Wash Day!!

Hey loves,

So my last wash day was kinda different. 

Here it goes:

[1] taking a page out of Naptural85's book, I divide my hair into four parts, applied a generous amount of coconut oil to my dry hair and followed up with my all time fav deep conditioner, ORS Curls unleashed no restrictions moisturising conditioner. Can I just quickly say that this stuff makes my hair so soft and moisturised, and also defines the little coils I have. 

I left this on my hair for four hours. This is because I decided to go to the gym and clean in between. In order to get the best out of the process, I covered my hair with a plastic bag and topped that with a beanie. This way, I was able to retain heat while I worked out. I also decided to chill in the sauna and steam room for 20 mins, during which, I took off the plastic bag and beanie. This left my hair super moisturised and soft. 

[2] after the four hour long deep condition, I stepped into the shower and finger detangled under the running water while washing off the conditioner. I then followed up with my creme of nature argan oil moisture & shine shampoo. I love this shampoo because it's sulfate free which means it cleanses without striping. 

With the shampoo in my hair, I then detangled further using a wide tooth comb under the running water. Once I was done with all four sections, I poured cold water to help close my hair cuticle.

And yep, that was it. I originally decided to do a quick conditioner rinse after my shampoo session, but since my hair felt so soft after the shampoo, I decided to let it be. 

[3] after the wash, I proceeded to lightly damp each section with a cotton shirt and apply my leave in conditioner (kinky curly knot today) to my wet hair. I followed that up with my grape seed oil so as to seal in the moisture from both the leave in and water. 

[4] lastly, I braided my hair for the week. This is how I wear my hair all week, under my wig. With each braid section, I applied my final product, jane carter solution all natural nourish and shine. 

Can I just say that the LOC method using these products works so well for my low porosity hair. So much so that I can go a whole week without re moisturising and sealing. Loves it!!!

Anyways guys, that was my wash experience this week. This was different cause I normally deep condition after my wash and pre poo using naptural85's trick, but with a cheap conditioner, and for less than an hour. 

The pictures below is my attempt to show you my hair texture with products in. Here, I had a mixture of coconut oil and ORS. 

 Love,
Dumsy.

So, how was your wash day? You can also check out more healthy hair wash day posts at Wash Day Experience

Official Length Check

Hello loves,

So as promised, I put together a video where I show my starting length. As mentioned before, my hair is about 4-5inches all over with a 3inch edge due to cutting way too much. I still have very little relaxed ends as you'll see, but I hope to cut that off in about a month or so. Anyways, please watch, enjoy and comment/share.

PS: Excuse my cracky voice. :(

Love,
Dumsy

Hair Tips: Co Washing

Hello loves,

I thought it would be a great idea to do a series discussing different hair tips that aid the growth of healthy, long hair. Some of these tips I already incorporate and some I would like to start. Today I'd like to talk about co washing. 

Co washing is the act of washing your hair with conditioner. This is done so as to get the hair and scalp clean and moisturised as opposed to shampooing, which cleans but strips the hair of it's nutrients. 

It's important to note that some shampoos; sulfate free, do not necessarily strip the hair strands, but they also do not add any moisture to it. Some people co wash using a cheap conditioner like herbal essences, while some use products made for this purpose (I shall include a list below). 

As for me, I started off using ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner. I do swear by the usefulness of this conditioner, however when I was relaxed, the constant co washing and deep conditioning left my hair feeling mushy. For this reason, I stopped co washing and stuck to the regular routine of deep conditioning on wash days. 

Now that I am natural and my natural hair is more so low porosity, I think it will be best to give it a try again. This will also be beneficial seeing as I have started working out regularly again. I plan to co wash once between wash days. And since I have noticed that my hair strives more when left alone, I have decided to co wash with my weekly protective style like cornrows, braids and twist still installed.  This way, I get the moisture and cleanse without having to manipulate my hair any further. 

I will incorporate this for the next month and see how my hair reacts to it and in the end, I shall give an update as to wether or not co washing will be a constant in my new natural routine.

Some co wash products: 

PS: For my readers here in the Netherlands, the last four, Shea moisture, Eden, Mizani, and Palmers can be bought here.

That's all for now. Please do not forget to subscribe and share. I am back for good. 😊😳

Love,

Dumsy. 

THE BIG CHOP: 8/11/14

Hello Loves,

I finally did it. I decided yesterday to take off my protective style and do the big chop. My dear friend Tracy decided to help me and she was convinced I would cry, but I didn't. At first, I felt weird, as I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. Then I felt okay. I felt happy that I wasn't sad. I felt happy that I liked what I saw looking back at me in the mirror. I just felt HAPPY.

It was really hard to find the line of demarcation (point where the new growth meets the relaxed ends) due to me texlaxing the last time I got a relaxer.  So it was basically a guessing game. A feel and cut kinda situation. She showed me where she thought was the cut off point and I either agreed or disagreed. Anyways, we got it done in the end and I was left with about 4-5 inches of growth around my head. However, at one edge side and one nape side, I cut way too much and I was left with about 3inches of growth there. So yes, my hair is pretty uneven, but I have decided to leave it as is since I will be wearing a wig as my protective style for the beginning of the winter.

