Wash Day Chronicles

This week's wash day was a pretty good wash day for me. I really wanted to do a bentonite clay treatment on my hair but I had to make a store run and get some more. You ladies sure do buy up all the bentonite clay from the Vitamin Shoppe. lol I decided to be that person and bought up the last two jars from the store that I shop at. lol Let's get into this was day recap.

1. I made my treatment by mixing the clay with some apple cider vinegar and argan oil in a glass bowl. With my hair in four sections, I sprayed my hair with water and applied the mask to my hair.

Here are a couple of pictures of my hair with the clay in it. I let the clay sit in my hair for a few hours and then rinsed it out in the shower.

2. I shampooed with Mane Choice's Detangling shampoo to help get the clay out of my hair and scalp. I used the Scalp Invigorator for a nice scalp massage but also to help remove the rest clay.

3. Next up was the detangling conditioner. This conditioner is very moisturizing and it defines my curls. When I rinse the conditioner out my stays moisturized.

4. I just ordered the Mane Choice deep conditioner, Until I get it, I deep conditioned and sat under the steamer with Mielle Organics Babassu Oil Mint Deep Conditioner.

 

5. Next, I applied the 3-in-1 Leave In and detangled my hair. I usually twist my hair and let it air try but I wanted to try another way to stretch my hair. I banded my hair. I find myself going back to this method every now and then. These are the results from them. I love how the leave-in gives my hair some shine. I rarely have any type of shine in my hair.

6. I used the above products to put my hair in my usual bun.

How was your wash day?

Disclaimer: Please excuse if my pictures are all over the place. I don't know how to fix that once the post is published.

Mane Choice Soft As Can Be 3-in-1 Revitalize and Refresh Conditioner

Name: Mane Choice Soft As Can Be 3-in-1 Revitalize and Refresh Conditioner

Price: 13.99 on the Mane Choice website

Description: Soft As Can Be name says it all. A 3-in-1 conditioner formulated to revitalize and refresh the hair instantly. An advanced conditioner that can be used as a Co-Wash, Leave In, and Detangler. Adds shine, softness and manageability. Stops breakage during the detangling process. Leaves the hair softer and more elastic.

The nutrient contents of this conditioner makes the hair less dry and less prone to breakage by allowing the hair to hold in more moisture for longer periods of time. When used a Co-Wash this unique formula gently rinses away impurities and product build up. Infused with Biotin and Tea Tree to promote growth and retention. No Mineral Oil, No Petrolatum, No Parabens, No Sulfates, No Formaldehydes

●Gentle enough for daily use

●Promotes growth and retention.

● Softly rinses hair from impurities and product buildup.

●Leaves hair feeling revitalized and refreshed.

●Instantly hydrates and moisturizes.

●Helps to remove knots & tangles

●Minimize damage and breakage.

Pros for me: This product is AWESOME. Absolutely awesome. It moisturizes and softens my hair like nobody's business. I get a serious case of hand in hair syndrome when this leave-in is in my hair, It has a medium and creamy consistency that smoothes onto the hair with ease. This makes detangling so easy. I have only used 2 out of the 3 ways, leave-in and detangler, and as such I love it. I want to use it as a cowash but I will wait until I have gotten a few more bottles in my stash. I cannot figure out what the leave-in smells like but it has a very pretty yet subtle scent. It doesn't linger for long. The leave-in is tied for my favorite with the edge control from their line.

Cons for me: It's only 8 oz. I need more product! I am heavy handed with the products and with this being multipurpose it needs to be bigger. If I used it as a cowash as well I would be going through it way too quickly. With their products not being readily available I would be ordering it more frequently.

Verdict: The 3-in-1 leave-in will be a permanent part of my regimen. I will be stocking up when they have another sale.

Bun Saving Duo

My name is Candace and I'm a serial bunner. My buns are the reason that I get frustrated with my hair. I always end up straightening it or in last months case, get twists. I know I mentioned in a few posts how my buns just never pan out. It's frizzy and super puffy at the top. I would wear head bands to try and camouflage the frizzy puffy mess. I have found my bun saving products and they are pictured to the left.


