I'm baack & my first visit to the salon for the year!

I am so glad to be back on my blog, I had really missed this part of my life - life and exams took over so I had to prioritize. Thankfully I had crochet braids installed in my hair before the crazy schedule started, so my hair was well protected. And I kept on track with the castor oil scalp massages, since I had joined the Hairlista castor oil challenge (advanced level if I remember correctly).

Anyway, I did not have the time to watch Youtube videos and learn how to cornrow and crochet my hair. So I took a leap of faith and went to the salon for the first time since I started my hair journey...

For the ladies in Kenya, I went to AfroSiri Salon in Westlands.

I was immediately served (which was awesome), and the first thing the lady asked me is whether she should wash my hair. Off course I said no, after which she asked if she should blow dry my hair.. Immediately I said no and that I wanted my hair to be cornrowed without the use of heat to straighten my hair. She was very polite and understanding and she went on to detangle my hair after applying some of the moisturizer that I carried with me to the salon.

I had removed my Marley braids the week before, and I missed a few knots that were still in my hair after I washed and deep conditioned it. She was very gentle and when she reached a knot or a section with a lot of new growth, she used her hands to detangle. At this point I had forgiven her in my mind for wanting to blow dry my hair...

She was very surprised that I didn't blow dry my hair with all the new growth it had, but she also acknowledged that I looked like someone who knows how to care for hair.

She then plaited my hair in cornrows, and I asked her to apply oil (which I also carried from home) to the ends of the plaits which she did very well. She was very gentle and I didn't feel like she was pulling my hair.

Then the real work began, crocheting in those Marley braids piece by piece took some time, and then setting them in perm rods took some more time (about 3 hours in total for this process). The Marley hair had to be brushed out before she could set the hair with perm rods. At this point I was so happy that I made the decision to go to the salon, honestly I underestimated the time needed to do this style.

Before:

After:

I left the salon pretty late, but very happy with the service I received. I would recommend this salon to anyone who is looking for a new stylist/ salon.

This protective style has been awesome, no need for styling when its' in curls, and super easy access to your scalp for oil massages and for moisturizing the cornrows. I had the braids in for 5 weeks. I washed my hair once and cleaned my scalp in between using the ORS Herbal Dry shampoo. So it is not a show stopper when it comes to taking care of your hair underneath all the crochet braids.

Here are a few different styles I tried while I had my crochet braids:

Have you ever done crochet braids, and what was your experience?

 

P.S. Mini length-check post coming soon...

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More about my Marley Twists & Regimen

Hi there!

I just wanted to share more a bit about my protective style plan. As you may know I installed marley twists a week ago, and I totally enjoyed the experience using marley braids. But..... it took me about 12 hours in total to finish these braids... YES 12 hours, unlike the braiding ninja's I see on youtube who take less than half this time. Anyway, it will be a challenge for me the next time to be faster. But still I am glad that I didn't have to get a stylist to touch my hair, I am yet to find someone I can trust...

This type of hair is kinky so it makes the twisting process super easy. Once you twist that's it, the chances of the braid unravelling are like 0%!

However, the braids are on the pricey side so I think they are meant to be reused a few times in order to get your full money's worth. I got my braids from a hair store in town (check Kenya's Natural Hair Community Facebook page for details) at around 800 KES ($ 8) per packet. The name of the braids that I bought are called "Gina Collection".


I am on a very simple regimen for the next 6 weeks. I plan to dry cleanse my scalp every week and wash my braids properly every 2-3 weeks.

I really do not want an elaborate regimen as I am quite busy with life and work right now. Here are the products I will be using for the next few weeks:

 

How do you take care of your hair when in a long-term protective style?

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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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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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My long-term protective style plan for 2015

After dusting/searching and removing my split ends today, I really need to be serious in achieving maximum growth this year. To do this I am going to start long-term protective styling and stretch my relaxers for as long as I can (I know I previously said I don't want to stretch more than 12 weeks, but to see any significant growth I will have to stretch at least 16 weeks)..

I am going to be doing protective styles for the bigger part of the year. I have not decided which styles I will be doing, but the two I will definitely be doing are:

1. Medium-sized long box braids with extensions in my hair, keeping them for 4 weeks at a time.

2. My wig regimen, with my hair braided underneath (I will keep my braids in for 3 weeks before removing them).

I will keep my current regimen, wearing a protective style will not change anything about it, except with the braids, I may wash them only bi-weekly as opposed to weekly. I will also be leaving my hair to rest for two-four weeks in between my long-term protective styles.

So long-term protective styling here I come! I have my braids and my wig for this week and next week. I will probably put braids in after next week, wearing a wig can be abit tiring I must say :(

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