Shea Growth And Retention Regimen 2018

Has Shea Butter 'got you'?

  • Let me look over my investment portfolio and see if I have room for shea related stocks.

    Votes: 21 12.8%

  • I've got 8 pounds in the house, I need to order me some more because I don't want to run out.

    Votes: 29 17.7%

  • 1 Day without sealing my ends is just unthinkable.

    Votes: 12 7.3%

  • It works for me for now.

    Votes: 45 27.4%

  • Nah, I can take it or leave it.

    Votes: 12 7.3%

  • Meh, I'm here for the posts.

    Votes: 28 17.1%

  • That stuff just weighs down my hair. No thanks!

    Votes: 17 10.4%
  • Total voters
    164
scarcity21 said:
@ElevatedEnergy , @Chicoro are y'all saying what I think you're saying? Lemme make sure I understand y'all correctly. So I've been battling with this hair issue I like to call upside down V or upside U or W where my hair on the left and right get to armpit length and the middle is much shorter like neck or shoulder length. I've been dealing with this for over 10years and I keep cutting the left and right sides to be even with the middle although I almost never wear my hair straight. Should I stop trimming and just keep babying it until I get to my goal length?
Thanks ladies
Click to expand...

YES, says Chicoro, from the peanut gallery! ...with caveats.

peanut_guy_dancing_lg_nwm.gif


Determine a goal length. Try to keep the hair so that there is no more than 2 to 4 inches of length difference between the shortest and longest parts. Otherwise, tangles may ensue. If this is not clear, please let me know and I can try to explain better!
 
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ElevatedEnergy said:
Oooooh weeee...now those are some real hair feets! LOL




It doesn't hang straight. It is still very much curly but the pattern is more elongated. I still get tangles, but not many and the ones I do get can be worked out with just a bit of added oil since my hair is already very much lubricated from Shea butter. I wish I had before and after of my wet hair pictures to show the comparison but I never think to take pictures of my wet hair. Maybe the change is a combination of things...henna, Shea butter and also never really stripping my hair with harsh cleansing agents? I do know that this change didn't really come about until Shea entered the scene and had been used for a few months though.
Click to expand...

I think I understand. It's 'heavier' and almost weighted in that the same hair is lower on your body WITH using Shea butter, than it would be if you didn't use Shea butter. Is this what you mean? If not, girl tell me 'cause I want to KNOW! :drunk:
 
scarcity21 said:
@ElevatedEnergy , @Chicoro are y'all saying what I think you're saying? Lemme make sure I understand y'all correctly. So I've been battling with this hair issue I like to call upside down V or upside U or W where my hair on the left and right get to armpit length and the middle is much shorter like neck or shoulder length. I've been dealing with this for over 10years and I keep cutting the left and right sides to be even with the middle although I almost never wear my hair straight. Should I stop trimming and just keep babying it until I get to my goal length?
Thanks ladies
Click to expand...

My suggestion is to switch up your game plan for you hair. Perhaps, shift your thinking. Instead of thinking of that middle section in the back as an issue, think of it as the hair upon which you need to focus your products on goal.

What I mean by that, is that hair in the back middle is a different texture than the rest of your hair and it has different needs. I would assume it is the most fragile section of hair on your head. So, cater to it!

Change up your products to accommodate that section. Find something that is gentle and makes the hair thrive. If the hair in this section thrives with the changes, the rest of the hair on your head will thrive, too. The less fragile the rest of the hair is, the easier it may be to manage.

Try to find the products and processes that will make that back section happy and keep it growing and stop it from breaking. If you do that, the rest of the hair will follow.

That section in the back is not an "issue". It is hair that needs to be understood, pampered and treated in a special way so that it can be in an environment where it is allowed to thrive and flourish. You just got to figure out how to create that environment for it.

I think you are close to resolving and determining what it needs. I say that because I don't see a huge difference between the length in the middle and the length in the sides, looking at the picture of your braided hair.

The fact that you have no part down the middle from the trop of your head to your nape shows that you are taking special care of that area.

You are close to resolving it.

