Tangles and color

I haven't had a chance to take some good pictures yet but I finally got my hair dyed. I got it done during my salon trip last Saturday. It took a moment for me to adjust to the new color as I've never dyed my hair. But now, I love it! It was a spur of the moment decision so I didn't get the chance to deep condition before hand. I will do a serious dc this weekend though. Maybe an overnight treatment.

I believe I'd said before that I'd been mainly wearing wng. They are quick and easy which works well with my schedule. My hair has been getting horribly tangled these days though. I know the cause is not properly protecting my hair while I sleep. I've been sleeping at a friend's house more than my own b/c it allows me to get a bit more sleep. I rarely have a scarf with me and no satin pillow case. That means I'm sleeping directly on a cotton pillow case. I've only had the time to detangle once a week and I'm normally rushing through it on my way out the door. Bad for my hair.

I have been luck enough to detangle twice since my coloring. I'm not sure if it's the color but my Herbal Essence Hello Hydration is not working like it normally does. My hair has been even harder to detangle since then. It seems my beloved condish isn't giving me the same slip since I've colored. It was the same the 2nd time I detangled also. I used even more condish than I normally do. I'm going to take my time and detangle when I deep condish this weekend. Separating my hair into sections and going through it more carefully. That will let me know if it's my hair/color/condish combo not working or if I'm just not being careful enough with my hair.

Suave's Professionals Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner

After reading MSatch's review of Suave's Professionals Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner, I had to run out and buy me a bottle. I was just about out of conditioner anyway.

Product Description: Salon proven to moisturize your hair as well as Aveda® Dry Remedy® shampoo and conditioner. Infused with 100% natural almond and shea butter, which are known for their rich emollients. The shampoo and conditioner system replenishes lost moisture, leaving your hair well-nourished and beautiful. (I straight jacked this whole section from MSatch's blog! lol!)

First, I love the way it smells! It's sooo yummy. I really wanted to lick it off my fingers. It's nice and creamy which Jessi Rose loves and the slip is great. I've used it 3 times I think and it has made detangling really easy. I do have to use a lot of it though. More than any of the Herbal Essence conditioners. And did I mention I love the smell!

Although it smells good and is nice and creamy, I don't think it works well for JR. I've had it for about 2 weeks and am not pleased with how it leaves my hair. When I wng, I leave some in for hold. This products isn't holding anything. My hair ends up frizzy and curls undefined as if I washed all the condish out. I even added a little extra after I rinsed yesterday and ended up with the same results. And the worse part is, I think it's sucking the moisture out of my hair. I always end up with rough feeling and dried out hair by the time it's dry. I applied more Elasta QP mango butter than I normally do and it still ended up really dry. The only time I retained moisture is when I had my hair in two strand twist. But about an hour after my twist out it was dry and dull again.

So despite the great things, I won't continue to use it. I'll be making a trip to the store for some of that good 'ole Herbal Essence. I'll probably get the Hello Hydration. I miss that stuff and I know JR loves it! (And MSatch, this is another condish I'll be passing on to you and the girls next month!)

Random

I don't think the overnight dc caused the itchy scalp issue. I'm feeling that since my hair is longer and I wearing it in more stretched styles, not as much product is reaching my scalp. No moisturizer on the scalp obviously leads to dryness and the itchies. I'm going to incorporate some type of moisturizing spray for my scalp or "greasing" it directly while wearing two strand twist. Shea butter will act as grease.

Speaking of two stand twist. I love them. I've begun to wear them often. I knew before I did my bc I would love wearing the twist. I am surprised at how much I love twist outs as at one point, I had a strong dislike for them.

I've been wanting to wear a beanie style hat since winter. I could never find one that seemed to look right. I was at a bss and saw one. I grabbed it without even bothering to try it on. Gave myself a twist out. Let the front hang out like a bang. I loved it! I was really feeling myself and the outfit that accompanied the hat.

With the exception of when my hair is stretched from a twist out, I continue to detangle a couple of times a week. The really tight curls in the back demand it. The twist out allows me to go longer since I retwist often and sort of detangle when I do that.

There will be a product review and product mistake coming up later this week.

