Carmel Treatment –September 25, 2007

Good morning! Sorry for the delayed post. I have been a tad busy (and sleepy) so far this week. So I did a Carmel treatment this weekend. I was told the longer you leave it in, the better, so I let it sit on my head Saturday morning for about 2 and a half hours. This worked out well because I had to clean up my place. So after that I used the Creme of Nature shampoo (Sulfate Free – green writing on the bottle) and the Aloe conditioning treatment. I let my hair air dry for about 10 minutes and then I used my new BaByliss Pro Ceramix Xtreme blow dryer (let’s be mad that I haven’t bought a blow dryer since college) with a comb attachment and dried my hair. I must say this was a great purchase. It gets hot but not so hot that my hair is burning and it does a great job of getting my roots straight. The front and sides got very straight but my blow drying technique is sub par and the middle is a bit poofy aka nappy lol. After that I slapped on some Buttershine and curled my hair with my new BaByliss Pro TT Tourmaline 500 1” curling iron. (Again I haven’t bought a curling iron in years. My old curling iron is a Gold N’Hot—nuff said). The pictures of the final product are below. I think it came out pretty well.

The last two pictures are from today—3 days after I washed my hair. It still looks pretty cute. I have either pin curled it or rolled it up at night. This weekend I am going to try something different since I need to get my hair straight. I am going to use my E’tae products, blow dry and then flat iron my hair to make sure I get the roots super straight. Then that night I will roll up my hair on rollers and see what happens. Wish me luck. If anyone has any blow drying tips, please send them my way because this is def not my forte!

A little needed inspiration...

So I have a wonderful hair coach (I am lucky because I have several) who particularly watches over me at work. Well amidst one of my many meltdowns (believe me, I have many), Coach Terra sent me the following clip about Brock. I must stay, it was truly inspiring lol. Watch the whole thing!

Checking In – September 20, 2007

So…6 days after my trip to the E’tae Salon and my hair still looks great—light, full of body and moisturized! I have worked out and everything! The only product I have put on my hair since last Friday is the Watershine and I only use a tiny bit of that in the morning if my hair needs some shine. I just received the Buttershine in the mail (I forgot to pick it up at the store). The next test is to see how my hair comes out when I do it myself and follow their directions. Hopefully it comes out nice because I have a function on September 29th lol.

Look for a post this weekend with more pictures! Also today is my TWO MONTH mark! Two down and MANY more to go!

My experience at Salon E’tae in Philadelphia- Update

Happy Monday! As promised, here is my "review" of my experience at Salon E'tae.

Overall I must say my visit was fabulous!

Everyone at E’tae was extremely helpful and readily answered my natural hair care questions. When I got there, the shop was packed, which made me feel a lot better about everything too! I was bummed that I couldn’t get a Carmel treatment because I had oil on my scalp but I was reassured that the other treatments would leave my hair feeling just as bouncing and soft—they weren’t lying!!! I do think that they should tell people how to prep their hair prior to coming into the salon, when they are making their appointments for the first time. So, I had a shampoo treatment. My hair was washed, conditioned and treated using Aloe, Preserve and Nutrient. Next my hair was blown dry (it air dried a bit—maybe 15 minutes) and my stylist clipped my ends and hot curled my hair. She put a bit of the Buttershine on my hair prior to curling it and then put some Watershine on it at the end. My hair was and STILL is very bouncing and light. My stylist suggested that I pin curl my hair for the first few days while I still have the curls and then roll my hair up at night or wrap my hair if I prefer a flatter style. Here are pictures:




I was also told that blow drying my hair once a week won’t damage my hair if I use their products correctly and carefully style my hair during the week (which I already do). So I think I am going to scrap my current hair routine and try this one, being that I am trying to go natural. Maybe I won’t have to get braids after all…

All in all, my drive to Philadelphia was truly worth the trip and I will be going back again soon. I purchased all of the products they used on me at the shop and I was given great instructions on how to use them at home. So check them out (http://www.etaeproducts.com/) and let me know what you think.

Update: When using E'tae Products they recommend using the Creme of Nature shampoo in the yellow bottle with the green writing. I believe it is the Ultra Moist formula.

Today has been a good hair day thus far...

So I worked out last night and of course the naps have come out to play! If I am not being lazy, I’ll usually pin curl my hair at night towards the end of the week. It’ll come out curly in the morning but since I am still trying to master this technique, some curls are flipped under and some are flipped up lol. Either way, I can usually pin it up kinda cute and no one knows it was a mistake. But last night I decided to roll my hair on my hard pink rollers so I could have some sort of body this morning and it came out kinda cute (see picture). I put some Castor Oil on my roots this morning since I noticed they were getting a bit dry. So today , I would say I am having a good hair day :o). Hopefully I can stay dry. If I get rained on, I am sure that I will be ranting on here tomorrow!

Wash Day- September 7, 2007

So I did my hair yesterday and it came out well and softer than usual. I tried the Nexxus Emergencée Conditioner (instead of the Mane & Tail Conditioner) and I am not sure if it was worth the price tag. I may try this treatment again in a few weeks because yesterday I used it was a pre-poo and not as a deep conditioner. I did co-wash for the first time and my hair seems to be happy. I am going to continue doing this through my transition to hopefully keep the breaking to a minimum. Here are pictures from my rollerwrap:

So far I have about an inch of new growth in the front and a bit more in the back. Below are pictures of my rollerset and the final result. I am in desperate need of a trim so I hope to take care of that next week during my visit to E’tae. Check out the pictures below of the final product. Have a great weekend (what’s left of it).

