Shea Growth And Retention Regimen 2018

[spacetygrss]

My Shea nut oil came today. I’ve got to figure out how to incorporate its goodness into something yummy for my hair.

 

[Jade Feria]

Last week I sealed with SSI Seyani Whipped Ghanaian Shea Butter before putting my hair in cornrows & under my wig for the next week. I noticed that my hair was shinier than usual in the cornrows. I was like, "whaaat?" My hair is not usually that shiny. When I took the braids out yesterday, my hair was STILL so soft and moisturized. It was so easy to take them down - there was so much less tangling than I would have expected for a week in braids. Yesterday after DC'ing, I used Naturelle Grow's Honey & Hibiscus leave-in and sealed with the Seyani Butter again. I like the butter, but I think I would prefer a creamier whipped texture. Theirs definitely has a lot of air in the mix - I remember when I first got it in the mail, and I thought they sent me an empty container, until I opened it and saw that it was indeed quite full! I'll keep that in mind when I get around to making my shea mix.

 

[kupenda]

My butter is here! I’m scheduled to wash today so I’ll be sure to try my shea butter too

 

[GGsKin]

So every/everyother night I've been dampening my hair and smoothing on my shea butter mix. I took my hair down tonight to pre-treat and it felt good and soft. It was also easier to detangle my gelled canerows. I look forward to trialling more shea butter this wash day.

 

[NCHairDiva]

So I did the Chebe today. And I don't know how I feel about it...
What I did:

• I sprayed a section of my hair slghtly with CP tea
• Added Kara are Creme Brulee to the entire section. Pulling the length of my strands
• I added the Chebe mixture to the hair from the ends upward to the roots. (The hair was very easily entangled. Ahead hair came right out. No single strand knots at all)
• Once slightly entangled added whipped Shea butter. (When I say it was a look smooth! And entangled. Then my curls popped in a way they have never popped before.

Now, what I hated was the grainy fall from the Chebe and the very earthy weird smell.
My hair is extremely elongated. I braided each section back up and it felt strong and smooth. The braid looks stretched and long. It feels good too...
I think I like it but I guess I will know once I take my hair down in a week.
I'm excited. The whipped Shea is magical and the Chebe might have boosted it a bit...

 

[Chicoro]

I picked up some oils that I ordered from Bulk Apothecary y’all. I mean, from their warehouse. It smells like heaven in there! I bought:
Amber (all natural) Fragrance Oil
Black Fig and Honey Fragrance Oil
Cassia Essential Oil
Chocolate Sugar Cookies Fragrance Oil
Jasmine Fragrance Oil
Peppermint Essential Oil
Rosemary (Certified Organic) Essential Oil
Sandalwood Vanilla Fragrance Oil

I can’t wait to make my next batch of whipped shea butter!
And I took a nap today and had a dream that I was moisturizing my hair and discovered it was waist length! I didn’t want to wake up.

"And I took a nap today and had a dream that I was moisturizing my hair and discovered it was waist length! I didn’t want to wake up."

I wouldn't be crying over that.


That's something to celebrate and rejoice about. If you are dreaming about that, AND you remember it vividly, it means your subconscious has

gotten the message and has let you know it!


Your subconscious works for YOU. It will do everything in its power to broadcast and communicate to you the right direction in which to go, and the right decisions to make, in order for you to get that waist length hair.

Basically, your inner guiding compass, your radar, has been turned ON! Your job is to pay attention to the subtle messages and direction you will be getting in order for you to reach your goal. You've received a formal receipt that the transaction is done. If that is not a blessing, I don't know what is. You are lucky, girl!

 

[Chicoro]

In January 2017, the 'aha' happened and I finally understood the keys to grow tailbone length hair.

After that, I also dreamed I had this massive amount of hair. Mine was hanging at my thigh and when I unfurled it, the hair fell to the floor! Then I woke up and I remembered the dream vividly as well. That served as a confirmation for me that my hair is going to reach my length goal. I'm not looking to be dragging the floor with my hair, but tailbone does touch one's thigh when sitting.