These products make me happy. They have solved all my bun styling woos.

This is my hair last night after I spritzed my hair with water to reactivate my moisturizer then applied the styling gel.to the top and sides of the hair and the edge control on my edges. I put on my wrap and scarf for a couple of hours. I took it off just to get this picture. My hair was so smooth. No frizz and no puffiness. I put the scarf and wrap back on for the night and went to bed.

This is my hair as of 4 pm today. My hair and edges are still laid. This is after working with 2 and 3 year olds then going to a workshop. Eco Styler Gel, the Jireh edge control, ORS Edge Control, Creme of Nature Edge Control and the As I Am Styling Gel have not given me the results that I have been getting with this combo. The As I Am Styling Gel is the only gel that has gotten close to getting the results pictured.












Both products do not have the same consistency as their counterparts. Check out Jen's post on to the consistency of the gel, if you haven't already. She has a video clip that will do better justice to the gel than any picture that I can post.

The Laid Back Effortlessly Edge Control by Mane Choice has one of the smoothest consistencies I have ever seen in an edge control. The smooth consistency makes the application process soooo easy. Usually the consistency of edge controls are very stiff and waxy. When I apply them to my hair line you can see exactly where I put it because there is a streak of product. No matter how much I try to brush it in or distribute the product as evenly as possible, the streak stays there and it doesn't give me the hold that I am looking for. That is issue is non-existent with Mane Choice's edge control.

I would highly recommend these products. You can purchase them though http://themanechoice.com/

Wash Day Chronicles + A Peek at the Twists

Sometime during the last half of 2015, I was seriously contemplating getting twists put in. I wasn't too sure if I was ready to get them. In December, I finally got in contact with Donedo, Chicago You Tuber, and got the ball rolling on setting an appointment. On January 16th, I got my first set of twists put in. Let's start with prepping on wash day.

When I set the appointment, she told me to come with cleaned, moisturized and stretched hair. The night before the appointment, I started out with clarifying with Uncle Funky's Daughter Squeaky Shampoo. Followed that up with UFD's Rich and Funky Moisturizing Shampoo. After the hair was clean, I conditioned with their Richee Rich conditioner. I left that on while I finished showering. Next up was deep conditioning. I used a protein deep conditioner to give my hair a boost of strength. I used Hydratherma Naturals' protein deep conditioner and I sat under the steamer for about 20-25 minutes. After all the washing was complete, I moved on to moisturizing and stretching my hair. My moisturizer/leave-in of choice was Camille Rose Naturals Curl Love Moisture Milk, After moisturizing, I blow dried my hair in small sections to ensure that my hair was properly stretched. Now, I bought a new blow dryer about 3 years ago from Sally Beauty Supply. I rarely, if ever, used the comb attachment. I never like the long teeth on there. After seeing, My Natural Sistas' video using this blow dryer, I knew I had to use it for this wash day.

I purchased the Conair Infiniti Pro Blow Dryer on Amazon. The comb attachment sold me. It made blow drying my hair way easier, I love it.

















The next day was appointment day. I had a noon appointment. I left the house an hour and half early. Why, you ask. She lives in a totally different side of the city. It can take up to 40 minutes to get there. Parking on the Northside of Chicago can be a bitch. lol I also had to go buy the hair. I couldn't find it out my way. It turns out that the beauty supply store that was buy her apartment didn't sale the hair that she wanted me to get anymore. I ended up buying 7 packs of Janet Collection Afro Kinky Hair in 1B. When there was only one section left before she would be done I had to go back out and buy a few packs of hair. This time I had to buy them in the color 1 because I had bought out the 1B. In total it took 9 packs of hair to complete my big head. lol Now how long do you think it took for her to complete my entire head.

Come on...take a wild guess. 7? Maybe 8 hours? Well you would have guessed wrong. I was in and out within 3 and half hours. You read that right. I was prepared for the long haul but was pleasantly surprised to walk out of there at 3:30. lol

My goal is to keep them in for 6-8 weeks. I love them. She didn't put them in super tight but they are heavy as hell. I have been oiling my scalp with the Mane Choices Multi-Vitamin Scalp Nourishing Oil to help keep itchy/dry scalp away.

