Mission: D.A.N.D.R.U.F.F.

I've been gone for a while because of spring break. I flew to Tennessee to stay at my grandma's house to visit her, my cousins, aunts and uncle.
Lately, my dandruff has really been bothering me. A lot. I know it has something to do with my hair not growing at the rate I think it should be growing. (Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp. Healthy scalps do not have dandruff). I really should have tackled this problem months ago, when I first started my hair journey. BUT I thought I did get rid of it.
When I started my HJ it was the first time I ever moisturized and sealed my hair. I thought I was supposed to use the oil directly on my scalp. Doing that didn't get rid of my dandruff, it just masked the issue. I've realized that to really get long healthy hair, I have to quit running from my scalp caring for my scalp.


I've stopped using oil directly on my scalp. (I actually don't think I need oil on my hair everyday-maybe a few days a week I'll moisturize and seal, other nights I'll just moisturize.)


1. What's causing the dandruff?
I've looked up causes of dandruff many times, and few causes apply to me.

1. overactive oil glands (maybe, but I never thought I had 'oily' hair. Especially since I'm black and black hair tends to be dry)
2.  food allergies (none that I know of)
3. stress (Nope...not this either)
4. excessive perspiration (No, I don't work out that often and I'm not a naturally sweaty person)
5. harsh shampoos (Maybe...? Not sure. But I've switched shampoos so often, I'm sure one wasn't that harsh)
6. dry skin (maybe on my scalp, not on my face though. Does your scalp and face have two different skin types?)

 2. Plan to get rid of the dandruff.
Easy. Pre-pooing. However, this time, I'm going to use Witch Hazel. Witch Hazel is a stinky plant that is good for everything! I originally bought witch hazel to be used as a facial toner (before clinique). (Tip for summer: I also use it as after shave to prevent razor burn) I've also read that it can help with dandruff. My plan is to put this directly on to my scalp to let it sit for at least thirty minutes then wash as normal, or then put what ever pre-poo mixture I want to use that day on my hair and let it sit for a while.

This is the brand I use.
I bought it at Target for around $3.

side note: witch hazel is also a crazy witch lady on looney tunes

There are other home-remedies that I want to try also, here are some that sound interesting to me:

-crushing aspirin into shampoo, letting it sit for two minutes, rinsing it out.
-returning to apple cider vinegar rinses
-cleaning my hair brushes more often

Relaxer Update 1

what's done is done, there's no turning back...

Got my relaxer today.

The stylist used Mizani. She based around my head and the tips of my ears, as usual. Then she started putting in the relaxer. I noticed she was very sloppy when doing it. She would slap the relaxer into my hair then run her fingers through my hair. Yes, there was relaxer on her hands. So part of my already relaxed hair got relaxer on it. I didn't want to be rude and tell her how to do her job, so I continued to silently watch in terror of the damages she was doing. It started to burn quickly so she rinsed it out sooner than planned. I was worried my hair wouldn't be bone straight like I like it to be. However, it relaxed nicely.

So then it was time to style it. For whatever reason I chickened out and didn't ask for the four braids to the back. Why you might ask? Who does that? Who goes to the salon just to get four braids? I knew she would have looked at me funny and asked why in the world I would have wanted that. What would I have said? "Oh, I'm on a hair journey and I'm currently in a challenge to not use heat for two months for health reasons so my hair will grow." She wouldn't have taken me seriously. Probably wouldn't have braided it anyways. Sigh.

So then they sat me under the dryer (which I was fine with) and put me with a magazine of hair styles. Nothing really caught my eye until this girl was on the page with half her hair twisted and the other half curly. Not really a style I like, but this was the first style that my hair seemed long enough for and I was ready to leave.

Apparently that style would have cost me an additional $55 to the $45 I was already paying because of the curls. A roller set would have been expensive too. And flexi rods. So, the only thing I could get done was a darn wrap. Yup. She flat ironed it. No, she didn't just flat iron it. She sat me under the dryer, blow dried it, then flat ironed it. No heat protection. Not what I wanted. All I could afford.

So I'm done with the heat challenge. I don't see a point in continuing to do it since I already broke the #1 rule. This does NOT mean I will start using heat on my hair regularly though. This just means I can use direct heat on my hair once or twice a month if I choose to. I will use indirect heat for roller-set saran wrap methods though as often as I want to. (Ulovemegz-youtube-does the same thing)

I'll post pics later. I'm too upset to do so now.

