wash day | straight comb chaser

well, friends...

... my 2-month stint with the water only method came to an end with my last wash day.
the humidity absolutely demolished my product-free hair. not only did it get super frizzy, but it felt horrendous, and i looked a HAM. my hair looked like a lunch lady's net. no, not the hair UNDER the net. like the actual net.

so, i decided to go in the total opposite direction for some straight sleekness. contrary to the beginning of my journey, my hair has done exceptionally well being straight in warmer temperatures and humidity for the past 2-3 years -- maybe texas trained it? otherwise, i have no idea why that is.
it was in the mid-70s and i thought to myself: "my product-free regimen is not working in this heat and humidity. let's go for straight and smooth!"
and literally the next morning, the temperature was well below freezing.

le sigh.
only in southwest virginia.
#global
warming















i will keep this hair straight for as long as humanly possible because it has gotten longer (the tip of my V is nearly waist-length) and straightening took much longer. i still can't believe i committed to keep growing for the next 2.5 years. i'm going to look like cousin it's black baby.

i will absolutely be going back to the method when it gets colder, so i will be a 6-month product user (march - august) and 6-month water only child (september - february). i am thinking of trying out a modified version of sistawithrealhair's regimen during my product phase but i haven't yet decided.

the deets:
washed with tresemme nourishing moisture shampoo (um... no one told me this stuff was amazing!)
conditioned with tresemme 7-day smooth conditioner (also amazing!)
blow dried and flat ironed using the comb chase method with tresemme 7-day smooth treatment (again, amazing!)
*** no, i am not a spokesperson for/affiliated with tresemme, but i'm used to spending nothing on hair products, so i went the cheap route. i have to say that i forgot how effective tresemme products are! i'm very pleased.
i smoothed in a little argan oil and set my hair on 8 teal perm rods overnight

i would be perfectly happy with using only these 3 products during my 6-month phase. my hair feels absolutely fantastic -- this cheapo stuff is LEGIT. i may or may not try to find a deep conditioner. my hair doesn't seem to behave much differently with a DC versus a regular con since 'the change.'

how was your wash day?

in pursuit of:

treating my hair as my crown and glory

linking up with klp, nicole, and amanda

wash day 12.11 | serious changes

i totally underestimated the beating my body would take by the brutal winter weather in appalachia. i don't know if it's because my last 2 "winters" were in houston, or because it got cold a lot earlier this year, or because this winter has been particularly dry here, but i am on the struggle bus.
my lips are cracked, dried, and split. my skin has been flaking like crazy, even right after adding lotion and oils. unfortunately, it has also affected my hair. and it showed on my wash day.

my hair was extremely dry despite the fact that i had been moisturizing my scalp and hair every night and leaving it alone in its twists (and even under a beanie some days!).
my cuticles seem to be locked down shut and need so much coaxing to open them in order to moisturize my hair. and since i cannot adequately seem to moisturize my hair while in twists (mine now unravel during cowashing/excessive moisturizing), i've had to shift gears.
i never planned to go back to this, but the only way my hair has stayed moist for at least 2 days has been with cowashing and bunning.
so that's exactly what i've been doing since friday.

i steamed with the q-redew, cowashed, deep conditioned, and air dried in 3 large twists (which took FOREVER - still damp at some spots when i woke up. i am sooooo not used to this!). i then bunned it up the next morning, and i repeated this process again on sunday night.

it's crazy how much this head of hair has changed. i mean, it is absolutely drastic. none of my old products work, but all of the techniques i've been avoided seem to be working.
i can't imagine what caused this 180, but i am back to researching regimens like i did while i was transitioning.
needless to say, my 6-month challenge is off for the time being. i am definitely not going to keep wearing any style that will prevent me from adequately moisturizing!
my next few wash day posts will be more regimen trials.

if you know of any low porosity naturals who have medium strands and live in cold/dry climates like i do, i would be forever indebted to you for sharing!

upcoming length check: december 26

in pursuit of:

treating my hair as my crown and glory

linking up with klp