*sigh*
It's still down. And yes, I normally write this often about my hair, esp. in the new days of doing stuff.
It's pouring outside, and it's supposed to be generally nasty tonight, so I don't think I'll stop by the grocery store - maybe tomorrow.
I'm also - arrghh! - giving in to the lure of new raw materials, and am having a wee shopping spree at lotioncrafter. So far, I've gotten HoneyQuat, Silk Amino Acids (what I actually went there for), Lactic Acid (I might be doing a curl loosening experiment at some point....hrm, I might wait on that one), some more Citric Acid, some more Shealoe, both of which I've gotten from FNWL before, but Lotioncrafter is MUCH bloody cheaper! 2 lbs of CA at FNWL is six bucks, and 2 pounds at LC is only 4.30. The shealoe is much the same - a lb at FNWL is 14.00 - and it's only 8.25 at LC!!!!! Tis amazing - plus the wee lil 5% discount.... it makes it quite worth it, I think.
So, what do I plan on doing with this?
The Honeyquat I'm going to use as a glycerin sub - it's made from honey, and is apparently a BETTER humectant than glycerin. So, I'll use up the rest of my glycerin, and move onto this. It's funny, because last time I was in the BSS for some conditioner, I had picked up another bottle of glycerin, but put it back, thinking I didn't need any RIGHT then.
The SAA is apparently an all around miracle moisturizing protien. Elasta QP IFC has SAA in it, and we all know how I feel about my conditioner! I want to use it not only on my hair, but also - on my eyelashes. Apparently it makes them thicker and fuller and lords KNOW I want something less skimpy than the eyelashes I have now. So, I'll be adding this to some clear mascara, and using it in the morning when I amla my eyebrows. I'm also considering using castor oil on my lashes and eyebrows at night, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ponder that one.
Oh! It's back! Yes, I'm going to cut this short, and finish over there. I WILL be importing my journal entries to here this weekend though, as that freaked me out.
Okay, to continue!
*sigh* Damn! It's down again, just that fast! Tried to post the previous entry, and nada. Maybe it wasn't ACTUALLY back. :crying: They teasing me!
The lactic acid - I can't remember if I chronicled my yogurt/buttermilk experiments - they are supposed to help loosen the natural curl, rather how the coconut milk/lime mix does - which I had good results from. Someone muttered about using a pure lactic acid + mix (yes, I know it's acid, yes, I know it can burn, no, I'm not crazy, yes, I'm going to invest in some pH strips if I start to experiment like that. After my last close call with citric acid, I'm investing in some pH strips!! :lol:) so, I wanted to pick some up to try it. That's gonna kick it in my bathroom for a while along with the other chemical 'raw' products I got from swap on here. I need to double check what they are - I think ones an emlusifier, and the other a conditioner? I can't remember.
Citric acid, I'm going to keep using (and researching the pH of hair) to smooth and rebalance my hair.
The shealoe I got a TINY thing of from FNWL, and I REALLY like it - it has to be mixed with something else to give a little 'backbone', but I can really see myself using it as a twist holder/moisturizing cream. I'm REALLY trying to winnow myself down to the minimum number of products, and just become a mixmaster to end up with what I REALLY need. Reducing my dependancy on a certain product, ya know?
*sigh* I really do WANT some more Honey Hemp, but I don't NEED anymore honey hemp - I've got half a GALLON of AD sitting in my closet, and erryting I would use the HH for, I could use the AD for. It doesn't smell as good (doesn't really have a smell, I don't think) but.... *sigh* I have to reign in my spending SOMEWHERE, and I know if I even LOOK at the Oyin website, I'm going to spend at least 30 bucks.
AHhhhh!! LHCF is just bad, bad, bad!! So many ideas, so many options, so many ways to be oh so pretty, oh so very pretttttyyyy.
I'm getting sleepy (and bored - today was slow) - so I'm a little giddy. *sigh* And obsessively refreshing TLHC. *sigh* But, I think I'm done. Hopefully I'll be able to post this at SOME point.