I believe my dream served as a confirmation to me that I was on track.

I try to write down any dreams that I remember as soon as I wake up, in a special notebook and put the date. I have a hand -written, hurriedly scrawled note on that one and didn't put the date! It was prior to April 26th, 2017 as that's the date of my next entry. So, that's about right and close to when I was deeply into trying to understand and noticing what all my favorite tailbone beauties were doing.

I saw consistency in all their routines and that's when I came upon the post of that @ThatJerseyGirl about shea butter. Here's the link where I detail out the tailbone length process:

https://longhaircareforum.com/threa...ir-in-protective-styles.808475/#post-23495089

As an aside, when I came across the information of @ThatJerseyGirl for shea butter, it had been written at least 2 years prior. But when I got my goal firmly ensconced in my mind, and committed to it, her information [suddenly] popped up in my purview.

Since I was already sensitive and conditioned to what I wanted to happen and to come to pass for my hair, my subconscious helped me to [finally] 'notice' her post. Funny how that works, huh!

 

[Chicoro]

Let me go ahead and place the post here. After all, shea butter was an integral part of the post and pertains to this thread, right?

[Originally posted January 5th, 2017] exactly 367 days before today!
Post #7 from the thread entitled,
"How To Care For Tbl Real Hair In Protective Styles"
https://longhaircareforum.com/threa...ir-in-protective-styles.808475/#post-23495089



My observations pertain to hair that is squarely in the 4 range, or hair that looks like mine (3 range) and "acts" and grows like it is type 4 hair. I dislike hair typing but it helps to cut to the chase to get everyone one the same page quickly during a discussion.

My observations for many tail bone length women with afro-textured hair:

1. Hair is rarely washed more than 1x per week
2. Hair is washed in braids or twists or sections(one on one attention is given to either each section and/or each braid in that section). This one may seem obvious and well known. But the difference is that these women don't take all braids/twists out at once and combine the hair on a regular basis. Either they undo the hair and leave it in its own section, or they wash, condition and leave all hair in braids/twists. To detangle and comb out, they do one braid at a time, leaving the rest braided or twisted or sectioned but tend to not combine all the hair together.
   • Note: I overlooked this. I have always washed and conditioned my hair in braids. But after I detangled a section, I would combine it with the other sections. Hence, I would always need to use a comb to detangle it and get it back into sections. With these ladies, fingers are used more than the comb.
   • Also, I realized that I have been damaging my hair NOT at the detangling stage, but before, during my braiding and unbraiding. I pull and snatch my hair apart and the force or tension maximized at the ends of my hair causing tangling and breakage. I have been damaging my hair before I even began the detangling process.
   • For the first time EVER in my hair care process, I did not need to use a comb because I washed, oiled and conditioned my hair in braids. I carefully and gently undid a braid, while leaving the rest braided. I put in my leave in and gently re-braided that one braid. Surprisingly, the unbraiding/leave-in/braiding took a long time even without detangling with a wide, toothed comb.
3. Hair is sectioned / done in sections-See detail above, point #1.
4. Hair is stretched before it is styled (bantu knot, banded, heat stretched). Some women let there hair dry in
   • braids or twists
   • bantu knots
   • banded hair
   • put on rollers
   • Some women lightly blow dry
5. Hair is kept stretched after it is styled (These ladies tend to gather their twists and pin around their heads or combine the twists creating some kind of stretching on the hair.)
6. Shea butter is often used (protects hair and organic tissue like hair and skin from the break down of proteins on the exposed surface by the environment, specifically protects against the sun.) It may not be used throughout the entire journey, but during significant time frames or points in the journey (transitioning only, washing, sealant, etc)
7. Extremely low maintenance styles (For me, low maintenance styles are not necessarily protective styles! I define low maintenance styles as those where the hair is manipulated as little as possible.)
   • Some braid or twist hair until it dries and leave it for three days to a week, then undo the hair to wear braid outs or twist outs until the next wash day.
   • Some leave the twists or braids in until the next wash day.
   • Some do up do's
8. Specific daily hair end regimen (or frequent as in 2 or more times per week, ends given special attention)
   • Even if the entire braid or twist is redone , they tend to have a specific regimen for the ends
   • Ends are wetted or spritzed with water, an oil is added (Water + oil) (Usually castor oil or shea butter).
9. Protective Styles (For "me" , protective style is determined by what you are doing with the ends of the hair. If the ends are not up and out of the air, I do not consider the style protective.)
   • Ends are twisted up, covered, tucked and/or kept from the air like Wanakee Pugh taught years ago
   • Hair ends or the entire head is kept covered or protected during the day and/or at night
     • Head scarves for night
     • Tucking or hiding hair during the day or night
10. Trimming
    • Trimming done on a fairly regular basis
    • Trims tend to be done in braided or twisted styles (Unevenness not an issue as most of these women rarely or ever wear heat straightened hair styles)
11. Time (2 to 8 year journeys. The average seems to be 5 years.)

