Wash Day Diary @ 13 Weeks Post: 12.10.13

 "Just over a week ago, I did my first wash day following my recent henna gloss treatment.  It went well and I must say, I am really enjoying this low maintenance no muss no fuss approach to my hair at the moment."

My wash day actually began two days beforehand but I got as far as unravelling one braid and decided that I wasn't up to the hours of dedication needed so I rebraided the section and watched TV with my boyfriend instead...... 

Posted on Facebook 11th October 2013

So, by the time the weekend came around I was more in the right frame of mind to deal with my hair, because we all know, my wash days aren't a 10 minute kinda thing......



Preparation:
Keeping my hair in the same 10 sections as my henna gloss treatment and protective style for the three weeks that followed, I detangled each braid starting with at the front on the left side. I sprayed my braids with Mane N Tail Detangler the un-braided each one carefully using my fingers. I then applied Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler to the length of my hair before finger detangling to remove all of the shed hair which had built up in the time since my henna gloss treatment!

These are the 10 sections which I am currently wearing my hair in underneath my units.

Deep Conditioning & Dog Walking:
After detangling each section, I applied a nice handful (yes, a handful!) of ORS Replenishing Conditioner to each section directly after detangling, before moving on to the next section. When all 10 sections were coated in deep conditioner, I covered my hair with a conditioning cap (again, I forgot to use my gold one!) and then put on a woolly hat. I then took the dog for a walk for an hour.


Rinsing Eventually:
When I got back I left the deep conditioner on my hair for an additional 2hrs because I couldn’t be bothered to wash it out straight away so instead I caught up with some TV programmes I’d recorded ages ago.

Finally I clipped one pronged roller clips to the ends of my hair to stop the twists from unravelling then I rinsed out the conditioner in the shower. I followed this up with a co-wash using Hair One Cleansing Conditioner the argan oil formula which is not my favourite, I much prefer the olive oil formula as it seems to be more moisturising. I concentrated application of this on my scalp, massaged it in and left it on for about 5 minutes or more. I discovered that this product gives the best results when following the instructions on the pack – it softens newgrowth when it is left on the hair. I then thoroughly rinsed the product out of my hair.


Green Tea Rinse:
I followed it up with a freezing cold green tea rinse using two tea bags. The temperature wasn’t intentional but was because the tea had been steeped for about three or four hours and I didn’t warm it up again.

I used the two pitcher method which means using two pitchers during the rinse process, one to pour and the other to catch the run off. This means that you get to use the brew more effectively as all of the tea doesn’t go down the plug hole after the first rinse.


Finishing Up & Styling (sort of!)
I left a towel on my head for about 10 minutes before applying my leave ins, sealing and detangling with my Hercules Sagemann jumbo rake. I used AVJ as my detangler solution as it doubles up as a great moisturiser, Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioner Treatment as my leave in and sealed with coconut oil and a little Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum on the ends.

After applying these products I detangled each section in turn and two strand twisted. Surprisingly, this took less than an hour. It was my intention to braid my hair later that day but I didn’t feel like it so my hair remains in the ten two strand twists. These aren’t as secure and neat as braids so they will probably hold up until the end of this week.

Total amount of hair shed after three weeks.  LEFT: From each of the ten sections left and right hand side, the hair at the top is from the front, the hair at the bottom is from the back.  TOP RIGHT:  Combined shed hair from left and right sides and BOTTOM RIGHT:  All combined.  Overall this seems to be about the same as from my previous wash day, no increase, possibly a slight reduction so that's good.  When my shedding slows down to a normal level I have decided that I will cut my hair to get rid of any thin sections.

I moistiurise daily with my moistusing spritz made with water, aloe vera juice, Organix Coocnut Milk Conditioner and castor oil.  I also apply castor oil to my scalp, hairline and ends every other day.   My hair feels nicely moisturised.

I will shampoo my hair on my next wash day using a chelating shampoo in preparation for my relaxer the following week. 
 

Ciao 4 Now