Friday, November 16, 2012

the hair extravaganza

It's time for me to have a hair extravaganza. I say extravaganza because my hair process takes anywhere from two hours to two days to complete (it depends on how I am feeling). The extravaganza only occurs once every week (actually it's more like every other week), otherwise I would go broke from buying hair products (and never have time to do anything). From start to finish this is my hair extravaganza:

1. Pre-poo - Before washing my hair, I mix some oil with a conditioner and apply it to six sections of my head. I bantu knot it the section to hold after applying the mixture (sometimes I detangle if I wore rope twists that week). Finally I stick on a shower cap and let it sit anywhere from 30 minutes to the next morning.
I bantu knot for every step during my hair extravaganza mainly because it holds better in the shower. Twists and braids will come apart in a second. Bantu knots are built to last.

2. Rinse - In the shower I take each individual section, rinse out the pre-poo with warm water and detangle it carefully with my fingers. Once it feels clean, I put it back into a bantu knot.
Detangling in the shower with my fingers helps minimize breakage. It used to take me forever to do but patience is key. Also the pre-poo helps with detangling.

3. Shampoo - After each section has been rinsed I take it down to apply shampoo. While the shampoo is in I detangle again before rinsing it out with more warm water and putting the section back into a bantu knot.
Usually I only shampoo each section one time. No rinse, lather and repeat here. All it takes is one good time to shampoo your hair.

4. Condition - I apply conditioner to each section and bantu knot it again. At least once a month I might use a deep conditioner. I let the conditioner sit while I'm actually showering and sometimes throw on a shower cap (usually I don't). Finally I rinse it out with cold water and detangle any missed spots once my body is clean.
I detangle my hair. A. Lot. Probably too much. I think I'm paranoid it's not detangled since I use my fingers mostly. In time I might reduce the amount of detangling.

T-shirts are better for drying curling/kinky hair than a towel.
5. Moisturize - I use a t-shirt to gently dry my hair (if I feel like it) and apply a leave-in conditioner followed by oil or shea butter to each section and comb it thru from ends to tip. And back into a bantu knot it goes.
A lot of my hair care is based on how I feel. I'm not sure if that's bad or good. So far I haven't seen a negative impact.

6. Style - The first four steps usually are done in 45 minutes to one hour. Styling is generally anywhere from one additional hour to six more. It depends on how I'm twisting my hair, the size of the twist, the way I feel and what time my next activity is scheduled.
Usually I  twist my hair as a starter and then actually style it into an updo, bun, etc. Very rarely do I wear my hair loose the first few days after a wash.

7. Maintain - A few times during the week I spray a moisturizer (usually a leave-in conditioner) and oil my head to keep it from drying out. I sleep with a satin head rag covered by a satin bonnet on a satin pillowcase (usually only one remains the next morning).
When it feels like too much product is in my hair I start to use just plain water as my moisturizer and oil as needed.

Now you see why I call it an extravaganza.

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