Nail Your Regimen Challenge 2016

[snoop]

This challenge was fun and helpful when it ran in 2014. (Thanks @faithVA)

We'll use 2016 to nail our regimens!

Tell us About You

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning:
Current Length:
Current Products:
Current Techniques:
What in your regimen are trying to nail:
What's your starting strategy:
Anything else you want to share:

***Check in weekly/monthly to update us on your progress.

 

[snoop]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Natural

Current Length: Between BSL and MBL

Current Products:
Cleanser: Homemade mud wash (Kaolin clay with goat milk powder)
Shampoo (occasional use): Komaza Care Moja Moisturizing Shampoo or Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture shampoo
Conditioner: Giovanni Smooth as Silk
Protein Treatment: Komaza Care Protein Hair Strengthener
Moisturizer/spritz: Giovanni Direct Leave-In + water, homemade hair cream
Oils: None to seal, EO for my edges

Current Techniques:
Clay wash weekly followed by conditioner
Protein treatments every 4 weeks
Moisturize daily (no sealing)
Two strand twist (protective style)

What in your regimen are trying to nail: Trying to eliminate webbing. I want the separation of my strands like the MHM girls without doing the MHM process. (I’m not sure if I need more moisture or more protein.)

What's your starting strategy: Clay washing with water rinses between wash days. DC/steaming every other week. Nightly massages with or without EO

Anything else you want to share:

 

[nothidden]

What in your regimen are trying to nail: Trying to eliminate webbing. I want the separation of my strands like the MHM girls without doing the MHM process. (I’m not sure if I need more moisture or more protein.)

For me, this was all about technique. Once I began applying everything in sections from root to tip, I immediately saw root to tip curl definition and separation.

 

[julzinha]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Natural

Current Length: Layered APL/BSB

Current Products:
Shampoo: Trader Joes Tingle Tree Shampoo and Neutrogena T/Sal Shampoo
Conditioner: Suave Tropical Coconut
Deep Conditioner: Naturelle Grow Marshmallow Root and Bee Mine Be-Ti-Ful DC
Protein Treatment: Aphogee 2 Step Mixed with Neutral Protein Filler
Moisturizer/spritz: Infusium 23 mixed with African Pride Olive Miracle Braid Spray and Aloe Vera Juice (in braids), Lustrasilk Curl Activator (out of braids)
Oils: Njoy Growth Oil

Current Techniques:
Wash and condition every 2 weeks
Protein treatments every 8 weeks
Moisturize every other day (no sealing)
Braids and weave (protective style)

What in your regimen are trying to nail: I want my hair to be as thick as possible and to retain at LEAST 1 inch every month

What's your starting strategy: Continue protective styling with braids and switch up my supplements for improve thickness and growth

Anything else you want to share: I have my 2016 goal length and thickness on my Pintrest board

 

[faithVA]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Natural
Current Length: NL
Current Products: Terraveda Organix or homemade MHM products
Current Techniques: MHM
What in your regimen are trying to nail: Everything. I just switched to Terraveda so I'm trying to incorporate that. I'm trying to figure out my protein treatment frequency. I just started using Olaplex so I need to figure out how often I want to use that and when. And I'm trying to switch over to semi-permanent color versus permanent color so I'm trying to work that in since it will need to be done more frequently.
What's your starting strategy:
I'm going to use the Terraveda Organix products every 3 to 4 days. I will do the full TVO regimen every 2 weeks. Every 4th week I will do protein before doing the full TVO regimen. Every 3rd week I will do semi-permanent color and I will do a mudwash and Olaplex before applying the color.
Anything else you want to share:


Trial Regimen
Color Regimen
Mudwash
Ion Pre-Color Treatment
Apply color (use heat or triple baggy for 45+ minutes)
Cool rinse
Leave-In
Styler
Style in flat twist
Note: For up to 4 days after, do not wash, use oil or spritz hair

Week 2 & Mid-week Cowash: Standard TVO Cowash
1. Cowash with Terra Veda Organix Apple Cowash
2. Apply Leave-in and baggy
3. Spritz hair with cold water
4. Apply styler
5. Style in flat twist

Olaplex once a quarter
Dusting once a quarter if possible. Otherwise every 8 weeks

Determine when to do Full TVO Regimen and protein

 

[faithVA]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Natural

Current Length: Between BSL and MBL

Current Products:
Cleanser: Homemade mud wash (Kaolin clay with goat milk powder)
Shampoo (occasional use): Komaza Care Moja Moisturizing Shampoo or Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture shampoo
Conditioner: Giovanni Smooth as Silk
Protein Treatment: Komaza Care Protein Hair Strengthener
Moisturizer/spritz: Giovanni Direct Leave-In + water, homemade hair cream
Oils: None to seal, EO for my edges

Current Techniques:
Clay wash weekly followed by conditioner
Protein treatments every 4 weeks
Moisturize daily (no sealing)
Two strand twist (protective style)

What in your regimen are trying to nail: Trying to eliminate webbing. I want the separation of my strands like the MHM girls without doing the MHM process. (I’m not sure if I need more moisture or more protein.)

