May 25, 2011 Length Check BSL- My arm was about to snap off my shoulder!

This weeks natural hair wash & set routine:

May 19, 2011 (Thursday)

Detangling Conditioner- White Rain Tropical Coconut- This conditioner really helps me detangle my hair quickly. I detangle section by section and then twist each section. I end up with about 10 twists. I wash my hair with the 2 strand twists. This helps keep the drain from clogging and helps me wash my hair quicker.

Shampoo- Washed hair with bentonite clay shampoo bar - I needed to get rid of some buildup from using "Yes To Carrots" conditioner, which contains dimethicone. Great shampoo bar for the heavy duty cleansing jobs since it contains bentonite clay, which is awesome for getting rid of dirt, grime and buildup.

Rinse-Out Conditioner- "Yes to Tomatoes" (does not contain cones) I really enjoy using this conditioner. It's the perfect moisturizing conditioner with a bit of protein. I bought my bottle in January and I'm just now reaching the half way point and I use it almost every week. I haven't picked up my Giovanni Smooth as Silk in about a month!

I T-shirt dried my hair with a cotton shirt and then on damp hair I applied:

Leave-In conditioner-Hydrating Body & Hair Milk- I applied a quarter sized amount to each untwisted section.

Sealant- DIY Whipped Body & Hair Butter- I sealed each section with a small amount of hair butter.

I ran my Denman brush through the section of curls to help distribute product and I braided each section into two plaits for a braid out!

Braids were taken down on Saturday May 21,2011 for a braidout!

The results:

Sunday May 22,2011 Braidout

I was holding my mouth like I was hungry...had to blur that out!

Tuesday May 24, 2011

I did a light shampoo (barely had any soap on my hands) with the Lavender Shampoo Bar and conditioned with "Yes To Tomatoes". My non-detangled hair was in about 8 random twists. I just grabbed my hair (still defined by the braid-out by the way) and twisted. I washed with the twists in. I did not apply a leave-in or any other products to my hair. I just slapped my scarf on and went to bed with damp barely t-shirt dried hair...

When I woke up the twists were still a bit damp so I barely had any definition.

The results:

Wednesday May 25, 2011

Back View

My hair feels nice and moisturized. I think I will detangle on Friday night and do a deep condition. This weather has my hair going through the motions...

Hope this helps you all to see how simple I keep it with my regimen! I got a trim at the beginning of April (she cut about 1-2 inches off) and I'm still BSL (bra strap length) at the longest layer. So, this should prove that to achieve longer hair, you don't need to have a difficult, product filled regimen. Keep it simple!

I want to see your regimen! Link to your weekly regimen in the comment section! Thanks!

For Your Body & Hair Butters Visit: DIY Hair Care Products 

Sometimes too much knowledge can get over whelming and confusing. This is something that seems to be occurring in the haircare community. As many of us learn how to take better care of our hair we look to forums, youtube, and blogs. There is a plethora of haircare knowledge sweeping the web and just recently, bookstores. There seems to be a lot of product junkies still struggling with their hair and a lot of women that think "natural hair is hard to take care of" not true at all.

Here is a great youtube video by "msvcharles" about how simple taking care of your hair can be. I agree with her completely, it doesn't take much at all to take are of your hair.

Checklist:

1. Shampoo- if you use an "all natural" soap to wash your body, try it on your hair and see how your hair reacts. I use Nubian Heritage soaps for my body and surprisingly they also work well for my hair.

2. Conditioner- I use the Giovanni line. I honestly think it you figure out what your hair needs this is a simple choice. Dry, itchy scalp? Get a conditioner with tea tree oil. Slow hair growth? Try one with peppermint. Read reviews and narrow it down to 2 or 3 companies.

3. Leave-In conditioner- You need your leave-in to moisturize so, you need to look for water as the first ingredient. If you feel like you can't find a leave-in you like, try a water and vegetable glycerin mix (50/50). Water and glycerin are usually the first 2 ingredients in most leave-ins.

4. Sealant/oil: Your options are endless here. You can use shea butter, mango butter, avocado oil,olive oil, coconut oil, vitamin e oil, the list is endless. Some oils are lighter than others and even penetrate the hair shaft to moisturize (coconut oil).

5. Gel- This is optional. You can even make your own gel with flax seeds or use aloe vera gel.

This is just a starter list. Of course you will need to do your research and find out what your hair likes.

One thing I will suggest is making sure you are not sending you hair on a PH roller coaster ride as Kimmaytube calls it. Here is her video on this: PH Balance. This is something I suggest being aware of when you start mixing ingredients and using "homemade" hair recipes. Just because it is natural doesn't mean it is great for our hair.

Also, the products found in the stores are usually already tested for PH, this is why most companies suggest you use their shampoo along with their conditioner.

Remember, women have been growing their hair since the beginning of time and they didn't have all these product lines, they kept it simple.