Wash Day - Crochet Box Braid Takedown

So, I came in a little under 3 weeks with my crochet braids, again. I was totally fine with that until I took my hair down and had NO idea what to do with it... sigh. I think protective styling has won me over ladies. I can't believe it. Either that or it's spoiled me too much. Maybe a little of both? Anyway, here's how my wash day went:

{1} Cut the braids a few inches from my scalp and unbraided. Easiest braid removal ever.

{2} Pre-poo - coated my hair with Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Moisturizing conditioner and a mix of oils (olive, safflower, grape seed & a few drops of peppermint) overnight under a plastic cap & scarf. 

{3} Took braids out, removed shed hair, detangled and sectioned into 8 braids.

{4} Shampooed with CON Argan Oil Moisturizing shampoo.

{5} Deep conditioned with L'oreal Damage Erasing Balm under a plastic cap & scarf for a few hours.

{6} Rinsed then did an ACV & Aloe Vera juice rinse. I let this soak in for a bit, squeezed the excess, but didn't rinse it out.

{7} Towel wrapped my braids to soak up more of the excess juices for about 20 minutes.

{8} Section by section - I removed each braid and applied my leave-ins: grape seed oil, Whipped Creme Ends Hydration, my DIY shea butter mix. Not much detangling needed *woot woot!* 

{9} Tension blew dry my roots

{10} Applied Eco-styler gel on my edges, tied them down with a scarf and let it air dry the rest of the way.

The big hair is back! I'm pretty sure once I get to the point where all my bone straight ends are gone, I will totally be able to pull off a fro lol! And I will love it!! Never would've guessed that would happen. My roots are becoming a serious matter, but the braids throughout my wash days are keeping tangles to a minimum. *happy dance* I'm loving these easy, peasy wash days. AND keeping my hair in braids for washes has liberated me from the multiple shower trips. That's cause for a whole nother *happy dance*! Ha! It's so much easier to be able to just rinse my hair in the sink without worrying about it getting tangled from me flipping my head upside down. For now, I'll just be letting my hair rest for a bit before relaxing. 

Yaaay for awesome wash days! How was your wash day this week? Be sure to check out other wash day experiences over at SavingOurStrands and Just Grow Already!

11 comments 14 weeks post, acv, aloe vera juice, taking out box braids, taking out crochet braids, washing in braids

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Wash Day - Box Braid Prep

This particular wash day I wanted to focus on strengthening and conditioning my hair because of the fact that I was having box braids installed the next day. I haven't had braids since I was a child. So, I wanted to make sure I did a little extra to boost my hair's strength and prepare it for this long(er) term protective style. Here's how the day went:

{1} I separated my hair into 4 sections. I do every step of my wash day in these 4 sections. This is also when I started my initial henna mixture.

{2} I pre-pooed using Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner and a mixture of grapeseed and coconut oils for about 30 minutes with a plastic cap.

{3} Rinsed and shampooed with Shea Moisture ABS Deep Cleansing and CON Argan Oil Moisturizing shampoos.

{4} After letting the excess water soak up in a towel, I added the conditioners & oils and, using gloves, applied my henna gloss treatment while standing in my tub. I did not feel like covering my bathroom with newpaper again and knew it would be easy to clean up any splatter this way.

{5} I sat under my bonnet dryer for about 30 minutes then let my hair cool for a few minutes before going to the shower rinse.

{6} After rinsing, my hair felt strong, yet still soft, but I decided to apply some moisturizing conditioners anyway. Just to be safe. I used Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose (yes, again! I need to review it) and Organix Argan Oil Deep Moisturizing Conditioner. Both of these conditioners have instructions of 2-5 minutes and I feel they actually work in a short amount of time. I put on a plastic cap for maybe 10 minutes and rinsed again.

{7} I t-shirt dried my hair for 30 minutes then began detangling.

{8} As I detangled, section by section, I also applied my leave-ins, Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer and Elasta QP H2. 

{9} At this point, my hair was about 70% dry. I wanted to blow dry it (on low) so that my my new growth and texture did not present any tangling problems to whomever was going to be braiding my hair. I wanted to make it as easy on them as possible to get thru all this hair of mine. 

