Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winterize your hair!


I have noticed in the Winter time my hair is so much drier. I never thought that I'd be doing braid-outs in the winter, but since I am nearing relaxer time I have been doing them at least twice a week. If I am not doing braidouts I am using rocking a bun or some sort of twisted updo.


It is important to spray your hair at least once a day to add in moisture. Cathy Howse has a good one named "The Dew". I also use Frederic Fekkai, or Care Free Curl Gold. Or, you can make your own. Here is a sample list of ingredients:


Water (of course)

Glycerin or Aloe Vera Gel

Jojoba or Coconut Oil


You can also use these products while baggying. More on that method in a later post.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Stretching relaxers

Currently, I relax every 8 weeks. That is a big stretch for me because when I began this journey I used to relax every 6 weeks. In my younger days, I even relaxed at every 4 weeks. That is totally ridiculous! You should try to stretch your relaxers at least to 8 weeks to prevent from overlapping the already relaxed hair. In my opinion, the ability to stretch depends on the texture of your hair. Coarser textured hair is more difficult to manage than looser textured hair because of the vast difference between the two textures. Furthermore, often the hair begins to break at the demarcation point, which is the point where the two textures meet.

How do I manage the new growth you may ask? Well towards the end of my relaxer cycle, like after the 4th week, I do a lot of braidouts. Moisture helps me with maintaining the new growth. At this time, I do a lot of conditioner washes. After the conditioner wash I apply a leave in and braid in sections. I then let this air-dry overnight. In the morning, I combine Aveda Brilliant moisturizer with S-Curl and apply to the hair.

I will post pics of a successful braid-out in a later post.