My Regimen

As you all know having a set regimen (regime) is an awesome foundation to healthy natural hair. I, myself, don't worry about the length in my natural hair journey as long as my hair is healthy! Moisture is key to promoting growth and health in natural hair. Being sure to take care of your hair and pampering your hair is something I can't stress enough. How will your hair grow if you constantly neglect your hair? Wonder why your hair is very brittle and/or dry? Find a regimen that works for your hair. I find that taking time out of my busy schedule to cater to my hair is like therapy! It's almost like having a spa treatment with the girls where your getting the full special from nails to toes to back rubs. OMG. LOL! Anyway, I must admit, I don't always take the best care of my hair but I have a routine for my hair and try to stick with it as much as I can. Although, there are times I go weeks without deep conditioning but because I co-wash and moisturize whenever neccessary I can do so.

I normally aim to pamper on Sunday's because this is the least busy day of my schedule. I'm able to sit down and focus on my hair alone. To add, I am Christian and I was taught on Sunday you don't "work".. it's your relax day. Go to Sunday school, Church services, pamper yourself, and Sunday dinner. That's it!

So, with that being said, lets get into this regimen of mine shall we?

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SHAMPOO

 

I don't normally shampoo unless I'm deep conditioning that day because, let's face it, shampooing is one thing us natural diva's hate to do because it can be very drying to our tresses. I, myself, choose not to shampoo but maybe once or twice a month if that. When I do shampoo I always shampoo before anything else. Meaning, before I deep condition, I grab whatever shampoo I plan to use and wash my hair thoroughly before I condition and/or deep condition. I make sure that after I shampoo I follow up with some sort of deep conditioning treatment.

PRE-POO

Although Pre-pooing can be benefitial to some it is not benefitial to all. I find pre-pooing to be worthless to my hair. I guess, depending on which shampoo your using depends on whether you should pre-poo or not. I do not use any harsh shampoo's that strip my hair of its moisture. I find that shampooing my hair then deep conditioning works fine. So, in that case, to each their own hunny!

DEEP CONDITION

My all-time fav deep conditioner at the moment is the Organic's Africa's Best Olive Oil Deep Treatment. My 2nd fav is Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Butter Restorative Deep Treatment Masque. I've been alternating between both of these since the day I did my 1st big chop in 2010. I deep condition first before I condition and detangle. I am not fond of conditioning, pre-pooing, shampooing, then deep conditioning. I find taking all of those steps are tedious. Time is money! I like to get right to it. I find that shampooing, deep conditioning, then conditioning/detangling works for me and I get awesome results with moisture. I have 4C textured hair and it's the most difficult to keep moisturized. I, sometimes, deep condition my hair overnight but for the most part I only deep condition for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then I'll hop in the shower, rinse this out with luke warm water, throw on my conditioner and do a co-wash/detangle right before I wash my goods LOL! Then, after I've finished, I'll rinse my hair again with the luke warm water, rinse my body, out of the shower I go.



HOT OIL TREATMENT

I can't stress enough how much you neeeeeed hot oil treatments in your life. If you aren't up on this, you must get on it quick fast and in a hurry! It's very moisturizing to the hair and theraputic at the same time. I do hot oil treatments bi-weekly when I deep condition. I do deep condition and hot oil treatments at the same time. Killing two-birds-with-one-stone sort of move. Works awesome! I take whatever oils I'll be using, put them in an applicator bottle, give it a little shake to mix everything together, and then I'll put it all over my scalp. Massage that in really good (make sure you have a towel handy, it can get messy if your using too much). I'll then take my deep conditioner and distribute it all over my hair and work it in really good. Then I'll take a quarter size amount of my oil and work it into my ends and tresses. That way I'm locking in that yummy goodness. Throw a shower bag on my head and let the heat do it's thing! After 30 minutes to an hour I'll rinse this treatment out with luke warm water and move on to my next step in my regimen which is co-wash/condition w/ detangling included.

CO-WASH/CONDITION

I tend to co-wash if not once, twice, a week. I find co-washing to be very benefitial in my regimen. During the colder months I do find I can still co-wash, although lots of naturals frown upon this. My hair is never wet when I leave the house so I'm fine with it *pops collar* I normally wake up an hour to an hour and a half before I need to be walking out the door. That's more than enough time for me. I do not wear make-up. So, those of you whom do wear make-up may need to wake up a tad bit earlier. Co-washing is considering washing your hair with conditioner only. You want to make sure your using an in-expensive conditioner. Lots of people use V05 or Herbal Essence. Neither of those do anything for my hair, they're too light in consistancy. I use either Tressemme, Pantene Pro-V, or Garnier Fruitis. Those 3 are awesomeeeee for co-washing my hair. They're thick (y'all know I lives for some thick conditioners) and very moisturizing. Now, you want to use this conditioner as your "shampoo" substitute. If you want, section off your hair and apply product as needed. Shower (wash your body and all that jazz), detangle your hair (if you'd like, I sure do), then rinse with luke warm water. Not nipple hard cold or scalding hot water!

DETANGLE

I detangle my hair in the shower when I am in the conditioning and/or co-washing phase of my regimen. If it's a day that I'm prepping for a twist out or some sort of style I, will, detangle but my hair is not dry it has product (some sort of moisturizer) on it to help with the process. I have a crime of not always sectioning my hair off like you see lots of other naturals do. They say it's easier but I find it to be very tedious at times. I start from the back of my head and work my way up in a fanning motion. I will take rows at a time and detangle that way after I've applied whatever product I'm using to help detangle/moisturize. I start off finger detangling my hair to get any shed hair out then I take my "tool" and do a thorough detangling. I normally use my fav. wide-tooth comb then I go back in with my detangling brush.

MOISTURIZE

Spritz/Sprays:

• Shea Moisture Yuccah Bayobab Shine & Hold Moisture Mist
• Shea Moisture Biotin Mist
• OBI Natural Hair Care Curl Hydration Spray

Leave-In's:

• Lustrasilk's Curl Moisture Activator
• Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Condition

Butters & Creams:

• Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie
• My Shea Butter Mix
• OBI Natural Hair Care Curl Enhancing Custard
• OBI Natural Hair Care Moisture Cream

**NOTE: Winter months I use a cream based product then follow with shea butter for added moisture. During the summer I normally use just a cream of my choice or a butter. I won't use both, it will be too heavy.

GELS

I use gels just for my edges or when I'm doing a wash-n-go. I don't do wash-n-go's often but when I do I use gel to make my curls pop and stay. It isn't the best thing to do because after the style has officially hit the fan you'll need to wash the gel out! I use Aloe Vera gel for a softer hold and I use Eco Styler gel for a better hold. With that being said.. Aloe vera is used when doing wash-n-go's and for edges or I'll use Eco Styler for my edges only. Got it? Ok good :)