by George I think I've got it...hair routine

me being silly for my pic of the day, I had itty bitty twists in done on blow dried hair, more on that later

Hello there lovelies,

I know I've been quite slack in my writing, but bear with me.  I'm trying to get my life in order, but that's another story for another day.  On to hair.  I just may have finally found my hair routine!!!! Okay, so it's still a bit variable, but this is the closest I've had to a steady routine in a super long time (been doing it consistently for about 3 months) so I'm excited.  Okay, here it goes.

Once/week (usually Sunday) I have wash day.  On wash day I pre-"poo" with Jojoba oil.  I usually put the oil on my scalp and all over my hair (working in sections of 4 of course).  I leave on for about 30mins (just depends on how I'm feeling).  Next, I hop in the shower, and wash the oil all out.  I slather my hair well with conditioner (usually Herbal Essences, Color Me Happy), and then get out of the shower.  I next detangle with my Denman brush (usually while watching a Good Times or Cosby Show DVD).  Once a section is detangled, I loosely twist it and then put extra virgin olive oil on the twists (I put additional conditioner on before detangling if I feel I need it).  I sit under a conditioning dryer for about 45-60mins.  I then hop back into the shower and rinse the conditioner out (with twists still in).  Then I hop back out of the shower and do a protective style (usually either flat twists or two strand twists).  For the style, I untwist each twist and put Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Jojoba oil on and then proceed with styling. 

At night I either tie my hair down with a stain scarf or just sleep with it on my satin pillow case.  If my hair is not in some type of twists I usually braid it at night into about 6-8 braids (occasionally I'm lazy and do nothing with it). 

I try to recondition my hair one to two times per week after "wash day."  When I co-wash my hair during the week I will either twist it into two strand twists with conditioner or Shea Moisture and a little Jojoba or I wear a wash and go if I wash it in the morning.  For wash and go, again I use conditioner (HE, Color Me Happy) or Shea Moisture as leave in. 

I put oil on my hair just about every day (I have recently been using Grape Seed Oil b/c it's cheaper than Jojoba, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, I think I like Jojoba better, but I'll get back to you). 

So, there you have it.  Wash day does take some time, but I enjoy it.  I've found that the more I do my hair, the more I enjoy doing my hair.  I think one of the secrets is to know and expect that doing your hair will take time.  I allot 4 hours to doing my hair each Sunday so that it won't be a burden.  Spending an unexpected 3 hours on something (ie. your hair) is a pain, but spending an expected 3 hours on something is no biggie.  Also, I've found that since doing protective styles more often my hair seems to grow better.  And I'm loving Jojoba Oil (although it cost more than I'd like, it's not expensive, about $10 a month, but still, oils are typically pretty cheap).  I'm also getting my hair professionally straightened and trimmed once every three months.  At trim time I also get a shampoo so my hair gets shampooed once/three months.  I try to avoid using a lot of product on my hair, and to avoid products that build up because I don't shampoo often.  I do have back-up shampoo at home (Suave Almond and Shea Butter) just in case, but haven't needed it. 

So, for now, I'm loving my hair.  I don't feel like I'm doing as much with it because I do protective styles more, but my hair seems to like them.  I think come Spring/Summer I will experiment and do a little more with my hair.  But for now, I'm happy. 

So, let me know what you all are doing with your hair.  What is your hair routine like?  What are your favorite products?  Talk to me, I love comments!!!!

Peace, love and happy hair :-)