single plaits I'd need a whole 'nother level of willpower right now.