Wash Day - 20 Weeks Post

This is the wash day after I took my box braids out (late post!). I was a little anxious to really wash my scalp since I hadn't had a deep clean in six weeks.  So, after awhile of rocking my box braidout, I went for it. My 20 weeks post roots were kind of intimidating, but I'm going to have to get to know them sooner or later. Here's how it went down:

{1} I did a hot oil treatment on my scalp with a homemade garlic-infused mix of grapeseed, olive and coconut oils and put Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose on the length of my hair. I was having issues with shedding before my box braids so I figured it best that I do a treatment in case I was still having issues. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and let it sit for about 30 minutes of so.

{2} This might be where things started going downhill. My scalp was loving Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat while I had braids so I decided to wash with that. Lathered twice and my hair felt gross - dry even though it was soaking wet. So I reached for my CON Argan Oil Moisturizing shampoo and my hair felt better, but it seemed to be tangling so much. I was confused because my technique of washing in sections and only washing my scalp usually prevents that from happening. My scalp might like that shampoo but my hair certainly hates it.

After taking the towel off my hair, the sight of my hair was a wee bit scary. The picture above doesn't really do it justice. It looked almost matted because it was sooooo tangled. Aaaahhh! I had a minor freak out moment as I struggled just get my fingers through it. This never happens!! It was a sad sight, too. That's for sure. It was already late at night, so I had to wake myself up some to come up with a game plan. I quickly figured that, combined with whatever effects the shampoo had on my hair, I had not done a thorough enough job removing my shed hair after I took my braids out. When I washed my hair, the shed hair just tangled up in it creating the worst mess I have ever had the pleasure of detangling.

{3} I took a smaller section of hair and attempted to add conditioner(s) and detangle that way. It worked, but it took a very long time to do that small section. I knew I had to take my time so that I could prevent losing an unnecessary hair, but I couldn't deal with moving that slow for my whole head.

{4} New game plan: let hair air dry before detangling. This is how I always detangle my hair, but I don't think I thought of it initially because I had not even deep conditioned yet. I let my hair air dry, still in sections, to about 80% and sprayed a little bit of each of my leave ins (Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer and Elasta QP H2) to make sure it wasn't dried out for this detangling session.

{5} One by one, I divided each of my four sections into three and went to work! I started working my way up by finger detangling first then using a wide tooth comb. I found a number of knots that were making so much trouble. Fast forward three hours... yes, I said three hours later I was done detangling!!! -_- Good news is pretty much every thing I lost was shed hair. So, I was glad I took my time. I also don't think the amount I lost was that bad considering it had been over 6 weeks since my hair had been combed.


{6} After I detangled each section, I added conditioner and braided it up. I pulled out a number of conditioners initially, but I primarily used Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose and L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm I put on a plastic cap and scarf and went to bed!

{7} The next morning, I rinsed my hair in the braids, let it air dry and added the same leave-ins from Step 4 (at about 80% dry). It was a bun for me that day. I was very over my hair at that point.

I never thought my 20 weeks post relaxer roots would have been the least of my worries on this wash day, but they gave me no trouble. Especially in comparison with that shed hair detangling ordeal! I think my real question after all this is: WHY, I say WHYYY don't I own a real detangler?!?! Maybe because I've never had enough trouble with tangles to buy one over a new conditioner I've been eyeing... yep, lesson learned. I'm positive a good detangler would have shortened the time that took. I'll be buying or making one of my own very soon. That can.never.happen.again.


I am thinking about purchasing It's A 10 Miracle Leave-in and/or making one using marshmallow root. Does anyone have any good detangler recommendations?? 

6 comments:

  1. URGHHH that matting would have sent me up the wall. I like how you took care of it with patience.

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    1. Thanks Aku! Yea it was VERY frustrating. I wanted to cry lol several times during the process.

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  2. Oh my gosh you scared me when your started talking about the matting and shedding, great news 3 hours later it was all behind you, you acted really calm! That is the one thing that terrifies me about hair after long term PS!
    I don't actually think I own a detangler as well, I tend to use my aussie miracle leave in conditioner as a detangler as well, it works just fine for me!

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    1. Yes, now I truly understand why people get so worried about it! I didn't even think it was that "long-term", but apparently it doesn't take too long for something like this to happen.

      I've always used other products to help with detangling, too, but this episode made me want to step my game up and get a serious detangler.

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  3. My 7 months post roots love Matrix Biolage Detangling Solution. I washed once without it and almost died. I'm not being dramatic. I really felt like I was going to die whilst detangling!

    KLP | SavingOurStrands

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    1. LOL you just painted a vivid picture of how much you rely on this stuff! Thanks KLP! I will definitely be checking into that one.

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