That's all! It's enough, I know!

Edit: Forgot some form of protein is used whether be in a commercial product, treatment or DIY. Frequency depends on the head of hair.

 

[Chicoro]

My hair is so moisturized and shiny using the shea butter mix, already. I think I will try mango butter for the next mix, instead of cocoa butter, to see what that does for my hair.

Yeah! It really is an amazing ingredient, isn't it. It's like both you and your hair can breath a sigh of relief when you discover how moist and manageable it makes your hair.

 

[Chicoro]

I've been noticing "Da Slide" How easily Sheds are Released! No more fighting to detangle to remove "Sheds"

It's like Da' Butta' slides them right on out.

This alone definitely gets x2 Thumbs Up from me!

This was what got me. Shea Butta gone get all my money and all my lovin'! Me and my hair have been looking to be done right for a long time. And shea butter did not disappoint!

"Da Slide of Da' Butta"

coined by @IDareT'sHair​

 

[Chicoro]

Caution!

BEWARE of:


"Da Slide of Da' Butta"

It's a trap! Once you get hooked, you may not ever go back!​

 

[Chicoro]

I understand completely . But this is LHCF and long hair dreams do come true...

Literally and figuratively!

 

[Chicoro]

Last week I sealed with SSI Seyani Whipped Ghanaian Shea Butter before putting my hair in cornrows & under my wig for the next week. I noticed that my hair was shinier than usual in the cornrows. I was like, "whaaat?" My hair is not usually that shiny. When I took the braids out yesterday, my hair was STILL so soft and moisturized. It was so easy to take them down - there was so much less tangling than I would have expected for a week in braids. Yesterday after DC'ing, I used Naturelle Grow's Honey & Hibiscus leave-in and sealed with the Seyani Butter again. I like the butter, but I think I would prefer a creamier whipped texture. Theirs definitely has a lot of air in the mix - I remember when I first got it in the mail, and I thought they sent me an empty container, until I opened it and saw that it was indeed quite full! I'll keep that in mind when I get around to making my shea mix.

"My hair is not usually that shiny. When I took the braids out yesterday, my hair was STILL so soft and moisturized. It was so easy to take them down - there was so much less tangling than I would have expected for a week in braids."

I think this is a huge component of the reason people who use shea butter retain a tremendous amount of length. It really minimizes tangling. How it does it, let me count the ways!

You know you sprung when you start to write poetic sounding posts about an ingredient.

 

[Chicoro]

So every/everyother night I've been dampening my hair and smoothing on my shea butter mix. I took my hair down tonight to pre-treat and it felt good and soft. It was also easier to detangle my gelled canerows. I look forward to trialling more shea butter this wash day.

Usually, when I get to a pre-treatment time, my hair is thirsty and dry. But with shea butter, it seems to carry the hair from wash to wash in a moisturized, soft state.

