Hair and face care regimen - update

hallos peeps!
hope you had a good weekend. over here in Lagos, we had a 4 day weekend. last thursday and friday were public/bank holidays.
my hair is still in protective styling. been a week and two days since i installed the weave. it wasn't an expensive kinda weave or anything, but i love it. simply because i now know how to care for weaves better than i did the last time i wore one.

this past weekend i washed my hair. i felt good afterwards. dunno why, but i had this feeling of  wellness afterward. maybe it was all the pampering and me-time i had. felt good.
Dudu Osun african black soap was what i sued to wash both the weave and my hair. i raised the tracks in sections so as to get to my oen hair and gently rubbed the soap on. the soap is a solid bar, so it was easy to rub on my scalp between the tracks.
 this was done while in the shower, made the washing process easier. i then used Aussi Moist conditioner on my scalp. covered up with a shower cap and cotinued with my normal shower routine. i rinsed out the conditioner and voila, my hair was all nice and fresh. the weave didn't tangle. though a curly weave, all the curls were still intact.  i half feared i might lose the definition on the weave. oh no, it actually looked better after the wash.

after drying with an old t-shirt.  i love my huge grey t-shirt. it wraps round my hair like 2 or 3 times, and the long sleeves make a good tie to keep it in place. the t-shirt was over my head til i finished dressing up.
there after,  while hair was still damp, i applied Giovanni direct leave in conditioner to the scalp and hair under the weave. that was all i put actually.  on the weave, i rubbed Aloe vera gel in sections. voila!, i was done.
the next day, i misted my scalp and hair with aloevera juice + glycerine + castor oil + eucaplytus essential oil mix, and sealed with Organics extra virgin Olive oil  hair polisher. and that was it.
moisturising and sealing while hair is in a sew in weave is not as easy as it used to be without the weave. hoping to use the aloe juice mix as my main moisturiser, and the polisher to seal. of cos, i'll still use jaimacan black castor oil once or twice a week. for now, i'll relax on the use of shea butter mix. since this will just sit on the cornrows and not penetrate it to moisturize.

Face regimen.
iread on the curlynikki forum on how someone mixed black soap with aloe vera juice and use as a liquid facial wash. i wondered why not give it a try. i have a huge bottle of  AVJ in the fridge, and since i can do a mud was right now (bought it to mix with bentonite clay for a shampoo substitute), might as well use it for my face.
on sturday, i poured the juice in a  pump bottle and cut of bits of black soap and left it to dissolve. by the next day, it had completely dissloved and ready to use. ehm, i must say, i was a bit impatient, on the day i preparedit, i used it to wash my face. i probably used just aloe juice with a trace of blac soap. impatient me.

used it for two days now, and i like how my face looks today. my face looks soft and moisturised. not oily as much as it used to be. it's still early days, and will still give an update.
a recap of my current  facial routine

Morning
1. wash with black soap
2. put honey and rinse off at end of shower session
3. moisturise with my usual body moisturiser

Evening
1. olive oil to remove eye make up and loosen oil and dirt from my face
2. wash using aloe vera juice + black soap mix
3. use rose water + glycerine as a toner
4. moisturize using Johnson's tissue oil.


oh dear, this post has really gone longer than i had thought it would. that's me, getting carried away.

thanks for reading.

xoxo

Acronyms - hair lingo

in response to a comment from a reader, thought i'd post a list of commonly used acronyms with respects to natural hair care and their meanings.


