Wash Day
I’m currently 13 weeks post relaxer. I’m planning to stretch my relaxer for 6 months (~26 weeks). This image from Just Grow Already explains the benefits of stretching relaxers.
If I can complete this stretch, it will be the longest I’ve ever stretched my relaxer. God help me. My last stretch was 16 weeks (~4 months), so hopefully I can push it a little further. Shoot, I remember the days when 10 weeks was a struggle so I think there is hope.
Anyhoo, on to the wash…
(1) I sectioned hair into 4 and sprayed each section with detangling mix (water, olive oil + amla oil, and conditioner). Then I combed each section with a wide-tooth comb. Detangling my hair before washing helps remove the shed hair that can cause tangles during the wash.
(2) Coated each section with Vatika oil then added a mixture of Emily Millionaire Coconut Oil & Herbs, olive oil, coconut oil, honey, leftover Suave Naturals Aloe & Waterlily conditioner. Covered hair with 2 plastic bags and Turbie Twist and left it on overnight. My scalp (mainly the crown) was pretty itchy after this pre-poo. I think this happened because I left it on overnight. The last time I used Emily Millionaire overnight the same thing happened. I will likely just pre-poo for about an hour next time.
What I put in my pre-poo
(3) Washed hair with diluted Crème of Nature Argan Oil Sulfate-Free Moisture & Shine shampoo (2x). I use an applicator bottle to apply the shampoo to my hair. This way the shampoo is focused on the scalp. I got this tip from Just Grow Already. This is my first time trying this shampoo and it seems pretty good so far. I will wait until I use it a few more times before making any conclusion.
(4) Tea rinsed with black tea (Lipton Yellow Label, 2 bags, steeped overnight) and left tea on hair for 10 minutes.
(5) Deep conditioned with a mix of Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Conditioner, Organics by Africa’s Best Cholesterol Tea Tree Oil conditioner, Pantene Moisture Therapy conditioner, Roux Porosity Control Corrector & Conditioner, castor oil, olive oil, and glycerine). Covered my hair with a plastic bag and left it on for 1 hour with heat (electric heating cap).
Top: What goes in my deep conditioning mix
Bottom: The amount of tea I used for the tea rinse
(6) Rinsed the conditioner out thoroughly with cool water. Dried with a t-shirt for about 20 minutes. Added leave-ins: Giovanni Direct Leave-In conditioner, Infusium 23 Professional -Original Formula and PrettyWitty77* moisturizer. Sprayed each section with Mane n’ Tail detangler and detangled with two combs. The PrettyWitty77 moisturizer is a mixture of conditioner, water and glycerine. You can see how she makes it here.
Top: My new growth after deep conditioning
Bottom: The amount of hair lost throughout the process
(7) Applied Crème of Nature Argan Oil Foam Wrap Lotion to each section and put in 5 braids. Coated each braid with Vatika oil and grape seed oil and left to air dry.
(8) Once it was dry, I took out the braids and applied moisturizer and grape seed oil. Then I attempted to style it. I just ended up putting it in a ponytail.
Top left: How I set the braids to dry
I’ve been trying to get better at doing braid-outs because they blend the two hair textures well. The funny thing is that I used to do braid-out before I started taking care of my hair and they came out better than what I’m doing now. I cannot remember what I did to make it work. I used to do them when my new growth was “thick”, right before I would have my hair relaxed. It definitely wasn’t as thick as it is now. I really want to get this to work. Send help! 🙂
What have you tried to get a braid-out to work? What works for you? Please let me know in the comments.
