KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp Moisturizing Conditioner

I will NEVER EVER EVER use this conditioner again in my life. Unless there's some way I can doctor this stuff up it will not be touching my head. I decided to try a different conditioner, more moisturizing than protein. This was not moisturizing at all. After sitting under the dryer for about 20-25 minutes I had major shrinkage. Not only that but my hair felt dry. It was nice going in but washing out my hair felt hard, dry, almost like straw. I then applied some ORS replinishing pack to help detangle in the shower. It definatly helped but not enough. I probably should have left it in longer instead of just useing it to detangle. I followed my normal regimen and applied my leave ins. The hair was softer and still blow dried pretty easy but then I had little knots all over my head that would not come out unless pulled out. I tried to detangle them but it just pulled out more strands with it. My roots are still wavy because I couldn't properly press them out, my hair is super light like before my Henna again although the color is still there. I'm going to stick to what I know and continue my protein conditioners. Sorry Ateyaaa the youtube queen, but this one did not work for me. And if you have natural 4a/3c range hair like mine, I suggest you don't try it either.......Now did it help my dry/itchy scalp? Maybe.... feels fine at the moment. Did it moisturize??? NO. I should have known by looking at the ingredients. Something looked a little fishy when I saw all the weird sounding names and mineral oil close to the top. I still put it in my hair anyway. Oh well

Ingredients: *WILL UPDATE*

Dabur Vatika Coconut Oil

I'd been researching and trying to figure out a good oil for nourishing my hair without using a moisturizer. A lot of people are crazy about coconut oil, so after plenty of research I decided to settle on this. I'm trying to incorporate Ayurveda products into my regimen. Well after much Googleing I found an Indian Grocery in my area that carried this. Upon my first application it felt great, light, nourishing, made my hair shine. There are so many upsides to this product. I HATE oil but this felt more like a serum! I will definatly continue to use this, hopefully forever. Now at first I was put off by the smell. I immediately wanted to give this away after 1 wiff of it. It gave off a weird spicey lemon smell that I just hated, but after putting it in my hair and smelling again there was a soapy after smell. I love the smell of soap :) The spicey scent only lasts in the beginning so that's the good part. Good to know my hair is smelling more like soap rather than spicey lemon. I rate it a thumbs up! You might try adding more rosemary oil or some other smell to it to make it smell a little better if you don't notice the soapy smell.

Vatika is a premium Coconut Hair Oil enriched with Henna, Amla, Lemon and six other trusted herbs. Vatika's unique natural formulation ensures deeper oil penetration to give your hair and scalp complete nourishment for problem free, healthy hair.

HENNA, along with other herbs, coats your hair, protects it from oxidation, maintaining its natural colour.

AMLA, strengthens the roots of your hair to help maintain their health and natural thickness.

The astringent action of LEMON control sebum grow.

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Neem, Brahmi, Fruit extracts of Amla, Bahera and Harar, Kapur Kachri, Henna, Milk, Rosemary Oil, Lemon Oil, TBHQ, Fragrance.

My First Henna

The Results are In! I have successfully done my first Henna. The color came out SO beautiful I am more than happy. At first my roommate said I looked like Malcom X but I think it darkened up a little after the blow dry. My Henna package looked like this....


I'm only shoulderlength so what I did was I took half the package of Henna, mixed it with hot water til it was a nice paste/pudding consistency and let it sit overnight. Later that next day I mixed 2 cap fulls of olive oil, a little squirt of Kera Care for Itchy scalp, and a tiny squirt of Pantene conditioner. I belive you could use any conditioner really, especially the cheapies like suave or white rain. I just borrowed what was in my roommates shower lol! I wanted to leave as much Henna as possible so it'd be more Henna than Henna gloss. I put it on my hair after shampooing, put on a cap, and sit under the dryer for about 50 minutes. I washed it out, applied ORS Replinishing, and left that on for about 10 minutes. After rinsing that out I sprayed my hair with Aphogee Keratin green tea and the Pro-Vitamin leave in. I also put some Chi silk infusion in it, blow dried straight, and then straightened. "I am natural by the way"..... Now most would look at this and thing OMG that is so much protein but #1 my hair LOVES protein. Secondly my hair was not hard after my Henna. It was wet and soft like a conditioner afterward, just slightly crunchy but the ORS took care of that. My hair feels SO good. I got a little bit of weight back in my hair, the strands definatly feel slightly thicker, and the Henna shine you all talk about? SO beautiful my hair has so much body. I well continue to do this at least once or twice a month. I love it! Now with my blowdry I did notice a few hairs in the sink so I'm going to try useing flexi rods in the future to stop all the hard blowdrying and see how that works.

