NATURAL SUPPORT THREAD 2010:STYLES,REGGIES,PRODUCTS AND RANDOM STUFF!

Miss AJ

New Member
finally able to rock my beloved twists again!! just spritzed them with water and baggying right now. and eco is the best gel ever because my flat twists in the front look so good.
 

Evallusion

LiloLombardi
I forgot about this thread! I just wanted to share my new staple

Pink Short Looks SazzaFrazz Spray!

I have pretty much been natural since 2006 and I've done many big chops due to breakage and lack of moisture. The only thing that really worded for me was Qhemet's Amla heavy cream but the price tag was a bit much for me. But this Pink spray is only 3.49 and it my hair is sooo soft. Not to mention, it doesn't leave any residue on my hair, hands or pillowcases.

And also, today is month 2 since my big chop back in February. I am pleased with my progress. I can't wait until my hair gets longer so I can experiment with some styles.

I'm still working on getting a regimen down as well as finding a good deep conditioner. This has always been a problem for me. I'm going to go read through this thread for some tips.

HHG
 

Miss AJ

New Member
Perusing the hair care aisle won't be fun again until I put a dent in my ridiculous stash. I've got so much crap to use up i probably wont get to go real hair shopping til the end of this year, smh lol
 

lovegymnasts

New Member
Current Regimen​

Current Staple Products:

  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Baking Soda
  • Olive Oil
  • Coconut Oil
  • Wheat Germ Oil
  • Co-washing: Lekair
  • Moisturizing Deep Conditioner: Queen Helene mixed with olive oil and coconut oil
  • Protein Deep Conditioner: Motions CPR Reconstructor - Sally's no longer sells so I purchased - Ultra Sheen Duo Tex (I found out it is a hard protein but my hair did well with it; probably because I followed the instructions and did not leave it on for more than 10 minutes; and because I followed with my usual moisture deep conditioning; lesson I learned using this...to try it in a spray bottle; it is pure liquid and ran every where; I'm putting this puppy in a spray bottle and spraying each section when I take them down and then loosely re-braid them)
  • Moisturizer/Leave-in: Lustrasilk Shea Butter mixed with wheat germ and olive oil
  • Daily moisturizer: spray bottle filled with water; one squirt Lustrasilk; one squirt wheat germ oil; and one squirt olive oil

Techniques:

  • Wash hair weekly
  • Never lie down or go to sleep without my satin bonnet on
  • Never sleep with my hair loose; it is either in twists or braids
  • Use moisturizing deep conditioner weekly; use protein deep conditioner followed by moisturizing deep conditioner monthly
  • Wear hair in twists 90% of the time; 70%-80% of time when I wear it in twists, I wear them up (bun; hair sticks; ponytail)
  • No direct heat
  • Only comb my hair on wash day before/while styling
  • Wash/deep condition/rinse my hair in twists or braids
  • Co-wash exclusively (scrub scalp thoroughly with balls of fingers; squeeze twists/braids; rinse thoroughly)
  • Clarify once a month with baking soda (7 tablespoons baking soda; 10 cups warmish water)
  • Last rinse is always an apple cider vinegar rinse (1.25 cups apple cider vinegar; 10 cups cold water)
Wash day steps:

  1. take down twists (do some slight finger combing to separate hair) put hair in 8-12 loose braids
    1. if hair is in a braid-out or twist-out, I jump directly to putting hair in 8-12 loose braids
  2. I use an old Lekair jar; put in some Lekair conditioner in the old jar and fill the rest with water; shake it up very well (Lekair is extremely thick)
    1. I put a braid in the jar and then hold the jar to my head until the entire braid and the scalp underneath are saturated; repeat to all braids
      1. I may have to add more water and shake
      2. I don't move the jar because it will snag on my hair
  3. I put the left over Lekair, that is in the jar when all the water is gone, on my scalp and scrub within an inch of my life without harming my hair. I also squeeze and run my hands down my braids.
  4. Rinse hair thoroughly by running water through my hair, squeezing the braids, and scrubbing scalp
  5. Take a braid down; soak up water by squeezing hair with towel; cover that section of hair completely with moisturizing deep conditioner, and re-braid or twist; repeat
    1. Queen Helene mixed with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of olive oil; I sometimes put a little more olive oil; the entire mixture fills a cereal bowl about ½ to ¾ of the way
  6. Cover with a plastic cap and sit under hooded dryer for 30 minutes (medium heat)
  7. Leave deep conditioner in hair without heat for an additional 30 minutes
  8. Rinse out deep conditioner thoroughly with cold water by running water through my hair, squeezing the braids/twists, and scrubbing scalp
  9. Using a measuring cup, pour apple cider vinegar rinse through hair and scalp
    1. apple cider vinegar rinse (1.25 cups apple cider vinegar; 10 cups cold water; I sometimes add a couple of ice cubes if water does not feel cold enough)
  10. Remove extra drippies with towel
  11. Take down a section and moisturize with Lustrasilk mixed with wheat germ and olive oil; amount depends on hair; my sisters are relaxed and they need a lot less than I do; As I am doing this, I twist/braid the hair into 8 sections;
  12. Style hair

Monthly
Once a month, I do a protein deep conditioning before I do my moisturizing deep conditioning
On a different week, once a month, I clarify with baking soda instead of co-washing

  1. 7 tablespoons baking soda; 10 cups warmish water
  2. Rinse hair under shower
  3. Using a measuring cup, I pour the baking soda mixture through my hair and scalp while scrubbing with the balls of my fingers; again hair is always in loose braids while I am doing this; I will sometimes stick a braid inside the measuring cup and then tilt the solution on my head while the braid is in it.
  4. Rinse thoroughly (running water through my hair, squeezing the braids/twists, and scrubbing scalp)

Daily Moisturizing for twists
Every morning I fill my (8 oz ?) spray bottle with water and mix it with one squirt Lustrasilk; one squirt wheat germ oil; and one squirt olive oil

  1. I wet my hair (quick rinse while rubbing scalp) under the shower (cold water), then get into the shower and spray my entire head with the mixture (shaking the bottle periodically to make sure that the mixture does not separate)
    1. I use the entire bottle on my head
    2. I make sure to spray the underside of each twist/braid
  2. My hair drip dries while I am showering
  3. I cover it with a satin scarf and then a satin bonnet while I am getting dressed. This takes care of the remaining extreme drippies and water bubbles that form on top of my twists
  4. Style twists or let them hang

Daily Moisturizing for twist-outs or braid-outs
As soon as I come home from work, re-braid/re-twist hair in large-ish sections while spraying each section lightly/moderately with the spray bottle mixture

  1. Re-braid/re-twist with fingers only; no comb
  2. Re-wet hair with mixture just enough so that they will be dry by the morning
  3. If I wet them too much accidentally or on purpose, I will sit under the hooded dryer with the setting on cool to speed the overnight drying process
  4. cover my hair with satin bonnet
 

maxineshaw

Well-Known Member
I'm about to call Jesse Jackson and ask him to bury the word "staple". I'm so frustrated with my hair right now. My routine is cool, but my product are wack. I'm probably going to cut straight oil out of my hair routine as well. What's funny about that is straight oil is all I have to "moisturize" my hair with.
 

Vonnieluvs08

Well-Known Member
I'm going back to twisting my hair. My summer growth spurt is about to happen and I want to retain every inch I get and twists help with that. I'm trying out ceramides to see if that can help with the breakage (minimal) I've noticed. Sticking to my reggie of cowashing at least once a week, DC'ing with moisture/protein balance, henna once a month, using multiple leave-ins and sealing with butters or oils.

My hair has been loving natural products!
 

Mandy4610

Well-Known Member
A couple of styles!









 

Evallusion

LiloLombardi
Awesome hair Mandy.

