Nail Your Regimen Challenge 2014

[Dilettante]

I've been natural for way too long to not have a regimen. Need to fix that

Natural - Relaxed – Texturized/Texlaxed - Transitioning:
Current Length: Bra strap/BSB after a hefty trim
Current Products: um...Tresemme naturals, Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Buttercream, Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream. Coconut oil. Kinky Curly Curling Custard on occasion. Searching for that perfect deep conditioner.
Current Techniques: Ideally I'll do a hot oil treatment, DC, and then cowash once a week. Maybe cowash midweek to refresh.
What in your regimen are trying to nail: Leaving my hair alone in a productive way. I tend to either cowash every single day or else completely neglect it.
What's your starting strategy: Incorporating hot oil treatments. I tried one for the first time last week and my hair was singing. I might try to learn to roller set. I need to find a way to leave my hair alone without getting mad tangles (most protective styles are murder on my baby fine strands)
Anything else you want to share: One day I'll be waist length.

 

[Ogoma]

I have decided I cannot live with the smell of the Komaza Aloe My Hair Cream so I will be using the Califia to seal until I use it up. I will probably be using it for a few months and then start mixing up my own butters to seal with.

My hair held up so well on vacation. It is super soft. After a while, I stopped moisturizing the length because it was getting greasy and just moisturized my ends. My whole hair is super soft. Very happy.

I will co-wash tomorrow and put them in crown braids. I will start following my regimen strictly this Sunday. This Sunday is my quarterly protein treatment.

 

[ckisland]

I got a 6 inch cut a few days ago and am ready to start 2014 fresh.

The ends are still a little thin, but the splits are gone. Yes! I also finally got my Curlformers knockoffs so I'm ready to set all next year.

You've got a stronger soul than me, because I could not cut off that much in one sitting . I was MBL last year, after a few sessions of cutting, growing, cutting again, needed up at CBL at the end of the year. I wanted to start the new year fresh too .

Things I've learned so far:

1. My relaxed hair isn't dry, it's just kinky as hell and seems dry when it's allowed to air dry loose. My natural curl pattern softened the kink. For my own sanity, I will always set my hair some kind of way after I wash.

2. I need to oil my scalp, the edges specifically, like 3 times a week. The relaxer dried my scalp something fierce, but I hope keeping it clean and moisturized will get it back to normal.

3. I don't need to comb my hair except on wash day. At first I was grabbing the comb every chance I got, but the past several days, I've been just using my fingers to style without even thinking about it.

4. I think I'll moisturize my hair on wash day and once during the week. I also want to experiment with using GF Sleek & Shine Oil treatment (or the Marvelous Oil) as my sealant instead of regular oil.

 

[divachyk]

Hair: Relaxed
Current Length: WL, kinda
Current Products: a little this and a little that
Current Techniques: less is more
What in your regimen are trying to nail: maintain health and thicken hemline
What's your starting strategy: heavy sealing
Anything else you want to share: I'm horrible at updating beyond my initial post but will do my best.

Staples that I keep in rotation
Clarifier: HV Amala Deep Cleanse
Shampoo: Bee Mine Botancial
Co-Cleanser: HV Amala Cream Rinse
DCner: HV SitriNillah / AO HSR
LI: Pura Body Naturals MuruMuru Moisture Milk
Sealer: Avocado Oil / My Honey Child Type 4

 

[xxinsanexxchels]

I want to join this challenge. I finally decided to bite the bullet and subscribe to this forum after YEARS of being a lurker lol.

[\QUOTE]

Welcome to the thread. It sounds like you have a good plan. I hope the NaturelleGrow products work for you. I am hoping to give them a try later this year.

Thank you! I will let you all know how each one worked for me in a future post.

 

[sissimpson]

Leaving on a cruise Saturday.... just realized it will be a good idea to wash my hair before I leave... maybe not.... hair is set in flat twists for a twistout to wear to work tonight. I like to pre-poo while I sleep. I'm not taking these twists out to do it today, and doing it tomorrow will be cutting it too close. But that will work out okay, because I will wash it in the spa onboard, then DC with steam in the sauna!

