Back to basics

Hi there everybody. Yes, it has been a while, but it has been a CRAZY couple of weeks. I have been running around like a headless chicken and trying to poop out little miracles at work. In general I am freaking exhausted and I very much need a long vacation. Due to the exhaustion levels I've been neglecting my hair a little bit, doing the bare minimum required to not screw up my hair journey. But doing the bare minimum is often not enough, and I noticed 2 days ago that I need to put in a little effort, regardless of how tired I am. so I got home after 2 glasses of red at a friend's and then started off, and here's how it went:

1. Finger detangle. My hair has been in the same pinned style for three days and thus needed to be detangled before any water or product touched it. 
2. Detangled further with wide tooth comb. 
3. Pre-pooed using Avon 360degrees Conditioner with Argan Oil. (I promise that I'll do a post soon showing exactly what my current hair stash consist of) Coated my hair section by section, braiding each section after coating it with the conditioner. I ended up making around 9 braided sections. Covered my hair with a plastic cap and then went and made myself a sandwich whilst starting to watch Phone Booth. 
4. After polishing my sandwich I went to go rinse the conditioner, loosening the braids with the help of the water flowing down. I then shampooed using Tresemme Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo. I lathered up twice, my hair and scalp needed a GOOD cleansing. Regardless of it containing sulfates, my hair did not feel stripped or dry, but soft and clean.
5. I used Tresemme Thermal Recovery Conditioner as my instant conditioner. I'm still a little on the fence about this conditioner, but it's not bad. I finger combed it through my hair and then rinsed. 
6. I used my ORS Replenishing Conditioner to deep condition, once again doing it section by section and braiding the sections as I finish. I LOVE this DC, it sinks into my hair, my hair doesn't feel coated, and then of course I love the scent. As I'm applying the DC I continue watching Phone Booth. Once finished I put on the plastic cap again and let the DC do its job whilst finishing the movie. I then cued up Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift and then went to rinse the DC. I had it on my head for about half an hour. 
7. By this time it's already 10 at night, I'm tired, but I need to get done. I let my hair air dry a little bit, about 10 minutes, then applied my leave ins of Kair Light Serum and Avon Moisture IQ Leave in Treatment. I then proceeded to rollerset. Now, I'm 12 weeks post and my new growth is making its presence VERY clear. I still don't know when I'm going to touch up. However, it let to the roller setting process taking a LONG time! It was eleven at night when I was finally done so I decided to dry my hair with the hair dryer to speed things along. Next movie cued up was Fast 4. (Yes, I love loud, fast screeching cars and Vin Diesel!)
8. After taking out the rollers I decided to lightly flat iron my hair. I couldn't find my Toni & Guy iron and so turned to my GHD. I realised that the GHD is actually gentler on my hair than my trusted Toni & Guy and that it operates at an optimal temperature - just hot enough without scalding my scalp or scorching my hair. I flat ironed my hair in small sections, again taking forever, but I wanted to do it properly. Before starting I sprayed my hair with a mix of water, the Thermal Recovery Conditioner and coconut oil to protect my hair from the heat. I really need to get myself a proper heat protectant. 
9. After finally finishing I wrapped my hair and CRASHED into my bed! 

Just a little bit of effort and my hair has been feeling GREAT the past couple of days. At night I lightly moisturize and seal, then wrap my hair and hit the hay. Breakage and shedding have been GREATLY reduced since just that ONE wash day of doing it properly! So, NO more skipping steps on wash day. No more "I'm too tired" or "it's too late". Just do it properly damnit! The rewards are awesome! I'm planning to wash my hair again this coming Sunday and spending a good 6 hours on it at least. I really wanna be APL by December and I only have 3 and a half months left to do it in. So it's ALL guns blazing from here on out. 

How did everybody else's wash day go this week? Have an awesome weekend!