Lazy Washday

Hello beautifuls!

How is your week going?

Mine’s going okay. Yesterday was Washday for me. You know how something feels like a long thing and you keep procrastinating until you have no choice? That’s what happened. I’ve been too busy on the weekends, to wash my hair. It was rather dull looking and my scalp was making it rain with them flakes yesterday lol so I knew I just had to wash it. Thankfully, I got off work early but I still wasn’t quite in the mood.

I tried something new yesterday and so far, so good. Hair looks good and my scalp is not revolting.

1. First, I sectioned my hair. Twisted sections of the weave track by track, and I also twisted my own hair left out.

Washday: Rush Rush

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Really. Of all the times I’ve had to lose sleep in my life, I can only think of one time that it was worth it. Seriously. In uni if I stayed up the night before a test to read the two chapters that I hadn’t yet studied- it always happened that those chapters, or whatever material would not be relevant in the test the next day. So many small small things like that, but I can’t just keep calm, you can call me a “forcer”.

Now yesterday was Monday. I was supposed to be in court today so I needed a hairstyle that would not make it too difficult to wear my wig over it. A goddess braid or Celie twists would have been super cute solutions but your girl can’t cornrow or flat twist, and my brain wasn’t working too well, so I decided to do my go-to two-strand twists. Before the twists though, I had to wash my hair first. With small breaks, I was on this matter from 6pm till 1am.

Guess what. The judge could not make it this morning because she was stuck in traffic. I did not wear the wig. After washing I could have gone to sleep in chunky twists at 11pm and jejely worn a puff today. Never again should I put myself through this kind of struggle. The sufferhead I like to carry sometimes. And, cornrows and flat twists aren’t rocket science, I had better learn!

Normally, after a protective style, I make plans for a weekend, or 3 free days. Take hair down on Friday and pre-poo, wash on Saturday, style and dry on Sunday. This time, I was in a proper rush and as a result, I was not as gentle as I should have been. Ripped through some places, I was racing, just to finish. How is that for living life on the edge? (  ._.)

Here’s a quick run down of how that went:

1. I loosened my braids. First I cut them in a bob shape to see what that would be like. Not bad, but I’m thinking a longer bob may be it for me. I’m not sure.

I’m pretty sure though that I cut off some braids at the wrong points, losing some hair. 😦

2. After loosening the braids, I had mini-twists to take down too, thanks to the box braid method I used (see this post). I loosened those too, and as I did so- in sections of 8, 10 twists, I dry detangled with plenty coconut oil, and put my hair in chunky twists- about 10 in total.

3. I shampooed, Felicia’s way. I applied my shampoo (L’Oreal Ever Sleek Shampoo) directly to my scalp, before I wet my hair. I rubbed my scalp with my fingertips to lift the dirt, and I rinsed off with warm water.

4. Then, I applied my deep conditioner, the Nothing But Intense Healing Mask to my hair in four sections, and combed each section through. I wasn’t rough with the comb. Normally I’d use just my fingers, but I needed to move fast. I covered my hair with a shower cap and let it sit for 20 minutes, and rinsed with cool water. My hair wasn’t feeling as soft as it should have. I think this could be because I haven’t been deep conditioning every week. Because of the protective styles I’ve been wearing this year, Washday has been like once a month. I’ll need to step up the frequency or start using heat again, if I continue at this rate.

5. To save the day, I did an oil rinse with Hempseed Oil. This oil contains ceramides and it’s supposed to be really good for relaxed, or otherwise processed/damaged hair. I thought twice about “wasting” it (Ceramides patch frayed cuticles. They are best left-in, rinsing them away is a waste of their goodness) but it is the only oil on my shelf apart from coconut oil and my precious castor oil. I applied it to my wet hair, and 3 minutes later, rinsed off with warm and then cool water. Much better.

6. Finally. I moisturised and sealed with the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream & the Carol’s Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey. 

7. I gave myself two hours to twist and made a run for it. I finished just in time. The result: slightly chubby twists. I expect them to get puffy at the roots and frizz even, but I’m hoping they last some days.

It’s a rainy afternoon in Lagos. Rainy season is here, and I’m contemplating protective styling again, this time a weave. Best weather for weaves, in my opinion- as long as you keep dry of course!

Still. I definitely need to learn how to do the flat twist thing, and find inspiration for more conservative natural hair styles on awkward length hair that would not require stretching first.

How are you today? How was your last Washday?

Love,

AB,

xx

Wash Day | I’m With The Bands!

Over the last few months, I’ve become more laid back about hair care. I could say I’ve become a lazy natural but “lazy” is not the word. I still do the needful but with limited time, I’ve become more creative about it.

Since my hair left the TWA stage, I’ve been trying to wash in twists. The idea is that washing in twists keeps hair sectioned and stretched, resulting in easier detangling. This sounds nice in theory, until you try it. I start off shampooing in twists, but by rinsing time, I always want to unravel the twists to make sure I get all the lather out. Rinsing and re-twisting is such a long thing, I end up loosening all the chunky twists when hair is 70% clean so I don’t miss any bits with the final rinse. Then I apply my DC and detangle as I do so and then twist again, but by rinsing time, I loosen again, and re-twist.

