Salon-Style products vs. "Cheapies"

There is an ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of expensive salon-style products vs. cheap "drug-store" products. I use both for different things.

In my stash, I have both V05 and Suave conditioners. I use these mostly for "conditioner washes" Occasionally, I have also been known to use Pantene, Sunsilk, and Garner Fructis. I am happy with all of these products.

For my deep conditioner, as stated before, Nexxus Humectress is my staple. This conditioner has never steered me wrong. I also often purchase conditioner packs such as Organic Root Stimulator from the Beauty Supply Store.

Aphogee is also a staple for Protein Treatments. This should be done at least once a month to curb breakage. This can also be done with eggs or mayonnaise. (More on that later)

Often, I add honey, salt or oils to my deep conditioners.

In my opinion, because Afro-textured hair is so delicate, it should be treated like a delicate flower. It needs water (moisture) in order to thrive. I currently conditioner wash my hair once a week and wash with shampoo and deep condition once a week.

I would've never though for a minute that I would ever let water touch my hair more than once a week but my hair has thanked me for it. I would recommend anyone to try it. You might like it.

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.