March 2008 Issues

I've known for months that my hair has some serious issues, but I feel like I'm just realizing what they are and maybe what is causing them. My hair is definitely over-processed from Dominican blowouts, having my girl do my relaxer (which she left in too long), and going to a stylist who didn't wash out the relaxers enough and used the wrong products for my hair. I also have realized that I haven't been using the best moisturizer. I still don't know what the best moisturizer for me is, but I know what isn't. Oils are not a moisturizer. I can use a drop to seal in moisture after applying a moisturizer, but that's it. If I only use oil, my hair is crunchy and hard. My scalp definitely doesn't like oil. I feel like the creamy moisturizers are the way to go for me. This past weekend I baggied my ends for the first time ever. I put some Dudley's PCA Moisture Retainer on my ends and put a sandwich bag over them for 2 hours. My hair was extremely moist! For 3 hours, then they started to dry out again. I did it again the next day, but I still had a lot of breakage and shedding. I'm sure a lot of this is due to my being 6 weeks post relaxer. I have never gone past 6 except the last time, and this time I'm going for 8 weeks. I've been reading the ingredients on my products and I'm undecided on mineral oil. Some products that contain mineral oil seem to do well on my hair, while others don't.

Protective styles don't work for me either. I find that it just bends my ends more and feels like more damage. Once my ends are in better shape, I think I can do more updo's and maybe even try ayurvedics again.

I also see what stress can do to the hair. I've been really stressed for the past 3 months. Stress comes out in different ways for me. This time it's through my hair. I think one source of my stress was resolved yesterday, and another will be resolved by the end of this week. I do yoga, take walks and talk out my problems, but otherwise I have no idea how you eliminate stress when it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.

I'm really trying not to cut my hair, but it doesn't look good. A couple of weeks I posted a long rant on here about how much I hate my hair, but I marked it as private because I didn't want the 3 people who read this blog to know how much of a baby I am! I'm getting a relaxer from a new stylist on 3/22 and I don't want her to convince me to get a cut.

I had to wash my hair last night because I'm going out of town for a job interview today. I went to Sallys and bought some Nexxus Humectress, a pack of Aphogee 2 min Reconstructor, and Paul Mitchell Cream leave-in. I pre-poo'd my ends with Organics Hair Mayo and my roots with some old Clairol conditioner I was trying to finish. I washed and conditioned with KeraCare D&I Scalp. I then did the Aphogee treatment for 5 minutes. I was going to deep condition after that, but my hair felt strong and moist, so I just put some of the Paul Mitchell Cream in, a little Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum and rollerset. My hair took a little longer to dry, which I took as a good sign- maybe my hair was soaking in all the conditioner. When I combed the set out, as usual, there was tons of breakage in my sink. I also had a dry scalp, but I'm pretty sure it's product build-up. I "pressed" my roots with my old Gold N Hot curling iron, which gets so hot I would never again use it to curl my hair again. It did a pretty good job on my roots though. Today my hair is a lot thicker, but to me the ends still look bad, even though they're not as dry as they were.

I really can't buy any more products! One, I can't afford them, and two, I'm moving in a few weeks and I don't want to have to pack a crapload of hair products! So, after I move, I'm buying the following products:

• Apple cider vinegar: I think this will be good for clarifying and getting all of the conditioner off my scalp. I'll mix 1 part ACV with 10 parts of cold water and use this for my final rinse.
• Shikaki shampoo bar: I just threw mine out because it was stinking up my bathroom and I'm trying to sell my house. I only used it once. I didn't see much of a difference, but I'm going to try letting go of shampoos and only do conditioner washes, acv rinses and occasionally the shakaki.
• Henna: because I had a bad experience with Bigen in '02, I've been afraid to try henna. However, my Jazzing and Beautiful rinses don't work on my grays platinums anymore, so why not try henna? I just have to figure out what my henna mix will be...
• Giovanni Weightless leave-in conditioner: I've heard really good things about this. It's supposed to be really good for new growth. I think you can only get it at Whole Food-type stores.
• Ultra Black Hair (UBH) Lotion Cream: This is Cathy Howse's product. I keep reading about how this is the best moisturizer ever made, it does what it says (MOISTURIZE), it already contains oil in it so there is no need to seal it with oil, and it does not contain protein.

5 products?! I don't think that's too bad for a product junkie like myself. I once had a clothes swapping party with my girlfriends. Maybe I'll have a "hair product swapping party" after I move! lol.

Update 3/13/08: I forgot to add some products!

• KeraCare Humecto Conditioner - I've heard so many good things about this, and I already use the KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp line...I just have to use up some products before I invest in Humecto!
• Molasses - to stop my breakage and shedding. I just don't want to buy a jar, use it once or twice and then throw it away before my move. I'm trying to move as little as possible!
• Sweet almond oil - I saw some of this in my beloved oils/lotions/incense store yesterday. After talking to the cashier about its uses, I think this would be good for me to add a little in my conditioner
• Herbal Essence Break's Over Conditioner - the name says it all