Thoughts On: Oil Rinses

I stay on YouTube. I mean, if you’re any kind of natural, you stay watching videos on YouTube. It’s how you learn. The tutorials on how to manage and style your hair. Though it might be hard at first, you eventually find that person with your hair type, or something closely representative of what’s on your head, and you try to do what they do.

You buy the same products.

You watch how they style their hair, and you attempt to reciprocate.

I say attempt, because…

Am I the only one whose styles NEVER turn out the way they think it will? That twist-out that’s all bomb on her, is all meh on you. The conditioner she swear by leaves your hair feeling like wet straw.

I mean, am I the only one always waving a fist to the Heavens like why, God? Why?

LOL

I recently tried something I’d been hearing a lot about.

An oil rinse. I used Jamaican Black Castor Oil.

Now, JBCO and I ain’t never been no kind of friend. But I had a near full bottle and I figured, may as well put that to use. The point is to shampoo your hair, rinse that out, then wash your hair with oil, coating the strands liberally before washing it out after a few minutes. Can be washed out with just warm water or conditioner. Excess oil will be washed out. The purpose is to get it to penetrate the hair shaft to leave your hair soft and shiny.

So yeah, I did that.

Shampooed, used the castor oil, then conditioner on top to get rid of the excess oil. For one, it felt like the conditioner sat on top of my hair. It couldn’t penetrate the oil.

Of course.

JBCO has always been way too heavy for my hair, which is why I’d used it like once, maybe twice, then put it to the side in favor of Coconut and Olive oil. The entire reason I used it was to get rid of the oil just sitting there taking up space, and the knowledge that I would be rinsing it out.

My hair didn’t feel one iota of soft, which is the usual sensation after a conditioner. I can say my curls, especially in the back which I’m thinking is closer to 4b, popped all the way off. I mean they were clumped and defined to the Gods. The crown and front, not so much. And…

My hair was still very much oily after conditioning.

I didn’t need to apply any oil for the LCO method I usually do. My hair was shiny, yes. But the castor oil was heavy on me. Too heavy. My hair felt a bit rough, not as much as if I’d used a clarifying shampoo, but close.

I now know for sure that unless I mix it with other oils i.e coconut, olive and the rest, I’m not about that JBCO life. I might use another oil, just to see if I get different results, but as of right now, oil rinses aren’t in my regimen.

Trying New Things #naturalhair

In my last post, I talked about being a proud, unapologetic product junkie. I get such a rush when I buy/try new products. And let’s not even talk about the ungodly amount of money I spend. As I type, I’m waiting for FedEx to deliver a new set of products.

Kudos to those who aren’t on that new product high. Or who know what their Must Have/Holy Grail products are. I’m still learning my hair. I’m sure what worked on my transitioning/two-textured hair isn’t going to work for me now that I am in my fully natural state. And since I’m less than a month natural, I still don’t know what will work and what is just hype and wasted money.

As such, I’m still trying out new things.

I don’t have a complete regimen down pat. But I do have a routine for me/my daughter. Hair styles that were a bust during my transitioning phase, work beautifully now on my natural hair.

I’ve been so jealous of YouTubbers doing the two-stand twists. I wanted that hairstyle so bad, but it NEVER worked on my transitioning hair! Braid-outs did. Flat twists did.

Now, those two-strand twists are bomb on my natural hair.

Yaass gawd!

Love it.

I tried bantu knot outs once while transitioning.

That was an epic FAIL.

I have yet to try it on the natural hair, but I’m hoping the results will be the same as the two-strand twists.

Like I said, I like trying new products, so I really have to force myself in the upcoming months to stick with something for more than one week in order to give my hair the time it needs to show any kind of progress.

Good or bad.

Hopefully not bad.

I wash my hair once a week. Co-wash: conditioning wash, which is a gentler way to clean your scalp rather than shampoos that can strip away the moisture and leave your hair dry.

I have to deep condition more, which is a way of replenishing the moisture that washing strips away. I’ve read that deep conditioning should be done every time you wash or co-wash. Sometimes, I get lazy… okay, most of the time I get lazy and I don’t DC.

I co-wash then go into applying leave-in, then doing the LCO method: L: Leave-in (Liquid), C: Cream (moisturizer), O: Oil (Coconut, EVOO, Castor) to seal in the moisture. Some do it as LOC, but I don’t.

I’ve also been pretty strict about my products being all natural.

No sulphates, parabens, silicones, alcohol. Stuff that are bad for your hair. But I’ve found myself relaxing my stance on that. Not forgetting it completely, just using a very select few products that contain these ingredients.

I’ve also had to really watch that I don’t spend unnecessarily. As much as I lurve buying/trying new products, I’ll have to say “Hell Naw” if they cost too much. I just have to. To that end, the new product that should be arriving any day now are on the lower end of the dollar, but work equally as good though they may contain some of the no-nos mentioned above.

I did my research, though. YouTube is my friend. And I’m addicted to watching hair videos. Even my daughter calls me out on it. I spend hours going from video to video. LOL

I’m obsessed, yep.

So, my goal, is to find myself a regimen. And products that work on my hair.

They should clean it extremely well. Moisturize it extremely well. And style it extremely well.

All I ask, really.

Not too much.

I love moisturizers. I always buy them. And stylers. So the plan is to find the affordable ones that work with my hair type. Because that too, is the challenge. What works for the YouTubber with Type 3 hair isn’t gonna work for my coarse, dry Type 4 hair. Which is really why I try to only subscribe to Tubers with the same or close to the same hair type as my own.