You may want to consider reviewing your products and your processes and see if you anything jumps out at you with this shifted focus on treating that back section as if the majority of your hair were this texture.
 
scarcity21 said:
Also for ladies that use glycerin leave in like scurl with their Shea butter, have you tried whipping both and applying as one mixture versus applying one and then the other? Just thinking out loud....I believe I did a while back and my hair liked it...I just added too much oil so my hair was a bit greasy
Click to expand...

For me, Scurl has water. That type of product tends to develop microbes. So, I don't put it in my butter because it has organic, components in it. That is an equation for creating a giant petri dish [for my case].

Water borne microbes (living creatures) + unrefined Shea butter (food)= MOLD!​
 
scarcity21 said:
@ElevatedEnergy , @Chicoro are y'all saying what I think you're saying? Lemme make sure I understand y'all correctly. So I've been battling with this hair issue I like to call upside down V or upside U or W where my hair on the left and right get to armpit length and the middle is much shorter like neck or shoulder length. I've been dealing with this for over 10years and I keep cutting the left and right sides to be even with the middle although I almost never wear my hair straight. Should I stop trimming and just keep babying it until I get to my goal length?
Thanks ladies
Click to expand...


I wanted to add... hair grows organically, because it is organic. Some of us have a fragile or longer right or left side. Your hair grows differently in the middle. That's okay! You are not growing a wig or plastic. You are dealing with an organic fiber that may not grow uniformly. That doesn't mean that what you have is an issue. It means it is your specific hair pattern. I would suggest to not judge it as good or bad or as an issue. When you start to look at that way, sometimes your eyes and mind start to see options that you didn't see before. I feel very strongly that you are quite close to resolving the situation.

Please reassess and come back and tell us what you did and what you think and what happened!
 
I baggied my Shea buttered braids yesterday, mainly to keep the greasiness [which I love] from staining my freshly washed hoody. I was too tired to remove it yesterday, [the baggie] and my hair is still white with the Shea I put on yesterday. That's not a bad thing. My hair ends are super moist.

Now, I am thinking about how I am going to leverage and optimize this information. :bookworm2::bookworm::brainy: It may mean nothing...but my gut says pursue it. :supergrin:
 
By the way, when I removed the baggie this morning and my hair was white with Shea butter, 20 minutes later, my hair was no longer white and the 'Shea Shield' had become invisible so that there was no longer that visible, white coating.
 
Lastly, I'm thinking about what @ElevatedEnergy said about the elongation on her hair during her wash day. My hair feels so heavy and weighted in these braids with the Shea butter on them.

When I splash water on a section of unloosened braids and put on Scurl and Shea butter, my hair gets super straight and elongated at that moment, too. That's why my eyes have been popping when I do my hair as of late, because of the length of my hair seems to be.

I literally only have 20 hairs at a super long length. But they indicate the future of my hair length overall, better than anything. That lil' section represents the possibility for all my hair, at some point in the future. So, I'm going to roll with it!
 
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icsonia22 said:
I have been using my whipped Shea butter to seal in moisture on individual braids that I wear under my wigs. I'm in the process of taking down the braids and I must say that the Shea butter has eliminated knots and tangles. The shed hair is able to slide right out. My goal for 2018 is to make apl. This is the longest my hair has ever been! After going natural and having to big chop multiple times, I'm finally getting it right.
Click to expand...

You are only 1 to 3 inches from armpit. Assuming your hair grows at the same average 1/2 inch per month rate, that's 6 months or, by September .
One or some of your hair feets will have landed at armpit length by September 2018. Then the rest of your hair, the bulk, will follow to grow and fill in at that length, too.

Do you realize what an incredible milestone
you have reached: having your longest hair EVER!

Can you share your hair routine in détail with us. What did you do differently this time? Why did you not give up? What encouraged you to keep trying? How did you know you were on the right track this time?
 
Is there anyone Shea sliding but not bunning, wearing braids, or wearing wash and go's?