What's your starting strategy: Clay washing with water rinses between wash days. DC/steaming every other week. Nightly massages with or without EO

Anything else you want to share:

I will be watching to see what you come up with on the webbing. My webbing is fierce. I may need more protein. I've done intense moisture and haven't seen a difference.

 

[CodeRed]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Relaxed
Current Length: Somewhere between neck and shoulder length layered
Current Products:
Nairobi Detoxifying Shampoo
Nairobi Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
Mane 'n Tail Conditioners
Joico Moisture Recovery Balm
Oil mixes
Aveeno Nourishing Leave In
Current Techniques:
Oil scalp as needed (before washing - for a few hours. I can't leave oil in my scalp/hair longer than that)
Wash
Condition (deep condition once a week)
Blow dry
What in your regimen are trying to nail:
The products. I can't use cheap shampoos and I just realized that maybe a few days ago I notice when I use them the products I'm used to working don't work the same and my hair often feels just coated, sometimes breaking more. But when I use my Nairobi shampoos (salon product) everything that follows works better so I'm going to try this theory out during this challenge. I also want to see how consistency with this regimen works. I've been doing this regimen with slight variations for over a year now but I changed the products that I was using and incorporated helpful oils in the past 6 months and it's then that I saw a real change. Going to get a much needed trim after my relaxer next week and keep on with this regimen with "better" products and see what this year brings.
What's your starting strategy:
Oiling scalp with safflower oil mix hours before washing
Washing with "salon" shampoos only
Sticking with a product to be sure it's working (going to use Mane 'n Tail conditioners for the next 3 months and will move to a different conditioner after for another 3 months)
Start fresh with a good trim next week and make sure to pay attention to how my hair responds to salon shampoos over time
Anything else you want to share: I hope this works lol

 

[snoop]

I will be watching to see what you come up with on the webbing. My webbing is fierce. I may need more protein. I've done intense moisture and haven't seen a difference.

It's funny, I just started protein treatments this fall and I fell like this may be where the problem started. I do feel like the protein is good for my hair though.

 

[snoop]

Welcome @julzinha. How much do you retain per month, now?

 

[julzinha]

Welcome @julzinha. How much do you retain per month, now?

My hair grows at different rates all over my head. On good months, at least 1/2 in for slow growth areas and 2 in a month for the fast growth areas.

 

[snoop]

@CodeRed Thanks for joining us!
I hope that your experiment with the salon products works.
What kind of oils are you pre-pooing with?

 

[CodeRed]

@CodeRed Thanks for joining us!
I hope that your experiment with the salon products works.
What kind of oils are you pre-pooing with?

Safflower mixed with rosemary, white thyme, carrot, lavender and cedar wood essential oils. They really helped my hair thicken up last year. I'll be using it on my scalp only though. I was using my oil mix on my whole head but I found that the shampoos I'm using don't really strip my hair so I don't have to deal with extra dryness.

 

[HaveSomeWine]

I need help with nailing a permanent regimen. I have this habit of never finishing what I start. I start out with amazing, somewhat complicated regimens tommy to end up doing the bare minimum. I never end up sticking with them.
I am trying to reach my hair goal by Christmas 2016.

Currently, I water wash/rinse daily and apply a leave in conditioner and oil. Then I either bun or simply wear it down. Every three weeks, I shampoo and condition. Instead of using a regular rinse out conditioner, I use a deep conditioner that I leave on for however long I am in the shower, probably ten to twenty minutes. I rinse and squeeze the excess water from my hair. Then, I apply my leave in conditioner and oil. I let my hair air dry down and simply wear that wash and go style. Sometimes if I want to go to sleep after a wash or just don't want to wear my hair down, I will try to absorb the excess water with a towel and just bun my hair. I trim like every 7-8 months.

I'm looking for a much more simple regimen that I can easily stick with until the end of the year. One or two trims only, absolutely no heat or chemicals until I reach my goals.

Natural/shortest layers near APL and longest layers near MBL. I want full MBL or the shortest layers to be at MBL and the longest layers past MBL.

