Protein & Pin Curl Magic

About a week and a half ago I got my hair done. I went to a Cape Verdean salon that uses the Dominican technique.  I've been there before and had great results, but I was NOT happy this visit.  I should have waited for the salon owner to do my hair as usual, but I thought that since I had a fresh relaxer that anyone could do my hair.  There are a bunch of young girls working in there, who probably never went to beauty school, and treat everyone's hair the same (even though all of the customers have a very diverse range of hair textures and lengths).  The girl who did my hair washed my hair way too hard.  I do NOT like getting my scalp scratched.  I could write a whole post just about this, but I'll save it for another day.  She shampooed my hair like 4 or 5 times, which is way too much for me, and then had the nerve to try to scratch my scalp with a rat tail comb.  Why would she do that?!  I don't have a flaky scalp, so I don't understand  She was pretty gentle de-tangling and or roller setting, but I felt like she blow dried the heck out of my hair.  I only asked her to blow dry the roots, and I'm not sure if my roots even needed it.  My hair was very straight, but too straight for my taste. I left feeling like my hair was over-manipulated and that it looked thin.  I won't be going back unless the owner does my hair.  I think she knew I had an attitude, but probably thought I was just tender headed, since I kept telling her not to scratch my scalp and to be easy with the blow drier!  Now I'm thinking I shouldn't get my hair done every 2-3 weeks. I really don't trust anyone in my hair at this point.

Since my hair had been so manipulated, I tried to keep the style for two weeks, but I broke down last night and washed my hair.  I had been wearing it up in a bun since I got it done, because I thought it looked too thin to wear down.  But when I took my bun out last night, I had some shedding and even a little breakage, and I felt like I needed to try to correct it as soon as possible.  I decided to use an egg mixed with oil as my protein treatment.  I used two eggs with olive, jojoba and almond oil.  I planned on leaving it in my hair for 15 minutes, but by the time I did what I had to do around the house, it ended up being about 40.  I noticed that the egg/oil mix took a lot of my black rinse out, which was fine.  I shampooed with Elasta QP Creme Moisturizing Shampoo, and deep conditioned with Aubrey Organics GPB.

I broke my promise to myself and roller set my hair.  It was already almost 9pm by the time I rinsed out my conditioner, so I knew my hair wouldn't air dry before I went to bed.  I used my new Matrix Biolage leave-in tonic to set my hair.  When I took my rollers out, I noticed how moisturized my hair felt and it looked thicker than it has in months.  I needed protein!  I haven't been using much protein lately, because I thought the henna had been acting like a protein for me. It wasn't.  I wish that I didn't realize this sooner.  I'm hoping regular use of protein products for a little while will help bring my hair back to health.  I just need to research the different kinds of protein, since some products with protein don't work at all for me.

I pin curled my hair in 8-10 pin curls.  Here is how I looked this morning:

I really like how it came out.  I've been too lazy to pin curl my hair at night, but I'm going to start doing it more often.  I've gotten a lot of compliments on my hair today.  I also consider this somewhat of a protective style, since my curls are tight enough to stay off my clothes.  My curls fell a little during the day, but not enough to rub against my sweater!

No Home Rollersets

My focus is to get my hair thicker. I am really not happy with how thin I think it is.  I hate see-through hair!  The black rinse definitely helps, but I have to do a lot more to reach my goal of thicker hair.

I have decided not to roller set my hair anymore.  It's a lot of manipulation and I think I roll too tight, which has caused too many broken hairs when I take the rollers out.  I will only get roller sets at the salon from now on.  I've lost a little confidence in doing my own hair. I get so much less breakage, shedding and dryness when I get my hair done at the salon.  Maybe I'm using the wrong tools.  I'll work on that later, but for now, I'm looking forward to being pampered every 2-3 weeks.  I'm going to air dry when I wash my own hair. I have air dried my hair the past two times I washed it, and it's been pretty good.  After my bad air drying experiences last year, I've realized that I can't just leave my hair out to air dry. I've been putting my hair in one loose braid and tying the edges down with a scarf.  During the day, I've been keeping it in bun. I moisturize and seal at least once a day.  My hair has stayed moist and smooth.  I've actually gotten a lot of compliments.  Unless I go to the salon for a roller set, I'll be wearing my hair up indefinitely.

I've been trying new conditioners and moisturizers, but I need to stick with the same products for a while. I really believe that consistency with moisturizing products is the key for me, not necessarily the specific products.

So that's it. I'm keeping it simple and consistent.  I haven't taken any pictures lately, mostly because I'm not happy with how my hair looks.  I know I'm my worst critic, and that my hair probably doesn't look that bad.  I also know that I should be taking pictures so that I can see my progress in the coming weeks.  They're coming!

