My co-washing method

During the fall/winter season I only shampoo once a month and co-wash during the weeks in between shampoo days. One day I was running short on time so I applied the conditioner (Giovanni SAS) I was planning on using (for the cowash) to my hair while it was dry. The conditioner remained on for about 30 minutes before I was able to finally rinse and detangle in the shower. The results were amazing (to me) and I was convinced it was probably a fluke but I had to test it out a few more times just to make sure.

With the next few weekends that passed I did the following:
-Took down what ever protective style I was wearing that week
-Applied conditioner to my (dry) hair while putting it in four sections
-Let the conditioner sit on my hair until is was dry/stiff and then rinsed in sections
-I detangled each section with my rubber based brush (like a denman) as I rinsed
-Finally, applied a leave-in conditioner and styled as usual

This method was quick and easy. My hair was detangled, extremely manageable, and soft in the end. As a result, I am now doing the steps above with all my winter cowashes.

I love accidentally discovering great ways to revamp my regimen!

My Hair: Pre-poo (update)

I have been combining these items long enough to now provide appropriate feedback - Jasmine oil and Castor oil.

For the last few shampoos I have been pre-pooing with a 50/50 mix of Jasmine oil and Castor oil. The results after each wash have yielded extremely soft hair that did not feel anywhere close to being stripped. This mix has also helped me tolerate the intense smell of the Jasmine oil.

To do the pre-poo:

1. In a empty container I combine equal parts of Jasmine oil and Castor oil. I swirl the container to make sure the oils are mixed. Then I apply liberally all over my hair length (starting about 1/2 - 1 in from my scalp) and leave on for a minimum of 1 hour. Shampoo, condition, and style as usual.

See the tutorial below:

Shampoo Day!

First thing first....I needed to file my nails. I had some little ridges that I know would have sliced right through my strands.

Prepoo: I separated my hair (with my fingers only) in four sections and applied coconut oil to the entire length, starting about 1/2 - 1 inch from my scalp. Then I braided each section. I left this on overnight. I wore a plastic cap under a hat(for going out in public) until I was ready to wash. I love hats :)

Shampoo: I shampooed once focusing on my scalp with Suave Tropical Coconut Shampoo. I used my Roots Only applicator to apply the shampoo directly on my scalp. After shampooing I noticed that my hair was a lot softer than usual. I think the coconut prepoo had a lot to do with that.

Deep Condition: I like to do an Oil Rinse after shampooing but since I am starting the Castor Oil Challenge I didn't want to overdo it with the oils so I deep conditioned with Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol that was mixed with Olive oil, Rosemary EO, and Peppermint EO.

Right now I have my hair in two braids just resting, I didn't do anything special to it.

Just apply some conditioner prior to braiding and left it alone to air dry.

Styling: I have been wanting to try this style I saw on Essence.com for a long time. I think that is will allow me to reach my scalp with oiling this week so I gave it a shot. Pics coming...

Pre-Poo

Pre-pooing or Pre-wash is simply a pre-shampoo treatment, which is applied to the hair and/or scalp, left on for a period of time and then shampooed out. Some people like to apply oil, conditioners, or a combination of the two.

Benefits

Pre-poos can help protect hair from the harsh shampooing process and ingredients. The majority of the buildup we are trying to remove is really on our scalp therefore, your hair really only needs the conditioning aspect of your wash routine. Pre-pooing with oil or conditioner can help establish a barrier between the hair and the harsh detergents in the shampoo.Pre-poos also help condition the hair.

Ways to Pre-Poo

You can apply oils (warmed or not) to your hair length and/or scalp and leave on for the amount of time you find appropriate for your hair. That can range from a few minutes to overnight.

You also have the option to apply oils and conditioners to dry hair and cover with a wet towel. Similar to deep treating your hair or steaming.

And finally you can apply the product, cover with a plastic cap and sit under the dryer for a few minutes. The heat really helps the hair absorb the product. This is how I like to pre-poo my hair. As a result of my recent reading about coconut oil, I am going to try that next time under the dryer.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4584486_pre-poo.html

http://www.bvhairtalk.com/2008/02/15/black-hair-care-the-benefits-of-pre-pooing/

Shampoo Day~Dec 2009

My cold weather regimen calls for shampooing once a month. I have noticed a big difference this month with my hair and how moisturized it felt the entire month. So now, I am going to clean off some of this build-up and try out the shampoo portion of my regimen.

