Oranic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak

Today was a shampoo-wash day so, as always, I did a pre poo. I plan on getting a relaxer sometime this week so I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak because it's a light protein. I really liked it. The night before I soaked my hair in Africa's Best Herbal Oil, and this morning I woke up and mixed this pak with eucalyptus oil and rosemary oil. While I was rinsing it out in the shower about an hour later, I noticed how soft my hair felt. I was afraid to use it at first because I thought it would be too much protein in my hair, but it felt just fine. I actually think it's too good to be used as a pre-poo, I might use it as a DC from now on when ever I think my hair needs extra protein.
Besides that, it smells amazing. It has a citrus-y smell to it that I love. I'm going to have to get some more paks.
 I know they sell it in a bottle, but it's easier for me to get the pak because they sell it at my job.

Co-Washing. :)

I've been co-washing my hair every Thursday and my hair loves it! It could be contributing to the extra softness I've been feeling and/or the added growth. All I've been doing is pre-pooing for 30 minutes, co-washing, deep conditioning, leave ins, styling. That's it! I thought I was going to give it a try until April (when the heat challenge is up), but I'm not quitting this, my hair has been thriving too much!

I've been using a lot of moisture in my hair lately and I think it's time for a small amount of protein. So I'm either going to co-wash with Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Conditioner, or DC with ORS replenishing pak.

hmm... is aphogee too much protein for my hair? Protein-Moisture education

So earlier i wrote a blog entry about how much i LOVED aphogee. that was about two days after i used it and before i unwrapped my hair this morning. I unwrapped my and was about to moisturize and seal my hair and for the first time today i felt it. My hair was super hard. :( It doesn't feel good at all so right now I have DC in my hair with a plastic cap on. i don't know how to describe it. My hair didn't have that flow and was hard to bend and when i put moisturizer in it it didn't do ANYTHING! So I decided to do a late night DC before I go to bed. I want to leave it in for a LONG time to make sure my hair feels better by the time i go to bed. So the next time i use aphogee, I'll use the Silk Elements shampoo and the 2 minute recon. or I'll use the aphogee shampoo and silk elements conditioner to hopefully balance out the protein-moisture to make sure this tragedy doesn't happen again. (when i run out of SE, I got my eye on elasta qp stuff!)

Protein:
Protein is used to give structure, build strength and give structure to hair. If protein is used correctly, it will leave hair soft, full, smooth and healthy. Because I have relaxed hair, i need more protein than people with natural hair. (also, people with color-treated hair need more protein as well) When your hair has too much protein, it can cause problems. your hair will start to:
feel dry
look frizzy
feel like straw
easily tangles
breaks easily with little tension or stress
stiff
lacks elasticity

Moisture:
Moisture and black hair just go together. Like spaghetti and meat sauce, Bert and Ernie, french fries and ketchup. Because black hair is likely to be porous,  moisture easily passes through the cuticle layer of the hair this loss of moisture causes black hair to be dry which means we need to moisturize it a lot more often compared to people of European decent. This is why it is important to moisturize and seal every night if you want to grow your hair. If used correctly, moisture will make your hair soft and increase elasticity. However, if you use too much your hair:
will become 'mushy' or 'soggy' (especially when wet)
weak
limp

This is why a strong moisture-protein balance is needed to make sure your hair is growing and healthy.