I Think I Wanna Cut All My HAIR Off......

"Over the past few days I have really been thinking/feeling like I just wanna cut all my hair off!"

I don't think I will right now, but that said, when I see the condition of my new growth compared against my relaxed ends (and even my texlaxed mid section of hair), I just feel that I would have an easier time and healthier hair if I cut it all off.  My new growth always seems to have the right moisture protein balance, it stretches, and takes a good amount of stretching before it snaps.  The same cannot be said for my relaxed ends, although my texlaxed section of hair also has a good range of stretch to it in comparison to my ends.

I'm not sure if I am ready to go natural right now but I think I will definitely cut all my relaxed ends off when I take out this weave.  This may possibly be closely followed by my texlaxed hair also being dispatched and this whole process seems really appealing to me at the moment.

I think having it weaved and not having to bother with it so much just to see it shed all over the place is just making me think that things could be easier if I just cut it off and started again!  I dunno tho........I'll just give it some more thought.  It may just be down to the weave or down to things in my personal life why I'm feeling like taking this step.  I suppose time will tell.

Ciao 4 Now

RIP Amy Winehouse

"Very sad news about the recent death of Amy Winehouse.


I personally loved her music and in particular her first album Frank which is where this song October Song is from.   There are many songs on this album which I loved straight away and I remember playing over and over again when I brought it and many years afterwards.

I was lucky to see Amy perform live at the MOBO's in 2007.  I really enjoyed her performance and was blown away at how effortless her huge voice was.

Such a talented young woman who died way too soon...."

OCTOBER SONG:  written by Amy Winehouse

Today my bird flew away
Gone to find her big blue jay
Starlight before she took flight
I sung a lullaby of bird land every night
Sang for my Ava every night


Ava was the morning, now she's gone
She's reborn like Sarah Vaughan
In the sanctuary she has found
Birds surround her sweet sound
And Ava flies in paradise


With dread I woke in my bed
To shooting pains up in my head
Lovebird, my beautiful bird
Spoke until one day she couldn't be heard
She just stopped singing

My Brazilian HAIR: Weave Update

"So, I've now had this hair in for a week and a half.  Mostly I am loving having a weave, but there are a few things that I'm not enjoying quite so much....!"

















1.  One of my main issues is the flipping itching!!!  I tell you this weave started itching me before I'd even stitched it on.  I think 50% of it is all in my head, but that doesn't stop the fact that it itches me every-single-day...!!!

2.  This hair sheds ALOT.  It is abit annoying because there is always hair in my brush, on the bathroom floor or both after every time I style the hair.  I wish I had sealed the wefts before installing them.  I'm not that fussed about it because I did get the hair when it was on offer for at approx £40 per 100g pack this hair works out to be around the same price as the BSS Remy hair that I brought 4yrs ago to make my clip-ins.  I will use this hair again but I'm afraid I wouldn't purchase it again.  I've never had virgin hair before but I was expecting more from it if I'm honest.  Next time I think I will research more and probably spend a little more on the hair now that I have a benchmark to measure it against.

3.  This hair also has ALOT of split ends. I plan on trimming the hair either today or tomorrow.  It has way more split ends than my actual hair.  Although my own hair is not in the greatest condition, split ends are not somthing I am troubled by.  There are some strands of this hair which have split ends on split ends.  I counted about 7 split ends on one strand when  I was preparing my hair for the recent wash.

4.  I do love the convenience of having my hair tucked away in this protective style but at the back of my mind I am concerned about what my hair will be like when I take it out.....

5.  When I take this weave out I'm thinking that I might attempt to make a U shaped wig with this hair instead, which I can braid my hair underneath, just like a weave and then use combs to attach the wig around the U part and leave out then sew the wig to the perimiter braid in my braid pattern.  This will mean that every two weeks I can undo the weave, wash my hair in the braids underneath, dry the hair throughly and then reattach the wig, wear it for another two weeks and then undo the braids and redo the style again when I'm ready.  This will eliminate the cotton dragging through my hair and also help to ensure I can wash and deep condition effectively whilst in the protective style.

