Wash Day

1. I mixed together about 1.5 tablespoons of Vatika Oil and third of a cup (80ml) of Aubreys Organics Glycogen Balancing Conditioner in a bowl, having melted the Vatika Oil previously using a roughshod bain marie.

 I applied it to the thicker half of my hair first (rookie mistake) and promptly had to mix up another batch because it wasn't enough.

2. I put on a plastic shower cap and waited it out for an hour while I did some work.

Wonder Thing: *marvelling* All of your hair doesn't even fit under there!
Simple Thing: *stubbornly ignores him*

Before Deep Conditioning/ after deep conditioning

2. Shampoo - 1 tablespoon of honey, teaspoon of Shea Butter's black soap and half a cup of hibiscus tea. I applied it to my scalp only.

3. Then I did an ACV rinse - I always forget/neglect to dilute it, since I reckon I'm rinsing it out anyway and with how hard my water is, a little bit of strength won't hurt, right?

4. I followed that up with Garnier Ultra Blend Shea Butter and Avocado conditioner.

5. I wanted to try a different leave in, so I pulled out the Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave In Treatment. Um, I looked for slip and it was lacking, Cue me quickly jumping ship straight back to Kinky Curly Knot Today to finish off detangling and moisturising the rest of my hair.

6. I tried to use Eco Styler olive oil gel with the Camille Rose Naturals Leave In but when I switched to the Kinky Curly Knot Today, I left it out. If they can't play nice, then they just can't play together at all.

7. I twisted my hair and then left it! I'm kind of hoping that I can leave it for a couple of days (ooh, protective styling!) and then release it for an awesome faux wash and go (ooh, awesome styling!)

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Wash Day

1. As per normal, I pre-pooed overnight with Vatika Oil, but then I discovered some Greek Yoghurt in the fridge, so mixed four tablespoons of that with 3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and slapped then on my head for good measure. I left that on for half an hour.

2. I rinsed my hair with warm water, quadrant by quadrant. After I rinsed each section, I applied Garnier Ultra Blend Shea Butter and Avocado Oil on each section and twisted it up. I rinsed after a minute or two. I wrapped my hair in a very thin towel for about half an hour.

3. Then, I worked on each half section of the twist. I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today as a leave in, detangling with my fingers and then sealed with Anita Grant Café Latte.

4. Then I split that section into smaller sections that I could easily fit them into the Curlformers.
Yep, I got them back. Well, kinda.
The Littlest Sis got me some new ones for my birthday. I feel she may have been overly-optimistic/mistaken, because she got me the extra long and wide ones.

It took me a little over 2 hours to put them in, because detangling took so long. It was a nightmare. My failed attempts at keeping the set of my faux wash and go resulted in lots of shrinking and tangling at the very root of my hair.
EURGH. Not a good day concerning how much hair I lost.

I'd wanted to use my hooded dryer to speed things up and so I didn't have to sleep on the Curlformers. But at ten to midnight, using a hair dryer/hooded dryer is plain aggressive as far as the neighbours are concerned, so I dealt with it. It was actually okay sleeping on my back, until my contrary self decided to roll over to sleep on my side. Erk.
20 Curlformers in my face was definitely enough to wake me up!

I took the Curlformers out in the morning, and it felt like some parts of my roots were still damp. They were probably just a bit cold, but I was in a sleepless fog. The results on one side were definitely better than the other >.< . I am definitely hood drying next time.

All of this just went into a bun. After last week, I just wanted stretched, low fuss hair!

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My Faux Wash and Go

In fairness, the results of my last wash day, where I attempted a faux wash and go wasn't a complete fail.

When I first started I was sceptical. It just looked like an ordinary twist out (and we know how extremely not brilliant I am at those).

But wait! What's this? MY finest area - co-operating? Separating of their own free will?

Goodness...could this be.....a good hair day?

No, make that - a really amazing hair day! It's the first time I have ever been complimented on my hair by work colleagues. I felt fresh. I felt amazing. I had to make this last more than a day!

So I tried naptural85's bagging method after a light spritz of water, pineappled everything and tied it all on with a silk scarf to prevent my instinct of taking things off my head while I'm sleeping.

Didn't work. Between 2 and 4am, I distinctly remember ripping said baggy off my head, muttering darkly about being too hot and how all this was nonsense.

Day 2 was okay - wearable, but not as great as Day 1.

Day 3, my shedding really kicked it and my looked like it was locking. When it looks like this, I know I need a detangle, because all the shed hair has gotten stuck at the roots, thus forcing my hair to 'clump'.