*Rolls eyes* Ugh, is this life? Can’t be! Note that hair is wet, so at this length, if the twists are too chunky, they won’t hold.

I knew that I wanted my last washday (Thursday) to be as uncomplicated as possible. Plus, I was in the process of making dinner, I had no time to waste. I thought about it and thought about it and *blink* an idea, rubber bands! 😀 Yes, rubber bands. Not the best but I didn’t have other elastic bands at my disposal. I went around the house, found 4 and I was good to go.

I’d worn my hair in Le Shrunken Fro for two days, so I was prepared for the worst. I was dreading washing my hair but if I was going to style my hair for the meet-up on Saturday, it had to be no later than Thursday night. So I womanned up, put my hands in there and pulled it into 4 puffs, using the rubber bands. I did a little finger detangling as I did so. The aim wasn’t to detangle though, but to stretch the hair out a bit, so I could separate it into the puffs.

Four puffs

Le Poo

My sulfate free shampoo- L’Oreal Ever Creme Nourishing Shampoo– is pretty gentle (Review soon!) so I did not pre-poo.

I shampooed, focusing on my scalp, and let the rest of the lather spread to the length of my hair. Then I rinsed clean with warm water, generally, and then one puff at a time. My hair was already mostly shampoo free but just to be sure, I rinsed each puff individually, removing the rubber band to do so and re-puffing it when I was done. I wrapped an old tee around my head to soak up the excess water.

Now, after shampooing, my hair had shrunk greatly.

Shrunken Puff, after Shampooing

Double Ds- Detangling & Deep Conditioning

One puff after another, I liberally applied Olive Oil to my hair, and followed with a generous dose of my fave deep conditioner, the Nothing But Intense Healing Mask, detangling as I did so. I finger detangled first, and then used a wide toothed comb. By the time I was done, my hair was not so small anymore.

Same puff after detangling. Isn’t shrinkage amazing? 🙂

To finish, I twisted each puff, still with the rubber bands holding base.

I went off to finish dinner, eat, and watch some Africa Magic with the parents LOL.

The Nothing But instructions say to leave it in for 5 to 20 minutes but I ended up carrying it for almost two hours, yikes. The way I ran to the bathroom when I realised I’d had it in my hair for 2 hours. With ready made DCs and even my DIY Honey and Olive Oil DC, I normally rinse off with just water. But because it had been so long and my DC was already beginning to dry in my hair + I didn’t wear a shower cap over it, I think the interaction of hair and DC with the air conditioning made it feel a little weird. So back in the bathroom, I rinsed off with a little Hello Hydration conditioner and cool water. I did the same thing I did with the shampoo, generally- and then, puff by puff.

A little Post-Wash Weirdness…

After rinsing off the DC, I noticed that my ends felt crunchy. This was very strange. So I applied JBCO to my hair to seal, paying special attention to my ends. In a few minutes all was well, and my ends felt good again. Yay! 😀 To finish off, I bunned each puff, and settled in front of my computer to get my weekly Shonda fix. (Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder) Imagine I was JUST seeing the previous week’s episodes after having them for a week- this is my life now, and I haven’t even really started the hustle. Sigh.

Little bunned puffs. Hair nice and soft and shiny 😀

The bunning helped my hair not to shrink too much, and as I watched my shows, I put my hair in about 12 braids with Aunt Jackie’s Curl La La Curl Defining Custard, in preparation for a braid out, more about this later. Braids done, shows done, I wore my satin cap and called it a night.

I think this puff-bun situation is here to stay. I should get elastic bands though (not cloth ones that will soak up water) Till I find them, I will keep being gentle with the rubber bands, and not make the puffs tight. Oh and here’s half the hair I lost detangling, really. Not bad, eyy? 🙂

This was ALL the hair left on my comb after detangling. The hair I recovered from the sink drain was also about this same amount.

How was your last Wash Day? What tricks have you discovered lately that make Wash Day easier for you?

Love,

AB,

xx

This post is part of a healthy hair link-up, The Wash Day Experience! For more Washday posts, click here 🙂

About Last Washday

Hey guys!

It has been ages since I did a Washday post. My Washdays are pretty much routine: henna & moisturising DC every 4-6 weeks, Wash and deep condition every other week. Same routine, same products- but this time, I did a little extra extra.

The Warm Up

After I took out my weave, my scalp was itchy. So I oiled the space between the cornrows with coconut oil. Soothing an itchy scalp is the only thing I actually like to do with coconut oil that I don’t do with anything else. But, I like to oil my scalp at the beginning of Washday, itchy or not, with whatever oil I have when my hair is somewhat sectioned- easiest way to get to my scalp.

Then I loosened my cornrows, and spritzed the super dry hair with plain water. Then I held my hair in two puffs.