You Tease!
Caramel!
It's sad, I only write about hair here when TLHC is down, so I can't get to my journal. *sigh* But, I like it that way, as I link to my hair journal from places where I'm NOT 'all out', so it's good to have that (sometimes very public) part of me a little separate. At some point I'll do a copy paste dump to here though, so that I keep everything in one place.
Anyhow!
It's outhair weekend, and DC weekend, and I think I want to try something - new.
Soooo.... I'm gonna try the caramel treatment:
coconut oilI don't have any wheatgerm oil (buggering stuff is expensive, and besides with the health stuff I'm doing, I don't know if putting a grain product on my scalp is REALLY a good idea at this point in time), so I'm debating either leaving it out altogether (which would give me the best idea of how it actually works) or subbing red palm oil (which would be my next step, if I liked it) instead.
olive oil
wheat germ oil
shea butter
honey
molasses
Apple cider vinegar
Two overripe bananas
water
Hrmm, I don't know, I don't know.
In other, hair related news, I'm REALLY - content/happy/pleased with my new regimen - It doesn't bug me to have my hair up until about Wed/Thu of the second week, and by then, I'm in the home stretch! I'm also noticing much fewer broken pieces/shed pieces - I'm REALLY hoping that I'll be a good, healthy, full SL+ by the end of the year - esp. after my warm weather growth spurt kicks in!
Okay, it's taken me most of the morning to write this, so for now, I think I'm done.
Okay, I went to take a shower and rinse the conditioner out of my hair, and thought of a couple of other things. I'll finish up on hair, right now. Flickr is down, so I can't do holes, just yet....
It's funny, that I'm about where I was before, right before I started with dreads, and wearing two strand twists pretty consistently was what got me into dreads. This go around however, I have no INTENTION of locking - it's amazing how much perception and intention affect your actions and your emotions. It's a treat, every two weeks to take me hair down and play with it. This time, I'm putting my hair up to protect it, not to shut it aside. I'm putting my hair up out of love, not out of despair... and thus, it's a whole nother ride.
I wonder if C thinks that I plan on relocking. Hah! I can't even imagine it - I would miss my hair FAR too much!
I was checking out the top of my journal (I had taken down the links a couple of places, since I couldn't get in - I'll have to remedy that in a couple of places. 
I'm SO thrilled to have my hair obsessing place back! :hug: but, as I was saying, I was checking out the front page (which I updated in Feb!) and it said that I was hoping for shoulder length stretched by MAY. MAY? I was on something, seriously! Maybe I meant May 2008, despite having written May 2007. 
Anyhow, the timeline picture is soothing, most days, I still think it's kinda slow.
And, I've been debating when I'll 'claim' shoulderlength (which in my mind, is the first 'real' milestone. I'm split between ear & crown. Ear (measuring with a lock of hair at the ear hairline) would give me sholderlength faster *doubles checks* actually, based on that, I'm shoulder length NOW. 
Crown, on the other hand - I'm not even ear length, yet. *sigh* About 1/2 inch above my ear, I think? And I think that once my crown is actually shoulder length, it'll be REALLY full, and I can REALLY claim it. *sigh*
On the other hand, that will also mean I won't be able to claim shoulder length for about another year. At the same time, it will mean that EVERY milestone I hit will be a full, undoubted, most people would have said it was met long ago (did I mention I have a big head?)
I'm hoping for tailbone in 2017, so. Murph. This May will be a full two years since I've cut it all off, and I'm still not to shoulder length. 
*sigh* Murph. It's not the speed, it's the movement.
And really, I'm incredibly happy with my hair - if it was a couple of feet longer, it would be perfect. It's so soft. And strong. And curly. And full. And it's really amazing.
It's funny, reading back, I was actually TALKING about starting to use more Indian herbs - it's just that I moved towards them slowly.
I think I'm going to be really pleased though - I need to C&P my comments on my first hair washing with the herbs....
