Beast Mode... An Ayurvedic Hair Challenge

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Is it possible to have a chilled out challenge? I'm trying.

The rules of the challenge are simple to explain but tricky to find in one place.

1. It is hosted and being run by Curly Proverbz
2. It is an ayurvedic/plant based challenge with a prize for the winner . It runs for 3 months and has two start dates: 1st Feb - 1st May OR 14th Feb - 14th May.
3. To enter the challenge [and the competition, I assume], you post a picture on instagram or facebook with the tags:  #beastmodehairkit #curlyproverbzhairgrowthchallenge, #bellebarorganic .

Prizes:

1st prize 6 months supply of the hair growth kit by belle bar.

2nd prize 3 months

3rd Prize $65 gift card for belle bar organic for email entry

4. If you hate DIY-ing with a passion, she has collaborated with bellebarorganics so you can get some of the products from them. She shows how she uses them here.
5. If you love DIY-ing (or have a ridiculously-sized stash to use up, like me 😅), then the essential videos seem to be:

• A hair tea [video for DIY recipe here and how she uses it in a week here]
• A hair oil [video for DIY recipe here, how she applies and uses it here] combined with scalp massage [video here]
• A deep conditioning mix [video here]

Because I'm DIY4lyfe, I fall in with the budget crowd, whose suggested routine looks like this:

The stuff in italics and bolded are my own personal notes as to how I'm going to modify it for myself.

#BeastModehaironabudget

Week 1

Prepoo with oil [Onion Garlic ] OR Gloss (1 tsp of your favourite ayurvedic powder) and conditioner

Shampoo & Moisturizing DC – Anita Grant Coconut Monoi shampoo & Shea Moisture JBCO.

Leave in conditioner – Shea Butter Cottage leave in or Anita Grant Double Cream

Use DIY tea max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

DIY Oil scalp and massage max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

Moisturise and seal daily [Using Jasmine oil or Almocado Coco Moisture Butter]

Week 2

Cowash or Clay Wash & Moisturizing DC. Rhassoul Clay or Eden Body Works Coconut Cowash and  Shea Moisture JBCO

Leave in conditioner – Shea Butter Cottage leave in or Anita Grant Double Cream

Use DIY tea max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

DIY Oil scalp and massage max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

Moisturise and seal daily [Using Strengthening tea or more moisturising tea and jasmine oil or Almocado coco moisture butter]

Supplements

Drink Bamboo tea at least every other day, take Vitamin D, eat lots of veggies 
[She suggests MSM, Vitamin C and a multivitamin]







My alterations & recipes
1. The Onion Garlic Prepoo instead of using the DIY oil as a prepoo.
I caught wind of this video down below and thought it was worth a try every other week. I liked her video on how Ayurveda could be applied to coily hair and how she showed her results using the prepoo over a couple of months.

I always have onions and garlic in the house so I thought, eh what harm can it do?💁🙈 Apparently, it's anti-bacterial so might sort out any grunk causing bacteria and contains sulfur which is good for growing hair follicles.

                                                                        We shall see.

Doesn't the hair tea look pretty??

2. My DIY tea this week consists of 1 tablespoon each of :

• Catnip - reduces split ends and conditions hair.
• Green Tea - blocks DHT and reduces shedding.
• Infused jasmine flowers - Waste not, want not, right? Left over from this successful venture. The leftover oil still on the flowers adds some richness to the mixture.
• Hops - adds shine, strength and makes hair appear thicker.
• Calendula - soothing, soothing, and even more scalp soothing! Moisturizes and restore strands, increases collagen production and circulation in hair follicles.
• Coltsfoot - contains high content of cystine (an amino acid), sulfur and silica (minerals); will strengthen the hair, promote growth. Soothes the scalp,  softens and adds elasticity and sheen to the hair shaft. Guards against microbial infection, and exhibits anti-inflammatory properties.
  
• Red Cornflowers - to make it look pretty and appealing!
• Lavender flowers - for the smell. The scent of hops is not to be trifled with.

