I'm still doing the 8 week cycle broken down into two week blocks. Each two week block is more or less identical, so, I'll only detail that once, then detail the various things that I do every other weekend. The week block starts on Monday. To keep it neat, I'll stick all the recipes for my concoctions at the bottom of the post.
Weekly
Monday - Thursday
Morning: Spritz with Spritz Mix, apply Mega-Tek Mix to hairline, tie on scarf, wear to work.
Evening: Massage scalp with Mega-Tek Mix, apply Dabur Amla Oil to hairline, tie on scarf, wear to bed.
Odd Weekends
Friday
Morning: Spritz with Spritz Mix, apply Mega-Tek Mix to hairline
Evening: Take my updo down, apply Mega-Tek Mix to scalp, play with hair.
Saturday
At some point during the day, get my hair soaking wet, then pour the SAF Tea over my head, let sit for 2-12 hours.
Sunday
Rinse SAF Tea out, apply Mega-Tek Mix to damp scalp, put updo back up.
(If I get to the SAF Tea early on Saturday, I'll do Sunday's stuff on Saturday, and treat Sunday like a Monday.)
Even Weekends
Caramel Treatment (Week 2 and Week 6)
Friday
Morning: Spritz with Spritz Mix, apply Mega-Tek Mix to hairline
Evening: Take my hair down/out, detangle gently with my fingers while dry, scritch scalp well to bring up/shake loose any buildup/dead skin.
Saturday
Rinse hair with SAF Tea, then put it into two flattwists down the side of my head to dry.
Mix up Caramel Treatment and apply on dry hair. (I might change this up and apply on wet hair to condense the hair session, if the ThickIt2 works as well in the Caramel Treatment as it did in the protein one).
I let this sit in my hair for as long as I can stand it (damn drippies!) then detangle with two combs (wide tooth and medium tooth) while the Caramel is still in my hair. Rinse, comb through again with the medium tooth comb under running water, put it into 6 two strand twists, get out the shower.
Sit on the couch with my AfroDetangler Mix and Denman, moisturize and brush through half of each twist, braid into a single braid, end up with 12 individual braids. I usually make a rough bantu knot with them, and let air-dry.
Sunday
Take down the fewest braids needed to make my parts, using AfroDetangler Mix, make part, put 'extra' hair back into a braid.
Sit on couch with Kiya Pudding and a fine toothed comb, and start putting in my two strand twists. I start from the back, making horizontal parts with the end of a rattail comb/my fingers. Then, I add Kiya Pudding to the end of each horizontal section, and part a 'bit' off vertically for the twist. I coat that whole twist section with more Kiya Pudding, then comb through it with the fine tooth comb, and make a two strand twist. Repeat and repeat and repeat until the whole head is done.
Massage scalp with Mega-Tek Mix. Before I go to bed, I put the updo up, and wear my scarf to bed.
Protein (Week 4)
Friday
Morning: Spritz with Spritz Mix, apply Mega-Tek to hairline
Evening: Take my hair down/out, detangle gently with my fingers while dry, scritch scalp well to bring up/shake loose any buildup/dead skin.
Depending on how my hair feels, sometimes I'll do a moisturizing treatment before applying the protein treatment.
Apply my Clarifying & Moisturizing Mix, and let sit for as long as possible - usually overnight.
Saturday
Detangle with a wide & medium tooth comb while the Clarifying & Moisturizing Mix is still in my hair, rinse out, put into two flattwists, let mostly dry.
Mix up the Protien Treatment , take hair down, and apply to (semi) dry hair. Put hair back into two flattwists.
I find that it seems to make my hair feel SO much better to use it on dry hair - feels like it works better/soaks in deeper.
Leave it in til I can't take it anymore (once again, damn drippies!), and comb through with a medium tooth comb while the Protein is still in my hair. Rinse, comb through again with the medium tooth comb under running water, put it into 6 two strand twists, get out the shower.
Do my final Denman/braid process, let airdry.
Sunday
Put in two strand twists, put em in an updo, roll on.
Henna (Week 8)
Friday
Morning: Spritz with Spritz Mix, apply Mega-Tek to hairline
Evening: Take my hair down/out, detangle gently with my fingers while dry, scritch scalp well to bring up/shake loose any buildup/dead skin. I always clarify before I henna, so I use my Clarifying & Moisturizing Mix and let sit overnight - in two flattwists, as usual.
