Dry and Itchy Scalp Remedies That Work

Forgive me for not posting for a bit, it's been a hectic week! Hurricane Sandy really devastate NYC, and while my area in Queens doesn't have terrible damage, I've had to check on family in nearby New Jersey and Staten Island by renting a car (which was hell in itself), while working from home all week because my office in Manhattan had no electricity. Hope all our YAIS readers faired through the storm ok! Luckily everyone is good on my end, and I'm trying to get everything back to normal. One of those things is washing my hair today and getting my scalp back to normal because as I type, it is on fire! It's been itching and flaking like you won't believe, which always seems to happen when the weather changes, so I'm revisiting some treatments that have worked for me in the past that I thought to share!

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Diluted in water, this treatment has always been tried and true for me. After washing and conditioning my hair, I use the mixture (about 1/4 cup to 2 cups of water) as a final rinse. It results to a soothed scalp and shiny hair with no lingering scent. I used to do this once a week in the winter especially and had no scalp issues for the entire season.

Bentonite Clay

I consider myself a veteran user of this. I actually make a clay mask once a week for my combination skin type, and I've blogged before how awesome it is for hair. I definitely have focused on my scalp when applying the clay to my hair and it really helps - I actually use apple cider vinegar and raw honey in my mixture which leaves my scalp and hair feeling and looking great!

Tea Tree Oil

This oil is magic in a bottle for me. I used to have severe eczema flair-ups when I was younger and my diluted tea tree oil was applied to my skin to clear it up. You really only need a little bit of this stuff because using too much can cause irritation. When I wore my hair straight or wanted a style to last a while but my scalp was itching, I would take a cotton swap with a diluted tea tree oil mixture and dab it on my scalp to cool it off and stop the flaking.

What are you some of your tried-and-true dry scalp treatments?

Re-attempting the Perfect Twist Out

About 2 weeks ago I discovered how to achieve the twist out of my dreams... by doing a twist out on hair that was roller set with end wraps. Though it is a bit of a time consuming regimen, I am going to do my best to make the time to stick to it because my scalp seems to do okay with this method, as last time I didn't feel the need to wash for almost 2 weeks! Normally I can't go longer than 4 days... Also, I'm really attributing a lot of my length retention to this method. Anyhoo, notice anything different from the last post where I roller set my hair? Yup, bigger rollers! I bought these larger capped rollers for future endeavors and realized I could actually use them now! #superpsyched

 When my hair gets a little longer maybe I'll attempt to wear one of these roller sets, but until then, I just snapped a few flicks of what what hair looked like brushed out and fluffled a little after silk wrapping. I also used a new foam wrap that I must say I'm pretty impressed with, and a little with myself as well, as I did spend like a good hour in the BSS comparing foam wraps. I promise to give it a review sometime before this new week is over but I will say I love that it left my hair light, fluffy, and super moisturized instead

 of dried out. No sign of any residue, nor greasiness, and I used this product alone. I did do one thing different this time, I decided to use Bentonite Clay for the first time and I will say that I loved it. It left my hair super soft and had my curls popping. I dusted my ends, then twisted my hair up in hopes of a perfect twist out again so stay tuned for the post of the outcome and product review of the foam wrap I used!

What do you think about roller setting your natural hair as a part of your regular regimen? 

I think this may be one of the best regimens for winter length retention for me

Sunday's Question: Is Your Natural Hair Routine "High" or "Low" Maintenance?

My Bentonite Clay mixture

At this very moment, I'm sitting here with Bentonite Clay in my hair (and on my face). I love this stuff. I love applying it and I love how great my hair feels once I rinse it out. After I rinse this out I'm going to condition with Suave, use Aphogee for some light protein and apply TreSemme as my leave-in and seal with coconut or Vatika oil. Then I'm going to set my hair some flexi-rods using Eco-Styler gel. Is all this too much for my natural  hair? I personally don't think so, but that's a matter of opinion.