6.  When I make the U shaped wig I will use the 14 inch at the back and the 16 inch on top.   I prefer volume of hair rather than length so this approach will leave me with the density that i'd prefer and will be around shoulder length or slightly longer.  I will also attempt to use all three bags of hair if I can!

7.  I am pleased at how well my leave out covered the tracks as I really only have a small amount of leave out in this install.  I refuse to mess too much with my hair tryin in vain to get my afro hair to blend with this pretty textured Brazilian hair, a good enough blend is good enough for me, I don't plan on using the flat iron again for the next 4 weeks!  I think this hair is looking better the older it gets as it's looking a little "rougher" in texture which suits me and my styling practices.


Here are a couple of pictures taken when I got in yesterday evening :

Ciao 4 Now

Weave Wash Day 25.07.11 (Cowash)

"I'd planned wash my hair on Friday but was too busy to do it over the weekend so decided to do it this morning instead because boy was my head itching!!!   I didn't have all my hair stuff with me so decided against a shampoo wash and opted for a cowash instead."

• Pre poo'd leave out hair with coconut oil for 15mins.
• Lightly detangled.
• Next added ORS Replenishing Conditioner to leave out hair on top of the coconut oil for a further 20mins.
• Pre poo'd the weave with a small amount of coconut oil just on the ends and then covered this with Elasta QP Intense Conditioner for 15mins
• Mixed HEHH conditioner and V05 Moisture Elixr Conditioner with warm/hot water and shook well.
• Next I hopped into the shower and saturated my hair with water for 3mins
• Once hair was completely saturated I applied the watered down conditioner mixutre to my scalp and massaged in lighlty for 2mins.
• Next I cowashed the weave hair with VO5 ME conditioner mixed with a tiny bit of shampoo at the base of the weave to make sure it was not oily.
• Next I throughly rinsed my hair and cowashed my leaveout hair at the sametime.
• After rinsing for about 5mins I covered my hair with a towel to soak up excess moisture.
• I then applied S-Curl No Drip Activator to my scalp and a little to the weave hair concentratin g on the ends. 
• I then added a little Bee Mine Curly Butter to enhance the curls of the weave hair
• I then air dried with three bantu knots at the front with were mixed in with some on the weave hair for a better blend.  
• Once partially dried, I undid the bantu knots and that was me for the day.

I must say I am pretty impressed at how easy it was to wash my hair today, when compared to a normal wash day with my own hair.   My roots took a long time to dry but I didn't have either my blowdrier or my hooded drier with me today so I just went outside in the UK sunshine and that helped to dry my roots quicker, especially as the wind blew through my hair whilst driving with the windows down.

Ciao 4 Now

Product Haul: July 2011

"I'm supposed to be on a flipping 'Product Ban'!!!!"

Replenishing Stocks:

• ORS Replenishing Conditioner £8.49
• 2 x Coconut Oil £3.98

New Products:

• Avocado Butter £5.75
• 2 x Aussie Frizz Remedy 3 Minute Treatment £6

Tools:

• Denman D14 Brush £5.06
• Hair Wash Clips £1.49
• Larger Tub with Lid for Henna £0.99

Weave:

• 3 x Brazilian Hair £130
• John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shampoo & Conditioner £5

I think that is about it.......!

Ciao 4 Now

Weave Wash Day 20.07.11 (Partial Wash)

"Today I decided to wash my weave.  I plan to wash my weave and hair on Friday 22.07.11 but I really needed to freshen up the actual weave hair because it had just gotten waaaaaaaaaay too greasy.  I didn't want to get my hair under the weave wet as I plan to do my acutal hair washes on a 7 to 10 day basis (Thursday's or Friday's)." 





With this plan of action in mind, I sectioned off my leave out hair and detangled using coconut oil.  I then heavily applied a generous amount of Alter Ego to my leave out hair and left it to deep condition for about 45mins. 

Whilst my leave out hair was soaking up the conditioner I sectioned the hair in two then carefully detangled with my jumbo rake before putting each section into a twist and secured with my wash clips.   I then applied Mane and Tail Conditioner to the left side and Aussie 3 Minute Reconstructor to the right side.  I left this on for about 5mins.  Both conditioners felt the same when applying, however the Mane and Tail Conditioner soaked right into the hair during the 5mins that it was left on.

