I titled this post 'THE METHOD TO MY MADNESS' because not everyone feels the need to do so much to their hair. I touched on having a regimen in an earlier post. While some tend to keep it simple, others like myself take a whole different approach to it. After all it is JUST hair right?!
I felt the need to incorporate a regimen for my daughter's hair because her aim was to get her length back that she had before we transitioned her out of and chopped her texturized ends off. Her hair is in the 'type 4' category (for those who follow the hair typing charts). It's thich and kinky and doesn't have much curl to it at all. It tends to suck up moisture so quickly and needs some good TLC to retain it. My hair on the other hand is not as dry as hers but can get dry if I don't properly maintain the moisture. It's also curly and not as thick, although with certain hair styles it gives the illusion that it is thicker than what it really is.
So here's our regimen...we don't always use the same products but the methods are mostly the same...
PREPOO
I have found that this extra step has helped a lot, especially with the detangling process in my daughter's hair after it's shampooed and the deep conditioner is applied. I use a mix of natural oils (JBCO, coconut oil, EVOO) for her hair as this mixture tends to do well with her hair. I sometimes add a little avocado and/or jojoba oil to the mix if I have either of them on hand. I divide her hair up into about 10-12 sections and apply the oil on each section, using my fingers first to massage it into her scalp and smooth it down the shaft of her hair and apply a little more to her ends as well. I then add a conditioner, sometimes a inexpensive rinse out conditioner, but here lately a deep conditioner that has become one of her staple products (The Mane Choice...see review post on this product). I use a wide tooth comb and gently detangle each section which helps to remove any shed hair. I then twist each section. I let it sit in her hair for at least an hour and she would go under the heat cap for 20-30 minutes of that hour to help it to penetrate into her strands.
I do the same steps for my hair but sometimes my oil mix is a little different or I may just use a pre-mixed pre-poo oil product (like Soultanicals pre-poo oil) or just simply use Vatika Frosting Herb Infused Coconut Oil and then add the conditioner like I mentioned above.
SHAMPOO
To me most shampoos do the same thing so I really don't have a preference for my own hair. I've used shampoo bars, as well as bentonite clay mixed with ACV and aloe vera juice for a cleansing detox.
For my daughter's hair I've found that UFD Squeaky shampoo serves her scalp and hair best. She used to have really dry scalp before I got into using this regimen and natural oils to combat it. Now I find that using this shampoo along with the natural oils in her regimen have helped to keep it under control. She hasn't had much if any at all. Sometimes during the winter months we may find a small patch or two but nothing major. I shampoo her hair while it's still in the twisted sections I put it in during the pre-poo step. This helps to keep her hair from tangling back up which would defeat the purpose of the first step. Sometimes one or two may come out or come loose but because I'm mainly focusing on massaging the shampoo onto her scalp they tend to stay in for the most part. I gently squish the suds down the lengths of her hair but your main focus should be on the scalp. The pre-poo step usually helps the hair to retain moisture and not get completely stripped during shampooing as some shampoos can be very stripping/drying for the hair.
DEEP CONDITION
This is one of the most important steps in our regimen. This helps with moisture. Once a month I try to remember to do a protein treatment in our hair as well to strengthen it. Again I apply the DC section by section first using my fingers to tackle any tangles that may have crept in during the shampooing and then use a wide tooth comb to make sure it's fully detangled. Most times there aren't many tangles at all thanks to that first step...pre-poo. We would then sit under the heat cap (or a dryer or steamer...whichever you have or prefer) to help with the penetration. Then rinse with cool water while still in the twisted sections. You can loosen each section one by one and re-twist them while doing this if you prefer or you think that all the product won't come out, but it usually would all rinse out successfully even while our hair is twisted.
MOISTURIZE & STYLE
I have come to love and follow the L.O.C method for moisturizing my hair as well as my daughter's hair. This is L (Liquid...usually water but I also add Leave-In to this step), O (Oil...any natural oil your hair likes such as EVOO, JBCO, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc.), C (Cream...any moisturizing product that you find works in your hair).
For my daughter's hair her staple products for this step were Qhemet Biologics products. But we have since found that Soultanicals products also work great for her hair for this process, so I tend to use either one or the other. She wears her hair mostly in 2-strand twists and even after wearing her hair twisted for 2 weeks at a time when she takes them out for her next wash day her hair is still soft and moisturized. And sometimes she isn't always that disciplined in moisturizing her hair in between so the L.O.C method definitely works for her. Some people use the L.C.O method but you can play around with both methods to see which one works best for your hair.
For my hair because I tend to try different products for review purposes I hadn't had any major staple products for a while. But here recently I tend to be drawn to Soultanicals products. My hair seems to love these products and stays moisturized for days. Although I have tried others who have been just as good.
MOISTURIZING IN BETWEEN WASH DAYS
I use a water/oil/condish mix in my spray bottle for moisturizing in between. If I'm wearing a twist out and need to re-twist my hair to freshen up the style this is my 'go to' for moisture. I don't usually need to add more of whatever product I'm using...just spray with this mixture and re-twist.
I try to get my daughter to do this to her twist every few days but she is hardly fussed with sticking to this step...lol! But thank God for the L.O.C method and her staple products because her hair tends to stay pretty moisturized even if she manages to only do this step once or twice during the two weeks that her hair stays in the twists.
I also like to do scalp massages using natural oils as well. I do this during the 'Moisturize & Stlyle' step as well as in between wash days.
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So as you can see my method is not that simple but at the same time isn't much to me as I've become accustomed to it. I do this every two weeks with my daughter's hair, but mostly weekly in my hair due to me using color in my hair, sometimes I'll go 10 days at the most. It has definitely helped my daughter to retain and gain length as well as the overall health of her hair. I find that I've never really had a problem with growing my hair whether it was relaxed or natural. But I notice that my daughter's rate of hair growth isn't as quick as mines. But this regimen definitely helps us both!
Do you have a hair regimen? Do you keep it simple? Or do you tend to go all out for the health of your hair?
