My AFRObservation

So what am I going to tell my future kids when they notice that their hair doesn't look like Mommy's... or when it does?...

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Deep Conditioning: My Final Verdict

So a few posts ago I decided to diligently deep condition my hair, though with reluctance. Over the past few weeks I’ve DC’d with “hair masks or smoothies”, I’ve DC’d with regular conditioner and dropped DC-ing all together. (Washing twice a week afforded me a few trials.)

Here is what I’ve discovered for myself.

Detangling before Deep Conditioning is nice.

When I deep condition my hair I detangle my hair with the product before I start the timer and have my hair covered with a plastic cap and towel/scarf. Detangling with regular conditioner or deep conditioning products my hair simply feels better. 

Having Conditioner on my hair for an extended period of time does actually feel better.

Detangling my hair with conditioner in it is one thing, but leaving it on for more than 10 minutes does seem to help that weird brittle feeling I get by the time I do my final rinse and add post wash product.

Deep conditioning is reasonable if I wash my hair in the sink.

My number 1 gripe with DC-ing has been the two showers thing. With my shining disinfected kitchen sink readily available to me I just started to use it. I cut down time and water waste, and I only take one shower now (when I rinse DC out). It makes it more reasonable and kinda gives me a little nostalgia about my childhood on hair wash days.

Verdict: Deep Conditioning is here to Stay for the Winter

These cold winter months have had nothing on my fro with this regimen and on the weeks I didn’t DC dryness set on much faster. I still don’t think DC-ing is fully necessary if you don’t have the time, and simply detangling with a normal conditioner should be enough (IMHO). Anyway there you go. Deep Conditioning put me in my place, I just had to make it work for me. DC:1 Me: 0

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Full Wash Day Antics sprinkled with a length check. Below that a front length check photo below showing January vs. July vs. December (today)

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Deep Conditioning: My love-hate relationship

If you’ve got curly hair of any type you’ve seen it, heard it, watched videos and know the ins and outs most likely. Deep conditioning. And I would venture to guess you either swear by it OR you simply don’t do it at all.

I have a couple of hang ups about deep conditioning:

1. Two Showers/Water use

So unless you have a shower hose, a sink hose (for those with a big enough sink), or a separate sink (for those who get weirded out by cleaning your hair where you handle food) you’re essentially looking at two showers. And even if you do have one of these you’re still looking at a lot of adding and rinsing product which can add up in other areas (like utility bills)

2. The Science is shoddy

I’ve come to terms with the *FACT* that deep conditioning is mostly a marketing ploy and that you can deep condition with just about any conditioner that suits you. Admittedly leaving a conditioner in your hair for 30 minutes gives you the same results as leaving it in for 10 minutes (particularly if your hair is generally healthy). It sucks because most deep conditioners, hair masks and the ilk cost about 2 to 5 dollars more the regular lines conditioner.

Here’s some references (Doctors and Scientific Journals are cited within): http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2009/03/monday-myths-can-you-really-deep.html

https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/11/12864726/hair-products-shampoo-conditioner-science

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/deep-conditioning-part-i.html http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/deep-conditioning-part-ii.html

3. Coming from a black woman knowing plenty of white people: Do we really need to do all of this???

My husband literally uses the same soap that that he washes his body to wash his hair and may or may not put some hair mousse in it. My best friend uses shampoo and conditioner nearly every time she showers and will brush her hair- maybe blow dry it if she’s in a rush. I know afro hair is significantly different than european tresses and curls, but does my wash day need to really be damn near a whole day? In the back of my mind I’m positive that there is another way because my goodness there just has to be. And yeah comparing my routine with people who don’t have the same texture as I do is problematic, but just let me have this one okay? I love my hair, but turning it into a marathon doesn’t sound  attractive and I don’t even have kids yet.

BUT

with all the trash I’m talking I’m doing it. At least once a week for the rest of November and probably through December I’m going to use up that jar of Carol’s Daughter Almond Milk Hair Mask. Why? Because of the discipline and so far it isn’t really hurting my hair. It’s a good balance for the heavy protein laden products I’m using in my current routine (WHICH I NEED) and it’s kinda fun. I know I could only leave it in for 10 minutes, but I leave it in for an hour and bake cheesecakes or play video games. I treat it like self-care. But after this jar I’m going to remove that part of the process and see what happens. My love-hate relationship is in part because I’m still making up my mind about if it’s necessary or not for me. The ultimate goal honestly is for me to not do them, but until then I’m going through the motions.

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My Current Afro Routine

Long time no post! Yeaah I fell off the wagon with all the crazy changes this year, but I’m going to “ride the wave of motivation” right now and put some effort into some much needed updates! Here we go :) First up routine.