24hr Walgreen's

Headed to Walgreen's to satisfy the pj in me when I got off work. To say this was a GREAT experience is an understatement. First, I only went to purchase two products: Renpure Organics poo and condish. I was initially disappointed because I wanted the moisturizing set but the tops were broken on all of them. I settled for the "I Love My Hair!" body and shine duo. Then, I was thinking about the fact that I haven't done a dc in forever so I grabbed Renpure Organics Amazing Miracle Deep Penetrating Reconstructor (with aloe, kukui & silk protein). Remembering that I needed something to seal and I'm out of Castor oil and not loving Shea right now, I turned around and grabbed Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme (smells like a perm though :-( yuck!). But I picked it up because it had a free container of Olive Cholesterol deep conditioning creme. Then, I saw Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Paks (grabbed 2 for $1.39 each). And as I walked down the aisle, I saw shower caps (needed one for my dc as I just had to throw away the one I had) and black headbands (all black ones are broken). So, this long list of products cost me LESS than $25. The Renpure Organics was buy one get one free and all 3 of them have mail in rebates. So really, after I mail them in, I'll have spent $13!

All this for less than $13 after mail-in rebates

When I was checking out, the clerk told me how beautiful my hair was and said her granddaughter had natural hair down to her waist. She had been having trouble finding products to use on the child and asked my advise. I told her for detangling, I use HEHH or HETT. Upon her request, I showed her the two products, explained how I detangled and showed her a few other products I'd tried or heard were good. She was so happy! She told me again how beautiful my hair was and that she was so happy she was at work tonight so that she could meet me. She said that God sends angels when we least expect it and on this night, I was her angel. That was about 30 min ago and I'm still smiling. I almost went to Walgreen's last night but changed my mind and went tonight instead. There was obviously a reason why. I feel really good.

Monday and Tuesday, I wore my hair in a w-n-g. I wanted to twist my hair on Monday night for big, wild hair but had an interview and went for a more subdued look. On Wednesday, my want for big hair hadn't gone away. I decided to try and wear my hair in a puff. I knew it wouldn't be long enough while curly so I did a quick blow out. I wet my hair with water and used a little bit of Palmer's Coconut hair milk. I detangled with a wide tooth comb and then blew it out. I used tons of IC Fantasia gel to slather my hair down and then picked out my puff.

Everyone seemed to really love my hair. I was called everything from Lady of Rage to Cleopatra Jones. I just laughed at these comparisons. It was crazy because I felt pretty sexy with my hair in a simple puff. So I put of the plans I had for my hair and I'm going to keep rocking the puff.

To preserve it, I kept my hair up and two strand twisted the puff. I'll be taking it out soon and fixing it up a bit for work tonight.

Detangling

My hair is getting longer and with that, detangling sessions are getting longer. W-n-g's aren't so quick anymore but are still one of the styles I mainly wear. I've been getting fairy knots for the past month or two. I officialy despise those things! I'm also getting more tangled and knotted hair. They are easy enough to get out but still I worry about breakage and splits because of it.

Currently, I detangle using just my fingers. I prefer that to a wide toothe comb because right now, it's easier and it works. I did use a comb one day and felt like I was breaking off a bunch of my hair. It shed the same amount but I just didn't like it. Plus, I felt like it seperated my curls a little too much and gave me a jheri curl type of look. Lol! I love chunky curls. (Guess I won't be investing in a Denman after all.)

I shed a lot so I'm going to continue to detangle a couple of times a week. Stretching detangling sessions would probably be horrific. I'm going to stick with HE conditioners for detangling sessions. The slip they have is awesome. I'll only stray from this line when I go organic (meaning when I have more $$$$). I will continue to use my fingers as I am most comfortable and less scared about breakage as I have more control over what's happening to my strands. I will reincorporate monthly deep protein condish into my regimen because I'm noticing a lot of elasticity when detangling. My hair has too much moisture and very little strength. Gotta get over that protein fear because my hair is telling me she needs it. I will listen!

WTF was I thinking?!?!?!?!?!

Just a quick post to say I was in the shower doing what was supposed to be a quick w-n-g that turned into a damn-near 30 min detangling sessionon my TWA. Why? Because crazy me decided to sleep on a w-n-g for 2 days without any type of scarf to protect my hair. This lead to a horribly matted and tangled mess. Oh, and I was having a severe case of HIH (hand in hair) syndrome which I tend to get whenever I do a w-n-g so I was playing in my hair for 3 days.

I was so mad at myself this morning. But in that seriously horrible detangling session, I realized that I needed a protein dc because my hair was feeling really stretchy (meaning too much moisture and not enough strength).