It was starting to get drippy, etc, etc, so I went and rinsed it out. The Caramel Treatment is looking like a keeper! My hair is a bit oilier than I would like - we'll see what happens with that over the next day or two. Very little hair came out as I detangled - and I opted to go without my usual final step of Elasta. It's still Sat. night though, so if I wake up tomorrow with crunchy hair, I have time to remedy that. Or, if my hair starts breaking more when I'm doing my scalp massages - that'll be a sign that it's a little too much oil.
*touches hair gingerly* It's also MUCH straighter. Wow. I can tell when something has really moisturized my hair, as it'll give it a wavy feeling.... it's amazing.
For the first time, as I was braiding my hair into it's airdrying braids, I could 'feel' the ropes that my hair will end up being - heavy and soft and amazingly strong. It's going to be AMAZING my hair is. I have this one fat plait sticking up right from the crown of my head. I think, that when that plait reaches my shoulders - that'll be when I flatiron my hair, to see how long it is straight. I think it will be BSL, by then. *giggle* I can so see myself with BSL hair - it will be so beautiful! *grin* and it'll act like it's SL, I bet. *sigh*
Later that day:
Oh. My. Gods. My hair is GORGEOUS. Incredibly soft, unBELIEVEABLY shiny, and so thick and smooth feeling!! I've SO found my DC, long term, real term. Nothing BUT. This - this is amazing, seriously. I don't think I've had something that made my hair feel this fabulous since citric acid - heck, maybe since HENNA! *strokes hair* My only concern is that I don't think my SCALP approves - it feels a little 'coated' and itchy. I think I nice dose of SAF tea on Wednesday will settle that out though. If it doesn't - *sigh* I don't know. I'll have to see how much it sucks. I REALLY like this stuff. If it's REALLY that irritating to my scalp - *sigh* I'll definitely save it in my 'must-use for longer hair' catergory - once it gets long enough that I can actually 'avoid' my scalp when I use products.
I made up a big batch of Kiya pudding - whipped pudding, shealoe butter, the leftover butters from the caramel treatment, Elasta QP IFC, glycerin, and a tiny bit of amla oil. It's amazingly rich and creamy, and I only need a tiny dab, and as it dries, it gets - lighter - somehow, so that my hair is VERY moist and almsot a little oily, but it's VERY light at the same time. It's very nice. *nod* I re-used one of the empty Carrot Oil containers - ugh, how nasty that was on my hair compared to this! It's amazing, how as time goes on, the things that I used to see as - just the holy GRAIL of products have fallen to the wayside in favor of more natural products (juices and berries, ya'll!) that make my hair feel better than I ever THOUGHT it could.
I was catching up on LHCF, and one of the ladies there is deciding to texeturize because she just can't stand her hair. And I want to comment - I want to say something, I want to say - Wait! I used to hate my hair too, until I realized it wasn't the hair, but it was what I was doing to it - but I don't think I would have been very receptive to that then (Ch! As if she has any idea what this - mess - on top of my head is like! I've tried everything - you're just WRONG!).....and, add to that the fact that I very well MAY be wrong, and I have had that 'good hurr' all along, and was just in denial :eyeroll: but ya know, anything is possible.
Anyhow - the juxposition of me suddenly falling head over heels with my hair (dare I say it's straighter?? It's certainly still nappy - but it's not - kinky, anymore. Interesting. And scary. I don't have coils though, I still have fuzz....) with someone utterly falling OUT of love with their hair (I really do see chemically changing your hair as a sort of divorce. It's an ultimatum to your hair that your hair will never be able to fulfill, without dire force).... it's - odd.
Anyhow. Let me go back to twisting my hair - I'm almost done with the front section.
I realized today, also (staying off the computer is good for the mind) that I'm perfectly comfortable in wearing nothing but twists for 12-18-24 months - just so that I can grow my hair to a length where I CAN comfortably wear it out. It's the long term view of hair growing....it's really how the impatient should best work (if they are being honest, and truly want long hair ASAP) - there more I keep it up NOW, the faster I will have hair to keep DOWN. ;) I can't wait.
Gah, and just writing that sounds/seems so vain somehow.....like I feel like I know it all. And I don't - I just think I have some damn GOOD ideas.
