End-Of-The-Week Hair

I've been washing my hair every 6-7 days. Towards the end of the week, my hair isn't really in much of a presentable state. At that time, I depend upon styles that "mask" my hair. The style I lean towards when my hair isn't "fresh" is the messy bun. I just grab my hair any sort of way and put an Ouchless elastic on. I don't twist the elastic - that way, my bun remains big and isn't restricted by the tightness of the elastic.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer: Poppy

I've never been a huge fan of red nail polish. I guess I should rephrase that; I've never been a huge fan of red nail polish on myself. I'm not big on anything that's red, to be honest. For some reason, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and purchase a bottle of red nail polish. I put it on last night.. still trying to get used to it. It does look "rich" and "classy", so maybe I will save it for occasions. To be honest, I'm just not really feeling it for a regular day.

I will say that I truly love these American Apparel Nail Lacquers though. Just have to put on one coat, and I'm good! I went back two weeks ago, and along with Poppy, I bought Summer Peach and Coney Island. 

 

Forgotten Style: The Twistout

I haven't done a twistout in the longest time. I've been relying on flexi rods lately. Prior to that, to achieve "textured" styles, I was doing braidouts mostly. Watching Andrea's new video definitely reminded me to revisit twistouts. The curls she achieved with only two twists are beautiful!

Kim Kardashian's Middle French Braid

Here are some pics of a really cute hairdo Kim Kardashian wore yesterday. It seems simple enough to do, and is really cute! I might try that for work tomorrow. If I do, I'll definitely take some pics. Until then, enjoy :)

American Apparel Nail Lacquer

Lately, I've been trying to make sure my nails look presentable at pretty much all times. Whether I have on clear, french manicure, or hot pink, it doesn't matter, as long as they're done.

Last week, I was in the mood to buy some light pastel colours. I browsed around the pharmacy and Sephora, and didn't see anything I was crazy about. Before leaving the mall, I decided to check out American Apparel. I ended up buying three polishes, not because I needed three, but because they were 3 for $18CAD, whereas one was $7.50.

I bought: L'esprit (pale lavender), California Trooper (light beige), and Office (pastel mint green).

Right now I have on L'esprit. I've never had purple nails before, so it'll take a little bit of getting used to! I've also worn my California Trooper, and I must say, I love these polishes. They went on nice and smoothly, and only one coat is needed to get a nice thick finish. I'm excited to go back and get some more colours. A few that I'd love to try are Rose Bowl, Coney Island, and Malibu Green.

What nail polish brand and colours do you like???

You can check out the colours here.

Breaking All The Rules

I have been neglecting my blog, and not intentionally. The truth is, I've been pretty much breaking all the "hair rules". I felt bad having fallen off the hair care wagon. I have been using heat on my hair on a regular basis, not moisturizing daily, not deep conditioning... I haven't  had the patience to do everything that I used to do. It doesn't appear to have been detrimental to my hair yet. I really hope I'm not speaking too soon! Anyway, it wasn't a regimen I wanted to "promote". It's been working for me so far. It's also been saving me a lot of time.We all have to do what works for us, and for me, my current regimen is working out alright :)

My regimen the past few weeks has been as follows:

• Wash hair every 5-7 days with Live Clean Fresh Water Shampoo
• Condition in the shower with Skala G3 Ceramide Deep Conditioner
• Squeeze excess water from hair
• Detangle with Africa's Best Kids' Organics Olive Oil & Shea butter detangler
• Put One N Only Argan Oil Treatment throughout my hair
• Blowdry on warm, using the "tension method"
• Flat iron in large sections

The flat ironing in large sections was inspired by NinaPruitt in her most recently flat ironing tutorial. It definitely seems way less damaging than going over tiny sections with a hot iron. It is definitely less time-consuming, which is a big plus for me. I also love the body I have when using this method.

Another small change I've made in my regimen is using the One N Only Argan Oil on wet hair before blowdrying. It has really helped my hair to dry way smoother, and my hair hasn't been matting up as it used to (I have one section that mattes up in particular from when I attempted to self-relax).

I've also been greasing my scalp with Hollywood Beauty Sulfur. My scalp tends to get itchy and this grease really alleviates that. 

At night, I've been sleeping with 3-4 flexirods to add some bounce for the next day. I do so nightly, and sleep with my satin bonnet.

