Nail Your Regimen Challenge 2014

[Ogoma]

I prefer essential oils to powders or teas. Thanks to all of you for mentioning this here.

 

[ckisland]

I tried using teas for a hot second, and it may have been that my brews were way too weak, but they were nothing but a headache. I am curious about powders and essential oils though. I'll probably play around with them again one day .

So I figure out 2 things this week:
1. Shampoo was irritating my sensitive scalp and leading to flaking. I cowashed on Sunday and I haven't had any flaking since!!! I've been checking it daily, and I noticed that it did seem a little dry today. I'm going to oil it a little and I should be fine until Sunday.

2. AO White Camellia does nothing for me as a leave-in. But I grabbed GF Sleek & Shine leave-in the other day, and so far I like it a lot!! I may have tried it once years ago. It smells good and softens my hair instantly. I think it helped me get another day out of my hair today

 

[BranwenRosewood]

DC'd overnight. After rinsing I

L - Aloe spritz
C - Shi-Naturals Shea Butter Lotion
B - Shealoe Butter

I normally use oil before apply a butter but since I didn't this time I went heavier on the shealoe. I hope I didn't put too much.

 

[faithVA]

I tried using teas for a hot second, and it may have been that my brews were way too weak, but they were nothing but a headache. I am curious about powders and essential oils though. I'll probably play around with them again one day .

So I figure out 2 things this week:
1. Shampoo was irritating my sensitive scalp and leading to flaking. I cowashed on Sunday and I haven't had any flaking since!!! I've been checking it daily, and I noticed that it did seem a little dry today. I'm going to oil it a little and I should be fine until Sunday.

2. AO White Camellia does nothing for me as a leave-in. But I grabbed GF Sleek & Shine leave-in the other day, and so far I like it a lot!! I may have tried it once years ago. It smells good and softens my hair instantly. I think it helped me get another day out of my hair today

Maybe when you do shampoo, you can dilute it, add some AVG and some oil.

 

[alanaturelle]

My hair was nicely moisturized this morning after the overnight GHE. I just applied a little bit of coconut oil to seal.

 

[ckisland]

Maybe when you do shampoo, you can dilute it, add some AVG and some oil.

When I get not broke , I'll probably buy some more AVG. I could never get right for a leave-in, but I liked sealing with it but I loved it for my skin . I keep forgetting that I have 3 cleansing conditioners !!!! I think I'll see how those for a minute and see about only using poo to clarify with every once in awhile. I might go to ACV instead. Let me head over to the Relaxed Thread.

 

[BranwenRosewood]

I order 32oz AVJ and some MSM from Vitacost this weekend and I got it yesterday. I will start experimenting with clay washing next week. I hope I'm not changing too much at once.

 

[Ogoma]

Almost at the end of the week and my hair is still doing well. So far the regimen seems to be working. One thing I know for sure is my hair does not need monthly protein treatments if I am not cowashing multiple times a week and wet bunning. Time will tell where I need to be.

 

[faithVA]

I cowashed tonight with Loreal Moisture Mask. I am going to mist with marshmallow balm mist and seal with Qhemet BRBC and flat twist back up.

 

[lamaria211]

I've been solo good at sticking to my reggie only washing and DCing once a week has really helped me

 

[faithVA]

Tonight I rinsed my hair in flat twist, put in the conditioner, twisted back up and then rinsed in flat twist. My hair is too short to shampoo and condition in braids or twist. I think for now I am going to shampoo and DC in flat twists. It will take a little longer but I won't have to worry about my ends tangling and I can eliminate most of the time it takes me to detangle. As my hair gets longer I should be able to do fewer and fewer flat twist until I can put my hair in twist.

 

[spellinto]

My airdrying sessions haven't been too great lately. I am still figuring out a way to airdry that doesn't aggravate my ends. My best air drying sessions are when my hair is just left alone to hang, but my ends are prone to splits when left wet & loose. Right now I've twisted the last few inches of my hair, pinned them down to the crown of my head, and tied it all down with a satin scarf. We'll see how this goes.

 

[BranwenRosewood]

Using the Shealoe Butter to seal was a very good idea. My hair is still feeling soft and moisturized.

