If you know me, and many of my readers don't know me personally but if you did you would understand why I came to this decision.
The Background:
The reason I decided to grow my natural hair was because I wanted to try dreads. I think if they are kept up dreads look very nice. But once I saw the amount of information on the Internet on how to care for your natural hair, transitioning or not (thanks to Curly Nikki) I wanted to try styling my natural hair...
Present Tense (literally)
And I did!!! (hence the pictures on previous posts)
However, I didn't know what I was in for.
20 minutes of dry detangling
1 Hour to wash or Co-Wash
4-6 Hours of Conditioning and detangling
1-2 Hours of styling
Overnight or more to dry...
Its getting to be way too much for me!!!
I am sooooooooo low maintenance it's not even funny. And for me, what I just described is out of control!
On Second Hand!
I have to admit that after all of that work that I put in, it is very encouraging to see the end results and to receive all of the compliments on my dooo. But for all of that work, the dooo only last 3-4 days tops...and that is if I am pushing it! There is no changing it up or going to a "easy style" for the day...its a whole ordeal just to make a easy style...
So Getting to the Point:
I am going back to my decision to dread! (I think!)
I will look for someone to start my dreads and see whats the verdict on washing my hair and greasing or oiling my scalp. That is the deciding factor because of my need to wash once a week because of my dry scalp. So this is TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
So I co-washed...
"Co-Wash" means conditioner only washing-no shampoo...
As a transitioner, (transitioning my hair from it's chemically relaxed state back to it's natural state)I am always reading blogs and searching the internet to get a better understanding of how to care for my transitioning hair, my transitioning life and my transitioning self image as well as self esteem.
Prior to transitioning, I began relaxing my hair @ 15ish..which means for 17 years I have been pumping chemicals into my hair, bloodstream and body. Its tough to see it written here as well as tough to grasp the full velocity of what that actually means.
My hair was in good-relaxed condition. Products produced manageable hair, however, without those products my hair wasn't very manageable. My scalp was in poor condition. For as long as I remember putting relaxers in my hair, I had bad dandruff. In recent years, the dandruff got worse with terrible, almost unbearable itching.
In my research co-washing seems to produce moisture and helps to detangle. And after trying it for myself I have to say I love it. My dandruff didn't return until a little over a week (which is a huge change from day 2 dandruff)the smell was amazing even after the week and well into week 2.
Here is what I have learned though...
A: Co-wash routing should be:
Prep to co-wash:
Oil scalp and ends gently, separate hair while dry(letting oils marinate), detangle sections with fingers. Now we are ready to co-wash.
You will need:
a good smelling yet cheap/water based conditioner
big tooth comb
detangling conditioner
scrunchies
Water source
To Co-wash:
Put oiled, detangled, separated sections in scrunchies.
Immerse under water
Take the sections one by one and saturate with cheap conditioner (don't be shy)
Let sit for 5 minutes-not ringing out extra water
Take section, one by one and finger detangle gently. Then rinse conditioner out while still in scrunchies.
~Apply detangling conditioner being careful not to manipulate too much as you will tangle it up again.
~Allow to sit for 5 minutes then use big tooth comb to gently comb each section from ends to root.
~Rinse while still in scrunchies
~Apply cheap conditioner and rinse
Then Style...
Tips:
I need to co-wash every other week. I can not rule out shampoo altogether just yet.
Be extra gentle when finger detangling and using a comb. In the event that the tangles just won't detangle, add more conditioner, let sit and run under water while detangling.
Good Luck! Pics coming!
As a transitioner, (transitioning my hair from it's chemically relaxed state back to it's natural state)I am always reading blogs and searching the internet to get a better understanding of how to care for my transitioning hair, my transitioning life and my transitioning self image as well as self esteem.
Prior to transitioning, I began relaxing my hair @ 15ish..which means for 17 years I have been pumping chemicals into my hair, bloodstream and body. Its tough to see it written here as well as tough to grasp the full velocity of what that actually means.
My hair was in good-relaxed condition. Products produced manageable hair, however, without those products my hair wasn't very manageable. My scalp was in poor condition. For as long as I remember putting relaxers in my hair, I had bad dandruff. In recent years, the dandruff got worse with terrible, almost unbearable itching.
In my research co-washing seems to produce moisture and helps to detangle. And after trying it for myself I have to say I love it. My dandruff didn't return until a little over a week (which is a huge change from day 2 dandruff)the smell was amazing even after the week and well into week 2.
Here is what I have learned though...
A: Co-wash routing should be:
Prep to co-wash:
Oil scalp and ends gently, separate hair while dry(letting oils marinate), detangle sections with fingers. Now we are ready to co-wash.
You will need:
a good smelling yet cheap/water based conditioner
big tooth comb
detangling conditioner
scrunchies
Water source
To Co-wash:
Put oiled, detangled, separated sections in scrunchies.
Immerse under water
Take the sections one by one and saturate with cheap conditioner (don't be shy)
Let sit for 5 minutes-not ringing out extra water
Take section, one by one and finger detangle gently. Then rinse conditioner out while still in scrunchies.
~Apply detangling conditioner being careful not to manipulate too much as you will tangle it up again.
~Allow to sit for 5 minutes then use big tooth comb to gently comb each section from ends to root.
~Rinse while still in scrunchies
~Apply cheap conditioner and rinse
Then Style...
Tips:
I need to co-wash every other week. I can not rule out shampoo altogether just yet.
Be extra gentle when finger detangling and using a comb. In the event that the tangles just won't detangle, add more conditioner, let sit and run under water while detangling.
Good Luck! Pics coming!
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