Kanika's Hair regime

My regime is very simple and I do the same thing throughout the year.  I reckon I can get away with this because in London, the seasons can meld into one!  Humidity can be a challenge, but it's rarely too hot or cold to bother with fancy pants, seasonal specific regimes. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!   However, I have also been too lazy, cautious and poor to experiment with lots of different products and techniques, so my reggy has remained pretty much the same for the last 3 years.

I have a lot of hair and try to treat it as gently as possible, but lawdy sometimes it tries my patience! This is what I have to deal with.

Crazy girl hair  - 

Big 'n' poofy at the root, stretched at the ends 

& producty. Time for a wash!

Hair texture

My hair’s like an unruly child, who hates doing what it’s told and loves to run wild and free. It’s thick, dense, with I think normal porosity (but I'm still trying to work that out) and type wise it's a mixture of 3C & 4A. I haven’t properly checked the length for 18mnths when I had my last trim (I know, I know, I’m bad) but it’s about bra-strap length. Here is good guide from NaturallyCurly.com about texture typing. 

Wash day...hope you’re sitting comfortably!

It starts off with a pre-shampoo (pre-poo) + detangle.  This is a very recent addition to my routine, but I’ve definitely noticed less tangles and faster detangling, so it’s a keeper. I was looking for a way to cut down on knots and broken ends when I wash, and so far so good.  I finger detangle, applying lots of olive oil (extra virgin straight from the kitchen) and either leave it to sit overnight or do it just before I shampoo.  The last few times I’ve done this it’s taken me an hour :( , but I’m hoping this was because my hair wasn’t stretched enough and was already quite tangled!


I tackle small sections at a time to avoid too many knots and pulling.  With my hair sufficiently tangle free I separate it into 4 sections (2 front and 2 back) and plait loosely.  The braiding is another recent addition to the wash process, but again it’s really helped with detangling so I’m going to continue with it.  



The Cleansing


I’ve been using Yes to Carrots shampoo (I get it from Whole Foods) for about 4 months with good results.  My thick hair drinks shampoo so the 500ml bottle keeps me going for a while and is good value for money.  I shampoo anywhere from once a week to every 2 weeks.     I usually only detangle when I‘m about to wash and naturally I shed a lot of hair, so after 2 weeks without detangling it’s like a bird’s nest! 

London water is hard as nails, and I find my product assisted hair attracts dirt and dust quickly. I also have dry scalp that accumulates build up so without regular water ‘n’ refreshing, both hair and scalp start to grumble. Note to self: drinking more water may help.

So, hair braided, I drench it under the shower for about a minute and then work on one section at a time, tying the ones I’m not doing out of the way.  I go old skool when it comes to washing folks. I wash my hair with a cup and bucket bent over the bath! Yeh I know, it’s 2012 not 1912, but I live at home and running the water for an hour would not go down well.  

I redrench the plait I’m about to work on, this is where the bucket and cup come in ;) , and I gently work shampoo into the plait before rinsing. Then, I work shampoo through the whole section, braid included, massage my scalp and rinse.  This is usually enough to remove any dirt and build up. I smoosh a load of my staple detangler and leave-in conditioner, Herbal Essence Hello Hydration (HH), on the braided part before taking it out, and working more into the rest of the section.  I try not to get any on my scalp because of build up. I then twist it into a big chiney bump (bantu knot) and let it marginate.  Drench, poo, rinse, condish and repeat until the whole head is done.


Let the detangle commence!


One section at a time, I take down the hair and split it into two, pinning one part up for later and detangling the free one. Depending on the degree of knottiness, I’ll use my fingers first or go straight in with a wide toothed shower comb. This is all in aid of a knot free, gentle detangling session.  I’ll apply more condish and water if necessary. 
All in all wash and detangle sessions take about an hour, give or take. If my scalp's itchy I’ll add an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse to help calm it down.  After detangling I wash out the condish, rinse with diluted ACV a couple times, before re-apply conditioner in sections.

My trusty shower comb from Boots

Deep-conditioning

I don’t do this enough. Maybe once a month....if that, but when I do, I use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose (I get this form Adornment 365) mixed with HH for more slip and sometimes my own kitchen cupboard concoctions of olive oil, honey and avocado blitzed in my food processor for added conditioning.  I'm going to make the effort to deep condition more because my strands like it.


Drying and Stretching

After washing, hair still damp I apply coconut oil to my scalp.  I’ve been using Akamuti Virgin organic Coconut oil for 6 years and I love it.  It’s a great all rounder for scalp, skin & hair and I’m addicted to it's naturally fresh, coconutty scent.  I buy it from a local Natural beauty shop Waterloo Body Station. I also use Ashanti Gold on my hair, it's a rich, natural whipped butter made by my hairdresser Don Abaka.  It’s a mixture of shea butter, grapeseed & almond extract, as well as other goodies and smells at bit like marzipan.  It works best on my damp hair leaving it soft, shiny and moisturised. A little goes a long way though, so I will mix a dab on the palm of my hand with coconut oil, a light spritz of water and a dot of condish to make a rich, but not too heavy, leave in cream.

I get the best definition the wetter my hair is, so sometimes I'll spritz on more water, but not too much as I'm usually doing this before bed.  I apply my leave in mix, go through with the shower comb and smooth my hair with a Tangle Tweezer. I find there’s a knack to using this properly, because if I’m not careful it chows down of my fragile ends!

I’ve mainly been braiding and twisting my hair in order to stretch and allow it to air dry.  I do a version a TnC (twist and curl).  My Braid,Twist 'n' Curl is braided the first couple inches (to stop unravelling), twisted the rest of the way and curled at the ends with my fingers.  Each section of 4 is further divided into another 4 so I end up with 16 braided twists. I pop on a head scarf and go to bed. Done! 

My hair will take a day and a bit to completely dry and I'll only take it down once it has to avoid frizz.  From this my go to styles include big curly fros, Buns or simply left in twists either tied back or pinned up. In between washes I sometimes refresh the styles with water and my leave in mix or just coconut oil.

Pheww, it sounds a lot and it can be! Pre-shampoo included, from start to finish 'wash day' it could take 3 and a half hours!  But like I said, I have a lot of hair and tangles can be a major slowing down issue.  To make it more manageable the process can be spread over a night and morning depending on my free time.

*New additions*

I'm excited! I'm gonna be adding more to changes my regime, trying out things I have wanted to for a while. Such as more ways to stretch my hair, different products to lock in moisture, looking after my ends and strengthening my hair. I’ll be looking into:

• Steam treatments
• Henna
• protein treatments  
• dusting off my Curlformers.  
• finding ways to preserve my styles for longer and using products with a bit more hold
• might possibly revisit my blowdryer as way of stretching

Watch this space!


Kanika