I hope to update more often. I still don't have a digital camera (mine broke a few months back), but I do have a phone now that takes decent pictures. Here are some pictures that I took during my wash and dry session today.

Last relaxer June 11, 2010

 

Drying in sections

 

Deep Conditioning on Thursday!

I went to the NY over the weekend.. and you know what that means: a trip to Sally's! I really don't like to go there and not buy anything, because I know I only get to the United States once or twice a year.

I bought the One 'N Only Argan Oil Restorative Mask. I was trying to decide between that and the conditioner, because at $10 a piece, I couldn't afford/didn't deserve to buy both. I'll be trying it Thursday evening, and will let you know how it goes :) It smells exactly like their argan oil (love it).

I wonder how One 'N Only's argan oil products compare to the Moroccan Oil brand. I've never tried Moroccan Oil, but I'll admit their marketing really tempts me. Every time I flip open a magazine, there they are. I've heard that One 'N Only's products are just as good, if not better. Price-wise they definitely are! I wish they were as readily available as Moroccan Oil though.

My Product List

Updated list of the products and tools that I've been using these past few months.


Shampoos

Live Clean Fresh Water Moisturizing Shampoo
Live Clean Argan Oil Restorative Shampoo
Tresemme Deep Cleasing Shampoo (for clarifying)

Conditioners

Aussie Moist
Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut
Skala Ceramides G3 Conditioning Treatment (DC)
Motions CPR Reconstructor (light protein)

Leave-Ins

Live Clean Fresh Water Moisturizing Intensive Leave-In Conditioner
Aphogee ProVitamin Leave-In
Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer


Heat Protectants

Dove Heat Defense Therapy Protect and Shine Mist
CHI Silk Infusion

*always used together

Oils

Kissan Coconut Oil
Olive Oil (on scalp only)
One N' Only Argan Oil Treatment aka Argan Oil from Sally's ;)

Tools

FHI Heat Platform 1"
Gold N Hot Table Top Hooded Dryer
Vidal Sassoon Blowdryer (with concentrator nozzle and diffuser attachments)
Wide and fine toothed rat tail combs
Jilbere Shower Comb
Banana Clips
Flexi rods (small, medium, large)
Grey and black magnetic rollers + alligator clips

Obviously Been on Hiatus

I've been gone for a while. It was definitely not planned. Haven't been updating much because I don't have a camera. Mine broke, then I borrowed my parents' for a while. Only thing I could possibly be use is my laptop's web cam, which is better than nothing. Will definitely look into buying a camera soon though.

Nothing new with my hair. My goal for end of 2010 was to reach waist length. I haven't done a true length check recently, but I'm pretty sure it's at MBL. I trimmed about half an inch of it a few days ago.. Health before length, health before length...

I went to Cuba at the beginning of July. The humidity there really made my hair feel limp and soft.. I hated it. Had I known it'd be that humid, I definitely would have brought my protein conditioner with me. I mostly relied on braidouts that ended up completely puffing up, and bun. To think that I actually had the nerve to show up there with flat ironed hair LOL I even brought my flat iron there.. I decided I would just flat iron my bangs (because I do daily here).. Came prepared with my voltage converter and all. I walked away while I let it warm up, and I came back to see my flat iron's plates had separated. My heart SUNK. I guess my voltage converter was faulty. I pressed the iron closed and held it that way until it cooled, and the plates seem to be sticking in place again, but I hate the feeling of knowing my iron is not in mint condition anymore.

BEFORE

AFTER

I went to a grocery store down there, and of course had to take a peek at the hair products section. The majority of the products they had were by Skala. The name seemed familiar (from seeing it mentioned at LHCF) and it was really cheap, so I decided to buy a couple of jars of their Ceramides 3 Deep Conditioner. I LOVE IT! I really wish I would have bought more. I had no way of knowing I'd love it though. Next time I will definitely stock up, and probably take a risk on more of their products. I guess there really is something to say of ceramides. My hair looks and feels more moisturized than it has been in a long time.

I've been putting my hair up a lot lately, mostly using banana clips. It's been hot, humid and often rainy here, so can't be bothered with trying to keep it looking perfect to wear it down.

