My comeback plan - Protective Styling for the Win

My last protective style was awesome, I tried sooo many hairstyles with my crochet braids, and enjoyed the experience.

But then the day arrived when I had to take them out. And that is when I realised that I lost some hair with it. I had a lot of breakage and dry hair, and had to trim off about 1.5 inches off. This is more than the amount that would have grown over the 2 months (approximately 1 inch) that I had the style on.

Disappointed, demotivated, all the sad words you can think of, describe how I felt. I have been trying to keep my hair manipulation to the lowest amount possible, but this backfired on me this time.

I am not giving up, no! Two weeks ago, I tried a new protective style: Mambo Braids. I got a different stylist to do my hair, who is just awesome. Check her IG Page out HairbyMakanye. Her cornrows were very neat, and she tucked in the cornrows nicely so that none of my hair would be left to dry out.

This is what I have been doing to ensure that I get the most out of this protective styling session:

1.) Moisturize my hair every other day
2.) Two times a week I use my DIY Moisturizer made of conditioner+olive oil+water to give my hair an extra moisture boost
3.) Steam my hair once a week: I do not want to shampoo my hair this time round, just in case some shampoo doesn't wash out and has worse consequences than if I just left my hair like that
4.) Oil my scalp and my cornrows twice a week. I know where the ends of the cornrows are, so I have been targeting those areas to ensure that they are properly moisturized and sealed.
5.) Keep the protective style for a maximum of 4 weeks: I have learnt that my hair loves deep conditioning, and a long period like 6 weeks without a proper deep conditioning session just leaves my hair dry.

I will also be leaving my hair out in between protective styles for at least two weeks, so that my hair can get some pampering from my normal weekly wash day sessions.

Hopefully, I will reap the benefits of protective styling this time round :-)

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Wash day: Protective style out, Roller set in - 12 weeks post

I had really missed the ability to run my hands through my hair, so after 4 weeks of having box braids I decided to do away with them (will post an update on my box braids soon...)

They really helped as I was on a beach holiday for about 2 weeks of that time - can't imagine having to swim with my hair, the tangles and matting that would have happened are unimaginable.

Anyway here is how the wash day went:

0.) Detangled using my oil mix which I usually use for sealing. The shredded hair came out so easily. 

1.) Pre-poo'd with profectiv mega growth leave in and sealed with my castor oil mix.

2.) Clarified with Profectiv mega growth stimulating shampoo (a review on this will be coming soon). Lathered twice.

3.) Lathered once with Creme of Nature moisturising shampoo.

4.) Towel dried for 10 minutes.

5.) Applied ORS hair mayonnaise mixed with some castor oil and DC'd in my new hooded dryer for 30 minutes.

6.) Rinsed it out and then applied tea mix to my scalp. I did not rinse it out.

7.) Applied my moisturizing DC: mix of Kenra Moisturizing conditioner,CON Intensive Conditioning Treatment and some castor oil. Steamed for 10-15 minutes. Kudos to the inventor of the steamer :-))

8.) Towel dried for 1 hour. I've realised that I lose less hair when it is 60-80% dry than when I handle it when it is still damp, and my low porosity hair takes forever to air dry :-(

9.) Applied my leave-ins: Today I tried Nothing but Melted Shea butter and ApHogee green tea and Keratin Restructurizer. Detangled in six sections. Applied CHI Silk Infusion to my sectioned hair, as I was going to go under the dryer with my roller set.

10.) Time to do a roller set... I used Kim from fancy flair lady's Mohawk method :)

11.) When Kim said it takes her about an hour to put on the rollers I thought I could definitely hack it and maybe put them on in less than 30 minutes!!! Shock on me it took my 1.5 hours to put them in, Will I put rollers in my hair again? I want to say No. Do I want to put rollers in my hair again? Oh yes!

12.) Sat in my hooded dryer on medium heat for 25 minutes.

13.) Removed the rollers.

14.) Results:

15.) Tucked my hair in bun the next day. 

My hair (except for my new growth) was really soft and smooth for up to two days after my wash day so I'm pleased with the results of Kenra+CON+Castor Oil moisturizing treatment... Overall I was happy with the wash day but my ends suffered a beating from the heat of the roller set - my hair really hates direct heat of any sorts! I had frizzy ends the next day, but used the baggy method to get them back to normalish.

I am now 13 weeks post, and I have also had a lot of problems with shedding and some breakage at my ends. I need to decide whether the next day will be a relaxer day or not, but I think I'll have to do something before I experience more breakage... What do you think ladies, and how was your wash day?

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