February 2012 Relaxer

I got a relaxer a couple of weeks ago after a 10-week stretch.  My stylist used a mild Mizani relaxer for fine hair.  Almost all of the black rinse I put in the week before washed out, so I'll apply more this weekend.  I got a little trim. I love how my ends look now, but I really need to give the trimming a rest if I want to make it to bra strap length! I wore my hair out the first day or two, but have been wearing a bun since.  I'm not happy with my thickness (or lack of), so it's even worse after a relaxer!  I actually like wearing a bun right after a relaxer, while my edges are so straight and smooth.

Back to Black...Again

I am a little over 9 weeks since my last relaxer.  I usually get a relaxer at 10 weeks, so this weekend's was in preparation for my relaxer.  Here were my steps with some explanation:

Pre-poo.  I now pretty much only pre-poo with oils, ever since the Organix Conditioner I used as a pre-poo a few months ago left my hair a nasty tangled nest.  For this weekend's wash, I decided to try conditioner again, but mixed it with a lot of oil.  I hate getting back in the shower to rinse out my deep conditioner, and I always feel like I'm not doing the best for my hair when I rinse in the sink, so I want to dry to deep condition on dry hair for a while to eliminate that extra step.  I mixed Vatika oil with about 1/3 of an ORS Replenishing Pak.  I also added some Pantene Breakage Defense Mask and Pantene Relaxed and Natural Conditioner.  I don't use these conditioners much anymore.  They're pretty good on my hair, but not great, so I want to use them up.  I applied the mixture like a relaxer to my whole head with a color brush, put a plastic cap and then a scarf (for a little more body heat), and left it in for an hour or two.

Shampoo. I shampooed twice with Elasta QP Conditioning Creme Shampoo and once with Hair One.  I de-tangled with the Hair One in with my new magic comb (love it!).  I wanted to make sure my hair wasn't tangled for my next step.

Semi-Permanent Color.  I applied Kiss Express Semi Permanent Hair Color in black that I bought from my local beauty supply store for under $5.  I also applied this like a relaxer with a color brush.  I covered my head with a plastic cap, and let it sit without heat for 25 minutes.  Because it was the first time I used this brand, I did a patch test on the inside of my elbow a few days before to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction, like I did to some other semi-permanent colors.

Rinse.  I rinsed the color out in my kitchen sink (I figured it would be less messy this way).  I let warm water run through my hair until the water was clear.  I then applied some KeraPro Restorative Treatment to my hair to make sure it was soft.  I experience "hard hair" sometimes after putting in a color.  I left it on for 5-10 minutes and rinsed.  I then applied Roux Porosity Control Conditioner to my hair and let it sit for 30 seconds before rinsing. I haven't used this much lately, since realizing that I have low porosity hair, but I figure after applying the color and to prep my hair before getting a relaxer, it couldn't hurt.  The KeraPro and Roux definitely softened up my hair.

Style. I applied Salerm 21 as my leave-in and set my hair on red and yellow magnetic rollers with a few sprays of coconut oil diluted with water, Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum, and a little diluted setting lotion.  After my hair was dry, I flat ironed the roots in the front, wrapped my hair and went to bed.

I haven't used a black rinse/semi-permanent color in almost a year.  I'm kicking myself for it.  The black color really does something wonderful to my hair.  It always has.  I thought that since I was on my hair journey and have been conditioning my hair better, I could live without it.  I can't.  I also thought that the black looked to severe on me.  It doesn't.  Last year I asked a couple of friends what they thought about my going black with my hair color, and all of them thought my hair was already black.  No one ever gave me a compliment on my natural hair color or my henna'd hair.

I don't have the "see-through" hair I had before.  When I took my rollers out, my hair was shiny and moist before I added any product- something I haven't experienced in a while.  My hair is laying down so nicely.  I think the color gives my hair the weight to lay down and resist static that I'm always looking for.  My edges are even easier to deal with.  The Kiss brand is much better than any of the other brands I've used.  All of my grays were covered in the recommended 25 minutes with no heat.  I usually have grays that didn't take, or have to keep it in my hair longer, usually with heat.  It conditioned my hair to the point that I feel I could go another week or two before getting a relaxer (not sure yet).  If I didn't know anything about hair, I would think that it was magic. 

The only negative about this product, and this is a small negative, is that it really stains.  My sink was stained (easily cleaned with a bleach cleaner).  My scalp is really stained.  I was able to get the color off of my ears and neck with a warm soapy cloth, but my scalp is still stained. I think I look like one of those guys who uses dye on their hairlines, but everyone I tell about it doesn't notice.  I'm afraid to wear my hair up or pulled back, thinking the stain will show.  I'm thinking about shampooing again in the next day or two, but (1) I don't usually have the energy to wash my hair during the week, (2) I don't want to manipulate it too much, and (3) I'm planning on getting a relaxer in less than a week.

