Combating Breakage in Dry Desert Climates

 I recently came back from the west coast for a work trip, spending a week in Los Angeles and 2 days in Las Vegas. A few posts ago I had mentioned how ever since my hair's been long enough to go into ponytails, that's exactly what's been happening with it... I had been moisturizing daily and making sure to tuck my ends under whenever I did little buns, but one day while removing my ponytail holders, I saw a few broken strands of hair and totally freaked out!!! I knew it wasn't the ponytail holders because I got some new ones I really love that don't snag my hair at all. I knew my hair had been feeling dry with all of the dry desert heat, visits to the pool, and tanning, but I never thought it would start breaking. All I could think of was all of my hard work, feeling like I've been working for it forever and then watching it going down the drain.
Immediately, with my small resources (seeing as how I wasn't home I didnt have everything I needed) I began putting together a concoction of what would be the deepest conditioner possible at the time... A mix of whatever conditioners were on hand, and some Palmers Cocoa Butter Body oil. Thank goodness it worked! I started mixing the oil into my conditioner every time I washed my hair, and left a good amount of conditioner and oil in my hair afterwards too. I'm so glad I've come this far in my haircare to understand that what I saw was breakage, and to have had an idea of how to combat it.

How have you dealt with your hair under different climate circumstances?

Vacation Wash-and-Go: Virginia Beach Edition

Good morning YAIS readers!

I'm back in NYC after relaxing for a bit in VA Beach for my birthday. Even though I'm a little sunburned and sore from attempting to ride strong waves, I had a great time. It was quite an adventure and I have to say, every time I go South I'm reminded how much of a "Northerner" I am. I'm actually a very polite person but whenever I talk to people down south they are so surprised to learn I'm from New York City because of how "polite" and "talkative" I can be to strangers which is always hilarious.

Now for hair: I did wash-and-gos which I figured was the easiest way to handle my hair in heat and humidity. I packed TreSemme Naturals Conditioner, Ouidad Climate Control Shampoo and Conditioner, and bummed Coconut Oil and Eco Styler gel off my sister.

I washed my hair and used TreSemme as my leave-in and then shook my head to get definition of my coils/curls, a trick SP showed me a while ago that works pretty well. It's funny to describe - I just shook my head like a dog to get definition lol.

Defined curls after shaking my hair

At the beach, I kept my hat on unless I was going into the water. Of course my hair shrunk like crazy (you could never tell I'm like a quarter-inch from bra-strap length) but after I was done in the water I would braid my hair down and put my hat on. I used gel in the evenings when going out because I wore my hair slicked back.

Also, I loved seeing naturals at the beach!  It was so freeing to just hop in the water and not worry about hair and I saw it on their faces too - pure enjoyment of shaking their TWAs or wringing out their curls. I will say my hair was really tangled after 4 days of wash and gos and I had some knots - it took me half-an-hour just to detangle when I got home, and the salt water was starting to dull and dry out my hair but I see myself rocking freely shrunken hair maybe once a week this summer. I know I probably won't get to the beach again until next month after my wedding but at least I know what works for my hair now!

The Traveling Natural (District of Columbia Edition)

So I realized I never reported about the status of my hair when I went to the District of Columbia (Washington) a couple of weeks ago. I didn't do anything special. It was a busy week and I had zero time to wash before I left. But I packed coconut oil, Oyin Whipped Pudding, and some bobby pins and went on my way. Since I took the bus I put some plaits in my hair, and then when I arrived at my hotel in Foggy Bottom, I freshened up and took my plaits out. That was pretty much my routine. I wore my hair in loose ponytails/buns. It was rainy out there and I really did not want to fuss over my hair. Just wanted to enjoy the short break out of town.

frizzy braid out that got pulled into a ponytail

nom nom

My hair was being a little funky because it needed to be washed and I could feel the build up. And with the weather being humid my hair swelled up! I wasn't too happy about that but I did wash my hair when I got back. As far as what I did in DC, I did touristy things; Rode the metro, visited the Smithsonian, saw a protest in front of the White House, ate at well-known local eateries like Dukem for Ethiopian food on U street, ate some home made ice cream and yummy cupcakes from Larry's in Dupont Circle and had seafood at Clyde's in Georgetown. From my observation about natural hair, I didn't see many! I went to a lot of different neighborhoods. I saw a lot of extensions/weaves but I couldn't tell if they were natural under that. I did spot a women with a TWA while in Georgetown but that was it. (Any DC naturals out there can tell me how it is?)

Anyway, I'm actually about to head out of town again (ugh) in another couple of weeks and for a bit longer. You already know what question is on my mind...

Back From the Moutains

Happy Monday Hair Enthusiasts!

I'm back in the city and pretty exhausted. I was up in the mountains in NY near the Canadian Border (even got stopped by Border Patrol!) and it wasn't warm. I think the highest temperature it reached was 60 degrees but was regularly at 40. Remember that here in NYC it's been 80 and up.

Saranec Lake, NY

Somewhere in Lake Placid

I kept my hair in the twists, and remembered why I need to wash my hair every 5-7 days...for the sake of my scalp. The temperature change really made my scalp itch beyond belief, I already suffer from scalp issues and get these gross dry patches especially in the front of my head. And then because of the colder temps, wind, and morning dew my hair got a little frizzy.

In the moutains...

In Albany

I moisturized my hair with aloe vera gel, whipped pudding and coconut oil which which I think really kept the hair from frizzing as much as it could've. I kept my hair in high ponytails and buns most of the time because I don't like hair in my face. By the time I got to Albany, NY the temps were about 70 but it was rainy and my hair still frizzed up a bit. Anyway, I'm really glad that I did not wear my hair loose because of how unpredictable the weather was. Overall, my hair doesn't feel dry because I moisturized it daily. Today I plan on doing my routine to sooth my scalp because I hate feeling like it's on fire!