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.

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?

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?

A lot of ladies are becoming aware that their hair can be long and healthy, but some are still having issues with breakage. So I decided to do this very detailed post on how I reduce tangles and breakage on wash day. Thankfully, I'm starting with 3 weeks old cornrows, so I have my work cut out for me! Here's how it went:

Products used:

-Spray bottle with only water
-MG Deep Conditioner
-MG Stimulating Shampoo
-V05 Silky Experiences Moisturizing Conditioner
-MG Daily Leave-in Strengthener
-MG Growth Oil mixed with Castor oil
-Fantasia IC Serum

The Process:

1. I sprayed water on my hair before taking down the cornrows. This helps to make unraveling easier as the hair is made soft with moisture.

2. Once I was done, I didn't immediately grab a comb and started detangling. Doing this would definitely increase your chances of breakage. Instead, apply some oil or conditioner to give it slip and leave on for 10-15 minutes before you start to comb. If you are not a fan of too much product on your hair, you could simply spray sections of your hair, apply some oil, then detangle. Works like magic, trust me.


So I sectioned hair into four quadrants, applied my deep conditioner (on my dry hair) generously to each quadrant, covered with a plastic bag, put on my satin scarf and bonnet (you don't have to use both, I just like to overdo things!) then left it in overnight.


Tip: For even distribution of product, make smaller sections within each quadrant and apply the conditioner the same way you would apply a relaxer, but from root to tip instead.

3. The next day, after getting a good 8 hours sleep, I took off the plastic bag and proceeded to detangle my hair. When detangling, you want to work in small sections and use a wide-tooth comb to gently comb from your ends all the way up to your roots. Starting from the ends helps to give way for the shed hairs that would be coming from the top of your head and is less likely to snag on the rest of your hair. After detangling, I put my hair in 12 box braids to get ready for the shampoo process. This is how much hair I lost after detangling my whole head, after 3 weeks of no combing.


4. I put my shampoo in a applicator bottle and dilute it with just enough water to loosen up the consistency, but not to turn it completely to liquid. The applicator tip makes it easier for the shampoo to get to my scalp without drying out the rest of my hair. Prior to this method, shampooing used to tangle my hair and cause inevitable break by the time I was ready to detangle.

5. While rinsing out the shampoo, I noticed that the braids weren't allowing the products to be rinsed out completely, so I changed the braids to loose twists, rinsed thoroughly, applied my silky experiences conditioner for 2-5 minutes, then rinsed thoroughly again.


6. I use a cotton T-shirt instead of a towel to dry my hair because the grooves on a regular towel snags the hair and causes breakage that we are not even aware of. I wrap the  T-shirt around my head for about 10 minutes to soak up allbthe excess water and prepare for the next step.

7. I applied my leave ins: MG daily leave in strenghtener and Fantasia IC serum as my heat protectant and blow dried in sections, focusing on my roots. I blow dried on a low setting as heat tends to dry out hair really quickly. Once I was done, I put it up in a bun until I was ready to cornrow.




So that's it for part one of this wash day! I hope this was helpful! If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. Part two documents my cornrow process up until I wear the wig.

How are you dealing with breakage?

I had straight hair for about a week, and it started to get weighed down and clumped together from all the moisturizing and sealing. I needed to get some life back into it and I decided to show you guys what I do to revive my hair when it is weighed down.

Left- Before; Right- After

I actually learned this technique years before my hair journey and I used it more for my sew ins, so this works on extensions too!
It's really easy, just follow these simple steps. And the best part: you don't need a comb!

1. Insert your fingers into your hair and give it a good shake.





2. Tip your head over and do the same thing. You don't need to do this for more than 10 or 15 seconds so you don't feel dizzy!





3. Flip your head up and use your fingers to adjust and smooth to your satisfaction and voila! 


No comb, no brush, just soft hair with lots of body and movement.
Let me know how it goes if you try it!

I recently contacted some of my favourite Hair Gurus on instagram and asked them to give me some advice/tips on how they keep their ends healthy. I've
compiled a complete list of their responses and posted it here. Really, there is no special formula for keeping your ends healthy, it's just a little TLC that keeps them going. Don't believe me? Just watch! ;)

"Dusting is one of my favorite methods. Plus moisturizing my ends." - @sizzelle

"Moisturizing is key for me." - @freshlengths

"I get trims 2x a year, flat iron on lower temps (300-340) and rarely brush my hair." @laurenmechelle

"Always deep condition." - @savingourstrand

"Must do a protein treatment once a month" - @naturally_curla


"Making sure that I do protein treatments regularly and keeping the ends moisturized between protein treatments." - @fancyflairlady

"Deep Conditioning weekly, moisturizing and sealing as needed and keeping your ends off your clothes to avoid friction." - @highmane10ance
"Regular trims. Protective styling. Moisture/ protein balance. Protein treatments." - @relaxedthairapy


"Moisture and protective/ low manipulation styles" - @lushstrands

"Protective styling, and protecting against relaxer run off. Prevention rather than treatment." - @ebonycprincess

"When applying your moisturizer or other products, make sure to add a little extra on your ends. Sometimes we forget to apply the products to the ends. Also, wearing a silk or satin scarf at night helps not to dry out overnight, including your ends."
@fluffcoif

"Monthly dusting, layering protein, treatments on my ends, deep conditioning, protective styling" - @donttouchthehair

So there you have it. These are the methods these ladies use to achieve and maintain their ends. Will you try it?