Thoughts on Newbie's Regimen (Long Post -- Apologies)

[CofCGrad1997]

Hi,

I am new here and very excited to be beginning this journey! I have looked at a number of the Fotki sites, and I am so inspired by what I have seen. I checked out the Newbie sticky, and I found it to be very helpful. What I thought I would do now is solicit the opinions of a few kind members on my regimen as it develops.

As background, my hair is relaxed and falls about two inches below my earlobes. Excuse my ignorance, but I don't know enough about the 4B, 3A terminology to describe my hair in that way. I self relax about every 4 weeks using Phytospecific Index 2. I wash weekly with Aveeno Nourish and Soothe shampoo, and I sometimes condition with the conditioner that goes with it (not on a regular basis). I heat style a few times a week with a flat iron. I don't use other products.

My hair goals are simple for now -- improve overall health (though I'm always told my hair doesn't look damaged, I'm sure it is because I heat style without protection) and increase the life of my relaxers (which I know will help with health). I also have a bit of gray, but I am scared to do anything about it because I don't want to further damage the hair or end up with an unnatural looking color. I would love to achieve growth, but I respect that I should start slow.

I recently started doing the following daily:
- Eating a hard boiled egg
- Drinking the Ultra Thick Hair Shake once
- Taking the Ultra Thick Hair pills twice
- Taking a liquid multivitamin (Miracle 2000) twice

I bought some coconut oil, but I am not sure of the best way for me to use it. I tried DCing with it, but I felt like it kind of weighed my hair down (maybe I didn't rinse it out as thoroughly as I should have?). The woman in the health store indicated I should apply some to my ends, but I wanted to find out more about that.

I went to the beauty store over the weekend, but I was so overwhelmed by the choices that I didn't buy anything. In the past, my hair has been prone to overconditioning (if there is such a thing)...by that I mean -- some products leave my hair unable to hair lifeless and unable to hold a curl (this is why I don't always condition). I saw a lot of products in the store mentioned here on the boards, but I noticed some had sulfates, and I thought I was supposed to be trying to avoid them.

I would love to hear recommendations on how I should go about adding products, steps, etc. I know everyone's regimen is likely different, but I am just trying to determine how best to find out what I should be doing given my goals.

TIA for your time and help!

 

[MonPetite]

Congrats and welcome!

I'm sure others will chime in on this, but what sticks out to me is that relaxing every 4 weeks may not be wise. Unless you get almost an inch (I'm speaking as one who gets .5" to .75 a month myself and would not do this) a month, that does not bode well for long term retention.

Also, be sure not to overdose on Iron, vitamins in general, and too much protein can lead to weight loss. You've augmented your diet quite a bit in adding protein -perhaps you would do better adding more veggies (you didn't mentioned what you do for exercise, but that's beneficial as well, for more than just one's hair).

You may want to include what type of damage your hair my be suffering from in greater detail for product recommendations.

For reference I like adding penetrating oils to my DCs in a ration of 1 T to 1 oz of commercial Deep conditioner.

I've blogged about oils, DCs and the like and I have quite a few reviews that may be helpful once other members chime in with their ideas.

I hope you find the input you are looking for, dear.

 

[shasha8685]

Hello and welcome!

First, stop relaxing your hair every 4 weeks! Nobody's hair grows fast enough to need a relaxer every 4 weeks. I used to relax every 4 weeks and my hair broke off badly.

Second, you want to find the following things: a good shampoo (I use Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo), a good protein DC (I alternate between ORS Replenishing and Aubrey Organics GPB), a good moisturizing DC (I use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose and White Camellia. However, when I started my journey I used Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner), and a good heat protectant (I use Fantasia IC). You want to wash and deep conditioner at least 1x a week (when you DC, you want to deep condition with heat for at least 30min).

Third, you didn't mention it but when you use heat, are you cranking the heat up as high as it will go? If so, stop! Also, when you do use heat you want to make sure your hair is clean and deep conditioned. You also want to use heat protectant every time.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I hope this helps!

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

to LHCF!

First, you shouldn't relax your hair that often. I would suggest no less than 6 weeks between relaxers. The longer you stretch the better your scalp will thank you. I try not to relax more often than every 8 weeks (16 weeks being my max). SOme people believe that stretching the length of time between relaxers helps with growth and retention. (Do a search on the site for more information).

Second, whenever you wash your hair with shampoo you should be DCing with a moisturizing shampoo. DC = deep conditioning with a conditioner for 20 to 60 minutes (some people do it overnight) with or without heat. Every 4 to 8 weeks you should do a protein treatment for strength (followed with a moisturizing DC to prevent breakage/brittle hair).

Third, you should moisturize you hair and then seal with an oil, possibly that coconut oil that you used as a DC. SOme people say every night, I do it every couple of days.

Fourth, I can't say that you were wrong to DC with just coconut oil, but I've never heard of it. Most people (myself included) add coconut oil to a conditioner.

Fifth, my regimen is listed on the about me page of my fotki, which is linked in my signature. Feel free to take a look at what I've been doing just as an example of what a relaxed head does.

HTH! and again, welcome!

 

[ms.blue]

Start with the basics
-shampoo
-conditioners (protein & moisturizing)
-moisturizers (i perfer non-protein moisturizers b/c I do protein treats every week)

How many times a week/month do you wash your hair?
Have you tried low heat styles or protective styles?
Try to increase your water intake and lastly try to stretch out your relaxers at least 2 months.
*Don't be afraid of new growth. It won't hurt *
**Have realistic hair goals**

 

[Tiye]

Re: coconut oil there are two ways to best use it. 1) Pre-shampoo treatment. Soak your hair in it for a while then shampoo it out. Condition as you normally will. 2) Use a very small amount as a leave in protectant on damp or dry hair - your preference. Otherwise lots of good suggestions for products. The only other thing I'd add is if you don't know what you like yet then try to find sample sizes before you commit to the full sized version. This saves a lot of money (and space in your bathroom!) while you experiment.