 

[faithVA]

I'm working on rotating 3 different regimens. Week 1 is my hair color week. Week 2 is just a standard wash week. Week 3 is my olaplex, protein and full TVO regimen week. I haven't done a full rotation yet to really see if this will work but this is what I am shooting for. Mid-week I will just do a cowash with TVO and put it in flat twist. I will leave my major washes until the weekend.

 

[fatimablush]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning:

Current Length:twa is immeasurable--to short--

Current Products: As I Am Co-wash; Tea Tingle Shampoo from Trader Joes; Pantene Moisturizing
SHampoo, Loreal Ceramide Conditioner; Loreal Moisturizing Conditioner; Trader Joe's Nourishing SPa
Conditioner used as Leave in; homemade spritz; Joico Conditioning Balm, Qhmet Biologics Amla &Olive
Heavy Cream, Eco Styling Gel, flax seed gel with grapeseed oil, massage with Emu oil or use the hair
growth oil from Hydrathermals, pomade and last but not least the Grease.

Current Techniques: massage scalp..it seems to really need it when my hair is this short; spritz hair before
styling, detangle, apply products. Wash, Condition, Moisturize,(loc with the grease) style when needed.

What in your regimen are trying to nail: how to keep my hair from being too dry. i know it is the meds
that i am on as well.

What's your starting strategy:Anything else you want to share:my hair is resembling Naturally Candi
from youtube...but i really like JMayo's style and her finger coils.

 

[snoop]

I think for the next couple of weeks I'm going to focus on getting my sebum to come in again. My hair doesn't feel dry, especially considering it's winter but I'm not thrilled with the webbing. If I work consistently at it I should be able to get full coverage by next weekend. I'm trying to decide whether or not to put my hair into mini twists before or after I reach full coverage. Hopefully, that will help keep my strands separated.

 

[bronxsoloist]

I've been natural for 10 years and on my healthy journey for 3.5 years
It has taken time patience and plenty trial and error to get a good regimen going
My issue is usually, I forget what I did, and then do something different the next time around.
Thankfully I keep an online journal now so I can look back on what works a and what doesn't.

My ends aren't the greatest, but they're mine and if I'm going to keep them,I need to figure a way to keep them in better shape. They get all tangled and dry. So obviously I need to keep my hair better detangled and better moisturized. Simple eh?

I've realized that it's better for me to stretch before styling, but I've never done that much in the past and usually style on wet hair.
I slacked off my oil Routine which is a must DUH
I used to GHE frequently, definitely must add that in there, I've been bad
All of this is part of my Routine outside of Wash Day, which changes up on me too. But I think I've got it now,

Pre poo with OLIVE not coconut oil. I need the slip.
Warmed up conditioner and coconut and olive oil
Detangle and rinse in sections
Deep Condition Rinse Bantu knots
Air dry about 3 days. Yup. Lots of thick hair.
Then I've a friend put in some large box braids, and I hide my hair

Now THAT would be my ideal Routine IF I could stick to it.

My products are : coconut oil, olive oil,almond oil,glycerin, shea butter,mango butter, cocoa butter, VO5 Shea Butter or Coconut Conditioner, Shea Moisture with Manuka Honey.

I have MBL stretched hair.

 

[BrownSkinPoppin]

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning: Natural
Current Length: Bra strap length
Current Products: Too many to name lol. But I'm mainly using all shea moisture products
Current Techniques: not sure I understand the question lol
What in your regimen are trying to nail: Being consistent. I'm trying to thicken my hair
What's your starting strategy: Weekly hot oil treatments and tea rinses. washing and deep conditioning my hair once a week. protein treatments every two months
Anything else you want to share: I'm protective styling with wigs for the year so I'm trying to nail this regime with my beehive braids

 

[faithVA]

This thread has been a little quiet. I forgot I signed up for this challenge.

Tonight I'm working on my coloring regimen. I'm experimenting with ION Semi permanent color. If this works I am going to be very pleased.

I haven't been doing much to my hair. The past two washes I just water rinsed because I didn't feel like cowashing because it was so cold. But my gray was starting to show and I'm snowed in so I really have no excuse for not washing.

I did a long wash day today.
Started with Cleansing with AIA Cleansing Pudding
Olaplex 3 treatment for 15 minutes
TVO Quinoa Protein treatment for 40 minutes
Carmeltini treatment for 2 hours
Mudwash for 30 minutes
Apple Cowash
Ion Precolor treatment
Ion Color

Now sitting with color in under 5 conditioning caps for 45 minutes.

Will rinse with cool water. Then I will apply the ION After Color Treatment and KKNT and put in flat twist.