I then rinsed out the conditioner then washed the weave hair with John Frieda Moisturising Shampoo from the Brilliant Brunette's range, following up with the matching conditioner.   I left the conditioner on whilst I set about cowashing my leave out hair with Nutrine Garlic conditioner followed by Giovanni Smooth As Silk Conditioner mixed with a little castor oil.  I then rinsed out the conditioner from the weave hair being super careful not to wet the tracks or the cornrows underneath.  I then rinsed the SAS conditioner mix from my leave out hair and was done.  The process took about 20mins.

I then put a towel over my head to soak up the excess moisture before adding some CHI Keratin Mist to the weave hair and Shea Butter Leave In Conditoner sealed with coconut oil on my leave out hair.  When 80% dry I detangled the leave out hair. I didn't lose any strands of my own hair during this process.  I did however lose some strands of the weave hair as this shed a little during the wash process.

Once the weave hair was 80% dry I went under the hooded dryer for 15mins as I had managed to get some of the cornrows a bit wet on the left hand side and the top of my head.  Once dried I smoothed my leave out hair down to cover my tracks and then combed it into the weave hair to get a good blend.  I then plaited the weave hair (including my leave out hair where it's long enough!) into three briads and secured with my wash clips before securing a scarf to my hair to protect it and flatten the leave out hair.  I want to go through to my next wash day without applying any heat to my hair as it just looks too thin.  I plan on babying my leave out for the duration of this weave.

I probably won't carry out a partial wash like this again. The only reason for it this time was because of oiling my scalp and taking down the top of the weave and redoing it the hair was looking stringy and I just felt it looked disgusting and possibly a track could be seen as the hair looks thin when it's greasy.  I might do it again though in the future if the need arises but I doubt it.  I knew my hair underneath is clean as I only washed it last Friday/Saturday so thought that it would cause no harm on this occasion.  I supposed time will tell.


UPDATE:  21.07.11 (pm)

My hair and the weave were in great shape this morning.  No heavy weighed down hair for me, just beautiful wavy curls and nicely blended leave out!  I am very a very happy bunny this morning. 

This evening I may try a Caruso roller set when I get home and see how that comes out.  If it looks good I will post pics tomorrow....


Ciao 4 Now

My Brazilian HAIR: Weave Install

"I was so pleased when the brought forward date of my install arrived, however I was a little aprehensive as I ended up having to get my mum to install it for me, which is not what I had planned!"

On Friday evening I went ahead with my pre install Wash Day routine.  Then on Saturday morning after rinsing the deep conditioner from my hair and blowdrying I applied growth oil to my roots, moisturised and sealed each of the 4 sections of my hair before putting my hair into 4 x bantu knots.

16inch and 14inch wefts straight out the packaging and lightly finger combed

Also on Friday evening I had to make sure that the Brazilian hair, which I purchased from Nish Hair, was
washed and air dried ready for installation the following day.  I detangled the hair using my jumbo rake and then washed the hair using John Frieda Moisturing Shampoo followed by the Moisturising Conditoner from the Brilliant Brunette range. I then airdried the wefts without combing through.  Once dried I combed the wefts, there were no tangles and there was also no shedding whatsoever!

16in and 14in wefts washed and conditioned prior to airdrying

14in and 16in wefts airdrying

Fully airdried, the weft on the right (16in) has been combed through, the other has not

I am very grateful to my mum for doing my hair, although I reckon she won't be wanting to do it again in a hurry.  I am always been a complete nightmare when getting my hair done, especially by my poor long suffering mum!  We constantaly have a battle between the two of us, which always takes me right back to being 5yrs old.   Infact, it takes us both right back to those days, although Ican get away with alot more nowadays, although I think I was driving my mum crazy on Saturday and she will relish telling my sister the details whilst they cackle away at my expense.  It does me me laugh though. I think I excelled in doing her head in with my constant leaping from the chair to undo her sewing if I felt it was too tight!!!  Yep, she won't want to go anywhere near my head again in a hurry....!

