Wash Day

I pre-pooed with hemp oil, I left it on for about an hour. I then shampooed with my Keracare Hydrating Shampoo (which I have now used up) and then put Roux Porosity Control Conditioner on my hair and let it sit for about 2 minutes.

I deep conditioned with Keracare Humecto mixed with EVOO. I put on a shower cap and left it on for about 2 hours before rinsing it out with cool water. I put a towel on my hair and left it for about 30 minutes so it could soak up the excess water. I then applied my Transitioning Creme for my leave-in and a bit of argan oil. I then sprayed some Mane & Tail detangler all over my hair then detangled my hair. I'm now 5 weeks post relaxer and my new growth is starting to come in which meant detangling took a little longer. I let my hair air dry.

When my hair was dry it felt very soft and moisturised. It hadn't felt that good in quite a while so I was happy. :)

My hair is about 50% dry in this picture

Laziness & Half Wigs

So, recently I've been very lazy when it comes to my hair. I haven't even shampooed my hair in two weeks which is just.. really bad. I haven't been m&s'ing every night, I think that I've maybe done it about twice in the past week? It just got to the point where I felt like I was doing so much trying to make my hair healthy so it could retain length but wasn't seeing much progress. I've been on my hair journey for over a year now and my hair hasn't actually grown that much. I guess because I was getting frustrated by my slow progress I just stopped doing things that I had been doing religiously for the past year. I'm going to try and get back on track on my wash day tomorrow, because obviously what I'm doing now isn't going to help my hair at all!

I've been thinking about getting a half wig. They are really good protective styles and I figured I would just rollerset the hair that I'm going to leave out, so I wont even have to use heat every week. And it will just be easier than trying to style my own hair. I can take it off every night and moisturise and seal so I will still be able to look after my hair properly!

I've been watching review videos and also just looking on different sites to see what type of half wig I would get, I'm currently undecided but I'm really excited about this and I will probably be getting one in the next few weeks!

Wash Day

I pre-pooed with hemp oil, leaving it on for about an hour. I then shampooed with Keracare Hydrating Detangling shampoo, making sure I really concentrated on my scalp as I had a bit of build up. I then put Roux Porosity Control Conditioner on my hair and let it sit for about 2 minutes. I always forget that I have this and accidentally leave this step out.

I deep conditioned with Keracare Humecto mixed with EVOO. I sat under my steamer for 30 minutes and then put on a shower cap for another hour. I then did an ACV rinse (only my second time doing this.) I put a capful of ACV in about 500ml of water. I'm still not really sure of the right ACV:water ratio but I think that this worked fine.

I put my Transitioning Creme in as my leave-in and then sprayed Mane N Tail detangler all over my hair and started to detangle. I L O V E this detangler! It has never been so easy to detangle my hair! It hardly took me any time at all and it was just so easy! I let my hair air dry. When my hair was fully dry it felt very moisturised and soft. Also, I got a lot less breakage during this wash day than I used to, progress!

Mini Product Haul

So I went to my (not so) local beauty supply store. There isn't a decent one anywhere near where I live so I waited until I visited family to go and buy some products.

My hair tangles A LOT, especially when I get to about 5 weeks post and I've wanted to buy a detangler for a while I just wasn't sure which one to get. I read a few good reviews on Mane N Tail's detangler so when I saw it in the shop I picked it up. Hopefully this will make detangling my new growth a lot easier.

I'm almost out of my Keracare Hydrating Detangling shampoo and have wanted to try Creme of Natures' Argan Oil shampoo for a while, so I thought I'd buy it and give it a try! I've seen a lot of positive reviews for this product and I can't wait to see how it will work for my hair.

I've wanted something for my edges for a while and it was between ORS Edge Control and Creme of Nature Perfect Edges, the store didn't have the Perfect Edges so I got the Edge Control. I know that a lot of people use this and love it, so I can't wait to try it!

The next thing I buy will be a conditioner but I probably wont get that until my Humecto is close to running out. I'm planning on getting the Curl Junkie Curl Rehab conditioner.