When I made it into a tea, I used 2 tablespoons of the tea mix and I added 1 tablespoon of some ayurvedic powder (I couldn't find my henna) and 1 teaspoon of amla then poured hot water over it and left to steep for 4-6 hours.

DIY fenugreek oil 

Originally, I was going to make a traditional amla oil and then infused fenugreek but I...forgot 

So far I have some fenugreek infused coconut oil and some fenugreek infused sesame oil.

I'll be using both for my head massages and seeing how I like it 'em. 

Are you taking part? On Instagram or facebook?

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This Week's Tea

You ready, huh?

Welp, sorry to disappoint you. But the only scandalous thing around here (at the moment) is my shedding - absolutely shameful!

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Fine Bun

Styled in 10 minutes flat à la Neffyfrofro yesterday night.

I think I'm going to have to keep this in for another night and day.

My hair never does too well in buns. It doesn't want me to have nice thing and thus I fear this will not end well 😕
Wish me luck y'all 😂😭

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Wash Day Inspired by 22nd Century Natural Woman and the Ladies of Chad

That is a long arse title but writing this up made me feel like this wash day was a long one. 

I promise it wasn't as long as it apparently appears.

I started off by slathering my head in the last of my fenugreek infused coconut oil.

It shouldn't have been the last but I got fed up and made sure it was.

After about an hour, I jumped into the shower with Mane Choice Easy on the Curls Shampoo, making sure to cleanse. Usually I twist or plait my hair but today I decided to bantu knot instead.

There were a few moments of unraveling but I liked it better - it made my hair easier to access for the different steps and I felt I was manipulating it less.

Then I stroked on a DIY deep conditioner  I'd made earlier inspired by 22nd Century Natural Woman's Deep conditioner. (Her channel is here).

I used:

• a tablespoon of shea butter,
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 generous tablespoon of honey
• about 1/4 cup (60ml) of freshly boiled rosemary tea (rosemary leaves + hot water - DONE)
• 2 teaspoons of guar gum.

Experimenting down to my very bones, I started off by throwing everything except the guar gum and rosemary tea in a bowl and smashing them together with my electric whisk.

No dice.

So I just kept adding guar gum and rosemary tea in turn until it all sort of came together and stopped looking like it was on the verge of separation.

My deep conditioner ended up having an interesting moulding dough texture (too much guar gum?)

 but it slid on my hair smoover than a 90s R'n'B love song.

 Aaaaall my liiiiiife....been waiting for someone like yooooou

Bantu knots were the stretch keeper of the day and they were all covered with a plastic cap and then submerged under with an impromptu head wrap before wandering around for a while.

In public or just in my house? You deciiide...

Came back and uncovered everything. I'd expected the DC to have hardened but it was still liquidy and soft.
I rinsed it out easily with warm water and there was some exceptional slip thanks to the guar gum. I bantu knotted again (SERIOUSLY. WHY HAVE I NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE?!) and smothered my hair in a T-shirt to dry/be less wet.

What to do next? Well, I'd seen this video on facebook...



And I thought to myself, yeah, nah, I don't know where to find chébé seeds (a gluten free brand just comes up - okay, okay so I did try to find it - LOL! 😂) but I found the slathering action of the concoction really soothing and reasoned it was just really well protected with heavy protected then braided. I do that anyway without the heavy product. And when it's the first of July, but the coconut oil looks like this:

Solid as a rock!

Then maybe my hair needs a little bit heavy duty protection.

So I left on Alikays Lemongrass leave in, and then added my butterful delight from Almocado - the Twist and Twirl cream. It's a water based butter cream and I think I may be in love. But more on that later.

I went in with the butter on the ends - as in, no subtlety here please, I want - no, need -  to believe it is buttered.

'Cept even MORE generous!

My hair went from this on the ends:

Bare hair

With Alikay Naturals Lemon Grass Leave In

To this.

Aaand finally, with Almocado Twist and Twirl Buttercream!
I choose this area to show the different squiggles on my head too - although it made a significant difference on the right, I don't think it made any on  the left.

And then I braided it. I did have some obvious residue because I've never used so much before (and a little of this stuff normally goes a loooooong way for me) but, like I said, I was inspired by the women of Chad for some extra protection against our British summertime weather™. I popped a scarf on it then bed.

