Put me on your healthy hair naughty list. I only moisturized my hair twice between wash days, and my wash days are about 3 weeks apart. Funny enough, my hair stayed soft and moisturised to an extent, but the real issue here is that my length check was an absolute fail!
Here's what happened:


- Detangled: I took out my cornrows, sectioned my hair into four quadrants and applied Mega Growth Deep Conditioner to each section. Next, I detangled each quadrant using my fingers first then followed with a wide tooth comb.

- Deep Conditioned: once I was done with each section, I covered my hair with a plastic bag and let it sit for two hours.

- Blow dried: after rinsing out the conditioner, I wrapped my hair in a T-shirt for 10 minutes to soak up the excess water before blow drying. I never blow dry on soaking wet hair.


- Flat iron (sort of): This is where the problem began, my hair refused to stay straight, the second I was done with a section, it would start to revert and shrink back up. It was extremely frustrating, even after passing the flat iron several times through my hair, it still didn't stay straight.


- Flexi rod set: since my hair didn't turn out the way I expected, I decide to use flexi rods on my dry hair two days later. I moisturised each little section using Mega Growth Daily Leave in strengthener and sealed with my oil mixture, then set my hair in rods for a few hours.



It did create some curls, but I just knew those babies weren't going to last. I saved myself the heartache and created a messy bun out of it. And this is how my hair has been throughout the week.




And that's how my #washdayexperience went. I'll definitely attempt to straighten it again. I refuse to give up that easily.

   How was your washday?

Step 5: Remember to keep the flexi rods in a vertical position. This also determines the direction of the waves.


Step 6: All done! Leave in overnight. If you are wearing a wig like I am, then you can take it off and avoid a serious battle with sleep.


Finally, take out the flexi rods and style.

I fall in love with my hair all over again whenever I take out my cornrows, the volume and thickness is just to die for! However, I will not lie, I do miss how easy it was to part my hair when it was relaxed. Dealing with texlaxed hair and new growth is not easy.

Here's how my #washdayexperience went:  

Products Used:

-Mega Growth Deep Conditioner
-Mega Growth Stimulating Shampoo
-Vo5 Silky Experiences Moisturizing Conditioner
-Mega Growth Daily Leave-in Strengthener
-Oil Mixture (click here for more info)
-Fantasia IC Heat Protectant Serum    

The Process:

Okay...don't give me that look! I have been co-washing, deep conditioning,  moisturizing and sealing my hair okay? This is just the first time I'm taking out my cornrows and applying shampoo in 2016. So now that we got that out of the way, here's how my first wash day went:

Products
-MG Detangling Conditioner
-MG Stimulating Shampoo
- Organics hair mayonnaise
-MG Daily leave in strengthener
-Oil Mixture (see here for details)


1. Pre-poo + Detangle: I took out my cornrows with my fingers and applied MG Detangling conditioner on my hair before finger-detangling and using a wide tooth comb. I left the conditioner to sit on my hair for about an hour. I was so excited about how soft and fluffy my hair was, I couldn't stop taking pictures!




2. Shampoo: I parted my hair in about 8 or 9 sections and put them in braids. Next, I poured some MG Stimulating Shampoo into an applicator bottle and diluted with a bit of water. This helps me get the shampoo directly to my scalp without drying the rest of my hair out. I lathered 3 times and rinsed out with warm water.

3. Protein Treatment: I used a T-shirt to soak up all the excess water from my hair before applying Organics Hair mayonnaise as my protein treatment. I unravelled each braid, applied the mayonnaise evenly from root to tip and covered with a plastic bag for 20 minutes.  Then I rinsed thoroughly with cold water.

4. Leave-ins: After T-shirt drying again for about 10 minutes,  I applied MG Daily leave in strengthener and oil mix and air dried overnight.

The next day, I put it in a Faux Bun for the purpose of taking these pictures, and then it was back into cornrows!


I totally love my hair! It's growing out really nicely,  I think I've gained about 1.5 inches since I cut it, and I owe this to Joie of Long Nigerian Hair and her One Inch December challenge!

I definitely owe you guys a length check and I'm scheduling one for sometime in March,  I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing with my wig regimen and we'll see how it goes!

How was your wash day?

This December, I am privileged to be co-hosting a challenge themed #One_Inch_December alongside two awesome ladies, Joie of LongNigerianHair.com and Lungi of ByLungi.com.

Its aim is to give an end-of the –year reward to our hair by growing an inch of it.  We will also leave our comfort zones & challenge our hair growth rate.   We all know that the average hair growth rate is half an inch in a month. However, we can grow an inch this December by adding a few things to our regimen. #One_Inch_December hair challenge is also to motivate other women around us in believing that African hair can grow long and healthy if taken care of.

  AIM: #One_Inch_December hair challenge aims to speed up growth on hair journey without compromising on the health of our hair.

