Cowashing…Water is your friend!!!

Hi Beauties!

We've been having some really hot days here in the Caribbean. Today was one of those days. It was hot, humid did I mention hot? My braid out was a little dry and I realized my hair was breaking a bit. The quickest remedy for the breakage I could think of was to rejuvenate my hair with some good old fashion H2O!

Stop the presses….what? Water on relaxed hair for many is a no, no. This my dear ladies is complete mis-education. In fact, water = moisture which in most cases is what our hair needs to stop the breakage and retain length. The current misunderstanding is that water dries out your hair and makes it prone to breakage when in fact water adds moisture to your hair especially mid-week after a main wash.

Tip 1: Use a light conditioner to condition wash (cowash) your hair while in the shower. My favorite cowash conditioner hands down is V05 moisture milks and  Elasta QP Soy Oyl conditioner. Wash your hair like you would with a shampoo and let it sit on your hair for a few minutes while you shower.  Rinse, towel dry your hair, follow up with your favorite leave ins and natural oils. Gently detangle and let your hair air dry. Moisturize and seal. Your hair will thank you!

Tip 2: Throughout the week, lightly spritz your hair with water and glycerin (a humectant which traps moisture), aloe vera juice, or rose water. These are quick and easy ways to add an extra touch of moisture to your hair especially during the hot and dry months.

Tip 3: Protect your ends from the harsh wind and sun by tucking them under wigs or through buns.

Finally, it really starts from the inside so hydrate your body by drinking water regularly throughout the day.

Until next time….HHJ!

Ode to my Clarifying Shampoo...

Hi Loves!

As you all know by now I only recently started my hair journey...I'm still a newbie by a long shot. Many things are new to me. One of those things is to figure out how to listen to what my hair is telling me and go with my instincts. I started using the Tresemme moisture rich conditioner as my cowash conditioner. Let it be known that I am absolutely in love with this product! The problem is it is laden with silicones and I cowash quite often as many as 2-3 times per week. That quickly lead to serious build up...my hair was smooth and soft but inflexible when dry. I also use Hair One cleansing conditioner that I thought was getting rid of extra dirt and grime...I am now convinced that it was not. I know...I know many of you are like well Dee just clarify you knucklehead. There is a perfectly good explanation for that.... I think. I use the Ion  botanical clarifying shampoo the last time I used  it my hair was so soft and mushy so limp and almost seemingly rotten. It broke to the touch that in effect was my very first example of moisture overload. :( Needless to say, I was horrified and quickly grabbed for my Aphogee 2 step protein treatment barely wanting to touch my hair. 45 mins later my hair was sufficiently strengthened, breakage stopped and I could breathe easy. The bed news is I have since been conditioned to associate mushy hair with Ion...I know that really is not the case but I still panic thinking about it. Fast forward to this week, I knew I could not put it off any longer, I had to clarify, it has been roughly about  3 months since my hair had a good lather and I decided to take the plunge. I lathered my hair...not once but twice! On top of that I lathered with my new love Giovanni  Triple Treat Tea Tree Invigorating Shampoo, followed up with  Giovanni  50:50 conditioner, DC'd,  then ACV rinsed. My hair feels amazing! So soft, so light, bouncy, I cant keep my hands out of it. I am due for a protein treatment next week and I can't wait!

• Educational tid bit for the day: clarifying shampoos are meant to be deep cleansers that get rid of the build up that is on the shaft of the hair. This is good especially for those who love silicones or are heavy handed. They typically contain sodium/ammonium lauryl/laureth sulfates. As a general rule the sodium laureth sulfate is the milder version of sulfates and  is less harsh on the hair while cleansing. You want to do this only once or twice per month preferably once).

My Hair Journey

I consider myself to be a big do-it-yourself (DIY) type of person. I love to experiment, I love trial and error, love to read and explore. So it was only natural that I have been experimenting with new cooking recipes since age 10, started doing my own eyebrows in the 8th grade (much to my mom's distress...though I eventually got really good), make up, the works! I even hand sewed my own curtains last Christmas... yay me! I'm a very curious person and I take no one's word for it, I love to fact check. Not necessarily to be a gotcha person but more so I that I can be confident in the knowledge I have and not just rely on hearsay. Okay to the point...my curiosity coupled with my DIY attitude has landed me on my hair journey! I've been officially on my hair journey since last October and I cannot say it has been anything but remarkable. I have retained an enormous amount of length in a short time. I considered my hair to be relatively healthy but it could do better. The only problem I had was a high affinity for scissors and of course everyone's good friend breakage. So here I am...a few month later breakage is at bay and I'm learning more and more every day. My intent is to share my knowledge with you, and you can follow me on my journey if you please. Till next time!

 The beginning of my hair journey Oct. 2010

  My hair as of May 2011.