All Night Week Long - How to Make Your Protective Style Last

Naturals have been doing it since forever. Many of them set their style on wash day and maintain it until the next wash rolls around. It is bomb for length retention since it allows you to both protective style and reduce manipulation.

protective styles

I love long-term protective styling! I really do. It's a great way to take care of your hair with ease and it's awesome when you just need a break. But I decided to forego the wig as a means of protective styling and there is no way for me to get braids (with extensions) or a weave installed in these parts, so my next best is to utilize styles that last in the mid-range time frame, i.e. 1-2 weeks at a time.

You may have already encountered my HOTW posts. This is where I create a style at the beginning of the week and wear it throughout. There is no restyling and especially NO combing. Therefore, these styles are great for both increasing protection and reducing manipulation, result? super duper length retention! Below the Waist length here I come lol

I admit, finding a decent style that will hold up through a week's worth of...life, may not be the easiest. So, here are a few tips to help you accomplish this task:

Using Protection - Arming Hair for Heat Styling

I've been talking a lot about heat in the last few posts (find them here and here). But no discussion about heat-styling is ever complete without mentioning heat protectants. As with any category of products, there are a mountain of options out there to cater to your whim and fancy. For the sake of brevity, I will speak on my methods in this post and of course you can chime in in the comments section about how you do things in your neck of the woods. Let's go.

L-R: LottaBody setting lotion, Nioxin Thermal Bliss, Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructurizer,
Elasta QP Design Silk & ORS Thermal Protect and SHine

The way I use heat protectants depends on whether I'm using direct heat versus indirect heat.

Staying on the Straight and Narrow - Maintaining Straight Hair

Let's continue on the straight hair topic. This is a follow up to my previous post about achieving straight hair.

During my very first stretch on my new hair journey, I diligently took care of my hair and new growth. I was enjoying the fact that I was on my way to long healthy hair. I stretched for 8/ 9 months, but during month 7, I got really curious about the length I was (or wasn't) achieving. I pulled out my flat-iron! I can't remember right now if I blow-dried as well, but I know I used the comb-chase method and a lot of heat protectant, a lot! When I straightened, the excessive heat protectant made my hair look thin and stringy but I was pleased with the length. 

8 months into my HHJ/ 7 months post

Exploring Your Options - Ways to Achieve Straight Hair

I mentioned in this post that I used quite a bit of heat during my vacay to keep my hair straight for the sake of manageability and ease. By 'quite a bit' I mean 3 times! That may or may not seem like a lot to some, but for me it is. This is so because I rarely use heat during the course of a regular month. As a matter of fact I usually go 3 or 4 months without it.

Needless to say, I was very cautious during the process of creating straight hair. That is, I did a protein, used heat protectants, and used low heat with few passes, but that's a whole 'notha post. The point of this one, is to discuss ways to get your hair straight and keep it that way (at least for a while) while using heat.

OK, You Win - Relaxer Day

When relaxer day actually rolls around (and some wash days too) I totally wish I was back home with someone to do it for me or at least help. Oh well, I have no choice so let's get down wit' da get down.

How I did it:

the arsenal

Step 1 - gather accoutrements:

timer, gloves, cape, clips and pins, relaxer, EVOO,

products to be used after relaxing (Aphogee 2 minute, ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, Queen Helene Cholesterol, Roux Porosity Control)

*There is no comb, sprush or other application tool listed, as in the interest of moving as quickly as possible, I will be using my gloved hand to apply

Setting the Tone - Pre-relaxer Wash Day

It's funny how before I started delving into the world of hair care I'd relax my hair on a whim. No preparation, no real thought put into it. Just spotting the new growth and getting rid of it. There was no 'pre-relaxer wash', no fortifying the hair with protein, and prorosity who??

Fast forward some years and relaxer day has to be thoroughly planned: enough time for the process itself, steps to be taken before the act and the follow-up thereafter. All of which are important to the success of the relaxing process. Let's talk a little about the preparation aspect of the process, shall we?!

Wash Day

Finding a Middle Ground - Moisture:Protein Balance

Upon starting our hair journeys we hear that chemically treated heads are the most in need of protein, so we stock up on our protein-containing products to give our hair that much needed boost, only to end up in a situation where it turns out you didn't actually need that much and now your hair is hard and dry. womp!

Now that I have overcome my protein overload, I suppose it is time to speak on the moisture/protein balance. This is the area of any hair 'journey' which is perhaps the most fundamental and yet probably the most difficult to grasp. It certainly was for me. 

Wham Bamn Thank You Ma'am - Quick and Easy Wash Days

We all hate those ultra long wash days that healthy hair journeys seem to bring. Some of us even go longer than we'd like without washing because the process is just too tedious and time-consuming. If this applies to you, stayed tuned. I've got your fix coming right up. Below are some things you can try to shave some time off your eternal wash days.

Out of the Cold - Winter Hair Issues Solved!

