Deep Condition

What is deep conditioner?
Deep condition is using conditioner that is labeled as deep conditioner or allowing regular conditioner to stay on the hair for an extended period of time.

What is the purpose of deep conditioner?
Deep conditioner serve as a means of adding extra moisture to dry hair and repairing damaged hair. Deep conditioners make the hair more manageable and soft.

How long should I leave the deep conditioner on?
The least amount of time that is recommended to leave the deep conditioner on is 15 mins. For extremely damaged hair you can leave it on for two hours or even overnight. Once healthy hair is achieved, you can cut back on the length of time that is required for the deep condition.

How often should deep condition be done?
Deep condition should be done at least weekly or every two weeks. For extremely dry, brittle and damaged hair deep conditioned should be done 2 times weekly to get the hair back to its healthy state. Once healthy hair is achieved it is best to keep deep condition every week or every two weeks to maintain healthy hair.

What is the proper way to deep condition?
It is best to deep condition on dry hair than washing the hair first and then deep condition because the hair can soak up the conditioner more when dry. Think of it like a sponge that soaks up more water when dry than wet. From my experience the proper way to deep condition is using any regular condition and mixing it with honey, olive oil or coconut oil.

What are some deep conditioning treatments available?
There are tons of deep conditioners available out there. I've provided a list of some deep conditioners below.

* Aphogee 2 minute Reconstructer
* Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Mask
* Aveda Damage Remedy Conditioner
* Mane and Tail Original Conditioner
* Ors Replenishing Pac
* Aubrey GPB
* Nexxus Keraphix
* Phytospecific Intense Nutrition
* Motions CPR (med)
* ORS Hair Mayo (med)
* Vitale Pro Super Conditoner
Keracare Humecto - moisturizing
Miss Keys 10 en 1-light protein
Aubrey's GPB-light protein
John Frieda's Sheer Blonde-light protein
Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Conditioner-moisturizing

Megatek

This is my review on the Megatek.
Megatek cost about $24 and it smells almost like regular conditioner. It is product for grooming horse hair, but it is safe for human use. Megatek did nothing for my hair. I put it on my scalp and it made my scalp itch. I tried it as a regular conditioner but my hair breaks off. I was very disappointed with the product because a lot of people use it and got extraordinary growth from it. I do not like the product at all I have about a quarter of it left and I'm just going to throw it away. I guess I will just leave this product with the horses.

Ayuruvedic regimen update

Okay, I notice that when I use the powders by themselves my hair is very hard even when I oil my hair before. It is so stiff that I can't get a comb through it. To combat the stiffness I mix about 1 teaspoon brahmi, 1 teaspoon amla, 1 teaspoon aritha powder with a moisturizing conditioner and then deep condition with it for about 2 hours. Depending on how I feel, but after rinsing the ayruvedic powders mixed with the conditioner I might do a ayruvedic tea rinse. I do this about 3 times per week.
***Using the conditioner mixed with the powders make me hair feels a lot softer and more manageable.

I MADE ARM PIT LENGHT !!!! YES!!!

These pictures were taken on August 16, 2009. I am currently 11 weeks post relaxer. I just washed my hair blow dried it, then flat iron and wrap. The results were amazing. I am amazed to see that the back of my hair is at armpit length. My hair has never been this long before. My next relaxer is October 19, 2009. Stay tune for more updates.

Good hair trailer

This is a Sundance documentary about African American hair. The film is schedule to come out after August 2009. I'm not exactly sure of the date. I'll update as soon as I know more.

Hair goals

Hello ladies these are some photos that I found of the beautiful actress, Jada Pinkett Smith. Her hair is absolutely gorgeous and healthy. I don't know if her hair is real or a weave because I know that a lot of Hollywood actresses love to wear weaves. Well, she claimed that her hair is real in an Essence issue of the magazine. I am just using her pics as a guide to motivate me to grow healthy and long hair.

