Hey everyone! I feel like it’s been a while since I have penned anything about my hair. I’ve been swamping you guys with these sponsored reviews, and I’m pretty happy to say that they won’t be as frequent as before. It’s time I put up content that is more like me (though I do love doing reviews), and is focused more on my hair care and other areas of interests. Today, I want to discuss with you all my plans for the fall/winter time. I try to have a regimen that will benefit my hair with the changing of the seasons, and that includes changing my products around and incorporating new products into my routine. Before I get into my routine, let me give you a little background on my hair so far:

Hair Update
So, I have not had a relaxer in my hair since November 24th. That makes almost 10 months without a relaxer. I honestly do not know how I always let myself stretch for long periods of time. I don’t like to stretch past 4-5 months personally, but I always get super lazy on my hair care routine during the summer. Lately, for these past ten months, I have been rocking various wigs and crochet braids to get me through this stretch. I have cut off about 2 inches of hair within five months, to keep my ends looking fresh. My hair hasn’t been too much of a hassle to deal with though, so that is a plus. I contribute that to deep conditioning. Deep conditioning works, y’all! I have so many deep conditioners here at my house that it’s a little ridiculous, but I love trying new deep conditioners. As the fall and wintertime rolls around, I want to go back to deep conditioning twice a week like I used to in the past. I have a lot of hair repairing to do thanks to the summer heat, and it’s important that I brace my hair for what is to come. Since I want to deep condition my hair twice weekly, I have to give up installing crochet braids. I’m going to try to make a wig out of the crochet braid hair I have, so that I can still rock my hair how I want, but will be able to put my regimen in place like I want.

I have also incorporated some new products and tools into my routine, which I think helped me stretch for this long as well. I am still wanting to purchase a hair steamer and a salon style hooded dryer like I talked about in the past, but I think I am doing pretty well right now with the products I do have. I’ll be sure to list them below, right after my hair routine for the rest of the year. I’m taking this hair growing process very slow, and I don’t mind it. I’ve been on my hair journey for five years now, and I am determined to learn all I can about my hair. If it takes me ten years to meet my goals (five years of slacking and research for five years of healthy, strong growth), I’m up for it.

Hair Routine

• Pre-poo treatment with either hot oil or protein. I find that pre-poo treatments during the cooler months set the stage for the whole wash day for me. If my hair is feeling overly tangled or just won’t cooperate with me, hot oil treatments help my hair soften up, and impart my hair with nutrients before I shampoo my hair. I also enjoy doing protein treatments first on my hair, especially if I plan to shampoo and deep condition with moisturizing products within my wash day. It is important for me to have a balance in my hair to keep it growing strong and feel the best that it can. I’ll do a blog post dedicated to hot oil treatments and protein treatments at a later date.
• Shampoo with a moisturizing, sulfate-free shampoo. I have a few shampoos that I love to use on my hair, many of them from Shea Moisture. But I have to admit that I also enjoy the lather and clean feeling that the Creme of Nature Moisture and Shine Shampoo. Those will be my primary shampoos to use on myself and others in my household.
• Do a rinse out conditioning after shampooing but before deep conditioning. Typically, I skip this step. I want to begin doing this in my hair so that I can detangle my hair thoroughly in the shower before tying it up in a towel and deep conditioning. It is important for me to detangle in the shower, especially when I have so much new growth to fight through. I have natural 4 category hair as new growth, so any softening conditioner I have will be used to not only soften my new growth, but help my comb glide through my hair with added slip. I typically use the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner, but I also want to use the Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Conditioner to detangle my hair with. I’ve tested this product and I like the slip it gives.
• Deep condition. As stated above in the hair update, I want to deep condition twice weekly. I want to repair my hair from any damage, as well as prepare it for upcoming relaxers by making sure it is strong and healthy before, during, and after relaxing. The deep conditioner I choose depends on what I want to do with my hair during that time. I have a range of deep conditioners to choose from, and discussing them here will be a whole blog post alone. I will say that I think I have a pretty good mix between moisturizing, protein, and balancing deep conditioners for the year. On days that I will not be shampooing my hair (leaving that for once a week), I will do a light co-wash with the rinse out conditioner of my choosing. On co-wash days, I typically deep condition on dry or slightly damp hair, similar to how I would do a hot oil treatment.
• Rinse hair with cool water. I find that this step is important for my hair. It has taken me a while to get here, but I have found that my hair is a little more manageable when I rinse it with cool water, as the cuticles are now closed instead of open. I want to do this step before deep conditioning, as well as after deep conditioning. It may be a little counter-intuitive to close the hair shaft before deep conditioning, but I feel like this helps my hair. I rather open the hair shaft gently with high heat, low speed than to leave the hair shaft open and more prone to drying out before I even apply the deep conditioner to it.
• Style. I want to wear my wigs this fall/winter so I will be braiding my hair up. I find that I leave my hair alone when it is braided, so the manipulation factor is lowered throughout the week. On weeks 1-4 after a fresh relaxer, I may roller set or straighten out my hair to give the braids and wigs a break, but that depends on the weather. I will also moisturize and seal during this step, depending on how I plan to style my hair. 

As promised, I want to share with you all the new tools and products I have for my hair this year. I won’t go into too much detail right now about the products, as I want to dedicate specific reference posts for them. Here are my tools and products for this year: