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Showing posts with label air dry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label air dry. Show all posts
Monday, 14 April 2014
Biotin Trial
Relaxer Update - February 2014
I know it's been a while, so I thought I'd provide an update, albeit a couple of months late! Oops.
I relaxed my hair on 23/02/2014, the first relaxer of the year. To do this I used the ORS Relaxer. I had purchased the Super one, and decided to add a conditioner to the relaxer to dilute it so it didn't process as fast. I'm so glad I did this as it took me about 30 minutes to get through my whole head and to smooth. I did time myself to make sure I didn't go over the time. I was just too lazy to go through the long process of the half and half method, I just wanted it all done as quick as possible. This is not normally a good thing, as when I rush, I often make mistakes, but thankfully, there were no mistakes this time.
After rinsing out the relaxer I towel dried and added the dye to my hair as normal. I then put on the plastic cap for 20 minutes and processed with heat before I rinsed and air dried. Here are a few pictures.
I relaxed my hair on 23/02/2014, the first relaxer of the year. To do this I used the ORS Relaxer. I had purchased the Super one, and decided to add a conditioner to the relaxer to dilute it so it didn't process as fast. I'm so glad I did this as it took me about 30 minutes to get through my whole head and to smooth. I did time myself to make sure I didn't go over the time. I was just too lazy to go through the long process of the half and half method, I just wanted it all done as quick as possible. This is not normally a good thing, as when I rush, I often make mistakes, but thankfully, there were no mistakes this time.
After rinsing out the relaxer I towel dried and added the dye to my hair as normal. I then put on the plastic cap for 20 minutes and processed with heat before I rinsed and air dried. Here are a few pictures.
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| My hair sectioned prior to applying the relaxer |
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| Hairstyle |
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| Ponytail airdried |
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Relaxer Day - August 2013
Relaxer No 3 this year. Next relaxer due 13/10/2013 (10 weeks post)
On Saturday 3rd August 2013 I relaxed my hair at 11 weeks post. The week prior, I washed and blow dried my hair to make it easier to manage for the relaxer process, as my roots are something else! I bought two boxes of relaxer, but ended up only using one (score!). I purchased the ORS Extra Strength Box kit. This time I used the half and half method to apply the relaxer:
1. I de-tangled my hair and parted it from ear to ear, clipped the top part away and put a plastic cap over it, secured with duck bill clips so that I could protect that half, whilst I relaxed the back half.
2. I put the Hollywood Beauty castor oil round my edges and onto the length of my hair to help protect it from over-processing, mixed up the relaxer and applied it.
3. I separated the back section into two and applied the relaxer around the outline of that section first, then in rows starting from the base of my head. I repeated this for the other half. This time I timed myself well and I managed to do both halves of the back in 10 minutes.
4. I used the next 10 minutes to go through each section, row by row, smoothing with the back of the comb and with my fingers, to make sure that it processed well.
5. I then rinsed out the back section trying not to get the top half wet, but because I was lazy and didn't want to get into the shower, this was not too successful. I stood over the bath with the shower head in my hand and my head to an a
ngle trying to rinse only the back of my head. Inevitably some of the top section got wet. I washed out the relaxer then I shampooed once
6. I then added another dose of shampoo, lathered it up, clipped up my hair and covered it with a plastic cap, to let it sit whilst I relaxed the top half.
7. I repeated steps 3 and 4, but this process took a total of 23 minutes (3 minutes longer than it should have)
8. I jumped in the shower and shampooed twice, leaving it on for about 5 mins on one occasion.
9. I then towel dried and added the apple cider vinegar mix to my whole head, put on a plastic cap and covered my whole head with a heated cap for 20 mins,
10. I rinsed my hair, then applied the ORS conditioner, covered my hair with a plastic cap then a heated cap for 20 mins and rinsed it out (phew - final time in the shower)
11. I t-shirt dried my hair, added leave in conditioner, de-tangled and put my hair into a pony tail with a scarf to air dry.
12. At night I added ORS moisturiser, and Olive oil, and put my hair into 6 bantu knots. This is the result.
As you may be able to tell, I still have a lot of texture in the crown of my head, but the edges and the back half are pretty straight. I just know that I will never get bone straight hair from a relaxer, my hair is too resistant. On previous occasions where I have self relaxed or if I have asked a friend to help, it has always taken 30-40 minutes I should not exceed the 20 mins recommended, and this may be the cause of my brittle ends! I don't know. Anyway, I realise now that I will just have to settle for a looser texture when I relax, as opposed to bone straight hair. No biggie I guess.
Textured Strands Struggles
I am still struggling with my ends, they are still frizzy and get tangled easily, I had a good trim from the hairdresser in My, but that does not seem to have had much of an effect on the frizziness. I have cut also given it a trim myself, but it does not seem to help! I may have to cut it all off and start again, but I am not willing to do that just yet.
