Wash Day Recap | Goddess Braids

Happy Halloween everyone!

After watching last week's episode of Blackish, I wanted to rock a goddess braid similar to the one Tracee Ellis Ross wears in the episode.

Photo courtesy of Longing4Length.com

Unfortunately, I don't have the patience or skills to attempt this particular style on my own, so last Saturday I paid a visit to Che're at Six Nine Hair Design. It felt great to have someone else wash, detangle and style my hair. I've decided to treat myself every couple of months to this luxury. Anyway, here is my Tracee Ellis inspired hairstyle.

I loved this hairstyle and wore it the whole week! I applied Mielle Organics Mint Almond Oil to my scalp and strands every night. But since tomorrow is my wash day and today is Halloween, I will be undoing the braids before going to a party tonight.

Sneak peek of our Halloween costumes ;)

How was your #washdayexperience? Did you do any special hairstyles for Halloween?

Wash Day Recap | High Puff

Hey loves!

I'm so excited with my recent wash day and a new style that I got to try out. Here is a recap of Sunday's wash day:

Pre-Poo/ Hot Oil Treatment:  I mixed EVCO, EVOO, Grape Seed and Jojoba Oil together and put it in the microwave for a minute. After it cooled down,  I applied it to my hair and scalp leaving it on for an hour. 

Co-Washed with Shea Moisture's Cleansing Co-wash Conditioner 

Deep Conditioned with Shea Moisture's Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen, Grow and Restore Treatment Masque and Tangles & Beyond's Deep Moisture Conditioner adding Jojoba Oil to my ends. To get the full benefits of this trio, I used my Hot Heads cap for 15 minutes.

Detangled with the mixture still in my hair. I used my Eternally In Amber wide tooth comb to detangle. The detangling process was quick and easy because my hair was soft and most of the tangles were already gone.  

T-shirt dried my hair for 15-20 minutes. I like my hair to be damp but not soaking wet when I apply my leave-in conditioner and oils. 

Leave-ins + Oils  I got out my trusted Jia's Caribbean DreamCreme by Tangles & Beyond and applied a generous amount to the hair shaft and ends. This is probably my favorite part of wash day because I love the way this stuff smells. Lol. I then sprayed the ends of my hair with my oil mix and massaged my scalp with Sweet Almond & Jojoba Oil for a couple of minutes. 

While pulling my wash day arsenal, I stumbled across The Antidote (which I forgot I had. Lol). After reading about how people use this as a styling cream instead of a deep conditioner, I decided to use it to twist my hair.  I let my hair dry overnight in the twists and then took them out in the morning.

Styled my hair - I've been wanting to try a high puff style for awhile. I did one this summer but the pressure from the elastic band gave me a migraine. Then I stumbled on one of BlakIzbeautyful's old tutorials and knew I hit the jackpot.




This tutorial was so quick and easy. I think it took me less than 5 minutes to do this style before work on Monday. I loved the results and rocked this puff the whole week. I will definitely do this style again in the future.

Rocking the puff on Monday

A little selfie action at work on Wednesday

How was your wash day? Did you try a new hairstyle or technique? Be sure to join the link-up and share your #WashDayExperience

Adding Oils To My Regimen

Happy Monday loves!

As I continue my natural hair journey, I am always looking for more ways to keep my hair healthy. I would love my hair to grow but hair health is more important to me. One of the things that I am still trying to get a handle on is finding the right balance of moisture for my hair. I hope finding this balance will also help with the pesky knots I'm still experiencing.

Last year I saw HealthyHairJourney72 's video on making her Aloe Vera Spritz for her hair. I remember thinking that I would try the spritz at some point in my journey. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I made my own version of the spritz.


           

Now, I modified this a little because I didn't buy all of the oils that she uses in her video. I wanted to see if this spritz worked for me so I started out with just three oils: Sweet Almond, Grapeseed and Jojoba Oil.

It's only been a few weeks since I started using this spritz but my hair feels more moisturized. So far I like using it on my ends (usually one of the last steps on wash day) and also when I re-moisturize my hair/scalp midweek.

Another way that I've incorporated oils into my regimen is by adding them to my scalp. After applying all of my leave-ins on wash day, I massage Sweet Almond Oil into my scalp. I also use the oils for my pre-poo. Lastly, I add Jojoba oil to my deep conditioner, which helps make my hair softer and gives it more shine.