Again, sorry for the web cam pics. I hope you guys don't mind.. it's all I have for now.

Jumping on the Sulfate-Free Bandwagon

My scalp has been really dry lately. I mean really dry, and flaky. I tried a few things.. Head & Shoulders (which was probably drying my scalp out even more in retrospect), oiling my scalp, clarifying (thinking I must have had a lot of product build-up), etc.

I decided to give one last thing a try: going sulfate-free. I went to the pharmacy this morning and bought Live Clean's Fresh Water Moisturizing Shampoo. Live Clean is an all-organic Canadian brand, whose product line looks amazing (including Argan Oil, Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner, Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Shampoo, etc.). I don't really have any results to report yet since I'm still under the dryer. I can say that it smelled heavenly though, and my hair didn't dry out as it usually does when I'm putting in my rollers.

After a few uses, I'll write a review.

Relaxed by a New Stylist

Haven't posted in a really long time. I've been really tired with working the evening shift...

I relaxed my hair on Friday. I've given up on self-relaxing for the moment. I made the mistake of trying a new stylist. I wanted a change from the woman I've been going to since I was 14, because she doesn't respect her clients' time, and doesn't accept my decision to stretch my relaxers.

Everything started out well on Friday, except for the fact that the stylist was half-an-hour late. He didn't have anything negative to say about the amount of new growth that I had. He relaxed with Mizani ButterBlends. He washed my hair about three times with neutralizing shampoo, and let it sit on my hair for about 10 minutes.

The mistake that was made, and I partially blame myself for it, is that he wrapped my hair up in a towel and let it sit for a few minutes. By the time he took it down, my hair was an absolutely knotty mess. I have never, never in my life seen my hair have that many tangles. And he started to blow dry it with a comb attachment. I kindly asked him for a comb so that I could detangle it myself. I lost of lot of hair, and I was really upset about that (had tears in my eyes even). He finished blowdrying it, then pressed it.

I'm not a fan of myself with flat, limp, straight hair. I washed it today, and I am currently under the dryer with a ponytail rollerset.

Lustrasilk Olive Oil + Ponytail Rollersetting

I haven't updated in so long. I feel like I've been doing the same things to my hair all the time, therefore had nothing "new" to post.

I ran out of ORS Deep Conditioner, and decided to try something new. I bought Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol. When I got home, I realized it's not even a deep conditioner, but a leave-in. I hadn't read the instructions, and just seeing "cholesterol" and "no heat cap necessary" on the front label, I never considered that it wasn't a DC. I really cannot imagine using it as one due to its consistency though (feels pretty gooey).

I've used it twice so far. I slather a lot of it on, then add some coconut oil, then sit under the dryer for 20-30 minutes. I can't honestly say that I see it benefiting my hair so far, and have pretty much already decided that I won't be repurchasing it. The only reason I bought it was because I saw a thread at LHCF where folks were discussing whether they preferred Lustrasilk Cholesterol or LeKair Cholesterol. It seemed like most votes went toward LeKair, but the store I went to didn't carry it, so I just decided to take a chance on Lustrasilk.


I also tried Ponytail Rollersetting for the first time. For me, it's definitely easier than regular rollersetting. Now that I have an easier way to put in the rollers, I just need a quicker way to dry.. I get so restless under the dryer. It takes at least an hour and a half before my hair is dry. A Pibbs is definitely NOT in my budget though, so I'm going to have to make do with what I have.

Once dry, I flat ironed and bumped my ends under to give it some extra bounce. It's not a true length check, but it'll have to do for now. At the end of the month, I may flat iron again bone straight to see my hair's true length.

I LOVE FLEXI RODS!

I absolutely adore flexi rods. I only started using them about 6 months ago, but I will never turn back. They are my go-to hair tool. I love how they can really save a bad hair day. I love their simplicity.

I've been using small ones, but decided to order some large ones on eBay. They arrived in exactly 2 weeks, from China to Canada. Not bad! They're 2 cm in diameter. Can't wait to try them this weekend!

It's been a while...