Herbal essences Ingrdients... :(

So..after I told you about the Herbal essences (apparently they prefer to spell it with a upper case 'H' and lowercase 'e') shampoo and conditioner and how much I LOVED them, I read the ingredients. I wrote a blog about it a while back..long story short-- THE INGREDIENTS ARE TERRIBLE! Ughh.. I thought I got over that but nowthe idea of silicone's and parabens in my hair bother me so much. Honestly I'm not completely sure what they are but I know they're bad and should be avoided. (I'll look it up later). What bothers me is that theres pretty much hundreds of them in that one small bottle! (exxageration, I know.) I was thinking of getting the Kenra Moisturizing Shampoo, but the reviews for that were so mixed I'm scared to use it. What I really want to use is Shea Moistures Moisture Retention Shampoo. BUTTTT my local Target is out of it so I'll have to wait. BUTTTT...Target has been out of it for a while so I'm not sure if they'll be getting it back. HOWEVVVEEERRRR...its inventory time at Target so I'm sure they'll be getting some more soon. If not, I'm going to have to find something else. My rule of thumb is going to be if it has more than 4 parabens and/or silicones then I'm not going to use it.

Yesterdays Wash Day

Yesterday was an interesting wash day for me for two reasons:

• it was the first time I had to wash my hair before going to work
• I didn't mix anything into my DC (as requested)

On saturday, I put a lot of Africa's Best Herbal Oil into my hair before going to bed. Then in the morning I pre-pooed with ORS replinishing pak and it went great. (click here for more details) After I rinsed my hair out, I washed with HE Reconditioning Shampoo/Conditioner- it went well as usual. Then I tried something different. I was requested to use the Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner with out any added oils into it just to see how it went. It was good! I liked it! My hair was soft after using it. A lot softer compared to the first time, but not as soft as last time. (which was expected because I didn't add any oils)

Then I used Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk. I think I'm going to stop using that. My hair feels less soft after using it, on top of that I don't think my hair is that frizzy with out it, so it's not adding any benefits to my hair. If I notice an increase in frizz, I'll continue to use it. Until then, its OUT the regimen. I also added Fantasia frizz buster and aphogee green tea and keratin mist. I think I'm going to get a relaxer this week so I keep using small doses of protein.

MINOR Regimen Change

Yesterday I said I'll co-wash with Suave and I'll find me a new pre-poo, but actually I found a co-wash (VO5 moisture milks conditioner) and I'll pre-poo with Suave almond and Shea butter conditioner. 

VO5 is a popular co-wash on hair forums so that's why I decided to switch. (it smells great and is only $1.15!)

*Sigh*...

just a quick follow-up from my last post: yes, Friday was another snow day. -_-

Anyways... I'm starting to feel discouraged about my hair. I don't think I can make it anywhere past neck length. I really thought that at this point in my hair journey I would be shoulder length. I was so wrong. Maybe my regimen is too simple?

Should I try co-washing? I want to, but then what? I'll have to flat iron it because I don't know how to do braids to achieve a braid out. Its one of my goals to learn how to cornrow my own hair to lessen the amount of heat I use on my hair, so until then I feel stuck with flat ironing. I've tried twists outs- they never really look 'right'. (more frizz than curl) I've tried bantu knot outs. (they only work well  when my hair is flat ironed and they only last a few days) Braid outs always look great, but I can't keep hassling my sister or mom to braid my hair every night. I moisturize and seal every night but sometimes it still feels a bit dry and never really looks 'shiny' like it did at the beginning of my journey. Lately I've even stopped wearing my hair down and put it in a lot more ponytails to protect my ends better.

Is it the products I use? I know during the winter months Aphogee isn't the best thing to use because of the protein content, but Silk Elements doesn't make my hair feel as soft and smooth as when I use Aphogee. Does it matter how my hair feels? Or does it matter more that my hair needs moisture instead of protein? I'm still confused weather I should use Elasta QP or Herbal Essences. EQP might have mineral oil in it, I'm not sure because I've never read the ingredients. Maybe I should give up on both brands and research a new one that is more common?

Every time I watch a 'hairspiration' video on YouTube, by the 3rd month they always have some extreme growth, I started my HJ 4 months ago and can barely tell a difference.

I really don't want this to be a phase I go through. My first few posts were about me trying to get in shape and stay fit-that didn't last a month. I stopped because I didn't see any results and stopped caring. I hope that the same thing doesn't happen with my hair as well. I've basically been trying to care for my hair well during my whole 11th grade year and nothing has changed. Maybe I was dumb for believing that I could actually have long hair. :(

Hair Journal- Silk Elements, bantu knots, Herbal Essences

So for the first time i tried the regimen I've been talking about for months and it was..eh. not great like i expected it to be. my hair didn't feel like 'silk' afterwards. not that my hair was rough. I just guess my expectations were too high. the pantene made my hair super soft, but this didn't. my hair was soft though. just not suppper soft like i wanted it to be. Also, it looks good. it still has a nice shine to it, but that could be b/c of the M&S that I do. All together it took about 3 hours.

