Friday, November 2, 2012

Here comes summer, but hot sticky hair is not sexy!

Hello lovelies, yes, it's been a minute, but life sometimes has this thing...it goes on and sometimes it moves fast.

It is officially summer. It is hot and sticky and humid. All I want to do is run around in short skirts and tank tops and lie in a pool as often as I can. Which brings me to the fact that I need to switch up my regime a bit if my hair is to flourish through the sweaty summer months, especially considering that I still have a good 2 weeks to go before I touch up and my new growth is driving me slightly insane.

But lets rewind first - were October's goals achieved?? Well, I did moisturize and seal more often but it still felt insufficient, specifically around my NG. I think I will have to find a richer moisturizer. I truly attempted to baby my nape, I think I've stopped most of the breakage, but it's still a bit of a sad sight. I cheated on the heat usage, I straightened my hair with a ceramic straightener for a Halloween party on the 26th. It took me FOREVER, since I took small sections, and the next day it was a massive puff again due to the fact that I wore a hat as part of my costume, it was hot as all hell and I sweated like Ms Piggy. The next day to salvage as much as I could I put my hair in some rollers with moisturizer and after it was dry again pinned it up. Due to breakage during detangling I've given the bantu knot outs a rest for now, rather simply roller setting, wrapping and pinning my hair for the past 2-3 weeks. So, all in all, October wasn't truly a miss, nor was it a roaring success.

Now, to move on to the month to come. I'm scheduled to have my touch up in 2 weeks, the weekend of the 16th of November. I'm actually looking forward to it, due to my hair being longer than ever before in my adult life, it truly is easier working with one texture instead of two, and right now I'm rocking 3, with bone straight ends, some texlaxed hair and my 4a/b (depending on location) roots. I'm contemplating to, during my next relaxer, correct the texlaxed parts and having all my hair bone straight to combat the breakage from working with multiple textures. I now know that I am not adept enough for multiple textures and thus if I wish my length retention to be out of this world, I need to do what's best for ME and my hair. In the meantime, the next few washes I'm going to step up the protein a bit in preparation for the process, as well as keep moisture levels high and manipulation low. I truly need to baby them if I want to keep up my level of retention.

I'm going to do a black tea rinse this weekend  (either tomorrow or Sunday) as I've also been shedding a bit more than usual and I'm going to get my hands on apple cider vinegar and do a ACV rinse for my porosity issues. I've purchased the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Deep Conditioner and am going to try it soon, and that is going to be the extent of my experimentation this month. I have succeeded in trimming down the supplies and streamlining the products I use, as well as slightly simplifying my regimen on wash days.

This morning I had to do a quick wash (my hair felt AWFUL) and  I gave the ORS Olive Oil Intense Masque another try, and this time it worked SO much better. I'm guessing the reason for that is two fold: 1 - I used Pantene Sleek and Smooth Conditioner beforehand (following the shampoo) to detangle. 2 - I applied the Masque in sections from root to tip on SOAKING wet hair. I had plenty of slip and the 5 minutes in the shower felt sufficient, my hair felt strong and smooth and soft and roller setting was a breeze. I can rollerset my entire head in 20-30 minutes using the mohawk methodology, I'm going to try to keep that time, especially due to the porosity of my hair, if I don't work fast, by the time I'm done with only half my head, the other half would feel dry already. Also, it means that I can shower, wash hair, roller set, dry (using fast cold air on the dryer) get dressed, style my hair and be ready for work in an hour and a half if need be!!

Wow, I have been rambling today! Tomorrow is the Windhoek Jazz Festival, to which me and my ladies are all headed, and of course we'll most probably run into practically everyone we know. As it's festival time, we'll be outside and therefore one on a HHJ like myself need to consider the elements' effect on her tresses. My plan of action would include the following - doing a major wash day tomorrow morning, including an overnight pre-poo and decent DC with CoN, roller setting and air drying, moisturizing and sealing, and pinning up the curls from the rollers. Since it's a big party, I expect nastiness the next day, so I will most probably also do a wash on Sunday, perhaps a co-wash only to increase moisture levels, but will see how it goes. What's everybody else's weekend plans? Have fun and be safe!

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