I was supposed to be at BSL by this time, so I have not reached my goal, but I'm not giving up.
On Saturday 3rd August 2013 I relaxed my hair at 11 weeks post. The week prior, I washed and blow dried my hair to make it easier to manage for the relaxer process, as my roots are something else! I bought two boxes of relaxer, but ended up only using one (score!). I purchased the ORS Extra Strength Box kit. This time I used the half and half method to apply the relaxer:
1. I de-tangled my hair and parted it from ear to ear, clipped the top part away and put a plastic cap over it, secured with duck bill clips so that I could protect that half, whilst I relaxed the back half.
2. I put the Hollywood Beauty castor oil round my edges and onto the length of my hair to help protect it from over-processing, mixed up the relaxer and applied it.
3. I separated the back section into two and applied the relaxer around the outline of that section first, then in rows starting from the base of my head. I repeated this for the other half. This time I timed myself well and I managed to do both halves of the back in 10 minutes.
4. I used the next 10 minutes to go through each section, row by row, smoothing with the back of the comb and with my fingers, to make sure that it processed well.
5. I then rinsed out the back section trying not to get the top half wet, but because I was lazy and didn't want to get into the shower, this was not too successful. I stood over the bath with the shower head in my hand and my head to an a
ngle trying to rinse only the back of my head. Inevitably some of the top section got wet. I washed out the relaxer then I shampooed once
6. I then added another dose of shampoo, lathered it up, clipped up my hair and covered it with a plastic cap, to let it sit whilst I relaxed the top half.
7. I repeated steps 3 and 4, but this process took a total of 23 minutes (3 minutes longer than it should have)
8. I jumped in the shower and shampooed twice, leaving it on for about 5 mins on one occasion.
9. I then towel dried and added the apple cider vinegar mix to my whole head, put on a plastic cap and covered my whole head with a heated cap for 20 mins,
10. I rinsed my hair, then applied the ORS conditioner, covered my hair with a plastic cap then a heated cap for 20 mins and rinsed it out (phew - final time in the shower)
11. I t-shirt dried my hair, added leave in conditioner, de-tangled and put my hair into a pony tail with a scarf to air dry.
12. At night I added ORS moisturiser, and Olive oil, and put my hair into 6 bantu knots. This is the result.
As you may be able to tell, I still have a lot of texture in the crown of my head, but the edges and the back half are pretty straight. I just know that I will never get bone straight hair from a relaxer, my hair is too resistant. On previous occasions where I have self relaxed or if I have asked a friend to help, it has always taken 30-40 minutes I should not exceed the 20 mins recommended, and this may be the cause of my brittle ends! I don't know. Anyway, I realise now that I will just have to settle for a looser texture when I relax, as opposed to bone straight hair. No biggie I guess.
Textured Strands Struggles
I am still struggling with my ends, they are still frizzy and get tangled easily, I had a good trim from the hairdresser in My, but that does not seem to have had much of an effect on the frizziness. I have cut also given it a trim myself, but it does not seem to help! I may have to cut it all off and start again, but I am not willing to do that just yet.
I was supposed to be at BSL by this time, so I have not reached my goal, but I'm not giving up.
Friday, 5 October 2012
Maybe air-drying isn't for me?
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| Air dried hair at 1 week post |
I am seriously considering whether air-drying is the right method for me. I co-washed my hair on Wednesday night and then went to bed with my hair in a bun after applying my leave in conditioner. The next morning my hair was not dry so I let it out at work so that it could dry fully, but my hair was just a big bush. Similar to my last wash day (see the pic):
Last night I added my Shea butter mix and really smoothed it through in an attempt to tame my hair. I then put it into 4 cornrows, smoothing it all throughout the process. I am hoping that this will help help it smooth out. But whilst I was cornrowing my hair, it was so tangled, not at the roots (because I am 2 weeks post, and I used the scarf method) but from about 4 inches, right to the end of my hair it is so tangled, and almost 'sticks' to each other like barbed wire, unwilling to separate!
I have thought of a few reasons why my hair is so tangled and listed them below:
- It may be because my hair is under-processed/texlaxed in places
- It may be because I didn't t-shirt dry this time
- It may be because I haven't found the right leave in conditioner/products
- It may be because I didn't fully de-tangle in the shower
- It may be because my hair is damaged (but I don't want to believe this one!)
- It may be because I didn't DC this time
- It may simply be that my hair does not respond well to air-drying!
I was reading Hairlista and think that roller setting may be the best way to avoid these tangles. But it is something that I find too time consuming, and a practice I have failed to master. I could also try blow drying on a cool temperature, or doing flexi rods and sitting under the dryer. Does anyone have any alternative solutions? If not, I think my next wash day will be a roller set day (deep sigh).
