Monday, July 16, 2012

Co- Washing Hair Care During the Summer and Hair Shedding


Hey there now Love Bugs!!! (^_^)

MAN… it has been soooooooo long since I have actually written in this blog. I know some of you have totally lost interest !!! LOL. I do not blame you either. BUT… I think I have some really awesome information that I can share now!!! (^_^) And that is always good!!!

SO… in the multiple weeks that  I have been missing in action,  I have been really taking this new hair care regiment to a whole new level!!! Since the second week of June up until now, I have been co- washing my hair at a minimum of twice a week. And I always completely wet my hair every time I take a shower or a bath. Mind you, I have not set my hair in curlformers for some time now. So, most of the hair styles that I have been wearing as of late have not even required additional tools outside of  goody hair bands, a wide tooth comb, a soft bristle brush and silk hair scarf.  I still have not applied any form of heat to my hair ( including a well positioned blow dryer ) since March and I am proud to say that I believe my hair has really appreciated it!!!

I mentioned co-washing hair during the summer. Well, the reason I said that is because I believe it is important to know that your hair naturally goes through periods in which growth time is diminished or enhanced based on the time of year. Sometimes we believe that our hair is actually falling out , when in fact that may not be the case. During the summer, we shed a certain amount of hair. Just like animals do. Funny huh??? Well, not really when you look at it from this perspective. During the winter, our hair grows. Sort of like how the fur of any animal thickens in order to prepare for living in colder temperatures during the season change. We too have the same thing working for us during the winter that the bears rabbits and other outdoor animals have. So naturally we shed hair in the summer , and grow our hair noticeably thicker during the winter.

With that being said, it is important to know what to look for to determine whether you are shedding hair, or your hair is actually falling out. The hair that is supposed to be shed comes from the scalp and does not break off at shorter lengths typically. The shed hair has a white bulb at the end of it. If you see that, then rest assured the hair that has “fallen” out of your head was actually naturally shed. It was time for that hair to depart. (^_^) But, if you find that really short pieces of hair are breaking off, then this may be a result of not having enough moisture to bring elasticity to your hair.  This imbalance can be corrected by using water based hair products to restore moisture to your dry mane. If your hair is way too elastic or mushy feeling it could mean that you do not have enough protein in your hair.
You can always do a wet assessment on your hair to determine whether your hair is balanced, and if it is not… based on the results of the test you can correct the issue. I found a remarkable site called The Science of Black Hair (www.blackhairscience.com) and it gives very good instructions on how to determine the state your hair is in. Usually in order to perform a wet assessment, it is best to take a shower and evaluate your hair when your entire head has been rinsed in water. I will list the information pertaining to the wet assessment below:

 Wet Assessment Hair Breakage Break Down
If your hair:
  • (When Wet or Dry) Stretches slightly and returns to its original length without breaking, you are balanced! Stick with maintaining!
  • (When Wet or Dry) Stretches a little more than normal then breaks, you need more protein in your regimen.
  • (When Wet or Dry)Stretches, stretches, stretches with no significant breakage yet, add a bit more protein to your regimen.
  • (Wet)- Feels weak, gummy, mushy, or limp, you need to add more protein to your regimen.
  • (Wet or Dry) Experiences very little to no stretching, and simply snaps or breaks, you need to increase the moisture in your regimen.
  • (Dry) Feels rough, tough, hard, dry, tangly, brittle, or any combination of those, you need more moisture in your regimen.
  • Unsure? Err on the side of caution and give your hair more moisture. So now that you have figured out what type of hair breakage you have, what should you do?

I sort of do an assessment every time I co- wash my hair because the conditioner that I use has a certain amount of protein in it. Although some of my friends who have been co- washing their hair for quite some time now have stated that it does not make sense to purchase expensive conditioners just to co- wash, just buy some el cheapo’s. Well… I admit that I have not adhered to their suggestions. For the most part I have been solely using Abba Moisture conditioner (http://pureabba.com/products/moisture/moisture-conditioner) to cleanse my hair. Although this is not a purely organic product, I really appreciate the way it leaves my hair feeling clean and does invigorate my scalp with the wild mint extract that is used in the product.  Since I only wash my hair once a month now, I have decided to go with another organic product by Giovanni’s (Invigorating Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo) opposed to using Aubrey Organics this time around. I was actually shocked with how this shampoo worked on my hair after limiting the shampoo process. My hair was squeaky clean, and was very soft and easy to manage. Also, the moment I run out of abba pure moisture conditioner to co- wash my hair with, I am going to switch that conditioner with Aubrey Organics - GPB Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner Rosemary Peppermint and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner For Dry, Brittle Hair. (http://www.aubrey-organics.com/ProductInfo/351.aspx) I usually use Aubrey’s Honeysuckle Rose Shampoo when I am washing, but I have decided to try switching up my products to give me a bit of variety. Although for the most part my hair is no longer showing signs of being deplete of moisture, I still like to use products that can easily target the issues that for so long have plagued my hair.

        Now when it comes to styling my hair, I have started to include three items that seem to be working on maintaining my naturally curly hair or rather shaping them closer to their natural texture. Mind you, all of the products that I ma not using are not 100% organic. As a matter of fact, there is actually only three things that I have been using on my hair that are 100% organic. And that is Water, one of my leave in hair conditioners and the shampoo that I am using for the time being. Immediately after I step out of the shower, I make sure to apply tresemme Leave- in split end conditioning treatment throughout my hair as well as Giovanni’s Vitapro Fusion Leave-In Hair Treatment. After I have applied these leave in hair treatments and finger comb through my hair, I sparingly apply Kinky-Curtly Curling custard to the edges of my hair and the ends. I do not use very much of the kinky- curly because

1) it is like over $20 per 8oz container if purchased at whole foods and

2) because I do not yet feel that it is 100% the main reason my hair curls have been considerably more defined towards the back portion of my head.

Since I have not noticed a difference in the completeness of my curls towards the front of my head, I am not going to rely on using more of this kinky- curly product. But, what I will do is continue to use it to see if it takes the hair time to adjust to the product positively in order to see a change in the curl definition.

Well , anywho, I have noticed that my hair has been responding exceptionally well to being co- washed opposed to using shampoo’s with each shower. My hair has been manageable and very vibrant in terms of being soft and bouncy. And all of this has taken place during the part of the year where my hair typically starts to not only shed, but break off incessantly due to lack of moisture. I am super stoked because if my hair has not been breaking off (which it hasn’t) I cannot wait to see what type of weed like growth is going to take place during the fall and winter seasons!!! (^_^)

I have taken some pictures of my hair, but I have run into the problem again with being able to load the pictures onto my laptop!!! But as soon as I am able to get them uploaded, I will post them to this blog!!! I had a super amount of fun with this post!!! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. Although I did not write a single blog post in June, I am hopeful that my schedule will not prevent me from writing about more information that I discover on this hair journey!!! Thank you once again for tuning into my blog. I am hopeful that I will have another interesting topic next time… until then have a fantastical summer and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do… (like cut your hair off , set it in the twiggy style and dye it blood red just for shyts and giggles)

Viso gero (^_^)

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