Monday, March 29, 2010

Products Revisited

I was going through all of my products the other day and decided to try a couple that I haven't used in a while. The first was Infusium 23 Leave-in Conditioner. I used this faithfully when I had blond hair in college. It really kept my hair in good condition. I stopped using it when I grew the color out. For some reason, I had a sample size of it in my closet. Since the Giovanni Direct Leave-in is different now, I'm not so impressed with it. It does what it's supposed to do, but the new formula doesn't de-tangle my hair as well anymore. I will still use it as a moisturizer every now and then.

The other product was Lottabody setting lotion. I use it every once in a while to rollerset my hair, especially when it's almost time for a relaxer. Even then, I only spray it diluted with water on my hair a couple of times and use mostly water for my set. For my wash this weekend, I co-washed with V05 Strawberries and Cream and deep conditioned overnight with ORS Replenishing. I applied the Infusium 23 and then I saturated my hair with diluted Lottabody. I sprayed it on whenever my hair wasn't soaked. When I took my rollers out, I couldn't believe how moist my hair was. It was shiny and looked so thick!

I'm not sure if it was the Infusium or the Lottabody or a combination. The Infusium has some protein, and I think my hair needs more protein right now, especially since I'm still shedding a little. I've realized that the Aphogee 2-minute protein conditioner just isn't doing it for me. I don't know why I've been trying to force it to work- the reality is, it's never done much for me. So like Sunshyne says, I need to change and adapt quickly when a product doesn't work for me. I need to find my protein someplace else!

I found some other leave-ins in my closet that I want to try. I can't believe I haven't gone through my products in so long. My mother used to always tell me to go shopping in my closet before going to the store!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Mesh vs. Magnetic

I have always used mesh rollers to set my hair. Always. I use end papers, mesh rollers and pins. This picture shows the rollers I use. As my hair grows, I have to go up in size. Well, the red is the largest size I've seen, and I need a larger size so that my hair doesn't take 2 hours to dry. I haven't seen them larger than the red.

This weekend I decided to try magnetic rollers. I bought a pack of 10 and some clips. I used the magnetic rollers to roll the top of my head, and the red mesh ones to roll the bottom, just so that I could see the difference. It wasn't a total disaster, but my hair didn't come out as nice as I wish it had. I couldn't get the magnetic rollers to stay tightly, so my roots were a little puffy. The curls with the mesh rollers were perfect, since I could control how tight they were with the pins.

I guess I need to watch some youtube videos to learn how to get the rollers to stay tightly. If I can get the magnetic rollers to work well, I think I'll save a lot of time on rolling and drying my hair. I'll keep trying, but I will also keep searching for larger mesh rollers!

I welcome any advice!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Buns!

I've been really good at wearing my hair up in a bun lately, although I do need to experiment with different bun styles. It's not hard for me to put my hair up, since I'm obsessed with my ends not touching wool, and I've been wearing a lot of wool sweaters and scarves lately. I was going to join Traycee's Bunning Challenge, but I'm not quite sure I can commit to bunning 5 days a week. I usually wash on Sunday, so I like to wear my hair out the 2 days after. Even though I don't bun, I keep my hair wrapped under a silk scarf and a hat while I'm outside in the cold dry air. I have been moisturizing and sealing my ends with oil (castor, coconut or KeraCare Essential oils) twice a day. When I get home from work, I usually wear my hair out for an hour or 2.

It is starting to get boring, so I'd like to try some styles with the front or side out, maybe a twist somewhere, and some side buns. I also want to buy some hair accessories to jazz up my buns a little. I did get a couple of clips, but I need to get some more. I haven't been using any elastic things at all, so some days my bun is a little loose, but that's okay. I've been able to keep it together with 2-3 pins.

I took these pictures with my phone, so the quality isn't great, but here are a couple of buns I rocked this week:

The semi-high bun:

The bun kept together with a big clip:

Thursday, March 11, 2010

I've been good at keeping my hair in a bun every day. I did wear it out on Monday since I washed and rollerset it on Sunday. I need to learn how to do some different kinds of buns, because all I do is twist it up in a bun and pin it. I really don't want to use any elastics, but I also want it to look nice. Here it is when I took it out of the bun yesterday:

apl here I come!
My wash on Sunday went pretty well. I co-washed with Aussie Moist, which I'm not in love with yet, but I'll try it a few more times. I put in a dark brown Adore rinse, and deep conditioned with Silicon Mix. As my hair gets longer, I realize that I need to use more product in my hair. Products used to last me forever with short hair, but not so much anymore. I'm getting faster at rollersetting my hair too. I didn't use as many rollers this week, but that was okay since I had a fresh relaxer, and I knew I wasn't going to wear my hair curly. I love the results of a good rollerset. My hair looks so healthy and smooth.

My shedding has decreased a lot. I still had some hair in the drain after I washed my hair, but not as much as I did a few weeks ago. I can't take garlic pills since I'm nursing my baby, but I'm still taking prenatal vitamins, which are supposed to help. I have decided not to let it bother me. I'm doing the best I can, and it's mostly out of my control, so I'm letting it go.