This is a good step in the process of nailing my regimen to be mindful of what I'm doing with my hair, and not so random.

Hmmm, maybe it's time to set some goals!

 

[Angel of the North]

I'm toying with the idea of adding some supplements other than the priteva to my regimen

 

[faithVA]

Last night I diluted the CD Hair Milk with a lot of water. It is still fairly thick though. I used my hands to apply water to each section, followed it by the hair milk and then twisted it up. It worked out better. My hair is nicely defined and a bit softer. My theory is that my hair likes a product that has a higher concentration of water to moisturize with. The key is finding out how much water I need to add to moisturizers to get them to work.

 

[faithVA]

Oiled my scalp with castor oil/eo blend. Used hazelnut on the length. Spritzed my hair with water/vegemoist and then with Hairveda spritz and baggied for 2 hours. Then flat twisted with Curl Junkie Argan and Olive oil.

 

[Ogoma]

I have my hair in crown braids, which means I don't need to do anything at all to my hair until wash day. My braiding hands are normally tight, but I was conscious of not making it to tight this time and it is not feeling any pulling on my scalp, but it is still neat.

 

[uofmpanther]

My curls came right back yesterday after I washed my flat iron attempt, so I'm happy for that. I have my hair banded and air drying in 6 sections. I'll come back to post what I did if this works.

I also tried a new deep conditioner that is way too fragrant for me, so I'm still on the DC hunt.

ETA: Banding sort of worked. On the upside, my roots and the length of my hair got blowdryer straight. I'll try to add a picture. On the downside, my hair was still damp almost 24 hours later and my ends were a frizzy mess. I'm going to look for some more youtube videos and other resources to see if I can get my ends right. If I can, banding is a great alternate to my curlformers for airdrying

 

[blackeyes31626]

*sigh* I don't know about this avocado mask as my sole dtm. My hair feels hard like I've been doing protein tmts every week and not following up w/ a moisturizing deep conditioner.

 

[tashboog]

Last night I went back to my new love Claudie's Revitalizer Normalizing deep conditioner and today my hair is really thanking me . I can't function without this DC so it's officially on my HG list and included in my regimen .

I'm now banding my hair in preparation of mini twist. This is going to take me all freaking weekend to install ! The things we go thru to retain length . But its a New Year so its time for me to go back to protective style mode .

 

[uofmpanther]

Last night I went back to my new love Claudie's Revitalizer Normalizing deep conditioner and today my hair is really thanking me . I can't function without this DC so it's officially on my HG list and included in my regimen .

I'm now banding my hair in preparation of mini twist. This is going to take me all freaking weekend to install ! The things we go thru to retain length . But its a New Year so its time for me to go back to protective style mode .

What do you do to your ends when you band? I tried folding them over and got a frizzy mess at the end.

 

[alanaturelle]

I'm currently sitting under the steamer with a DC in my hair. From my last year's experience, I noticed that it's better for me to wait a day or two after indigo to do a deep condition. My hair has a deeper and richer color when I do it like that.

 

[tashboog]

What do you do to your ends when you band? I tried folding them over and got a frizzy mess at the end.

uofmpanther I fold mine over as well but u can apply a heavier product to ur ends. I usually apply castor jelly to smooth my ends.

 

[Angel of the North]

I'm getting ready to have my first wash day of the year and I can't wait, I'm giving myself the full works including a protein treatment and a DC using steam. I will post my starting pic when this has been achieved.

I have been looking at my regimen and ways that I can tweak it without adding 50-100 new steps. As I have been unable to keep to any form of a regimen for the last 5 months and it hasn't cost me too dearly, I will wash my hair bi-weekly hopefully this will help me to retain more as wash days are the days I lose the most amount of hair. These are some of the things I'm thinking of doing but, I will incorporate them slowly throughout the year so I can monitor any progress or adversities.