 

[Chicoro]

So I did the Chebe today. And I don't know how I feel about it...
What I did:

• I sprayed a section of my hair slghtly with CP tea
• Added Kara are Creme Brulee to the entire section. Pulling the length of my strands
• I added the Chebe mixture to the hair from the ends upward to the roots. (The hair was very easily entangled. Ahead hair came right out. No single strand knots at all)
• Once slightly entangled added whipped Shea butter. (When I say it was a look smooth! And entangled. Then my curls popped in a way they have never popped before.

Now, what I hated was the grainy fall from the Chebe and the very earthy weird smell.
My hair is extremely elongated. I braided each section back up and it felt strong and smooth. The braid looks stretched and long. It feels good too...
I think I like it but I guess I will know once I take my hair down in a week.
I'm excited. The whipped Shea is magical and the Chebe might have boosted it a bit...

"My hair is extremely elongated. I braided each section back up and it felt strong and smooth. The braid looks stretched and long. It feels good too...
I think I like it but I guess I will know once I take my hair down in a week.
I'm excited. The whipped Shea is magical and the Chebe might have boosted it a bit..."

Scurl + Shea Butter + Chebe = Abracadabra Magic!
(but with far more attractive results)

 

[Chicoro]

By the way, I've been following the process I outlined for obtaining tail bone length hair and my hair is responding to it beautifully. As I've stated before, my hair is the longest it has ever been. Yeah, shea butter!

 

[Chicoro]

Some shea butter benefits we have encountered thus far:

• Lubricates hair so shedded hair slides easily out.
• Lubricates hair so that tangles are easily loosened.
• Lubricates the ends of hair so that old braids can be undone with less stress and breakage.
• Waxes in butter 'clump' the hair strands together to keep the hair from unraveling.
• Hair is kept soft and moisturized from wash day to wash day
• Hair has more of a shine than usual when shea butter is applied.

 

[Chicoro]

Shea Butter and Chebe
go together like
Peanut Butter and jelly!

Thanks for telling us @NCHairDiva !
​

 

[Chicoro]

If I mix down my shea butter with ayuverdic powders, I think I may reserve that batch to place in my home-made conditioner. I have a small jar of shea butter I mixed awhile back. I may go back and doctor it up with some of the powders suggested by you ladies.

 

[Chicoro]

Shea Butter Processes that are working well for us, thus far:

• Whipping the butter with a wired, electrical whisk produces fluffy shea butter when mixed with oil.
• Blending the butter in a blender tends to produce a more creamy mix.
• If your mix is 'heavy' and hard, you may want to try to add more oil and whip or blend it again.
• Re-melting the shea butter buy placing it over gentle heat, may help to eradicate graininess from your mix.
  • Put it in the fridge to harden for 40 minutes to 4 hours.
  • Whip it or blend it again.
  • The graininess should disappear.
• Adding natural preservatives is suggested if you plan to use your butter in the shower where some water may get into it.
• Melted shea butter and oil absorb ayuverdic powders well. There is no grainy texture and the color tends to be a gorgeous, golden goodness.
• Ayuverdic powder infused shea butter may be nourishing for fragile crown, hairline and nape scalp areas.
• Consider adding a dollop or two of your shea butter to your leave in conditioner or your deep conditioner for a moisturizing boost to your deep condition session.

 

[Chicoro]

Two Points of Clarification:

• I do not believe shea butter makes hair grow faster. It impacts retention.
• All the long haired naturals I followed used natural, 100% shea butter that they then mixed with other oils and butters.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Last year I learned I was applying too much product. In anticipation of my first 2018 wash day, I have been thinking about several products and combinations and having a hard time making a final decision.

I just can't shake how incredible Hairveda's Red Tea Heavy Cream rendered my hair.

Ingredients: Water Aqua, African Red Bush (Rooibos Tea), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Argania Spinosa (Argan) Nut Oil, Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu) Seed Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Oil, Olive Fruit Oil, Emulsifying wax (Ceteareth 20), Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Pomegranate Extract, Capsicum annum (Paprika) powder, Candelilla Wax, Parfume (Fragrance), Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid.

I was plannng on applying it (just can't imagine not!) under what I'm using as "Scurl," but then I realized that I can try the Hairveda Red Tea Heavy Cream as my "Scurl": It has glycerin! Yay!

