My Hair Care Journey - Week 1

Sooo... my hair needs help. Why? Because I am terribly inconsistent with keeping up with it. I'm thinking though, that maybe I need to do away with my bad habits. 

A Little Backstory:

I went natural back in the fall of 1998. That means I no longer use chemicals of any kind to straighten my hair. In actuality I used a hot comb (mind blown right?). The first time a stylist told me they were going to straighten my hair with a flat iron, I looked at her as if she'd grown 7 heads (because that just was NOT a thing). See back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth (yeah that long ago) flat irons weren't that great. I could use them for touch ups and maybe curling, but not for straightening my hair from it's natural state... and don't even think about wet to dry. That was just blasphemy. 

Naturally, I've gone through a lot of experimentation with my hair and it's also received a lot of damage over time. I am on a journey to see how well I can correct or maybe even reverse the damage if possible and I'm dragging you guys along with me (Yay). In this blog I will share a series of pictures I took while hopping in and out of the shower to share my process with you (I am totally a clumsy oaf and risked injury for this photos you're welcome). For my next blog I will attempt to video my process instead of taking photos (Yikes). I apologize in advance for the pictures of the back of my head, it was a real struggle doing it by myself as the assistant was still sleeping (side eye).

Also something to keep in mind, my head has about 4 different hair textures. I mean it must be a curse or something because... I mean just WHY? But it's the truth. The right side has a looser curl pattern and isn't as full as the left side. The left side is fuller and thicker with a more coarse, less defined curl pattern. The very front of each side is a heat damaged version that doesn't curl right. The top back, middle area is super coarse and rough, and barely curls at all. The bottom, in the back is curly but not like the left or right side. You'll get an idea when you see the photos. It's really hateful if you ask me, but anywho here we go.

Week 1:

Before the wash (yes I know I should be ashamed but thanks for the reminder)

Washing with the Charcoal Bliss Shampoo Bar. (Ooooo how it lathers!). I washed and rinsed 3 times, because that's what I always do (you do you though ok).

After the 3rd rinse

Time for Tempting Tonic (Deep Conditioner). I use at least this much on the back sections (I do 4 sections) and maybe a little more on the front two sections especially because of the heat damage in the front.

After applying to my whole head (have not detangled)

After detangling with obnoxiously large comb (cause that's how I role)

How much hair I lost (or didn't lose really, because this is very minimal for me)

Then (because enough is never enough) I detangle with this detangling brush. I want to make sure each and every strand is completely coated with conditioner.

 After 2nd detangling (don't judge me)

Now put on your magic cap and putter around for 30 minutes (or take a nap... whatever)

After 30 minutes I removed said magic cap and rinsed (My hair is soaking wet here and by the way so was the bathroom)

I applied a little Sultry Sorcery Leave-In (probably too little, like 3 pumps for my whole entire head). My hair had started to dry before the application of leave-in. You can definitely see the differences in my hair textures, both sides have the same amount of leave-in yet both sides look different (and then there's the back doing its own thing).

Next I rolled it up in perm rods and covered it with a muffet (my late husband was a wonderfully ridiculous person who also liked to rename things, he is loved and missed daily by all, and yes he is the one who named it a "muffet" lol and I have called it nothing else since).

I slept with them overnight (not the best sleep, but you know sacrifices in the name of beauty). I take them down and pull them apart at the same time.

Notice the assistant, "assisting" me here (apparently I only like ridiculous people... if you ever met my dad you'd understand...)

OK back to important stuff. I slept with an even larger muffet on to try and avoid smashing the curls and this is the results of day 2. I thought I'd catch the results in the sun and was treated to a nice photo bomb from the assistant (let me extend my many thanks... OK moving right a long).

So because I didn't use gel or any other type of holding product the curls did not last to my usual satisfaction. My hair was actually too soft. Next time I will be using gel (which I am formulating in my cauldron as we speak). Anywho by day 3 I gave up and combed it out.

And here we are this lovely Saturday morning (waves).

So overall I am happy with the results of week 1, I still feel like my process could use a bit of tweaking. I'll be back with week 2 results hopefully with gel and video footage instead of 687 photos. After all that I need a nap.

Until Next Time,

The Soap Witch