My (sorta) New Routine + Update

Hey everyone,

So, I know it's been almost a month since my last post on here. I have an excuse. Yes! And it's a good one. I've been laptop deprived. Yup! And my iPhone, for some reason, won't let me post anything on here. *sad face* :(

Anyways, so I'm here now and yes, I have graduated. :) Oh! yeah! so, I said I was going to tell you guys what I'll do with my hair for my graduation and prom. So, I had my hair up in a cinnabun for graduation and then for prom, I picked my hair out into an afro and pinned off part of the front-left-side. The prom do shrunk so bad at my prom, but it shrunk beautifully, people were still going, "I love your hair!" even after it had shrunk till it could shrink no more.

So....back when I was still in high school (which was like 12 days ago, I know, it's been so long since i graduated), I was so busy with exams and stuff (exams started in February and ended on the 12th of June - an almost daily thing) so I started to deep condition less and take care of my hair less. Fortunately, due to my previous regimen, my hair still remained moisturised and soft even without being deep conditioned weekly, it did need a protein treatment real-bad, though, my ends, those babies suffered :( Another thing is that I started to wash my hair less. Like I normally would wash my hair once a week and during really dry weeks, a sulfate-free shampoo wash during the weekend and a co-wash mid-week. Well, the shampoo and co-wash, both were out of my equation. Don't get me wrong, I didn't become a smelly-haired, dirty girl, my hair looked and smelt fine. I just didn't have the time to wash it and like I was always so tired so even at night, I wasn't really up for washing my hair and I didn't have enough time to do it in the morning. And please don't being up the weekend 'cause I was at school on Saturdays AND SUNDAYS too doing exams. During that period of washing less, I noticed something, umm.... dirt is good. Okay! let's just put that as "washing less is good" 'cause the whole dirt is good thing gives me the image of a dustbin, trash can, rubbish bin, dumpster, whatever you want to call it. My hair actually felt better without being washed as often and it stayed stretched longer. I guess it's because it's retaining nutrients longer and losing its oil less. I'm getting this vibe that some of you might be thinking up something rather nasty right now, so I'll just set things straight with y'all, I didn't go without washing my hair from February till June! Okay! so it's out there! I washed my hair a couple of times, just not as often as I usually did. Like I could go 3 weeks without a wash. But hey! I only washed my hair with a shampoo once every 4 weeks while I was transitioning (but I believe I co-washed between that, so it's still different, hmm..... but anyways!)

Right now, I'm out of high school (yup! :) ) and well....I've been sleeping so much. I'm still not washing my hair as often as I used to, but it's not as bad as while I had exams. Right now, I'm just letting my hair be unless I need to step out of my house. Like I had messy bantu-knots in for almost a week and even stepped out with them (under a satin scarf with a cotton scarf over the satin scarf).

It's been raining practically every day and when I'm rocking a short style (rocking some shrunken hair), that's a bit of a rinse for me. I would wash my hair this week, but I've got rehearsals for a fundraiser (concert I'm performing at on Sunday) and I'm heading out to the beach with a bunch of friends (something I haven't done in quite a long time) on Saturday I guess I can try squeezing in a wash after the beach 'cause of the salty water and stuff, but it takes a day for my hair to dry nowadays so, I'm not guaranteed it'll be dry by the time I'm heading out to church and I need it to be sorta stretched out so I can easily style it for the fundraiser.

Okay! So, I'm going to force myself to wrap up this post now. I'll just put up my sorta new routine:

• Wash whenever time is found, but don't go longer than two and a half weeks before a wash.
• Alternate between amla and BeeMine Botanical Shampoo (sulfate-free) or make an alma-shampoo mixture to wash with (weird....this just came to mind....."alma-poo")
• Co-wash more often and with a conditioner and oil mixture.
• Condition after every alma or shampoo wash with a conditioner and coconut oil mixture.
• Twirl hair in random, but medium-small sections with fingers or twirl/roll and bantu knot (to secure) hair immediately after washing till it dries to aid the clumping (my hair doesn't clump everywhere and it usually loses it clumps especially when manipulated or it gets frizzy)
• Finger detangle and style rather than comb-detangle and style,
• Spray hair with a mixture of water, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil every morning and every night (ensure every night before bed incase the one in the morning doesn't work out) and seal it in with a 1p coin (never more than a 50p coin) amount of coconut oil (I'm sorry, but I don't know what size the different cent coins come in). This helps to keep the hair moisturised and soft. Oh! yeah and I have to caps of a bottle of Heinz ACV (poured the ACV in the bottle top/cap twice and poured it into a very large spray bottle that's half full with water).
• Deep condition before every wash, with a moisturiser, with coconut oil, with damp hair, with a mixture of honey, mayo and an egg (preferably egg yolks) and deep condition with coconut milk (mixed with coconut oil, honey and cornstarch (cornstarch for thickness)) only when I don't mind getting myself and my bathroom messy.
• Don't manipulate hair unless leaving the house and going for something quite important (that is not the grocery store/supermarket).
• Rock twist-outs (flat and two-strand), bantu-knot-outs or a flat twist going through the ends of my hair whenever leaving the house. Avoid rocking puffs often (even though it's your signature style). Rock puff only when you have concert. Save 'em edges! (and ends)
• Shower without hair covered (I usually left my hair with a satin-scarf on when showering to prevent frizz due to the humidity 'caused by the hot water, but right now, the steam gives my curls a wake-up call and helps keep it moisturised).