.. since I last did a braidout. My scalp was itching the other night, so I was dying to wash my hair. I get home from work at 9pm, so it's really not a time where I want to start doing anything time-consuming to my hair, like rollersetting. I do stay up extremely late, but I mean, that is prime TV time, so sitting under a dryer doesn't cut it ;)

I washed with Head & Shoulders Refresh, conditioned with Aussie Moist, and applied Herbal Essences LTR once out of the shower. I airdried for an hour or so, then braided my hair into two, and went to bed. My hair was still pretty wet in the morning, so I blowdried it on 'warm', then took out the braids.

I am in desperate need of a new camera. Sorry for the crappy webcam pics :(

First Attempt: Fishtail Braid

Last night while doing my blog rounds, I came across this post at The Anti-Hair Slave about fishtail braids. This particular style of braiding has always intrigued me, from the time I was a child (many of the little Chinese girls at my elementary school wore them). Obviously, that was WAY back in the day, ages before we even fathomed the idea of YouTube. Until last night, I had forgotten about them.

I took to YouTube to look for tutorials. This one was extremely helpful:

I washed my hair on Monday, but was already starting to look pretty limp (guess I've been going hard on the argan oil LOL). I couldn't possibly wear my hair down, so I decided I'd do the fishtail braid for work today.

I'm satisfied with the result considering it was my first time. Practice makes perfect, and I will definitely be trying this style again soon!

Some New Hair Toys

Bought a couple of banana clips today. I had one in mind, for $3. When I went to the cash to pay, they told me there was a minimum of $5 to use my debit card, so I had to go back and choose a second one because I had no cash on me. They were 2 for $5.

My Hair Today

I flat ironed my hair on Thursday after relaxing, and have been sleeping in 2-3 flexi rods/night since. Before bed, I would lightly spritz my hair with some Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer and seal with a dime-sized amount of One 'N Only Argan Oil. The pictures above are the results. I'm really feeling this look. It's so effortless! :) Addicted to flexi rods. I only have really small ones right now, but maybe one day I'll allow myself to get a bigger size (when I merit them).

First Wash after Texlaxing

I relaxed on Thursday, and washed today. I washed using Creme of Nature's Neutralizing Shampoo. I definitely won't be repurchasing this shampoo, if I choose to continue self-relaxing. It's supposed to have a colour indicator (supposed to be white when hair is back to a neutral pH), but it seems to wash out white from the get-go.

I then deep conditioned for 25 minutes under the hooded dryer with ORS Replenishing Olive Oil Deep Conditioner, coconut oil, and olive oil applied to my scalp using an applicator bottle.

I rinsed in and detangled in the shower.

Once out, I applied Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship leave-in conditioner and a tad of CHI Silk Infusion. I rolled my hair using gray rollers, and am now sitting until the dryer for about an hour and ten minutes. My hair most likely won't be dry once that time is up, but I have to be out from under the dryer to watch Gossip Girl ;)

I will probably roll my hair with 2-3 flexi rods before bed.

It felt so great not to have to battle with my hair after washing it. This means my relaxer was much more successful than it was the last time. I still have a lot of texture, which I am happy about. I really don't think I will ever feel 100% confident self-relaxing my hair because I am scared of having a setback. I guess practice makes perfect, but there isn't really that much room for error when using caustic chemicals..

Self-Texlaxing: Attempt #2

My original plan was to self-relax sometime this weekend, but my scalp was starting to itch, so last night, I decided I would do it right there and then.

I based my scalp with Hollywood Beauty Castor Oil (it's basically a mineral oil-free hair grease, IMO). I did the half-and-half method (relaxed half of my head of hair, rinsed it, then relaxed the second half). I pre-parted all of my sections, and applied the relaxer (ORS lye) using an applicator brush. I smoothed the sections with my gloved hands. The application + processing totaled 15 minutes per side. I did a quick protein treatment using Motions CPR in the shower, then neutralized with Cream of Nature. I followed up with a deep conditioning treatment under the hooded dryer for about 20 minutes, using ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner.

It was getting late, and I did not have time to rollerset, so I blowdried on cool till maybe 50% dry, then blowdried on warm until fully dry. I also flat ironed, put in two flexi rods then put on my satin bonnet. (As leave-ins prior to drying, I used Aphogee Green Tea + One 'N Only Argan oil. I applied a tad of CHI Silk Infusion before flat ironing).

I can't even tell you what percentage I texlaxed to. I'll have to see this next time I wet my hair. I think I'll deep condition by Monday or something.

