Naturals, I need some advice

[Minx]

Good morning!

I am newly natural. I am a 4b and have been wearing my 5 inches of hair out in a TWA everyday since Sept.1st.
I think I need to put my hair away for a while to prevent breakage and damage from over manipulation ( it's fragile, I struggle w/ alopecia).

My regimen has been to do the following every Thurday:
Shampoo (Kenra moist)
Deep condish ( UBH w/ ORS pack 20 mins under dryer)
Condition ( Kenra moist)
Apply MNT leave in, spritz w/water, pick it out.

Every Sunday or Monday
Co-wash ( Herbal Ess. Hello Hydration)
Apply Sta-Sof-Fro, spritz w/ water, pick it out.

I wear a satin cap to bed every night.

I have recently put my hair in two-strand twists for fall.

What I need to know is this:
A) How often does a natural need to deep condish?
B) Is a deep condish effective w/o heat? What would you recommend?
C) Is it ok to skip co-washes since I'm wearing twists, and instead just do my once a week Thursday routine?

Oh, by the way:
To twist, I used a creme headress I got from a natural/wholistic salon. It's called Natty Dred Creme. It's supposed to promote growth.
They specialize in locs and this is what they use on their clients, including my man (gorgeous locs!).

Thanks!
dk

 

[Enchantmt]

Well, if your hair is brittle, you probably need moisture. If its shedding, thin/weak, you need protein. If you are going to wear two strand twists I would get a leave in spray and mist your hair throughout the day. My fav is Ion's spray leave in, you can get it at sallys. It has a fine mist and isnt sticky and wont give you buildup. If you are avoiding parabens then you may want to check out myhoneychild.com. She has a nice one. I know women get good results with sta sof fro, but it was too sticky for me, tho some folx dilute it with distilled water.

I dont deep condtion much anymore since I do CW's so often. If I do condition I just do it overnight with a shower cap. Heat makes my hair shrink too much.

BTW, can you list the ingredients of the Dred Creame and purchase info?
Thanx

 

[gelati]

Good morning!

I am newly natural. I am a 4b and have been wearing my 5 inches of hair out in a TWA everyday since Sept.1st.
I think I need to put my hair away for a while to prevent breakage and damage from over manipulation ( it's fragile, I struggle w/ alopecia).

My regimen has been to do the following every Thurday:
Shampoo (Kenra moist)
Deep condish ( UBH w/ ORS pack 20 mins under dryer)
Condition ( Kenra moist)
Apply MNT leave in, spritz w/water, pick it out.

Every Sunday or Monday
Co-wash ( Herbal Ess. Hello Hydration)
Apply Sta-Sof-Fro, spritz w/ water, pick it out.

I wear a satin cap to bed every night.

I have recently put my hair in two-strand twists for fall.

What I need to know is this:
A) How often does a natural need to deep condish?
B) Is a deep condish effective w/o heat? What would you recommend?
C) Is it ok to skip co-washes since I'm wearing twists, and instead just do my once a week Thursday routine?

Oh, by the way:
To twist, I used a creme headress I got from a natural/wholistic salon. It's called Natty Dred Creme. It's supposed to promote growth.
They specialize in locs and this is what they use on their clients, including my man (gorgeous locs!).

Thanks!
dk

I'm in the same boat and thanks for asking this question, but I think your regimen sounds good. I just plaited my hair up in nice size box plaits and will be wearing in a bun. I need a break because being a 4b too as you know it can get pretty rough. My hair love when I use Mane'n Tail grease and ORS loc and twist together, it becomes soft and manageable. I would love some information about the Natty Dred Creme.

Thanks

 

[JustKiya]

Girl, I feel your pain. I have very fine hair that is damaged at the ends from bleaching and dying - so I feel you on the 'putting your hair away' bit.

A) How often does a natural need to deep condish?
That really depends on your hair. I've learned that I NEED to DC at least once a week, and twice is really best. I think that maybe more because of the fried state of my ends than anything else - but doing twice weekly DC's have almost eliminated those nasty, nasty little single strand knots (which I learned here are a sign of dry hair).