And here are the final results!!!!

Chlorella for Growth

I've decided to start taking Chlorella for more hair growth. A few members of LHCF have witnessed 1-1.5 inches of hair growth each month by ta king this every day regularly. I bought the powder form because it has the highest amount of Chlorella Growth Factor which is really important, should be easy to take in my smoothies, and anything that will give me 1-1.5 inches a month I'm down! Some facts about my Chlorella:

Yaeyama Chlorella is 100% fresh-water chlorella, grown on the coral reef island of Ishigaki, Japan. Chlorella may enhance health naturally by supporting the immune system and promoting energy, vitality, and natural cleansing. Yaeyama Chlorella is rich in chlorella growth factor (CGF), vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, beta-carote ne, and other phytonutrients. It is spray dried using a special process that breaks the cell wall, yet preserves the nutrients within, ensuring a highly digestible and nutrient-rich product

More about chlorella growth factor:http://www.sho kos.com/CryptomonadalesCGF.htm
* chlorella growth factor helps to refresh and rejuvenate every cell of your body.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to enable your body to utilize nutrients more effectively.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to detoxify and chelate your body.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to stimulate and build your immune system.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to strengthen your body's ability to recover quickly from stress.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to combat damaging free radicals.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to accelerate and enhance the re-growth of damaged tissue.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to improve cellular efficiency and integrity.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to activate cellular functions and increases your metabolism.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to normalize the metabolism of fats.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to activate protein syn thesis.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to increase the growth of beneficial bacteria in your colon.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to promote healthy growth in children without adverse side effects.*
* chlorella growth factor helps you to resist the effects of premature aging.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to enhance RNA DNA functions responsible for the production of proteins, enzymes and energy at the cellular level.*
* chlorella growth factor helps to encourage the rejuvenation of your body's own DNA RNA, thus you will look and feel younger.* Typically beginning with visible positive changes as it helps to strengthen and improve hair, skin and nails.*

and more

Glued Snap Clips Hair Extensions Tutorial

As stated before I decided to stop getting sew ins for as long as possible, and find a healthier alternative to growing out my hair. So I decided to use snap clips. A lot of people have been wanting a tutorial and I actually found some really good pictures that explains exactly what I did.

MATERIALS



You can either use thick thread (sold at most beauty stores for weaves and extensions) hair glue or super glue. I used the nasty hair glue because my needle broke :( This is the quickest way to do this and I suggest using a cheaper hair. It took 1/2 the time and effort, and worked a lot better. You will also need a blowdryer

They are called Snap Clips. They come in a pack of three, cost $1.99, are sold at Sally's. I prefer these because there is a rubber piece on them that allows you to put them in securely without cornrowing, teasing, or hair spraying your hair. I also like that the comb ends have a coating on them in the fashion of a bobby pin so that the metal does not cut your hair. This is the most safest brand to buy in my opinion. You can be cheap and buy the huge packs of them at the beauty supply store if you want but I never would. Just sayin......

THREE STEP PROCESS.

STEP ONE.

Cut extension to fit the size of your head. For my head I made 6 pieces but 7 would probably be best. To measure my 3 main tracks, I just put the track up to my head like you normally would measuring for a glue in left to right of the middle of your head, and cut. Cut 2 pieces this size, and 1 slightly smaller for your first track closest to your neck. Cut a track about 4-5 inches long for your top piece at the crown of your head. This should be the main part of your weave if you like to wear your hair back. you can make as many as you want. If you like to wear your hair down the middle, all of your side pieces should be between 4-5 inches long.