I was in the kitchen mixing today and made a Coffee DC that smells like a cup of coffee with a hint of cinnamon. I hope my hair likes it because it smells and looks really good.

I also took some of the Shealoe and whipped it with some Horsetail Butter, Green Tea Butter and Nettle Oil. It came out very creamy and fluffy. I can't wait to seal with it on my next wash day.

 

[faithVA]

My airdrying sessions haven't been too great lately. I am still figuring out a way to airdry that doesn't aggravate my ends. My best air drying sessions are when my hair is just left alone to hang, but my ends are prone to splits when left wet & loose. Right now I've twisted the last few inches of my hair, pinned them down to the crown of my head, and tied it all down with a satin scarf. We'll see how this goes.

I have heard this before. I wonder why air drying is so rough on the ends?

 

[alanaturelle]

Tonight, when I took my bun down, my hair was a little bit on the dry side. So I've added AIA Intensive Conditioner to my prepoo. Tomorrow, I'm working in the AM. I'll wash my hair, apply the DC, and just put a beanie on.

 

[faithVA]

I went back and forth about dusting my hair because I dust it best when I rollerset it but definitely didn't feel like doing that. So I took down each flat twist and too small sections and dusted. I mixed my fenugreek paste with Organicals Follicle Stimulating Conditioner and hazelnut and put it on each flat twist. I sat under the dryer for 45 minutes but let the paste sit for about 1.5 hours.

I did my inversion for 4 minutes. I rinsed. I am not DCing under the dryer for 35 minutes using a combination of AO Blue Chamomile and AO Desert Islands.

I mixed up a kimmaytube batch using AIA leave-in, AVG, hazelnut oil and castor oil, but light on the oils. After I rinse I will let my hair dry a bit and then apply the kimmay tube leave in and flat twist my hair back up. I will style tomorrow.

 

[faithVA]

I put DC in my hair and then flat twisted it back and I rinsed in twist. My hair seems to hold onto water so much easier that way. I took down each flat twist to apply product and then twisted it back up. When I went to bed my head was soaking wet. I always do my hair late at night. I don't think that I have ever had that happen before. I had to put a towel on my pillow to catch the water.

 

[Angel of the North]

I used aphogee green tea constructor layered and aphogee provitamin leave-ins for the first time today so far so good but I'm monitoring them to see how they work over a period of time.
My ends looked and felt dry, although I wanted to wash my hair and DC so badly, I decided to stick to the bi-weekly programme I've just started so I LCO my ends tonight instead. I'm hoping that introducing leave-ins will help with moisture retention for my ends.

L = aphogee green tea constructor layered with aphogee provitamin leave-in
C = bee mine deja's milk
O = avocado oil

I've been taking priteva which I'm hoping will help strengthen my hair and help with retention, I took them last year with good results but I was too inconsistent to reap any long term benefits. I'm trying to figure out what stage to introduce the MSM, I want to give my hair some time with pretiva on its own before I add anything else. I'm thinking end of March beginning of April, I also need to find some fenugreek seeds and tea bags/leaves.

 

[Beany]

So I'm currently steaming with yes to carrots, YAM, silk and honey latte, argan oil, CO, and EVOO. I have njoy sulfur oil on my scalp. Will steam for 30 minutes and leave it in overnight. Tomorrow I'll apply tresemme natural conditioner and twist Mhc buttery soy.

 

[Ogoma]

- Pre-pooed with coconut oil and honey: not sure I really liked this combo, but will play with pre-pooing more.

- Cocleansed with Ouidad Curl CoWash: love this product, but use a lot of it at one go. I will try to create a successful mix once I use up what is in my stash.

- Used Aussie 3 Min and oil mix to condition and detangle: so far so good. I have experienced no ill effects from using a conditioner with cones. I have also not experienced any greater frizz control from using cones. All in all, it is pretty much the same as my natural conditioners. Will keep testing it to see how it goes.

- Moisturized and sealed (DB Cocoa Whip, Komaza Califia Cream), and put it in one braid. I was going to do curlformers, but changed my mind. I will take down the braid and do a crown braid mid week. I might cowash depending on how my scalp feels.

