Book Club: The Science of Transitioning

Currently reading The Science of Transitioning By Audrey Davis-Sivasothy.

You can buy this from Amazon UK for £1.99 (Kindle format) or $2.99 from Amazon US. This offer lasts until January 31st. 

Hair Care Basics: Cleansing

You have decided to take better care of your hair and commence a healthy hair journey but do not know where to start; this series is designed to breakdown the components of a healthy hair care regimen. First we will look into hair and scalp cleansing.

Cleansing in hair terms is the process of removing product build up and cleaning the scalp to create a healthy growth environment for hair. It is recommended to do this once every 7-10 days, cleansing can be done more often but you have to take care not use shampoo if washing for example every 3 days. Frequent washes are common when sporting shorter hair lengths like the low fade or Teeny Weeny Afro (TWA), while ladies with longer hair may choose to stretch/space out wash days. The right routine or frequency however is a personal preference and you have to find what works for you.

Types of Shampoo

Generally when researching for your healthy hair care you will find that sulfate and non-sulfate shampoos being discussed. Basically for curly/coily/kinky hair which is dry naturally; a sulfate shampoo can be very drying if used regularly. It is preferable to use a sulfate-free shampoo which is gentler and does not strip the hair and scalp of all natural oils.

Based on the function of shampoos they can be classified into; clarifying, chelating and neutralizing.

Clarifying shampoos: as the name implies they clarify the hair and strip the strands of all build up from the use of creams, moisturizers, gels, oils etc. It can be said that all sulfate shampoos are clarifiers, as they strip the hair and scalp of build up and oils.

Chelating Shampoos: these are shampoos that in addition to the clarifying action remove mineral deposits. According to Audrey Davis-Sivasothy in her book The Science of Black Hair, The bonds that minerals make with the hair, however, are stronger than those made by products, dirt and oils, Mineral bonds with the hair fiber are chemical bonds that cannot be removed with the simple surfactants found in moisturizing and clarifying shampoos. A specially formulated chelating shampoo is required to remove mineral deposits from the hair. The ingredients in chelating shampoos chemically bind to hard-water minerals and help lift them away.

Neutralizing shampoos: these are shampoos that are used at the end of a chemical relaxer process to wash out the relaxer from the hair and effectively stop the chemical action. 

Next we will examine How to Shampoo/Cleanse hair and No-Shampoo hair cleansing methods.

Your feedback is much appreciated, please leave a comments and questions below.

Happy Hair Growing!

2015 Hair Goals

My hair goals for 2015 are;

GOAL 1: Maintain healthy transitioning hair

My last relaxer was in July 2014, I intend to transition for at least a year before I review and decide whether or not to big chop. I want to maintain my transitioning hair and incorporate hair practices that keep m hair healthy.

GOAL 2: Hair Regimen Review

My regimen has pretty much been a weekly wash and deep condition for the last few months. I have made no major changes to my hair products and feel it is time to review them and determine what actually still works for my hair and what needs to go.

GOAL 3: Pamper my edges

The biggest hair mistake I made last year has to be getting Ghana Weaving done, I lost my edges in the two weeks I had that hair style. This year I want to pamper and be gentle with my edges.

GOAL 4: Try more natural products

This ties in with my hair regimen review goal, I will try products with more natural ingredients and also try DIY mixes (conditioning and cleansing)

GOAL 5: Keep Blogging

The blog serves as a way to chronicle my journey and  I want to commit myself to continuing the blogging habit.

What are your hair goals for 2015? Do share!

Wash Day Diaries: First wash of 2015

Happy New Year!

I wish everyone the very best this year, may it be a fulfilling year in every aspect of all our lives. 

My year started on a low note as I had an accident at home on the 31st of December; I slipped and fell in the bathroom...ouch! I was in hospital most of the day as I had some pains around my left ribs. I am much better now and was finally able to wash my hair today.

I had intended to do a length check on the 31st but obviously could not. I will do so at a later time.

Back to my wash day;

Detangling
I am still working on my detangling routine, experimenting to see what works best for my transitioning hair. I finger detangled, however there were very few knots in my hair as I had detangled with a brush as few days earlier. I detangle my relaxed ends with oil and spritz a mixture of water and conditioner to detangle my natural hair.



Prepoo
The thing about this wash day was that it was very impromptu, I didn't like the condition my hair was in so I suddenly decided to wash. I proceeded to prepoo with coconut oil on my strands and scalp and covered with a shower cap. I did this on Thursday morning and kept it on all day and overnight.

When I checked my hair in the middle of the day, it felt well moisturized which was what I was aiming for with this wash day due to the current dry weather.

Cleansing

I shampooed using my Creme of nature argan oil sulfate free shampoo. My normal process is a through rinse my scalp and hair with just water before applying shampoo to my scalp.

Conditioning
Instant Conditioning
I intended to do a moisturizing deep condition but I realised I have run out of conditioner! (poor planning) and I didn't want to use Aphogee 2 min reconstructor. I wanted to mix up something using what I had at home, but ruled out using honey and a conditioner with some oils as I am not using honey due to the current dry weather. (Reason: honey is a humecant that draws moisture from the atmposphere, however in dry conditions such as we are having at the moment it is apparently not advisable to use honey. I guess as there is no moisture in the atmposphere, it kind of defeats the purpose)
I did a quick instant condition with Tresemme Naturals Conditioner, as my hair felt quite moisturized as  result of the extra long prepoo with Coconut Oil.

Leave in conditioning
After rinsing out the Tresemme conditioner, I wrapped in a cotton shirt and left it to air-dry for a few minutes before applying Cantu Shea Butter Argan Oil leave in conditioner and sealing with Coconut Oil.

Styling
Nothing fancy; I planned to flat twist but after the routine I had no time for that and my kids needed my attention so I gathered my hair in a high 'bun' and proceeded with my day.

Upcoming Posts

• 2015 Hair Plans & Goals
• My hair products selection
• Hair Regimen Review