Weave Install

1.  Firstly, I sectioned off my leave out hair at the front and sides of my head.  This must have taken me between 30-45mins in total as I wasn't sure how much hair I wanted to leave out.  I didn't want to leave out too much but I wanted to leave out just enough.  This was harder to do than I thought!  I left out a minimal amount at the sides and just enough to cover the tracks and have a side parting if I want to.  

2.  Next my mum began with the braid pattern.  I decided to have my hair plaited verticaly with two horizontal braids at the nape.    I was very impressed that the braiding did not hurt at all! I even commented to my mum that she was braiding with no pain at all, apparently it is easier to do this when you are not plaiting in exetension hair.....

Braid pattern top view

3.  After the braids were in we set about securing in a weave net.  This is the first time I have ever used a weave net and to be honest, neither of us knew what the heck we were doing!!  When I put it on I was at a loss of how to secure the weave net to the top of my braids and that was when I realised that I had intended to put in a perimiter braid around the leave out hair at the top of my head.  I had already left out minimal hair and now was faced with either undoing all of the braids and starting all over again, or sacrificing some of my leave out hair in order to put in a small braid.  The latter was what I opted to do and we used a little extension hair left over from my holiday braid install which I was all up for throwing out at the time.  My mum does know best the majority of the time....don't tell her I said that!!!

Braid pattern

4.  Once the extra braid had been put in we set about securing a weave net.  I had decided against using the normal weave net as I had a hunch that I would not get on with it at all as there is really limited space available to get access to your scalp.  For me, I know from the past that itchiness is a really issue for me when wearing weaves.  This time around I really wanted to try a net to a) protect my cornrowed hair from being rubbed directlyby the wefts and b) to give a smoother finish to the weave.  We used the net that looks like fishnet stockings, as this seemed more suitable for me as the holes are more adjustable than the traditional net.  My mum stictched this to the perimiter for my hair then I pulled it so it was comfortably tight, secured a hair band around the top and then sewed under the hair band until the ends were secured together the we cut the net directly above the stitched ends for form a secure cap to sew the wefts onto.  I then cut the net to expose my leave out hair and my mum cut off the seam around the bottom.  The net the shrunk right back up to the ends that were stitched to the circumfrance of my braids.

5.  Then my mum began to install the wefts, starting at the back and without cutting the wefts she stiched the wefts through the net and onto the braids folding over the wefts when ending the current line and moving onto the next.  If there was not a braid available, she could stitch directly onto the net.  I even had a go at this when we got around to the front section.  I made sure that the thread used was spritzed with my moistursing mix of Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Moisturiser and water mixed in a spray bottle to try to prevent the roughness of the cotton ripping my hair.  This method worked a treat and made the sew in experience a less stressful one for me...!

In the end, we completely used both packs of hair resulting in a medium full appearance, which I think looks exactly like the density of my clip in's which I love!  I think it looks really natural and not like a weave at all (at the moment!) but if I brush it with my paddle brush then it looks alot fuller.  I am yet to try my Caruso rollers or my flexi rods.  I am sure I will get good results with both.  I really am impressed by the Brazilian hair, which is so soft, light and incredibly versitile.  I gave the hair a slight dusting yesterday, just to level it up at the back but other than that it there have been no issues.  I have probably shed one hair when taking out my hair band this morning.  I lost no strands when washing, combing or installing the wefts.  I am so impressed!!!!

Back of finshed weave

My HAIR Today

Below are a few things that I will be changing next time round:

• I will remember to plait a small perimiter braid around my leave out hair at the front/top, or I may not bother to put in the perimiter braid at all.  I think this will give me a flatter base.
• I will leave out more hair at the sides as this will help to cover the tracks easily.  Also I think the small amount I have out will probably lead to breakage after 6-8weeks despite caring for it by moisturising, sealing and conditioning.  Only time will tell I suppose. 
• I am undecided about leaving more hair out at the top as having less leave out makes it easier to blend and the difference in texture is less apparent.
• I will put in slightly more hair next time, maybe half or a third of a pack.
• I will ask my mum kindly (whilst creeping ALOT!) to braid my hair up next time.  I will then attempt to sew in the wefts myself whilst at her house so she can help out if I get stuck.  I really need to learn how to do this myself and I really think this will be the only way I can possibly get my mum involved in the next install as I really think I put her right off ever doing my hair AGAIN!!!  Sorry mum xx
• I will put less thread in my hair when sewing in the wefts to minimise friction and potential breakage.
• I will keep the same braid patter but move the part to the other side to minimise continued stress on the same bit of leave out hair.