STEP TWO.

Make sure the teeth of the clip are facing away from you. This is the side you glue. Whichever side has the rubber piece facing you is the side you put your glue on. This is important, so when you wear them, you can't see the clip. Also, if you try to attach the extension on the same side of the teeth, it will get tangled. The teeth on the clips are meant to comb down into your hair and then snap closed. Place the glue at the top where the wholes are, press your track onto the clip at each end, and use a blow dryer to make sure it is secure. Do not rush this process, the glue takes longer to dry on the clip than it does to your hair.



STEP THREE.
When snaping the clips into your hair, teasing, or hair spraying is not necessary but ONLY if you but this specific kind from sally's. The rubber piece allows for the hair to stay firmly attached, even small amounts. To place your hair, part each section, unsnap the clips, insert the comb face down until it stops and snap closed. I only use 2 snap clips on each track. You can put one in the middle if you have a larger head but I only need to and I put them in tightly across so they are as straight s possible and as close to my head as possible. When you are finished the tracks should look a lot like this....












And Voila! There you have it. Snap clips extensions. I will also give a quick update tutorial for sewing the tracks tomorrow. I believe this is the most secure and the best option for really nice tracks like Remi Hair although glue is fine, there is a chance that it could come off. You can also sew 2 tracks to the clip instead of just one for thickness. Hope you liked the tutorial!And a quick picture of what I did. :) I went for a more natural look.

My Bang: In order to achieve the bang in my photo I used to pieces that snapped from where I put the part in my hair, over to about where my ear was. This was to blend the hair with the other clips so not to have a weird piece of a 3 inch bang in the front. It's less obvious that way. I then grabbed the hair like a stylist would, started at my nose, and cut diagnally down almost like razoring. NO need to be exact. Curled under with a flat iron an Voila :D

Special Tips:

1. If you would like to you can actually sleep in these, but do not do it for more than 2 days. You don't want the clips to slide down too far and begin pulling on your hair. Replace them in your head every 2 days at a maximum to avoid any damage, and please use a satin/silk scarf or pillow case! Scarf preferably to hold them from moving.
2. Do NOT "rap" your hair in a circular formation if sleeping in these. There's too much of a chance that you will be pulling on your hair or breaking it doing that. Just pull your hair back into a loose bun or pony tail.
   

Hair Typeing

Andre Walker, a stylist and author of Andre Talks Hair, has created a classification system that many people have adopted to describe their own hair type. Andre's classification system ranks from 1-4 and is described further below. I've never been all that into Hair typeing but I believe mine to be a mixture of 3C/4A.

Type 4
According to Andre Walker, if your hair falls into the Type 4 category, then it is kinky, or very tightly curled. Generally, Type 4 hair is very wiry, very tightly coiled and very fragile. Similar to Type 3 hair, Type 4 hair appears to be coarse, but it is actually quite fine, with lots and lots of these strands densely packed together. Type 4 hair that is healthy won't shine, but it will have sheen. It will be soft to the touch and will pass the strand test with ease. It will feel silkier than it will look shiny.

Type 4 hairs looks tough and durable, but looks can be deceiving. If you have Type 4 hair, you already know that it is the most fragile hair around. There are two subtypes of Type 4 hair: Type 4A, tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an S pattern, much like curly hair; and Type 4B, which has a Z pattern, less of a defined curl pattern (instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the letter Z). Type 4A tends to have more moisture than Type 4B, which will have a wiry texture

Type 3
When this type of hair is wet, it appears to be pretty straight. As it dries, the hair goes back to its curly state. When curly hair is wet it usually straightens out. As it dries, it absorbs the water and contracts to its curliest state. Humidity tends to make this type of curly hair even curlier, or even frizzier. Type 3 hair has a lot of body and is easily styled in its natural state, or it can be easily straightened with a blow-dryer into a smoother style. Healthy Type 3 hair is shiny, with soft, smooth curls and strong elasticity. The curls are well-defined and springy.

