HOT Fail!!!!!!

First off let me say this...I...Do...Not...Like...Pre-pooing...With...Oil!!!!!! I don't know if I did it wrong, or maybe my hair just doesn't like it. Either way, I did not like anything about the way my hair felt or the way my hair looked. Immediately I could tell something was different about my hair, and not in a good way either. This is what I did:

Wash Day:

1. Prepoo'd overnight with EVCO using the saran wrap method

2. Rinsed 

3. Shampooed with NTM

4. Applied Roux PC

5. Light protein with Aphogee 2-Min

6. Rinsed

7. DC'd with Silk Elements MegaSilk, glycerin, AVJ, EVOO, almond oil and avocado oil with steam (no cap)

8. Rinsed

9. Applied cheapie conditioner and rinsed

10. Applied Cantu Shea Butter Strengthening Repair Leave-In & sealed with EVCO

11. Air dried

This was my worse air dry ever. My hair still felt oily even though I shampooed twice. Like I said, I don't know what went wrong. I couldnt detangle using my normal method. My hair felt tangly and weird. I was still hoping it would come around so went ahead and wrapped it up for the night. In the morning my ends felt WONDERFUL but the rest of my hair felt like crap. Well...my NG felt nice, can't really describe it. It felt put together, I could definitely feel the curl/texture definition in my NG...I've never felt that before. But I couldn't finger comb my hair and that was a deal breaker, never going back to that much manipulation. Tonight I got ready to M&S like normal and I just couldn't take it. I freaked out and jumped in the shower for a quick wash. Nope! My hair definitely wasn't having none of that. I tried shampooing with just NTM but I could still feel the weirdness in my hair. I had no choice BUT to clarify. And no, I did not have time to DC :(. I did a couple quick applications of GVP Conditioning Balm (which I just discovered has some pretty good slip) and went ahead with the rest of my routine. Man...I'm truly disappointed in the outcome. Maybe my hair isn't a fan of EVCO, not everyone is. Tonight when I seal I'll be trying what I have left of my grapeseed oil (mostly used in DC). Hopefully my hair won't turn out too bad tonight. Prepoos will be conditioner/oil mix like usual, you ladies can keep those HOTs. I'll be doing an emergency DC only tomorrow as soon as I get home from work. My hair just makes me wanna UGH!!!! 

Can't Believe This Is My Hair!!!!!

Seriously! I really can't believe this is my hair.  Sunday I decided to stop mixing different conditioners together for my DC and my results amazed me.  This is what I did:

1. DC'd w/ Silk Elements MegaSilk, glycerin, aloe vera juice and oil (EVOO, avocado oil, almond oil and JBCO) with heat for 1 hr and 2 hrs w/o heat
2. co-washed w/ Tresemme Naturals
3. applied Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream and sealed w/ tiny bit of EVCO
4. air dried
5. finger combed when hair was 80% dry
6. lightly detangled w/ shower comb
7. moisturized w/ mix (S-Curl, aloe vera juice and glycerin) and sealed w/ EVCO
8. oiled scalp (JBCO, Wild Growth Oil and macadamia oil)

I didn't see any results immediately.  When I rinsed my hair it didn't really feel that good.  It felt a little tangly but I decided not to detangle using my shower comb.  I used my fingers instead.  I co-washed and my hair still didn't really feel any different.  After air drying to about 80% I started to detangle my hair using my fingers instead of my shower comb.  It was SUPER easy! No breakage!  And I only had a few shedded hairs in the shower and after detangling.  My hair was soft and it actually FELT moisturized.  So I thought it was a fluke so I tried it again...and yep! same results.  This is going to be my new go-to for DC'ing and detangling.  I'm still trying to bounce back from that relaxer set-back so I still have thin sections.  I'm doing my length check on 19 Dec at the salon.  The plan is to pre-poo at home, get hair washed, DC'd and flat ironed at the salon.  I'm bringing my own products and flat iron.  I'll be taking a picture before & after my trim.  I won't allow more than 1 inch, the goal is just to get even ends so I can monitor whether my hair is breaking or not.