I’ll end this post by saying this:

I’ve never really had any problems with my hair, relaxed or not. Fact is, before this time last year when I decided to go natural, I hadn’t given much thought to my hair at all. I didn’t hate it nor did I love it. It was my hair.

Today, I’m rocking a twist-out that’s 7 days old, and I am loving my hair. Loving it. I’m comfortable with who I am, because the decision I made was the right one for me. While I’ve been envious of others whose hair appear to work wonderfully and cooperate fully with products, I’ve never really thought about giving up or anything like that.

I’m okay with the process, however long it takes.

With my hair, and with myself in general.

On Products and Stuff

I finally did the big chop last Sunday (7/19). Had me a beer, gave my husband a scissors and told him have at it. So I don’t know how long my hair is, since I don’t measure. Length isn’t really on my mind majorly right now. I want healthy hair and scalp, and I want for the products I use to work the way I want them to.

I have Type 4 hair. 4C. That means, it’s kinkier than most. Thick and dry. I’ve only recently began to really focus on that when researching/buying products. Usually, I’d have gone to YouTube, watched what the popular YouTubbers are using, and then buy that.

Now, I’m sticking to YT’bers who have the same hair type as me. Trying also to find one who resides in the same climate as me is not as easy. The humidity in Atlanta is no joke, so much of the products out there doesn’t do much to hold my hair since the instant I step outside my door, everything goes poof.

Huge afro.

Curls and definition be damned.

So that’s the struggle. Finding a product to keep my style in place while out and about. Not that I am usually out and about. Mostly weekend outings with the family, and maybe a stop every now and then to Walmart mid-week.

I’m a huge product junkie. Meaning, if it’s for sale, and for natural hair, I’m buying it. I know that’s not how it should be done, but I can’t help it.

I do buy all natural products. And I try to do my research to make sure I’m buying from black owned businesses. Top of which is SheaMoisture. Ingredients are very important to me. SheaMoisture is one brand I never have to question. I adore everything in their hair line. Doesn’t matter what it is. Matter fact, I’m typing this while air-drying my hair after washing/conditioning/and deep conditioning with the Raw Shea Butter line. I adore it.

I think I’ll also do reviews on the products I use.

EDEN Body Works is another black owned business. I have one of their products which I adore.

Ever Butter, which I recently discovered, bought (of course) and have yet to really try. They’re relatively new. Owned by a husband and wife team, and I love their packaging and social media presence. I really hope as they expand and grow that the personal touch doesn’t go away.

Kinky Tresses. New on the market as well. I ordered some of their stuff yesterday and I can’t wait to try it out.

Same with Kurlee Belle, which appears to be based in the Bahamas. How awesome. Waiting for the postman to drop off my goodies.

Camille Rose Naturals (I have their Aloe Whipped Butter gel which I use in my daughter’s hair for two-strand twists). I need to get their Almond Jai Twisting Butter, and the Curl Maker. I need to know what the fuss is about.

I have yet to use anything from these companies/brands, but they’re on my list:

• TGIN (Thank God I’m Natural)
• OBIA Natural Hair Care
• Alikay Naturals
• Oyin Handmade

You can find them at Major Retailers (and your neighborhood beauty supply, along with:

• Miss Jessie’s
• Curls (So far I’ve only used their Blueberry curl control jelly on a braid out, and I am in love)
• Karen’s Body Beautiful.

So far I have a nice, simple but overflowing basket of products in the bottom of our bathroom sink. I know when the mails comes in a day or so and Mr. A sees even more hair stuff, I’m gonna need to hang my head and acknowledge that yes, I do have a problem. But…

It’s not that time yet, so I’m good until then.

An Introduction

I’ve been debating with starting a hair blog for a while now. For one thing, it’s yet another something on my to-do list. But I finally started the process a few days ago. The fact is, this journey I began almost a year ago has been interesting and eye-opening. So as my one year anniversary approaches—don’t remember the exact day or month, but I know it was before September— LOL I found myself doing inventory of things.

The fact is, I’m still learning my hair. There are some things I know. And still so many I don’t.

I transitioned instead of doing the Big Chop. Which means, instead of simply chopping off the relaxed hair and allowing it to grow back fresh, I opted to allow the hair to revert on its own. No chemical assistance. Just healthy maintenance on my hair. Which meant I had to learn the lingo.

Pre-poo.

Co-wash.

DC.

HG.

I had to pay attention to products. Their ingredients. Determine what was right for my hair, what wasn’t.

I also had to learn the type of hair I had. Yes, there are types. That’s the first step really, because knowing your type influences how you maintain your tresses, and the products you buy. I’m fairly up on what companies to buy from, and what products to stay away from.

Now.

When I first started, you can bet I was overwhelmed by the plethora of information out there. It can be a lot. But once you grasp the basics, learning is so much easier.

I have to admit that I am at this point getting restless, where I wasn’t before. I will be doing a chop pretty soon. Probably as soon as this weekend. Haven’t checked my new growth length, but it is substantial enough for me. I love long hair. I do. At the beginning of this process, it was nape-length. It is now not quite shoulder length, but close. I will chop off the remaining relaxed ends finally, and finally fully embrace my natural-ness.

LOL

This past year wasn’t bad for me. And up til these past few days I wasn’t frustrated to reach the finish at all. I went in knowing this would be a slow process. That I had to have patience, and I did. I had planned to go further than this with the transitioning, but eh. I got antsy.

So I will chop.

I’m not a YouTubber. I don’t have a camera, other than my webcam, but editing knowledge is in short supply with me. I know blogging, so I figured, stick with what you know. I know this.