Ciao 4 Now

100th My HAIR Post 

My Wash Day HAIR Clips.....

"I've posted many times in my Wash Day posts about sectioning my hair and securing the ends.  I have used a few methods, hair pins, mini claw clips, metal barrettes, mini scrunchies and metal snap clips with the latter being the most effective.  I have however, from the very start, been searching high and low for this type of childs hair clips which I remembered from my childhood, but could not find what I was looking for ANYWHERE, that was until yesterday!!"

Metal Contour (Snap) Clips

SUCCESS - Metal Contour (Snap) Clips

I have been using these metal contour (snap) clips for months now, pretty much since the beginning of 2011.  They are really effective.  They haven't caused any negative effects for my hair so far, well not that I have noticed.  I have always been super careful when putting them into my hair and when taking them out.  I would have been happy to stick with these but I really wanted to try the clips I had in mind as I wanted to try something that didn't squash my hair together so much, especially in time when my hair gets thicker.

FAIL - The scrunchies I tried

Mini Scrunchies

These were a complete fail.  Infact I remember not getting through the whole wash process using these.  My hair is too short and the ends are too thin to use these.

Mini Claw Clips

SUCCESS - Mini Claw Clips

These were a partial success as they were useful when I used to undo each section to wash, redo it then undo again to deep condition.  I no longer use this method as it involved too much maniupulation which resulted in increased breakage and shedding.

PARTIAL SUCCESS - Hair Pins

Hair Pins

Again, these were effective when I used to undo each section as I went along.  I still use these when deep conditioning under my steam cap or overnight in order to keep the hair piled on top of my head.  I love hair pins.  I have loads of them but always seem to lose them somewhere!!!

Goody Metal Barrette

FAIL - Metal Barrette

This item really didn't work for my hair.  I brought them in October 2010 and used them once.  My hair was way too thin at the time for these to stay in.  So much so that they just slid out of my hair as soon as my hair was wet.  Also, these were extemely heavy.  I never used them again, but I kept them just incase as they were about £4 for 2!!!

SUCCESS - Plastic Barrettes

Even though I am currently in a the middle of a product ban, I had to stock up on a few staples yesterday and sods law, happened to stumble upon these clips.  I used them during my recent wash day.  They worked like a charm.  They didn't slip out of my hair at all and stayed in nice and securely.  I am so pleased that I managed to find these FINALLY!!!!






Ciao 4 Now

Wash Day Diary 15.07.11

"My mum has surprised me and said she can do my install tomorrow so I need to fit in a thorough was and deep condition beforehand.  I can't believe I have washed my hair every 2 days for the past week.  I've actually quite enjoyed it hopefully the constant moisture has helped reduce any breakage!  I'm looking forward to using my new clips to keep my sections together.  For months I have been looking for a suitable alternative to my metal snap clips and haven't been able to find what I was looking for until now...."

• Pre poo with coconut oil whilst putting hair into 4 x sections
• Detangle with Just For Me 2 in 1 Conditioning Detangler
• Shampoo with Bee Mine Botanical Moisturising Shampoo
• Condition with Aussie Frizz Remedy 3 Minute Treatment
• Deep condition overnight with ORS mixed with 2tsp castor oil, 2tsp Roux Porosity Control, 5 x drops of  Rosemary Essential Oil & 1 x tsp coconut oil heated in microwave for 20-30secs to kick start to conditioner and make it more pleasent to apply prior to going to bed.
• Cover hair with plastic cap, cling film, headscarf and top that off with a wooly hat to keep my head warm.  I also put a folded up cotton wool pad in each ear to stop any drips getting into my ears.
• Rinse conditioner the following morning
• Final rinse with ACV
• Airdry to 70-80% dry detangle and then blowdry using pik attachment so hair is ready for braiding

UPDATE 16.07.11 (am):

My hair always feels soooo soft when I deep condition overnight with ORS.  It melts my newgrowth and always feels great.  I never have a great sleep though when I sleep with anything wet on my head.