Current Weekly Routine

People have asked me how I am doing my hair since I am not cutting the perm out yet. Well before I decided to go natural, I got a great routine from Macherieamour, the author of Healthy Textures. Check out her hair routine as mine is now a bit different because of my new goal. Her blog introduced me to KeraCare products which I love! They are definitely worth the extra money in my opinion; I have thrown out all of my "el cheapo", drugstore products. I have also been experimenting with E’tae products. I have an appointment to get my hair done at their salon in Philadelphia next week, so stay tuned for a blog about my experience!

Washing Routine

1. Pre-Poo: The first thing I do is pre-poo (condition before I wash my hair). I have noticed a huge difference in the strength of my hair since I began doing this. I use Mane and Tail Conditioner, which is protein based (I am thinking about trying Nexxus Emergencee or Mizani Fufyl). I concentrate the conditioner on my new growth and where my new growth meets my relaxed hair. I put a cap on my head and sit under my hood dryer (set on medium) for 30 min.
2. Shampoo: I have a very itchy scalp so I use the KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp Shampoo. This will probably be the first thing to change. I have done some reading and a lot of people swear by co-washing while you transition—washing using a conditioner to make sure my hair gets plenty of moisture. I’ll keep you posted!
3. Conditioner & Deep Conditioner: Another great tip, I picked up from Macherieamour’s routine is using the KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp Conditioner as a scalp conditioner. I put the conditioner in a squeeze bottle with a long tip so I can squeeze the product directly on my scalp (thank you Terra). I leave this on for at least 5 minutes. I have been using KeraCare’s Humecto Creme Conditioner for my deep conditioner, with some oil. I again, put a cap on my head and sit under the dryer for 30 min.
4. Rollerset: Now I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to roller set my hair, but for now it works pretty well. I use KeraCare’s Leave-In Conditioner, water and some oil for my roller set.
5. Flat Iron: This is how I get my roots nice and straight. After my rollerset, I don’t blow my roots out. I simply don’t have the patience or skill to do this. So before I begin flat ironing my hair with my CHI, I use Biosilk’s Silk Therapy Serum to protect my hair. I then flat iron in sections, first spraying each section with CHI’s Iron Guard/Thermal Protecting spray (comes in a red spray bottle). Once I am done, I either leave it out and go or wrap it up and put on a satin scarf.

My hair will usually stay bone straight for about 3 days. Once I work out and deal with the terrible DC humidity, my roots start to revert! So towards the end of the week, I don’t wear my hair down, rather I twist it up with a clip. I have been washing my hair every week like clockwork and it takes at least 3 hours, but it is worth it in the long run. My hair is super soft and shiny. I definitely feel like it is getting stronger as the weeks go on.

The first 3 days when my hair is straight, I wrap my hair and use a tiny bit of KeraCare’s Creme Hairdress. Once my roots are no longer straight, I use Castor Oil on my new growth because it helps keep it very soft and somewhat manageable. If anyone knows of anything else that will keep my new growth soft, please share. I have also started taking a hair, skin and nails vitamin again. The last time I took one, I noticed a difference in my nails, so I’ll keep you posted about that.

I’ll post pictures after I do my hair this weekend along with what products I decided to go with. Sorry for such a long post!

Introduction

July 26, 2007 marks the date of my last relaxer (hopefully)…dare I say forever? So you ask, what made me decide to start this hair journey to become relaxer free? Well, my hair has become weak and fragile as the years go on and I don’t know why! Let’s start from the very beginning! My mother started relaxing my hair when I was in the second or third grade. You see, I don’t come from a family of women who “do” hair; we go get our hair done lol. But, growing up I used to have long, thick hair. Even all of the coloring and heat I used on my hair in college didn’t make me notice a huge difference in my hair right away. But recently I became really concerned because I use heat very sparingly, I only use semi-permanent color rinses (blue-black has been my personal fave), and I used to get my hair professional styled every two weeks, sometimes every week. For the life of me I could not figure out why my hair was acting up!

So, being the scholar that I am lol, I decided to do some research. My research began with the intention of just bringing my hair back to life—basically I was just trying to figure out what I had been doing wrong (please check out Healthy Textures –definitely a great place to start). But the more I read and spoke to friends who now wear their hair natural, I quickly saw the benefits of growing out my relaxer. I think the most appealing benefits of going natural for me are versatility and freedom. I am constantly getting bored with my hair. There are sooo many natural hair styles—twists, braids, straight, weave, etc—to choose from, I will never go bored. This may sound corny, but I can’t help but feel somewhat liberated by giving up on the chemicals (I think I will eventually highlight my hair once I am completely relaxer free). Never in a million years, would I have imagined that I would be doing this. But despite my newfound feeling of freedom, I have many doubts and questions running through my head. What will my hair look like or do once all of the relaxer is gone? Will I regret this decision? Am I committed and strong enough to do this?

Recently I have just felt crazy (thank you to everyone who has been supportive thus far). Not only am I growing out my relaxer, I am growing out my blue-black rinse. We all know that black rinses never wash out! So not only am I experiencing the difference of textures, but I have two different colors going on—medium brown and blue-black! You can only imagine what that looks like. Argh.

So to make a very long story shorter, the purpose of this blog is to document my experience mostly for myself. If other people can benefit along the way, even better! Wish me luck!