The Search Continues

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you all the best for 2013 and continued growth. 

My search continues for a hair routine for my locs. As I stated in my previous posts my aim is to grow healthy locs. I have finally decided that I do not like shea butter on my locs. I have heard that some people say that you shouldn’t use it on locs and others have said that it is possible to use it. I used raw pure shea butter and I always blended it with other ingredients (e.g. coconut oil, castor oil, evoo - extra virgin olive oil); however, I never liked the feel of it on my locs. I thought it could have been the shea butter that I used so I tried a different one, I even tried different blends; all I can say is that from my experimentation I will not be using shea butter on my locs at all. It is lovely on my skin though.

If you will recall from my previous posts I had noticed that some of ends were unravelling. This should not be happening as my locs are matured and I was confused as to what was causing it. I do not know if it was the colouring. I have only dyed my locs twice but I do not know if that has contributed to it. I do wonder if it is split ends and I have considered trimming my locs. I have not yet decided if I would do this myself or go to the hairdressers. I do know that if I do cut my locs I will get some unravelling until it re-seals. My consultant had previously stated that maybe I was over conditioning my locs. I do not what I think about this as my hair feels dry and not over-soft. I do wonder if my hair needs my protein and not moisture. I attempted to do the strand test (sorry I cannot find the link at the moment but I will post when I find it) but I think that it is hard to do properly with locs. So I think I will ease back on the deep conditioning and may be do it once every 2 months or so (not certain as yet). I may do some pre-pooing to counteract the potential dryness of the shampoo. I did go through a phase of co-washing but it does not work with the frequency that I wash my hair; I need a proper cleanse with I don’t get with co-washing. So all in all I am confused about my locs unravelling. I will try less conditioning and see how my locs are and I may trim them.

At the moment I am trying to be really simple with my routine. I went to a hair show and in the goody bag I got some JBCO (Jamaican Black Castor Oil) woohoo. 

It was only a small sample but I am currently using that on my roots after I wash. A friend of a friend makes and sells her own products and she invited us to a new product launch. At this party I got a free sample of honey comb and myrrh, which I currently use on the length of my locs after I wash. 

When these samples are finished I will probably use castor oil on my roots and evoo/coconut oil on the length. I currently spritz my locs with distilled water and JML cactus oil. 

I got the oil during my first year of locking but I never really used it, but i thought waste not want not. When that is finished I will probably use evoo. I did not particularly like the aloe vera juice mix that I mentioned in my last post. I have decided to try using baby shampoo to wash my hair as they tend to be gentler being designed for babies. At the moment I am using Johnson’s baby shampoo; I may switch to a more natural on.  I haven’t totally given up on making my own products so I may make shampoo in the future; but currently for me buying products is the best.

Actually after I had written this post I cam across this article about telling the difference between hair that feels dry and hair that is dry. After reading this I think my hair feels dry rather than actually being dry. I do moisturise it and it does feel soft and supple. It could just be my hair texture. My consultant or her niece (who currently re-tightens my hair) has never told me my hair is dry, so maybe it feels dry rather than actually being dry. I will monitor it and see.  

Happily locked up

Khandee :)