Rhassoul Quick Wash Recipe

I’m holed up in the bathroom right now, doing a quick deep conditioner, while baby girl is sleeping and daddy is entertaining the not so little peanut.

I write about rhassoul clay pretty much all the time. It’s the real MVP, an all around product that can be used as a facial cleanser, hair wash, deep conditioner, etc. I usually do a hair mask, but with two kids, applying the mask can take time. Making sure every strand is coated, letting it sit on my hair for a bit before proceeding with my routine. Now, I tend to do a rhassoul wash more than a hair mask, because it’s quicker and less messy, but mostly because it’s a short process. A rhassoul wash is my remplacement shampoo, so I always follow it up with a conditioner or deep conditioner, which isn’t always the case with the mask.

I thought I’d share my mixture for my wash. It differs a lot from the mask, because it’s mostly water and has more ACV. The goal with the wash is to cleanse the scalp. Although a minimal amount of rhassoul is used here, I still reap the benefits of soft, tangle free hair.

Rhassoul Quick Wash Recipe

• 3/4 – 1c water
• 2 TBSP ACV
• 3 TBSP rhassoul

Apply to wet hair, close to the scalp, massage scalp in circular motions with the pads of your fingers, rinse and you can detangle as you’re rinsing if you’d like.

I followed this with a reverse oil rinse deep conditioner, which I’m doing right now as I write you.

Side note- I’ve gone through post-partum shedding before, but it seems much more severe this round, because my hair wasn’t as thick this pregnancy. Well, I’ll carry on deep conditioning the three strands of hair this pregnancy has left me. =)

Have you ever tried rhassoul clay? If so, what are your favorite ways to use it?

I’ll have some exciting news towards the end of this year. I can’t really share it with you now, although I’m itching to, but there will be some big changes happening for lowporosityhaircare.

 

Happy weekend!

2nd day hair pic (selfie and nursing —being a mom has made me a pro multi tasker). Just to show my post partum thinning. 

  

Mom Regimen and Life Hacks

Now that I’m a mother of two, I’ve adjusted my regimen to accommodate. You can still refer to my regimen page for a look into my normal routine. I hope to get back to that one when things calm down–one can dream right?

So this is what my hair routine and beauty hacks look like.

1. Hair

 

Weekly washes have turned to every other weekly washes. To revive my hair and get a fresh look for week two. I detangle my stretched hair, slightly dampen it with my wet fingers, put on a tiny bit of leave-in, coat the section in a light oil, twist it up and go to sleep. The next day, I take it out and fluff my root. Results: Shiny, fluffy hair.

For some reason, I get more shine and less frizz doing this. Probably because my hair is styled on stretched hair, using very little water. Since my hair is stretched, it’s also easier to distribute the product and oil. This will help me get through another 5 – 7 days without having to wash.

TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes.

2. Clothes

I haven’t been shopping in a long time. I have some pudge left over from the birth of my little girl. I’m okay with these two things. I only want to shop for items that are timeless and that will survive different stages of life with me. Better for the planet and my wallet– quality over quantity. I’m working out and that keeps me healthy and will help me lose some of the pudge. Although, I want to keep some of it, this pregnancy has blessed me with more butt and curves, which I’ve always wanted. LOL!

Back to the topic– To avoid looking like I just rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing I saw — which I’ve done a lot, I pair some effortless clothes with some statement pieces and do lots of layering.

Layers work well for nursing on-the-go. It gives me privacy and gives my little ones extra warmth. Like the cardigan I’m wearing in the photo above from Zara. I paired it with a loose, cropped satin tank and high waisted distressed skinny jeans. The tank hides my belly pooch and the high waisted jeans lengthen my legs and also helps suck in the belly. Just want to add my ripped jeans look, which are all the rave now, are DIY. Step one: play race cars with your toddler while crawling around on your knees and voila. I always, always, always wear a pair of flats or flat soled boots– it’s all about functionality.

If you pulled an all nighter, throw on some sunglasses and you’re good to go.

 

3. Beauty

I give myself a time limit for getting ready. I have to be done with shower, hair, clothes and make-up in 20- 25 minutes. This is my time limit if I decide to wake up before my kids and get ready. My make-up routine is 5 minutes and it’s minimal. My goal is to get a fresh, slept-8 to 10 hours-look. I splash my face with cold water, tone with witch hazel and hydrate with jojoba oil. Then I put concealer under my eye, bronzer at the top of my cheek bones and blush on the apples of my cheeks, I throw on a neutral eye shadow, a couple of coats of mascara and I’m good to go. I don’t use foundation. This method gives me a fresh, awake face. If I don’t have time for a full 5 minute routine. I just do mascara, concealer and blush.

 

4. Mind

I wake up about 10 minutes earlier than planned and either read a few pages of a book or focus on my breathing and the feeling I have in that moment. I’m trying to really enjoy being in the moment. I’m a natural planner and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I know what I’m doing three days from that moment. So my goal is to remember to live the here & now, especially with my little ones.