B) Is a deep condish effective w/o heat? What would you recommend?
I'm exceptionally lazy *LOL* and hate being tied down, so I never use heat with my DC's - I just use more time. I usually DC overnight - I put my conditioning mixture in (usually just my regular condish, a wee bit of citric acid, honey, and some oil) slap a shower cap pon top, and roll on. I rinse it out in the morning, and style. When I was rocking the two strand twists, I did this once a week when I was taking down my twists - but oh, how dry it was!
As for product recommendations - I'm a kitchen witch, so most of the stuff I use I can actually eat, and the stuff I buy tends to be the cheapest stuff I can find with the 'right' ingredients.

C) Is it ok to skip co-washes since I'm wearing twists, and instead just do my once a week Thursday routine?
Hmmm - I really think that you hair NEEDS some additional conditioning/moisture even while in the twists. If you find a good, moisturizing leave-in, yeah, you can most likely skip the cowashes. Otherwise - your hair really might still want that additional moisture boost.

As far as making your hair stronger - I've GOTTA suggest henna. I love, love, love, love what it's done to my hair - and if you are concerned about going red - in my experience, on DARK hair, it gives you reddish highlights, and that's only after SEVERAL applications - but it INSTANTLY makes your hair stronger, smoother, shiner, and wonderfully conditioned. *steps offa her soapbox*

I hope that helped some....

 

[moda]

A) How often does a natural need to deep condish?

I usually don't do it, but like Enchantmt said I cw so much that I don't feel the need to. I also sleep with conditioner on my hair every once in a while.

B) Is a deep condish effective w/o heat? What would you recommend?

I believe it can be if you have on a plastic cap and have the conditioner in for a longer period. You can also try warming your conditioner in the microwave for a few seconds.

C) Is it ok to skip co-washes since I'm wearing twists, and instead just do my once a week Thursday routine?

When I wear twists I cannot do daily co-washes or I would lose all of my twists. I normally wash once per week and pray that I can make it to the next wash without retwisting.

 

[mkstar826]

What I need to know is this:
A) How often does a natural need to deep condish?
B) Is a deep condish effective w/o heat? What would you recommend?
C) Is it ok to skip co-washes since I'm wearing twists, and instead just do my once a week Thursday routine?

A) I think that's a personal choice. I do it every two weeks after shampooing.
B) I don't use a hooded dryer...it tends to make my hair curl up really tight making detangling harder. I just put a plastic cap on my head and then a warm towel over that and let my body heat do the work. Same results but easier to manage hair.
C) I would think so. You could just moisturize with a product if you need to in between time.

 

[BerrySweet]

I co wash every other day and DC every week.

 

[Minx]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I really needed the help!

Some of you requested info on the Natty Dred Creme.
I'm not that computer savvy, so I don't know how to include the actual info from the website about it.
But here's the link: www.escofhari.com click on Tunde's Products

The ingredients:

New Guinea Oil, Tropical Mint Oils, Lavendula, Amino Acids, Highly Purified Beeswax, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Essential Fatty Acids, Niacin, X78

It says: This healing salve is excellent for mosquito bites, dry scalp & skin, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, burns,sunburn,cuts,skin disorders,nappy rash,thinning hair,chapped feet and lips.

dk

 

[so1913]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I really needed the help!

Some of you requested info on the Natty Dred Creme.
I'm not that computer savvy, so I don't know how to include the actual info from the website about it.
But here's the link: www.escofhari.com click on Tunde's Products

The ingredients:

New Guinea Oil, Tropical Mint Oils, Lavendula, Amino Acids, Highly Purified Beeswax, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Essential Fatty Acids, Niacin, X78

It says: This healing salve is excellent for mosquito bites, dry scalp & skin, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, burns,sunburn,cuts,skin disorders,nappy rash,thinning hair,chapped feet and lips.

dk

Oooh, I have that! Smells really nice. I was using it for my twists when I used to do them. It's a good substitute for hair "grease".

 

[Ayeshia]

Every pretty much answered the questions so I wont reapeat But I will say when I deep conditioned with a hooded dryer my hair was really dry after ward. So now I deep condish on low heat and leave the condionet on no more than 20 minutes. Since I co wash all the time I dont have to deep condition as much