Wash Day

I pre-pooed with hemp oil and left it on my hair for about 2 hours. I then shampooed my hair with Keracare Detangling Shampoo.

I DC'd with Keracare Humecto mixed with EVOO, argan oil, jojoba oil and castor oil. I deep conditioned overnight (which I have only done once before.) I decided to DC overnight because my hair still felt very dry from the whole relaxer process and I plan on straightening my hair so I wanted to make sure my hair had lots of moisture.

I rinsed out the conditioner and then left a towel on my hair for an hour or so to get rid of the excess water. I then applied my leave in - Darcy's Botanical Transitioning Creme - and detangled my hair in sections. This was my first time detangling with my new seamless comb and the difference was amazing! I never realised before how much I could feel my old comb snagging my hair as I detangled. I let my hair air dry.

Oil Haul

Hemp oil
Hemp seed oil is rich in vitamin E, minerals, omega oils and essential fatty acids. Hemp oil is a perfectly balanced combination of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
I bought this oil because it's a ceramide oil and I wanted to see how ceramides would help my hair. I think that I will mostly use this as a pre-poo, especially considering it has quite a strong scent that I don't really want lingering in my hair.

Sweet almond oil
Sweet almond oil contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and E.
I know that a lot of people use this oil on their hair and I've wanted to try it for a while, I also like that it's a pretty cheap oil. I'll probably use this for sealing and add it into my weekly DC's. (I actually only ordered 100ml of this but they accidentally sent me 500ml instead, free oil yay!)

Jojoba oil
Rich in vitamin E, proteins and minerals and is deeply nourishing. It helps to moisturise and strengthen hair.
I've wanted to try this oil for a long time and only just got around to buying it. The price did put me off a little bit, but hopefully it will be worth it. I'll probably be adding this to my DC's and maybe sealing with it after moisturising every now and then.

I also bought some extra virgin olive oil because I had ran out.

Relaxer Update

I thoroughly detangled my hair the night before my relaxer, making sure my new growth was also properly detangled. I pre-sectioned my hair and twisted the sections and put clips on the ends so the twists wouldn't come undone. I decided to do this because last time I relaxed my hair I really struggled to part it and my hair ended up extremely tangled. I based my scalp with castor oil and put it on my ends to prevent overlapping.

I relaxed my hair with the ORS No-Lye Relaxer in normal. I gave myself 25 minutes. It took me about 15 minutes to put the relaxer on and so I had 10 minutes left to smooth. I rinsed it out thoroughly and then neutralised 3 times with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo. I left the shampoo on for about 5 minutes each time I neutralised.

I then did a colour rinse with Adore in blue black. This was my first time doing this and I think it went quite well. I put it on the length of my hair, making sure I didn't get it on my scalp and then put a shower cap on. I left it on for 15 minutes then rinsed it out. I then shampooed with Keracare Hydrating Detangling shampoo.

I put ORS Replenishing Conditioner on my hair and put on a shower cap and I left that on for about an hour. I then rinsed that out and proceeded to deep condition with my Keracare Humecto conditioner. I sat under the steamer for 30 minutes then put a shower cap on and left it on for another hour or so then rinsed it out.

I left a towel on my hair for about an hour to soak up all the excess water then put in my leave-in, Darcy's Botanicals Transitioning Creme, and detangled my hair. By the time I had finished doing all of that I was so tired that I just decided to let my hair air dry. I'll probably straighten my hair this weekend so I can see what length my hair is.

This was only my second time self relaxing and it went a lot better than the first time. I think that next time I'll give myself 30 minutes because a few parts of my hair are still pretty under processed, even after all the smoothing, and my hair is very resistant to relaxers. Other than that it went well and I'm pleased with the results.

Breakage Update

I've been moisturising and sealing nightly and I have had little to no breakage! It's a huge improvement since I usually get about 10 broken hairs every time I moisturise my hair. Since my last wash day I've only been getting 1 broken hair when I moisturise, some days I get no breakage at all!

I'm still expecting to get a bit of breakage for a while as I do have a lot of mid-shaft splits and they will continue to break off, but hopefully I have stopped the worst of the breakage and I will start seeing some length progress.