Okay - so I did my first hair 'wash' today while in twists - 1 tblsp amla, 1 tsp fo-ti powder (a powder I've had for a while, Chinese I believe, good for hair) and 2 tblsp shikakai. I mixed it into a thinnish paste with hot water and honey, then got my twists wet, and put it in.
I left it in for about an hour, then rinsed out - very well! I don't think there is any way to sift these perfectly - the grains are SO small. I rinsed for about 20 minutes.
My hair looks LOVELY - it looks smooth and shiny and darker. It feels a TINY bit dry/stripped - but I'll see how it feels tomorrow. If it's still dry, I'll drop the shikakai down to a tablespoon.
The really interesting part is how my scalp is TINGLING - it feels York peppermint patty fresh! So fresh and so clean clean, I'm telling you.... and how ya'll henna sisters fail to mention that the amla/shikaika mixture is SO much prettier than henna? Looks like chocolate pudding, rather than what's left in a diaper...
So far, I'm happy.
Oh, also - a tip for other folx using the coconut oil based oils - I melt it all down, and pour it into a widemouthed tub (I have a couple in the house left over from other stuff, but you can get something close at the dollar store) so that when it hardens back up, I can just scrape a lil off the top with my finger and apply to my scalp as I'm massaging.
Even though the amla oil doesn't solidify - I'm going to do the same.... I think that also minimizes your use of it....
Well, let's start with the hair, shall we?
I'm still in love, basically. We get along marveously - and thus, I'm deciding to change up the relationship. 
isn't that the way it always goes.
I've been doing my usual every week routine - but I switched up in late Dec, because I got on the Ayurvedic kick shortly before (after?) Christmas. Anyhow, that, combined with me wanting to find a way to manipulate my hair even LESS - I've more or less TOTALLY revamped my routine, and I really NEEDED to write it out here... and now I'm here, and I can!
So, just to refresh memories, my OLD routine was this:
Week 1: Henna
Week 2: DC
Week 3: Mild Protien
Week 4: Clarify
Week 1: Henna
So.
I've been wanting to mix things up - I really don't feel like my hair is growing FAST enough, and I know the best two things I can do for that is to wear MORE protective styles (retain EVERY mm) and to massage the scalp (get that blood flowing!), but I was having a really hard time figuring out how to really COMBINE those two, because if my hair is LOOSE - I have no choice but to manipulate it! 
Then, a lightbulb went off! What I really want to manipulate is my SCALP, not my hair. Thus, if I had my hair in a style that would allow me to get to my scalp, but still protect my hair - it's a winwin!
It's a flat twisted updo created from two strand twists. I can take it down to massage my scalp, and put it back up to wear (I REALLY hate the way my hair looks down right now - it's horribly short ), without having to comb my hair. It lasts for two weeks...looking fuzzier as it goes along, and at the end you can barely tell I have the two strand twists in there - it looks like loose hair - but it's still SO cute - so that means, I'm ALSO going twice as long without combing my hair, without running the risk of massive tangles, etc. I'm SO happy, seriously.
So! Now, this new hairstyle opened a WORLD of options to me - and I went a merrily traisping down the path of Ayurvedic herbs.
Now, Ayurveda is the ancient Indian science of healing/maintence using various herbs and oils in different combinations. There are plenty of comments here and other places about Indian women's hair, and it's believed these herbs help them get that way....
(I'm going to have to address my long rambling side note on actual growth vs. optimal growth later......)
But anyhow, the thought of using mostly natural herbs and oils to take care of my hair - and to encourage it to grow - just fit in PERFECTLY with other changes I'm making in my life.
I'm using several different things now, and have several others waiting in the wings for me.
1) Alma Oil - I like it, but I don't like that it's based in mineral oil. Next time I get some, I'll get FNWL's version - I believe theirs is coconut oil based.
2) Brathimi Oil - 22 different herbs - coconut oil based.
3) Vatika Oil - Coconut oil based - 16 different herbs, I think?
4) Shikaika Powder - cleanser, astrignet.