 

[ckisland]

I've been solo good at sticking to my reggie only washing and DCing once a week has really helped me

Me too!! I used to DC so randomly because I was getting most of my moisture from cowashes.

No flaking at all this week!!! So happy about that. I prepoo'd overnight with Vatika oil, JBCO on my scalp and sunflower oil on my ends. Today I used a cleansing conditioner, DC for like 1.5 hours and added a new last step. After detangling and rinsing out the DC, I applied Optimum Opti pH normalizer. My hair felt so much softer and smoother after rinsing it out . I'm adding this to my routine weekly or every 2 weeks.
I was this close to trying to do a wash n'go again, but I saw the error of my ways . I finally finally used the lottabody I bought and set my hair on 8 flexirods. I'm hoping for smooth, soft, moisturized hair this week

 

[spellinto]

Usually when I moisturize my new growth, I either spray a leave in or just fluff through my roots with moisturizer. Today I moisturized deliberately by parting sections, spreading moisturizer between my fingers, and applying directly to the roots. I think I actually like moisturizing NG this way because I know my curls and my line of demarcation were tended to. It takes a little bit more time, but it's not as lengthy of an ordeal as I thought it would be. I'm experiencing a little breakage from the back of my head, so it was great to give it the direct attention it needs.

I also tried a new way of airdrying today. Twisted & clipped my ends in two sections to my temples and tied down my ends, edges, and nape with a satin scarf, leaving my roots and length to dry. It looked a little silly but when I took it all down, my roots had dried nicely and my ends didn't dry out. I how my texture looked too! I'll have to keep testing this method for consistency though.

 

[mshoneyfly]

Oops, wrong thread!

 

[alanaturelle]

Today, I put my hair in a bun for the week and before that added a little more moisture with my butter mix to it. Because my hair was a little dry on Friday, I will be doing the GHE on Monday and Wednesday next week.

 

[ckisland]

I made the mistake of trying to set my hair when it was wet again. My hair will dry in like 15-20 minutes normally, but if I put it on flexirods while damp, it won't even be dry the next morning :/ . So I was done with my hair at 3pm yesterday and woke up with damp hair. I like the hold the lottabody gave but besides that, it was a fail.

 

[spellinto]

Taking back that last post about moisturizing NG directly. My hair felt really good last night but I'm not fond of how it feels this morning. It is shiny and soft, but some of the strands are stuck together, and my roots are a little compacted & rigid. My hair actually feels a little more tangled then it did last night. Even though my hair doesn't feel greasy, I think I applied too much product and my strands are weighed down. I guess if I want to moisturize my new growth, the best way is to just cowash/DC or apply a spray leave-in conditioner. I might have to rinse my hair yet again if my hair doesn't feel better at the end of the day.

 

[BranwenRosewood]

This weeks herb will be Nettle. My first application will be as the liquid in today's henna.

My mix is

75% Henna
25% Cassia
1tbsp Hibiscus Powder
1tbsp Honey Powder
2 tsp Irish Moss Powder
Strongly brewed Nettle tea
2tbsp Nettle infused Safflower oil
squirt of lemon juice

I'll apply it in an hour and leave it on overnight.

 

[alanaturelle]

GHEing my bun overnight. I'll do the same on Wednesday and see how my hair feels on Friday night.

 

[faithVA]

I'm glad I put in flat twist extensions. I needed a break from my hair. I was spending too much time in the evening playing around in my head. So tonight I put on my scalp treatment, spritzed with my marshmallow balm spritz and am baggying.

 

[BranwenRosewood]

This weeks herb will be Nettle. My first application will be as the liquid in today's henna.

My mix is

75% Henna
25% Cassia
1tbsp Hibiscus Powder
1tbsp Honey Powder
2 tsp Irish Moss Powder
Strongly brewed Nettle tea
2tbsp Nettle infused Safflower oil
squirt of lemon juice

I'll apply it in an hour and leave it on overnight.

Added 10 drops of Peppermint EO and I'm getting nice tingles. This is my first time feeling scalp tingles after using a product.