TIMELINE: December 1st to 30th

HOW-TO: Speed up hair growth via either the inversion method, scalp massages or any other healthy & safe method that can speed up your hair growth.

NB: Take a picture of the length of your hair at the beginning of this challenge. This will help to measure your results by day 30.  That being said, I have a special announcement to make, in my last post, I talked about having uneven hair due to breakage and lack of protein. Well after washing my hair and doing a protein treatment, I got out my length check shirt to take a "before" picture for this challenge:



I was so irritated by my relaxed ends, that I decided to grab my scissors cut off most of my relaxed/texlaxed hair. And so this is my new length:


This is the only picture I could squeeze out as I had to cornrow my hair for my wig, but I am officially collarbone length, which is the shortest I have ever been in my entire life!

I think I should dedicate an entire post to this, as well as my routine for this challenge which wouldn't be so different from the oil mixture challenge. I know I've promised a lot of posts, but hopefully I should get back on track with blogging frequently again.


 Join in this challenge by clicking below:
#One_Inch_December

 
It's been a while since I did a wash day post and it's due to the fact that my hair is cornrows 95% of the time these days. I basically just co wash or deep condition my hair (with the cornrows), rinse it out, air dry, repeat. This method has made me so lazy with my hair because when I took down the cornrows, I didn't know where to begin! My hair was just....everywhere. The volume was just ridiculous, but after stalling for hours, I finally got the courage to wash my hair.
Here's how it went:

Products used

- Profectiv Mega Growth Stimulating shampoo.

- Profectiv Mega Growth Detangling conditioner

- Profectiv Mega Growth Daily Leave in Strengthener

- Fantasia IC Heat Protectant

1. Takedown: I took down my cornrows the night before the actual wash day, spraying lightly before unraveling each row. When I was done, I lightly detangled and put my hair up in a faux puff (See tutorial here), tied my edges down with a silk scarf and went to bed.

2. Pre-poo and Detangled: The next day, after several hours of playing around, I parted my hair in small sections, applied MG conditioner on each and detangled with a wide tooth comb. I put each section in small twists to prepare for the shampoo process.

3. Shampoo: I put my MG shampoo in an applicator bottle and diluted with water and this makes it easier for the shampoo to be applied directly to my scalp without stripping the rest of my hair. I lathered and rinsed three times until my hair was squeaky clean.

4. Leave ins: Call me lazy. Sometimes I get away with just applying leave in conditioner after the shampoo, which is what I did again for this wash day. I T-shirt dried for about 20 minutes then I unraveled each twist, applied MG leave in and Fantasia serum, and blow dried till it was about 85% dry, so my hair wasn't fully stretched.



5. While it was still a bit damp, I put my hair back in cornrows and plopped on my wig. You can see the different ones I wear Here and Here.

Possible Setback?

I noticed a LOT of hair coming out while I was taking down my cornrows, and unevenness in my hair while I was blow drying which could only mean one thing: breakage.

What you don't know is that a few weeks ago, I went to have my hair washed and rebraided....at a salon!
*audience gasps*

I know, I know. It was my first time back in a salon this year and I was going there to just get my nails done so I thought "It's been a while, why not get the full salon experience?"
Bad idea. They weren't actually so terrible with my hair, but they weren't exactly gentle either, it was clear that they new nothing about transitioning hair. If I didn't swear of stylists before, I'm officially doing it now.

Honestly, I can't totally put the blame on the stylists as I haven't do a protein treatment in like forever! Luckily, the breakage didn't occur at the line of demarcation (the point where the new growth meets my texlaxed hair),because I make sure that part is nourished. It was more towards the ends, where the bone straight hair is. I'm not too bothered since I'm eventual going to cut that part off anyways, but no one likes uneven hair. I definitely need to step up my game, I may need to start rebraiding every 2 weeks instead of once a month, I'm going to wait until my next takedown to do a full assessment of the damage.

How was your wash day? How do you deal with uneven hair?

I'm currently working on my wash day post as we speak, but I decided to stop and create this quick tutorial first. I had so much volume to play with after taking out my cornrows that I almost didn't want to wash my hair!

I'm really pleased with how much thickness and volume i've gotten, considering that I've only been transitioning for 5 months.

Anyways, this tutorial is for ladies who are currently transitioning to natural hair and want to start experimenting with some of the hairstyles that natural ladies rock. (Side note: this tutorial would work best for ladies that are transitioning from TEXLAXED hair to natural hair)

It's really easy. Here's how you get it done:


1. Gently comb all your hair towards the front of your head. You look ridiculous I know, but trust me.



2. Put an elastic band over your head and then push it upwards towards your crown area.


A headband is preferable as elastic bands can snag on your hair and cause breakage, but today I've thrown caution to the wind. Notice I haven't said anything about moisturizing? That's because adding products would weigh the hair down and your faux puff won't look realistic.

Moving on.