I hear sometimes that natural hair is high maintenance which dissuades some to transition to natural hair.  Some of us naturals tend to even make fun of those who we feel "do too much" like daily co-washing and intricate styles. The one thing we have to keep in mind is that all grooming practices are personal, and hair is included. My sister jokes that I'm in my hair way too much, because I wash and style twice a week and she can't imagine having to do all that hair so often, while I think leaving your hair alone for too long - while ideal because of time and other obligations- really isn't for me. I enjoy what I perceive to be a simple routine for my hair that aligns with how I wish to present myself and practical grooming.

But I am curious, what do you guys think is "too much?" Would your routine be perceived as "high" or "low" maintenance?

ETA: I would consider my routine "low to medium" because depending on the week, I'll just wash and bun OR set my hair. 

Clarifying Methods

At times, your hair may start feeling a little "gunky" or it may look a little dull. The products you normally use may not seem to work. Your scalp could be itchy and dry; it might just seem overall unmanageable.

 It might be time to clarify to remove product build up from your hair. Here are some methods/products to choose from:

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse: Commonly referred to as "ACV rinse" in the natural world, it's great for the hair and skin. It has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. I personally used to do this every couple of weeks for the sake of my scalp and to keep my hair shiny--I don't anymore because my hair is colored. Apple Cider Vinegar should be diluted with water because it is very acidic. I loved the results because my hair would be shiny and my curls would pop.

(Reference 1 Reference 2)

Bentonite Clay: I've discussed my experiences with the clay  and have loved it. It is said to remove product build-up and is great for the skin as well. Mixing it is very easy, (just be sure not to use aluminum) and left on for 20 minutes tops. It can used as a shampoo replacement or after shampoo.
(More References here and here)

Brown Sugar Scrub: I personally have never used this method for my scalp, but it sounds interesting. Brown sugar is an exfoliant used in many beauty products (I've used it for my lips); some naturals use it for the scalp. Here's a recipe  for an easy brown sugar scrub.

Clarifying Shampoos: If you're not interested in using any of the above methods, you can just find a clarifying shampoo to use. They generally shouldn't be used very often because it can dry out your hair, and if you have color treated hair it can fade the color faster. Lately I've been using Curls Clarifying Shampoo which works really great so far. My hair doesn't feel dry and stripped and after using it my curls are defined and ready for conditioner.

Have any of you used any of these methods? What are other methods of cleansing/clarifying do you folks use?

Henna, Cassia & Bentonite Clay-What's the difference?

Reader email from Tamara:

Hello,

I am new to your blog, as I just found it today.  But you have a lot of useful information, thank you.

I have a question about the difference between Henna, Cassia and Bentonite...As in what they do for your hair and or the pros/cons of each one.  Also I have hair that is just beyond twa length and im not sure when to start adding any of those that I named to my hair because all the people who seem to be doing it already have longer hair.

Thanks for reading out blog Tamara! Glad you find it useful. And for folks who have been checking us out for a while, you know that both SP and I are henna users (although I haven't in a while) and I love Bentonite Clay. Neither of us have used Cassia yet but I actually have been interested in trying it. So here's what we know:

Henna: is said to strengthen and condition hair. It has a reddish dye content, but if you have dark hair the color may show up more like a rinse.  These posts will bring you to SP and I's henna experiences as well as information about henna. We both love it and have very different hair types. 

Pros: shiny hair, some color deposit, strengthens your strands

Cons: may curls to loosen (temporary), hard to rinse out, can be drying

Bentonite Clay: great for hair and skin. It removes build up and acts as a clarifier and there is no dye content. See these posts about my experiences and results

Pros: removes build-up

Cons: perhaps drying. I don't really have any complaints

Cassia: Is yet another conditioning treatment like henna. It's referred to as 'neutral henna' and has a golden-yellow dye content (so again, makes no difference on dark hair). As I mentioned, neither of us have used it yet but feel free to check out info from Mehandi.com. I'm actually interested in using it as well. 

