Then n Now

I am always amazed by my journey so on a typical day I compare my pics from my BC to now. Today, while uploading my pics from my phone to the computer I decided to do it right HERE!

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BHC

My catchy title is abbreviated for baking soda, henna, and castile soap. No relation. So I will not be using baking soda to open my cuticles because , through research, I found that it can be damaging to hair. And I just don’t want to add a typing unnecessary yo my reforming to be totally honest. So I will rely on heat and an old friend of mine – castile soap- to open my cuticles to allow moisture and other good nutrients in 🙂 I,ve had an on-off relationship with castile soap but I think I am sticking with my initial good vib about this product. It turns out that the reason. Y hair was so well moisturized earlier in my BC days was because the castile soap was opening my cuticles and allowing the moisture in. So I’m going back to those days especially since I have been experiencing dry scalp recently. So my regimen will change by adding this step back into my wash days. I will wash my hair weekly with the castile oil mixture that I made.

So, henna huuuummmmmm where to start….well imma make it short. I tried henna before. It was very hard and messy to apply. Then the end result did not work. Well turns out that I used the wrong type of henna, I should have used body art quality henna instead of the $4.00 jar I purchased. So this time I was in. Y favorite neighborhood natural store and saw another jaw of henna priced at $6.00 🙂 so hopefully thesis a better grade. Hahahahaha!!! Yeah right! But I a sitting here with it in my hair now so we will see shortly. I followed the direction and used a cup of boiling water and because I have a few (wink wink) gray hairs I added two tablespoons of ACV which is supposed to help it attach to the grays. The consistent at that point was terrible and was not sticking to my hair. I remembered watching a video on YouTube about adding oil to it to change the consistency to allow it to adhere better to your strands so i added a good amount of castor oil. OMGosh it worked out so
much better.

So while the consistency was better and I could smooth it onto my strands the henna did not take to my hair. It did take to my hands though. Yeah I forgot gloves ..hahaha jokes on me 😦 my next attempt will be with online brought henna!!! Going to order right now…stay tuned for review.

Porosity who???

This natural journey is making my hair vocabulary expand greatly …lol. The newest word to add to my hairdictionary is porosity. I did a test on my hair to find out if it was low, normal, or high porosity. Turns out cause my strand didn’t sink AT ALL that I have low porosity hair. In short: my hair cuticles are flat and do not easily allow moisture in. On the flip (good) side once the moisture is in it will stay 🙂 So now the question became, ” how do I moisturize my hair if the cuticle is flat and does not allow moisture in?” Research revealed that heat is my bestie!!!!! So I will co-wash with warm water, of course do deep conditioning with heat, probably do a final rinse with cool water to close my cuticles back, and seal seal seal!

Big question is to use baking soda or to not use it. Because of its alkalinity it’s supposed to be able to open the cuticle to allow moisture in. But is it really safe for the hair? Are there any…scratch that WHAT are the side effects? How long will it take the cuticle to close after its open?

You can perform a test on your hair to determine its porosity by taking a clean hair strand (one that sheds after you cleanse it and still with the white bulb on the tip) and putting it in a water. If it sinks you have high porosity hair which means that you have open cuticles which absorb moisture. Down side, because they are open they also loose moisture just as quickly. If your strand stays afloat you have low porosity hair. Low porosity hair is hard to get moisture in but once in it will stay there cause the cuticle is closed.

Again I Change

After researching I’ve come to believe that my dry scalp could be due to a number of things because I made a lot of changes at the same time. That’s a No No!!!!!!! So I’m going back to the basics… Well semi basics. I think the majority of my problems stemmed from the fact that I was doing protein treatments too often: Every other week. I found that too much protein can be a bad thing, it is very drying if over used. The next problem I may have encountered was how frequently I washed my hair: every day. While i believed it was working for me in the beginning of my journey i think i abused the privilege. Our hair is very thirsty especially when we first go natural. So while this may be beneficial for those who just BC to ensure that the hair is getting the proper moisture for those who are past the initial month or two the amount of water can be reduced. Moisture is still very essential but it can be achieved different ways and co washing daily, for me, was removing the natural oils that my scalp produced. These two things have to change!

Week 1, 2, and 3
Friday
Wash hair with castile soap and towel dry hair. Deep condition on dry hair with: Tresemme Naturals or Herbal Essence Hello Hydration condition, honey, coconut oil, emu oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, various essential oils, wheat germ oil, vitamins A, D, and E. sit under steamer for 20 or leave in over night or both.

Sunday
Moisturize and style ( twist or braid out) with Courtneynaturalhair concoction ( Shea butter, coconut oil, castor oil, vegetable glycerin ( I leave this out in the winter), jojoba oil, essential oils, and vitamins)

Daily
Moisturize hair by spritzing with: water, Aloe Vera, Kinky Curly Knot Today, and glycerin (I remove this in the winter) and seal with oil

Tuesday
Baggie method overnight with: jojoba oil, castor oil, vitamins A, D, and E, and essential oils.

Wednesday
Deep condition on dry hair with Tresemme Naturals conditioner, honey, castor oil, wheat germ oil, and coconut oil

Week 4
Protein DC using courtneynaturalhair concoction

All of things aside my hair is still growing and it stays moisturized. My daughters hair is flourishing! Her edges were considerably shorter than the rest of her hair. Using courtneynaturalhair’s concoction I have seen tremendously growth with her edges and the rest of her hair. I normally deep condition her hair every other week. I put it in a protective style (braids) three weeks out of the month and the other week give her a break and put four plats in. I think her hair would grow much faster if she would sleep with a cap but she won’t. And she doesn’t stay on her pillow all night….so maybe satin sheets for her 🙂