I also take the pre-made baggie of henna out of the freezer and stick it in the fride before I go to bed.
Saturday
I try to do this as early in the day as possbile, so that I can have the henna on for as long as possible, without having to sleep in it (trying to preserve my pillows!).
Detangle with a wide & medium tooth comb while the Clarifying & Moisturizing Mix is still in my hair, rinse out, towel/air dry hair until it's just barely damp.
Apply Henna, leave in for a minimum of 6 hours - usually in six two-strand twists. Detangle with wide toothed comb with Henna still in hair, rinse, and detangle with a medium tooth comb under running water. Get out the shower, coat hair with AfroDetangler Mix, comb through again with medium tooth comb, and put into 6 two strand twists. Do my final Denman/braid process, let airdry.
Sunday
Put in two strand twists, put em in an updo, roll on.
Good gods, that was a BOOK. I think it sounds/seems more complex than it is - I'm only REALLY getting into my hair twice a month - and I think my weekend routine is only a tiny bit 'above' the average pre-poo/DC/shampoo/DC/rollerset/flatiron/etc, etc, etc, etttcccccc, loopdeloops that some folks go through - esp. when you look and realize that for 12 days out of every two week cycle, I'm doing virtually NOTHING to my hair.
Max 15 minutes a day, and that's including a leisurely scalp massage. If I'm on the move - it drops down to 10, max. So, two hours of 'hair time' over two weeks, plus the weekend - which, even including two strand twisting, is no more than 12 hours - 14 hours total over two weeks is about an hour a day. Not bad, not bad at all.....
I keep meaning to time exactly HOW long I spend on my hair - actively. As in, combing, detangling, mixing, applying, etc. Honestly, I think that the Caramel takes the longest, because it's a more complex recipie - but even then, I only mix it up ONCE for an 8 week cycle, as I get two uses out of it. I think 12 hours is really on the high end of things.
Okay! Recipes!! They will all be organized like an ingredient list - the closer to the top, the more of that ingredient is in the mix.
Spritz Mix (I usually have to mix up a new batch every two weeks or so)
In a 4 oz spritz bottle I mix:
Water
Rosewater
AfroDetangler, Mega-Tek
SAA, HoneyQuat
Amla Oil
Tea Tree Oil
Mega-Tek Mix (I usually have to mix up a new batch every 2 to 2.5 months)
In a 2 oz tub I mix:
Mega-Tek
SAA
Honeyquat
Vitamin E Oil (30K IU)
Castor Oil
SAF Tea
Tea Powder: (so far, only mixed this up once, using a full box (or two) as needed. Suspect it'll last close to forever)
1 part Shikakai Powder
2 parts Amla Powder
1 parts Fo-Ti Powder
Actual Tea:
In a saucepan I mix
2 liters of water
2-3 tbsp of tea powder (contained in a cheesecloth 'baggie')
Let boil for about 10-15 minutes, let cool. I usually get 3-4 old conditioner bottles (cheapie White Rain, so 16oz, I think?) full. Use one that day, put the other two/three in the fridge til next time.
Caramel Treatment (Mix this up once a cycle, get two 'servings')
banana baby food
coconut oil
red palm oil
shea butter
olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
honey
molasses
AfroDetangler Mix (So far I've only mixed this up once - I suspect I'll have to mix this twice a cycle)
In a 3.5 oz tub I mix:
AfroDetangler
SAA
Honeyquat
Kiya Pudding (this is on-going mix - I want to figure out a non Whipped Pudding based base, and try it without glycerin)
Whipped Pudding
Shealoe Butter
Elasta QP Intense Fortifying Conditioner
Red Palm Oil
Gylcerin
SAA
HoneyQuat
Clarifying & Moisturizing Mix (mix this up as needed - the pre-henna version has about twice as much baking soda than the pre-protein version)
Elasta QP Intense Fortifying Conditioner
Cheapie Con
Baking Soda
Glycerin
Protein Treatment (mix this up as needed)
yogurt
coconut milk
juice from 1 lime
molasses
SAA
Honeyquat
ThickIt2
Henna (I usually mix up about 8 baggies at once, and make the final mix as needed)
Baggie:
Equal parts of henna and water. Let sit til color releases. Put about 3-4 oz into a baggie, and freeze.
Final Mix:
One baggie of henna
Equal amount of cheapie conditioner or slightly more.
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