So now I'm left debating on whether to now include the CP tea, which my hair loves. Excluding it would render wash day styling simpler and quicker. I think, however, that I'm going to microfiber towel dry my hair and use the CP tea as my "liquid" instead of shower water that has remained. This introduces henna into my regimen and eliminates the issue of dealing with hair that is drying out on me by the time I get to the final twists.

So that yields:

1. CurlyProverbz Hair Tea,
2. a light amount of Hairveda Red Tea Heavy Cream (as my Scurl),
3. Jakeala Shea Amla Parfait (whipped, scented yummily, and full of ayurvedic ingredients), and
4. Black Castor and Flaxseed Oil Eco Style gel for twisting.

I will apply each product to my whole length. Yes! I like it!

 

[IDareT'sHair]

My Fenugreek Oil came and I'm waiting on my Fenugreek Powder to arrive and I'll make a 4oz combo using these two w/Unrefined SB.

Will also do several 4oz SB blends of:
Brahmi Oil & Bramhi Powder
Amla Oil & Amla Powder
Bhringraj Oil, Black Seed Oil etc... *with some sort of powder*

Ya'll get the drill. Will be making up a few 4oz Ayurvedic mixtures as well.

 

[NCHairDiva]

Shea Butter and Chebe
go together like
Peanut Butter and jelly!

Thanks for telling us @NCHairDiva !
​

My hair feels almost wet today with the moisture I have. And still elongated! I'm in love.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

"My hair is extremely elongated. I braided each section back up and it felt strong and smooth. The braid looks stretched and long. It feels good too...
I think I like it but I guess I will know once I take my hair down in a week.
I'm excited. The whipped Shea is magical and the Chebe might have boosted it a bit..."

Scurl + Shea Butter + Chebe = Abracadabra Magic!
(but with far more attractive results)

I keep looking at this GIF and giggling. Like they are casting a shea spell!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

My Fenugreek Oil came and I'm waiting on my Fenugreek Powder to arrive and I'll make a 4oz combo using these two w/Unrefined SB.

Will also do several 4oz SB blends of:
Brahmi Oil & Bramhi Powder
Amla Oil & Amla Powder
Bhringraj Oil, Black Seed Oil etc... *with some sort of powder*

Ya'll get the drill. Will be making up a few 4oz Ayurvedic mixtures as well.

I don't think I've ever seen a fenugreek oil...sounds yummy.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Two Points of Clarification:

• I do not believe shea butter makes hair grow faster. It impacts retention.
• All the long haired naturals I followed used natural, 100% shea butter that they then mixed with other oils and butters.

I have used products in the past with shea butter in them...I've used Shea Moisture, Camille Rose, Silk Dreams just to name a few....but I didn't feel that shea magic or shea slide until I used an actual blend of shea butter and oils that I mixed. Also there is only so much shea butter a company can use when formulating conditioners and products...especially ones that also contain water. Really not much at all. So if one wants that maximum shea magic, it's probably a good idea to mix it themselves. I mean if @IDareT'sHair can get her mix on....and we all know she ain't about that mixtress life then by golly there's hope for everyone!!!

 

[Loving]

I must say it's been a while since I've seen a hair thread popping like this. Hats off to @Chicoro and all the other contributors!

 

[GGsKin]

I have used products in the past with shea butter in them...I've used Shea Moisture, Camille Rose, Silk Dreams just to name a few....but I didn't feel that shea magic or shea slide until I used an actual blend of shea butter and oils that I mixed. Also there is only so much shea butter a company can use when formulating conditioners and products...especially ones that also contain water. Really not much at all. So if one wants that maximum shea magic, it's probably a good idea to mix it themselves. I mean if @IDareT'sHair can get her mix on....and we all know she ain't about that mixtress life then by golly there's hope for everyone!!!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

I must say it's been a while since I've seen a hair thread popping like this. Hats off to @Chicoro and all the other contributors!

@Chicoro is hosting the heyal out of this thread. Hands down the best hostess with mostest.