But it was midweek! No time to wash properly, so I'm just bunning for the rest of the week. *Sigh* My next wash day is going to be horrendous

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25% off Curlformers

I know there are some people who have been wanting to get their hands on some Curlformers styling kits, but have cringed massively at the prices - I just found out that Gidore has them at 25% off. Which means that there's at least £10 off all the Curlformers they have in stock! The long and wide Curlformers (the orange and pink ones) are now just under £32 and the extra long and wide ones (pictured above) are just under £35. The kits include 40 of each curlormer type, the plastic case, two styling hooks and instructions for use.

Curlformers are quite popular amongst the hair blogging community as a heat-free way to either stretch your hair (if your hair is prone to shrinking) or putting curls in (if your hair is straight). Beadsbraidsandbeyond used to use them quite a lot, which is how I heard of them and got into the act.

I'm thinking it might make a nice birthday gift for The Littlest Sis, who is twice as hair obsessed as I am!

I'm not sure how long it will last - it's been going since September 4th apparently - but postage and packaging is about £4.99.

Image - from Gidore.com

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Wash Day

1) Pre-pooed with Vatika Oil overnight. I did put on a satin cap but it was at the end of the bed by the morning. Even in my sleep, I can't be tamed.

2) Applied Aubrey's Organics Glycogen Balancing Conditioner all over my hair, and clipped it up for about an hour (maybe more - I was busy working and lost track).











3) Divided hair into four sections. Rinsed out the conditioner with warm water. I added some Garnier Ultra Blend Avocado and Shea Butter because the Aubreys had dried and was giving no slip whatsoever. It helped me run my fingers through each sections and unmesh my hair and get some shed hair out. Twisted sections up.







4) Applied Kinky Curly Knot Today as a leave in section by section.  Divided each twisted section into two smaller twists, except for at the front, so I ended up with 5 twists on each side

5) I bobby pinned the roots down to stop extra bigness volume because, at this point in time, all that extra oomph   makes my head look like a square.









It feels like a miracle - I managed to twist my hair down to almost all the way to the bottom! And my hair feels lovely again - what was missing last week? Maybe I can't use the Garnier Ultra Blend as conditioners by themselves...

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Wash and Go in the Winter

Remember when I said I was craving wash and go hair? Well, that feeling has not gone away at all - maybe it's my mental refusal to let go of summer? Or maybe because I got so used wearing the style (and having it dry in under an hour)?

But I thought, no, I'll be good and wear my hair stretched this season. Wash and go hair in winter is just asking to turn into an icicle or catching pneumonia, or something equally ridiculous as that life choice.

Well, I stumbled across this video today and it inspired me to rethink wearing wash and go hair in the cooler seasons up here in the Northern Hemisphere.



Her hair came out beautifully and it sparked my memory of something similar - you know, the infamous Naptural85 'Winter Wash and Go'? My texture is closer to Whitney's (Naptural85's) than it is to Tasha's (pashtash's), so I think the resemblance would definitely lean that way.

But two different women having done something so similar successfully (and Whitney has helpfully made a video detailing how she maintains this style for 5 days after) makes me think that it might be possible.

From what I've seen, it's clean hair + moisture + medium sized twists + finger detangling + gentle separating/fluffing = awesome hair.

What's not to love?

And hallelujah for my fine strands, it's low manipulation.

Let's see how my luck turns out with this twist out that's not a twist out....Maybe the paradox will save me?

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Wash Day. Blah.

1, Pre-pooed with Vatika Oil overnight.

2. Conditioned hair with Garnier Ultra Blend Avocado and Shea Butter. Put the Ultra Blend Papaya and Vanilla Milk on my fingers and used it to help separate my hair into twists under the running water.

3. Used Kinky Curly Knot Today on each twist and then Curl Enhancing Smoothie on top. Sealed with Anita Grant's Cafe Latté.

I know, it sounds all organised and systematic...until you see the twists.

 That's not two separate twists on the left - that's where the ends of my twist has unravelled or maybe I didn't do it properly.

I know. I was so lazy, and so undecided as to further action ('I have no strategy') I didn't even retry twisting the unravelled ends of the twists. I put them under my hat whilst damp and let them dry during the day.

Honestly, I was apathetic because I was disappointed. All that product, but my hair wasn't as soft feeling as I wanted it on the ends. I don't know what I'm looking for exactly, but I'd just done a trim, so ends that felt the same as before was not in the programme.

I untwisted the next day for a chunky twist out, but after that it's going to spend the rest of the week in two french braids.

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Time to Trim

After my last wash day, I noticed two things: 1. My ends were getting really tangled with each and b) The ends of my braids looked really scrawny. Even for my fine haired self, those were some very little looking tail ends.

