Black Tea Rinse For Darker Hair

I have a very interesting relationship with the color of my hair. It's naturally really, really dark but I'm known to color it every so often. I haven't colored my hair in a while because now I want to go back to my naturally dark color and I've read that a Black Tea Rinse may be the way to do it. Most people seem to use it for reducing shedding, but I'm curious about it's rich, dark stain. I definitely plan to give it a try this weekend. Have any of you tried rinsing with Black tea?

Avocado Deep Conditioner & Hair Updates

I don't know if I've shared this yet, but ever since I came back from Tampa 4 weeks ago, my hair has been acting a little funky; it's been drier and there's some breakage and I'm positive it was the water down there as well as the up-and-down temperatures here in NYC. I've been trying to restore my hair and I think it's getting back to normal. I've been washing my hair twice a week (usually Sundays and Wednesdays) and using Aphogee Two Minute Re-constructor every other wash day which seems to be doing it's job but nothing to dance about. My shedding is normal and I'm not seeing so many "short hairs" so I think progress is being made.

This past washday (Sunday) I decided  to deep condition with Avocado. Avocado is said to be great for hair and excellent for your body as well, which is just as important. I mixed it with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Honey, left it on my hair for about an hour.

 There are other avocado recipes that use mayo and coconut milk, but I didn't feel like mixing that in my hair. Turns out that this recipe worked just fine; my hair was fully moisturized and my natural shine is on full blast. I set my hair in some curl formers using Jane Carter Wrap and Roll for a "soft curl" look, and fluffed it out a bit. I didn't care much for having "defined" curls this time around.

Also I found something to cover my ears for the cold and thought it looked cute with my curls. I bought it in SoHo, in this little market on Broadway Saturday night when I realized that my ears were freezing and that I would be out all night.

Have you guys tried an Avocado Deep Conditioner?

Deep Conditioning With Banana

Hey everyone!

So I didn't post about the way I styled my braids because honestly, I didn't have time to do much to them. I kept the front half of my hair down and in my face and then the back pulled up in a ponytail or tucked under something like this...

And remember how I said I would keep them in till the end of the month? Well I have an "event" of some sort next weekend and realized I would not really have time to take out my hair and do what I need to do. Plus I'm still paranoid about keeping my hair from breaking and keeping moisture, and noticed my dark roots are about an inch (and since I got it hi-lighted around this time in November I've concluded my hair grows the average 1/2 inch a month, whether I retained that inch I'm not sure).

So I took them out yesterday. I mean I did do two weeks so I think that's an accomplishment for me.

Cousin It! lol

I did my own mix for a deep conditioner by the way. I used a very ripe banana (which is supposed to be great for colored or dry hair), extra virgin olive oil, coconut milk and raw honey and tossed it in my blender. I did this treatment for the first time about 3 summers ago and loved it, but forgot about it till recently. After washing my hair with Curlicious Curls shampoo, I put the DC in my hair and covered it with a plastic bag for about 10 minutes while in the shower. I personally think I may have used too much olive oil because of the way my hair feels, but overall it felt great and my curls were very defined.

Defined, moisturized curls with the banana DC

I now have my hair set in bantu knots, and I plan to take them out tomorrow. Stay tuned (for real this time) for how the set comes out!

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.

Homemade Mixtures

Yesterday I decided to use what I had to whip up some nice stuff for my hair. I've been wearing my hair  loose this past week and probably will again this week. Due to this NYC weather I'm becoming increasingly anal about not having dry hair because I don't want my hair to break.

The first thing I did was pre-poo with Burts Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo treatment and mixed it with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I've read from The Natural Haven in this post how beneficial putting coconut oil to hair before washing to prevent the hair from swelling (and swelling can weaken hair!) I mostly pre-poo with just evco but when it's cool out I tend to break out the Avocado Butter

I applied the mixture in sections then braided my hair and left it on for about 30 minutes. Then I washed my hair with a new shampoo I'm testing Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream Organic Shampoo (which I will review later). I then finger-detangled with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and rinsed my hair thoroughtly. This combo made my hair feel really soft and silky.

I then did a deep conditioning treatment using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Raw Honey, and a tablespoon of coconut milk. Honey has anti-bacterial properties which is good for someone like me who suffers from scalp issues. I added a little coconut milk because it detangles like a charm and I really did not feel like breaking out the comb. I feel like I put too much EVOO because the mixture was a tad runny for my liking, but it smelled amazing!

Defined curls, "naked" hair

I wrapped my hair for about an hour then rinsed with cold water and my hair was shiny, bouncy and my curls were popping. I'm going to be doing more homemade mixtures for my hair because it can be less expensive and I have a lot of stuff thats beneficial to the hairs anyway...