Wash Day Diary: 29.10.13 @ 14 Weeks Post

"The title of this post is wash day diary, but it should be Traumatic Tangles at Ten ’Clock!"

As you can see from the date, this wash day took place almost two weeks ago but I couldn’t access the document to upload this post.

I started out this wash day not really wanting but needing to wash my hair. It had been 2½ weeks since my last wash day and my scalp was acting up – which was strange for me. I think that could be down to the all-day baggying treatment I had given my hair on the previous Saturday – should have washed it then but I thought I could stretch another week out of it.




As my scalp was acting up I decided that I needed to cleanse my scalp properly but I wasn’t in the mood for using shampoo because the action of massaging my scalp encourages tangles and this tangling is often exacerbated by the chemicals in shampoo. So, I opted for a co-wash using Hair One. At the last minute, I decided to try a cleansing paste made of Shikakai powder to my scalp to help cleanse it thoroughly.

1. Spritzed my almost three week old twists with Mane n Tail Detangler and left to soak in for a few minutes before following up with Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler to each twist. I then unravelled each twist and gently finger detangled each section before re-twisting.

2. I applied the shikakai paste using my fingertips along the partings between each twist and then on my scalp in the centre of the twist and then massaged in. *Note: When I wash my hair with shampoo next time I will apply the diluted shampoo to my dry /scalp, without wetting first and using an applicator bottle.

3. After massaging the paste onto my scalp, I jumped into the shower and rinsed section by section, starting at the front. The shikakai was quite grainy so it took a fair bit of rinsing (I know I didn’t manage to get it all out!). I then followed up with the Hair One Cleansing Conditioner (olive oil formula) which I massaged in and then left on for 5 minutes. Afterwards my hair felt very soft.

4. I never had any intention of deep conditioning my hair during this wash day as I wanted it to be over quickly. I conditioned my hair with Organix Coconut Milk conditioner and left on for 5 minutes before rinsing out.

5. I covered my hair with a towel for 10 minutes then began the detangling process, which I was dreading. My hair had been in two strand twists for almost three weeks and I knew I would have tangles on my 14 week post hair. Next time I will make sure I detangle and re-twist my hair after a week and a half if I have twists. Braids are okay for three week but twists don’t hold up so well and they don’t protect my hair to the same extent, but they are quicker to do and it’s easier to keep my twists moisturised that it is to keep braids moisturised.

6. I detangled using AVJ and EVOO. The two front sections were very tangled and matted near the roots and I lost a fair bit of hair but I took my time with finger detangling before using my Hercules Sagemann Jumbo Rake.

The worst section (which is in fact a serial repeat offender) is section 3 on the right hand side of my head. Lord only knows why this particular section decides that it wants to tangle itself on top of tangles creating huge super tangles which are almost impossible to defeat. I have lost count over the months at the times I have wanted to take the scissors to it and cut just that section down to the quick! It is super annoying.

I lose the most amount of hair from this particular section which actually is one of the smaller sections of hair. I lose less hair from the nape, and even less from the really coarse hair on my temples. The softer hair at the front is the most prone to tangles and section 3 is just a complete pain in the arse! I am going to inspect this area more closely and try to identify what mix of non-friendly hair types in this section which are causing me such a headache! I know that section 1 has more of a spiral, section 2 is coily, section 4 is a softer version of 3 and section 5 is the finest and softest of all of the sections. Section 5 is a weird dichotomy as it breaks when I have newgrowth but it behaves best out of all the sections the deeper into a stretch I get. SMDH!

Anyway, to cut a long curly story short, detangling took forever and a day, okay so it didn’t take entirely that long but after starting at 10pm and hair taking an hour for each half of my head it equated to a 12am bedtime for me!

7. I applied KeraCare Oil Moisturiser to each section and twisted before covering with a scarf and jumping into bed.

Now, I must take this time to mention that the shine from my hair was absolutely stunning at the end of this wash day. I think that was down to the AVJ or maybe it was the shikakai powder – either way, it looked incredibly shiny and was super-duper soft!

The week following this wash day I was rocking my full lace unit (sorry no pictures). I really need to give her an overhaul and a name……..how about ‘Zelda’? You’ll understand when I do upload pictures the next time she’s in rotation! ;)

Ciao 4 Now