Want to add oils to your regimen but don't know where to start? Check out this post from Kinky Curly Coily Me to read about three oils that can be incorporated into your regimen.

What oils do you use in your regimen? Feel free to comment below.

Wash Day Recap | Hello Twists!

Hey loves!

Hope you are having a great weekend. Here is my a recap of my wash day last Sunday (I know, it's late).

Pre-Poo:  I applied my current pre-poo mixture ( EVCO, EVOO &Grape Seed Oil) to my hair concentrating on my ends.  I let the mixture sit in my hair for about an hour.

Co-Washed with Shea Moisture's Cleansing Cowash Conditioner using Nappy Fu's tips for co-washing.

Deep Conditioned with  Shea Moisture's Jamaican Black Castor Oil Stregthen, Grow and Restore Treatment Masque for 15 minutes using my Hot Head Deep Conditioning Heat cap. 

Detangled with the masque still in my hair. I decided to use my fingers to detangle and carefully removed any knots or shed hair along the way.  

T-shirt dried my hair for about 10-15 minutes. This allowed the excess water to be absorbed by the t-shirt.

Applied my leave-ins Shea Moisture's JBCO Leave-In Conditioner, Jia's Caribbean DreamCreme by Tangles & Beyond and sprayed my hair and scalp with my essential oil mix.

Styled my hair-- The original plan was to twist my hair and let it continue drying. Then in the morning I would put my hair in a puff and wear it that way for the week. But after I got back from pole class last Sunday and remembered that my call time was 6am the next day, that plan went straight out the window. Instead, I wore my twists for the rest of the week and did a twist out yesterday for date night with the hubby.

How was your #WashDayExperience? Join the link-up and share your experience.

Wash Day Recap | Wash Day Practices

Happy Saturday!!

Even after my recent trim, I am still experiencing little knots at my ends. I haven't been wearing my hair out recently, so it has to be something in my regimen instead. This month I will be looking at my regimen and other practices to see if I can find a solution.

During yesterday's wash day, I focused on making sure my pre-poo and co-washing techniques were on point. Here's a recap of what I did:

Pre-Poo: I parted my hair into four sections. I then applied EVCO (extra virgin coconut oil) and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) making sure to saturate my ends as well as the rest of my hair.  Recently, I shortened this step to about 30 minutes. But after watching Nappy Fu's video, I decided to go back to pre-pooing for an hour. Check out Nappy Fu's video for tips on how to pre-poo correctly. 

       

Co-Washed with Shea Moisture's Cleansing Cowash Conditioner in four sections. I did this after I washed out my pre-poo. I started with my ends first and worked my way up. I also made sure to massage the conditioner into my scalp. But my main focus was on my ends, since they are always the driest part of my hair. 

         

Deep Conditioned with  Shea Moisture's Jamaican Black Castor Oil Stregthen, Grow and Restore Treatment Masque.  Instead of doing a 30-40 deep conditioning session, I followed the directions on the jar and left it on my hair for 10 minutes. I added heat using my Hot Head Deep Conditioning Heat cap.

Detangled with my hair. Initially I started the process using my new Eternally In Amber detangling comb (which I purchased from Urban Outfitters) and then decided to use my fingers instead.

T-shirt dried my hair for about 10-15 minutes. This allowed the excess water to be absorbed by the t-shirt.


Once my hair was damp and not soaking wet, I put my hair in twists to let my hair finishing drying. My plan was to style my hair but after 60+ hours of work and an early call time the next day, I just left the twists in the whole week. They weren't the best looking twists but they did the job. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to take a pic.

How was your #WashDayExperience? Join the link-up and share your experience.

Mielle Organics Vitamin Check-In: Length Pics & Initial thoughts

At the beginning of September, I blogged about taking Mielle Organics Advanced Healthy Hair Vitamins  to see if they would work for me. Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures but I took a few pictures towards the end of September (my first month taking the vitamins). 

Front length check (9/22/15)

Side length check (9/22/15)

Back length check (9/22/15)

Another view of the back

Initial thoughts on the Mielle Vitamins: 

After a month on the vitamins, I have to say that so far I am a fan. I haven't experienced any breakouts and besides the size of the pill (which can be hard to swallow at times), everything seems to be going really well. I recommend taking the vitamins on a full stomach and I have heard some people put it in their smoothies instead of swallowing them. I plan on writing a full review of the vitamins in December once I have completed the three month supply.

Have you tried the Mielle Advanced Healthy Hair Formula Vitamins? If so, what was your experience?