My Dry Twist Month

As normally happens around this time of the year, I put in a set of twists. I conditioned with Aubrey's Organics Glycogen Conditioner (a long time candidate on the product wishlist), rinsed it out, followed up with Hello Hydration and then split my hair into sections. I made sure to thoroughly finger detangle each section (so much matting at the roots! Argh!), applied some aloe vera juice and water, and then some Anita Grants's Café Latte leave in to seal. On my ends, when I'd finished, I also added some Organix Coconut Anti Breakage Serum.

It took me about a week to do then, trying to do as much as I could each day when I had time and/or the energy.

But I've promised myself that I've got to change. Somethings got to give. I can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results - that's the very definition of sanity!

I always have a problem taking down my twists with shed hair getting stuck everywhere and matting and meshing and shrinkage. I know what the culprit is - my love of washing my twists.

Sometimes twice a week, sometimes thrice, sometimes daily, I'd stick my head under the shower faucet for some quick moisture. The result? Plump, moisturised, juicy twists - that were a complete and utter nightmare to take down.

So for the next four weeks, I've decided to have no more of that. I'm trying to minimise breakage, which means minimising shrinkage and tangling, which means minimising my exposure to water.

Instead, I'll be moisturising with coconut oil, and finding some new inventive way to clean my scalp. I'm thinking an astringent like apple cider vinegar or witch hazel. I'll let you know how it goes....

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Random Hair Thoughts

I need to make time for my hair. I have literally been going weeks without doing a cowash or a proper wash in the shower because I don't have the time to do all of that and then style. Or, if I do wash, I don't stretch my hair properly. Hellooo matted roots!

I exasperate myself

Finding time to do my hair is so hard! In between working 8 till 6, and then hanging out with the other half on Saturday and then visiting family, or hosting friends on a Sunday, the 3 hours or whatever I need to make sure my hair is in a decent state for a certain amount of time just never seems to come up.

The Wonder Thing has suggested I stop watching videos of other ladies flicking their waist length hair around if I'm suffering from dissatisfaction with my own situation. I know he's right but...how else will I learn their secrets?

Ehhh....

I'm thinking that a two week routine might work better for me if I manage to keep this job - one week in twists and then a week (or whatever) of twistouts. I'm currently in twists that I hope will hold for four weeks. But then it means I avoid the not-knowing-what-to-do-with-my-hair conundrum and also the having-no-time-to-style-my-hair issues.

Why do I seem unable to do medium sized twists?? Why do they always turn out small?? This must be why I fail at twistouts. Always too big (out of laziness) or too small (out of vanity). Goldilocks, I feel your pain!

I think having your hair in twists makes you look forward to playing with your hair. You watch videos and are excited for the possibilities with your own hair, rather than watching begrudgingly with something that used to be a bun on your head, wondering why your hair doesn't seem to be able to do that.

I was going to do a length check at the end of last year, but I'm assuming it's pretty much the same situation as here. No, wait, it's shorter. And it needs a cut. *Exhales deeply*

I don't know either, Doctor!

I do love messy hair but my main problem with it is that it's not practical for my daily life. Whee! My hair is huge on Sunday! Now...er, what do I do with it Monday till Friday? :/

Having a computer where all the keys work definitely makes blogging waaay easier and more likely to happen.

Just saying.

I've been eyeing up the Camille Rose products since heyfranhey and MissTenesha are such big fans of it. Finally, the products are available in the UK! Yaaay! But only in London! Booo.
Still considering a trip down for some product splurging....maybe later this summer....

Yzma Kitty has already been.

I wonder if living in a hard water area contributes to my shedding? It slowed down when I came back from Paris, but now I'm living in an area that's just as bad as Paris (think, calcified taps if the proper upkeep is not maintained).  I'm slowly transitioning my products back to the kind of things I was using when I was over there. I feel my hair care this year will reek of vinegar.

Every time I do twists, my favourite bit is washing them. But when I take them down, they are meshed and tangled beyond belief. So I'm trying something new and having a dry twist month.

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Technology and I

Yikes. Firstly my appointed amnesiac camera lost all the (hair) pictures I'd taken in the past month and now I've seemingly lost yet another laptop to the great, grizzly jaws of technological malfunction.

It's going to be a little quiet on this front till the new year methinks, as I try and get some semblance of order around here.

I'm keeping a close eye on my mobile, lest it also betray me...

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Wash Day

My wash days are, once again, falling into a routine and making a kind of sense to me. Because I dislike doing the hokey cokey in (out, in, out) the shower, I'm more likely to deep condition before I wash. So  guess I was wrong when I said I don't deep condition. I do, just not the same as everyone else. I have quite a few other personal rules when it comes to my hair routine, but this one only recently dawned on me, haha!

1. Pre-pooed with Vatika oil overnight.

2. I'd forgotten to section my hair in before leaping into the shower, so I roughly split it into five twisted sections before I shampooed. Shampooed with Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair Ultimate Colour Shampoo with Liquid Keratin, focusing on my scalp. It had been a little itchy over the last week, in small,  annoying bouts so I made sure to massage my head tenderly.

3. I detangled each section with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and my fingers under the running water, then I added some more conditioner and moved on to the next section. Since two of the twists was too big for themselves and kept unravelling, I had to separate them into two smaller twists. I left in the conditioner while I washed.

