I've fallen out a little bit with Alikay Naturals because of their shampoo.
Wednesday, 30 December 2015
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Holiday Hair
In the last seven days, I have actually styled my hair more than once!
Last week's wash day resulted in a wash and go, which I happily wore for about 3 days. At night, I'd simply band it in 2 - 3 ponytails to stretch it a little bit...and then dampen it in the morning so it would shrink nicely.
I would have worn it for a longer period of time but I wanted to have something a little bit..fancy for the holidays.
The whole 'holiday hair' thing.
I twisted the plaits in a flat twist manner to make this quick updo while I went shopping.
The next day, I took the completely dry plaits out. Egads....
Hallelujah, I had a style! A braid out, if you will, my good wo)man.
That night, high on styling success, I used a spray bottle of water, Shea Decadence Mango Lassi Leave in, a tinchy amount of shea butter and some aloe vera gel to set my hair into twists.
My goodness, my hair was not happy. You have to remember, I didn't use a leave in, so I had a bit (a lot) of small s-curl breakage from my furiously undernourished ends. I gave up using the spray bottle about halfway through as it seemed to be causing more shrinkage, and more tangling and more breakage, Bleurgh.
Note to self: Big twists and twist outs are not a protective style for you!
I had three twists on each side, with the roots flat twisted.
I twisted my ends on tiny perm rods and then pinned them up onto the back of my head.
In the morning, I was not feeling hopeful. Had I been hung by own own petard?!?
I took out the first perm rod and it stubbornly refused to come out, so I was sweating bricks before I'd even properly started.
When I did take it out, I got this:
Why is my hair at odds and right angles to itself??
The second perm rod also refused to come out. I worked out the trick by the fourth one - unravel the way you put it on. Which would be great, except I'd seemingly used different methods for all of them.
Still not that excited at this point.
Then I started taking out the twists. When I finished I was dead pleased and chuffed and more than feeling myself a little (please refer to aforementioned gif for estimated levels of mirror preening).
By the end of the day, my hair had started to frizz and lose definition, which confirmed something for me - my fine hair cannot really hold a curl other than its own for that long without frizz. Maintaining it would involve fair too much manipulation.
At night, I simply tied it up in two ponytails and went to bed. Eaaaasy.
Last week's wash day resulted in a wash and go, which I happily wore for about 3 days. At night, I'd simply band it in 2 - 3 ponytails to stretch it a little bit...and then dampen it in the morning so it would shrink nicely.
I would have worn it for a longer period of time but I wanted to have something a little bit..fancy for the holidays.
The whole 'holiday hair' thing.
 |
| Spot the renegade, over stretched section. |
So I cowashed on Wednesday, and put my plaits in.
The next day, I took the completely dry plaits out. Egads....
Fluff! Separate a little but fluff until you can fluff no more!
Hallelujah, I had a style! A braid out, if you will, my good wo)man.
That night, high on styling success, I used a spray bottle of water, Shea Decadence Mango Lassi Leave in, a tinchy amount of shea butter and some aloe vera gel to set my hair into twists.
My goodness, my hair was not happy. You have to remember, I didn't use a leave in, so I had a bit (a lot) of small s-curl breakage from my furiously undernourished ends. I gave up using the spray bottle about halfway through as it seemed to be causing more shrinkage, and more tangling and more breakage, Bleurgh.
Note to self: Big twists and twist outs are not a protective style for you!
I had three twists on each side, with the roots flat twisted.
I twisted my ends on tiny perm rods and then pinned them up onto the back of my head.
In the morning, I was not feeling hopeful. Had I been hung by own own petard?!?
I took out the first perm rod and it stubbornly refused to come out, so I was sweating bricks before I'd even properly started.
When I did take it out, I got this:
Why is my hair at odds and right angles to itself??
The second perm rod also refused to come out. I worked out the trick by the fourth one - unravel the way you put it on. Which would be great, except I'd seemingly used different methods for all of them.
Still not that excited at this point.
By the end of the day, my hair had started to frizz and lose definition, which confirmed something for me - my fine hair cannot really hold a curl other than its own for that long without frizz. Maintaining it would involve fair too much manipulation.
At night, I simply tied it up in two ponytails and went to bed. Eaaaasy.
