Henna Gloss and Summer Hair Routine

HENNA GLOSS

I took the advice of a friend of mine and decided to try a henna gloss treatment courtesy of CurlyNikki.

While my application still "needs some work," this time around my Henna experience was great! It was so much easier and FASTER to apply. It probably only took me 10 minutes to do my entire head, maybe less.

Again, the application wasn't perfect, but it was much more uniform than my previous two applications. I can definitely see myself sticking with the Henna gloss treatment. I won't do this every month (because I don't feel like it) but I will do it more often.

To make this mix you just prepare the Henna as you would any treatment. Here's what I use:

1 100g box neutral Henna (meaning no color)

1 cup (250ml) green tea (I use 3 tea bags)

1-2 Tbsp. honey

Then you add the "gloss" factor, which is  1 cup (250ml) of your favorite conditioner. The one I have is a Tresseme product. It should be protein-free but I say use what you have because that's what I did!

I only lasted 4 hours with this stuff on my head because I was hot even with the air conditioning. If you do Henna for the color benefits you should leave it on for at least that much time. 

I usually leave it on for 8 hours. I wanted to try sleeping with it on, since that assures it will be on for a good amount of time, but I can't do it! I like to be comfortable when I sleep. What can I say?

So I just put on a plastic bag over the hair, lined it with some cotton-ball like material and then covered it with another plastic bag and some more cottony stuff. (To catch the leaks)

I know, not the best photos. But I had to take them myself as the hubby was occupied with his bike. 

After the 4 hours were up I proceeded to rinse out my hair really well. This is another step that is made easier with the Henna gloss recipe. I used more conditioner to rinse but I made sure to shampoo my scalp. I like a clean, itch-free scalp!

Then I deep conditioned and put in some seriously chunky twists in my hair. That's it! I seriously recommend this treatment to all newbie Henna people out there. 

SUMMER HAIR ROUTINE

My summer hair routine consists of protective styling and low-manipulation. That means I leave my twists in for as long as possible before taking them down to detangle and remove shed hairs. This time around I left them in for three weeks.

After the first week I condition wash and do a quick deep condition treatment with my Aussie 3-minute miracle product. 

The 3-minute miracle is the product on the far left.

This is mainly to make sure I have a clean scalp. I then moisturize and oil my scalp.

The second week I shampoo and do a more thorough deep conditioning. Then I moisturize and oil my scalp. 

All of this is I do with the twists still in my hair. I also make sure to moisturize my hair throughout the week as needed. 

The third week I take them down, detangle, remove shed hair, and prep for the shampoo. I was nervous, but the take-down was so easy! My hair tangles easy, especially when it's frizzy, so I was worried there'd be a long struggle.

But I took the advice of a youtuber (BeautifulBrwnBabyDol) and used some coconut oil and shea butter to help me. I just applied it to my twists then put them all up in a ponytail.

I removed each twist individually, detangled and removed shed hair. I then clipped it out of the way to work on the next twist. Definitely check out the above link if you want detailed information. 

I also took the opportunity to give myself a good trim because I haven't done one in a looooooong time!

This was about how much hair I cut off in total.

I then put my hair in about 5-6 sections and sprayed each one down with a mixture of: 

water

aloe vera juice (to establish a pH of 5)

conditioner

10 drops rosemary essential oil

coconut oil

My hair was dry and I didn't have the time to apply the Henna treatment that day. So to keep each section nicely stretched and moisturized I sprayed them and then twisted them back up until I could do my hair the following day. 

I ran in the morning and while I was showering rinsed my hair with some conditioner (still in the same sections). I put on a shower cap (actually a plastic bag!) to keep my hair moist until I applied the Henna treatment.

Of course I won't apply the Henna gloss each time I take down my twists but I will follow the same procedure. My hair was super soft and manageable and made shampooing a breeze!

The good thing about this routine is that I know my hair is staying healthy in all this hot weather. But since I have to moisture a lot more often, my twists frizz up quicker. 

I combat that by using my Janet Collection Afro Puff.

This helps me keep my hair in the best of condition while protecting it from the harsh weather...and still look presentable! I just jazz up the afro puff when I get bored with a flower, headband or scarf.

I plan to keep this up for the rest of July and into August. It usually stays pretty hot here in September as well so we'll see.

But I'm loving the ease of getting ready when I have to go out. I don't have to worry about what to do with my hair!

Week 46 Hair

I haven't done too much with my hair these past months. Like the above pics show I've been sticking to the basics: twists and puffs. During the week I have my twists and I either pull them back into a bun, pin them up or do a combination of both.

Tomorrow, or tonight, I will take out my twists in preparation for my wash. I do this at the end of the week before a wash to aid the detangling process. Currently, I wash my hair every two weeks because of time restraints. This will be week three since last weekend was super hectic.

I did recently purchase some headbands just to spice up my 'dos. I've been doing the same styles and just popping one of these on for some flare. I love headbands and flowers!

If you don't know this youtuber, BlakIzBeautyful, then check her out. She also has a website, kinkycurlycoilyme.com. She hosts tons of natural hair gatherings as well as provides tips, tricks, and inspiration for naturals. 

Jenell also has a shopping service for those naturals (like me) who are abroad and can't find their favorite products. She shipped me the headbands, 2 bottles of coconut oil, jojoba oil and another container of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. 

I also wanted to try some African black soap so she shipped me two bars. I paid for the products, the shipping costs, as well as her fee, which you can find on her website. I live in Spain and my products came in less than a week with all the recepts included in the box. It was great.

My sister (yay for sisters!) also sent me the Aussie Moist shampoo and its  3-minute miracle. I've used the shampoo once and have yet to try the other product. I think I'll probably use it more in the summer when I need a "quick fix." I start my training over the summer and the heat here is intense. So I will need it to protect my hair so that it doesn't dry out, especially since I sweat a lot.

Here are the products I got from BlakIzBeautyful and my sister.

This weekend I have another Henna treatment. This will be the second time so I hope the process goes faster. I definitely like how my hair looks and feels afterwards even though I don't enjoy the long process.