4. I rinsed out the conditioner and wrapped my head in an old T-shirt for about 35 minutes. It was mostly dry by the end of this time (about 80%?).

5. Then I applied the Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream as my leave in, along with some Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment to seal in moisture. 

And that was it for the wash day!


I left my hair in the 8 twists for a couple of days, and released it for twist out. I was a bit nervous at first, since at first, it started out looking like this....

Time to look for my hair band perhaps? Nope. It turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself :), haha! )

I only took one reasonable photo, because it was Sunday and I was laaate. As usual. Hope you all had lovely weekends! 

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No More Scissors!

If you're a fine haired lady, you've seen it almost everywhere - something along the lines of 'If you have fine hair, you are more susceptible to breakage and split ends and should trim more regularly to get rid of them.'

Okay. Well, that's advise I've been following since 2010.

During the past few years, I noticed a recurring pattern with my hair that went a little like this:

- Hair suffers from breakage
- I do a search and destroy and get rid of my split ends
- Hair suffers from breakage
- I do a search and destroy and get rid of my split ends
- Hair suffers from breakage
etc

Because I had fine hair, I knew split ends were inevitable and was determined to get rid of them.

Can you see that split near the top leaf? Noo joke, my split ends.

My little revolt against trimming more frequently happened quite by accident. I got a hair cut. Then I went away and promptly lost my hair shears.

During the (rather frustrating) period where I searched for the shears that didn't want to be found, I came to the realization that, even after the trimming, the cutting and the split end elimination, my hair was still breaking.

If split ends are inevitable on my fine hair, then even after trimming, they'll still be there and I'll be both suffering from breakage and getting rid of length.Wait...didn't that mean I was cutting and trimming my hair despite the seemingly inevitable damage I was going to have? Thus, I was chopping off progress... in the hope of progress????

I stopped looking for those scissors QUICKSHAPP!

We were done. Finished. Finito. End of. Nevermore.

Yep. I've quit cutting.

Well, okay, not forever, but I've drastically reduced it from every month to once every year. I'm gleefully anticipating my results (can't be worse than what I was doing before...)

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October Little Goals Review + November Little Goals

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Hello lovely! Brr! October's gone and it's officially cold. I'm hoping that someone is going to declare Slankets and Snuggies national uniform for the next 7 months, or I'm at risk of losing several fingers and toes. At least there's bonfires and fireworks to look forward to....as well as hot juice, hot chocolate and hot soups!

Little goal(s) for October: Moisturise my twists regularly with rose water. - Done!
Continue caring for hair as necessary (washing and conditioning etc).- Done!
Keep up with my fitness goals. - Kind of done >.< (See below)

Fitness

Little goals for October: Continue focusing on general core and upper body fitness (I want to join a yoga class later on and am trying to give myself a little head start!). Done...*rubs tummy tenderly*

Little goals for October: Exercise three times a week, to get re-used to it . Includes joining a dance class or sports team! - Check! I joined a dance class and am waiting for the sport's team's schedule to be arranged :)
Drink 2 litres of water daily. - Check ^.^
Start adding more vegetables and fruits back into my daily life - 5-a-day. - Eh. Minor fail. I did really well at the beginning of the month, but as it continued on and I got busy, it sort of dropped off...

Life

Little goals for October: Start working again, even if it means joining new agencies. - Done! 
Reclaim money from agencies and banks that is owed to me.- Fail. Massive fail. Fail to infinity and back. I'm too meek.
If I am working at least times three a week, create a realistic budget. - Although I'm not working that often, the budget has been created and put into action!

Little goals for October: Get some sofas. - YESSSS! Massive win! Definite check.
Devise a laundry system of some sort - Ehhhh......*looks at clothes in a pile on the floor and chairs* Fail.
Clear out recycling packaging from the back  - Done! 

Little goal for October:: Take an hour off from my to do list and chores every week to have some pampering time. - *Sigh* Fail. Unless reading blogs is pampering time. Which it isn't.

Little goal for October: Buy some make up and experiment - I did buy some make up! Then half way through my experimentations, I got a facial plague of some sort and now I can't even touch my face and I'm having to rub medicated Vaseline on it and I'm all spotty and greasy and itchy basically, I don't want to talk about it....

A massively mixed bag but there's a lot of green! (Don't want to end on a negative note, haha!) 

For November, I'm hoping to
- Finish my hair, skin and nails supplements.
- Do 10 minutes of exercise every day.
- Attend sport's team training.
- Use up two products (won't be the EcoStyler Gel....)

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On Repeat: Temi Dollface

I wouldn't call myself a dancer, but I love moving. Those who know me  personally are accustomed to seeing me sway, bop or jiggle to music in my head on the street. So when I hear a tune that makes me want to move and shake even more unabashedly than usual, I just have to share it.

 Temi Dollface's 'Pata Pata' (means 'total' or 'absolute') has a beautifully bright video, with 1950s fashion intersecting with more traditional African styles. And the music? Eurgh, I love it! - a deliciously thick and modern bass, that somehow still manages to remind me of the Afrobeat records my dad played when I was a little girl. Her voice and lyrics are an awesome mix of spunky wit, effortless sophistication and honey.

Basically, this song is a whole heap of fun and I'm obsessed.

Oh, and go here for her silk-smooth re-doing of Teenage Dirtbag.
Thanks to Chai for sharing first!

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