My Hair Regimen thingy

Okay! so, I’ve never called this a hair regimen/routine or whatever, but here it goes:

Friday night till Saturday morning/afternoon:

1. Done on Friday: Deep condition (with my homemade all natural deep conditioner. DC made has to do with how my hair feels. If really dry, an avocado (and other things) DC, a 100% natural palm oil DC (gosh! that stuff works wonders and leaves my hair feeling so soft, but it’s hard to wash out) or a shea butter based DC. I have protein DCs and other stuff, but it all depends on how my hair feels). Sleep with deep conditioner in my hair and a plastic cap and scarf over it.
2. Wash hair with shampoo, focus on just the scalp (once a month or two if it’s not been up to a month yet, shampoo’s not touching my hair).
3. Co-wash thoroughly
4. Detangle while conditioner’s in hair/during co-wash
5. Get natural oils (like my homemade rosemary oil, canola oil, olive oil etc) into hair
6. Air dry (I never use a blow drier/hood or anything heat related)

Weekly protective style:

1. On either a Saturday or Sunday, I usually get my hair braided (both flat braids and well, box-braid kinda braids) or two-strand twisted. My hair is braided or twisted wet (and as it dries, it’s re-wetted, if my hair’s not been fully braided). I usually keep this in for about a week or two. I used to do it with hair extensions, but nowadays, just my hair. (Optional: get natural aloe vera gel and shea butter onto hair)
2. Get all the ends of my braided or twisted hair together using a pony tail holder or something like that, fold the ends and hold them in a way that they can stay under my hair and not brush on my shirt or neck.
3.  Get natural oils into my hair (I love using rosemary oil because my hair loves that and it also prevents dryness, dandruff and itchy scalp). *I only get oils on my hair at night because I believe they can attract dust or lint at day (when I’m out and about).
4. Sleep with a scarf on every night.

Weekly routine (when I don’t braid/twist my hair):

*The no hair touching method:

1. Fully detangle and get oils into hair when wet
2. Braid end of hair together round the whole head ending at the back.
3. Tie a clean head scarf or wrap over it neatly.
4. Keep the scarf on and change scarves every night (I have a scarf I use at night and one I use at day).
5. Try not to take off the scarf and when I do take it off to change scarves, I don’t touch my hair or at least, I lightly get something like canola oil onto it and then my hair’s in a scarf again.

*don’t do this for more than a week in a row.

*The hidden ends method:

1. Make a mix of organic leave-in hair conditioners, water and oils. Shake it up.
2. Get mix into bits of your hair just before you detangle.
3. Section hair with a bit from the middle to whichever chosen side of my hair as a fringe (kinda thing) and clip it away, braid it away or something.
4. Get a head band on, but keep it round my neck while I comb out the other part of my hair upwards (starting from ends to roots).
5. Get the headband up in a way that it holds down my edges and it’s right above the fringe section (it usually slants).
6. Take hair back, or most of it, braid the ends together and tuck the braid under the hair band.
7. Take hair from the sides or hair that didn’t stay with the braid and tuck them under the hair band to cover up the hair band (only the bit of the hair band above the fringe is left to show).
8. Unravel the fringe, get some of the mix on it, finger comb (or comb with a wide tooth comb) and braid/twist the ends of the hair together, like a flat braid/twist only that you’re joining the ends of the hair together and then braiding/twisting away from the scalp area (wish I had explanatory pics). Braid/twist till no more hair is left to add to it and then just braid it down to the end.
9. Get some shea butter mix (mine has shea butter (duuh) and rosemary oil in it), rub it between palms and smooth over hair to keep it in place and help it set like that well so there are no flyaways or anything like that.

* Flat twist outs:

1. Fully detangle hair when wet
2. Get random sections or section out hair neatly and flat twist (make as many as you want, but the final product will according to how big/small your flat twist sections were).
3. Get a bit of shea butter onto hair (because of no. 4)
4. Get 100% natural aloe vera gel (straight from the plant) and smooth over hair for definition and light gel hold.
5. Best to do the above (and tie a scarf over) the night before you want the "out." You can repeat the aloe the next morning then undo the twists carefully and style however you want.

*There are other styles I can do (way better than these, plus this is being worked on a little bellow collar bone length hair (when stretched)), but I can’t type ‘em all now. *sigh* But, one thing is, it’s better to get your hair braided or twisted that these ones. I believe it’s healthier.

Stretching:

Options:
1. Bantu knots
2. Twists
3. Twists that are turned into bantu knots
4. African threading/Ghana plaits (real easy to do)
5. Flat twists

After swimming (in a chlorinated pool esp. without a swim cap):

1. Rinse out hair thoroughly (if you have shampoo or conditioner on you, wash/co-wash your hair well)
2. Get some oils or butters into your hair (making sure your hair’s not so greasy or oily it can’t be touched.

Moisture (sorta tightlycurly way):

1. In a bowl, mix up a combing conditioner (you should be able to find some good combing conditioners on tightlycurly.com), a bit of water, organic leave-in conditioners and oils (rosemary preferably, but I usually have canola in too).
2. Apply to hair and detangle or just comb out. *do not use a lot!

*OR! Most of the time, I just use plain water only!

Products used:

DC: All homemade
Shampoo: John Frieda Frizz-Ease Curl Around Style Activating… (I’m planning on changing this)
Conditioner: John Frieda Frizz-Ease Curl Around Style Activating (not sure if I’ll change this)
Oils: Extra Virgin Olive oil, Canola oil, Homemade Rosemary Oil (hoping to add jojoba, coconut and castor oils to the list soon)

Can’t remember what else to say…*sigh* First time I typing these.
Hope this helps somebody