A Lil Over 8 Weeks Post Random

I'm fiiiiiiinally taking the plunge and long-term transitioning! :)  I've been wanting to do this for a year lol no real excuses besides the fact that I was being too lazy lol.  Reasons for transitioning?  I don't ever want to see those stringy, thin strands that I had and I LOOOOOOVE the way my NG feels.  I'm really excited to hit my 6 month mark in Sept, can't wait to see how much growth I'll have. Here's my new goals: increased growth, increased shine, increased length retention, decreased shedding and grow back my edges.  Of course, this is going to take a regimen update! YAAAAY!

Co-Wash (mid-week):
[1]  Pre-poo w/ cheapie conditioner, honey and oil in sections using body heat for 2 hours
[2]  Lightly finger detangle to remove shed hair
[3]  Rinse pre-poo w/ cool water
[4]  Co-wash w/ SD Whip My Hair in sections
[5]  Rinse w/ warm water
[6]  Apply MegaTek to scalp for 5 mins or light protein treatment
[7]  Rinse w/ warm water
[8]  DC w/ heat for 30 mins
[9]  Rinse w/ cool water
[10] Final rinse w/ SD Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner
[11] Rinse w/ cool water
[12] T-shirt dry for 30 mins
[13] Apply Darcy's Daily Leave-In and finger detangle

Wash Day (Friday or Saturday):
[1]  Pre-poo w/ cheapie conditioner, honey and oil in sections using body heat for 2 hours
[2]  Lightly finger detangle to remove shed hair

[3]  Rinse pre-poo w/ cool water

[4]  Wash w/ moisturizing shampoo in sections

[5]  Rinse w/ warm water

[6]  Tea rinse

[7]  Rinse w/ warm water???

[8]  DC w/ steam for 30 mins (w/ conditioning cap)

[9]  Rinse w/ cool water

[10] Final rinse w/ SD Destination Hydration

[11] Rinse w/ cool water

[12] T-shirt dry for 30 mins

[13] Apply Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructor and Darcy's Daily Leave-In and finger detangle

After typing this out I'm seeing that it's going to be difficult to fit in my light protein treatment but I figure that I can alternate between light protein and MegaTek.  Anyone know if I should rinse with warm water after a tea rinse?  That has been my biggest problem lately, OPEN cuticles smh.  Just now figuring it out, my hair has been drying faster and has absolutely NO shine, even after my clear rinse...completely unacceptable lol.  So I'm concentrating really hard on making sure I follow the proper order of things.  I'm still taking my supplements and I'll be hitting the gym harder so I'm expecting a lot of grow (shaking my fist at my hair).  I'll be limiting the clear rinses to once per month and will schedule an appointment for a deep trim next month.  Oh, and the reason I have so many steps is because I'm trying to use up my stash...wish me luck!

Wash Day - 18 May 14

I'm really not happy with the way my hair feels lately.  It might have something to do with the products I have been using lately but I'm leaning more towards the lack of TLC: lack of patience when detangling, not DC'ing twice a week, failing to moisturize my new growth and neglecting to trim my ends.  I haven't had a lot of time to devote to my hair and it really doesn't help that at almost 16 weeks post relaxer it takes A LOT of maintenance to keep my hair looking/feeling right. I recently made the decision to long-term transition to natural, and my hair is definitely feeling the pain from my inexperience.  Luckily my schedule is lightening up a little which should free up a little more time for my hair.  A couple things I've noticed:

[1] No matter how I use the Kozama Califia Moisturizing Spray, my hair just doesn't like it. I tried it as part of my L.C.O. method, a detangler and as a moisturizer with the same results: dry, stringly hair.  I'm giving up on this for my hair, might decide to sell it ir give it away.

[2] Still trying to find a use for my Hairitage Hydration Hemp Nostalgia.  I was mainly trying to use it with my L.C.O. method but it made my hair feel weird and a little dry but oily.  Leaving this on the shelf for now...

[3] Finally figured out the best way for me to use SDVS: I t-shirt dry my already sectioned hair to about 50%.  This works for me because I always have badly tangled hair no matter what I do so leaving my hair sectioned allows me room to apply the DC to my new growth on my entire head.  

[4] Actively using the SD and my hair loves it as a co-wash or rinse out conditioner.  It always leaves my hair so soft and if I apply it in smaller sections I'm able to detangle (finally!) in the shower.  It really helps to detangle when using a rinse out conditioner.  I still haven't used it as a DC yet, but I might do that soon.

Today is my wash day,  Below is what I did: 

[1] Pre-poo'd with HairVeda Vatika Frosting and vitamin E oil on NG and grapeseed oil on my ends overnight in 6 sections (the back sections have the most sections so usually divide the back into 4 sections)
[2] Shampooed with CON Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo in 6 sections and lightly finger detangled under running water

[3] Applied Roux PC (new formula) for 30 seconds to each section
[4] T-shirt dried for about 10 minutes to get rid of the excess water
[5] DC'd with SDVS with steam, no conditioning cap for 30 mintues and left it in for an additional 2 hours out of pure laziness lol
[6] Rinsed out DC with warm water
[7] Clear rinsed with Adore Clear Rinse and left on for 10 minutes
[8] Rinsed with warm water while finger detangling

[9] T-shirt dried for 30 minutes

[10] Per section: Applied Marshmallow Root Detangler (justgrowalready.com) lightly finger detangled, applied leave-ins: Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructor and Darcy's LTC, detangled and blow dried using the tension method

[11] Tied down hair with silk scarf

Results: As I rinsed out my DC I could tell I was going to have a bunch of tangles, but SDVS never helps with my detangling so I'm not surprised.  I thought applying the clear rinse was going to be a lot easier but at least it isn't runny so I'm not complaining. I didn't see any improvement before or after using the clear rinse but I'm sure I did something wrong lol I always do.  Any way, my hair ended up hard to detangle, even with my fingers smh bout ready to give up but I'm going to keep with it.  There's a plus though...my NG is sooo moisturized, I've never felt it like that :) so it looks like I did SOMETHING right lol. 

<div align="center">

<a href="http://www.savingourstrands.com" title="The Wash Day Experience"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB2mkfjAhmFrJ1kGpeSc84UCAPGLhDo-BvtnULNRuOJgVtRp1peJgy_6Ur_Fwk6lSW85n7UWfc7aYWhmeuF-zEDrsK-0lU-I8f_BhHahNPs5YF1HkNs0-WaQfj2ArINwE-ss3UcfxbMGw/s1600/The+wash+Day+experience+badge.jpg" alt="The Wash Day Experience" style="border:none;" /></a></div>