Four hours before I took the weave out, I’d mixed my henna and left it to set.

For this, I brewed some hibiscus tea. I put a handful of hibiscus or sorrel or zobo leaves to simmer in some water, on low heat for a bit. Then in my designated henna bowl, I poured the tea over 100g of henna, one dollop of conditioner and a generous drizzle of castor oil. I mixed it all with a plastic spoon and left it alone. For more about my henna process, you can go here.

WASHDAY!: Mud wash

Yep. I said Mud. I washed my hair with clay. Mud. Now isn’t that… Counter-intuitive? That’s the word you’re looking for. I knowww. But it was amazing. Let me tell you alllllllll about it! 😀

Last Sunday was Washday. True to my word, I took down my twists when I got home as soon as I’d rolled my luggage to a corner. I had a little help from my little cousins who were visiting, and eventually, my baby brother.

My hair is naturally very dry, so I do not care for Shampoo at all. It leaves my hair all dry and rough and tangled. I do not own a bottle of Shampoo. Since my Big Chop, I don’t think I’ve shampoo’d more than 5 times. What do I do instead? I clarify my hair with no-Poo methods like this one, or I simply wash my hair with Black soap. And when I do shampoo, I pre-poo by saturating my hair with oil first.

So Sunday, as a no-poo clarifying alternative to Shampoo, I did a mud wash. I was very pleased with the results and I’ll definitely be doing this again!

WHAT I USED

Bentonite Clay (About 4 spoons)

Aloe Vera Juice (AVJ)

Carrier Oils: Castor, Olive

A few drops of Tea-Tree Essential Oil

Honey

Plastic bowl, plastic disposable spoon

(please, feel free to use the oils you want to. I used what I had. Though, Castor & Olive are good oils for conditioning)

I got my Bentonite Clay and AVJ from Ahia Natural Nigerian (through Natmane in Abuja) but I’m pretty sure you could find Aloe Vera Juice at any decent health shop or pharmacy.

WHAT I DID

1. I really didn’t do much measuring. My hair is short and I figured 4 spoons of the clay would be okay. I added enough AVJ to mix the clay to the consistency I wanted. Let’s say I added two spoons of honey & one spoon of Castor and Olive oil each (I just poured straight from the bottles), and 3-4 drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil.

2. I mixed all the ingredients in the plastic bowl, with the plastic spoon. They say you shouldn’t use metal utensils, I’m not really sure why. I’d love to find a small wooden spoon. My mother would not take kindly to me using her wooden spoons to mix my concoctions lol. I ended up using 2 plastic spoons. They were really flimsy disposable spoons so one broke half way. I didn’t have the patience to mix it to a perfectly smooth consistency but it didn’t matter in the end.

3. Satisfied with the mix, I spritzed my hair with water for it to be a little damp, and then got the gunk all over it.

4. I wore a plastic bag (again, life is too short to be washing shower caps) and wrapped my plastic-wearing head round with a warm towel. I’d put the towel in to microwave for about 30 seconds, and let my body heat do the rest.

5. 30 minutes after, I was ready to wash but decided to give it another 30 minutes just because I felt like it.

6. I washed my hair over the sink. I prefer this to washing in the shower because it’s just easier for me to gather my shed/broken strands from the sink drain than the shower. By wash, I mean I rinsed the clay out of my hair with clean water, just a little warm, that’s how I like it. All done!

RESULTS, RESULTS!

My hair felt great yo. So clean. It didn’t feel dry or stripped! Detangling was a breeze. Here’s what I lost in the process of finger-detangling x twisting.

Now, my hair was still all clumped together because I hadn’t combed it out. Look at the coil definition! Coils be poppin’! Haha. I attempted to capture it on camera, I hope you can see what I see!

Then, what I did next? I towel-dried my hair, yep, with an actual towel I designated for the purpose. Frizz is SO not my problem at this stage in my hair journey so, I’m just happy with gentle towel-drying with my towel. My hair towel is nowhere as thick as my body towel. It’s one of those ones that come in a tiny compact package that you have to put in water to release it for the first time.

Then I moisturised with a leave-in, sealed with olive oil, put my hair in chunky twists and left my hair alone. I’ve been indoors since then, so my hair is still in the twists.

Time saver tip (something I realised): it is easier and faster to moisturise the entire fro first and then section & twist after, than to moisturise & seal each section. If you do the first method, you can pay more attention to sealing the ends when you’re done.

Another great thing about this method, it is an absolute time saver for Washday when you’re very busy. Why? Because, your mud wash = Clarifier + Conditioner + Deep-Conditioner rolled into one! True story!

Maybe, just maybe, Washday can come earlier to this girl’s fro. Rather than every 4 weeks, I could do this every 2 weeks, alternate with my regular deep-conditioning routine on weekends. We’ll see!

So, my loves. Have you tried a Mud wash before? What were your results? Will you be trying one out soon?

Love,

AB

xx