hair challenge: regimen notes #1

I think that my hair is upset. I can't believe that my Sa.ints lost...well, I can believe it, but I'm just real salty right now. And then the C.olts went down. Honestly, I don't give a damn about the Colts but I do respect Pey.ton Mann.ing. So, in one day both Su.perbowl teams were knocked out of the playoffs. My last hope was the Ea.gles. But I just watched Vick throw an interception with 30 seconds left in the game, sealing it for the Packers. **Huge Sigh** I don't even know who to go for right now, but short term gain, I need the Pac.kers to stomp the Falc.ons and put this nonsense to rest. I'll be happy to NOT see the Fal.cons or the Be.ars in the Su.perbowl and find myself eyeing the Ste.elers. And for this, my hair is angry. This playoff weekend sucked!

Woo-to the-Sah!

So, I am on this 6 month healthy hair challenge, which really should be re-named my Ultimate Regimen Challenge. I have been trying to tweak my regimen so that I can cut my wash, condition, and style time to under 3 hours. However, for the purpose of the healthy hair challenge, I have re-introduced amla and brahmi to my regimen as an experiment to see if my hair health noticeably enhances b/c of continued use. I'm 2 washes in...and fighting.

Of the "spa night" ritual, as I call it, I do not look forward to detangling my hair. I do not have the kind of hair where the tangles just unravel under the shower stream. And I've just discovered that it may be time for me to wash in sections. The main reason that I wanted to go natural was to thicken my hair. Well, I got that...and with that, more work.

Last week, I switched my steps around which was a major fail. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? This week, heeding the advice of my favorite blog, I tried oil rinsing to make the detangling easier. I reached for the closest oil to me while in the shower...castor oil. To put it lightly, my hair HATED this. If nothing else, it added more time to my detangling. The Sain.ts loss plus this oil just pissed it off beyond pissivity. I ran out of my Ye.s to Toma.toes and had to settle for one of the three bottles of Ye.s to Cu.cumbers that I hoarded from Ross. (I do this b/c in my mind there could be a major snow storm and I absolutely cannot be snowed in without product...somewhere deep, deep in my mind, that is. :)

I FINALLY finished detangling. Here is where things started to look up. After I finished detangling, I may have had 20 twists in (more than usual, but necessary considering the mess atop my head). FYI - detangling takes me a long time b/c I section, finger detangle most of the huge kinks and then follow up with my wide tooth comb. I realize that a brush may cut down on time, but I would rather not use a brush on my strands. I mix the amla-brahmi mixture and add some coconut oil. I simply apply the mixture to my twists which cut down on a lot of time from last week. Also, since I rinse most of the mud out in my sink to avoid clogging my shower, I didn't have to worry about more tangling when whipping my ha.ir back and forth. Score! This time, I didn't apply my deep condish to the mix b/c my hair was still feeling a little off and had to be moisturized more than usual last week. So, I sat with the mix in my head under the dryer for 30+ minutes, rinsed, and applied deep condish. I then sat back under the dryer for another 30+ minutes to soften my hair. Jury is still out on whether this worked out better b/c I have yet to take my hair down. I was then ready to style.

Things to try next time:

1. Oil rinsing with coconut oil: a kindler, gentler oil.

2. Washing and conditioning in sections.

3. Applying coconut oil directly to twists in lieu of the nightly oil spritz.

Things to throw out!

1. Applying amla-brahmi to loose hair.

2. Oil rinsing with castor oil.

3. Watching the playoffs while doing hair.

I'm getting there. I should have the ultimate reggie by July.

Aside: Last scene for HGTV will be filmed on MLK! My 50 seconds of fame is about to be on and popping, lol! Hopefully, my hair is too.