5) Amla Powder - darkener, thickener, strentghener,
6) Fo-ti Powder - this is actually a chinese herb - used to prevent shedding and greys
So. My new routine, is this.
Week 1:
Sun - Hair goes into two strand twists/flat twists.
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Sat - Hair is deep conditioned with a watered down conditioner.
Week 2:
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Hair gets untwisted totally, detangled, combed, DC'd, etc.
Week 3:
Sun - Hair goes into two strand twists/flat twists.
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Sat - Hair is deep conditioned with a watered down mildly protien conditioner.
Week 4:
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Hair gets untwisted totally, detangled, combed, DC'd, etc.
Week 5:
Sun - Hair goes into two strand twists/flat twists.
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Sat - Hair is deep conditioned with a watered down conditioner.
Week 6:
Mon - Flat twists come down, scalp is massaged with Amla Oil.
Wed - Hair is 'washed' with a Shikaika, Amla & Fo-Ti Tea
Fri - Hair gets untwisted totally, detangled, combed, hennad, etc.
Week 1, again. And every day, I rub a little amla oil into my hairline, and mist my hair lightly with the tea tree oil/conditioner mixture in my mister.
So, I'll be hennaing a LOT less - once every 6 weeks instead of once every four weeks, but I'm considering making the protien treat on Week 3 a yogurt/buttermilk based one, and if I do that, I would be VERY comfy with reducing the amount of henna - with my hair bound up most of the time, going on the side of a little less protien seems the wisest to me, as it will allow my hair to bend and twist comfortably, without snapping - and the presence of multiple hairs bounded together will make it strong enough to not snap.
Right now, I'm at the end of Week 5, I guess you could say, as I plan on hennaing next weekend - and then I'll go into that schedule. I've tried out bits and pieces of it - I really think that the hardest thing will be dealing with the fuzzies from my fifty million layers.
Though, I have noticed that a good misting and a tight scarf in the morning seems to tame most of the fuzzies.
The UA experiement is still going full steam, and I have to admit, I really think it will have to be a long term wellness/beauty trick - it's scary, but dammit, it works!
AH! Also, I've 'made' a new moisturizer - well, I used that for the set of flat twists I have in now. I combined some Oyin Shine & Define with some Oyin Whipped Pudding (how cool, I found out a couple of days ago that one of the ladies on a Women of Color thread I'm a member of is THE OyinLady. 
I went so fangirl! And HoneyHemp comes in 16 oz bottles, now!!! 
) and a little Elasta QP conditioner, and a touch of glycerin - it made a FABULOUSLY rich and cremy moisturizer for my twists.
I've decided that the carrot oil stuff from CoN is still too oily for my hair (or I'm too heavy handed with it) and it was causing some breakage - so I've decided (along with the more natural focus) to try to figure something out of all these butters, etc I have - or to patronize another natural haircare line.
So, I finally broke down and got the AfroDetangler. I REALLY wanted to try it before I commited to a whole half gallon (what if my hair HATES it???) but after checking out the ingredients (lots of butters!) and reading reviews (raves, even the ones who said it didn't work as well as the website implied it would) and the thought of entering a no-shopping challenge that would require me to stock up - well, yeah, I broke down and got it. I haven't used it yet, as it just got here two days ago, and my hair is staying up, up, up, so I'll try it out when I retwist my hair. It will be interesting following their rountine over a period of months.
I'm really content, honestly. I think that my rountine is simple enough (even though it LOOKS like a lot of steps, it really doesn't take that long) and it fits my lifestyle (I'm SO not into doing my hair during the week) and I can challenge myself to protect and nourish my hair even MORE - it's thrilling, honestly.
Hrm, what else? I've confirmed what I was almost certain of - my hair does NOT like oils. I can put them on my scalp all day, every day, but if I try to use them to style my hair, it's the horror on Elm street. I think that I'll use the oils I have left as 'thinners' in my hair creams I'll make out of the butters. The palm oil (which my skin LOVES) will be used on my skin mostly, I think.