Ayuruvedic (Indian powders & oil)

My wet measurement after washing with amla, brahmi and shikakai powders.
My starting point is August 7, 2009 so on August 29th, I'm going to take another wet picture measurement to see if my hair has grown. (wish me luck guys)
I've tried the paste but I didn't want to use a lot of powders to make the paste so I ended up doing the rinse instead. The night before I do my powder wash I oil my hair with coconut oil, amla oil, olive oil and shikakai oil to counteract the dryness of the powders. For the rinse
1) 1 teaspoon of amla, 1 teaspoon of brahmi and 1 teaspoon of shikakai.
2) Boiled 1 cup water and then added 1 and half cup of cool water to mix in the powder.
3) I rinse and massage my hair under water with just the oils in it for a minute or two.
4) Wash with half of the mixture that contains the powders, then I put a shower cap on and take a shower to allow the mixture to get into my scalp.
5) I rinse my hair then follow with the other half of the amla, brahmi and shikakai powder.
6) I also use the shikakai soap bar to wash the powders out. I then follow with suave conditioner to soften my hair. (the shikakai can make the hair dry so I follow with conditioner. )
When I was finish with the entire process my hair felt so strong. It had the type of strength that I've never felt before.
My regimen includes doing the rinse twice per week and a co-wash with the brahmi powder.
UPDATE PICTURE ON THE REGIMEN COMING ON AUGUST 29TH 2009.


My Indian powders and oil stash. These powders do not smell so good. The scent reminds me of grandma perfume, but a bit worse. Don't worry the scent won't stay in you hair after you rinse it out.

June 24, 2009 UPDATE

Okay, these are my updates on June 24, 2009. My hair is coming along very great. I can see a lot of improvements in the length and thickness. In these pics I am one month post relaxer.

CO-WASHING (WASHING ONLY WITH CONDITIONER)

Starting May 1st, 2009, I am practicing a co-wash routine every other day. Washing only with conditioner keeps my hair very moisturized and soft. The goal of co-washing is to use conditioner instead of shampoo to wash the hair. Shampoo has drying Sodium Laureth Sulphate , Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Ammonium Laureth Sulphate and Myreth Sulphate. These are the ingredients that give shampoo, detergents and other cleansing agents their soapy properties to take away dirt. Sodium Laureth Sulphate strips the hair of the natural oil during the cleansing process. That is why you use conditioner to put back into your hair what shampoo has removed from your hair during washing. Conditioner has the ability to cleanse the hair without drying it out.

Benefits of co-washing

1. Keeps the hair moisturized

2. Doesn't strip the hair of the natural oils

3. Keeps new growth soft when stretching relaxer

4. Not time consuming

5. Cleanse the scalp

6. Thickens the hair because of stretching the relaxer

Condtioners for co-washing

Suave, VO5, Neutrogena tripple mositure, Mane n' tail and the list goes on.

The key to co-washing is to to use cheap conditioner because you will be co-washing often. Using cheap conditioners help to save money on shampoo. I would recommend using more expensive conditioner for deep conditioner.

I would defiantly recommend that black women try co-washing because our hair are naturally dry. You don't have to do it every day or every other day. You can co-wash once or twice per week and use shampoo once during the week. If your option is to stop using shampoo, you can try adding baking soda to your conditioner to clarify your hair and remove build up. By the way, baking soda makes the hair very soft and nice when added to your conditioner. ( I wouldn't recommend using it every time you wash because it might make you hair over moisturized and spongy. Just try it and see what works for you.

Starting point Aug 15, 2007

August 15, 2007



As you can see my hair was freshly cut like a boy's in August 2007. I was joining the navy at this time so I thought it would be the perfect time to go natural. I deeply regreted going natural because after 2 months when my hair started growing I just didn't know what to do with it. I couldn't put it in braids or get twist because it was way too short and to add to the nightmare I was in the navy boot camp and heading for 'A' school. I was out of luck! I wore a wig for about 5 months and then get braids when it was long enough.

April 2008

Finally, my hair started growing I was so excited. In this picture I had a textuizer at my hair ends. I was trying to grow my texturizure out. I got braids in April 2008 and kept redoing them until November 2008. I gave in and got a relaxer in Nov 2008 because I was very tired of doing my braids myself. My natural hair was very dry and difficult to comb. I remember spending about 15 hours taking my hair out, washing, deep condition and then rebraiding it. That was a killer for me because being in the navy I had to do it on my day off and the navy was always on the move so I had to give in and relaxed my hair. I honestly cried because I wanted natural hair, but it wasn't tangible because I'm stationed overseas and there is not much for black hair only the few selection on the navy base. Plus, there was no black salon only for Asians and whites and I refuse to let them put their hands in my hair.

This is what my hair looked like in Nov 2008. I took my braids out and finally decided to get a relaxer. Wow my hair has really grown since I shaved it in 2007. My ends are really breaking because the ends still had the old texturizer in it. I am working on healthy hair now.