Blessings
Naddy x
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Deep condition | Co-Wash | Black Tea Rinse
I neglected to wash my hair on Saturday because I had a cold (well i still do, but need to wash my hair), so today (25.09.12) is the day. I mixed HE Hello Hydration, ORS Replenishing Conditioner, and a £1 conditioner together with argan oil and avocado oil to make my deep condition mixture. Now, there is NO science to my method, I just figure that a combination of conditioners and oils will do the trick i.e: promote soft manageable hair and I run with it!
I used my fingers to separate my hair into 4 sections and then proceeded to apply the mixture to my hair using the relaxer method.
I never seem to mix enough - or I use too much, either way, I am always struggling to make it last (I couldn't be bothered to mix some more). I made sure to add the mix to the roots and ends especially, and then massaged it throughout the strands, applying more as required. Below you can see it with one section completed and then the whole back section completed.
Once my whole head was done I put my hair into a bun and clipped it up. I then added the plastic cap and finally put on the heat wrap. The heat wrap is placed into the microwave for about 2 minutes until the gel packs reach a desired temperature (be sure not to over heat the packs or they could burst!). This pack stays hot for about 20 mins and then needs re-heating. I re-heated it for about 1 minute and put it back on my head for another 20 minutes.
In the past, I have used the black tea as my final step in my wash day process, but I find that this is too drying, so this time I rinsed the conditioner with the black tea - re-covered with a plastic cap, waited 20 minutes and then co-washed with HE Hello Hydration, my hair still needed cleaning so I did one shampoo with KeraCare Moisturising Shampoo. I then let the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle sit on my hair for about 5 minutes.
But on the plus side, my edges laid down really well thanks to the scarf method. I am going to oil my scalp and then just put in a loose bun for bed, then I will M&S tomorrow. My hair is also in need of a trim too. Well... that's all folks!
Blessings
Naddy x
I used my fingers to separate my hair into 4 sections and then proceeded to apply the mixture to my hair using the relaxer method. I never seem to mix enough - or I use too much, either way, I am always struggling to make it last (I couldn't be bothered to mix some more). I made sure to add the mix to the roots and ends especially, and then massaged it throughout the strands, applying more as required. Below you can see it with one section completed and then the whole back section completed.
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| 4 tea bags and hot water, brewed for 2-3 hours |
In the past, I have used the black tea as my final step in my wash day process, but I find that this is too drying, so this time I rinsed the conditioner with the black tea - re-covered with a plastic cap, waited 20 minutes and then co-washed with HE Hello Hydration, my hair still needed cleaning so I did one shampoo with KeraCare Moisturising Shampoo. I then let the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle sit on my hair for about 5 minutes.
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| Side view following wash - no product |
Whilst in the shower I was constantly finger de-tangling, and made sure to rinse out all products in one direction (with gravity and the flow of water) I did not bunch my hair up at all. I think this helps to keep my hair smooth and reduces tangles. As usual, the final rinse was a cold water rinse. I am not sure if this does any good to my hair, but don't think it does any bad either.
I t-shirt dried my hair for about 1 hour, added my leave ins (Aphogee Keratin Reconstructurizer, At One leave in conditioner then added some EVCO, de-tangled with my fingers only and air dried with the scarf method. I just brushed down the edges to make sure my hair laid down flat. It is now dark, so I will come back tomorrow with a picture of how it air-dried. Well I came back tonight with it 95% dry. It's just the roots that need to get dry and we are done. At this point I have not combed through my hair once.
Blessings
Naddy x
Thursday, 26 July 2012
My first Video - wash day
Hey everyone, I have finally bitten the bullet and gone through the arduous process of recording and editing a video. This one shows me applying deep conditioner, drying and moisturising my hair. No heat was used as this is my typical routine for a wash day. The video is agreeably a little choppy, but I will do better next time. My hair is 8 weeks post relaxer and I am planning to go 12-16 weeks before I re-touch my new growth.
I was inspired by sistawithrealhair, on youtube to experiment. On one half of my hari, I applied the conditioner to wet hair and on the other half I applied it to dry hair. Once rinsed out, my hair felt just a little smoother on the 'dry hair' side, however on airdrying, my hair felt bushier and more wild on the 'dry hair' side, so the jury is still out on that one
Hope you enjoy
Blessings
Naddy x
I was inspired by sistawithrealhair, on youtube to experiment. On one half of my hari, I applied the conditioner to wet hair and on the other half I applied it to dry hair. Once rinsed out, my hair felt just a little smoother on the 'dry hair' side, however on airdrying, my hair felt bushier and more wild on the 'dry hair' side, so the jury is still out on that one
Hope you enjoy
Blessings
Naddy x
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