Dry, Dull, Brittle Hair

Our hair is dry anyway, when winter comes around the dryness is amped X10.

solve it: Deep condition with a moisturizing product. Don't be afraid to add oils to make your moisturizing deep conditioner a match for winter dryness. Skip the humectants such as honey, glycerin and panthenol as they can work against you during this time of the year. While during summer they are your best friends as they pull moisture from the air into your strands, in the winter it's vice versa. Instead, grab heavy sealants like castor oil, shea butter and even cone-containing oils.

Edge Control - How to keep/ regrow your edges

I recently shared in this post that after donning a wig cap for 16 straight weeks, I saw where my already naturally thin edges were looking even thinner. Fortunately I grew them back in and you can too. There are a barrage of means by which one can regrow his (her) edges. These methods can range from over the counter medicines to surgery. But what if that's not your 'thing'? What are some less risky actions one can take to get back to full, healthy-looking edges? Check out the following:

Straddling the Fence - Texlaxing

Braid-out on texlaxed hair

When I started my hair journey I weighed the positives and drawbacks of processing my hair vs wearing it in a natural state. Since I was already relaxed, I looked deep into relaxing bone straight, texlaxing, and returning to my roots (pardon the pun). I made little jottings in my hair journey, these are they:

Becoming Detached - A Look at Hair Breakage

If length retention has a nemesis, then this is most definitely it. Breakage occurs when the strands become too weak to hang on any longer. Many people think their hair isn't growing as they have been at the same length for years. What is really happening though, is BREAKAGE. Hair is constantly growing (unless there is a medical impediment), and grows from the scalp at an average rate of 1/2 inch per month. The reason it appears stagnant is that it is breaking equally as fast as it grows, leaving you to think there is no growth. Do you find little pieces of hair on your floor, in your sink or in your combs and brushes? That's a sign of breakage, so please keep reading.

The Heat is on - Greenhouse Effect

In my post about the dryness I have been experiencing, I said that I will employ this technique to infuse moisture into my strands. But can it also be used as a growth aid? What is this technique all about?

Greenhouse Effect

Well remember, in science class we learnt that this is the natural process by which the atmosphere traps some of the Sun's energy, warming the Earth enough to support life (and obviously growth).

Many also use this technique to grow plants and now, you guessed it, we use it to grow our hair (no surprise there! lol).

Slippery When Wet - Oil Rinsing

This is simply saturating your hair with oil AFTER it has been shampooed, before conditioning. Aside from the obvious benefits that oils provide you hair such as vitamins, moisture or protein, oil rinsing is really effective at providing slip to the hair making it a dream to detangle. It certainly works magic.

How to oil Rinse

Oil it up - Coconut oil

This is another favorite among those on hair journeys and rightly so. Coconut oil provides many benefits to the body and the hair in particular. It too, is one of the few shaft-penetrating oils, thus lodging its nourishing properties deep into the strand. 

It is considered anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial because it contains lauric acid, a chemical that is otherwise only found in human breast milk. Thanks to the anti-fungal and healing properties of coconut oil, it can be used to treat scalp complaints.

Coconut oil contains Vitamin E (an essential nutrient for skin and hair), which along with the previously mentioned lauric acid, help to promote protein regrowth in the hair, making it stronger.

Like all other oils, it is unable to moisturize, but it is very effective at sealing in moisture and leaving hair with a shine that screams health, and it smells good too! You can't beat that with a stick!

Uses of Cocout Oil

• Prepoo
• Deep condition
• sealing 
• scalp treatments/ massages

Are you a lover of coconut oil? How do you use it? Let me know down below.

XOXO,

Abbi

Looking for you in the Daytime with a Flashlight - S&D

I've briefly referred to the search and destroy method in posts such as this and this. Allow me to elaborate.

What is it?

This is a really simple method of identifying and locating split or otherwise damaged parts of the strand and then snipping them off with a pair of sharp hair shears.

Why do it?

Doing the Splits - a Look at Split-ends

Trichoptilosis is longitudinal splits of the hair fiber, commonly called split ends. No one likes them! They come in all shapes and sizes and despite their name, can occur anywhere along the shaft.

Check them out below

So what causes these little rascals? There are a myriad of reasons such as:

Lala-lala-laa Warm it up - Hot Oil Treaments

I love a good hot oil treatment! It gives me the feeling of a hot cup of cocoa of a cold winter day! It has been a part of my regimen since the start. However, I do it sporadically (mostly during the colder months), which I need to change and make it a regularly scheduled event even when it's warm.

What's it it?

Love Potions - DIY Deep Conditioner #1

Banana Avocado Deep Conditioning Treatment

Ingredients: 

1/2 avocado

1 overripe banana

2 tbs olive oil

3 tbs Aubrey Honeysuckle Rose (or your favorite moisturizing conditioner)

3 tbs water (optional)

Steps: 

Wrap it up - Protect your hair while you sleep

I recently posted about protective styling, but what I didn't mention is that it doesn't stop there. Nope, we should protect our hair as much as we possibly can. How, you ask? By wrapping it up every chance we get!