Wash Day Diary @ 26 Weeks Post: 21.01.14

"I realise that it has been quite some time since my last wash day post!  I seem to be settling nicely into my new 2-3 week schedule."

Normally, when I'm not protective styling I would carry out my wash days between the 7 to 10 days mark.  However, due to protective styling with wigs I've realised that it isn’t necessary for me to carry out my wash days so often.  To be honest, I really don’t know how I used to find the time to do this ‘ish every single week!!  Ain’t nobody got time for dat these days!  Well, definitely not this somebody that's for sure!

This was the first wash day in about the past three where I have switched up my choice of pre-poo oil and deep conditioner and I must say I was a little hesitant to do so seeing as I like the results I obtained during previous wash days.  Nevertheless, I had no choice seeing as I’d run out of ORS Hair Mayonnaise!  I also wanted to try a lighter oil than sunflower oil as it can be difficult to rinse out of my twisted strands.

These are the steps I followed:

Pre-poo, Detangling & Deep Conditioning

I applied melted EVCO to my new growth and the entire length of my hair.  I unravelled braids which had stretched my new growth significantly reducing tangling and dryness.  I then lightly finger detangled and removed as much shed hair as possible, adding Mane and Tail Detangler to any dry spots.

I then applied a little warm ORS Replenishing Conditioner  (warmed in the microwave for 30 seconds) to the section ensuring the new growth was saturated and the length of the hair was lightly moistened with conditioner before two strand twisting the section and repeating the process on the next twist in turn.  I then covered with my gold conditioning cap and a warm towel for about an hour.

When detangling I go through the 10 sections as numbered in this diagram.

Rinsing & Shampooing

I rinsed my hair concentrating on removing all of the conditioner from my scalp.  I did this using a downward stroking motion so as not to manipulate my hair too much because it encourages tangles.  Doing this I end up with lots of product left in the length of my hair as it is twisted it is much harder for the conditioner to rinse out of each twist. 

I then applied diluted Dermax Therapeutic Shampoo to my scalp and massaged my scalp taking care not to agitate my new growth too much.  I didn’t apply any shampoo at all to the length of my hair.

I then rinsed out the shampoo from my scalp section by section and twisted each twist around itself creating a tighter coil which squeezes out the excess conditioner from the twist without me having to undo each twist under running water and then retwist.

As I used ORS Replenishing Conditioner I didn’t follow up with any conditioning treatments after shampooing, I just called it a day so far as my hair being in water was concerned and just covered my hair with a towel for 10 minutes.


Finishing Up

After removing the towel my hair was still pretty wet but as it felt so soft I decided to give finger detangling a go at this stage with no product in my hair.  During this finger detangling session, I concentrated on separating my new growth and removing tangles, of which there were only two small ones.

I finger detangled the section then added Bee Mine Deja’s Hair Milk, EVCO and Organix Coconut Milk Anti Breakage Serum then detangled from ends to roots using my Hercules Sagemann Jumbo Rake Comb.  Now I think we all know that detangling for me is always usuaslly a task and a half!  Well, during this wash day it turned out that detangling was a breeze, which is a surprise as my hair is currently 6 months post relaxer!!!  I think this was as a result of my new growth having been stretched for three weeks as I’d braided my sections.  I also think that because I had deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing Conditioner which always makes my hair soft, this helped alot with detangling as there was also probably still a little bit of residue from the conditioner/pre poo oil in the length of my hair which gave it some additional slip.  

I had also gone through my sections last Thursday, lightly finger detangling, moisturising and re-braiding them at the 2 week mark as I think this makes a difference to my level of tangling if I leaving my hair for 3 weeks between wash days.   During that process I lost hardly any hair.

After detangling each section I then braided each one the same way as I had done for the previous wash day and went to bed with damp hair.

Shedding

My hair seems to be shedding the same amount for the past few wash days.  

At the moment I don't feel my shedding increases or decreases dependant on the number of weeks that have passed between wash days.  I think keeping protein treatments regular and keeping my hair moisturised are helping to keep breakage to a minimum.  Therefore, I think (scalp permitting) I will be continuing with 2-3 weeks between wash days as I only lose hair on wash days so in my mind having less wash days and detangling sessions means less hair lost.

I have been rocking my eBay lace front to work this week and I wear the unit with none of my hair left out.

I absolutely love this wig now.  The hair is super soft and the perfect density so doesn't look over the top for every day wear. 

I still have no plans to relax my hair anytime soon!

Ciao 4 Now