I decided to try the whole Carol’s Daughter line after buying the “4-in-1 combing creme” after I ran out of Aussie’s Moist Conditioner (which I use for my #TightlyCurlyMethod) I used it once and fell in love and went a little nuts. The WalMart near me didn’t have the Black Vanilla Hair Mask so I got the Almond Milk which I think as a little bit of a saving grace because it balances out the high protein content of the rest of the Black Vanilla line.

My routine looks like this:

Wash Day (Saturday or Sunday)

Cleansing/DC Routine

Shampoo (see previous blurb post)

Condition

Deep Condition 

 Slather on Hair Mask as deep conditioner; 

Detangle (out of the shower) using wide tooth comb then denman brush; put in twists/bantu knots 

cover with plastic cap then a towel or scarf; 

leave in for 10 minutes - 60 minutes depending on my mood

Rinse with warm water taking down bantu knots, but leaving twists in; then using a cup already filled with cold water pour it over my hair especially the ends.

After Wash Combing Routine For Each Twist:

Unravel twist

Spritz with Leave-In Conditioner

Coat section with dime to penny size worth of oil of choice

Coat section with Combing Creme

Brush through once or twice with denman brush using clips to keep combed sections out of the way.

Mid-Week Wash Days (Usually Wednesday or Thursday Morning)

Cleansing

Shampoo

Condition

Rinse with warm water

After Wash Combing

Same as above but instead of unraveling twists I just detangle bigger sections for the sake of time.

Takes anywhere between 55 minutes to 2 hours. This isn’t my favorite routine, but my strands have seen a reduced amount of breakage in between washes and length retention has meant mega noticable growth! I’ll do this at least until January.

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AfrObservation: Shampoo

I have come to the conclusion that if I don’t want to expereince breakage I have to use shampoo. In the last few weeks before I started stretching my hair I was co-washing a bit more often. It took about 3 co-washing sessions (every 3-4 days) before the breakage set in again. It took exactly ONE (1) shampoo session to notice an immediate difference- my hair doesn’t break. I know shampoos get a lot of flak and that they are stripping, can be damaging, etc. but seriously. My hair doesn’t break when I shampoo weekly/ or every 3-4 days. Even one co-wash between shampooings is suspect, but I’m still investigating.

That is all.

:)

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AfroChallenge: Bunning Before Pics

Since August begins on a Tuesday I’m just going to post my pre-Bunning length now. I’ll post “After” pics in September.

Bunning Routine

Wash once a week with OGX Coconut milk Shampoo and Conditioner

Detangle and set with Cantu Shea Butter Leave In (using because I never use it.)

Stretch in about 10 plaits (based on hair lengths)

Let dry to 80% - 90% and unravel

Bun!

If you want to join me for bunning this month tag me in your before and I’ll support you! Happy Bunning

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Bunning Challenge August 2017

You remember these riiiiiight? Man when I first went natural every winter month saw bunning/protective style challenges to get ready for the summer fros and twist outs. But of course it’s summer already, so why am I even going to do one? 

One word: STRESS. 

I’m taking my final class for my masters and it’s wearing me out. I’m an active member of my community watch and they are on some mess basically expecting me to turn results when I wasn’t even in charge to begin with AND I start a new job that I’m excited about and dreading all at once. So yeah. This will be one less thing to do. I’m going to start it in August since right now I’m just trying to figure out what will work best for putting my hair in a bun. My rules for it will be as follows

Length Check Pictures Before bunning

Shampoo Wash Hair 1 - 2 a week while moisturizing daily. 

Stretching Hair by plaiting

Dry hair bunning Only. My precious tresses really take too long to dry for me to mess around with this rule.

Check in weekly with pictures of bun styles of choice.

Bun for 4 weeks

Length Check Pictures at the end of the month

EXCEPTIONS: I’m going to wear my afro on August 7,8, 15-18. These are the days I’m starting my new job/meeting my new students and I want them to see what I will look like through the rest of the semester. Also it’s a means of not tricking myself or my co-workers into the whole “I’ll wear my hair ‘more professionally’” crap. THEY GON’ GET THIS FRO.

If you’re down tag me so I can support your progress! Here’s to giving fros a break and making them come back even better than before.

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Hello Beautiful, good to see you again. I’m back :)

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Surgery Hair

Alright folks. I’ve been posting a lot less lately because life is full and keeping me busy. I have some AMAZING fro pictures to share soon, but until then let’s talk about Hair prep for surgery.

I consider my afro low maintenance. I wash my hair twice a week and spend no more than 35 minutes detangling after the washing. In a couple of weeks I will be in a position where I will barely be able to walk let alone stand with my hands in my hair for any length of time. I can’t braid (cornrow) very well so 2 strand twists will rule the day. Here is how I am wearing my hair this week to practice.

