Sunday, July 19, 2009

Simple is Better

I've been working on really cutting down on my hair routine and products. I know I'm a product junkie. And its not just from the few years i wore a relaxer, cause i was using all kinds of products in my natural hair, too. i just like the different effects different products have on my hair. but i'm really starting to realize the less i do to my hair, the better its coming out. so, what i'm doing now is shampooing every two weeks or so with a color depositing shampoo i got from Sally's. literally, the shampoo and conditioner are bright red and it actually deposits color on your hair as you wash. i've only used it once, but i saw results. usually i see color fade-age after each and every wash, but the color looked just as vibrant after i shampooed with this stuff. here's a pic of the shampoo:

color depositing shampoo
of course i bought the matching conditioner. i know i probably need to lay off on the conditioner, but i really like how soft my hair is after i use one, no matter which one. and i'm only washing may hair once or twice a month anyways, so i'm guessing (hoping?) its not that bad.
after i shampoo and condition, i oil my scalp with something. right now i'm using up the last of my original formula JML island oil. after that i'm going to use my doo grow oil. now, the first ingredient in that is mineral oil, which i know is suppose to be the devil for hair, but i've used this stuff for years and years and years. from my natural years, to my relaxed years, to my jherri curl years, back to my relaxed years, and now on my locs. i love the way it smells, i love how nice my hair feels after i use it. i just like it! so i'm going to continue to use it.
then i mist my locs with an conditioning mixture that i've finally settled on and have been using for the past few months. it used to be i would switch up the "formula" every time i made a mixture. but i think i've finally settled on the mix that i like best. so, its a bottle of the extreme shine leave in treatment, some JML cactus leave in conditioner, and a few drops of Africa's Best hair and body oil. here's a pic of that:
Photobucket
this stuff is the SHIT!!!! i did a youtube vid on it. i read out all the ingredients in this oil. its great great great stuff. and i only use a few drops in my mixture! i paid about 3 dollars for this bottle and i've had it about a year and there's still more than 3 quarters left. a great investment!! and after that i mix the spray bottle with water and give it a shake to mix the oils and its good to go. here's my little secret. as the spray bottle get emptier, i just add more water, but not more of the other leave-in's or oil. the mixture is a a yellowish color, so as long s it still has a yellow hue, i know it still has some of the other stuff in it. when it gets really light, which is usually when its almost empty anyways, i just make up a new full strength batch. i do this mostly cause i don't want to put a lot of stuff on my hair when i'm not washing it as often. usually by the time i make a full strength batch, it time to shampoo my hair as well. as time goes on, i don't want to keep putting more stuff on my hair if it hasn't been recently washed, so i water down the mixture. so then it kinda becomes more plain water and less "other" that i'm putting on my hair as time goes on and i get less "build-up" (i put that in quotes cause i don't really have build-up in my hair, but it kinda feels yucky to spay an oily mixture on hair that might not be as clean as it can be)and then by the next time i shampoo, the mixture is uber watered down and i make another full strength bottle. i don't use the mixture every day, more like twice a week. i just try to make sure my hair stays really hydrated cause i tend to have really dry hair anyways and the coloring doesn't help at all. and when it gets really dry it gets crunchy and hard and my hair starts to shed and break off. so, that my simplified regimen. wash, oil the scalp, and spray the locs twice a week. and even though i recently did some hard core coloring, my hair feels as healthy and strong as it ever has. i'm happy with this light weight routine. and i'm glad i've got things figure out as far as what works best for my hair.

in other news, i FINALLY re-latched my hair after like three months! it was getting a little unkempt looking for my tastes. i like a more filled in scalp now, but it was starting to look like a little afro with locs. when i did the brid out, i just finger rolled the roots before i briaded, so it didn't look as puffy and "crazy" as it really was. but after this most recent shampoo, there was just so much loose hair! so, i took the time out and spent over 2 hours latching my head. and i loved the way it looked! my hair hasn't looked this neat in about half a year. like i said, i'm really starting to like a more filled in look now as opposed to the scalpy uniform look i used to favor. but for some reason, on THIS particular latch session, i really likes how nice and neat my hair turned out.

alright. this post is getting long, so i'm gonna end it here! LOL!

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