Add MSM supplements: I have wanted to try these for health reasons but am aware that my hair could benefit also, there are a couple more but they probably wouldn't have any impact on my hair so I won't bother to mention them.

Fenugreek: I have been reading up about this and would like to create a leave-in spray with the tea and I would also like to add it to my DC maybe once a month. I have no wish to smell of curry so it looks like I'll be going with the seeds opposed to the powder.

New co-wash conditioners: I have avoided these for years because of certain ingredients but got to thinking that now my hair is relaxed it may like them now. I have aussie moist, a few motions and a couple HE cons in my arsenal now. I have also added an old favourite of mine Africa's Best organics hair mayonnaise.

A dusting schedule: I have a proper trim with every TU every four months, I usually dust on an ad hoc basis but I want to nail down a proper dusting routine. I'm thinking about dusting half way through my stretch during the colder months and 3 times during the warmer months when I'm more prone to wearing my hair down or in a ponytail. I feel like if I have a routine, it could prevent the need to take off so much when I do eventually dust and when I get trims, the goal is maximum retention this year.

Bring back ACV final rinse: This is tried and tested, it helps me with moisture retention and ph balance I only stopped because I got lazy. I know moisture is one of the keys to retention for me.

Extentions/Braids: I'm assuming my hair is at it's most delicate during the last month of my stretch and I can imagine what the daily manipulation with all of that new growth is having on my retention levels. This would be the perfect PS for the last month of my stretch.

Invest in a silk/satin bonnet: I can bun for 3-4 days if I've wrapped up my hair with a silk scarf, this would mean less manipulation = more retention I worry about tying the scarf and how it could lead to loss of hair, I think I could get on with a bonnet.

I think because I can see my hair getting back to the length it was when I first relaxed it from being natural, it's making me feel more dedicated to the cause. I find sometimes wash days can be arduous or I'm too time deficient to do what I need/want to do, this makes it difficult for me to enjoy it. I need to get back to that place where everything fitted around my hair and not the other way around erplexed

 

[ckisland]

Because of my scalp dryness, I'm going to use a cleansing conditioner instead of shampoo. Hopefully it gets my scalp clean and adds moisture. If it works out, I'll move my poo days to every other week and co-cleanse in between.

 

[Beany]

I learned that I must have olive oil and/or castor oil in my DCs. This week I DC'd with yes to carrots, YAM, HH soft and creamy horsetail butter and grapeseed oil and it didn't feel as soft. It was ok, but my hair has felt better.
My leave in was HH SCM and I twisted with java bean and honey hair balm.
This week I also sprayed the coconut and hibiscus moisture mist AFTER I twisted my hair and it dried kind of hard. I usually spray it after my leave in and before my styler, I will go back to doing that. This morning I softened it up with some WGHO and all was well.
It's cold outside so my hair is in a bun in a baggy under a beanie.

 

[lamaria211]

I washed and DCd this weekend and sticking to my reggie I won't do it again till next week. Just M&S

 

[faithVA]

blackeyes31626;19471943[/USER]]*sigh* I don't know about this avocado mask as my sole dtm. My hair feels hard like I've been doing protein tmts every week and not following up w/ a moisturizing deep conditioner.

Some ladies do find that avocado acts like a protein treatment in their hair. Perhaps you want to try something else for a while to see if you have different results.

 

[faithVA]

Fenugreek: I have been reading up about this and would like to create a leave-in spray with the tea and I would also like to add it to my DC maybe once a month. I have no wish to smell of curry so it looks like I'll be going with the seeds opposed to the powder.

Please let me know how your spray works out.

 

[faithVA]

I finally found a wig that I like so I will be wigging it for a while. Once I get the people at work use to it I may be 1 or 2 more. Wigging it will allow me to shampoo or cowash my hair midweek. That will allow me to try out different things and hopefully figure out my regimen quicker. I am hoping that I can improve the moisture in my hair as well and have some good retention by the spring.

