Another Conditioner

So...a really quick impression of the infamous Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak.

I found this while going thru a drawer in my bathroom as I organize and get rid of stuff in preparation for the *relocation*...that is in a week! OMGOSH!!! I am NOT ready.

anyway, I'm trying to get rid of stuff, use up stuff that I can and ran across this last night. I've seen countless people on boards and on Youtube that use this stuff but honestly....I was skeptical. I wrongly assumed that it included mineral oil or petroleum since it's inexpensive and marketed as an ethnic hair product. I'm not militant about my ingredients but those two I'm trying extra hard to stay away from bc they truly dont do me any favors. I base this upon the fact that when I cut out all the products that included those items, my hair FELT so much better and my scalp is doing GREAT! That's after suffering with severe scalp psoriasis/dermatitis for YEARS...

I scan the ingredients and don't see mineral oil or petroleum so bam, used it today. I'm prepping my hair for my husband's going away party tomorrow. (the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer did include Petroleum so I trashed the samples I had of that)

First, I washed my hair with Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle shampoo then detangled with their conditioner. I applied the Replenishing Pak. I used about half of the package on my necklength transitioning hair.

First of all this smells like oranges. I'm not an express fan of the smell of oranges but points for originality bc I think this may be the first orange smelling product I've smeared in my hair. The consistency is like pudding. Imagine some lemon/orange pudding.....now take a scoop of that pudding and smear it on your hair. Exact SAME consistency.

Most of the mentions I've seen of this product stated mixing olive oil with it so I squirted in a few pumps of olive oil into my hand and mixed. I applied it kinda in sections and finger detangled before popping on a plastic cap and donning my heat therapy wrap.

I left the ORS RP on my hair for an hour with heat. Hopped back in the shower and rinsed with cool water. I attempted to detangle a little with my wide tooth comb and noticed this conditioner really doesnt have much slip. BUT i also noticed NO HAIR in my comb. At the end of this last rinse there was 1 lonely strand in my comb.....this is unheard of. at first, i was thought that wasn't that big of a deal since I detangled prior with the Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner but NO. this is a big deal bc everytime I comb my hair there is hair in the comb thanks to the the process of transitioning.

Afterwards, I squeezed with my hand towel and hopped to the mirror. I didnt notice major popping of curls in the top which is what I keep my eye on bc those are the more distinct ones that i can see but I did catch some major coil action above my right ear. I've never noticed that before.

I've read somewhere from someone who felt this conditioner was a good protein conditioner..I've read on MakeUpAlley a few accounts of this conditioner making people's hair hard. So I'm thinking that this conditioner probably leans more towards protein than moisture. My hair was not soft when I rinsed. Nothing like how my hair is soft when I rinse out my Protectiv Argan Oil stuff. I would venture to say my hair felt stronger. And since it is my haphazard opinion that my hair could benefit from a little protein here and there I will certainly purchase this conditioner again.

So I've set my hair for tomorrow's party and to keep it interesting I'm using a setting foam that I've barely used a few years ago and certainly never on my natural roots.....HOPEFULLY it will give me good results tomorrow.

I'll record my impression of that either way....

*I hope to get back to recording my thoughts soon but everything is so up in the air with the relocation. We plan pull out of here on the 29th and take a few days to drive the 1000 miles.

Hair characterized......

I'd like to thank God for the So Fine Series posted on CurlyNikki by Cassidy of Natural Selection

Finally, I have a condensed set of articles that point me in the direction of best characterizing my hair so that I can figure out how I should be treating it for maximum health.

What have I determined for sure?

Fine. Definitely Fine.
Normal to high porosity.
Thin to Medium density.

Current issue: Occassional frizz. Possibly due to using a Glycerine mix as my moisturizing spritz. If I'm indeed highly porous this is a major no-no. But I'm not sure if I'm genuinely highly porous or if just my relaxed hair may be. I need to do the test on naked hair. When I wash my hair again I'll redo the water test.

I haven't bought any new products but I'm switching around a bit with the products I DO have. I've read that consistency is key when it comes to your hair regimen. But I'm also looking for great results so I can stick with what combo of products give that to me. So far, my hair loves that argon oil hair masque I did. I'll definitely be getting more of that. It seems to like deep conditioning, so I've kept that up. I deep condition 2x a week now. My hair really likes to be sealed with castor oil. That really locks the moisture in my strands but it seems so heavy, so I went back to try the MegaGrowth Oil I have from Protectiv. I'm still not impressed with it so last night I pulled out some olive oil, which I'd been ignoring bc I used it years ago on my relaxed hair but was also never impressed. Perhaps it would be different on my transitioning hair. (are my standards too high? Am I difficult to impress? lol....)I've also been experimenting with how I moisturize my hair bc that clearly needs addressing and no point in waiting until my hair dries out completely and catches fire in the sun.