Anyway, check out my pics from today's DC:

Regimen Overhaul...AGAAAIN

So I'm back to my old tricks lol buying new products I probably don't need and adding new techniques I probably won't stick with lol.  Either way, here I am...

I joined new groups and challenges on Hairlista.com: 

- Ultimate Bunning (Cycle 6)

- 6 Inches in 6 Months 

- Baby Those Ends

So to be quick and easy, basically I have to protect my ends, low manipulation, consistently use growth aids and rock my bun.  Let's talk about this a little tho... Lately I've been experiencing "stealth" breakage and my hair has been feeling slightly brittle and not retaining moisture :(... but noooooo sheeeeedding lol.  Gotta be thankful for something.  I really need to get this under control tho.  My hair seems to be retaining length still but my ends are HORRID!!! I mean, I keep clipping those ends but it doesn't help.  Something has to be done smh

Step 1: SIMPLIFY my regimen so that I can do step 2

Step 2: Figure out what my hair is liking and NOT liking

Step 3: Adjust regimen and continually monitor for positive and negative results

Simplified Regimen:

Sun, Weds

- DC w/ heat

- co-wash

- apply leave-in & seal w/ EVCO

- massage scalp w/ JBCO

- air dry & finger detangle

- BUN

Mon-Tues, Thurs-Fri

- moisturize w/ moisturizing spritz (w/o detangling or combing)

- baggy

Sat

- pre-poo

- wash

- light protein

- DC w/ steam

- apply leave-in & seal w/ EVCO

- massage scalp w/ JBCO

- air dry & finger detangle

Growth Aid Schedule:

9 Dec - 15 Dec (1 Week)

- Inversion method w/ JBCO applied to scalp every other day

16 Dec - 25 Jan (1 Month)

- MegaTek & Wild Growth oil mixture applied to scalp every other day

- MegaTek conditioner every other wash day

16 Jan - 22 Jan (1 Week)

- Inversion method w/ Liquid Gold Hair Growth Oil every other day

23 Jan - 21 Feb (1 Month)

- Green Magic applied to scalp every other day

- MegaTek conditioner every other wash day

22 Feb - 28 Feb (1 Week)

- Inversion method w/ JBCO applied to scalp only on co-wash/wash days

Length Check Schedule: 

- 19 Dec 13

- 17 Jan 14

- 16 Feb 14

- 07 Mar 14 (TEXLAX @ 6 months)

2013 Texlax Schedule (every 4 months):

- 07 Mar 14

- 07 Jul 14

- 07 Nov 14

Products:

Shampoos: CON Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo, KeraCare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo, Giovanni Smooth As Silk Deep Moisture

Moisturizing Deep Conditioners: KeraCare Humecto Creme Conditioner, CON Nourishing & Strengthening Treatment, Silk Elements MegaSilk Moisturizing Treatment

Protein Deep Conditioners: QH Cholesterol, ORS

Co-washing Conditioners: HE Hello Hydration, HE Totally Twisted, HE Tousle Me Softly, Suave, VO5 Moisture Milk

Light Protein/Reconstructors: Aphogee 2-Min Reconstructor, Joico K-Pak Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor

Moisturizing Leave-Ins: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch, Elasta QP H2, HE Long-Term Relationship

Protein Leave-Ins: Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructor, Cantu Shea Butter Conditioning Repair Cream

Moisturizers: Silk Elements Silken Child, S-Curl No Drip, Bee Mine Déjà Milk

Sealants/Oils: EVOO, EVCO, JBCO, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, almond oil, Wild Growth oil, jojoba oil, Liquid Gold Hair Oil

Deep Conditioner: conditioner w/ added oils (EVOO, avocado oil, almond oil)

Pre-Poo: EVCO w/ heat 

- Only trim after relaxer

- Heavy protein (Aphogee 2-Step) every 6 weeks

- No direct heat unless it's a special occasion or length check
- Finger comb ONLY (daily)
- Detangle only on co-wash/wash days after finger combing