Wash Day Chronicles: 19 Months Post

Today's wash day is brought to you by Carol's Daughter, Hydrathermal Naturals (not pictured), and Soultanicals. After having my hair straight for about a week and half it was time to wash. Although I wanted to try to stretch it out for two weeks but the itch to wash was strong. This was a fairly easy and quick wash day. I wish they were all like this. lol Let's get to it.

{1} I thoroughly rinsed my hair until I started to feel my hair revert back then proceeded to apply the Hair Milk Cleansing Conditioner. I concentrated on my edges and front hairline because I wanted to make sure that I got all of the Cream of Nature's Perfect Edges out of my hair. My hair felt very well cleansed.
{2} I skipped in the rinse out conditioner phase and went straight to deep conditioning. My dc of choice was the Amino Plus Protein Treatment. I detangles my hair with the conditioner in my hair. I forgoed sitting under the steamer and opted to use a plastic conditioning cap and my Bon Bon Cheveux conditioning bonnet. I kept those on for an hour then rinsed.
{3}Applied my the Soultanicals HerShea Sauce did another round of detangling. Banded my hair in 6 sections then let it dry for a bit before I through my hair up in a bun.

I know that I suck when it comes to taking pictures but I tried take a few this time around.

This is how much hair I lost after detangling my hair. It's about the average amount of hair I loose on wash days.

My hair fully reverted! As you can see I don't have a lot of relaxed ends left but I am holding off on cutting my hair. I am still weary of doing the big chop. My shrinkage is beyond ridiculous and I'm not ready to embrace shrinkage just yet. lol

Wash Day Chroniciles: The Henna Experiment

This was no ordinary wash day for me. I finally did it! After a year of procrastinating. I finally henna'd my hair and I am so happy I did. I love how my hair turned out.

1. On Friday night, I mixed my the henna with boiling hot water in a class bowl. Then I mixed in the conditioner until I had the cake batter consistency I wanted. I let it sit overnight and added the oil the next morning. The oil and the conditioner made the smell of the henna slightly more bearable. It smells very earthy. lol

2. I sectioned my hair into fours and began applying the henna, wearing gloves of course. It wasn't as messy a process as I thought it would be. Then I covered my hair with a plastic cap and let the henna sit for about 3 hours.

3. Next, I  rinsed until the water ran clear. Which didn't take long at all. My hair felt extremely strong afterwards. My curls were popping and the shrinkage was absolutely real. It definitely reminded me why I have not cut my hair yet. I'm not ready to deal with shrinkage.
4. Although my hair was feeling strong, a moisturizing conditioner was definitely in order. I used up the rest of the Naturelle Grow Mango and Coconut Water Infused Deep Conditioner. My hair instantly softened when the conditioner hit my hair. I steamed for 30 minutes and then rinsed out the conditioner. Now as for as the color payoff that I would have had, it was washed away when I rinsed out the conditioner. I should have sat under the dryer instead of the steamer. But I'm not heart broken because I can tell that my highlights benefited. They seem to be a bit more noticeable to me.

Henna has officially become part of my regimen now. I want to use it over a period of time to see how it helps out my hair during the rest of these transitioning months. I was so nervous about doing this at first but it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I will henna my hair again towards the end of the month. I will do the best I can to take pics of my hair.

What has been your experience with henna?