Ironing out the kinks!

Hola amigas!

I know my last couple of posts have been about how I do my pre-poo and wash. I didn't know that I would be straightening my hair again so soon, but I did after my wash this last weekend.

This pre-poo mixture that I made was composed of the these products:

Pre-poo mix: Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Leave-in Conditioner, Beautiful Textures Curly to Straight Flat Iron Silkener, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner, and extra virgin olive oil were combined. 

Herbal Essences Hello
Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo

Herbal Essences Hello
Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo

The pre-poo was applied to dampened hair and let stay in for ~10 minutes. Then, the pre-poo mix was rinsed out, and hair washed with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo and the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner was used upon completion of the wash, rinsed out after ~10 minutes.

In order to ensure that my hair remained moisturized and protected from the heat that would be applied by the blow dryer in the blow-out process, I applied the Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Leave-in Conditioner and Beautiful Textures Curly to Straight Flat Iron Silkener.

Before blow- out: Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Leave-in Conditioner and Beautiful Textures Curly to Straight Flat Iron Silkener were applied to hair to retain moisture and protect from heat addition.

Using a wide toothed comb and a brush, the blow out process was done. This helped to detangle the hair and make sure that it was dry before flat ironing. After the blow out, a quick length check was done and a little bit more of the flat iron silkener was applied before straightening. Coconut oil was then applied very lightly to the scalp and hair to give extra shine.

I am still working on the correct proportion of ingredients to combine in the formulation of my pre-poo and there are lots of other things to try of course. Right now my main goals are to develop a hair care regimen and stick to it! So far, things are working well and if you have any questions/ comments/ concerns/ requests, feel free to ask!

Paz!

~natural para siempre~

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Is a pre-poo really necessary?

Hi!

Something that I recently tried is a pre-poo. I was on YouTube looking at all of the natural hair care videos and came across a couple of interesting clips. Little did I know that some people actually prepare their hair to be washed. Some call it a prewash, others prepoo, but it is essentially the same thing.

What I do for my prepoo/ prewash procedure is essentially applying a hot oil treatment to the hair prior to washing. I had several types of oils that I was using in my hair but several had an "interesting smell" so I no longer use them. Right now, I use extra virgin olive oil for the treatment. I warm the olive oil and apply it to my scalp, hair roots, and ends, making sure to saturate the hair.

After oil application, I will massage my scalp and rake the oil through the hair to make sure that everything is well covered. This process feels really good and makes sure that the hair is moisturized and protected, especially if a sulfate shampoo is used. Yes, it will be washed away but the cleansing process can be rough and strip the hair, resulting in split ends, hair breakage, damaged cuticle, etc.

My last wash was done today and I didn't do the pre-poo just to see if I feel a difference in my hair. The answer is yes. Not only am I using a new shampoo conditioner combination, but the lack of prepping the hair prior to the wash made the wash a little more difficult. I had more tangles than when I did the pre-poo and afterwards, the hair isn't quite as soft. My next wash will definitely be with a pre-poo hot oil treatment. I will also experiment with mixing oils with a conditioner before beginning the wash. Be on the lookout for more updates!

~natural para siempre~

Follow @twystedhermana

Hair washing

Hello again!

When I had relaxed hair, I had no issues with applying shampoo and rubbing my head vigorously to get the shampoo to get sudsy. This carelessness, of course led to some tangling and when I dried my hair with a towel, I applied the same vigorous rubbing motion to remove as much water as possible. I quickly learned that this does NOT work with natural hair.

I longed for my hair to have curls but after my BC, my hair was so short and there was nothing much that I could do with it. When washing, I realized my old techniques would lead to tangling that was very difficult to undo. Not only was it difficult to detangle the hair when washing, it was difficult for me to keep it detangled while towel blotting, adding products, and even styling.

As my hair grew longer, the wash process has grown easier. I now have adopted a new strategy. Most times I wash my hair in the shower but if I were to wash over a sink, the process is the same. First, I wet my hair and use my fingers to detangle the hair, starting from the ends and working my way to the roots. After this step, I will add shampoo to one of my palms and apply it to chunks of my hair at the roots. Once the shampoo is out of my hand, I begin to rake the shampoo through my hair, roots to end, using my fingers. If more water or shampoo is needed, I will apply and continuously rake until I get a nice lathering.

The next step is to take sections of my hair and sandwich them between my hands and do a gentle sliding motion to cleanse the hair. After that is done, I gently use my fingertips to massage my scalps. Once these processes are complete, the rinse begins. Just as the shampoo was applied, raking the fingers through the hair, it is removed in the same manner while flushing with water. Conditioner is applied to the hair as described above for shampooing, and leave-in is put on after a brief head shake.

~natural para siempre~

Follow @twystedhermana