Kudos to Hair Bloggers/Vloggers who do tutorials on the regular. You're all as resilient as anything.
I couldn't do this in the long haul!
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Quick Cowash.
Christmas Eve eve and I decided to wash my hair (and also brave the rain, hail and wind to buy the Wonder Thing's present a little late. Oops!)
I only usedtwo three things, because I was in a rush but also because I thought I was being an evil genius and had a plan.
We'll see how that works out.
I pre-pooed with coconut oil for about half an hour, and then jumped into the shower and started massaging As I Am Coconut Cowash into my scalp and smoothing it down my hair,
I quickly rinsed it out and then added Shea Moisture JBCO Masque on each half of my hair and plaited each half. I left it on while I completed my ablution (*scrubscbrubscrub*) and then I rinsed it out whilst still in the plaits.
After I was dressed, I simply took down each plaited half and turned each plait 'section' into a plait itself. So I ended up with about three on each side and a braided/plaited fringe too.
I didn't use a leave in because I wanted my hair to dry faster. I was also kinda hoping to have my hair stretched enough from the plaits/braids so that I could use it for a more defined twist out, in lieu of my Curlformers that are, unfortunately, over 100 miles away.
I only used
We'll see how that works out.
I pre-pooed with coconut oil for about half an hour, and then jumped into the shower and started massaging As I Am Coconut Cowash into my scalp and smoothing it down my hair,
I quickly rinsed it out and then added Shea Moisture JBCO Masque on each half of my hair and plaited each half. I left it on while I completed my ablution (*scrubscbrubscrub*) and then I rinsed it out whilst still in the plaits.
After I was dressed, I simply took down each plaited half and turned each plait 'section' into a plait itself. So I ended up with about three on each side and a braided/plaited fringe too.
I didn't use a leave in because I wanted my hair to dry faster. I was also kinda hoping to have my hair stretched enough from the plaits/braids so that I could use it for a more defined twist out, in lieu of my Curlformers that are, unfortunately, over 100 miles away.
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Wash Day - Mafura Oil, Manuka Honey, Curlformers - oh my!
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| L-R: Alikay Naturals Coconut Caribbean Cream Shampoo sample, Anita Grant's Creamy Café Vanilla Latte, Shea Moisture Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil Deep Conditioner (local beauty shop and available online, Shea Decadence Cocoa Frappucino Moisture Plus Leave in, Coconut Oil, Garnier Ultimate Blends Avocado Oil and Shea Butter. |
1. I pre-pooed with (too much) coconut oil and some Garnier Ultra Blends Avocado and Shea Butter conditioner for an hour. The time lapse wasn't on purpose - I just spent that long after starting looking for the leave in conditioner for the above photo.
2. When I got in the shower, I let my hair get sopping wet before gently separating into 6 sections with the clips.
It's been two weeks since my hair had been properly looked after, and I was expecting a lot of breakage, shedding and hair loss in general. I wasn't disappointed. Eeeshhh.
3. I decided to try a new shampoo I'd bought a sample of: Alikay Naturals Caribbean Coconut Milk Shampoo. It lathered really well, cut through the coconut oil really well and smelt absolutely frigging delicious but I will only be using it that one time *sigh* It's not a bad product, it's just...complicated.
4. Then I applied the Shea Moisture Deep conditioner (such a long name) and left it on for about 10 minutes. I rinsed and detangled and my goodness, it was an absolute delight. My love affair with Shea Moisture's deep conditioners can be firmly cemented right here.
5. Then I used Shea Decadence's Leave In, and set my hair in Curlformers and sat under my soft hooded dryer for about an hour.
I never really get over how curlformers stretch my hair. Even though I always seem to try and put them in after my hair has gone through some (self-inflicted) massive trauma ...
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| Shed hair stuck in the Curlformer ¬.¬ |
I very rarely ever wear sets out in public, but I was really pleased with this particular one (and a little bit tired and running low on time) so I went with the flow, pinned up my bangs and set off to church.
As a testament to my hair's inability to hold any set for any reasonable amount of time, (and to hold a curlformer set for even less than that) an hour later, my hair ended up like this:
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| Thank you, bizarre December fog/humidity! |
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