Your turn: What are your life hacks to save time in the four areas I mentioned (hair, clothes, beauty and mind)? Whether you have kids or not, I’d love to hear from you.

 

Pre-Poo Oil Treatment

Happy New Year Everyone!

The other day, I was skimming through a book a friend gifted me many years ago. The book is about all natural Indian beauty secrets. It also includes a section on healing from the inside, which I appreciate, as all beauty starts from within. The hair section discusses cures for dry hair. Some of the suggestions to combat this problem include: shampooing on an as needed basis, gentle brushing and combing, using creamy conditioners, reducing exposure to strong winds and sun, and overnight coconut oil treatments.

Honestly, nothing new here, but it helps to read about it and have it reiterated. As a lo-po natural, I obviously can’t go without an occasional shampoo. However, I typically cleanse with rhassoul clay, only using commercial shampoos every other month if I notice any product build-up. I’ve never prepped my hair with an oil treatment before cleansing. So I’m giving it a go for the first time today. Ideally, the book suggests doing this overnight. However, I can’t work this into my schedule. So here’s my approach to pre-poo oil treatments:

1. Divide hair into four sections and generously apply coconut oil to both scalp and hair, concentrating on the ends. You could treat yourself to a nice scalp massage at this point.
2. Cover hair in a plastic cap, wet a small towel with very hot water and carefully squeez out the excess water. *Place the damp, hot towel over the plastic cap, place a plastic bag (the kind you get at the grocery store in the fresh produce section) over the towel and cover with a scarf or bonnet.
3. Leave this in for as long as you like, but if you’re stressed for time like me, about 20-30 minutes should be fine.
4. I’ll follow this treatment with rhassoul and condition my hair if necessary.

*Remember heat is the key for effective moisturizing for lo-po hair.

My due date is rapidly approaching and I’m due in a little less than two weeks, but could go at any moment, so my goal today is to get my hair into some kind of protective style and forget about it until after the birth. If you’re a long time follower, you might remember when I was pregnant with my son, I had a fear of going into labor mid-styling. Same thing this time around. So some simple elegant two strand twists might be the way to go again.

I’ll report back with pictures and results after styling (if I’m not in labor— I’m that uncomfortable at this point, I wouldn’t actually mind!).

Do you pre-poo? What kind of results have you noticed?

XO

**UPDATE**

After washing with rhassoul clay, conditioning and applying my leave-in, grapeseed oil and gel, I twisted my hair. I then sat under the dryer for 15 and to let me leave-in absorb. My twists feel moisturized and soft and my hair is shiny and smooth. I think the pre-poo gave it more of a shine than my usual routine, but I’m not 100% sure, so I’ll have to give it a few more tries to test the results. In any case, I’m happy to have my hair twisted and out of the way for the next couple of weeks.

 

Leave-Out: Week 3

A few weeks back, I posted on experimenting with my regimen, specifically, skipping my leave-in. I like a minimalist approach so if I can edit my routine and drop some unnecessary steps that’s a win my book. Here’s a picture from week 3 leave-out experiment. I simply sealed with coconut oil.

About three days post wash, I usually moisturize my hair with a small amount of leave-in or just oil and a little water.

What I’ve noticed over the past few weeks:

• Softer, shinier, bouncier next day hair.
• When, reapplying moisture to completely dry hair (as needed basis) my hair seems to drink up the product. It never does this when it’s damp or wet.
• Less frizz. My theory, fewer products to interact with dew point levels…. just a wild guess.
• Faster styling and drying times.

I’ll continue with my leave-out experiment this entire month to monitor my results. Have any of you tried skipping your leave-in or experimenting with your regimen?

 

Lo-Po Shampoo Dos

Shampoo has a bad rep in the natural hair world. There’s a huge no-poo / curly girl following, who skip this step of their routine. While I don’t think shampoo is the essential ingredient for moisturized, healthy hair, I do think it’s a necessary and beneficial product. I typically use rhassoul clay as a cleanser and conditioner. However, I have a full plate and often don’t have time to mix up my batch of rhassoul clay every week. To make my life a little easier, I shampoo when I’m low on time. For my low-porosity hair, this is a less moisturizing, yet still nice alternative to my rhassoul treatment. It opens up my cuticles and helps my hair absorb the moisturizing conditioner that follows. It’s taken me a lot of trial and error to figure out what works best when shampooing my hair, but I thought I’d share my Lo-Po Shampoo Dos:

1. Shampoo your hair from root to tip. I used to always think I could just shampoo my scalp and then suds would trickle down and remove any grime. I used the scalp technique for years and never understood why I battled build-up. Low porosity hair is very susceptible to build-up and needs a good cleaning to remove product and grime. I’ve noticed by applying shampoo all over, my clean hair is ready to absorb moisture after. You don’t have to apply a ton of shampoo a little goes a long way.
2. Creamy, rich, moisturizing. When I use shampoo, I try to find one that is conditioning. I do try to avoid sulfates, when possible, but a cream based conditioner usually doesn’t leave my hair feeling stripped and dry.
3. Do not detangle your hair with shampoo in it and do not tangle it too much in the process of shampooing, be gentle.
4. Follow-up with a rich, deep conditioner. Whether it’s doctoring up your own blend or using a purchased deep conditioner, it’s essential to apply conditioner from root to tips and let it sit on your hair for a little (e.g. at least 15 minutes).

