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

Beautiful Textures Product Update

Hey y'all!

I know I have been away for quite some time. I have had plenty of time to continue use of the Beautiful Textures product line. I absolutely LOVE the shampoo and conditioner. These products clean my hair while softening it and not compromising my hair's natural tendencies.

The leave-in condition is a product that is probably my favorite product out of the line. After use of anything, whether it be other brand shampoos, oils, or water, the leave-in conditioner does a wonderful job of maintaining my moisture content. The hair is soft, fluffy and manageable for several days.

A new trick that I recently learned while using the leave-in is that it does a much better job than the curling pudding at helping keep my natural kinks and curls intact. It is also a great aide in doing a twist out. I should have taken a picture to post but I will definitely do the style again. After washing my hair and applying the leave-in after detangling, I did 2-strand twists all over my head. When it was time to let out the twists the next day, my hair was absolutely GORGEOUS!

Unfortunately, things had to end with the curling pudding. After months of trying to use the product, I could never get it to work. My hair would feel sticky and a little crusty. I initially thought this was because of the amount of product that was necessary to get my hair to do anything, but after trials with different amounts of product and water, I realized that the curling pudding is just not for me. Upon application, there would be little beads of product in my hair. These beads formed whether I applied leave-in prior to application and after washing, and they even showed up directly after washing with no other product applied.

Overall, I am satisfied with the Beautiful Textures products. It has led me to believe that my hair has no interest in glycerin products (I assume that is why I had the beads in my hair after pudding application).  This has been an interesting 14 month journey since my BC, but each day I fall more and more in love with my hair and what I can do with it :). As always, I would recommend trying out products for yourself and getting to know your own hair.

~natural para siempre~

Follow @twystedhermana