Porous Hair Blues?

Dr. Sharon Pruitt/ flickr

Moisturized hair = strands that hold and retain the good stuff (water and other moisturizing agents).

Did you know that hair can hold up to 50% of its weight in water?? Little did I know, I was keeping my hair from being the beautiful, natural sponge that it is – by not being proactive. *cues violins*

Here’s my story:

For the last couple of months, my hair seemed sooo moisturized, shiny and soft in its natural state – but whenever I would straighten the last few inches of my hair would be frizzy and resisted all efforts of being smoothed.

I tried deep conditioning (protein treatments with heat) and ultra moisturizing products,before straightening. Since  moisturized hair is usually much easier to straighten, I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was wrong. I knew my ends weren’t damaged, so I was racking my brain trying to figure out a logical hair solution.

Then the light bulb went off.

I hadn’t done an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse in…oh, about a couple months! My hair was too porous and I should have known better.

Some signs of porosity problems:

- moisturizing products don’t have the same effect b/c the moisture isn’t being retained  in your strands

- hair that is noticeably more puffy, dry or frizzy (due to raised hair cuticles)

How did I rectify this?

1. I went back to doing ACV rinses every week. I fill a spray bottle with mostly water, then add some apple cider vinegar, then spray my scalp and pour the rest over the length of my hair (over bathtub). I leave it on for a few minutes, then wash out. I follow by conditioning as normal. This can be done in place if shampoo if you wish – shampoos can also leave buildup in hair! This also helps close your cuticles for smoother hair that is more manageable.

2. I used Porosity Control conditioner the first week to help balance my hair’s PH level. A bit of acidity helps hair that is too porous (hence adding normal ACV rinses to my regimen). You can get Roux Porosity Control online or at your local Sally’s.

Having hair that is too porous can cause lots of problems. Your fav products may not give you the results you expect and all your efforts to moisturize may be in vain – i.e. money and time down the drain!

I’m now happy to say that things are running much more smoothly on the homefront :)

:: hope this helps ::

Qhemet Biologics

cougar studio/ flickr

I’ve been eyeing this line for quite some time.

Their hair products are handmade, 100% natural and I’ve heard mostly rave reviews from natural and relaxed ladies.

Over the last few months, I’ve been slowly working my way through mountains of hair products I purchased over the last year…What? I didn’t want to run out ;>

I can’t promise you that I won’t continue to indulge in my product obsession, but I can say I will be “better.” *innocent face*

Two products I’m definitely ordering no matter what?

1. Karen’s Body Beautiful hair milk - I ran out of this a loonng time ago, and I miss it! The scents are awesome, and this detangles curls/kinks like no other. I’m nicknaming this product hot butter. It just glides through your hair, and it’s sooo creamy. I need it.

I’m still deciding between the lavendar vanilla scent and vanilla latte. YUM

2. Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Butter Cream – I haven’t tried this yet, but I can’t wait to! I’ve been dying to add this to my regimen for extra moisture during the winter. A lot of women have been raving about their Alma and Oil Heavy Cream, but I’ve noticed my hair fairs better with lighter products – so I’m itching to try the BRBC on my braid outs.

I will check-in once I’ve tested this product myself.  I’ve heard the shipping can take a min though, so hang tight!

Any new or tried and true products tempting you in the new year?  Dish!

Winter Evaluations: Change is Good

Since I’ve only been natural for about 4 months, I was ill-prepared  for the next season as far as my hair regimen goes.

Not that I haven’t been scouring hair forums, blogs and the likes looong before I even decided to go natural – I definitely knew that I couldn’t do wash-n-go’s in the middle of the winter! I guess I was just expecting more time to  transition and wrap my head around styles that do not include washing/completely wetting my hair everyday.

But, alas, winter takes no hair prisoners. Cold or harsh weather will tear that head up if you aren’t prepared and willing to make necessary changes/tweaks to your warm weather regimen.

Believe it or not though, developing a winter regimen has actually been a great change in hindsight. It kicked my butt into gear, and helped me to step away from puffs everyday (yaaawn) and wash n go’s with a headband (snore). lol  –> Don’t worry, I still have love for those styles, but I was feeling kinda limited!

I have found a new love. Braid Outs!

In my previous post you will see my original technique, but since then I have really simplified things. My goal for the new year is to try to keep things simple. Low heat- low fuss- more length retention.

My current braid out is as simple as this:

I divide my hair in half and do 5 braids on each side using Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol (I can now vouch that this stuff is officially the truth, since I’ve been using it for a bit). I then seal my ends with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

No more perm rods, I just bend the ends under – sometimes I will use a bobby pin or two for braids that like to get crazy when I sleep. I just pin the braid under.

I still co-wash my hair, but only about 2 times a week. I always try to wash at night, seal with EVCO, then pat my hair dry. By morning my braids are usually dry enough to be unleashed – I haven’t done a puff since!

Change is Good.

Here are some pics of my current braid outs:

How have you ladies changed your regimen/styles during the colder months?