Frist impressions:

• Shrinkage is REAL!! (I am embracing it)
• I was convinced that once I cut off my relaxed ends, I would be able to comb by hair freely without any "stops" at the ends!! (In Tamar's voice, lies they tell)
• I am already scared of SSK (Single Strand knots)

Anyways, thats it for now. I am really excited to begin this new journey. One I am sure will be a roller coster of many ups and downs. I just pray and hope its more ups than down. :)

Some little facts,
Last relaxer: 16/03/14
Big chop: 8/11/14 (a week shy of being 8 months post)
Hair type: 4b/c (low porosity hair)

Look out for a video next week, where I do a little chat about my hair. If there are any questions you would like answered, please feel free to ask in the comment box. For now here are some pictures. Please ignore the bad quality. I am working on how to take better quality pictures. (any tips are welcome). Here, me hair was freshly washed, moisturised and sealed using the LOC method. I cut off 22cm of hair which is about 8.7 inches.

Love,
Dumsy.

QUICK HAIR CHAT: I AM TRANSITIONING!

Hello Loves,

That’s right; I have finally concluded that I am transitioning from relaxed hair to natural. For those who might not be aware of what I mean exactly, I have decided to stop relaxing my hair and gradually cut of the relaxed bit as I grow out my natural texture. I am currently at 7 months plus some weeks since my last relaxer (16^th of March) and as the days go by, I continue to consider big chopping. My initial schedule involved MAYBE big chopping at the 9^th month mark, but I am getting very curious every day now. I believe I have about 3.5+ inches of new growth and in order to tame my curiosity, I decided to get me some crochet braids. But can I just say, it is not helping. LOL

Anyways guys, that is it. I need some advice from those that transitioned and those that big chopped. How long did you transition for? How much growth did you have when you big chopped? Were you scared of the ‘short do’? Do you love that you big chopped rather than long term transitioned?
Please feel free to share and comment about your experiences, it may help others come to a decision about their hair journey.

Love,

Dumsy.

Hair update/ Rant

Hey guys,

As you know, I was/am contemplating going natural. Well I still have not 100% decided, although I think I did mention I was doing so. I did however, cut my hair. I took of about 4 inches and right now, I am back to shoulder length. I did this because honestly, my hair kept breaking. I thought I was doing so well in March and April, but May came and for some reason something was not working.

Let me walk you through my wash sessions in May.......

As I said in my pervious post, I kept my PS in for a maximum of two weeks or minimum of one week and I moisturised as often as possible. Everything was okay until wash day. The take down was fine. I detangled with my hands and removed as much shed hair as possible. Then came pre poo, and thats where the problem starts. I rake the oils through my hair with my hands trying to coat every strand, as careful as possible and my hair starts falling every where. Those tiny annoying breaks are the ones I got. They were so annoying, but I looked past them. Then comes washing and deep conditioning.

My wash sessions are nice, I wash in sections and loose little too no hair. I air dry for about 10-20mins before deep conditioning, then apply my conditioner generously to my hair in sections too. I have low porosity hair, so steaming is apparently really good for my hair. My roots loves them, but my ends, not so much. After each steam session, I proceed to wash of the conditioner in my hair and then I see those tiny annoying breaks again. Although I find like much less strands than during my pre poo, it is still VERY annoying that I am treating my hair as well as I think I should and I still loose hair without even combing it.

Anyways to cut my story short, I was pissed during my last wash day in June so I cut booked an appointment and went an hour later and got it cut.

I thought about every possible reason. Over moisturising from the steam? My hair does not just like oils? My ends are just too weak? Yep, Settled with the last point. Anyways, its funny cause I do look at my ends closely but I hardly ever see actual splits.Those I see, I cut off immediately. I got my last trim end of November last year so I guess I was really due for a trim. Moral of my story? Splits/dead ends are not necessarily split into two.

Was this cut me easing my transition route? I do not know. But I currently have braids to help aid my 'stretch'. I'll see what happens when I take them down.

I promise to inform you of my decision once I am a 100% sure of what I am doing. Right now I am just nursing my hair back to health and length with the aid of protective styles and Manetabolism.

Thanks for reading my long rant/post?! LOL

Love,
Dumebi. :)

Late Check Back?

Hey guys,

I have been so MIA is not even cool!! But I am here to do a mini check back on my May goals even if the month of June is almost over :(. To be honest, I didn't do too well on one goal in particular.

May goals:

For my Hair:
1) I need to figure out protective styles that would limit my hand in hair time to just M&S time a couple of days in a week.  I managed to style my hair every wash day and only M&S when needed, therefore keeping my hand in hair time at bay.

2) Take my hair, skin and nails vitamins religiously.   This is managed to accomplish.

3) Carry on with my regular hair routine. (Wash&DC weekly and sleep with stain bonnet). As you can see here, I only cancelled out half of the goal. Thats because I did keep up with my regular hair routine but changed a few things around. Some protective styles lasted me two weeks, which meant I washed my hair every two weeks rather than every week.

For my health/body:
1) Exercise at least 3 times a week. (I signed up for a 10km race in June to motivate me with this task). This was a total fail!! I trained 5 times in the month of May. FIVE time. So Sad. But I did do well in the end with my 10km race. I beat my all time record and ran 10km in 59.02mins!! Was so proud of myself! hehe :)

2) Eat 5 fruits and/or vegetables a day. This was easy for me as I found my self making smoothies everyday. I threw in fruits and vegs in  my blender every morning and made my smoothies part of my breakfast. I love my smoothies and this has therefore become a staple.

3) Take my daily ABC vitamins religiously. This was also good for me

All in all, I did enjoy doing this. Although I didn't accomplish my most pressing goal, I did do most of it. The month of June is already over and I didn't set an goals for this month, but I plan to do so for July. I really have to get in shape as I am slowly gaining unnecessary weight. I would very much like to join a healthy hair/body challenge next month so let me know if you know of any. Or maybe I should start one myself? Let me know if you would interested in joining me if I do so.

Love,
Dumebi. :)