Listen, sis, we are gonna find a wig regi that works for YOU! I have no doubt.
I'm taking what
@Theresamonet said and I'm gonna raise it - I don't think your can go two weeks in between washings. I think that's what she (your hair) has been trying to tell you. I think you have to wash and DC weekly. You might even have to do a water rinse mid week or something but your hair needs more water than you're giving it.
And I absolutely agree that you can't afford to stretch your relaxers this long anymore!! lol
Until I have time to find some links to old school success stories/trends, here's my little two cents on a possible regi. Take what you want, throw out the rest:
In this simple regi, you only have 4 products and whatever hair oil you like.
-poo
-moisturizing DC
-Protein tx
-daily moisturizing condish
**** Braid up your hair for your wig using your moisturizing deep conditioner. I like Queen Helene cholesterol and I add Infusium 23 for protein. Your hair does NOT have to be freshly washed or anything when you do this. Honestly, that only makes the task more daunting if that's a requirement.
IN YOUR BRAIDS:
1- Pick ONE shampoo and moisturizing DC and use them weekly.
Shampoo is easy. Even if it's stripping, you can recover bc it's not on your hair long. Also, it can be mixed
As for a moisturizing DC make sure you look for the key words you're supposed to see. Usually words like "nourishing" or "hydrating" or its synonyms. Stay away from "repairing" and "strengthening" conditioners, those are proteins.
During your not-so-hot mental days, before your shower, you could also try greasing your dry scalp w your shampoo and rub some into your braids. Then jump in the shower, leather it and rinse it out. Then all you have to do in the shower is slather on your "DC" and cover w a plastic cap/bag while you clean your body and rinse it all off. lol It's a short cut that still gets what you need done. You can also just rinse it out later in the sink if that works better. ORRR, you could just leave it in!
It's not gonna hurt your hair.
2- Protein.
If
THIS is your Redken 5 min mask, I say to alternate it in (instead of your moisturizing DC) once a month to start. The description says bonding and strengthening. Yes, it also says "hydrating" but IME, products with those other two descriptors are definitely proteins. I'm not sure if it's a light or heavy one. It sounds like some kind of reconstructor to me. Yes, I know relaxed hair needs protein bc protein bonds were broken/weakened BUT when you go overboard, it is HARD to correct. Your hair sounds like protein overload to me. Tangling and clingy hair is also a sign of protein overload. Use it a 2nd time for one month if you feel you need more protein.
Also, it may be the wrong TYPE of protein for your hair. Maybe your hair would do better with a silk protein or like a keratin product. My hair loooves amino acids. I use Braggs amino acids (from the food aisle) after every relaxer with baking soda. And I've used that combo as my go-to protein tx over the years when Motions stopped making CPR in the bottle. That combo also allows me to blow dry or flat iron if I have a lot of new growth.
3- for DAILY moisturizing, find a cheapie moisturizing condish.
Instead of water, try slather your braids with a cheapie condish and then lightly sealing it with an oil each day before you attach your wig.
Hear me out! When this board originated, type 4 ladies were growing BSL, WL, HL hair JUST ON CHEAPIES!!! V05 and Suave were the GODS on the hair boards! That's what attracted me to the hair boards in the first place! bc I was encouraged by seeing these ladies have success using cheapie drug store condishes. Over time, I'm noticing that more and more ladies seem to have hair that "only respond to salon products" or specialty products. And I'm not really seeing that trend correspond with more long haired ladies. We don't have HL or WL challenges anymore like we used to. And that's cool. But we're not seeing ladies reach those really long lengths on here like we used to. There are other variables that could explain that but, in my heart, I feel like it's bc we got away from practicing techniques that grow and retain and drifted toward relying on products to grow and retain. Resulting in ladies constantly switching up products and then blaming the technique for not working.
My personal anecdote is I've learned that technique matters more than product. I've stuck with using cheapies for most of my HHJ and my hair has thrived even through neglect, as someone who has NEVER had long hair before I found the hair boards. What I do is what the old school ladies used to do, which is stick to cheapies and beef up them up with whatever I need to add to my hair at the time. For me, this involves mixing in Ayurveda herbs and powders. For a lot of the old school ladies it involved mixing in EVOO, glycerine, aloe or honey to get what they needed. They used those mixes to DC w heat.
4- Mid-week quick wash
THIS will be your water instead of spritzing it on. I think your hair needs a good soaking instead. Also, I know you were working out at one point. You've gotta regularly clean that salty from sweat off of your scalp too. So midweek, try using your shampoo and condish as one step for a quick wash while you shower!
5- sleep in a satin scarf!
Silk is obviously the best but I don't think you can go wrong w satin. I've personally survived pretty well on satin and don't feel the need to upgrade.
I've tried the whole skip the scarf thing and my hair just wasn't as nice as it is when I scarf up every night. EYE actually alternate between the satin scarf and using a satin men's skull cap with a bandana over it.
BRAID REFRESH TIME!!
Washing more often will likely mean refreshing more often. I play it safe and refresh every 2 weeks. You could probably get away with doing it every 3-4 weeks - which is pretty darn awesome!
*** DO NOT EVER take down your cornrows while wet or damp. AND, don't do it on clean, naked hair. There should be some product in your hair before you take it down. Your should be moisturized from doing your daily M&Sing. And then go ahead and put you some oil in a pointed tip bottle. Drench those braids in the oil and cover with a plastic cap or bag. Do some chores or watch some TV and then about an hour later (or more) you can start taking down your braids.
I take mine down one at a time, detangle and then rebraid it before going on to the next. That way if I don't finish in one sitting, my hair isn't sticking up all over my head. lol. And, yes, I rebraid w cholesterol + Infusium 23.
Once you're done, it's back to your simple regi!
That last step is how I would start this whole process. On "dirty," moisturized hair, do your braid base.
Lol