January 2012 Update

Since I got my hair done this past weekend, I've been trying to keep things simple:

* Moisturize and seal with ORS Hair Lotion and coconut oil every other night
* On the nights I don't moisturize and seal, I put coconut oil on my ends
* Wrap my hair every night, but change the direction of the wrap every other day so I still have body and no breakage
* Apply a drop of Keala oil to my hair before I take the wrap down in the morning

I am happily surprised that my hair looks and feels so good at 9 weeks.  I haven't had any breakage and not too much shedding, which is so rare for me at this point.  I plan to get a relaxer at 10 weeks.  I'll wash my hair this weekend, and will probably put in a black rinse, but I have no idea how I'll wear my hair until my relaxer...maybe set it?  Or air dry, then blow out the roots a little and wear a bun for a week.

Although I would love to be able to style my own hair all of the time, I have liked my hair all week for the first time in months.  Not worrying about how my hair looks has made the other things in my life easier.  So, I will try to get my hair done every 2 weeks or so for a while, at least until my hair is back at the health level I want it to be.

Besides moisturizing and sealing on a consistent basis, I have also started taking vitamins again.  Even though I eat well, I'm probably a little Vitamin D deficient.  Vitamin D is essential for strong and healthy hair, and makes our hair able to absorb much needed nutrients for growth. People of color, especially in the northeast and other cold climates, often have a Vitamin D deficiency.  That coupled with the fact that I haven't been eating or drinking a lot of dairy in the past 6 months, AND that I haven't followed my doctor's order to start taking Vitamin D last spring- I probably need some kind of supplement.  Hopefully, I see some good results.

My bun from last week

I'll try to post some more pics soon.  I've been so bad at taking pictures lately!

Salon visit at 8 Weeks

I couldn't take it anymore.  My hair was not doing what I wanted it to do, so I went to get it done.  I went to a salon not far from my house that I went to a lot when I was pregnant a couple of years ago.  It's not run by Dominicans, but their technique is like the Dominican salons, except they don't burn the heck out of your scalp with the blow dryer!

I wasn't even sure the place was still open, so I didn't do an oil pre-poo like I wanted.  They were open, but moved down the street.  It was snowing, so it was pretty empty when I walked in.  They immediately took me to the sink to wash my hair.  The woman who washed my hair was very gentle, which I liked.  The last time I went, the wash girl was ridiculously rough shampooing and detangling my hair. I couldn't see what kind of shampoo and conditioner she used, but they smelled good.  I noticed that most of the products at the sink were Mizani and Biolage.  She then set my hair on large grey magnetic rollers with Biolage and Mizani leave-ins.  I'm sure I could have asked for smaller rollers to achieve a curlier look, but my goal was really to tame my hair a little.  I sat under the dryer for no more than an hour, and then I went to the styling chair.  Because I'm usually the thickest-head (=nappiest) in there, usually only the owner will blow out my roots, which I'm fine with, because I know my hair will come out nice.  She used Ion's Flat Iron Spray on each section before she blow dried my roots, and applied Moroccan Oil after she was done.  My hair was really straight and bouncy.  Since it was nasty outside, she wrapped my hair, I put on my hat, and I was out of there.  I don't think I was there for 2 hours, which is great.

My hair came out so nice.  I can't believe how she got my roots to lay down so flat with so little heat.  She even got my edges straight, which is unheard of for me.  I would be happy with the bounce I got if I was 2 weeks post relaxer, but I was 8 weeks!  The only thing I'm not happy about is the condition of my hair.  Although it's straight and bouncy, it's not at the thickness level I want.  I know that is from my being lazy with moisturizing for the past few months.  Even wrapping my hair the past couple of nights has been good.  I'm convinced I don't know how to wrap my hair myself because every time I do it after a set, it looks crazy.

I have decided to go back to the black rinse/cellophane.  It really helps my hair hold moisture, look thicker and be shiny.  I also have a feeling that the henna has dried my hair out some, so I'm giving it a break for a while.  I'll get a black color when I get my hair relaxed next week.  I think I'm going to my old stylist for my relaxer, but I will go back to this salon to get sets.  They're fast, good, and open on Sundays!

This was my hair after I blow dried it about a month ago. I love how thick it looks- it definitely doesn't look this thick after I flat iron or set it!  This pic also makes me feel better because it really doesn't look as damaged as I always think it is!

No makeup- my eyes looked terrible!