Anyone wearing twist outs or braid outs on day 1? If so, what's your styling regimen? And are you adding anything beneath or over the Shea butter for definition and/or hold? TIA!
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
At @ElevatedEnergy and @Chicoro and everybody, your hair stays a little more stretched and tangle free with applying whipped shea butter to just your ends?

@Chicoro, is it about the shea butter, or is the scurl also an important component in achieving the stretch?

TIA!
Click to expand...

Elongation vs Stretching:

For me, the glycerine in the SCURL shrinks up and draws up my hair. So, although the SCURL does not directly elongate my hair, I NEED that lubrication and water based moisture from SCURL for the Shea to keep in the moisture. Otherwise, if I apply the Shea with no SCURl, Shea leaves my hair hard, dull, dry and coated. The SCURL impacts the process and the results just enough so that Shea application is a benefit and makes my hair look good. Without the SCURL application, Shea butter does not work for my hair from an aesthetics perspective.

I don't get stretch. My hair elongates [temporarily] when I apply the Shea butter initially, as if I have heat straightened. Then it quickly draws up. But my hair has 'weight' on it from the Shea that makes my braids feel a bit heavier than usual. That 'heaviness' creates a swing in my braids that I don't have without the Shea butter.

Tangle Free
My braided hair stays tangle free with Shea for reasons not related to stretching. Shea clumps the hair together. That's the aspect of Shea that seems to keep tangles at bay, in my hair, when I use Shea butter. For me the result is different if I apply Shea to my ends. I do not just apply Shea butter to my ends. I apply Shea butter from the root to the tips of my hair.

I am not trying to be coy or clever in my responses. I'm not trying to write a dissertation or impress people by talking fancy. But to communiciate clearly, I have to make these differentiations. It seems silly to me to write paragraphs about hair and Shea butter, but that's how I do it sometimes to try to get across what I mean.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Is there anyone Shea sliding but not bunning, wearing braids, or wearing wash and go's?

Anyone wearing twist outs or braid outs on day 1? If so, what's your styling regimen? And are you adding anything beneath or over the Shea butter for definition and/or hold? TIA!
Click to expand...
Good morning @YvetteWithJoy .

I am playing in my hair with twist outs/ Today is day 4 hair. I even forgot to wear my bonnet last night. Just on my satin pillowcases.

When I'm styling my hair, I'm a minamalist. Shampoo, conditioner, leave in and sealant.

Shea butter is my sealant. I think twisting on damp hair helps set the hair with just those two products. Leave in and shea butter mix.

I also do not need to retwist my hair at night. There's enough hold from day 1. I do however, band loosely my twists while drying so they don't shrink up. Through out the week it may shrink, but it's still defined.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
At @ElevatedEnergy and @Chicoro and everybody, your hair stays a little more stretched and tangle free with applying whipped shea butter to just your ends?
Click to expand...

I do both, but the stretch comes with applying shea to the length of my hair in a pulling, downward motion before braiding or twisting for the night.

YvetteWithJoy said:
Anyone wearing twist outs or braid outs on day 1? If so, what's your styling regimen? And are you adding anything beneath or over the Shea butter for definition and/or hold? TIA!
Click to expand...

I mostly wear braid outs. On day 1, I rinse out my deep conditioner and apply shea mix to damp hair. Once dry, I take out the braid, rebraid (or more elongation and to check moisture) then apply gel. I use perm rods on the end.

Depending on the day, I will wet or mist my hair with a liquid before applying more shea. Oftentimes I just apply more shea butter and don't use a gel. I really just go with how I'm feeling, and if I'm wearing my hair 'out' or in a ponytail.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
Is there anyone Shea sliding but not bunning, wearing braids, or wearing wash and go's?

Anyone wearing twist outs or braid outs on day 1? If so, what's your styling regimen? And are you adding anything beneath or over the Shea butter for definition and/or hold? TIA!
Click to expand...

I wear a twist out weekly. Lately the day before wash day when my twist out is on its last leg, I pull it back into a shea butter slathered ponytail. This has become my new prepoo. Wash day I do some finger detangling, wash with shampoo bar and deep condition. After the DC is rinsed out I spray with aphogee green tea spritz, add leave in and shea - root to tip, braid and air dry. Next day I twist with lottabody foam, roll the ends with perm rods, slather with shea and air dry. I use shea to untwist initially and fluff daily. I don't retwist during the week at all, maybe a small section if needed.
 
