The Kinkdom of Kiya

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.