Firstly I would like to say wow, to those females who transition for over a year, without the aid of wigs, weaves, hair extensions! I mean I am not a fan of any of those things, but I believe my mind is starting to be swayed in the direction of hair extensions ( errrhmmmm!) or just cutting the relaxed part off all together! LOL! I do not believe my transitioning journey will last very long...but we'll see, anyhoo, let me tell you about my hair wash day at 6months post relaxer!
The first thing I did was part my hair in four, then coat my hair in coconut oil, the reason why I do this is because it is easier for me to detangle, and prevents knots forming whilst washing my hair
The above picture is the coconut oil I used, to be honest I can not stand the smell of this oil, but it was free from the Afro hair and beauty show so, I might as well use it....and I will only use it before washing my hair!
When I wash my hair I wash it in sections, and I also pay attention to getting my scalp clean, I soak my hair with water, then massage my scalp with the shampoo! yes ( for those of you thinking, what a long ting! errrhmmm, yes I know your out there!) it does take a while longer doing it this way, section by section, but doing it this way will save you from knots and tangles in your hair later, and most of all it will save you from a load of breakage, but by all means if you can not be asked to do this, and you fling your head that has two textures on it, over your bathroom sink, bath, or you decide to stand in the shower and bunch your hair up and scrub like your vex with your life! then, I've got four words for you "good, luck, with, that!".
The above picture, is how much hair I lost while detangling with the coconut oil before washing my hair.
These are my new favourite products..I am in lust with these two, which I bought from the hair show, I now wish I bought two more of each, as it was £5 each ( normally over £10 each! ) the conditioner is so thick and creamy...both my natural hair and relaxed hair love this these two!
I let the conditioner sit on my hair for 20-30minutes, I put on a foil cap and a plastic shower cap over the foil one...
Washing the conditioner out, now, I wash my hair out with Luke warm, not ice cold water, so it is cool, but not cold...as doing this is meant to, seal in the moisture.
Finished washing my hair, it feels so moisturised and smooth!
So after I finished washing out the conditioner, I take each section and towel dry, now again I do not go crazy! and rub the cotton towel over each section of hair, ( as I do want the hair to stay on my scalp..)
instead I just squeeze out the remaining water, by pressing the towel lightly on my hair, no rubbing people no rubbing! After I've done that, I put on a "leave in conditioner" by "Curls Unleashed" I need to buy a full size bottle of this stuff, this is another product I can not do without, also a freebie at the hair show! This leave in is slippery not greasy, or watery, its like a lotion, a light lotion! ahhhh-ma-zing!
The leave in conditioner is exactly that "a leave in" do not rinse it out..
Drying methods...
If I am not going anywhere I will air dry, how I air dry my hair is by doing a 2strand twist on each section of hair, secure the ends of the hair with a hair band, and leave it to dry, if you do not know what a 2strand twist is, google it.
Another way I air dry is by getting an old t-shirt, put it on or wrap it around my shoulders ( yep, my partners t-shirts always! lol! if its lying around or in the chest of draws, I will use it! ) and just leave my hair out to dry.
If I am going out or working the next day, I will air dry with one of the methods mentioned above, for an hour or hour and a half,apply a heat protector, then use my hairdryer, so 60% of my hair will be dry before direct heat is applied...and this would be the stage where I might cornrow my hair or twist and then bantu knot, my hair, or do six single braids...I use caster oil or avocado oil, or olive oil to moisturise my hair!
xx
ps....I hope this helps someone out there who is also on a natural hair journey or healthy hair journey...
S