That's basically it!

Toodles!

(can't believe I just said that!)

Amla Powder Review

Hey everyone,

So....I'm finally writing another review.....

ANYWAYS.....

Today, it's all about amla. I am on my second week of trying out amla now and I absolutely love it. Okay! So, my review's going to be a little more organised now. I know that not everyone knows what amla is and many people might what to know how I used it and how I guess it should be used. So, here we go:

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What is amla powder?

"Amla powder is made from the Indian gooseberry or amla fruit, which is native to India. Amla fruit is a natural source of vitamin C, amino acids and tannins. Traditionally used in Ayurveda treatments, when processed into powder form it's commonly used in massage oils, skin care and hair care products. When used topically, the benefits of amla powder on hair are numerous." ~Tia

*(Sidenote: It has a brown-ish colour and and a distinctive smell that I can tolerate, but some people complain about. By the way, I know its smell just by like moving it close to my nose to know what it smells like. On my hair, I couldn't smell jack. )*

How do you use the amla powder?

The first time I tried amla (I had quite a lot of buildup), I used about 3-4 tablespoons of the powder with about 2-2.5 tablespoons of water and made a paste with it (the paste looks pretty much like some dark brown stuff).

Prior to getting the amla on my hair, I detangled my hair (dry detangling) and sectioned my hair off in twists as I detangled (no specific number of twists). Next, I moisturised my hair with my newfound baby (a mixture of BeeMine Daily Conditioner, BeeMine BeeLovely Hair&Scalp Moisturiser and Water) and retwisted.

I got the amla paste (by the way, the consistency of this is just a little thicker than a milkshake) on my fingers and took down a twist then I got the amla onto my scalp and scrubbed a bit with my fingers (no scratching/no nail action). I retwisted after getting the amla on my scalp and then did the same for every twisted section.

I donned on a plastic bag and left my hair like that for 30 minutes. I took down a twist and rinsed then retwisted and did the same for every other twist then I did exactly this again, but adding conditioner instead of rinsing then I went over again rinsing out the conditioner.

*(Sidenote: You might consider using gloves for this 'cause the paste gets under nails and gives your palms a pretty much downright nasty colour splattered all over it.)*


Today, I had my hair in two high umm....not exactly buns. Which I had deep conditioned (by the way, deep conditioning with  a satin scarf on and then a plastic bag over that and another scarf holding it down can give shiny hair). I took down each bun, one at a time detangled with a little coconut oil and got the amla on my scalp and scrubbed around with my fingers, got my hair back in the two buns then I donned on a plastic bag and left my hair alone for about an hour or an hour and a few minutes. I took down each bun and rinsed it out and co washed with a mixture of conditioner (BeeMine and Tresemme Naturals) and coconut oil (excellent slip and super soft hair after rinsing out thoroughly) then I put them back up in the buns (to prevent shrinkage (if your ends are held, the shrinkage is less)). i left my hair like this till it was 98% dry before trying out a new style (basically a semi-elegant tuck, roll and pin). My hair still feels amazing right now!


What were your results?

With the first, my curls finally clumped and some were loosened up a bit. My hair was like SUPER clean, but not stripped. Definitely not stripped and my hair looked beautiful.
With the second, little to no clumps and clean hair that looks and feels great.


What don't you like about the thought of amla?

Amla is said to stop/prevent premature greying. Premature greying is something that runs in my family. I started getting strands of grey hair when I was really little (shortly before my first relaxer, I believe). The stylist then yanked them out without asking (OuCh!) which got my mum and I really upset. I have very few grey strands right now. My uncle (mum's bro)  went grey really early, my mum's hair has about 4 different shades of brown that seems to have a purplish tint when there's direct light on it  (her natural hair colour) and strands of grey (silver-ish (runs in the fam)) scattered around. My dad has strands of grey hair scattered everywhere, my aunt (mum's sis) has strands of grey hair scattered around everywhere, my dad's youngest brother is practically all grey, my grandmothers went grey pretty early (mum's mum with silver hair and dad's mum had naturally had silver, white and gold (honestly) hair till she started dyeing it), my bro has some grey strands. All went grey early. We actually kind of love it. I know I love my grey strands and I want a lil more quickly. I don't want to lose that and that's what puts me off amla a little. I haven't noticed that it does that, but it is said to and I don't like that).


What are things you must do before using amla?

You must moisturise or deep condition before using amla to prevent a drying effect. You also have to detangle if you don't you most likely will end up with a mass amount of nasty tangles.
That's basically it!

*(Sidenote: After using the amla, remember to use a conditioner on your hair. Make the amla your shampoo and remember, you shampoo and then....CONDITION!)*



Things you should consider?

As i usually say, what works for one person might not work for another try this on a small patch of hair and see if it works before you use the amla everywhere.
If you've heard that amla can be used on the face, test out the amla on a small part of your skin before using it everywhere.
Amla works great in my hair, but when I tried it on my face.....WOOOOWY!......LORD HAVE MERCY! I BROKE OUT LIKE CRAAAAZY! GAAAH! I had to switch back to my honey washes which clear out my acne magically (within a week or two).




OKAY! WE'RE DONE HERE!
Hope this helped somebody!
Lemme know if you've tried amla and what your results were and if you have any tips on using it and if you used it in a different way.

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I have to digress a little, it's in my nature (*Cheshire cat grin*).

I think I've found my graduation hairstyle! Yay! A cinnabun something-something. Yay! :)