So last night, I mixed about equal parts aloe vera gel and Kinky Kurly Knot Today. Applied that to sections and sealed with olive oil before twisting and re-setting into my bantu knots. This morning my hair is indeed soft. It has sheen which makes me very happy bc I've been bummed at how dull my hair has been looking. I'm still adjusting to the constantly poofy edges so for them to be dull too has been disheartening. If olive oil will help me avoid this I will happily stick with it! At least for the next wash or two....lol.

What else have I been sticking with?

I do wash my hair about 2x a week. Sometimes the stretch between washes is kinda long (6 days one time) but I'm getting it done. I do not plan to make it a habit of long stretches. My schedule is a bit hectic right now so I'm getting it in when I can.

I'm only detangling in the shower while I have conditioner in my hair.

I'm only combing my hair when it's wet. Which is only on wash days so the amount of combing has significantly decreased. I finger style my hair daily and if I run across a tangle that's effecting the way I want to style my hair I'll pull it apart gently.

I've always been faithful to wearing a scarf or satin bonnet but I will list that here as well so i can feel accomplished.

I've been doing great with taking my vitamins nightly. I've been taking a Prenatal vitamin since March. At some point I started to regularly take my Fish Oil capsules-end of March maybe.... Then on June 7th or was that May 31st? Either way it was a Tuesday, I began to take Biotin supplements. 1000 mcg. I'm trying to be more conscientous about getting more water in my body for several reasons. So the fact that it will help my hair is a bonus!

I'm not using grease on my scalp and my scalp is doing great! I mist it every other day with my spritzer. This past week I've been slack with applying my Scalp Healer oil. In fact, I haven't at all. I usually cowash on Wednesdays but due to travel this weekend, I'll stretch it til Thursday and apply my Scalp Healer then.

I'm all over the place today but I wanted to post. since i haven't shared this blog with anyone yet, it'll be ok, lol...I got some of those old drafts out and they posted in the order in which they were written...just need to go back and upload a few missing pics.

I still haven't made a choice as to whether I want to go public with my blog or not. I'd like to find a transition partner but haven't put in the time to scour the boards looking for one. I get so overwhelmed on fokti. I haven't figured out how to filter thru tags well enough to not have 500 results....then with the move coming up there is just sooo much going on.

Oh well...the important thing for now is for me to have patience. Document my process and progress and keep pushing forward.

Compare and Contrast....

Man...I'm behind in my posting. I've got some stale drafts that I need to upload the pictures into and then get those posted.

So I washed my hair on Sunday evening. I don't like this timing bc I'd prefer to have fresh hair for church but I can only co-wash my hair on Wednesdays and Saturday just seems too soon after that. Anyway, I followed the process I did last time with exception of the deep conditioner I used. Instead of the Hydrating Masque with Argon Oil, I did Silk Effects Intensive Moisturizing Conditioning Treatment. Everything else remained the same. Including setting my hair in Bantu Knots.

The verdict: I do believe the deep conditioner plays a heavy role here. Though my hair is soft and I have less frizz, it's just not as awesome as it was last wash. Soooo, I'm gonna use up this Silk Effects, bc I dont want to waste it (although it was free) and then go back and purchase a full size (if they have one) of the Hydrating Masque. I'm being very, very generous with the Silk Effects so hopefully I'll be done with it by the end of July.

Pictures of Day 2 hair:

I finally managed to set my bantu knots so that I could style my hair with some bangs. I finally twisted the front knots forward instead of backwards. All those hours worth of YouTube finally paying off.....

Aloe Vera Gel: Impression

After my first cowash, I set my hair in Bantu Knots. I decided to make these knots smaller than I'd been making them previously. I also planned to keep the first row intact to provide a natural headband effect.

I'd read that Aloe Vera Gel could be used a light styler. So instead of using the Aussie Moist conditioner (worried about dull hair again) I decided to try the AVG.

Omgosh...I'm always so tired when I finish my hair...seriously.

Here are the results:

1st Day:

2nd Day:

Saturday, I took the 1st row of knots out and wore a regular headband. No pictures of that though.