3. Braid or twist the ends of your hair, I'm guessing those are the thinnest parts of your hair and we want to hide them away. I did a twist for this tutorial because I thought it would look more natural than a braid, but do whichever works best for you.



4. Tuck your braid in at the centre of your hair.


5. Pin to perfection.

And voila! You have the sickest puff in all the land.





 How far are you in your transition? Would you rock this?

Runtime: October 20 - December 19

Okay ladies, strap up! It's time for our hair growth boot camp! The purpose of this challenge is nourish our hair with all the goodness of oils.

The rule is to create a mixture with at least two oils and apply to your hair and scalp for 60 days. You can use any of the following methods to do this:

- Pre poo treatment
- Hot oil treatment
- Scalp massages
- GHE/ Baggy method
- Mixture with deep conditioners

Those are just a few of the many ways the oils can be used on our hair. I'm going to be using quite a few oils on my hair: Essential oils (peppermint, rosemary & lavender), Coconut oil, castor oil, more castor oil....

My methods of choice are the GHE method and scalp
massages. This involves moisturizing and sealing as normal, then covering your hair with a processing cap or plastic bag for about 6-8 hours.

The benefit of the scalp massage is to increase blood flow to the scalp and stimulate growth, while the GHE method aids length retention. What better combination than that right?

I will be doing this three times a week, and in my next post I will discuss in detail the oils I'm using for my hair and their benefits.

If you know any other great way of applying the oils to your hair, feel free to leave in the comment section.

Everyone got their boots on?

This is the second part of my two-part series on reducing breakage during wash days. This isn't really a tutorial on how to do the cornrows because I'm not that great at it, but it's more about how to keep your hair in tact while braiding.
The key to this is retaining moisture. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! I can't emphasize that enough. I'm using the wash day from a few weeks ago as my illustration.

If y'all remember, I put my hair in a bun after blow drying and did a little running around before settling down to cornrow my hair. Here's how it went:

- During the blow drying process, I did not blow dry my hair till it was 100% dry, I stopped when it was about 95% dry and there was still some moisture in it. This makes it easier to manipulate the hair and reduces the chances of breakage.

- Ditch the comb! I know that may sound crazy, but if you really want to minimize breakage, then you should minimize combing. Once you are done detangling, just leave the comb and let your fingers work their magic.

- I put a little leave in conditioner on my finger tips to create some slip when parting the section that I want to be cornrowed, and also while I'm braiding my hair.

- Sometimes my hair can get tangled when braiding, so I spray a little water to unlock the tangles and I keep going.

- When I'm done, I just put on my wig and go!


That's basically it. If you are wearing a wig like me, then you shouldn't be concerned with getting clean lines in your parts. However, the cornrows I did for this wash day were a little too haphazard for my liking, so I got them re done after a week.

How do you protect your hair from breakage?

I started washing my hair consistently again and to officially kick off the moisturising challenge I decided to Co- Wash my hair. But before that, here's a recap of how I've been washing my hair:

Products Used:

- MG Deep Conditioner
- MG Stimulating Shampoo
- MG Daily leave- In Strengthener
- MG Detangling conditioner
- MG oil mixed with Castor oil
- D&L Scalp base soother
- D&L SOS Hairline

Wash 1: Deep condition

- I took down my cornrows the night before and applied the deep conditioner to my hair in small sections, wrapped it up with saran wrap and left it in overnight.

- The next day, my hair felt so soft and the tangles had practically melted away! I detangled and put my hair in braids to prepare for the shampoo process

- After rinsing out the deep conditioner, I diluted my shampoo with a little water to make it easier to come out of the applicator bottle and get to my scalp. I shampooed three times and rinsed thoroughly.

- I t-shirt dried for twenty minutes to soak up excess water, unraveled each braid to apply my leave ins: MG Leave in, and MG oil mix. Then I detangled again and put my hair in two buns to air dry in a stretched state.



- Then, of course, I proceeded to cornrow my hair, which you may have seen, I thought it would take like thirty minutes, instead, it took me 3 hours! I had no idea it was so difficult though, but I was too scared to go to a stylist (I haven't been to a salon since December), so I guess it was worth it.
Wash 2: Co-Wash


I Co-Washed twice in 3 days and it's basically the same process:

- Wet hair thoroughly in the shower

- Apply a generous amount of MG Detangling conditioner to cornrows

- Leave in for 2 - 5 minutes to ensure it penetrates the hair

- Rinse

- Repeat every 2- 3 days

For the moisturising challenge, I'm going to be
moisturising and sealing at night, and this is my nightly routine:

1. Spritz with water
2. Apply MG leave in strengthener
3. Apply D&L Scalp soother
4. Apply oil to scalp and ends
5. Apply D&L SOS hairline




I'm wearing this synthetic wig by Noble and I love it because it's light and great for my commute to work since it has this "messy" look, so I don't need to worry about my hair getting messy!

How was your Wash Day? What's your routine for the challenge?