:: Grow On ::

My Braid-Out Set

I’ve been twisting and braiding my butt off, and I’ve finally got something worth sharing with my readers.

TRUST ME, what I’ve learned since being natural is that the key to finding different styles that work for you is experimentation. I thought I would love twist-outs, then tried them and not so much. lol

I eventually did get a pretty okay looking twist-out…but it was by accident. So goes to show that practice and trying different methods will eventually get you somewhere.

What I’m going to share is my second successful braid-out. I didn’t have time to document the first one :OP

First of all, I found that I like the look of braid-outs on my hair a lot more. I think they give my hair more wave/crimp definition and I also get a longer, stretched-out look (something I was trying to achieve with a twist-out). Maybe as my hair gets longer, I’ll experiment more with twist-outs, but right now I’m loving the braid-out.

Here’s my method:

1. I start by parting my hair into four sections- across the middle and down the middle from my crown. The way you make your major parts, is the direction your braid-out will fall or lay in. ex: if you want your hair to frame your face, part down the middle, and so forth.

2. I used perm rods (I think they are the 3/4 inch ones).

3. I started braiding my hair. I did 3 braids for each bottom section, and prob 5-6 for each top section. I had a total of 15-17 braids which only took about 45 min.

4. This was inspired by Curly Nikki’s twist-n-curl -  only I did braids instead of twists (now lovingly referred to as the braid-n-curl on her site).

**Also, I don’t just put the rollers on the ends, I roll the perm rods all the way to the root as if I’m doing a true spiral rod set. My hair is too short now to put anything on just the end. lol It would prob be easier to do that once I have longer braids.

5. While braiding, I used a little Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditioner before doing each braid (you can use any conditioner, leave-in, or setting lotion/spray you wish). On my first  successful set, I actually used Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol which came out great as well. It wasn’t really as heavy as I thought, but gave just enough weight and shine to my curl. I washed my hair the next day though, so I’ll have to experiment with this to see if it creates too much build-up with continual use each night.

*You can probably seal your ends with any oil (shea, coconut, etc) – I didn’t this time, b/c my hair was already laden with coconut oil (my hair absorbs the stuff!)

6. I also washed my hair the day before. I found that I prefer to do my braid-outs on freshly clean, but dry hair. I may try it on wet hair now that I’ve found something that works, but I’m not in a rush since I’m digging this method. Plus, my hair takes forever to dry.

7. Just tie your head up with a scarf or sleep on a satin pillow case and you should be fine!

SIDE BAR: the mistake I made the first time, was sleeping with these bad boys in! Please don’t! I now leave the perm rods in only before bed, by the time I’m ready to sleep the braids have had enough time to set into curled ends.  So, out they come!

The thing I love about this set, is that it is quick and I can do it messily (as you’ll see in the pics)! As long as you’ve got the hair braided, the neatness of parts and all that other ish doesn’t matter. This is a roller set I’ve always dreamed of! lol

Here are pics of the process described above:

1. Parted (if you’d like to call it that) into 4 sections, to get the hair out of my way.

2. Hair set, in the direction I want my hair to lay.

3. Finished Product, fluffed and all that stuff

4. Threw on a headband b/c I usually get tired of hair in my face

5. Back

The End.

:: Hope this helps ::

Big Fat Healthy Hair

Ever heard that hair loves fat?

Think of hair mayo and oily/protein laden products that are often used in deep conditioning treatments.  It’s true that a lot of the time fat hair = healthy hair.

If only the rest of our body thrived on this notion.  ;>

An article at ScienceDaily.com actually reveals some more news about fat and healthy hair (and skin). Apparently there’s an enzyme which synthesizes fat and could partially account for healthy, gorgeous locks. It seems that this enzyme renders plain ole’ fat into good fat for our bodies”

“The enzyme is acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 or DGAT1. Mice that lack DGAT1 have many interesting characteristics. For example, they are lean, resistant to diet-induced obesity, are more sensitive to insulin and leptin, and have abnormalities in mammary gland development and skin.

When Gladstone researchers in the laboratory of Robert V. Farese, Jr. used genetic engineering to delete the enzyme in mice, they found that lack of DGAT1 caused levels of retinoic acid (RA) to be greatly increased in skin and resulted in the loss of hair. Their findings were reported in The Journal of Biological Chemistry….

Our results show that DGAT1 is an important component for controlling retinoic acid levels in the skin of mice,” said Michelle Shih, the lead author on the study. “These findings may have implications for the treatment of human skin or hair disorders.“

So if you’re stressing over extra pounds from the holidays, console yourself with news that at least some part of you could benefit from a fat fest…if you’ve got “the enzyme.”

I’m done. lol

:: Grow On ::

Stay Tuned

georgia.g/ Flickr

Just a reminder to stay tuned.

I have been experimenting with more styles, which has been a sometimes fun-sometimes frustrating feat.

But, I will be posting the results of my tweaked and geeked version of a braid-out.

Should have updates tomorrow evening!