This morning, some of the plaits still had white stuff but by the end of the day, it was all gone.

I'm hoping that the extra butter layer helps with moisture and keeping my ends feeling nourished. We'll see how that goes.

I mean, I'm just like....I better not wake up tomorrow with some crispy hair.

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Pros and Cons

On the one hand, I'm proud of myself. Unlike my normal ridiculousness, I waited a week after settling out of my wash and go before doing a curlformer set, so it wasn't as much as a struggle.

Clearly not outgrowing Curlformers physically.

But it feels so much heavier than normal....

And it feels like it's taking years and yonks to dry!!


I'm focusing on the long term goals...but I'll need food to see me through.

S'gonna be a long weekend.

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Wash Day - Return of the Mixtress?

This was the wash and go.

Nearly two weeks later...


Eeeeeeesh. All shrunken and tangled.
By day 6, I knew it needed a wash but by that point, it was too late. So here I am. Guilty as charged of neglect and laziness. There were days with no scarfing, no spritzing, rough ponytail styling....

Look, I'ma try to make it up to my hair, okay???

To help release the tangles, I used my argan oil conditioner on dry hair to start to weigh it down, making it easier to detangle and separate the strands.

 When I jumped in under the shower, it all activated (a la the Avengers when someone yells 'Avengers - assemble!') and made it easier to release the tangles and get rid of the shed hair. I gently separated my hair into six sections as I was going and worked on each one, one at a time., continuing to add conditioner as necessary.
Man, was it necessary.
I ended up finishing the bottle!

After I rinsed it out, my hair felt a little dry, which had always been my problem with 'traditional' cowashing using conditioner. So I remedied it with my absolute fave Edens Bodywork Coconut Cowash. I made sure to massage it into my scalp and smooth down my strands, separating the larger parts of entangled hair with my fingers. and then rinsing it out immediately and twisting then repeating on the next section.
It's seasonal shedding time, so by the time I was done, it seemed as though Cousin It had rocked up for a quick visit. It took me an hour in total to detangle and wash my hair - wrinkly fingers galore my friends.
Wrinkly. Fingers.

After this, I applied my homemade Henna Gravy (well, that's what the Wonder Thing calls it).

 I'm working on tweaking the recipe but today it had henna infusion, yoghurt, honey, olive oil, fenugreek infused coconut oil and guar gum (LOVE!) in it and is based on this goat milk recipe from Shelli of Hairscapades. This is definitely a tweaker (agh, cottage cheese lumps!) but it was worth the strange smell. It went on like an absolute DREAM!!

As soon as I applied it, my hair starting lumping together in the sections where there are curls and waves and it slid through my hair SO easily. Shelli was not joking about the slip!


 I left it on for about...20 minutes? As I rinsed, I notice it was a little bit hard to the touch but it rinsed out easily and left my hair feeling completely yummy - strong and not dry, ready for my leave ins.

I followed up with Eden Bodyworks Soufflé. I'm on a using up binge and I realised I've been sleeping on this when I used it in the wash and go that caused this wash day. It feels lovely and creamy but doesn't build up on my hair.


My ends felt a little drier so I sealed with my Aloe Gel with Shea Butter mix. Each twisted section was then transformed into a plait (except for two mega jumbo twists in comparison, which became four plaits).

I have no pictures of this but the soufflé always goes on creamy and white and eventually dries clear. I don't know why but it's helpful in avoiding questions!

When I pull out the butter-y products, as opposed to the gel products, it feels like pulling out the cardigans and tights, ready for autumn layering.
Maybe I am ready for winter.

I reserve my right to take that statement back if I get another morning like this before November...

*sigh*

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Rejects Wash and Go.

It started with two buns.

I had some free time, and still have some excess (summer) products from last year's adventures that I thought I'd better use up.

So here we go.


1. I jumped in the shower and co washed with Eden Body Works Coconut Cowash.
It will take a meteorite of an an event/product to stop me from using this cowash - f'real, f'real. I'm on my third? Fourth? Tub. I LOVE this!

