Wash Day Diary: 13.07.11

"Today my hair feels pretty greasy.  This week I made some avocado butter which has been whipped together with avocado oil.  I used this to seal my hair last night.  I have also been adding a topical growth aid to my hair as an experiment and knowing me, I have probably been a little over zealous in application, resulting in me being a bit heavy handed for quicker results!  Therefore I've needed to up my cowashes and washes to keep my scalp clean, my hair free of too much oil and the not so lovely smell of sulphur."

• Detangled hair in 4 x sections using Mane & Tail Detangler
• Pre poo'd with Hesh Mahabhringraj Herbal Oil for 30mins under cling film in 4 x plaited sections secured with snap clips
• Cowashed out with Nutrine Garlic conditioner in 4 x plaited sections
• Lightly shampoo'd with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo in 4 x plaited sections
• Placed towel on hair to soak up excess moisture whilst preparing deep conditioner
• Made up deep conditioner using JASON 84% Aloe Vera Conditoner, 1½ x tsp of castor oil, 1½ tsp Roux Porosity Control Conditioner / Corrector.
• Deep conditioned in 4 x sections covered with cling flim whilst sat under electric heat cap for 30mins.
• Rinsed with cool water whilst still in sections
• Placed towel on head for 5mins to remove excess moisture
• Applied leave ins, Aphogee Provitamin leave in conditioner (liquid), Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioner (creamy), CHI Silk Infusion (serum). 
• Airdried until 80% dry then detangled in 8 x sections with Hercules Sagemann Jumbo Rake comb and applied more Cantu leave in to the ends and sealed with my homemade whipped avocado butter.
• Twisted each of the 8 x sections into a two strand twist, covered with a headscarf then off to bed for lil old me.

I wasn't going to deep condition today because I wanted the wash process to be quick.  However, I always feel kinda weird / short changed when I try not to deep condition, so always end up caving in and apply some sort of concotion to my hair.  I feel that if my hair is wet, then I might aswell deep condition, it can't do any harm afterall....!

During the application of my deep conditioner when I got to the back two sections I remembered that I had no intention of sitting under any heat with the conditioner on my head so decided to pop the conditioner mix into the microwave to apply some heat to jump start the conditioner.  I put it in for 20seconds, checking every 7 seconds.  I was surprised that when I took the conditioner out it was completely liqified!!  The JASON 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner is really thick and creamy and hard to get out of the bottle so I was surprised that it had turned to liquid, although I shouldn't have been shocked when you take the product name into consideration errmmm 84% Aloe Vera!!!  I would have still have used it but it had a kinda grainy texture to it which I thought might stick to my hair so I made up half a new batch to apply to the back of my head, which I decided not to put in the microwave!

The microwave incident did get me thinking though, that if this conditioner turned to water once heat was applied, sitting under my heat cap for 30mins might be a good idea.  It ended up being an excellent idea.  This conditioner melted right into my hair and was very moisturising!  It doesn't state on the packaging that it is a deep conditioner, infact it states to leave it on for 3 mins.  This is why I added castor oil to supercharge it's conditioning abilities.

I lost an average amount of hair with today's wash process.  I am not worried, nor am I elated - I just think it is a normal amount.  I would be happier with a less than normal amount as I really am working on retaining my thickness right now.  I think I will do an update on my shedding this weekend...........Oh heck, that means having to sort through the dozens of pictures I have taken of my shed hairs over the past month. 

I must end by saying that I was also pretty impressed by the mahabhringraj oil.  My hair felt extremely soft yet strong after leaving it on for 30mins.  I don't know how I feel about using it after it has run out, but I will definitely continue to use it until the bottle has run out, even though it has mineral oil in it. I don't think I will repurchase though......I just can't get my head around mineral oil being the second ingredient!  My hair felt greasy/coated after cowashing so that's why I ended up lightly shampooing with Elasta Conditioning Creme Shampoo.

UPDATE:  14.07.11 (am)

My hair still feels extremely moisturised this morning.  This could be down to the JASON 84% Aloe Condtioner, the avocado butter or a mixutre of the two.  I am also loving the Aphogee Provitamin Leave In Conditioner .  I have had this since before last Christmas and have hardly ever used it.  I don't know why though because recently since rediscovering it, it has left my hair really soft and manageable.