L.O.C vs L.C.O Experiment

I think I should change my name to QueenResearch…lol Been doing more research on the L.O.C. method; Liquid Oil Cream. The name of the method implies the order in which the products are to be applied to the hair.  Back to my research, I even listened to the person who created it on YouTube (see video below) . Prior to listening to her I had made up my mind about using the modified version, L.C.O., but after listening to her I can understand better now why it was put together that way.  And I’m slightly convinced that both methods will work. Now I just gotta figure out which one works best for me 🙂

Lets break this method down and how my mind wraps around it and what originally made me want to do the modified L. C. O method. Applying the liquid first is a no brainer…if it ain’t perhaps you shouldn’t be natural!  Next, according to the original version of this moisturizing method, is Oil. My problem with this is that since being natural all we hear is how oil seals. So if the oil is sealing right after you moisturized how is anything else going to get in? If I apply my cream which also has moisturizing capabilities after I’ve sealed in the moisture (in essence also sealing out anything else) isn’t that just wasting  product seeing as tho its not going to get past that oil sealant?

On the other hand using the modified  L.C.O method after your liquid moisturizer you add your cream which is pretty much more moisture (water is in most creams and butters), so you get an additional layer of moisture and your first layer of sealant because butters of course have oil in them. Then lastly you add your oil to seal all that goodness in.  This is how I rationalize using the L.C.O. method. It was my intention to use this method first then later try the L.O.C. method. While the L.C.O. method is working just fine for me I’m still curious about the original method. So I will be doing an experiment on my own little head. One side L.C.O. and the other side L.O.C. I already know L.C.O. method can keep my hair moisturized for an entire week. Now I’m going to see if there is any difference what so ever in these two methods for my hair.

This past washday, Sunday,I did the L.O.C method on the right side of my hair and the L.C.O on the left side. As far as application everything was normal. As for moisture for the remainder of the week my hair on both sides seemed moisturized at least up until Thursday which was the o ly time besides today my hands were in my head. I checked today and my hair was better moisturized on the left side. So I’m going to stick with the L.C.O method. The moisture is still going strong on those strands. I strongly suggest anyone looking at a moisturizing technique try all methods available to see which works best for your hair. No two head are alike and what works for the masses may not work for you. Do you use a moisturizing method? Which method do you prefer?

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Wash Day

Friday’s are wash days for my 2 yr old and I. Because I get off work early on Friday it gives me extra time to get us both done. In the event hubby wants to go out I will move wash day to Saturday… because of my process it normally takes hours for me to be done. This is primarily because I let my hair dry after washing then I style it in twist.

I start by washing my daughter’s hair with my castile soap mixture This is the first time I’ve tried the castile on her hair. Because I consider myself a simplist I do the bare minimum to her hair. For a long time this meant that all I did was co-wash her hair weekly and deep condition it monthly. I’m changing because I really don’t see her hair flourishing like it should be. It may be the fact that she takes her bonnet off in the middle of the night but I’m going to treat her hair like mine minus the essential oils Because of allergic reactions and skin irritants I’ll begin to introduce these one by one in the months to come.

For convenience and smooth sailing I wash her hair in the kitchen sink. Today she thought she was Beyonce… Check out my baby shades!

After washing her hair I squeeze the access water out of her hair. Because she is only two years old and lacks patience I do not let her hair dry then haul her back to do the DC, once I dry her hair off with the microfiber towel I immediately apply the DC mixture. Again it is the same thing that I use minus the essential oils. So I mixed one batch for both of us but since I do her first I left out the essential oils. I apply the mix thoroughly to small sections of her hair, then detangled that section and twisted. My daughter ended up with six twist. I then put her cap and let her return to her adventures.

I could not resist posting this one. 🙂 I told her to smile and this is what I got. She is too much for me!

After I sent my daughter on her way I proceeded to wash my hair with the same cleansing mixture. In the past I have never twisted my hair prior to washing. Primarily because I didnt have enough hair :). While I didnt do it today either I may do it next time.

Can y’all see that grey…lol It wont be there for long. Once I’m done researching coloring natural hair safely IT WILL BE DESTROYED…lol. Anyway back to the day’s work..I dried my hair with a microfiber towel and let it air dry. I do this so my hair will not be filled with moisture thus able to take in more of the deep conditioning benefits. I apply the deep conditioning mix to sections of my hair from root to end. I make sure the hair strand is saturated. The root of our hair is just as important as the ends. While the ends are fragile cause they are the oldest part of our hair strand the root deserves attention because how we start it off determines how healthy it will be. Neglect no part of your hair. After applying the DC mixture I then detangled the section with a large tooth comb then twist. This is the only time my hair is combed (sometimes I do comb with a smaller tooth comb if I am styling for a twist out…not too often). I put on my cap and returned my attention to my daughter’s hair because by the time I was finished my head and some other household things it was time for her to be rinsed.

During this process I also lost some hair.

I untwisted a section at a time and rinsed the deep conditioner out of my daughter’s hair. I used conditioner to assist with getting the mixture out. I retwisted it as I went along. I used a microfiber towel to pat her hair dry…I wanted to keep most of the wetness since water is the best natural moisturizer. I then applied The Mane Choices Hair Butter for moisture, shine, and nourishment then I sealed with Jojoba oil. Then I styled it 🙂

After styling my daughter’s hair 45 minutes was up and it was time for me to rinse my hair. I untwisted my hair and used conditioner to rinsed it out – I didnt do it by sections like with my daughter cause I was tired and was loosing energy. My hair felt so good…I’m almost sure i heard it say “thank you” :). I didnt dry my hair, I moisturized each section using The Mane Choice Hair Butter. Normally I seal at this point but today I was going to be using flax seed gel to do my twist for my twist out and that mixture has some added benefits that I did not want to lock out by sealing.

After doing the things above my daughters and my hair feels soft and very manageable. We both have shine which I’m sure is a combination of the honey and The Mane Choice Hair Butter. I’ve never had shine until using this butter. It would shine after a DC but once I styled it…poof it was long gone. Now I actually maintenance the sheen for a day and a half. So to keep it up I normally apply a small amount of the Butter daily. There’s one pic below of my daughters hair, trying to keep track of her growth.