Not much to report here. I'm rockin my shrunken fro. Its a bit longer now. 1 and 3/4 to 2 inches long. Go me, Woot Woot! 3 inches by this time in July would be great. I'm still loving my Healthy Hair Butter from Carol's Daughter. That in conjunction with my Pink SassaFrazz Spray makes my hair feel super happy. Also, I've never Deep Conditioned my hair...perhaps that should go on the "to do" list.
 

chebaby

Well-Known Member
my hair is actin real funky. it seems right now my hair is only happy when i use kbb products or shea butter. anything else and my hair is a dry mess.
 

Miss AJ

New Member
Profectiv Mega Growth products are awesome, i just gotta remember to ease up on them cuz they are oil based
 

ckisland

Well-Known Member
Today I pinpointed what's been wrong with my hair.

I'm in afro-mullet awkward stage :wallbash:.

I need to let the wash n'goes go. I hate how my hair looks, but my wng has been my go to for over 2 years. Plus I'm growing my hair out so that I can wear 2 braids, long french braids, huge buns, long curly ponytails, and APL twists :lick:. I need to get used to hair being on lockdown because I actually love these styles on longer hair. But then part of me wants to be one of those naturals that grew their hair long with no protective styling. Does anyone else feel this way? To me 4a/b naturals with WL and beyond hair who don't protective style 50% of the time are in a group of their own and I want to join!!

Maybe I'm being rebellious or just plain special :lachen:.
 

Creatividual

Well-Known Member
Today I pinpointed what's been wrong with my hair.

I'm in afro-mullet awkward stage :wallbash:.

I need to let the wash n'goes go. I hate how my hair looks, but my wng has been my go to for over 2 years. Plus I'm growing my hair out so that I can wear 2 braids, long french braids, huge buns, long curly ponytails, and APL twists :lick:. I need to get used to hair being on lockdown because I actually love these styles on longer hair. But then part of me wants to be one of those naturals that grew their hair long with no protective styling. Does anyone else feel this way? To me 4a/b naturals with WL and beyond hair who don't protective style 50% of the time are in a group of their own and I want to join!!

Maybe I'm being rebellious or just plain special :lachen:.

Girl, you are not alone! I want to be a part of their group too. Lol. My hair is ok out for the most part as long as I keep it in stretched styles and moisturized. But my hair does really well when I'm consistent with protective styling also.

I'm thinking of doing an experiment: wearing it out mostly during the warm months making sure to keep it stretched and well moisturized and wearing it up in protective styles (keeping it well moisturized) in the cold months. Hmm...
 

manter26

Well-Known Member
I'm back to my tried and true style...box braids, individuals, pixies... Whatever u call them. They stay moisturized... I can cowash and DC as often as I like and they get cute little curls on the ends instead of unraveling like twists. I'm doing these back to back until the end of the year and hopefully I'll make APL.

No more experimenting...back to basics for me.
 

Creatividual

Well-Known Member
My Reggie's Pretty Simple:

- Cleanse hair every 1-2 weeks
- Condition and ACV rinse every time I cleanse my hair
- Henna every 1-2 months
- Airdry most of the time
- Moisturize daily and/or as needed


Products I'm Using These Days:

- Homemade sulfate free shampoo (castile soap mix)
- Homemade conditioning mixes: usually aloe vera gel mixed with whatever oil on hand
- Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditioner or Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle conditioner as a leave in
- Homemade shealoe cream for twisting with or styling
- Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk for daily moisture
- Homemade moisturizing mist: water, aloe vera gel, and castor/grapeseed oil
- Grapeseed oil for conditioning and/or sealing with
- Other oils I like to condition with: EVOO, coconut oil, avocado, sweet almond

Yes, I'm an oil junkie. I luv conditioning with them. Lol. The only oil I will seal with is grapeseed though. Any other oils cause my hair to build up.

I'm concerned about pH issues with castile soap so I may be going back to a commercial, "organic", sulfate free shampoo.

I'm really trying to get more into protective styles but I just luv having my hair out. Lol. I try to create a balance between wearing my hair in protective styles and wearing it out and this seems to work for me.
 