{10} After doing a quick once over with the dryer, I decided to add Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner, which can be used as a deep conditioner or a leave in, and a little grapeseed oil. My hair just felt like it was going to need something more by the time I was done. I then finished getting my roots together with the blow dryer. 

My hair seemed huge! It felt great and the color was much more noticeable than it was before. It's like a deep, richer burgundy color. Yesss! Very successful wash day. I felt like my hair was in great shape for its upcoming box braid installation.  

10 comments 14 weeks post, ayurvedic hair care, Creme of Nature, henna gloss, henna treatment, Shea Moisture, wash day

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Random Hair Chatter @ 12-14 Weeks Post

• I'm actually staring 14 weeks post relaxer in the face (in just a matter of days) and can't believe I've made it this far into a stretch. What's more unbelievable, to me, is that I have no plans of relaxing soon nor of transitioning to natural at the moment. I plain and simple just have not been and am still not in the mood to relax my hair. I just do not feel like it! It's so weird because I'm usually quite eager to relax by the time I make it to 12 weeks post.

• My last wash day, which I will detail in another post, made me seriously consider relaxing soon. Tangles and shedding galore! That is one of the usual motivations for my eagerness to relax. A certain amount of new growth throws my wash days all the way off. 

• I have had this dilemma in my mind for a month or so about what long term protective style I would like to try out. I tried out a quickweave wig (pictured above) to decide if I wanted to go for wigs for awhile. I think I would enjoy the ease of wearing wigs, but I would also have to invest in some good hair or a good unit if I was going to be wearing it long-term. I can't walk around looking all matted within two weeks. So, I think I'm going to save up a little for that investment. Perhaps at the beginning of the new year I'll go for that. In the meantime, I decided to get box braids. After much deliberation! A number of people I have talked to about getting them doubt my ability to keep them in long term. Ha! Because they know how bored I get with hairstyles and how much I enjoy washing my hair weekly, both of which may work against me during this time. For me, if I can keep them in for 4-6 weeks, I will be proud. Plus the price is extra motivation for them not to come out after a few short weeks. That might not seem like very long-term to some people, but it definitely will be to me. This is a reason (besides not feeling like it) that I didn't want to relax as scheduled. Putting braids in after a fresh relaxer would set me up for failure I'm sure.  

•  I am itching to buy some new hair products! I probably don't actually need any of the things I want to buy, but that's nothing new. I'm just trying to hold out until Black Friday so I can get some goodies from online companies. I got some great products during the sales last year, and haven't repurchased any since. Some of them I will be repurchasing, some of them I won't, and some of them I haven't even used up yet. Shame on me and I'm talking about buying some more already.

• Heaven gained a very close family member of mine about two weeks ago. While it is devastating to us, I know the angels are rejoicing. Understandably, my blog was the last thing on my mind. I am going to attempt to update it with the posts planned for that time. I knew during this time I was not going to feel like dealing with all this hair and a new level of new growth, so back to the salon I went. Same stylist as my last salon visit. Straight hair is just easier to manage sometimes. While she did a great job, I did decide I will probably never let her or anyone else detangle my hair again. There's just something about combing from root to tip, no matter how patient you may try to be, I cannot deal with. So, I will be returning to her the next time I want my hair straight without doing it myself, but it will be after my hair has been washed, deep conditioned and thoroughly detangled. It's cheaper and means less time sitting in a salon anyway. Here's a pic of my hair after she blew it out. My ends still look nice to me! :)

My hair is inching toward full bra strap length pretty quickly, in my opinion. That was my original hair goal. I changed it to mid-back length because I want to cut some nice layers in it for my dream hair and think that will ensure I'm still around the same area after the cut. I was so very tempted to have my stylist go ahead and cut into my hair right now though! My one-length hair kinda bores me when its straight, but not when its textured. After watching another stylist cut and feather a woman's hair so beautifully, I thought about just going for it. My stylist kindly reminded me that that woman's hair was weave and mine is not, and I should just keep growing until I get to my goal. Thank God for her! I would have regretted that cut for sure.

Hope everyone has been well. I am going to start blog stalking soon!

11 comments 12 weeks post, 13 weeks post, 14 weeks post, random hair talk, salon visit, stylist

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