Andre defines two subtypes of curly hair. First, there is type 3A hair which is very loosely curled and usually very shiny with big curls. The shorter the hair is, the straighter it gets. The longer the hair is the more defined the curl. Then, there is type 3B hair which has a medium amount of curl to tight corkscrews. It's not unusual to see a mixture of these types existing on the same head. Curly hair usually consists of a combination of textures, with the crown being the curliest part. Lastly there is a type 3C, is hair type that is not in Andre Walker’s book, but many people suggest that it should be. This type of hair can be described as tight curls in corkscrews. The curls can be either kinky, or very tightly curled, with lots and lots of strands densely packed together.

Type 2
A relatively unusual type, wavy hair tends to be coarse, with a definite S pattern to it. There are three Type 2 subtypes: A- Fine /thin, B -medium-textured, and C - thick and coarse. Type 2A is very easy to handle, blowing out into a straighter style or taking on curlier looks with relative ease. Types 2B and 2C are a little more resistant to styling and have a tendency to frizz.

Type 1
Type 1 is straight hair.

Here is my Hair texture. These photos were taken on a camera phone with little manipulation. I'd just deep conditioned and washed it out, not finger combing really to define the curls. Just Raw photos. Hopefully if your hair is like mine you can find a lot of help from my hair journey.

I think I've found a regimen

This is the FIRST time I've ever been able to EASILY detangle my hair and blow dry it straight. Blowdrying is usually the WORST PROCESS EVER. It makes me not want to do my hair but today, was the first time I put the blowdryer to my hair and it just went straight, like butter. RANDOM!!!! And I'm going to tell you ladies EXACTLY what i did because after searching and searching and searching I think I've finally figured it out.

PRODUCTS:

Motions CPR & EVOO "extra virgin olive oil"
Aphogee Keratin & Green tea Restructurizer
Aphogee Pro Vitamin Leave in Conditioner
Chi Silk InfusionPre-Poo:
Profectiv Mega Growth Anti Breakage CreamORS Replinishing pack"also comes in bottle form now"
TOOLS:
Revlon Pink Blow dryerDenman Brushjibere Shower comb
These will probably be in my regimen forever I have not straightened yet but I'm sure the results will be delicious. So this is what I did. Motions CPR I don't know if it was that because I've used it before but I will switch deep conditioners

First I have to let everyone know the night before I slathered Profective Mega Growth anti-breakage cream in my hair the night before, and then more ORS replinishing conditoner in my hair in the morning as a pre-poo.... I don't know if that made a difference either but ya know :)
So following my regular shampoo I

1)I took the Motions CPR and mixed 2 cap full of Bertoli EVOO in it, only what I was putting on my hair. I put A LOT in my hair by the way. Put on a cap and deep conditioned for 35 minutes

2)Washed it all out while detangling with my jibere shower comb. *heaven sent!*

3)Spray in a nice amount of Aphogee green tea Keratin restructerizer.

4) Spray in Aphogee Pro Vitamin leave in Conditioner

5) Took a little chi silk infusion and rubbed that through my hair also

6) Grab Denman and begin blowdrying in sections. I usually use my Denman for tension and it's still difficult but this time it just went straight through it. My hair is blow dried straight as it can get and still feels EXTREMELY soft and NO breakage....

Now to some this may be a lot of protein but my hair ENJOYS protein. I just don't know which one made my hair this soft or the combination, but I feel just like when I did when my hair dresser used to do it. It made me feel like, I can do this! I don't have to texlax. MY hair just went straight like it used to with a perm. Some of you may not believe me but I am amazed and this is just a prayer answered for me. Up until this point I HATED my hair and HATED doing my hair. But I am extremely excited to straighten now. I just had to share. I can't be selfish :) HAPPY HAIR GROWING!


BTW I got the idea to go out and buy this combination of products from Ateyaaa on youtube. LOVE her and her *SWANG* Now I see why she loves the products so dang much. What was I thinkin?

Check out my inspiration....

*Ateyaaa's Swang*