This is the detangler I will be using for the next few wash days in combination with coconut oil.  I have been getting good results from this detangler which I first purchased in December 2009.  I seem to be losing less hair when using this combination so I will be using this combo, mixed with conditioner for my weave deinstall.

Best Laid Plans......

"I received some news when I got home yesterday which means I have to change all my plans for my weave install. I was going to get the weave installed by a professional which is why I purchased good quality hair as I am 100% sure it would have been installed perfectly. "











Due to reasons in my personal life I will be unable to go ahead with my weave install as previously planned.  I am GUTTED!!!

My mum, bless her heart, after seeeing how upset and stressed I am has taken pity on me and said she will install it for me so I'm probably gonna bite the bullet and see what we can do with a mixture of her skills, my directions and the trusty assistance of YouTube.

It's times like this when I really wish I had got my mum to teach me how to plait cos I would just do it myself!!!"

Wish me luck!

My 'Brazilian' HAIR: From Nish Hair

"I was torn between getting wavy Virgin Indian or Brazilian hair when I decided to get a weave.  A cracking special deal offered by Nish Hair swung the decision for me and my first impressions of the hair are good so I am happy with my decision!"

I purchased my hair from Nish Hair and it looks really pretty and is very soft. I took advantage of the special offer which was giving an amazing 25% discount off all hair purchased. I snapped up 1 x 16inch and 2 x 14inch wefts that come in 100g weight. The hair came nicely packaged and was posted by trackable delivery.  Each weft weighed just over 100g each when I checked them on my scales.  The 16inch was 108g and the 14inch weighed 106g and 103g.

The hair is a very good match for my hair colour, although I haven't tried it in natural sunlight.  As I henna my hair, there will be a reddish tint to my hair, so I will have to see how far different it is from the weave hair and then decide whether I should henna the weave hair before installation.  It seems a shame to mess with the hair beforehand so I hope that there isn't too much of a stark difference.

The hair is dark brown about 1b and as I said befopre, the hair looks lovely as you can see in the pics below and is uber soft!

I can't wait to have this weave installed.  I feel like kid at Christmas!

Ciao 4 Now

My 'Brazilian' HAIR Has Arrived

"After seeing the fantastic results of Tola's recent installs, I have decided to take the plunge and get a weave!! "


I swore off weaves years ago and this was reinforced by a scary install experiment just last year. I looked like a crazy lady!!!  The hair didn't look at all natural (it was synthetic), I used WAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too much and overall it was just plain wrong! I hated it so much that I took it out three days later and made my first quick weave instead! I know this experience will be a much better experience and now that the hair has arrived, I can go full steam ahead with the install!

Now all I need to do is confirm date and prepare the hair.  I really am looking forward to having a bit of time off from dealing with my hair.  I know I will still need to wash, condition and moisturise my hair (and the weave hair) regularly, but I think it will be a whole lot less stressfull as I won't have to see my shed hair on a daily and weekly basis.  I can just concentrate on keeping my ends hidden and pamper my scalp with regular applications of growth aid and my roots with castor oil.

I'm so excited!!!   I will do a post on the hair in a couple of days when I have had a chance to upload pictures of the hair.

I will just have to psych myself up for the de-install shedding when it's time to take the weave out.

Ciao 4 Now

Bye Bye Shikakai

"Well, I think I may have realised why the shikakai herbal hair oil smelt not so great. I think the fact that it had a best before date of December 2010 might have had something to do with it – or perhaps not…? Either way, I threw it in the bin last night and won’t be repurchasing this particular oil."



Ciao 4 Now
Tama

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.

Indian Hair Oils To Revisit (3 & 4): Hesh Shikakai & Mahabringaraj Herbal Hair Oils

"Hesh Mahabhringaraj & Shikakai Herbal Hair Oils are two other Indian oils that I have in my stash.  I hadn't even gotten around to opening these until last night, despite having both of these for over 8 months!  I think  I never used them as I only brought the shikakai oil because I couldn't find anywhere that sold shikakai powder and then stumbled across the shikakai powder in Tesco.  Since then I have only used the natural powders and completey overlooked the oil."


