Repairing My Hair After Ignoring It

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November 25, 2013 by CJ

I have not been giving my hair the attention it needs.  Partly because I was ill and partly because I’ve been lazy.  I typically moisturize twice a day, morning and night.  I stopped doing that.  I also like to deep condition once a week, I stopped doing that.  All my lack of care started to show.  Strands and pieces of hair would fall out whenever I ran my fingers through my curls.  And curls, well, they became dry and frizzy.  I knew I needed to spend some time giving some love back to my hair.

First things first, the pre poo.  What is a pre-poo?  It’s a pre shampoo treatment for your hair.  Pre pooing adds moisture to your hair, helps reduce tangles and breakage, and leaves your hair soft and shiny. There are many options out there on how to pre-poo and what you can mix together.  After trying a number of things, I’ve come up with my own concoction.

My Protein Pre-Poo

It’s pretty basic.  2 TBSP of your favorite conditioner (I used Redken Smooth Down, because I have a TON of it and I hate to throw it away), 1 TBSP of each of the following: Extra virgin olive oil, honey, and apple cider vinegar.  I also include 1 egg for protein.  I add the egg on every other pre-poo.  I’ve heard you can put too much protein in your hair.  Next week’s pre poo will be egg free.

My Pre-poo, once blended

My hair

This is my hair after waking up.  It’s hard to see, but it’s dry, frizzy and breaking off.

After I mix my pre-poo together, I part my hair in four sections and apply with my hands.  Once a section has been completely saturated, I detangle with a wide tooth comb.  Check out those roots!!

My hair completely saturated with my pre poo mix

What came out of my comb after detangling..

I don’t know if this is considered a lot or a little bit of breakage or shedding.  But this is typical of what comes out of my comb when I have been neglectful.

I leave the pre-poo in my hair for 45min-1 hour with a plastic bag over my hair.  After the time has passed I washed with this new conditioner wash that I got from my September Curl Box.  First I rinsed my pre poo out, then applied this co-wash.  It didn’t lather, so I just made sure each strand was coated and I could easily run my fingers through my hair.  I did that twice, then did a final rinse.

My hair after pre-poo and co-wash

You can see a huge difference from the first picture to this one (like that phone case?).  I could stop here, but I believe in deep conditioning my hair weekly.

This is another sample pack that I received from my September Curl Box.  Naturals, by Hask Strengthening Mask.

What came from my comb after applying the Strengthening Mask

I used the entire pack on my head.  Making sure each strand was covered, then I combed it through.  Above is what came from my comb.  Much better this time

After rinsing out the conditioner

I left the mask in for 45min-1 hour.  I had nothing else to do and nowhere to go that day, so I relaxed while treating my hair.  Above and below are the pictures after rinsing it all out.  Not too shabby.

Top view of hair after treatment

It’s difficult to show softness in a picture, but after all my treatments, my hair was soft and smooth and most importantly, my curls popped, little to no frizz.  What really put me over the top was when my husband reached over and ran his fingers through my hair and said, “Your hair feels so good, love it!”  I call that a job well done.

How do you care for your curly hair??  Do you have a secret concoction to revitalize your hair after you’ve been neglectful?

 

***UPDATE***

Since writing this, I’ve searched high and low to find an all natural daily moisturizer.  Not finding what I wanted, I created my own.

Related articles

• “Maintaining a Natural Essence” (fymproject.com)
• Curly Hair – Heat= Natural Curls (1stonidee.wordpress.com)
• Natural Hair Needs Deep Penetration (flaxcare.wordpress.com)
• Three More Off-Centre Tips for Your Natural Hair Journey (blackbeautyhaircareandcosmetics.wordpress.com)