Chicoro said:
I think I understand. It's 'heavier' and almost weighted in that the same hair is lower on your body WITH using Shea butter, than it would be if you didn't use Shea butter. Is this what you mean? If not, girl tell me 'cause I want to KNOW! :drunk:
Click to expand...

Yes, you got it Shea Queen Muva!!! :2inlove: It is heavier. I did add in earlier that I also use henna (and have been for a year now). So while Shea butter does and always have elongated my hair; Henna plus Shea butter long term has seemed to stretch AND elongate my curls.
 
YvetteWithJoy said:
At @ElevatedEnergy and @Chicoro and everybody, your hair stays a little more stretched and tangle free with applying whipped shea butter to just your ends?

@Chicoro, is it about the shea butter, or is the scurl also an important component in achieving the stretch?

TIA!
Click to expand...

Shea butter does not work for me just only applying it to the ends. It's almost like the ends would stick together and pull apart like velcro. The application has to be fluid from root to the ends so when I separate my hair, the entire strand just slides. I apply more to the ends, but never only on the ends.

Disclaimer:
But then again; it's been a long time since I did try Shea butter on my ends only, so maybe I had not figured out the right amount for my hair or the texture (whipped) that my hair likes. So my experience may not be well rounded or tested enough to answer your question.
 
ElevatedEnergy said:
Shea butter does not work for me just only applying it to the ends. It's almost like the ends would stick together and pull apart like velcro. The application has to be fluid from root to the ends so when I separate my hair, the entire strand just slides. I apply more to the ends, but never only on the ends.

Disclaimer:
But then again; it's been a long time since I did try Shea butter on my ends only, so maybe I had not figured out the right amount for my hair or the texture (whipped) that my hair likes. So my experience may not be well rounded or tested enough to answer your question.
Click to expand...


#MeToo​
 
scarcity21 said:
@ElevatedEnergy , @Chicoro are y'all saying what I think you're saying? Lemme make sure I understand y'all correctly. So I've been battling with this hair issue I like to call upside down V or upside U or W where my hair on the left and right get to armpit length and the middle is much shorter like neck or shoulder length. I've been dealing with this for over 10years and I keep cutting the left and right sides to be even with the middle although I almost never wear my hair straight. Should I stop trimming and just keep babying it until I get to my goal length?
Thanks ladies
Click to expand...
Make sure your hair is not doing that because you’re iron deficient. I know when my hair kept doing that it’s because my iron levels were very low. Have your doctor check you.
 
I’ve finally gotten around to using the cleopatra’s choice Shea butter on my hair and it is a vast improvement over the other brands that I have used in the past ( random amazon brands that claim “organic, unrefined Shea butter” and Now brand refined Shea butter ) I’ve only used the yellow Shea butter from cleopatra’s choice but I plan to use the ivory in a week or two.

The benefits of this Shea butter over others are:

-it melts so smooth. I’ve been using it straight with out mixing with oils bc it melts easier than my fluffiest Shea concoctions.
-added bonus of no more white Shea specks in my dark hair!
- works well on skin. Though some of my other Shea concoctions may have been slightly more moisturizing. This has potential for making even better Shea concoctions.

I’m not saying that this is the only good supplier for Shea butter but it’s good to know what top notch feels like so I know how to assess the quality of other brands.

I’m wondering if some of the amazon suppliers were mixing other butters with their Shea because this stuff melts really uniformly with just body heat compared to what I’m used to.
 
scarcity21 said:
Also for ladies that use glycerin leave in like scurl with their Shea butter, have you tried whipping both and applying as one mixture versus applying one and then the other? Just thinking out loud....I believe I did a while back and my hair liked it...I just added too much oil so my hair was a bit greasy
Click to expand...
Nope. My regimen is working as is. I don’t wanna change it by adding scurl to my Shea mix. Try it out and report back.
 
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