Cold Weather Shampoo Routine:

1. Pre-poo with warmed Olive Oil
2. Shampoo with Suave Tropical Coconut Shampoo (trying to get rid of it so I can try something new)
3. Oil Rinse with Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil (I will be using Giovanni Triple Tea Tree Treat as the conditioner for this oil rinse)
4. Final Rinse with cold water
5. Protective Style

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Co-Wash and Deep Condition

My Cold Weather Regimen calls for deep conditioning every week and shampooing once a month. This week is a co-wash week and it went like this:

→Co-wash with Giovanni Triple Tea Treat

→Rinse with warm water

→Deep Condition with Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol mix*

→Rinse with Cold Water

→Detangle and Moisturize (if my hair dries while styling) with Aloe Gro

→Seal with Shea Butter Mix**

→Protective Style

The time for this entire routine usually depends on how long I DC.

*1/2 jar of Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol

1/4c Olive Oil

5 Drops Peppermint EO

10 Drops Rosemary Oil

5 Drops Tea Tree Oil

**2 parts Shea Butter

1 part Coconut Oil

1-2tbs Sweet Almond Oil

Oil Rinse

I stumbled upon the Oil Rinse technique one day while searching for ways to moisturize my hair.

How To Do An Oil Rinse

*If you’re suffering from dry, brittle hair, you may want to do an oil rinse. Oil rinses are great treatments for natural hair and can help soften follicles and promote hair growth.* Click the link above for more info.

I had no idea what to expect but it turns out that I really like it. It was so simple and not as messy as I assume it will be. I'm going to just put in some two strand twist and call it a day. Now this was truly super simple!

While styling:
My hair felt super soft

Detangling was a breeze

I didn't have to use any other products

I noticed that my curls were really defined.

Next time I will focus more on my ends but overall I really like this treatment.

(I would post pics but my batteries are dead)

*update, I did take a pic with my Blackberry, it's not the best quality but it's better than nothing

Tips for Health and Growth Part 2: Treatments and Conditioners

Treatments

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Protein Treatments Because hair is over 50% of your hair is protein, protein treatments are used to rebuild hair structure and strength. When harsh styling and an improper diet results in broken protein bonds or low protein levels, If this protein is not replaced, it will eventually cause the hair to break. Protein can be restored by using egg treatments, breakage usually decreases shortly after. A protein treatment is recommended for application every other week if your hair is extremely damaged For healthy hair, a protein treatment should be used every other week, alternating with a moisture treatment.

(More about hair protein composition: http://www.keratin.com/aa/aa012.shtml#01)

Moisture treatments

Moisture treatments are helpful for maintaining or restoring your hairs pliability and help with preventing breakage. It would be helpful to combine protein treatments with moisture treatments. Unbalanced treatments could lead to breakage. Many conditioners contain silicones – which lead to that smooth feeling. However, those “cones” are good at hiding damage. For truly healthy hair you need to know what you are working with, split ends and all. How can you get rid of them if you can’t see them? The “cones” also kinda waterproof your hair- preventing moisture to get in. So basically if you are using a conditioner with silicones – all the time spent moisturizing may be time wasted. When moisture is locked out hair becomes dry and brittle…..again breakage occurs.

Silicone free conditioners

Alberto Vo5 Conditioner, for Strawberries & Cream

Ingredients: Active Ingredients:Water (Aqua); Cetyl Alcohol; Stearyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Chloride; Glycine Soja (Soy Bean) Seed Extract; Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Leaf Extract; Steareth-21; Glyceryl Stearate; Octoxynol-9; Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C); Thiamin HCL (Vitamin B1); Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A); Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E); Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5); Propylene Glycol; Disodium EDTA; DMDM Hydantoin; Fragrance (Parfum); Red 33 (CI 17200)

Suave Naturals Conditioner, Tropical Coconut

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Distearyldimonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Glycerin, 2 Bromo 2 Nitropropane 1, 3 Diol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Propylene Glycol, Silk Amino Acids, Honey/Mel, Nettle (Urtica Dioica) Extract, Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) Extract, Coconut (Cocoa Nucifera) Extract

LeKair Cholesterol Plus

Ingredients: Deionized Water, Cetearyl Alcohol & PEG-40 Castor Oil & Stearalkonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Mineral Oil, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Cholesterol, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Red #4, Aloe Barbadensis, Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A) & Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D).

Bumble and Bumble Leave in Conditioner

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetyl Alcohol, Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract (Elder), Wheat Germ Glycerides, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Bromide, PEG-100 Stearate, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Lactamide MEA, Propylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Polymethoxy Bicyclic Oxazolidine, Propylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum) Shea It Ain't So

Ingredients: purified water, shea butter, jojoba oil, honey, rosemary oil, nettle oil, thyme oil, birch leaf oil, chamomile oil, clary, lavender, lavender oil, coltsfoot leaf, yarrow oil, mallow, horsetail oil, soybean protein, cetyl alcohol, vitamin E, citric acid, sodium hydroxymethylgycinate and grapefruit seed extract

Use moisturizers correctly

Do you use a moisturizer and still have dry hair? The reason may be you’re your moisturizing products contain petrolatum, lanolin, and/or mineral oil. If you apply those “moisturizers” on your hair before properly moisturizing, you can do more damage because you can prevent moisture from penetrating your strands. Water based moisturizers effectively penetrate and moisturize the hair. Oil based moisturizers can be used to seal your strands after using a water-based moisturizer. Water-based moisturizers have water as the first ingredient while oil-based moisturizers have a type of oil as the first ingredient.