I think that I will still invest in a seamless comb as I don't want my hair to be damaged every time I use a comb. Especially since my hair isn't all one length, it could snag very easily on the seams on a comb, which would lead to more breakage.

Wash Day

I started off by doing a hot oil treatment with Vatika oil. I warmed the oil up in a bowl of warm water and then applied the oil to the roots and length of my hair. I left the oil on for about an hour before I washed it out.

I shampooed with my Keracare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo. I then applied Nexxus Emergencee to my hair and left it on for about 2 minutes. My hair felt a lot stronger but not too dry, I then rinsed the product from my hair and shampooed again. After shampooing my hair felt normal again, which surprised me.

I deep conditioned with Keracare Humecto (mixed with EVOO, avocado oil, argan oil and castor oil). I sat under my steamer for 30 minutes and then put on a shower cap and left it on for another hour. I rinsed my conditioner out with cool water.

I applied my Transitioning Creme as my leave in and then detangled my hair in sections. I lost quite a bit of hair, but I guess it wasn't too bad considering I'd only lightly finger combed during the week. My hair did break a lot during the detangling though. I left my hair to air dry. Once my hair was fully dry I moisturised and sealed and then cross wrapped my hair. My hair felt extremely soft and hydrated. My hair actually hasn't felt that good in a long time, so it was a very good wash day.

When I was moisturising I got no breakage whatsoever, which I was surprised by as I always get breakage when I m&s. I'm still not sure if I have actually stopped my breakage though as my hair did break a lot during the detangling. I'm going to give it a few more days and see if my hair continues to not break when I moisturise my hair. I've been thinking that it might be the fact that my comb isn't seamless. My hair isn't all one length, so it can easily get caught and snag on the seams of my comb. I've also noticed that a lot of my hair strands have splits mid-shaft. I'll keep an eye on my breakage and if it only breaks when I use my comb then I think I'm going to get a seamless comb.

My hair after taking down my cross wrap.

Breakage and Last Salon Visit

So, I tried to stop my breakage by using my replenishing conditioner, but it didn't really seem to help.

I'm thinking that my breakage isn't a moisture or protein problem, I think my hair is breaking because of heat damage. During my last trip to the salon (back in September) I had a different stylist doing my hair, she usually just does weaves but for some reason the lady who usually relaxes my hair was doing a weave which meant I had someone different doing my relaxer.

It didn't start off well, she took too long putting on the relaxer, it seemed like she was literally moving at a snails pace. It took her 20 minutes just to apply the relaxer to the back part of my hair (which is the half that relaxes easiest anyway, it's the front/crown of my hair that is more resistant) so before the hair at the front could be properly processed the back of my head started to burn. I told her so and she just said that the front wasn't relaxed yet so it couldn't be washed out. Needless to say, I did not just sit there with the back of my head burning, she rinsed out the back and left the front to relax for a bit longer.

Then came the heat. She blow dried my hair THREE times. I mean, she blow dried my hair dry, then added some product then blow dried my whole head again, then put in even more product then spent another 10 minutes blow drying my hair, like it wasn't dry the first time?!

Then she proceeded to straighten my hair. She straightened my hair in tiny sections and passed the straighteners over each section about 7-8 times. Usually, when I straighten my hair I pass the heat over each section 3 times MAX. Also, she likes to kind of curl the ends of the hair up, which is fine, I don't usually have a problem with that. But she curled the ends of my hair up so much that my hair was actually poking me in the eye. I refused to leave the salon like that and told her it was too much, so she then went over all of my hair again to straighten it out more. I don't know what temperature she sets the straighteners to but I have a feeling they were at their hottest. By the time she was done my hair just smelt burnt, that's literally all I could smell the whole week that my hair was straightened. My hair felt extremely dry and my breakage has been ridiculous since then.

I decided when I walked out of the salon that I would learn to relax my own hair, it's way cheaper and I didn't want to go through all of that again.