Each night I'd put my hair into mini 'pineapples' to maintain. I woke up Sunday morning to a bit of a fuzzy mess. We chose to watch church online this morning (our church live streams) but if I'd left the house this hair would have definitely went under a scarf. Although I appreciate the convenience in pineappling, currently during my transition this method will not maintain a style over 3 days. Though....I wash/cowash every 3/4 days so...I guess this isn't as big of a problem as I thought.


Anyway, blah blah blah...I'm supposed to be talking about my impression of the Aloe Vera Gel. It's 99% pure and I got it from Trader Joes, $2.99 for 12 ounces. That's a quarter/ounce. Aloe Vera is a natural moisturizer. The consistency is a watery gel. There's no smell. Not sticky or tacky. It honestly felt like putting thick water on my hair. I sealed with castor oil.

When I took my hair down, it felt good. Good definition. Moisturized. I think this is a great styling agent for the summer. I will definitely continue to use this in the future. I've also been using it as a facial moisturizer as my Oil of Olay has run out. I mixed a dab of tea tree oil in to help with facial blemishes. Works well.

Cowashing- First time

Little delay in posting. I've been busy at work and just tired in the evenings. Got stuff on my mind in regards to the relocation, ect, ect, ect! Gah!

On to the hair!

This past Wednesday was my first time cowashing my hair. I used Aussie Moist Conditioner ($2.84 for a 13.5 oz bottle. That's 21 cents/ounce! Yeah!)I had no visible flakes-which is a major win in that department. To guage how my scalp was doing since I washed it Saturday, I lightly scratched it with a comb in the front. Flake, flake, flake. Sigh......unsure if it was dryness or the dermatitis/psoriasis/whatevertheheck. I decided to apply Apple Cider Vinegar to my hair and scrubbed that in with my fingertips.

What I do is jump into the shower. Wet my hair. Making sure it's good and saturated and begin massaging my scalp. I do this until I feel my curls and kinks completely revert. (Although I havent been using heat in the last couple of weeks, my hair seems to stretch into waves when I do my sets). Then I take my 3 ounce flip top travel bottle full of ACV and apply it to my roots. Kinda finger parting and squirting. Once I've got that good and applied, I finger massage/scrub for...eh, maybe a couple of minutes. I noticed that there is a point when my roots began to feel 'light' and 'fluffy'. I massage the scalp until I get to that point. I do not manipulate the hair.

Then I rinse until I can no longer smell the vinegar. I then applied a good half palmful of the Aussie Moist. I didn't feel bad at all for piling it on. 21 cents an ounce is a beautiful thing. I focused on the scalp at first, Massaging, massaging, massaging. Then when I 'felt that was enough' I moved down into my hair. Trying to be careful not to tangle it. I kinda squeezed my hands down the shaft. Then I detangled with my Goody detangling comb. I searched high and low last weekend for a shower comb with a hook on the end. Couldn't find one. That hook would make it so much easier to store my comb while I'm doing everything else. Anyway, my hair detangled well. I think Aussie Moist has decent slip in that department. I left the conditioner on my hair while I got all the other business done. Then finished off with a cool rinse.

After it was all said and done, I believe my hair was clean. It didnt feel dry. It felt decently conditioned. I dont believe I was dealing with much dirt but I felt that cowashing got rid of the build up I might have had from the Tea Tree Tingle conditioner that I used twice to set my hair as well as the castor oil I used to seal.

I will definitely cowash again. I plan to alternate between washing with shampoo on the weekends and cowashing with a conditioner midweek.

So I've been heat free since May 23. hmmm....that's it? lol, feels so much longer. My hair is responding well. I have only combed my hair when it's been wet with conditioner or wet with moisturizers. I've noticed way less shedding. Great! Things are going well. I guess my hair is growing. lol. When I checked about 10 days ago, the new growth in the very front was 2 inches. Though I think the newgrowth is a little longer in the middle, since the front has some breakage. But that could just be the relaxed ends gone. I'll recheck length beginning of July.

Touching my roots now in the front....feels thicker...i think? Not sure. Hope so. When my hair is relaxed, it's considered 'fine'. I can't used too much product or I have no body to my hair. I'm hoping that as a natural, I'm at least average. Fingers crossed, lol. I haven't done the test where you compare one strand of hair to 1/2 strand of thread yet. I keep forgetting. I should do that now while my mind is on it!

Til next time,

Blessings!