That’s it. What are some of your Lo-Po Shampoo Dos? Or do you follow a no-poo regimen?

Interesting link: http://www.blackhairinformation.com/growth/shampooing/co-washing-everyone/

Operation Save My Edges

My edges suffered so much after my pregnancy. I’m finally starting to see the light, as they’ve started to grow back, granted slowly. I still have to use my comb-over technique from time to time. Pulling my hair back completely, is not an option, as I don’t want to put too much pressure on my edges and I don’t want expose my barely-there edges. So, I wear my hair down a lot and if I do pull my hair back, it’s always in a very loose low pony or bun.

Yesterday, I did a braid out and I loved the look, but my edges killed it and made my hair look flat and lifeless. I used a headband to hide my thinning hair and give the illusion of volume by fluffing. This is a nice quick fix that’s gentle on my edges. In addition, to being gentle with my edges, I’ve tried massaging them lightly with a light oil (e.g. jojoba) and mixing in some essential oils like lavender and tea tree. I’ll have to pick up some rosemary essential oil as I’ve heard this is really good for hair growth.

Are you team thin edges? What are some tricks that have worked for you? Even if your edges are normal to thick, what are some tricks you use to keep them that way??

Happy Sunday!

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:

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?

 

Low Porosity Friend V2: Slippery Elm

It’s been a while since I’ve added some new lo-po friends to my list of products. That’s mainly because, when I find a good thing, I stick with it. However, I do like to experiment from time to time. Recently, I’ve found a couple of ingredients that do that my hair loves. I’ll discuss one today.

If you’ve followed my blog from the beginning, you know that I absolutely love Kinky Curly Knot Today. Recently, I started to think to myself, what is it about this leave-in that makes my hair so soft, my curls so defined and detangling a breeze. Light bulb: check the ingredient list. That’s when I became curious about experimenting with some of the ingredients on the list to see if I could use them on my hair in their pure form. One of the ingredients, high on the list is slippery elm and man am I happy I did. 

Let me set the scene. My hair has been in a slump lately. It looked dry and rough and all kinds of bad. I decided to have a spa night. I pre-conditioned my dry hair with Shea Moisture Deep Conditioning Mask, let it marinate, while I chased the little one around. Note: this stuff works horribly on my hair wet and it’s no wonder, shea butter, while it’s a wonderful sealer for my skin, it does nothing for my hair. Why do I keep trying to convince myself to use it!! Any way, I used it as a pre-poo hoping for better results. It was ok, I guess. I shampooed my hair with the conditioner on my ends. Then followed up by detangling with slippery elm and adding in conditioner to moisturize my hair, letting it sit a few minutes then rinsing. Um, can I just say, my curls were clumped and so juicy. I did a twist out and my hair felt so good the next day. I actually did a happy dance!!

Pre-Poo on Dry Hair w/ SM

After rinsing SE and conditioner

Twist out

 

So here are the deets on the process and the benefits of slippery elm.

Slippery elm is found in Central and Eastern US and Eastern Canada. The inner bark of this tree has medicinal properties and it’s used to treat many superficial and internal problems.

Slippery Elm Detangler Recipe

-2 TBSP slippery elm bark + -1.5 – 2 cups hot water

Pour water into a container, mix in slippery elm bark until dissolved. Let sit until water cools.

The slippery elm will form mucilage, voila your detangler.

I imagine if you  could use a tea cloth to strain the particle, but I didn’t and it wasn’t a problem.

Add your favorite conditioner while the slippery elm is in your hair.

Why slippery elm for lo-po hair?

• I don’t know what the PH of slippery elm is, but research shows that it has an alkalizing effect and is often used to help with acid reflex. Remember for lo-po hair alkaline products are typically beneficial in helping open up the cuticle and moisturize the hair.
• The mucilage that the elm releases makes detangling a breeze. The strands clump and are weighed down, which helps the fingers and comb glide through your curls. My hair shrinks up easily and is typically really light weight. This tends to result in lots of tangling and long detangling sessions. Not with slippery elm, it takes me 5 – 10 minutes.
• It promotes growth (bra strap length, here we come)
• Makes your hair soft and smooth (lord knows I need it with all this new hair growth returning after postpartum shedding, I literally hair a halo.)
• Heals damaged hair

Need I say more. Have you ever tried slippery elm?