Back to the breakage... Now, I'm kind of scared of protein, I got protein overload right at the beginning of my journey because I didn't really know much about how protein worked at the time. Since then I've been pretty wary of protein but I've decided to do a hard protein treatment, using Nexxus Emergencee, tomorrow since it will be my last wash before my relaxer and because I think my hair just needs the protein to repair all of the heat damage and that will hopefully stop the breakage.

Fingers crossed that it goes well.

Product Review: Darcy's Botanicals Sweet Cocoa Bean Curl Smoothing Cream

Price: £10.95 for 8oz bottle.

Purchased from: britishcurlies.co.uk

Promises: This is a daily or weekly leave-in to help detangle, moisturize, defrizz, and soften your lovely coils and curls. An excellent moisturizing leave-in cream which works great for all hair types. Also great as a styler for curls, twists and braids.

Ingredients: Distilled Water (Aqua), Theoroma Cacao ( Cocoa) Butter, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis ( Sweet Almond Oil), Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/ Capric Triglyceride ( Fractionated Coconut Oil), Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol (and), Capryly Glycol, Cetyl Esters, Fragrance, Hydroxyethyicellulose and Algin.

My review: I have tried this as both a leave-in and a moisturiser and I definitely prefer it as a daily moisturiser. I moisturise and seal at night, I use this and then seal it in with an oil like my Keracare Essential Oils (I'm trying to use it up.) The next morning my hair feels very moisturised and soft but not greasy. 
The consistency of this is about the same as the Transitioning Creme. The smell is okay, it smells a bit like chocolate but the scent doesn't linger.
Overall I really like this product and I will probably buy it again at some point. 

Co-wash!

I sprayed my hair with some water to make it slightly damp and then applied my ORS Replenishing Conditioner. I left the conditioner in my hair for about 2 hours with a shower cap and a towel on. I love this conditioner because even though it has protein in it, it always leaves my hair feeling soft and moisturised. I decided to use the Replenishing Conditioner to (hopefully) help stop my breakage.

I then co-washed with my Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. 

I put in my leave-in - Darcy's Botanicals Transitioning Creme - and air dried. I put a scarf on to lay down my edges and new growth and then after a couple of hours took that off and let my hair continue to air dry.

I moisturised and sealed my hair and then cross-wrapped it for bed.

BREAKAGE!

So, for the past few weeks I have been having some major breakage. Literally all I have to do is lightly touch my hair and hair will just break off.

I've been upping my moisture because usually if my hair is breaking off it means it's too dry, but no matter how much I moisturise and seal and deep condition my hair just wont stop breaking.

I think I'm going to do a light protein (ORS Replenishing Conditioner) and if that doesn't help then I don't know what I'm going to do.

It's just really annoying because I'm coming up to me being on my hair journey for one year and I haven't really had much length difference. My hair looks healthier than it did a year ago but it would be nice to see some length now and I'm not going to if my hair keep breaking off like this. I was hoping to be at APL by February but I seriously doubt that's going to happen.

It just feels like I'm having a constant set back and I need the breakage to STOP!

Wash Day!

I pre-pooed with grapeseed oil. I heated the oil up before I put it in my hair. I put it on my scalp and the length of my hair and left it in for about an hour with a shower cap and towel on.

I shampooed with my Keracare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo and then squeezed the excess water out with a towel. I put my Keracare Humecto in as my deep conditioner, I separated my hair into sections to make sure the conditioner was evenly distributed throughout all of my hair.

I sat under my steamer for 30 minutes and then rinsed out my hair. I then put Roux Porosity Control in my hair and left that in for 1 - 2 minutes then rinsed it out. I've never used Roux as a last rinse before but I wanted to try it because it helps close the cuticles. I usually use it before I deep condition. I rinsed the Roux out with cool water.

I left the towel on my head for a few minutes then squeezed out any excess water. I then put in my leave-in (Darcy's Botanicals Transitioning Creme) and detangled in sections. Then I put a scarf on to help lay down my edges and my new growth for a few hours and continued to air dry.
Once my hair was fully dried it felt soft and hydrated. I then moisturised and sealed and cross wrapped my hair for bed.