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FroFab

New Member
I'm back to my tried and true style...box braids, individuals, pixies... Whatever u call them. They stay moisturized... I can cowash and DC as often as I like and they get cute little curls on the ends instead of unraveling like twists. I'm doing these back to back until the end of the year and hopefully I'll make APL.

No more experimenting...back to basics for me.

Good deal. I'm back in too and even though takedown is torture I'm loving them this go round. My hair went and got some length so my pixies are past shoulder length. I've been moisturizing and wrapping them around my hair (like a reg wrap) nightly so they remain fairly straight. I've been flipping them over my shoulder, messy bunning, and pulling them all over one shoulder like nobody's bidness...let me make mbl and I'mma act up for real.
 

LoveCraze

Naturalista
My Reggie's Pretty Simple:

- Cleanse hair every 1-2 weeks
- Condition and ACV rinse every time I cleanse my hair
- Henna every 1-2 months
- Airdry most of the time
- Moisturize daily and/or as needed


Products I'm Using These Days:

- Homemade sulfate free shampoo (castile soap mix)
- Homemade conditioning mixes: usually aloe vera gel mixed with whatever oil on hand
- Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditioner or Trader Joes Tea Tree Tingle conditioner as a leave in
- Homemade shealoe cream for twisting with or styling
- Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk for daily moisture
- Homemade moisturizing mist: water, aloe vera gel, and castor/grapeseed oil
- Grapeseed oil for conditioning and/or sealing with
- Other oils I like to condition with: EVOO, coconut oil, avocado, sweet almond

Yes, I'm an oil junkie. I luv conditioning with them. Lol. The only oil I will seal with is grapeseed though. Any other oils cause my hair to build up.

I'm concerned about pH issues with castile soap so I may be going back to a commercial, "organic", sulfate free shampoo.

I'm really trying to get more into protective styles but I just luv having my hair out. Lol. I try to create a balance between wearing my hair in protective styles and wearing it out and this seems to work for me.


If you're concerned about the pH of your soap, why not add a little Roux porosity control to keep the pH in check? I add some to my Suave conditioner as a final rinse and then I leave just a little in.
 

Creatividual

Well-Known Member
If you're concerned about the pH of your soap, why not add a little Roux porosity control to keep the pH in check? I add some to my Suave conditioner as a final rinse and then I leave just a little in.

I never thought about that. Hmm... Thanks for sharing!
 

Rei

New Member
I think i've finally hit the length when ssk's hit hard. I've never had a huge problem with them, and now I'm only a bit from APL and they are biting HARD. I wonder if I should start blow drying a bit more. I'm afraid to get splits from blow drying, but I get splits anyway from ssks so I figure I might as well. My hair is so fragile though >.< Literally one strand is super thin, they snap so easily even when moisturized very well. The only thing that helped with that was henna, and that jacked up my moisture levels for MONTHS (i'm protein sensitive). I'm thinking of trying it again (despite my mind telling me thats a dumb idea), and using moptop maven's method of 'baking in moisture' by slapping on a supermoisturizing dc and then taking a flat iron, wrapping foil on the plates, putting it on the lowest temperature, and running it through a section at a time really quickly.

My hair used to really thrive under Aveda's damage remedy dc, since it had a nice balance but lol $26.
 

1Aleeesha

New Member
I'm in :grin:...I really don't know what to expect lol...I BC'd on May 1, 2010. So far I'm just conditioner washing daily, moisturizing and sealing my twa :grin::blush:
 

Miss AJ

New Member
So I just discovered my hair fares better with oil based moisturizers. It is absolutely loving the Profectiv MegaGrowth products and they have an oil as the first ingredient, then comes water.
 

Vonnieluvs08

Well-Known Member
I've been trying to find a happy medium with wearing my hair out but still protective styling. Right now I'm doing chunky 3 strand twist outs. I do like 15-18 chunky twists using different products (curls, shea moisture) let my hair airdry. I then just separate them making sure I have oil on my hands to keep the frizzies down. I've really like the way it comes out and got many compliments on it. I'm going to post the pics in my fotki this week.

I just need to figure out how to keep my hair moisturized and not have lots of build up.
 
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