Bantu Knot Out - Day 2

9:39a

Right side gone a little awry with the winter weather

I reknotted my hair last night and I must say that I am loving this look. The right side took a bit of a beating since I had a hat on to guard myself aganist the 8-12 INCHES OF SNOW they have forcasted for today and tomorrow. On top of the 73 inches we have already had this winter.

Wait...what was I talking about? Oh yes, the bantu knot out.

I've been moisturizing like crazy and I think my hair is thanking me. It looks extremely quenched and healthy. I have to make sure to pay special attention to my edges and my ends. Those tend to be my trouble spots.

Bantu Knot Out

2:06p

Bantu Knot Out

Last night I decided to give my limp flat ironed hair some interest and body with bantu knots. I only did four, dividing my hair into quadrants and securing the knot with a bobby pin. I moisturized really well and am seeing the benefits of that moisture today. I have been neglecting my edges so I made sure to really give them a nice drink of moisture and sealed with castor oil.

Love the curls. Will be reknotting tonight to preserve the style and most likely will pin up since rain/snow is in the forecast.

Deep Conditioning Tip

I heard this tip way back at the beginning of my hair journey and totally forgot about it. I came across it again today and will definently try this for my next deep condition this weekend.

TIP:

Try microwaving conditioner for 10 seconds and applying it to freshly shampooed hair. Allow to sit on the hair for 5 minutes and then rinse.

Your hair still gets the benefit of the heated conditioner but you don't have to sit under the dryer for 30 minutes or leave the conditioner on for hours. I rarely have time to sit for that long without interupption so for me, this may be a life hair saver!

9 Weeks Post Update

Happy with my Hair!

4:05p

Today I am 9 weeks post my last texlax and so far so good. Stretching seems to be getting easier for me. I have been either washing every week or two, depending on the condition of my scalp. I've had some flakes and some itchies which make me want to wash sooner. I am seeing a bigger difference inbetween my textures now that the majority of my hair is texlaxed. I will need to up both the moisture and the protein to stave off any breakage. I do think that my hair is thriving and I'm really enjoying it.

Still not so great on the styling end. I need to experiment more, which I have been doing. I tried a twist out that fell flat...literally. It just didn't take. And I tried pin curling, but they didn't come out great either. I need to revisit my technique. I have been wanting to rock curly styles lately so I need to invest in some new rollers {as my girls had a fun day with my rods and destroyed them!}

I tried a new conditioner that was INCREDIBLE which I'll post about later this week. What I've learned about my hair is that it loves organic!

I also tried a new flat ironing product {low budget CHI Silk Infusion} and I used it on my daughter when I blow dried her hair and it turned out incredibly!

So I made two great purchases this week. I'm satisfied!

Doin' the Bump

I was playing around with ponytails and I decided to try doing a slight bump in the front. I don't normally do anything but a slicked back pony for fear that anything ontop of my head will draw attention to my Tyra-esque forehead.

I wasn't brave enough to wear this outside my bathroom.

Any thoughts on the bump?

Unhappy Hair

4:37p

This is pretty much how I feel about my hair right now. My hair is uphappy. I am unhappy.

I realized something earlier today. I have really let myself go. Hair wise, that is {don't get me started on the rest of me}.

I have been rocking a pony everyday. I've been so uninspired. I'm too tired {i.e. lazy} to really flat iron my hair so my hair has been in a pony tail everyday this week.

I keep saying that I'm going to try twist outs and braidouts, but the truth is I just want someone else to do my hair so that I don't have to deal with it. But I know that's not the answer.

I am realizing that being lazy with my hair is only hurting my hair. My ends aren't looking to hot and my edges could use some attention too.

I wish I could say that I was turning over a new leaf for this upcoming week, but that would be a lie.

I am going to wash this weekend and attempt to do a twist out or a braid out. I'm not going to make any promises to myself though. I always end up disappointed.

Review: Gold N Hot Jet Bonnet Dryer Attachment

12:00pm

A few days ago, on wash day, I tried Gold N Hot Jet Bonnet Dryer Attachment. I was in the BSS shopping for barrettes for my girls and I saw this. I have been with out a table top dryer since I started the journey and haven't invested in one yet. So when I saw this {for $9.99}, I decided that it was worth a try.

I usually blow dry my hair, so my purpose for using this was mostly for deep conditioning. I liked the fact that it's mobile, so wherever I can plug my blow dryer up, I can use it {including lounging out my couch watching Project Runway - with the captions on}

Once I removed it from the box, I saw that it was basically just a bonnet with a large tube attached. Easy enough. Wasn't scared away yet.

I attached it to my dryer and turned on to high. It almost burned my head off, the heat was so intense. Then I read the directions, which specifically say to use only on low heat. I knew there was a reason my second grade teacher always said to read the directions first...

One thing that I did not care for about this dryer was that the force of the air from the dryer makes the bonnet part blow off, if it is not pulled all the way down. If it is pulled all the way down it becomes difficult to see. I grabbed a book and was able to deep condition and read at the same time. So that wasn't a deal breaker for me at all.

Overall, I have to say that I really do like this for it's mobility, low maintenace and how well it heats up. It did a great job deep conditioning my hair. I will definently use this with all my deep conditioners.

My Texture

3:15pm

My blackberry doesn't take the best pictures, but I wanted to show my texture. My hair is almost fully texlaxed. There are a few inches of relaxed ends that I do plan to cut at some point in time.

Wash Day and Deep Condition

9:41a

So after a week of dealing with itchies in my scalp, I washed on Sunday. Since my scalp was itching so bad, I did want to do a prepoo. Something that focused on my scalp so I did a mixture of olive oil, peppermint oil and tea tree oil. I parted my hair into small sections and applied the oil to my scalp. I used my new bonnett dryer for about 20 minutes on low heat.

The peppermint oil tingled nicely and my scalp really felt moisturized. After I washed out all the oil, I used Mane and Tail Moisturizing Shampoo to really cleanse my scalp. It was pretty bad. But after the wash, it was nice and clean.

For my deep conditioner I used Elasta QP DPR 11 mixed with coconut oil and Lustrasilk Cholesterol. I left it on for about 30 minutes with heat.

After washing out the dc, my hair felt extremely strong but also very moisturized. I think it was the coconut oil! I love that stuff.

I blow dried and pincurled. My hair turned out fabulous and I was thrilled that I could achieve a decent hairstyle without using my flat iron.