Re: Never Thought I\'d Consider The \"N\" Word
lol Mindymouse@ the "N" word...too funny.
I think some people's hair just cant hang with relaxers cause my hair never got to the legnth and health with them that it has being natural no matter what i did. i dont know my hair type (never could figure that thing out) you could probably tell me better than i can tell you, and i think there is at least a couple types mixed in there though.
here is my regimen...
my regimin over the years has mostly been....
the no poo method (washing with conditioner) untill i feel it absolutlely has to be washed with shampoo. i almost always sleep with the conditioner in my hair overnight as well...when i do wash with shampoo i use Motions moisturizing, it has a real rich lather
conditioners i mainly use are , Motions CPR, and IC, and Queen Helene Cholesterol. and for protien i use Motions oil protien conditioner (not very often though) after a protien mishap (hard brittle hair) i steer clear of protien for the most part.
I wet my hair everyday whenever wearing it natural...i use either African Pride leave in (mostly), Allways 911 or African Royale Daily Doctor(rarely). whenever i use water it seems to be somewhat more drying than wetting it with leave in, leaving it more frizzy and fly away later, plus using leave in elminates the mold smell from hair that stays wet too long
i always comb it out wet, using a K Cutter (metal pic) which is great for detangling.
Ive used african pride grease for years ( although ive heard how bad it is cause it contains petrolatum and probably mineral oil too) but i have loved it a long time, either that or Always herbal with the green cap, love that one too. but now im doing more oils more often than the grease , like olive oil, and sweet almond oil and coconut oil (i litterally saturate my hair in these overnight often) and sometime mix the oil in with the conditioners for a conditioner wash or use with a leave in for styling
plus my vitamin regimin i know is good for my hair as well.
im trying to be as low maintence as possible with it and im not right on top of it all like i used to be when i was concerned with growth long ago..but this is all i do in a nutshell...i mostly wear my hair natural with an occasional press (like in the pics) just for a change.
update 1/2/2004
new products ive tried and love are Elasta QP Mango Butter, and Elasta QP Recovery and i liked them alot after i did a conditioner wash i used these and coconut oil and i LOVED it. I also tried S curl and i loved the moisture but hated the stickiness, and after a while it just felt worse and worse and my hair started to look bad to me, just dry and frizzy. so that product is barried in the product graveyard for real!!
But im back to experimenting with products again, so much for keeping it simple lol....will be trying unrefined Shea Butter,(pure) Mango Butter, Jojoba oil and Avacado butter soon...will let you know how it changes my regimen later. but for now all i can say is olive oil and coconut oil are the bomb!
Vitamin Regimen
multiple vitamin (either centrum or a more expensive one from the vitamin store when my budget allows it)
B complex balanced 100mg. (a multiple vitamin alone will not provide you with enough B vitamins, also its important that the B vitamins are balanced because they all work together)
Vitamin C 1000mg to 2000mg with bioflavnoids ( we all know the benifits to daily use of vitamin C, its also helps in the absorbtion of other vitamins and minerals)
vitamin E 400mg ( we all know the benifits of vitamin E as well) both vitamin C and E are vital to our health and hair health
Calcuim/Magnesium supplement 1000mg/400 (these need to be taken together to absorb ...critical to health and healthy hair)
boitin ( i just recently added an extra 300mcg to my regimin due to the claims of its benifits on hair but this is also found in B complex vitamins)
Flax seed oil (these are the essential fatty acids (Omega 3 with some Omega 6) not found in abundance in our diet and our bodies cant make them...they are critical to our health as well as hair health, i take the the refridgerated liquid due to the low risk of not knowing its rancid as with the capsules) this is the same essential fatty acid found in fish oil, only in the form just before it turns into the form fish oil is in your body. short chain fatty acid in other words while the fish oil is long chain. but they basically are the same thing. i chose the flax oil because of risk of fish oil being contaminated with murcery.
Amino acids (protien) ( this is also critical to our health and hair health , i take either the liquid refridgerated kind or the pills , doesnt matter, just make sure its a whole protein containing all of the amino acids.)
other things to take for hair heatlh
MSM...we all hear of the claims of how MSM benifits the hair , but this is a powerfull detox supplement and some cant tolerate the pure food grade sulfur..this made me very sick, so anyone trying this i would suggest trying it very slow. i dont think that the MSM found in hair vitamins are in the purest form, the pure form has the power to cause detox, but ive never went through detox symptoms while taking a hair vitamin with MSM in it......so i cant say whether or not the MSM found in hair vitamins actually have benfit on the hair or not , when they are not in the pure form.
evening primrose oil (this is a primary source of Omega 6 , this is more plentiful in our diet than the Omega 3, but some benifit from supplementing with it...the essential fatty acids have to be taken in a certain ratio , more omega 3 than 6 because of our diets...they are good anti inflammatories, but when not in the proper ratio they can become pro-inflammatory, and cause inflammation...this is another one i could not tolerate well for long) i would suggest trying this one slow as well.
Horsetail (silica) this is supposed to be benificial for hair skin and nails and bones etc , it has something to do with protein absorbtion...i have taken this in the past with good results and no harmfull effects...when i was taking it i was also taking so many of the other vitamins im not sure it it alone gave any real benifit.
this is a costly , but comprehensive regimin and a very good investment for your health and your hair.
thank you for awesome compliment Mindymouse....and if you should decide to go natural im just a PM away for any help you might need.
