Wash Day: January 27, 2013

Happy Monday lovelies!

I hope you all had an excellent weekend! Me? I did much of nothing...which is was I needed.

Anyway, yesterday I did my usual wash day routine. I washed my hair with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo and steamed with ORS Replenishing Conditioner with a hint of grapeseed oil (have you guys tried grapeseed oil? It is awesome sauce.). As I have been doing the past couple of weeks, I then wet wrapped my hair, sat under the dryer, flat ironed, and got back under the dryer for my saran wrap. The products I used for my saran wrap are:

I'm currently having a love affair with KeraCare products. I'm not entirely sure why. I just know that I like them for straight hair purposes. I basically put a little bit of the KeraCare cream hairdress on my hair, add a few drops of serum, wrap my hair, spray w/ the oil sheen, and wrap my hair. I then wrap my hair with the saran wrap and sit under the dryer for ~15min.

***How I wrap my hair with saran wrap***



However, I think from now on, I designate take a week or two for heat free protective styles. Even though I like wearing my hair straight, I just want to give my hair a break from the wet wrapping and flat iron every now and then. Sooooo...next week I will be air drying my hair and then putting it into a nice Gibson tuck for the week. We will see how it goes.


That's it for this week's wash day...pretty blah in my opinion. :/

A Method Revisited: The Silk/Saran Wrap

As you guys may have noticed, I have incorporated the silk/ saran wrap into my regimen. The silk wrap method is pretty simple: after your hair is dry (via rollersetting, wet wrapping, etc.), you wrap your hair and wrap saran wrap around it. Next, you sit under a hooded dryer for ~15minutes or so. This method is used to not only make your hair straighter but it also makes it well....silky (hence the name silk wrap).

Anyway, I tried the silk wrap earlier on in my HHJ (before I had my hair cut short) after a rollerset...and it was a HOT MESS. My hair was not straighter nor was it silky....it was puffy and dry. I didn't know what I had did wrong and I didn't care to find out. All I knew was that rollersets and silk wraps were the bane of my existence. They were simply things that worked for other people but not me.

On a whim, I decided to try the silk wrap again following my last relaxer day and today my surprise, it actually worked! The only difference was that this time, I did a silk wrap following a wet wrap and flat iron. I also made sure to wrap the saran wrap around my head at tight as I could stand and I stayed under the dryer for exactly 15minutes (any longer and you risk sweating...which will completely mess up a saran wrap. ) As you guys saw, it turned out pretty darn good. This was all the convincing I needed to include saran wrapping in my straightening regimen.

I personally love silk wrapping because it takes some of the bulk of my hair. Most of the time after flat ironing, my hair still has some...heft to it. It can be pretty annoying when you want your hair to have slightly less volume. Another cool thing is that you can refresh a days old press using the silk wrap method. Add a little moisture, wrap your hair, add saran wrap, sit under the dryer and BAM!!! Your hair is oh so silky smooth for at least a few more days!

Check the results!

Wash Day: January 21, 2013

Happy MLK Day lovelies!

I hope you are all enjoying your day. I know I am. I have been glued to CNN watching the inauguration and am (not-so-secretly) glad I can enjoy it from the heat and comfort of my home.

Anyway, as I am lazing about, I have designated today as my wash day. Since this is the first wash day since my relaxer, I'm doing a few things to get some more moisture and protein into my hair (which my hair needs). So, I kicked off my wash day doing a hot oil treatment with kemi oyl.

When I do my hot oil treatments, I place my oil in a bottle with an applicator and heat the bottle in a small pot of boiling water ( I do this because it ensures even heating) for about 5 minutes or so. Once I remove the bottle from heat, I let it cool down a bit. Once the bottle is cool, I apply the oil to my hair in sections. When all is said and done, I place a plastic cap on my head and sit under my heat cap for 30 minutes.

Next, it is time to wash my hair. I basically did 2 lathers of shampoo: the first with Keracare Sulfate Free 1st Lather Shampoo and the second with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo (which was on sale BOGO half off at Target this past weekend). I then followed up with Aphogee Keratin 2 min Reconstructor (to strengthen up my hair a bit).

For my DC, I used ORS Replenishing Conditioner and steamed with my Huetiful Steamer for 30min. Since I will be wet wrapping, it is important for me to get all the moisture I need in my hair during the deep conditioning. Using creamy leave ins, moisturizers, etc could yield some disastrous results if you aren't careful. During a wet wrap, you just want to put the setting lotion you're using (and maybe a little water) in your hair and that's it.

Which brings us to the wet wrap....

This weekend, I was able to get my hands on Jane Carter Solution Wrap and Roll. It is a foam setting lotion that I absolutely LOVED in the early stages of my journey. What I love about Wrap and Roll is that it allows you to wet wrap (or roller set) your hair without making your hair crunchy afterwards or flaking off once your hair is dry. At any rate, I wet wrapped with this and sat under the dryer for an hour and a half. Following that, I flat ironed with IC Fantasia Heat Serum and my Sedu flat iron. I then finished up my wash day by applying a little serum (Regis Design Line Silk Drops Repair and Shine Serum) to my hair, wrapping my hair, spraying my hair with a little Keracare Oil Sheen w/ Humidity Block, and covering my hair with saran wrap. I then sat under the dryer for ~15min.

**Getting ready to sit under the dryer! Joy!<---NOT!**



That was my wash day! There was a lot of down time and this lazy day off was the perfect day to get it all done. I also love how this particular regimen of mine is primarily indirect heat. I was doing some damage to my hair using direct heat (blow dryer) and more direct heat (flat iron).

How was your last wash day? How did you spend your MLK Day?