Give Away!

For my two year blog-a-versary, I’m giving away a bag of Rhassoul clay to one reader (located in Europe, USA, or Canada). This is the last day to enter. For the rules please read this post. note, 1. you must comment on the linked post and 2. any other blog post (or must have commented on an earlier post in the past. Good luck! I’ll announce the winner on Friday afternoon.

Regimen Experimentation

So, if you’ve read my previous post, you know I’m experimenting with skipping my leave-in conditioner after my wash session. This recent attempt at tweaking and changing my regimen has made me curious about some things:

Could it be possible that sealing with oils never worked for me, because I’ve been suffocating my strands with leave-in? Are oils and butters really my frenemies??

Does my hair respond better to leave in when it’s completely dry?
Is a good deep conditioning session really all that I need?

Honestly, my hair has never had this dimension of shine when I’ve used leave-in conditioners. It’s never been this bouncy either. I can’t believe that it’s possible that I’ve been smothering my hair in product. This would explain why it took so long to dry. I want to play around with lots of natural products now, to see if they leave me with similar results. This weekend I’ll try treat myself to a deep conditioning rhassoul clay mask and this time apply a whipped Shea butter mixture to my hair. You know butter and my hair are like oil and water, they don’t mix. We’ll see, I’d love for if to work, as I’ve got tons of Shea butter.

This morning when I unwrapped my hair, I applied a little moisturizer to my ends. And it absorbed it easily. This is a huge detour from my normal routine. I’ll add updates to my regimens as I figure out what works best.

Day 2 HAIR:

Leave-Out: Naked Hair

Lately, my hair has been in such a bad state guys. It has been dry, lifeless and dull. No matter what I do. My wash and go experiment last week– total failure. My day two hair was helmet-y, lackluster and undefined. I tried revisiting Curlformers to try something different, but I ended up with a horrible set. Not even worth blogging about. And not just that… a total waste of time. I did get a good twist out, from my stretched, curl-former style. So, I liken them to curl stretchers more than formers.

As many of you know I often praise my all-star hair care product, rhassoul clay on this blog. Each time I use it, I’m left with amazingly hydrated, plump coils and curls. Sometimes, I’m almost afraid to use a leave-in, for fear of reversing all the goodness that comes from using the rhassoul. Most times, I just forego this idea and add my leave-in. My hair does change slightly. I notice slight frizz, weighed down curls and a little less clumping. Well, last night after washing my hair at an ungratefully late hour, I decided to skip the leave-in.

I’d just followed my shampoo and protein treatment, with a rhassoul mask and my hair was on fleek (I’ve been dying to use this expression). Any way, I took a plunge after some hesitation and lightly coated my hair with coconut oil, concentrating mostly mid-shaft down to my ends. Then, I twisted my hair, sat under a bonnet dryer for a short time, wrapped and went to sleep. What I woke up to?

Extremely soft, moisturized hair that held the curls nicely. I was absolutely thrilled. It’s the end of the day and my hair is still soft and moisturized. I’ll probably add some leave-in to my hair, when it feels dry, but for now, I’m very content with its current state.

Some things I noticed about my hair sans leave-in:

1. drying time was much faster
2. it was bouncier than usual
3. it feels softer and more hydrated than it ever did

If I’m on to something here, this means major savings for my wallet and a faster routine. Stay tuned. Maybe my fine, but dense low porosity hair, just does not like heavy cream based products.

Have you every skipped the leave-in conditioner?

Speaking of rhassoul clay. I’ll be giving away a bag of organic rhassoul clay to a reader based in Europe, US or Canada. To enter, subscribe to the blog, comment on at least two posts on this blog. Entries close the 25th of February.

Good luck!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary

It’s my blog-a-versary. Yay! Can’t believe it’s already been two years. This blog is my second child (although sometimes neglected, lol). You’re all like family and I thank you for staying with me and joining me on the road to healthy low porosity hair. I’m going to try to do a give-a-way later this year, so stay tuned!

I’m wondering who’s my longest subscriber? Has anyone subscribed to lowporosityhaircare since February 2013?

❤

Hypothetical Question

It’s a low porosity apocalyptic nightmare. You have to choose one product and only one to use forever!! What would you choose?

For me, that’s an easy one. Rhassoul clay. This is the one products that gives me consistently good results with every use. Juicy, moisturized, clumped curls. I used some last night before my wash and go.

Wash Sleep and Go

Every week I twist, turn, braid and/or knot my hair. I’m always pre-styling. It’s been months since I’ve done a wash and go. So I felt one was in order this week. Besides, I generally notice by day 3 or 4, twist outs and any “out” for that matter is not really forgiving on my ends. Especially, with dry winter weather and knit sweaters, my poor ends usually take a beating. So I’m going to try wash and gos for a little now, to see whether leaving my ends alone at night (i.e. no manipulation), will protect them.

I used to give a *Kanye shrug* when I read about protective styling, I just didn’t feel  it did anything for me. Now that my hair is longer and rubs against my clothes when stretched, I’m starting to see the light. I know, I know, you’re probably saying to yourself “a wash and go is the furthest from protective styling– single strand knots (ssks)!” However, I want to test it out, because I feel a wash and go provides shrinkage, which reduces contact with my clothes. We shall see. In any case, it’s been a while since I’ve worn my curls as is and right now I’m loving it.

So back to the post of this title. I call this style a Wash Sleep and Go, because I washed my hair at night. Here’s how I achieved the result.

Evening before – Washed and conditioned my hair. Applied a generous amount of Cantu Leave-In (um, love this stuff, review to come soon along with some other fun products I’m trying out), applied gel to entire head. I usually don’t apply a gel, but I wanted some definition and hold. Air dried my hair for a few hours*, split it in two, twisted each section into two very large loose twists (leaving my ends untwisted) and pinned them in place. Satin scarf, sleep.

*You want your hair to be more than half-way dry before heading to bed.

Next day – I had a little case of helmet head, but nothing a bit of head banging, shaking and swerving, can’t deal with. My hair feels SO soft and smells really good. It’s shiny and my ends are definitely hydrated. If I notice it’s starting to get a little dry I’ll spritz my ends with leave-in and water and/or wear a chignon.

Do you wash and go in the winter? What are you techniques?