My method is simply and is two basic steps:

• Examine chunks of hair. 
• Where it starts thinning out at the end, trim. 

My hair is so fine it might be hard to see, but there's 2 -3 inches after that thick looking part in my hand.

I found I really enjoyed trimming my hair. I don't know - maybe it's because wearing wash and goes frequently all summer has gotten me accustomed to the (shorter) length of my hair. Maybe it's because I don't have to cut to eliminate split ends - I've checked and I don't have any.

It's weird, but a couple of months ago, the thought of cutting my hair would have had my heart palpitating. And today I calmly cut of 2 to 3 inches off from all over.

My cloud of trimmed hair.

On another note, I'm considering wearing a wash and go to work. One of my colleagues and I were chatting about it today - she has long, ombre bleached wavy hair and was not overly impressed with how her hair had frizzed out.

I mentioned thinking of wearing my hair out to work and she said I said go for it - but, eh, I'm not sure. Mainly because of practical reasons - I don't really want my hair in my face or distracting the people I work with. Also....winter is coming (no, I don't watch the show! Goodness).

Cold hair in winter = Frozen Simple Thing. 

But I'm definitely considering it for the summer. I know, I know, I'm 11 and a half months too early. What can I say - I'm a forward planner!

Would you wear your hair out where you work?

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Let's Lunch! No 2: Curry Week

This first one used a deliciously rich and smoky lamb rogan josh curry teamed with fluffy long grain rice. On the left, a stalk of crisp asparagus quickly griddled in olive oil, snapped and laid on a bed of baby leaf spinach.

The (almost) exact rogan Josh recipe I used can be found here.

 I used vegetable oil in the paste, because that's what I had, and lamb instead of the favourite vegetables. I'm a big believer in using what I have in the house to keep my costs down, instead of buying more stuff that I may not use for a while. Attempting to smoke my own pepper over the gas fire was fun though....

This second curry is a yummy moreish coconut fish one, long grain rice and two juicy plums. 

I was rather sulky when I made this fish curry (recipe here) as my friend who is staying over doesn't like spicy food and I had to leave out the chilli pepper, though I added copious amounts of (mild!) chilli powder to compensate. The recipes a keeper though - even with the begrudged omission, it still tasted really good!

I've had to switch to rice as my main lunch carb, as I find it's the only thing that fills up my normal tupperware to give me enough calories to prevent me trying to chew my arm off at around 4pm, when I'm normally still at work. Bread just doesn't cut it. Also, sandwiches are boring!

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Wash Day

Or, what happens when I wash my hair late on a Sunday night.

It was really quick and really simple because of my overwhelming desire to get myself into bed as soon as possible. I knew I need to shampoo - I'd been spritzing aloe vera juice and rose water and sealing with Anita Grant's Café Latte every couple of days and I just wanted to get rid of the heaviness

1) I'd pre-pooed for a day with Vatika Oil and separated my hair into about 7 twisted sections.

2) Then I used Shea Butter Cottage Liquid African Black Soap to cleanse my scalp (3 pumps) and hair (1 pump). I like how convenient it is - I just pump it out of the bottle when I need. Even though it's really runny, it foams well, but I don't think I spread it efficiently, so I ended up using 3 pumps on my scalp and I think that's a waste. I think I'm going to used an applicator bottle next time. I rinsed well with warm water.

3) Then I applied Aubrey Organics Glycogen Protein Conditioner on my hair. At first I thought I preferred the smell to the Ylang Ylang and Lavender. Then I couldn't stand it. Then I rinsed it out and thought the smell is quite tolerable, actually.
It was a roller coaster five minutes.

4) I used Kinky Curly Knot Today to help my finger untangling of my hair. The ends of my hair were really gluing together and I wasn't overwhelmed by the leave in's help there. I went by section by section, and after I'd finished I turned the twist into a plait/braid, twisting the ends.

I think I'd planned to undo the braids, but I just ended up styling them and leaving the house like that. I know it's not the look for everyone, but it makes me feel more serious and I think it gets the people at work to take me more seriously.

A few notes on my hair - I think tea rinses are not for me. Either that, or I was really stressed a couple of weeks/months ago, because my shedding has reduced WAY down since I've stopped doing them. Seriously. I'm turning into one of those "look at my tiny handful of hair lost!" blogging ladies who I always gently filed under the category of 'over optimistic truth stretchers'.

Plus, my hair, even in plaits, feels really soft. I keep stroking them (but only at home, I don't want people to think I'm strange...).

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