It Claims:
Shikakai Herbal Hair Oil

Shikakai Enriched Herbal Hair Oil contains extract of shikakai which is known for its natural cleansing and non-greasy properties.    This oil incorporates shikakai with other benficial herbs, which combat the build-up of sebum on your scalp, to help hair grow beautifully and healthily.  A blend of natural oils like coconut, castor and sandal, it provides complete nourishment to your hair and scalp.

Massage gently into the scalp and hair using circular motions for a few minutes and leave on overnight.

Ingredients:
Mineral Vegetable Oil, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil Oil, Acacia Concinna (Shikakai) Extract, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Oil, Parfum, Isopropyl Myristate, Cyclomethicone,Extract Of: Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera); Plyllanthus Emblica (Amla); Centella Asiatica (Brahmi); Eclipta Prostrate (Maka); Melia Azadirachta (Neem); Trigonella Foenum-Graecum (Methi); Ethylhexyl (Octyl) Methoxycinnamate, Santalum Album (Sandal) Oil, BHT, Cl 47000, Cl 26100, Cl61565.


It Claims:
Mahabhringaraj Herbal Hair Oil

Natural nourishing herbal hair oil for thick, strong and healthy-looking, beautiful dark hair.  Provides healthy nourishment to weak hair roots, dry scalp and hair.  Extract bhringaraj (maka), hansraj, gunja, patola, curry leaf, indrayan, bawachi & other herbs and natural oils like avocado, almond, coconut, sweet basil, german chamomile and thyme.  Incorporate maka with other beneficial herbs, which on regular application provide healthy nourishment to dry scalp and weak hair roots. With a blend of quality natural oils like avocado, sweet almond and coconut, it ensures deeper oil penetration to moisturise and provide thick, strong and healthy-looking, dark lustrous hair.  Regular or prolonged use on lighter hair may result in some darkening of the natural hair colour.
Massage gently into the scalp and hair using circular motions for a few minutes and leave on overnight.


Ingredients:
Sesamum Indicum (Til) Oil, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Oil, Eclipta Prostrate (Maka, Bhrigaraj) Extract, Extract Of: Adiantum Capillus Veneris (Hansraj); Abrus Precatorius (Gunja); Trichosanthes Cucumerina (Patola); Murraya Koenigii (Curry Leaf); Plyllanthus Emblica (Amla); Terminalia Bellerica (Behda); Centella Asiatica (Brahmi); Vetiveria Zizanioides (Cuscusgrass); Terminalia Chebula (Harde); Citrullus Colocynthis (Indrayan); Curcuma Zedoaria (Kachura); Ocimum Basilicum (Murwo); Cyperus Rotundus (Nagarmotha); Rosa Damascene (Rose); Trigonella Foenum-Graecum (Methi); Psoralea Corylifolia (Bawachi); Nardostachys Jatamansi (Jatamansi), Hedychium Spicatum (Kapurkachri), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Ocimum Basilicum (Sweet Basil) Oil, Chamomilla Recutita (German Chamomile) Oil; Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Mct), Ethylhexyl (Octyl) Methoxycinnamate, BHT, Cl 47000, Cl 61565, Cl 26100



How I Plan To Incorporate These Products:

As you can see from the ingredients lists above, both of these oils have mineral oil in them and a whole lot of other ingredients. 

For now, I think I will incorporate both of these as yet unused oils into my regimen for pre poo treatments.  I will prepoo for 1-3hrs with the shikakai oil (or add it to my deep conditioner) and overnight with the mahabringraj oil.  I may also add them to my henna gloss mixes if I like the pre poo effects.

After opening the packs yesterday I can say that I am more keen on the scent of the mahabringraj oil over the scent of the shikakai oil which smells kinda foodish to me.  Hence the reason for only wanting to add it to my deep conditioner (to mask the smell) or prepoo with it for only a few hours as opposed to overnight.

I'm really interested to see how my hair gets along with both of these oils.

Ciao 4 Now