DH asked me yesterday, when I was making the SAF tea, whether I kept track of my recipes (he's a hard-core hustler, always looking for a way to sell) and I had to tell him yes - and that made me realize that I could really start something off - a line of products for the hair that talks to you.
I'm down on cones, I'm down on petro products, I'm down on non-natural stuff. I'm up on moisture, I'm up on herbs, I'm up on subtle smelling stuff. I'm down on hard hair, up on "oh my gods that's soft!" hair. I'm up on fairy tale ends, I'm down on razor cuts styles. I'm all about hair being hair, and your best possible hair being exactly what grows out of your scalp - no edits needed. I'm majorly up on curly hair. I think all hair should be curly....even straight hair.
It would have to be a mostly custom line - I wonder if I could rope people in with different hair types to experiement on. *sigh* Most likely not. Esp. since it's really more a regimen, than a certain collection of products. Not everyone lives the lifestyle where they can spend 2.5 hours on their hair on a weekend night. Hell, after a certain point in my life, I might not be able to do that.
I don't know.
I'm having a hard time seperating the belief that I can from the belief that anybody can.
(Sidenote - I just had DH touch my hair to confirm it - it's still crazy soft, but the oilness is gone - it's been about an hour, I'd say. This is amazing hair. AMAZING)
Caramel, cont....
I'm dragging my feet, hoping that TLHC comes back up before I try the caramel treatment. Hrm. Maybe I can find the cached page(s) on google. Or, the wayback machine.
Yeah, that'll work.
Anyhow, I finally made the order to lotioncrafters (they take paypal!!! :lol: :blush) without editing my order at all.
My next 'thing' is either going to be some hair 'growth' stuff - waiting to hear results on that one - or some bulk ayurvedic herbs. I made some SAF tea today, and I have two empty conditioner bottles worth in the fridge - plus I'm 'pre-conditioning' with the 'leftover' now.
Yes! There is a cached page! Here it is, with all of it's caramely goodness.
*settles down for a good reread*
The thread is twelve pages long, so it'll take me a bit. ;)
Okay. One of the first things I notice that she says (reading this thread with an eye towards tweaking the recipe perfectly to make up for the lack of wheat germ oil and to include measurements based on a two pack of banana baby food - a little over half a cup.... I think. Bugger. I need to figure out how much nanner I have).
Anyhow!
I think the purpose of the different oils is to get the unique benefit that each provides naturaly. You could probably substitute something equally good for wheatgerm oil. I think the whole point is to ustilize as many different natural conditioning agents as possible.
I don't ever use measuring cups, I do it all by "feel" and "eye", but for the fluids, I use one part each ingredient (all equal amounts), except for the water. I add that last, and only if I need it when it gets too viscous. Everything when mixed should fit into a medium sized bowl.
Red Palm oil is pretty darn moisturizing, so, so far, I'm feeling pretty good about using that as a sub for the wheat germ - and since it's semi-solid, it'll do nice in 'thickening' up this whole mixture.
Okay - I have seven ounces of babyfood bananas (FULLY RIPENED BANANAS, CITRIC ACID AND ASCORBIC ACID). The citric acid in it might make it even nicer for my hair. But - one part each ingredient - dude, that's a WHOLE lotta caramel. Even if I only use one of the baby food packs (3.5 ounces) that's still a lot. Let's say I use three ounces of each ingredient (I'd certainly only have to make a batch once every blue moon or so...)
3 oz coconut oilThat's three CUPS of the stuff. Not bad, really, assuming I use a cup and a half each time, that's REALLY only two treatments.... which would be.... three months. Hrm, not bad at all - those two baby food things (for 1.07) will last me half the year. I should start calculating how much my hair stuff costs me.
3 oz olive oil
3 oz red palm oil
3 oz shea butter
3 oz honey
3 oz molasses
3 oz Apple cider vinegar
3 oz banana baby food
water (as needed to thin)
*reading on*
Hrrm. I can only go to page 3 in the cache'd stuff, and the wayback machine only has the 'you are not logged in' screen. So.
*sigh*
I think that's going to be the recipie, then. Though, I think I might cut it down to 2 ounces each of everything but the banana. That's an even 1/4 cup, and will be MUCH easier to measure out.