Some examples are:

Giovanni Direct Leave-in

Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-in

Profectiv Breakfree
Elasta QP Mango Butter
Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in

Tips for Health and Growth: Part 1 Shampoos

SHAMPOO
All shampoos are not created equal. Harsh sulfates found in some shampoos can strip all the natural oils from your hair. Stripping leads to dry hair and dry hair leads to breakage.
Some of those harsh sulfates include:
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
TEA Laureth Sulfate
TEA Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

Some sulfate free shampoo brands:

Avalon Organics
Ingredients: (for Grapefruit & Geranium Refreshing Shampoo) Aqua (Purified Water), Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Glycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vit. E), Sodium PCA, Panthenol (Vit. B5), Beta-Glucan, Arginine, Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Extract(1), Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract(1), Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract(2), Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract(2), Barosma Betulina (Buchu) Leaf Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Starch Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Alcohol(2), Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate
EO

(this one has a sulfate listed, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, which is a coconut derivative-a safer alternative)

Ingredients: Purified Water, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Vegetable Glycerin, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate & Sodium Lauroamphoacetate & Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Sodium Myristoyl Sarcosinate, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Panthenol, Hibiscus (Rosa Sinensis) Extract, Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatica) Extract, Dry Hair Complex [Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia) Fruit Extract, Avocado (Persea Gratissima) Fruit Extract, Fig (Ficus Carica) Fruit Extract, Fenugreek (Trigonella Foenum Graecum) Seed Extract], Hydrolyzed Quinoa Protein, EO® Organic Herb Blend [Organic Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis), Organic Chamomile (Matricaria Recutita) Extract, Organic Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) Extract, and Organic White Tea (Camelia Sinensis) Leaf Extract], Stearyl Dihydroxypropyldimonium Oligosaccharides, EO® Essential Oil Blend [Lavender (Lavandula Officinalis) Essential Oil, Orange (Citrus Aurantium Dulcis) Essential Oil, Chamomile (Anthemis Nobilis) Essential Oil], Honey, Retinyl Palmitate (Vitmain A), Citric Acid, Sodium Phytate, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate Key Ingredients: Honey, Fig, Fenugreek, Avocado

Pure & Basic

Ingredients: Salicylic Acid 2% Inactive Ingredients: Water, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Decyl Glucoside, Isosteareth-20, Soyamidopropyl Betaine, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Polyquaternium-7, Glycerin, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Linoleamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phos- phate, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Epilobium Angustifolium (Canadian Willow Herb) Extract, Cupressus Sempervirens (Cypress) Bark Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Botanical Fragrance, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.

Giovanni’s

Ingredients: Aqua (purified water), Rosemary (Rosemarinus Officinalis) Oil, Nettle (Urtica Dioica) oil, Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) Oil, Birch Leaf (butela alba) oil, Chamomile (anthemis nobilis flower) oil, Clary (salvia sclarea), Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia), Coltsfoot leaf (tussilago fargara), Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) oil, Mallow (Malya Sylvestris), Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) oil, Soybean Protein (Glycine Soja), C12 - 14 olefin Sulfonate (coconut derived), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Tocopherol (Vit. E), Trace Minerals, Citric Acid (corn), Sodium Hydroxymethlyglucinate, Sodium Chloride Sea Salt, Grapefruit Seed (citrus derived)

Want to know more about any ingredient in a product you use: Household Ingredient List

Clarifying Shampoo

Many of us use a clarifying shampoo to remove build up. These shampoos also contain sulfates, however they are gentle and when used properly (like once a month) will not damage your hair. Polyoxethylene Fatty Alcohols

PEG 80

Sorbitan Laurate

Decyl Polyglucose

Cocamidoprpyl Betaine

Sodium Myreth Sulfate

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Scalp Cleanse

Daily shampooing on African American hair is not recommended, hence the co-wash (although some of us can do a daily wash). However, build up can occur on our scalps and sometimes a shampoo is needed. When washing I hate how the shampoo strips all the natural oil from the shaft of my hair. So to minimize this from happening, I apply shampoo to may scalp in the same manner that you would "grease your scalp. It gets the job done and I don't experience that dryness on the ends of my hair. I also did this for my husband because he was having an awful dandruff problem. It really helped a lot and now we don't have to do it as often. You can use the shampoo of your choice with this technique. The last time did this I used Black Soap shampoo, it felt awesome and the drying was very minimal. Happy Cleansing!

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