Product Review: Darcy's Botanicals Coconut Lemongrass Transitioning Creme

Price: £10.95 for 8oz bottle.

Purchased from: britishcurlies.co.uk

Promises: This creme is an excellent moisturizer and leave-in conditioner. Darcy's Botanicals transitioning creme is a thick, rich and creamy leave-in that will help to condition, moisturise and detangle your hair's new growth to make it more manageable and healthy. This delicious moisturising creme can also be used to do comb coils. It is hand whipped with a healthy dose of organic virgin coconut oil, organic aloe vera, and other natural conditioning & detangling ingredients.

Ingredients: Distilled Water, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Vitamin E, Panthenol, Yarrow, Sage, Horsetail, Nettle, & Lavender Extracts, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol (a paraben-free preservative), and lemongrass essential oil.

My review: I absolutely love this leave-in! I wait until my hair is about 50% dry before I put anything in it and then I continue to air dry. When my hair is fully dry it doesn't feel weighed down at all after using this, it just feels extremely soft and very moisturised.
I also use this as a moisturiser at night and then seal with an oil. The next morning my hair feels very soft and moisturised but not greasy, so it's perfect.
I usually hate the smell of lemongrass but I found that the scent of this leave-in wasn't very strong so the smell didn't really bother me.
This cream has a very nice consistency and is easy to distribute throughout my hair. I had hoped that my bottle would come with a pump, as that just makes things easier, but unfortunately in the latest shipment that British Curlies were sent the bottles did not come with pumps, hopefully I'll get one next time.
Overall I have no complaints about this product whatsoever and I will definitely be buying it again. It's now a staple! :)

Green Tea Rinse

I did my first green tea rinse today! It left my hair feeling stronger and a bit dry, like a protein treatment would, but that went away by the time I rinsed out my deep conditioner.

For the rinse I put two teabags in 500ml of water and let it steep for 15-20 minutes. I let it cool for an extra few minutes and also topped it up with a bit of cold water to make sure it wouldn't be too hot when I poured it over my hair.

I shampooed with my clarifying shampoo - since it had been a month since I last did it - then I slowly poured the green tea over my hair, rubbing it in as I poured to help distribute it. I left it on for about 2 minutes and then quickly rinsed it out with water. I then applied my deep conditioner and steamed for 20 minutes. My hair felt very soft and was easy to detangle.

Benefits of green tea for hair: Green tea can help ailments such as dandruff and psoriasis by soothing the scalp and reducing inflammation. It is known to be a stimulant, so it can help hair grow. As green tea contains caffeine it can help stop shedding. It also contains vitamin C, vitamin E and panthenol, which all have great benefits for the hair. Vitamin C guards against UV radiation damage, vitamin E restores dry/damaged hair and panthenol is a pro-vitamin which strengthens and softens hair and helps prevent split ends.

Overall I'm pleased with the results and will probably do it again!

Product Review: Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner

Price: £6.15 for 8oz bottle.

Purchased from: lookfantastic.com

Promises: Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner helps correct and prevent moistureloss due to exposure to chemicals and thermal styling appliances. Penetrates deep within the hairshaft to hydrate and humectify hair.  Decreases interfiber friction between hair strands to prevent hair breakage. Improves the surface porosity of hair resulting in a softer hair texture.

Ingredients: Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Polyquaternium-37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Castor oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Dimethicone PEG-8 Lsostearate, Quaternium-80, Dimethicone, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Lamium Album Flower Extract, Pinus Sylvestris Cone Extract, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Nasturtium Officinale Extract, Allium Sativum (Garlic) Bulb Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Tilia Cordata Flower Extract, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Hypericum Perforatum Extract, Fragrance/Parfum, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Glutaral

My review: I love this conditioner! I usually either use this by deep conditioning with heat or I get under my steamer for 30 minutes. This makes my hair so moisturised and soft! It also really helps soften my new growth when that starts coming in. It has good slip so it makes detangling really easy and it smells amazing. I literally have no complaints about this conditioner whatsoever. Its definitely a staple! :)