Recap on my box braids

Hi ladies

I recently took out my box braids, a 4-week long protective style. During this time, I still took care of my hair, almost as often as I would when my hair is not in a long-term protective style. This is the first time that I actually took care of my hair while it was in braids - before I would just leave my hair, spray a braid spray once in a while, and take them out after 6-8 weeks. 

I have seen the benefits from taking care of my hair while it was in braids. The shedding and breakage was much less than it used to be before I started my healthy hair journey.

Here is a recap of what I did during the 4 weeks:

Week 1: 
1.) Moisturized my braids daily with my DIY spray. I mixed 1 cup Tressemme moisturizing conditioner + 2 tbsp glycerin + few drops peppermint oil & rosemary oil + 1 cup aloe vera juice + 1 cup water (you can see that the water content is quite high because the conditioner that I used was very thick, so I needed to dilute it so that it would spray well on my hair). Sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Dry shampoo'd with ORS Dry Shampoo Herbal Cleanse. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.

Week 2:
1.) Moisturized my braids daily with my DIY spray & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Washed my braids using journey to waist length's method. I used MegaGrowth Stimulating shampoo.
4.) Deep conditioned with Skin Dr Argan Oil moisturizing conditioner under my hooded dryer for 20 minutes. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.

Week 3:
1.) Moisturized my braids every other day with my DIY spray, & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Washed my braids using journey to waist length's method. I used CON Sulphate-free Moisturizing shampoo. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.


Week 4:
1.) Moisturized my braids every other day with my DIY spray, & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.

I am yet to do a relaxer to see whether I have been able to retain length over this period. However, I have definitely seen an improvement in thickness, but somehow my hair is a bit fragile and breaking a bit. I will keep on doubling up with a protein+moisturizing treatment until I feel that it is balanced enough to handle a relaxer.

I also enjoyed trying different styles on my braids, just to break the routine of tying them in a bun or leaving them out:

How do you take care of your hair when it is in long-term protective styles?

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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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New Protective Style: My box braids #1

I decided to put in a new protective style: box braids. I am glad that my hair will have a break from combing and manipulation, it deserves a break from me :)

This is the first time that I put box braids into my hair, by myself! DIY'd it all the way. Halfway through it, I felt like going to the salon to get it finished but I remembered that one of the reasons I started this hair journey was because most of the time I left the salon disappointed and sad about how my hair was treated.

It took me about 20 hours in total, but I spread this time over 4 days! I think the next time I do box braids I will make them shorter, and I will do all the prep work a day before I start braiding.

The prep work included:

1) Twisting my hair into the sections in which I put the braids. I saw this method on youtube, and I think its really great, because my hair is protected, and I did not have many fly aways (you know that hair that the salon cuts when they neaten your braids, yes, that is actually your hair!): 3-4 hours

2) Tapering the ends of the braided hair: 1.5 hours

I used 2 packets of Ultra Light X-pression braids by Darling in color #2. Each packet costed me 300 KES/ 3 USD, and each packet comes with two pieces of really long extension (like tail bone length).

So I cut each extension piece into two, but for the back I cut the piece into three, I really did not want any braid to be beyond waist length.

Results:

I am so proud of myself and how these braids are looking, given that it is the first time that I did them. I had to keep reminding myself that I am only putting them in for practical reasons, and not so much beauty and neatness reasons. So yes they are not perfect, but I think they will be ok for me to have for the next 4 weeks.

The braid extensions are so lightweight, they do not pull down, which is good for the roots of my hair.

So here is my revised regimen for the next 4-6 weeks:

Daily: Moisturize once a day, alternating between Elasta QP and my homemade mix. My mix is made up of Tressemme Ultra Moisturizing conditioner, water and some glycerin and olive oil.

Seal with Olive Oil or Dr Miracles Intensive Spot Serum.

I recently bought pure Shea butter which I may use to seal my moisturizer, together with the oils. It is so dry here in Nairobi, so I want to keep my hair moisturized as much as I possibly can.

Three times a week: Scalp massage with castor oil

When I am feeling itchy: Scalp massage with Dr Miracles Intensive Spot Serum

Every 7-10 days: Shampoo my hair using a spray bottle to apply the shampoo to the scalp. I will be alternating between Mega Growth Stimulating Shampoo and ORS Herbal Cleanse Dry Shampoo. To the length of my hair I will use Creme of Nature Moisturizing Shampoo (not in pic, oops!).

Deep condition as usual, mostly with moisturizing DCs

Apply leave-ins: ApHogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer and Creme of Nature Leave-in Conditioner

What do you use for your long-term protective style regimen?

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No Frills, No Fuss! Wash day

So last week's wash day was too eventful, this week I decided to keep it simple, really simple!

1) Pre-poo'd/Conditioned (this was done in 1 step today) with my deep conditioners mixed with a few tablespoons of castor oil. Covered my hair with a deep conditioning cap and kept it in for an hour.

2) Washed the conditioner out with cool water and t-shirt dried for about 30 minutes

3) Detangled and applied my leave-ins: today I tried Mega Growth leave-in and sprayed very little of ApHogee Keratin Green Tea & Restructurizer, as it is a relatively medium strength protein leave-in conditioner. The Mega Growth leave-in is more of a moisturizing leave-in than a protein leave-in in my view, and that is why I used it with the ApHogee leave-in.It also smells much better for me than Cantu Shea Butter leave-in conditioner. But I still need a very moisturizing leave-in conditioner, especially for my new growth.

I then sealed with Olive Oil.

4) Next day I applied Elasta QP and sealed with Olive Oil, the hair beyond the dermacation line felt strong but smooth. The new growth + the ridiculously unprocessed growth from my previous relaxer, ehh, I realised I have not been moisturizing it properly. I moisturized almost every strand today, by applying the moisturizer as I was doing twists. 

Three days later, I had finished box braiding my hair on top of the twists I had done (I will write a separate post about my braids). I am very happy that my hair is getting a well deserved break for now, but I am still continuing with my regimen as usual...

Definitely need to do a proper wash next week, but I am happy with this week's results. Hope you had a lovely wash day ladies? :)

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