Tonight I used the Organicals Follicle Stimulator as a prepoo and shampooed with As I Am Cleansing Pudding. I now have a Fenugreek paste on my hair. I will cowash that out with Deva Curl One. I will use Marshmallow Moisture Balm, followed by Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner as a leave-in. Then I will seal with Dax Bergamot. I have two samples of this. I am going to try an ACV spritz on one side after the leave-in to see how my hair does. I will see how this goes.

 

[faithVA]

After shampooing and having my hair be a tangly mess, I have learned that I need to prepoo before I shampoo. So next time I will apply a light oil to my strands and apply a conditioner before I shampoo. I usually at least detangle with conditioner so I haven't had this problem in a while.

I used fenugreek paste which I think will work well. I need to add oil to the mix. And I probably want to use it on days where I don't shampoo. But it did soften my hair and I think I need to use heat with it.

I used marshmallow moisture balm,, Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner, followed by Dax Bergamot Cream and I think that is a good combination. I only have 1 more sample of the DAX Bergamot so I will repeat this one more time to check my results.

I will see how it dries tomorrow but I feel good about it so far.

 

[alanaturelle]

Bun my hair today for the week. I'll moisturize every other day wuth water and coconut oil.

 

[CodeRed]

Ok so now I know I like seaweed. There's lots of iodine in it too so I'll make sure I concentrate on my scalp.

 

[girlonfire]

I finally found a wig that I like so I will be wigging it for a while. Once I get the people at work use to it I may be 1 or 2 more. Wigging it will allow me to shampoo or cowash my hair midweek. That will allow me to try out different things and hopefully figure out my regimen quicker. I am hoping that I can improve the moisture in my hair as well and have some good retention by the spring.

Tonight I used the Organicals Follicle Stimulator as a prepoo and shampooed with As I Am Cleansing Pudding. I now have a Fenugreek paste on my hair. I will cowash that out with Deva Curl One. I will use Marshmallow Moisture Balm, followed by Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner as a leave-in. Then I will seal with Dax Bergamot. I have two samples of this. I am going to try an ACV spritz on one side after the leave-in to see how my hair does. I will see how this goes.

How do you apply the fenugreek? Do you apply it to your scalp as well?

 

[Ogoma]

Started on my new regimen. Determined to stay the course until the end of the year.

Completed first quarterly protein treatment per new regimen. Used up the last bit of the Bask Whiskey Soak. It is a milder protein than the CJ Repair Me so not sure if it is strong enough to last me until the next PT in 3 months, but I hope so.

I will be doing Kalpi Tone glosses in the months between PT and that has some strengthening herbs/powders so I hope it is good. Will be using Repair Me exclusively for PT going forward.

Used Aussie 3 Min to DC after PT. I really like it. It worked just as well as CJ Smoothing Conditioner. I will be testing it out this whole month and will test Giovanni Olive & Avocado conditioner next month. If they all work similarly, I will go with the one that is the cheapest and easiest to get.

Off to a good start.

 

[Angel of the North]

Started on my new regimen. Determined to stay the course until the end of the year.

Completed first quarterly protein treatment per new regimen. Used up the last bit of the Bask Whiskey Soak. It is a milder protein than the CJ Repair Me so not sure if it is strong enough to last me until the next PT in 3 months, but I hope so.

I will be doing Kalpi Tone glosses in the months between PT and that has some strengthening herbs/powders so I hope it is good. Will be using Repair Me exclusively for PT going forward.

Used Aussie 3 Min to DC after PT. I really like it. It worked just as well as CJ Smoothing Conditioner. I will be testing it out this whole month and will test Giovanni Olive & Avocado conditioner next month. If they all work similarly, I will go with the one that is the cheapest and easiest to get.

Off to a good start.

Ogoma If you're using products that contain protein between your treatments I'm sure it will be fine, you can always increase your PT's if you feel your hair needs more protein.

I'm aiming for every 8-9 weeks My hair seems to need more protein when it's relaxed.

 

[faithVA]

Ok so now I know I like seaweed. There's lots of iodine in it too so I'll make sure I concentrate on my scalp.

hmm, I have some kelp. Maybe I will add this to my fenugreek paste