I guess my struggle level has decreased over the months. I would downgrade it from struggle to more of challenged
But I'm making progress.
I tried that temporary rinse
WHAT A WASTE OF TIME
I've tried henna, rinsed, demi-permanent. I don't have time for that. So I am back to my permanent color but this time around I am adding protein in my regimen. Friday, I did an overnight DC with AOWC. It didn't really work but I figured I would try it. Then I shampooed with 4 Naturals. I did a protein treatment with ION Extreme Care and conditioner rinsed with Deva Curl One. My hair said, stop playing
So I DCd with ORS Hair Mayonaisse. I am revisiting this DC. It worked ok but it is going in the give-away box. My hair felt stronger with the protein but it was harder than usual. Gave it 72 hours before doing my color.
Last night I colored using the Naturtint #2. I wasn't sure it would work since I had so much product on my hair. I had my hair in flat twists. I didn't even take them down. I put the color on the roots of the flat twists, then went back and massage the color in. Then I took down each flat twist and worked the color in. I let it sit for 40 minutes under a baggy. I rinsed, used their shampoo (it was rough), followed with their protective creme and then conditioner rinsed with the Deva Curl One. I used the As I Am Leave-In (luv, luv), Farasues Hair Fertilizer and Shea Moisture Smoothie. My hair felt hard. Not sure if it was the Farasues or the Shea Moisture. I then 2 strand twisted with one of the Curlove samples.
My color came out nice. No more grays (sigh of relief). The color took nicely even too my edges. My hair isn't super soft but it feels pretty good considering I used protein, a crazy shampoo, colored my hair and didn't follow up with a DC. And I didn't notice any additional breakage.
So I will monitor my hair over the next few weeks. I am going to color every 8 to 12 weeks but I will find a way to just do my roots. I am going to try the Shea Moisture Color.
For the rest of the year I will just be fine tuning my regimen and my products.