Two strand two strand twists in the front and chunky twists pinned up in the back. It will be a protective style and on surgery day I will likely wear a head scarf the whole time.

I will try to keep my hair this way for 2 weeks which will be a challenge because the intermittent care is always tricky, but I need something as low maintenance as possible so I don’t hurt mysef in the name of #slayage.  I will post an update on whether it’s better to style my hair wet or dry. So far wet styling  is absolutely beating out damp and dry styling.

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So I’m walking in May and remembered that I did a twist out last time I graudated for my undergrad. New Degree, New Fro. This might do...

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AfroPuff - Is it better to style afros wet or dry?

Theory: Styling wet type 4 hair is easier than dry or even damp type 4 hair

Abstract: Part of why I started this blog is because there is hardly any information for people that simply want to wear their hair as it grows out of their heads (no twist outs, no extensions, stretched styling, etc.) Over the course of the next few weeks (or months) I will be tracking whether my afro is better styled wet or dry for: Puffs, two strand flat twists, updos.

AfrObservation for Afro Puff 1/2: 

 Standard wash day I added minimal amounts of gel (GASP) and used a ribbon to form my little puff. It was very easy. 

Simple to adjust (it is not tight at all). 

As it dries and tries to shrink there is a tiny bit of discomfort where my hair is being held up; no tightness on edges.

 Maintenance: Day- pending; Night- wrap hair as usual, removal of ribbon will depend on comfort level.

Miscellaneous: FOOT UP MY FOOT HOLD NOW MY FOOT UP

MY HANDS MY HANDS UP (FLEXIN) FLEXIN WHILE MY HANDS UP

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I’m determined to keep wearing my fro, but I’m trying out some variations and practicing my flat twists and in time my braiding.

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4 Conditioners Down...

So in my first hair routine post. I mentioned how I had at least 5 conditioners I wanted to use up. I’ve used up:

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration

Herbal Essences Tealightfully Clean Conditioner 

Organix Nourishing + Coconut Milk Conditioner (which I admit I bought another one of. I’ll explain in a bit)

Aussie Moist Conditioner

All that’s left are my Aveeno Nourish + Moisturize and Giovanni Direct Leave-In. I have a few shampoos, but honestly. I’m thinking of dumping them along with the Direct Leave-In. 

Right before I restarted the Tightly Curly Method, I had somehow concluded that I should try to stick to a line of products. I chose Organix because I had fellow natural friend of mine tell me how much she liked their products a long while ago and I knew I needed a bit more protein in my life. I’m not sure how much of a difference it truly makes, but having a consistent line of products for cleansing and conditioning has truly given me some positive results... and picking up products at the store is a no-brainer now. It honestly could have been any product line I chose (I almost went with Aussie for shampoo and rinse condish)- but in the end what I needed most was protein from my shampoos and rinses and a *combing* conditioner with good slip. Organix seems to be hear to stay, but my Aveeno (I bought a bunch on sale) has me wanting a little more. And I know Giovanni Direct is so light that I’d use what’s left on 1/4 of my hair.  

So in the course of writing this I’ve decided that after this last bottle of Aveeno I’ll be done with any excess shampoos and conditioners. Now I just need to find an appropriate combing conditioner! While I love my Organix it is NOT fit as a leave in for me. I may jump back on to my Aussie Moist bandwagon or I’ll check out Terri’s website and see what she recommends again. I’ll post about it again soon.

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The Time Came Today: Hair Cut

That’s right... I said it. hair cut. And it’s a weird one too. Remember that one picture I shared a while back?

Yeah after wrestling with it for a bit I finally decided to let it go. BUT can I just say how amazed I am that my shrinkage is actually being crazy merciful? I easily clipped off about 4-5 inches off the top, maybe an inch off the back, and 2-3 inches off the sides.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster right? But when I was done... check out this shape!

I will probably trim the back every two weeks until the length is even all the way around. Until then wearing my afro is doing my length all kinds of kindness.

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AfrObservation: Changing My Internal Beauty Standards

I see it every day on my Instagram and occasionally on FB. Those videos of young black women who twirl around with their natural curls (or as some say nappy hair, kinky hair what have you) and in the next 10 seconds they are transformed into long silky haired beauties. Their shrinkage is real and there’s now receipts with hashtags. It’s interesting to watch and I do like the style and I adore the confidence these women have afterwards. But it hurts. So I believe that if you “ingest” anything consistently over time- music, television, character traits, certain ideas- that you can be influenced by them, though it might show up subtly or rarely. What a weird dichotomy to love my afro and want to wear it every day and at the same time covet straight hair and internally fight to find afros in general beautiful. I have one piece of the puzzle to keep me from hating myself and fighting my hair, but the next part is to simply find it beautiful and not just a card I’ve been dealt  and must learn to love. 

