Wash Day - Quickweave Takedown

During the time I was wearing my quickweave, I was diligent about moisturizing & sealing, and applying my growth aid. The whole time I've been on this journey to long, healthy hair, I've never had my hair cornrowed for more than a couple days. So, I was a little nervous about the state my hair was going to be in when I took them out. One thing's for sure, I had the best braidout ever once I did. It had so much volume and definition! I was upset I did it right before washing and didn't have a chance to wear it out anywhere. Here's how my wash day went:

{1} When taking the braids down, I loaded my hair (and hands) with grapeseed and coconut oils to ease both the friction between strands and removal of shed hair. My hair felt surprisingly soft and moisturized! I was glad my diligence paid off.  

{2} I separated my hair into 4 sections, applied a protein conditioner to my ends, L'Oreal Damage Erasing Balm, and put on a plastic cap for about 20 minutes.

{3} In the shower, I rinsed then shampooed with both Shea Moisture Deep Cleansing and CON Argan Oil Moisturizing shampoos. It's not unusual for me to use both in one wash, but I did want to make sure I got a good deep cleaning this wash.

{4} After letting the excess water soak up in a towel, I applied my deep conditioners,
Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose and Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner (1st use), and put on a plastic cap. I ended up leaving it on overnight. Simply because I got tired and did not feel like getting back up to rinse my hair.

{5} The next day, I rinsed with cool water and did an ACV rinse. Let it sit for a few minutes before doing a final rinse with cold water.

{6} I t-shirt dried for about 20 minutes before applying my leave-ins: Elasta QP H2 and Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer. 

{7} I let my hair air dry clipped in sections in an attempt to stretch my roots. I left it that way until it was about 80% dry. 

{8} Everything went smoothly until I got to this point - detangling. Ugh. My new growth was still so coiled together it was hard to separate into smaller sections. I lost enough hair to fit inside the palm of my hand, but when examining it, I found that the majority of it was shed hair (bulbs still attached). Not necessarily bad for over two weeks, but still more than I'm used to experiencing. And it took so long to get thru all my hair.

air-dried and detangled

My guess with the shedding is that it's just that time for me. A lot of women experience increased shedding when the weather changes in the fall/winter. The same thing happened to me last year around this time, which caused me to start trying tea rinses. Until this summer, I was a regular tea rinse girl. I'm not sure where or how I let those fall away, but this is a sign I need to get back on that. I'm also considering trying a coffee rinse to see if that makes any more of a difference than the black/green teas I normally use. 

This wash day made me long for a relaxer. It also made me wonder how I will ever go natural. Lol! I'm sure, like with anything, learning to deal well with my different textures just takes practice. Stretching is definitely a testament to that truth. I never would have thought I'd get to the point of being well past 3 months post relaxer either, but here I am :)

Has anyone else's shedding increased in the past month? 

12 comments 12 weeks post, acv, air-drying, apple cider vinegar rinse, braidout, wash day

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Relaxer Update

I relaxed my hair about a month ago, ending a 12 week stretch. I used Elasta QP's Ultra Hydration conditioning relaxer. I really like the way my hair feels after relaxing with this kit. It also under-processes my hair even if I leave it on for longer than the recommended processing time. 

Knowing I was soon to relax, I did a protein deep condition the wash day before my relaxer day. On relaxer day, I pre-pooed with Herbal Essences Honey I'm Strong and grapeseed oil for about an hour. After, I based my scalp with vaseline and also coated the length of my [previously relaxed] hair with it. 

shots of some of the texture left in my hair

Now that I am intentionally texlaxing/unprocessing my hair, my goal is to have a processing time of only 10-15 minutes max. I didn't make it this time. Came in right under 20 minutes. I also didn't add anything to the relaxer like I have the past two times. However, my hair still came out pretty darn textured and SO very thick. So I'm not upset at all. I'll move faster next time. 

Once I rinsed out the relaxer, I applied my protein treatment, this time using a spray bottle. Although the spray bottle made it a little less messy and Aphogee works well, I am considering finding another hard protein treatment. The sticky mess plus the bad smell makes me roll my eyes when I use it, honestly. I saturated my hair, made sure it was evenly distributed and then used a blow dryer to harden it. I rinsed in the shower, neutralized (3 lathers) and used Aphogee's balancing moisturizer, leaving it on my hair for about 5 minutes. 

 

Aphogee 2-step Protein Treatment (in spray bottle)

I used Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner along with Silk Dream Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream conditioner to deep condition my hair. I mixed them in an empty jar and applied from root to tip. I put on a plastic cap and a scarf and left it on for about an hour and a half, spending half of that under my bonnet dryer. I rinsed with cool water followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. 


Since I am participating in this protective styling challenge with a goal of using no heat, I did not straighten my hair or do a length check. But I will be very soon! I applied my usual leave-ins (Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer and Elasta QP Silk H2), let my hair air dry and put it up in my go-to bun. I was pleased with my results!

air-drying

6 comments air-drying, protein treatment, relaxer, self relaxing, texlax, underprocessing hair

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Surprisingly 11 Weeks Post Relaxer

So, last week during my wash day, I felt like my hair was thicker than ever! As it was air-drying and I was applied my leave-ins, I had to take a moment to figure out how long it had been since my last relaxer. 11 WEEKS!! I cannot believe I went 11 weeks and didn't even realize it. To me, this is exciting for a couple different reasons.

The first reason is that my goal time of stretching between relaxers is to reach 12 weeks. Personally, I think that's the perfect amount of time for my hair. It limits me to about four relaxers a year and ensures I have a nice amount of new growth to prevent me from over processing my previously relaxed length. I have no desire to go any longer than that. My stretches will stay between 10-12 weeks. My stylist (who I miss dearly!) got me into stretching the time between my relaxers. That was about two years ago, when I was pretty much barely making it to 8 weeks between relaxers. 

The other reason is that I made it to 11 weeks without noticing. I didn't feel like my hair was becoming such a hassle that I needed to figure out when my next relaxer until it was pretty much time for the next one. This is a really big deal to me because one of my biggest struggles has been taming the beast that is my new growth. Seriously, that stuff has a whole attitude of its own. It can be downright disrespectful at times. I've officially learned to deal with it! It has been sooo soft. I can get my fingers through my hair and I'm not dealing with a bunch of breakage at the line of demarcation (the line where my new growth and my previously relaxed hair meet). #SCORE!! 

Needless to say, today will be relaxer day! Since realizing it had been so long, I have had trouble with my hair. Ha! Its probably totally a mind game. It was tucked away or in a bun all week, as I anticipated being able to get my hair to relax some :) 

For anyone that is currently trying to stretch out the time between their relaxers, be patient with yourself. (Do you hate when people give you that line for advice as much as I do??) Clearly, it took me about two years to add 4 weeks to my time between relaxers. I would just add one week at a time and not add another until I felt I was dealing well with my hair at that step. I was stuck at 10 weeks for a long time. Hope that makes sense. Stretching can be really beneficial when you take your time and listen to your hair. If your hair is getting dried out, breaking and/or shedding more, it is better to just relax, in my opinion, than to let your hair get damaged for the sake of reaching a stretching goal. 

4 comments 11 weeks post, 12 weeks post, air-drying, relaxer stretching

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