2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4a, 4b, 4c = curl types
2nd Day Hair = Hair that looks good enough the day after styling that it can just be misted with water or have a little product added try to revive and refresh its style.
ACV = Apple Cider Vinegar
AOHR= Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose
AOMM = Aubrey Organics Magic Mandarin Jelly
AOWC = Aubrey Organics White Camilla
APL = arm pit length
AVG= Aloe vera Gel
BAA = Big-ass afro
BB=Blended Beauty (product line)
BC= Big Chop
BSL = bra strap length
c. = Coarse texture
Canopy = the top layer of hair, which is exposed to the elements the most, and is prone to frizzing
CG = Curly Girl routine or "Curly Girl," the book by Lorraine Massey
Clarify = remove build-up from the hair via ACV, lemon juice, or shampooing
Clumping = strands of hair clumping together to form bigger, chunkier curls
CO = conditioner or "conditioner=only" as in not using shampoo
CO wash = conditioner washing
Condish = conditioner
Crunch = the hard, crunchy feeling left by some gels when they dry, which can sometimes be scrunched out.
DT = deep (conditioning) treatment
Elucence MBC = Moisture Balancing Conditioner
EOs = essential oils
EVOO = extra virgin olive oil
f. = fine texture
FSG=Flax Seed Gel
GDLI = Giovanni Direct Leave=In
GioDLI= Giovanni Direct Leave In
Giovanni DLI/ GDL= Giovanni Direct Leave-In
HE = Herbal Essences
i, ii, iii = Fia's hair-typing system descriptors for volume
JC N&S= Jane Carter Nourish and Shine
KCCC = Kinky Curly Curling Custard
KCKT = Kinky Curly Knot Today
m. = medium texture
NG= Nature's Gate
OC = Devacurl One Condition
ORS = Organic Root Stimulator
pineapple = gathering hair gently on top of head with a scrunchie to preserve curls for 2nd day hair
Pixiecurl diffuser method= leaving diffuser OFF, using the bowl to scrunch hair up to root, turn ON for 30 seconds=1 minute, turn OFF, and then repeat on next section of hair. Minimizes frizz and reduces the amount of disturbance on the rest of your hair while diffusing.
PJ = Product Junkie (addicted to trying the next new, possibly better hair product)
Plop/plunk= Method for putting your wet hair into a towel to encourage curls (video on jessicurl's website)
'poo = shampoo
PVP = A polymer found in most gels
'quats = polyquaternium polymers found in styling products
SAO = Sweet almond oil
Scrunch = encourage curl or apply product by gently squeezing/pushing hair upward from end toward root.
Shrinkage = shortening of length due to curl tightness
SL = shoulder length
SLS = Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (surfactant found in most shampoos)
SOTC = scrunch out the crunch
TTO = tea tree oil
TWA = Teeny weeny afro
Understory = hair under the top exposed layer

Check out Naturally Curly for a more exhaustive list.

Update on my simplified regimen

hellooooo,
guess who's back, back again, guess who's back......... Eminem....

c'est moi.
in my last post, i mentioned i would be wearing wigs for a bit. un hun, indeed i have all this while. i actually bought a couple new ones to to spice things up as it were.

me believe my hair loves a simplified regimen. no fuss, no tears. after 5 weeks or so of wearing wigs, i am now ready to wear a sew-in weave. i have fixed an appointment to have my hair fixed this weekend. hope to carry it for 3 to 4 weeks max. it will serve as a protective style.

Over here in Lagos, the dry season will set in any moment now, and then the hair care regimen wil have to be reviewed. 

while wearing the sew-in weave, i hope to continue washing my hair once a week. weave and all. i'll use castor oil to oil the scalp during this time. i still have the Jaimacan Black castor oil, will use it.
i'll like to finish the bottle i bought before i'll comment on whether it's thickening or growing my hair or not. so far, i'll say not exactly impressed.

Face/skin regimen
i have continued to use African black soap to wash my face and body  in the mornings. for a while i used raw shea butter as my facial cream in the mornings. i got bored with it last week and satred using my body moisturizer for my face.  did i hear someone shout 'lazy babe'? LOL my body moisturizer isn't greasy like shea butter.
for evening wash, i am currently using tea tree facial wash (from Superdrugs) and moisturizing with Johnson Tissue oil. been doing this for less than 4 weeks, so a bit too early to comment on the results. the pack did say 6 weeks to see visible results.
Patience, patience the best quality  i say.

2 items i jsut added to my face regimen in the last two days is honey and olive oil.
olive oil as a make up remover at night before using the facial wash. started only yesterday actually. massaged on face and around eyes (gently) to remove eye makeup. then wash off after 3 - 5 mins.
the honey i use in the morning, after washing with black soap. i put a little on my palm, and rub my hands together, apply to my face. then rinse off after 2 to 3 mins. well, as soon as i'm done washing my body.

Olive oil and honey have been said to benefit the skin and body generally for centuries. since i have quite a bit in the house, thought i might as well incorporate them. by the time i use up what i have, i'll assess the results and know whether to continue with them as staples in my skin care..

anyone used any of the items i have written about in this post? will you like to share your experience? pls feel free to comment.

thanks for reading,

ciao!
xoxo