Can I tell you how much I love my hair!?

Taking care of my natural hair is extremely important to me.  I look forward to my wash days and I really enjoy styling my hair.  I never realized how creative I was until I went natural, all of a sudden I was able to do so many cute things with my hair that I never knew I could do.

I think what sets my hair growth apart from many other women is my diligence and consistency.  In other words, I never forget about taking care of my hair.  I know this may sound weird, but taking care of my hair is therapeutic (#don’tjudgeme )

I usually do my hair on Saturdays, but sometimes I have to choose a different day.

Pre-poo & Detangle with oil and a cheap conditioner then sit under the steamer for 30 minutes or I’ll put on a plastic cap for a few hours while I do things around the house.  The oil and the conditioner I use change based on whats left under the sink or what’s near by. I usually use coconut oil, but I also use avocado oil, olive oil, or castor oil.  I’ve used many different conditioners for my prepoo, click HERE to see a list of my favorite pre-poo conditioners.

Pre-pooing is really easy. (This is what I do) Spray section of hair with water, finger detangle the section, add LOTS of oil especially on ends, add LOTS of conditioner (this is why I use a cheap -less then $5- conditioner), then detangle hair with a Denman brush, and twist that section into a two strand twist. Then move on to the next one.

Feel free to watch this video to see step by step how I pre-poo my hair.

Detangling Cocktail – Recently (Summer 2012) I’ve been using my detangling cocktail to detangle my hair. Essentially, my detangling cocktail is a pre-poo, but instead of applying each ingredient/product to my hair in separate steps, I mix all together in a spray bottle and then I spray it on. SO MUCH FASTER!!! I mix oil and conditioner in a bottle of hot water. Shake it up really good and saturate a section of hair. Detangle that section of hair and move on to the next section. When all  is done, I then shampoo my hair and continue on with the rest of my regimen.

Check out this video to see how I detangle my hair with my detangling cocktail

Hot Oil Treatments. I don’t do this every single week but I find that in the Winter I do them 1-2x a month. Where as in the Summer, I may not do them at all. When I do do them, I ALWAYS do them before my shampoo. If I’m going to do a hot oil treatment, I don’t Pre-poo or use my detangling cocktail. To do a hot oil treatment, I separate my hair into 4 sections. I spray a section of my hair with warm water until it is soaking wet.  I then apply warm oil (coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, jamaican black castor oil) to this section. I then clip that section away and move on to the next section. When all sections are done, I will put on a plastic cap and sit under a warm bonnet or hot dryer or Ill put a towel on my head and do things around the house. I then shampoo my hair and continue on with the rest of my regimen.

Check out this tutorial to see how I do my hot oil treatment.

Shampoo & Condition.  I prefer to shampoo and condition with twists in my hair.  Remember how I detangled my hair during my pre-poo? Leaving the twists in my hair keeps my hair detangled and makes my wash session a lot faster then it used to be.  I apply the shampoo to my roots and then massage really well. I use the excess shampoo to clean the twists and squeeze them very well while I’m rinsing. I do the same for conditioner. Click HERE to see a list of my favorite shampoos & conditioners.

My freshly washed hair

CoWash. At the beginning of my journey I would cowash my hair every single Wednesday (my old cowash routine). But as my hair grew longer and longer I could no longer cowash as frequently because the process of detangling and moisturizing became longer and longer. I do still cowash occasionally. But I do this mainly to rinse my hair of products. So in the event that I want to twist my hair again from scratch and want to use a new product, I will cowash my hair and then style as desired. If you’re not sure exactly what a cowash is, please read this article and also watch the video below to see how I cowash.

Deep Condition.  I prefer to deep condition with twists in my hair. I don’t deep condition on every single wash day, but I make sure to deep condition at least once every month.  I rub my deep conditioner on my ends and then work my way up to the root. If I have nothing to do for the day, I will leave my deep conditioner on my hair overnight. I don’t always have the time to do this, so I usually  sit under the steamer for 30 minutes or put on a plastic cap few hours while I do things around the house.  I rinse out the deep conditioner thoroughly, squeezing my twists to get all the product out. Check out this video below to see how I deep condition my natural hair.

Moisturize each section. This is the most important step of my regimen, because my hair won’t be washed for 7-14 more days.  I usually allow my hair to air dry just a bit before moisturizing, because I usually go right into styling after I moisturize and I prefer to style on damp/dry hair.   So after an hour or so, I loosen one twisted section and add my leave in conditioner, then seal with an oil, then rub my moisturizer on, and finally add a styling product.  I distribute the product through my hair with my Denman brush. Then retwist the section into two twists.  I repeat this all over my hair. I allow my hair to air dry all day and night. Of course I sleep with a satin bonnet.  Click HERE to see a list of my favorite leave in conditioners, oils, and moisturizers.

Feel free to watch this video to see step by step how I moisturize my hair. The video below is of my new regimen, but when I had a TWA I used My OLD hair regimen, was a bit complex, but I never suffered from dryness when I followed my old regimen.  Click HERE to review my old regimen, especially if you have continuous problems retaining moisture.

Style, the next morning. I untwist my hair and style as desired.  Click HERE to see a all of my favorite styles.

Getting ready for bed.  At night, I retwist my hair in flat twists, or two strand twists, and sometimes even braids, depending on what look I want for the next day.  I also assess the state of my hair, usually by night 3 I need to add a little something something to my hair to bring it back to life. Check out this tutorial below to see how I retwist my hair for bed.

Morning Takedown – In the morning, I take off my bonnet and untwist/unbraid my hair. I don’t apply any additional product. Check out the tutorial below to see how I untwist my hair.