19 Days of No Shampooing

[Please excuse the gaps and spacing in this post...technical difficulties...]

A couple weeks ago after watching some You Tube videos of women with long, luscious, healthy natural hair and learning of their low-wash regimens, I decided to go back to a low-wash regimen myself. The videos reminded me that I was following a low-wash regimen during my first growth challenge between April and November 2011, which was when I experienced the most consistent growth. While I am content with the overall length of my hair (I think it's back to waist length again since my last trim) I'd like to continue to grow it so it can be fuller at the longest length. 

I began my "new" regimen a few weeks ago when I went 19 days without washing my hair. I'd intended to wash it a few days earlier, but time didn't permit. So how did my hair and scalp hold up? Great! I'm not sure why I was surprised, but my scalp wasn't even itchy by day 19. My hair, however, had a considerable amount of product and lint build-up.

Tip: Want to know how often you should wash your hair? Start by listening to your scalp and hair. An itchy scalp and/or hair with visible product build-up, lint, etc. are indicators that it's time to wash your hair. 

My hair at the beginning of the 19 days. This was the original braid-out from when I'd last washed my hair.

Results of the dry braid-out

On the 19th day I followed my current wash day regimen, which goes as follows:

~Wash with SheaMoisture Moisture Retention Shampoo (this shampoo cleans my hair without stripping it of moisture)
~Condition & Detangle with Everyday Coconut Super Hydrating Conditioner (I chose this conditioner because it doesn't have silicones and mostly has natural ingredients)
~Apply my modified Kimmaytube leave-in conditioner then set hair in braids to rock a braid-out (but this time I set it in fat twists and pulled them up into a high bun)

Results of the dry braid-out

                     

My hair was dirty & ready to be washed
at this point, but I didn't have time so I
bunned it for the last few days.

 







 

After washing...it felt so good to have
clean hair again! If it could've sighed
it would have, lol. 

I also added another component from my old regimen: the ApHogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor (after the shampoo and before the conditioner). I brought this product back into the mix for two reasons: 1) I need protein in my regimen but since I'm 5 months pregnant, managing my usual monthly henna treatments is becoming unrealistic, and 2) I saw great results from this product when I used it during my growth challenge in 2011. Even though I prefer a more natural regimen, this product will have to do until I'm able to work henna back into my routine. I'll probably use the ApHogee product every wash day since it's a nice, light protein that'll continue to strengthen my strands.

I plan to continue with this low-wash regimen for the next few months. I also have some styling ideas coming up for the summer too, so stay tuned to see what new styles I try! ;)

In my next post I'll share the steps I took to care for my hair during the 19 days of no washing.

Henna 101

What is henna?

Henna comes from the leaves of the Lawsonia inermis plant and is used to dye the hair and/or create henna body art. There are two types of henna you can choose from to dye your hair: body art quality (BAQ) and henna for hair. I've found that the best henna for me is the BAQ because: 1) BAQ is a much finer sift so it doesn't leave any gritty residue in my thick, dense hair and 2) BAQ has a higher dye uptake which yields a richer color that is permanent when the BAQ henna powder is mixed with an acidic liquid such as green tea. 

Source

Even after I started using henna I was confused by all the 'henna' products out there. It wasn't until I began researching for this post that I fully understood the difference between real henna and its impostors. Real henna (Lawsonia inermis) leaves a reddish-orange tint (the results vary based on your natural hair color). If you're a brunette then henna will not turn your hair bright red but rather it will combine with your color and add a reddish-orange tint. 'Neutral Henna' is not actually henna but Cassia obovata (or Cassia for short). Cassia has other benefits that I'm not going to cover in this post. 'Black Henna' isn't henna either but is actually Indigo. The confusion between the three may arise from the fact that A) in powder form they all appear greenish in color and B) there are products that claim to be "henna" but actually are not pure henna. According to Henna for Hair, a trusted henna info source:

Some Blonde, Brown, Auburn, Mahogany, and other “shades” of henna are mixes of amla, indigo, walnut, rhubarb, and Lawsonia, with other plant or synthetic dyes added, and may have metallic salts added. Many of these products have no henna whatsoever and are chemical dyes. Some commercial brands that claim to be 100% natural may include a bottle of “developer”; beware!  This is a completely bogus addition, as far as henna itself is concerned and is the biggest indicator that your product is NOT even close to being 100% pure henna!  The labeling on these products is often misleading, inaccurate, false, or entirely missing.  The quality is often very poor.