To address the second part of the question about length, it doesn't seem to matter. SP has shorter hair and did henna treatments and other naturals use these treatments on their TWA. And while we both love these treatments, please remember that we all have different hair and what works for some may not work for others. Experiment if you'd like, and research!

Good luck Tamara! Let us know your outcome!

Have questions/comments? email us at yais(dot)nyc (at) gmail(dot)com. (yais.nyc@gmail.com)

Product Stash: Cleansers

I was doing some serious cleaning today, when I got distracted and started accessing my hair product stash once again. I think this help me figure out exactly what I'm doing with my products and what I need or discard. So let's start with the cleansers, aka shampoo.

So here we have the Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat, Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream, and Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream all shampoos I have reviewed. Now the Giovanni Tea Tree is the same bottle I have had since the beginning of summer 2010 and I bought it for about 7 bucks. It does wonders for my scalp and I enjoyed using it in the summer, but I will not be purchasing again. I need something more moisturizing and with some detangling power because of all my hair. I'm going to somehow finish up this bottle.

Now the Curlicious Curls and Jessicurl shampoos, I'm going to continue to alternate with them. I love both and haven't made up my mind as to which I like better. They are both pricy but totally worth it to me. They both will last me a while too, since every other week I plan on using the bentonite clay to clarify and strengthen my hair. I know that most naturals don't seem to shampoo quite as often as I do, but every 5-7 days is for me. Especially since I'm using very moisturizing shampoos I haven't noticed my hair being dryer or anything.

Stay tuned for my next post discussing my conditioner stash....

Results: Bentonite Clay

First things first, hope everyone had a good holiday. I'm not really a holiday person and I've been sick but nonetheless I was able to relax.

Anyway so this bentonite clay. I got a plastic bowl and wooden spoon (you're not supposed to use metal at all) and dumped about half a cup of the clay into the bowl. I added water until it got to a "pancake batter" consistency although I honestly don't know how well I did that. I then added some organic honey and mix well.

I applied it to the four sections I made in my hair without gloves. It feels just like clay which I used to work  with a lot when I was into taking art classes so the feel of it wasn't foreign to me. It was quick and easy to apply.

I left it in my hair for 20 minutes - the time recommended - with a plastic bag over my head so that it wouldn't dry out. Then I rinsed out in the shower and it was super easy to do so. My hair felt like it was really, really clean, not stripped but just 'naked' and I like that. Before I even decided to follow up with conditioner (Renpure Organics is all that I had on hand) I took a look at my curls and saw how they had clumped beautifully. Rinsing out the conditioner had me even more pleased...

Now that my friends, is definition! I stretched my hair using curl formers and when I took those suckers out and touched my dry hair, it was amazingly soft, the kind of softness I been semi-struggling with this winter because of the bitter cold. And my hair was bouncy and moved around. So because of the ease of applying as well as the results and inexpensive on my wallet, I think I will be incorporating this into my regimen. I'm thinking every two weeks should be good - alternating my use of shampoos.

Trying: Bentonite Clay

Recent Purchase from Whole Foods

I posed a question on the Curlynikki forum the other day about using henna for all it's benefits other than dye release. Now that my hair is hi-lighted, I've been a little manic about preserving my color, at least for now because I don't want any sort of red in my hair. I proposed to use just water in my mix instead of green tea (or anything acidic that would release the color). Some suggested using cassia and amla and even Bentonite clay. After doing a quick search I thought that the clay would be a good idea. I vaguely remember reading about it when I first started browsing natural hair blogs and I went right back to these blogs. I found some information that's really appealing to me, as told by the website Anita Grant it removes build up from the scalp and hair leaving it clean, like a clarifier. It's also great for skin which is good news because I have eczema.

What I'm thinking about now is in what ways I can mix it for my hair. There are various recipes floating around from other naturals, and I'm thinking of this one from Honey Brown Sugar because she used honey and I love adding honey to my hair (that's what both SP and I use in our henna mixes.) I'm going to do a treatment today so I'll update everyone in a couple of days on the results. Till then, Happy Holidays and be safe!