However, I didn't mix anything with the oils that I use, next time i'll mix oils with the conditioner and DC and see if it makes a difference. I wanted to see how it worked straight before i started using a variation of it.
And i did notice that there was NO dandruff. but then again that could've been the M&S.

When i finished DC my hair I tried to do a bantu knot out and I hated it b/c it was frizzy, so i flat ironed it and it looked okay. Super flat with no volume. Then that night i re-bantu knotted it and it looked good in the morning, but the curls didn't last long at all so I went to target and got herbal essences totally twisted curl scrunching gel and the curls lasted all day and didn't frizz. :) I'm really starting to like herbal essences. (i'm hoping i dont jinx myself) When I first took out the bantu knot, it was  lil crunchy but through out the day the crunch went away. Not only that but it smells good and is alcohol-free!

PROS FOR THIS WEEK:
-The SE shampoo was good, it didn't dry out my hair like Dark and Lovely.
- I finally started the regimen I wanted to, even if their are some kinks
-The Wave Nouveau finsihing lotion is a really good moisturizer if i need a lot of moisture.
-I 'discovered' HE scrunching gel and bantu knot outs
-no dandurff
-hair is really moisturized (hallelujah!)
-none of the products stink
-exicted for a new oil (coconut)

CONS FOR THIS WEEK:
-I need a different regimen (specifically conditioner and maybe a different deep conditioner)
- I forgot to get SE megasilk moisture treatment. :( I really liked that stuff in the little packet.

RANDOM:
-after i buy the coconut oil i'm going to stop buying hair products for a while, i don't want to be a junky and waste money on products I won't use
-I won't use this method this week b/c i plan on going to the salon and getting a relaxer and to get my ends dusted, so i won't need to wash it.

-if i figure out cute styles w/o heat, then i'll bump up my reggie to once a week instead of every two weeks.
-I put the HE on the shaft of my hair, banut knotted it, then sprayed the knot with SE styling spritz, so that could've been the cause of the stiffness.

Hair Journal: Pantene Curly Hair Series- Dry to Moisturized Review.

A few weeks ago my mom signed up to recieve a freebie of pantene shampoo and conditioner in the mail. So we recieved a small sample sized and I used it to wash my hair once i took my braids out. It made my hair SUPER soft. But.. I did notice that I used the conditioner more than I used the shampoo. (I had my eyes closed and didn't realize I was using conditioner instead of a shampoo--so I conditioned my hair about 4 times and washed w/ shampoo twice)

-It did make my hair soft, but it didn't detangle at all.
-The smell was decent- it didn't stink, but it wasn't scented.
-I don't think theres any mineral oil in it.

On another note, I've decided to try coconut oil instead of jojoba oil. I think it'll help my hair just as well but its less expensive and you get more product. So I'll wait until I run out of jojoba oil until I get the coconut oil. (unless it goes on sale :) ) Another reason I want to try coconut oil is because it helps with dry hair. specifically dandruff. when I took out my braids I noticed A LOT  of dandruff. I don't see it any more now (weird) but it could've went away since I started moisturizing and sealing.

Also, I've tried moisturizing and sealing for the first time this week. I've noticed that my hair is a lot shiny-er even after doing it for only 1 night it was a lot shiny-er. It also feels soft but that could just be the shampoo and conditioner. When I run my fingers through my hair, my hands feel oily. not greasy and nasty though. I guess this is normal for M&S'd hair? And I don't understand people who can M&S their hair twice a day, If i did that then it would be sooo greasy-Mc-nasty. But i guess that's for people with thicker/longer hair.

I also learned this week that it is important to have a hair goal. I want to go as far as i can and still maintain it- hopefully bra strap length by Dec '11. (maybe that's wishful thinking, but I think I can do it)

And lastly, I learned that i don't have to get my hair trimmed every time i get a relaxer at the hair salon, just to 'listen' to my hair and wait until I need a trim or to get dusted.

GOOD YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR HEALTHY HAIR:

(don't underestimate youtube now, they got some really good people on here with really healthy hair that are helping me with my hair journey and they can help you too!)

-Tips for achieving long healthy hair during your hair journey- by tiondrab

-healthy hair tips- by omgitsvictoriaxd

-almost any video by ulovemegz

-Hairlicious Inc: My hair care journey- by HairliciousInc