I'm thinking of putting in 2 strand twist but we will see how I feel tomorrow. I probably won't and will just put in flat twist and save 2 strands for another day.


If the color holds, it will help me figure out where to apply color on my wash day and I can skip the shampoo before a color application.

 

[faithVA]

OK based on yesterdays results I've narrowed down my hair coloring regimen.

1. Start with a mudwash.
2. Use Ions Pre-color treatment
3. Apply color and let sit for 1 hour if not using heat but will definitely try to use heat.
4. Rinse with cooler water
5. Spritz with cold water
6. Leave hair alone for 4 days to let color set.

Color hair every 2 to 2 1/2 weeks

 

[mzteaze]

Natural hair with color
Between SL and APL

Want to maintain my 4-6 inches for 2016.

So here's my reg:

Sundays:. Protein DC - usually Megatek plus SSA, JBCO, Vatika
on the first Sunday of the month:. Chicoro's Protein pre poo

Thursdays: Hot Oil pre-poo with steam followed by Moisture DC

Daily:. Short scalp massage, Vatika and JBCO on damp hair

Vitamins:. B complex, Ferrofood, Nioxin, Vitamin D3, Alfalfa, probiotics, raw garlic

 

[CodeRed]

I got my trim and I've added serums to my list of products... right now I have a sample size of Chi Silk Infusion and a sample size of Biosilk Silk Therapy Lite. I bought them to help me protect my ends. Have only tried the Silk Infusion so far but it's wonderful. I think a serum is going to be a staple in my reggie.

 

[snoop]

I've got my hair in mini twists but I really need to remember to massage my scalp nightly or at least 4 times a week. I have some sebum but not as much as I would like. I also need to find a way to frequently wash in twists without them looking frizzy.

I still moisturize daily. I'm going to try adding AVJ to my Giovanni + water spritz to see if I get lasting moisture.

After putting in my twists I dusted, but I might have to do a search and destroy since I saw some ssk's in some of the twists.

 

[faithVA]

I've got my hair in mini twists but I really need to remember to massage my scalp nightly or at least 4 times a week. I have some sebum but not as much as I would like. I also need to find a way to frequently wash in twists without them looking frizzy.

I still moisturize daily. I'm going to try adding AVJ to my Giovanni + water spritz to see if I get lasting moisture.

After putting in my twists I dusted, but I might have to do a search and destroy since I saw some ssk's in some of the twists.

Please share if you figure out the frizzy twist dilemma. I put my twist on perm rods before I rinse, not even washing and that helped some.

 

[snoop]

I decided to do wash day yesterday instead of today. It was also time to do my monthly protein treatment. I decided to try Bekura's Whiskey Soak. I wasn't really impressed. My hair is still in twists so maybe that's why i can't feel the difference but I'll probably do a protein treatment with Komaza today.

(For the record, I wasn't impressed with the Y.A.M. dc either. I waited 2+ years to try this stuff. What a let down. I might give them a second chance before moving on.)

 

[CodeRed]

I'm going to see how my hair responds to cutting out steaming for the month of February. I'm going to use my products exactly how they say they're supposed to be used, both regular conditioners and deep conditioners (almost all my deep treatments say leave on for 5 minutes or less without heat) and see how that goes.

 

[faithVA]

I decided to do wash day yesterday instead of today. It was also time to do my monthly protein treatment. I decided to try Bekura's Whiskey Soak. I wasn't really impressed. My hair is still in twists so maybe that's why i can't feel the difference but I'll probably do a protein treatment with Komaza today.

(For the record, I wasn't impressed with the Y.A.M. dc either. I waited 2+ years to try this stuff. What a let down. I might give them a second chance before moving on.)

I think you should move on. It already sounds like you have given them a fair enough chance.

 

[snoop]

I think you should move on. It already sounds like you have given them a fair enough chance.

I'm so sad. They're bloody expensive and I really wanted to like them after all of the positive reviews on this board. I think that if is tried them two years ago they would've agreed with my hair. I think my porosity had changed over time.

 

[faithVA]

Adapting my regimen a bit.

Week 1 will be a color regimen.
Week 2 and 4 are flexible right now between tvo, water rinsing and cowashing.
Week 3 will be my protein, carmetini, color regimen. That will be my longest day. I may swap weeks 1 and 3 but that's just about timing.

If I do that it means I should be doing week 1 this weekend. I will see if I have time.

 

[CodeRed]

I tried to use Suave Clarifying Shampoo... Nope. Sticking to professional/salon shampoos. I felt the difference... My hair felt a bit stiffer and didn't have the same movement as if I used a higher end brand.