hello ladies! Lurker here....been following all of you inspiring hair divas for the past year or so. loving this thread so much - this is my first time posting!
So I am a 4a/4b; my last relaxer was in August of 2009. My hair is currently a couple of inches past my shoulders but is not as thick as I would like it in the front due to years of wearing weaves for no other reason than convenience and unfortunately demonstrated little concern for real hair care and maintenance
erplexed (hindsight is soooo 20/20)! Since frequently visiting this wonderful website, reading cathy howse's book; and visiting countless naturalista blogspots - not to mention trying countless products (got the product graveyard in the spare bathroom to prove it
) over the past year and a half, i have finally learned that my hair absolutely must have natural products. The regimen that I have finally found (hallelujah!) and which has been phenomenol in terms of keeping my typically very dry hair moisturized is:
- wash weekly with a homemade shampoo using black african soap and a bunch of pure oils - this is an extremely moisturizing shampoo - so wonderful
- pre-poo (leave in for at least an hour) with a homemade condish using pure shea butter or mango butter base, veg glycerin, rose water, other oil faves (typical oil faves include JBCO, shea butter oil, almond, coconut, grapeseed)
- deep condish at least every other week with variation of above condish (just using different mixers)
- braid as PS and wear lace front daily
- moisturize daily with coconut oil and vatika - seal ends w/JBCO couple times a week
- sulfur 3-5 times weekly (2tsp mix w/8oz JBCO) - i don't usually worry about washing out - but BEWARE ! the sulfur can tarnish real gold jewelry (I learned the hard way
)
- co wash as needed (translation - when i feel like it )
- i wash my hair in sections to mitigate tangling - this has made a world of difference re: ease of the hair washing experience) - i apply a bit of Giovanni hair condish while in the shower just for purposes of detangling/combing)
- as a side, i just did my first henna after months of researching and love it! all that it was cracked up to be - loosened curl pattern just a tad bit which was perfect - made it feel and look slightly thicker (hoping this will increase with use) - mixed it with the homemade condish and used aloe vera juice instead of distilled water - made a nice paste so that i was able to just scoop it up and apply - rinsed easily, but is time consuming to rinse all the way out - will be doing this monthly
Wheh!
sorry for the long post - so excited to finally be contributing (I hope!). HHG
, i refused to create a new thread to ask that question simply because I was so unsure, I ain't wanna get roasted
Thanks ladies!