2, I wanted strengthening of my hair's pattern and I didn't want to spend aaages in the shower marinating, so I used Aphogee's 2 minute reconstructor. Am I the only one who has to plan their hairstyle before they wash so they know what products to use? Otherwise, I just end up in a foaming, flustered flap.

3. I jumped out and used my As I am Leave In Conditioner. Lazy Quick Review: Love the citrusy orangey scent, has no slip and feels a bit weird after you've handed it, but works well on wet hair and as an underwear layer on my wash and go because it's light and has little to no build up. The packaging drove me MAD though. The ink is water soluble, so every time I touched the label with wet hands for my wash and go, I'd end up with black specks everywhere. In annoyance, I pulled off the label, but the glue was tougher than the writing ink and now it's like having gentle velcro on the bottle when I handle it.

On top, I layered Eden Body Works Pudding Soufflé, inspired by Christina and her sister. My hair looked like I'd put soufflé in it, but it dries clear.

I'd originally bought it as a moisturiser for dry hair but it does so very much better as a leave in on wet hair.

Then I finished off with Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I like it but it's 2) too expensive and 3) slightly too sticky/tacky to the touch even nearly two weeks later.. It's soft but touchable (kinda...) hold can't be denied and neither can that deee-licious scent. Plus, a little goes a long way. I thought I'd finish it this time around but no. I still have enough for another go it seems.

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LYT 6 Month Challenge Review + Length Check

 The challenge officially ended yesterday... Who knew it'd be so hard to say goodbye to a challenge? *cues up BoyzIIMen*

I've taken up lots of challenge in my hair-based journey. Some more crazier and short-lived than others. There has always been that sense of excitement and anticipation at the beginning, eventually followed by confusion and disappointment at the end.

You know, like:

Till now, o' course.
This post is a little gif heavy because how else can one express their emotions on the internet?

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First flexi-rod set.

Did you guess that I was hiding some lovely lumps under my head wrap?

Sometimes, Queens gots secrets. Sometimes that secret is that you are going out that night, want to actually look good and there's no way in Heck nor Hike that your hair is going to dry in time.

So you improvise.

Now, every time the British queen wears a hat, I'ma be thinking, "Liz, you got curlers under there?"

Snap, Liz, snap. I see you.

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Week 4 - Childish antics.

I would like to say that I didn't spend the last week in five or six huge plaits/braids.

That I jazzed it up and made it funky and fabulous.

I would love to say that, but I can't. If I did, I'd be lying.

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I'm in - Love Your Tresses 6 month challenge!

How long has it been since I jumped on someone else's challenge bandwagon? I mean, I set myself my own, but that got a little bit side tracked....plus, it's better with friends, amirite? (Yeah!)

Anyway! Fiona of LYT is hosting a challenge and I am in like chicken (that made more sense in my head - please, don't judge me in my delicate state).

Her rules look like my usual to-do list/self-care goals, so no major change ups, which is great as I am notoriously rubbish with making monumental changes to my lifestyle - yay!

Also, we use the same leave-in so it must be fate *pushes box stuffed with various other leave-ins out of sight*

I'll be doing all the rules, except rule number 9 - far too lazy, no other reason.

My only addition, in light of my busted gut, is:
Rule 11: Eat to heal my gut.
Rule 12: Chill out more productively.

So - here's my contribution to Rule number 1 - my starting photo(s) I think of my hair in four quadrants: Left and right, then top and bottom of each.

Left bottom length: Healthy looking 10 inches, anaemic looking 11.5 inches - Arm Pit Length

Left top length: Same as above - healthy 10 inches, wispy 11.5 inches - shoulder length.

Right bottom length: 10 inches - just above Armpit Length (APL)

Right top length: 11.5 inches - collar bone.

I don't have any goals as such (but let's be honest, retaining enough to reach bra strap length by June would be lovely) - mainly,  I'd just like it to stop falling out so much!

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It's complicated

I've fallen out a little bit with Alikay Naturals because of their shampoo.

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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.

Spot the renegade, over stretched section.

 So I cowashed on Wednesday, and put my plaits in. 

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....

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.

 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.

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!

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