My camera batteries are dead, so I took a picture just now with my webcam. It's pretty dark, but wtv. I did not do a length check. I've been doing them way too often, so I am going to try my best to hold out on that until at least early May ;)

All in all, it seems to be a success. On the other hand, I must admit that I don't enjoy relaxing my hair myself. My new growth is so hard to part, and I have a lot of hair, so it is a lot of work. I might end up going back to a salon next time.. my next dilemma will be trying to choose who to go to.. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Maybe the 2nd Time Will be a Charm?

It'll be 20 weeks this Friday since I last went to my hairdresser for a relaxer, and 7 weeks since my botched self-relaxer attempt. My hair is so underprocessed that it basically feels like I didn't relax at all. It's getting really hard to deal with the two textures, that I think I will be relaxing this weekend.

There are a couple of things that went wrong the last time that I surely will not repeat:

- did not leave the relaxer on to process. Don't ask LOL I was so nervous about overprocessing, that I basically rinsed the relaxer out a couple of minutes after it was applied. I did this even though I used a mild relaxer and added oil to it. The paranoia of having an overprocessing setback got the best of me.

- I didn't smooth the relaxer over my new growth once I had applied it to my whole head

My hair is really coarse and resistant. I don't think I'll be adding any oil to it this time, because I cannot risk being underprocessed again. My goal was to begin texlaxing, but I obviously not been able to achieve that happy medium yet. I'll see if using the mild relaxer without oil will be it.

-------------------------------------

I deep conditioned on dry hair today with ORS Replenishing Conditioner. Prior to adding the conditioner to my hair, I applied EVOO to my scalp using an applicator bottle. Once I added the conditioner, I applied coconut oil over my hair. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for about 25 minutes. I rinsed in the shower, did a protein treatment with Motions CPR Protein Reconstructor, and a quick condition with Aussie Moist.

Once out of the shower, I sprayed Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer on my hair, and applied One 'N Only Argan Oil. I sectioned my hair into 4, and blowdried on a warm setting (it was too late to rollerset, and too close to bedtime to airdry). Once dry, I rolled with 5 flexi rods, covered with my satin bonnet, and now I'm laying in bed ;)

Will post some pics tomorrow.

ETA:

A Couple of Purchases from Walmart Today

I went to Walmart today with the intention of buying a blowdryer and a round brush. As I've mentioned, I've been rollersetting more lately, but with the amount of new growth I have right now, I need a way to straighten my roots. I have been using a flat iron, but I wanted to try blowing my roots out instead, to see what kind of look I could achieve.

I've never had a blowdryer with a concentrator nozzle. Since I can't afford to splurge on something super fancy, so I bought the Vidal Sassoon Professional 1875W Ionic Blowdryer for $20. It comes with a brush (nothing fancy) as well as a diffuser attachment.

I wanted to get a boar bristle round brush, but they were $15 - which is way more than I want to spend. I'll check out the BSS sometime next week instead..

Anyway, on my way out, I couldn't help but resist checking out the new Live Clean hair products. I've been on the prowl for a creamy leave-in conditioner, so I decided to read the ingredients of their Exotic Nectar Argan Oil Smooth & Shine Cream.


Ingredients: Aqua (purified water), argania spinosa extract, argania spinosa kernal (argan) oil, vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, glycerin, glyceryl stearate, vegetable oil & hydrogenated vegetable oil & euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, cocoglycerides, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate, parfum, polyquaternium-7, xanthum gum, sodium stearoyl gluatamate, brown 1.

They also have an argan oil, but since I recently bought the One N Only version, I will have to wait until that's done before I can allow myself to buy it.

They have a few other products that I would love to try:

• Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Shampoo
• Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner
  

I plan on deep conditioning, washing and rollersetting tomorrow, so I will be trying the new appliance and products then.

Flat ironed on Sunday..

I flat ironed my hair on Sunday. I wore it bone straight on Monday. Since then, I've been adding 2-3 flexi rods at night to give it some body for the following day. Here are some pics:




I've flat ironed a few times recently, and should try to cut down. I plan on buying some 2" magnetic rollers tomorrow, to achieve a straight rollerset. Hopefully my head will fit under my table top hood dryer with rollers that big. If I really improve my rollersetting game, a Pibbs will become VERY tempting.. ;)