I’m going to skip over these hair transformation videos (including the adorable ones where the little girls get their hair braided) not because they are bad, but the “before” shots of these women often have hair that looks exactly how I wear it every day in terms of texture. I’m getting the message that “natural is okay, but not that okay.” I’m only speaking for myself.

I’m going to seek out more pages with women with afros of all sizes and make sure those take up my feeds. Somehow I’m not convinced that my hair is the standard of beauty (har har) and I know that logically that this simply does not make any sense. I know that my subconscious can be changed on this matter. So I’m gonna do that.

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A Quick Chat About Castor Oil

So the last few washes I’ve done I’ve abandoned my jojoba oil and Shea butter mix for castor oil alone. I never thought of using it before because it was so thick, but on a whim I decided to use it and I don’t think I will stop. I’ve seen plenty of hair, health and wellness websites talk about the benefits of castor oil. I’ll be referencing a few here. Castor oil is popular and a great idea to incorporate into your hair routine for a vast amount of reasons, but today I’m gonna talk about it in relationship to the Afro.

What Is Castor Oil?

“Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing the seeds of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis).” 

“Castor oil is not a drying oil, meaning that it has a low reactivity toward air compared to other oils such as linseed oil and tung oil. Dehydration of castor oil gives linoleic acids, which do have drying properties.” (Thomas, 2005)

If you’ve been hanging around the natural hair community for a while chances are you’ve come across Castor Oil numerous times, particularly Black Castor Oil, which I’ve never used so I will not weigh in that in particular.  Reference

Thomas, Alfred (2005). "Fats and Fatty Oils". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.

What does Castor Oil do for hair?

Castor Oil has been touted  for being a great oil for hair growth (with primarily anecdotal evidence) and a great sealant for moisture (based on its structure of fatty acids). 

There are some mixed responses about the validity of whether Castor Oil actually stimulates hair growth with presence of vitamin E and essential fatty acids being present. Read these links and develop your own conclusions:

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/how-to-use-castor-oil-for-natural-hair-growth/

http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/09/myth-or-fact-can-castor-oil-really.html

http://www.alopeciafree.com/jamaican-black-castor-oil-for-hair-growth/

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2014/07/on-to-the-next-why-im-over-castor-oil/

Okay... So what about my Afro?

So like I mentioned earlier I’ve been using it in place of my jojoba oil and Shea butter mix entirely. Effectively removing the C of my L.O.C. method. What I’ve found is that because of it being such a great sealant for my conditioner:

The need to moisturize between washes has been minimized if not eliminated;

My hair has continual slip from trapped moisture and therefore tangles less and tangles found are easily mended with a little patience;

Breakage has decreased between washes (which leads me to think that the jojoba was simply not fit for the job I needed it to do);

My hair is wonderfully pliable after a night of being tucked under my satin scarf and bonnet;

How Do I, Personally, Use It?

I wash my hair every 3-4 days utilizing the tightly curly method. During my combing session I use a wide tooth comb to get shed hairs and deal with any random knots (rarely) out of my section, I add a tiny amount of castor oil to my section, then use my Denman brush to smooth and evenly distribute the oil. 

Conclusion

If you’re interested in using castor oil remember that a little bit goes a long way- it’s quite thick. Admittedly my hair does leave a very light coating of oil on my fingertips, but the reality is that I need to stop touching my doggone hair anyway!If you want to rock your Afro without fear of tangling or over drying definitely give Castor oil a try as a sealant.

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All of 9 days

So I wore my two strand twists in for my trip and they were, in fact, nice and convenient. I had actually blow dried them with cool air before twisting and they were fine. BUT IT’S 2017 GOTDAMMIT AND I WANT TO BE MYSELF. Also the temp here isn’t below 32 soooooo. FRO.

Routine is the same as before only instead of using jojoba oil and shea mix I just put castor oil on my sections before using my Denman to finish detangling. No complaints. I think the washing process will always be the same. It’s just the leave in beyond adding the combing conditioner that will be forever experimental.

Honestly I think I like my castor oil more than the jojoba so far. I think my hair doesn’t respond to it like a seal (Maybe it’s too light?) 

Unless it’s insanely cold I think this is it. This is me. I was so ready for my fro to be back. I have to admit that I do in fact looooove my length (or rather I love showing it off). However I love not fighting my hair even more. It really flourished in the last month leaving it this way. It is super apparent. I should have done a length check with the twists in...  I’ll do one for today and use that as a gauge for subsequent length checks.

haha this looks like a glamour shot photo. Overcast did me some good today.

Happy New Year!