Why do you use henna?  

Source

Henna is an excellent conditioner for the hair. Lawsone, the red-orange dye molecule, penetrates the shingle-like cuticle layer of the hair shaft and bonds to the keratin in the cortex or middle layer of the hair strand. This strengthens the hair strand much like a protein treatment. Since the color of our hair is determined by the color found in the cortex, the lawsone molecule acts as a red-orange tint and combines with your natural hair color. With repeated applications henna will make your color deeper and richer. For example, I've been using henna for several months now and as a result my hair is a deep, rich burgundy in the light. When I'm not in bright light I think it appears to be reddish-brown.

Henna has also been known to loosen the natural curl pattern when used repeatedly. I love henna for this reason because my thick, dense, pencil-diameter coils and curls can be difficult to manage. If your curls are already loose you may want to choose Cassia over henna as Cassia has the same conditioning properties as henna but without the curl-loosening effect. 

My hennaed hair. You'll notice that the portion of my hair
that's in the shade appears darker, while the portion in
the sunlight has a reddish tint.

Ahh...Henna

After missing my August henna treatment, I was sooo excited to slap that messy stuff back in my hair the other night! Now that I'm back in the henna game, I remember why I started in the first place. With the lapse in treatments, I definitely noticed a decline in the overall health of my hair. I'd like to henna again later this month, but it takes so much time...we'll see. ;)

Post-henna braid-out. This pic was taken after I'd separated and blended the sections.
I set my braids with one of my versions of the KT leave-in and a little Shea Moisture CE Smoothie.

Before separating and blending

Henna: Day 2

These are pics from yesterday, my second full day after the henna treatment. Again, the pictures don't capture the rich burgundy color, but I love it! Anywho, I took the big twists out (the first time I've set my hair like that) once they dried and these were my results. I was quite pleased! :)

After taking all the twists out.

After separating and fluffing :)

My hair was super soft and I especially like how soft and frizz-free my ends were.

My First Henna Treatment!

When I first read my girl Shelli's (Hairscapades.com) lengthy description of her henna process, I told myself "now there's no way I'm going through all that." But my opinion changed recently when one of my clients began asking me about henna and if I would do it for her. Needless to say, I had to do some research! First stop: Hairscapades.com. I've been subscribed to and following Shelli's blog for months now, so I trust her completely and value her opinion. I studied her henna process and even got in touch with her to ask for some more tips (and to help calm my nerves LOL!). Shelli was both accommodating and helpful, so on Saturday night I took the plunge!


Now you may be asking yourself, why did you use henna to dye your dark brown hair? Because I'm not after color; I want stronger, healthier, softer and looser curls. From what I read on the topic, henna does precisely all those things. For more information on how to henna your hair, I'd suggest checking out this link. It was recommended by CurlyNikki via Hairscapades.

Prepped my work space

Old towels ready!

I allowed the henna to sit for over 12 hours for dye release. On the left: 2 stretchy black headbands to catch any drips
and 3 plastic caps.

I didn't have any more old towels LOL but this paper bag
protected the wall nicely. I was quite proud of my ingenuity :)

I had washed and braided my hair two days before so it was clean
and detangled. I took the braids out right before applying the henna.

Honey and my favorite moisturizing conditioner that I added to
the henna after dye release.
(Shelli's process explains the purpose of the conditioner)

Mixing in the honey and conditioner

Henna's all in! I wish my curls hung this long and loose when dry :/

Saran wrapped my head, covered my hairline with the 2 headbands,
and topped with 2 plastic shower caps.

Winter hat for my heat source

After church the next morning. After rinsing the henna I slept in my DC
and rinsed it out the next morning. I didn't know what to do with my
hair for church, so I spritzed with water and sealed with my natural oil blend.
My hair felt soft and had a healthy glow.

Took a pic inside to see if I could capture the deep burgundy color, but you can't tell.

See the little coppery hairs at my crown? Those were grey hairs prior
to henna!

Will I henna again? Most definitely. I want to reap the results of stronger, softer hair as well as loosen my curls, and that only comes with repeated use. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to more DC's in preparation for flat ironing my hair later this month! ;) I plan to henna again next month.