Olive Oil to the Rescue!

I'm sure I've mention before that I have been experiencing issues with moisture retention. I know a big part of this is because I wear my hair out a lot. But I'm at that odd length and can't really do the great protective styles. I can only get a good pony puff with a blow out or hair stretched from a old twist out so I can't do a bun yet. I haven't even tried pin up styles on stretched out hair yet. I haven't had the patience to play around with that. So wng and twist outs have been my styles.

I was twisting up and old wng last Monday while having worried thoughts about how long it would last due to dryness. I applied a liberal amount of Elasta QP Mango Butter, followed my shea mix. I added IC Fantasia gel because I wanted a lot of definition the next day. I had the thought of wanting shine (my hair always looks dull to me) to I grabbed the olive oil, poured too much in my hand and applied it through out my hair. My hair immediately felt softer.

The next day, my twistout came out funky because too much olive oil prevented it from becoming defined. I had to pin the front back. But my hair was very soft, shiny and held moisture really well for a couple of days. I've added olive oil straight from the bottle after a wng this week and was pleased to have similar results. This will probably be a step that I'll incorporate into my routine once or twist a week. My hair really loves olive oil.

Itchy Scalp

I'm not sure what happened but the overnight dc made my scalp all itchy. I've never had an issue with dry itchy scalp before. I'm pretty sure that I rinsed it all out before using HETT for a cowash. But for some reason, my scalp was extremely itchy on Monday after I'd rinsed and styled. I was at work scratching like crazy. It was especially annoying b/c of how long it takes my hair to dry. I had soaking wet hair and itchy scalp for hours. I wished I had taken the time to diffuse my hair.

The itching continued all week. I did an awesome twistout on Wednesday which I wore wild and crazy for an event I went to. I absolutely loved it! For work the next day, I pulled it into a puff, using IC Fantasia to gel it down. The itching was worse than ever! I ended up adding some olive oil to filtered water and using it to spritz my scalp. It worked like magic. I could tell the spots that I missed b/c those still felt itchy.

Though I normally don't shampoo so quickly but I'm going to do so again tonight to clarify my scalp. Hopefully it won't be so itchy but if so, I'll just use the spritz again. I have to admit that I loved the spritz.

Renpure Organics Amazing Miracle

Okay, first let me say I'm sorry it's taking so long to review these products. My work schedule has been beyond ridiculous.

On to business. Renpure Organics Amazing Miracle deep penetrating reconstructor with aloe, kukui & silk protein. I'm not sure what the kukui nut does. I'll research and update when I have a bit  more time.

I mixed this with 1 ORS packet, some DRP-11, honey and olive oil. I let it sit with no heat for an hour or so. My hair felt sooooooo soft. I really loved what it added to my moisturizing dc. It made it a little bit thicker and my hair really liked it. The wng I did after using this was one of the best I've ever had. People who see me with wng on a weekly basis were asking what I'd done differently to my hair. Permies were asking how to get curls like mine. It was crazy. Whatever this did to my hair, I love it.

I've used the mixture twice and gotten the same results. I know I say it every time I try something new with my dc but this is going to be a permanent part of my dc mixture. It seems to be giving consistent results and that is what my hair needs.

Next 2 blogs will be the Renpure poo and condish. After those, some new hair styles! I'll try to get a bit more blogging in b/c there is so much I want to share with you guys.

Hollywood Olive Oil Creme

In my last post, I talked about all of the products I purchased at Walgreen's. I'm going to start doing reviews on them. First up: Hollywood Olive Oil Creme (HOOC). I purchased this to use as a sealant. When I opened the jar, it was really creamy (hence the name but I had a duh moment. lol!) I was worried that with it being so creamy, it wouldn't seal in the moisture. I immediately decided to whip it with shea. I have tons of shea that I wasn't really using because I didn't like how it made my hair feel coated. I actually thought I was the only one with that problem but I have found out that some peoples hair just doesn't like oils. Their hair works better with creamier products. I knew this from using products too watery but didn't make the connection to oils until just recently.

Anyway, I whipped the entire container with a a little less than equal parts shea butter. I also added 2 tbsps of olive oil but I just did that because I felt like I should be adding something to the mix. I'm sure it didn't need it. It came out really fluffy and creamy. When I scoop it out, it looks like whipped cream!

I used this to seal after applying Elasta QP Mango Butter. The combination was perfect! The HOOC mix didn't leave my hair feeling coated and oily like most sealants do. When I touched my hair, it felt smooth and moisturizer, not oily. I kept touching my hair, expecting to pull back oily fingers but nope! None greasy moisturizer hair. The only thing I don't like is the smell. YUCK! It smells like Cholesterol Deep Condish from Lustrasilk or any other cholesterol dc. Those smells remind me of perms and always make me nervous when I use them. I keep thinking I'm going to rinse and end up with permed hair. lol! The mango butter and shea balance out the smell a bit but not enough for me. I'm going to have to get some type of EO to mix in there asap! But I love it despite the scent.

4 more products reviews to come. Stay tuned!

Back to our regularly scheduled program

My hair was so mad a me a couple of weeks ago. I ran out of deep condish and due to lack of extra funds, couldn't purchase anymore. My hair has gotten used to the weekly dc routine and was feeling dry and nothing was keeping me moisturized. I had also discovered that wearing protective styles caused my hair to dry out more than when I wore w-n-g's. Stretched hair means less of the natural oils my scalp produced was making it to my ends (due to gravity) thus leading to more dryness.

I attempted to give myself a couple of different dc treatments that turned out horribly! First I attempted oil using melted shea butter and evoo. I guess I used too much b/c it was running down my face and was just a big mess. I also don't have a dryer so I was just hoping for penetration w/o the use of heat. I didn't notice any results but I know I did it incorrectly.