So. Final recipe for tonights experiment (and it's almost 6pm already!) is:
1/4 cup coconut oilI'll melt the red palm and coconut oil, along with the shea butter - just to thin it out and warm them up a little. While those are melting, I'll blend together the bananas, olive oil, and ACV. I'll add the 'warm' oils to that, then add the honey and molasses to the whole mix. I plan on using the blender to do this - no sense overworking ;) I doubt I'll want to add any water, esp. considering that my hair will be damp from the SAF 'pre-poo' :lol:
1/4 cup red palm oil
1/4 cup shea butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
3.5 oz banana baby food
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
water (as needed to thin)
Hrmmm...let me go and do this now.
BBL.
Oooh, that feels (and looks) NICE!! If it leaves my hair feeling anything like how my hands felt after putting it in - oh DREAMY.
Two things.
1) When I was drying my hair off after rinsing out the SAF tea and before putting in the CT, I realized that my hair was SHINY. No product, just smoothing my hair back from my forehead - SHINY.
2) So far this weekend, I haven't used ANY conditioner!! I've used all natural stuff, and if I can keep this up (assuming that when I rinse my hair out tomorrow, it feels perfect and fabulous, and I just use the AD to braid it up) I could almost make it through without conditioner! I say almost, because I would want to use the Kiya Pudding, and that has conditioner in it. *sigh* I don't know. It's really SO easy to use. But maybe once I have the Honeyquat and the SAA, I won't NEED the conditioner anymore?
I had accidentally measured out 1/3 cup of each of the 'solid' oils, so I have a little of those left over - I poured them into the old dark glass jar - I'm sure I'll find a use for them, at some point.
You Tease!
*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.
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. 
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. 
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. 
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 
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'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.
Ooohwee - almost two months!! That's a danggone shame.
Let's see - what's new?
* I'm still dry conditioning my hair, and styling it with the conditioner in, then rinsing it out. It's working SO well, it's scary. I've actually stopped *gasp* moisturizing my hair at all, besides the occasional misting. My hair is soooo soft, almost all the time now - I just sit and stroke it.
*I got a brush! A Denman, after reading all the fabulous reviews - including those from other nappyheaded women. I'm officially in LOVE with it - I comb out my hair first (if needed - I usually only have to do that when they are in two strand twists, to insure that I've gotten all the twists out), and then give it a good brushing. It's - wonderful and amazing how - fluffy - it is. And it also stretches out my hair a little, allowing me to make better flat twists, AND it pulls out EVERY strand of shed hair, which I also think is helping a lot with the lack of tangles, and the general smoothness.
* My hair is definitely still growing - it's finally starting to really hit the back of my neck. I have SUCH a bighead! And I think that the fact that I have natural layers doesn't help at ALL. *sigh* Well, I think that it'll just mean as my hair gets longer, it'll be - more interesting to work with.
* I two strand twisted my hair for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I realized that my hair is now JUST about the length that it was before I started locking it - the hair LOOKED the same. So, now I know. And now that I know, it's kinda even SADDER that I couldn't manage my hair at that length, cuz this is NOTHING right now - it's a breeze, really.
Which, kinda explains my lack of being here - I'm not doing much, new or exciting to my hair. I've started using a new rinse, occasionally - citric acid mixed with a lil TTO and uric acid poured over my head at the end of my weekly 'process' and not rinsed out - I think it resets my hair's pH, and gives a good final rinse to my scalp in case I missed any conditioner during my rinse out.
I'm still henna'ing monthly, and still keeping my hair 'bound up' 99% of the time. Hrm. Still using my bone comb, and my wide toothed shower comb, occasionally. I've tried oil rinses - my hair does NOT approve - I've decided that it's officially confirmed - oil, no matter what sort does NOT work with my hair - it just makes it hard and brittle. Butters - even melted ones - are fine, but oils are just - no. If I use a little in a DC mix - not bad - but used straight? Uh-uh!
I want to start using indian herbs - well, more than just henna - by using amla and shikaikai consistently... I just haven't purchased any, recently. I know where a couple of indian stores are, too....I just need to go.
Okay, I'm distracted now - I want to make a list for errands this weekend.