I need your help. For those that have had twists before, how did you clean your scalp? I have no clue what to do. Please leave any helpful suggestion below.

New Products for Operation: Grow My Hair Back

One of my main goal is to grow my hair to Full BSL next year. I want my hair to cover the entire bra strap by the end of the year.  I already have a post showing the things that I will be using to achieve my goal of growing my hair back after my cut but I am adding a few new ones to the list. We all know that our hair is continuously growing and that no product is going to grow your hair for you. But if there is something that can help aide in speeding the process up, I'm willing to give it a shot.

I am a fan of The Mane Choice. I have been taking there vitamins for awhile now and I also enjoy their Doesn't Get Much Butter Than This product as well. If you are an avid Instagram user like myself, then you know that right before Christmas that they released a few new products and tools. Me being the product junkie that I am decided to give them a shot.

I ordered;

1. Easy on the Curls Detangling Hydration Shampoo
2. Easy on the Curls Detangling Hydration Conditioner
3. Soft As Can Be 3-in-1 Revitalize Co-wash/Leave-in/Detangler

All three stimulates growth, are loaded with vitamins and claims to cut your wash day in half. Anything that can help shorten a wash day is welcomed with open arms to my regimen. lol

Crystal Orchid Biotin Infused Styling Gel

Multi-Vitamin Scalp Nourishing Growth Oil is a topical multi-vitamin for the scalp.

I will hopefully be using these products on my next wash day which should be sometime this weekend. I can't wait to give them a try.

2016 Hair Goals

So I conquered my 2 goals for this year. I used up stash sort of. I mostly gave them away mostly and some were trashed. I also did my big chop this year. So now it's time to make a few new goals for the new year.

1. Take more pictures. I am very bad at keeping pictures of my hair. Mainly because I have no one to take them for me. Also because when I do they never come out right. Now that I have a new phone with a much better camera, I will trying to get better pictures.

2. I want to finally get my hair to full BSL this year. I am going to continue Operation: Grow My Hair Back to achieve this goal. I have new products I will add to this. I'll have another post on that.

3. Perfect my flat twist out. I want to come on here with a post about my perfect twist out. lol

4. Thicken up my edges.

5. Do a better job with my blog especially with doing follow up posts.

Short and sweet. What are you hair goals for the new year? Maybe I'll see some that I need to add to my list.

2015 Hair in Review

Here are a few of my highlights from this year

1. Tried Henna once. Liked it but haven't done another treatment this year.
2. Had my hair highlighted and also touched up. The color is no longer burgundy. I can't quite pick the color that it is now.
3. Tried lots and lots and lots of new products. Fell in love with some and others were just infatuation. lol
4. Got rid of the majority of my product stash. Not by using them up but by either giving them away and also throwing some out.
5. Found some staple products but I will always continue to try out new products.
6. Completed my transition to natural. Yay
7. Finally trying out flat twist outs and having the nerve to wear them out even if I don't find them to be "perfect".
8. I trimmed my hair. A LOT this year.
9. Then I cut my hair. Not trim but cut. lol

Let's get back to this cut and the condition my hair is in now.

(top) The first picture is from the beginning of my journey. I was still relaxing but stretching them out as long as could. The only thing that is the same about my hair from 2012 to today is the length. After cutting my hair in October, I am back to shoulder length. But now my hair is thicker and fuller.

(left) These pictures are comparing my hair from January of this year to today. Such a length difference. I chose the health of my hair over holding onto length. No need to hold on to hair that is breaking off. I do miss the length but I will have fun growing my hair back but also growing it longer. I will say that I am loving the fullness and how much thicker my hair is after this cut. It always amazes me what a cut can do.

Next length check will probably be in April. I plan on getting some twists in January and keeping them until sometime in April. Between taking my vitamins, applying Wild Growth Oil a few days a week and massaging my scalp I hope to see some decent growth.

How was you journey this year?