Second, I tried a mixture. I mixed Creme of Nauture condish with honey and the rest of the shea/evoo mixture. In an attempt to incorporate heat, I wet a hand towel with extremely hot water and wrapped that around my head which was covered in a shower cap. I rewet with the hot water when it cooled off. It worked okay but just didn't give what my hair needed.

In the meantime, I wore protective styles and moisturized daily. When I realized my hair seemed much dryer as it stretched more, I switched to w-n-g's daily. I was finally able to get more dc and another product I was exited to try. More on those things in my next post.

Moisture....or lack thereof

I'd been saying for a while that I would make a mixture with my shea butter. I made a mix but didn't say anything about it. Although I was feeling okay about the mix, I wanted to add som EO (essential oils) and other butters to it. I just never got around to doing it.

Currently the mixture is Shea, EVOO and Hollywood Castor Oil (it had a bunch of stuff that I can't pronounce mixed in it. I'm sure I won't be using it in the mix but I needed to add something and it was what I had. I have a lot because it's so heavy and thick, only a small amount is needed. I'm thinking I'll use it on my scalp this winter while I have the Senegalese twist in so I can try and get rid of it.)

Since I had the shea and HCO in the mix, I figured it would work as both moisturizer and sealer like pure shea does for me. WRONG! It wasn't doing any type of moisturizer, just coating my hair. My hair has been dry and rough for weeks and I couldn't figure out why. At first, it was feeling this way and the suddenly...dryness. I talked to MSatch and tossed around ideas like maybe it was because of my monthly cycle (she laughed at me) and that I wasn't drinking enough water and eating properly.

A few days later, I realized the problem. I had stopped using my beloved NHCP because I'd run out and the store I get it from was out of stock also. So I was just using the mix hoping it would tackle both moisture and sealant jobs. It totally wasn't cutting it. My hair would feel soft the day of a cowash but after that, dry and rough.

Now that I see the issue, I have started using pure shea to moisturize and the mix to seal. I'm thinking it the HCO that is preventing the shea from penetrating and moisturizing my hair. That's a big reason why I will not use it again when I make a mix. Since my hair is going to be gone for the winter, I won't be able to experiment with this issue til spring. I'll probably purchase some EOs and mango butter this winter so I'll be prepared though. (oh, and I am drinking more water. have to start with the inside and work my way out!)

Finally, protein success

I was informed the ORS pack I used was a moisturizing condish, not protein like I thought. So that kind of changed my prespective on it but only a little. I still like how soft my hair was but it pretty much gave the same results as the mixture I've made.

I was still wondering what to do for a deep protein condish. I had almost enough LustraSilk Cholesterol left for one use. I added the rest of the ORS pack, EVOO, honey, and some HEHH (only added because there wasn't enough of the other 2 condishs to cover my hair). I remember the condish breaking down a lot when I added salt so I didn't want it to be in the mixture too long. I mixed it in just before application. I let it set, no heat, for an hour.

As I rinsed, I was pleased that my hair didn't feel as rough as it normally does when I rinse out LustraSilk. It's not the normal softness but it felt really good. It was almost 230am by the time I rinsed and I wanted it to dry faster. Being very horrible to my hair, I rubbed a towel over my hair to absorb most of the water. My hair was poofy and curls were pretty much non-existent. I generously applied Nubian Heritage Coconut & Papaya Hair Butter. Some of my curls came back but it will require some work to look good tomorrow.

My hair is about 95% dry. It has never felt so soft after protein. I'm going to stick with LustaSilk Cholesterol as my protein. I realize now that I just have to add a really good moisturizing condish.

Oh and I had been thinking my hair was breaking off from lack of protein. When I rinsed my hair, I took the time to check out the hair I lost. Hardly any of it was broken hair, it was mostly shed hair. I saw the white bulb things on the ends so I knew there were shed. All of the strands looked really thick and strong.

OMG!!!!!

I did my protein deep condish yesterday. I put the protein condish on dry hair, letting that sit for about an hour. I rinsed it out with luke warm water. Since protein makes my hair feel rough, I followed that up with a moisturizing condish mix I put together:
Hello Hydration (A little over the normal amount I use to cowash)
Shea butter (partially melted down so it would mix better)
Honey (I think I used about a tbsp. I know it was a lot)
EVOO (Probably abt a tbsp. More than I've ever used)
Coconut & Papaya Hair Butter/CPHB (This was very random. I just added b/c I felt I should add something more to the mix. Only a dime sized amount)

I let this sit on my hair for about and hour also. (No heat or shower cap with either). Once I worked the moisturizing condish into my hair, I immediately noticed that my hair was getting very wavy and curly. The not so defined/practically straight hair in the front was VERY well defined. The spirals that have been forming through out the crown and rest of my hair popped! The ones that were kind of frizzy and not so great were even fabulous. My hair was so curly. I couldn't believe it. I rinsed with luke warm water and the curls were still looking great. I blotted dry with a towel, applied some CPHB to moisturize and a litte bit of shea to seal. My hair loved that mixture! My mother saw me and said, "Wow, it looks like you did something to your hair." (Sounds a bit harsh but was a compliment.) She followed that up with several statements on how my hair has never looked that great. I have to agree, this is the best my hair has looked. She even said something about it this morning and that it was a shame I didn't go out last night so that people could have seen my hair.

My hair got smashed and a little dry over night but my curls are still looking pretty good. Some water and moisturizer should get me looking close to yesterday's perfection. Will definitely continue this treatment on a weekly basis.