HENNA!!! How do you Henna? (A henna challenge....Join me?)

I have been interested in henna...probably for the past 2-3 years. But if you don't know, now you know.....I'm a chicken! But I finally built up the nerve to try this.

I've been researching this for quite some time and there is so much information and misinformation on the web. The one true sight I have found is Mehandi . There is a ton of great information here and links to other sights that are helpful. Another great resource is Henna for Hair. Anything you need to know is right here.

So what hyped me up you say to try this...get this: I'm a case manager for a community mental health center and I went to go and visit a family of mine where the children are bi-racial Arabic and Caucasian. So I couldn't help but notice how shiny and pretty the young girls hair were and it had the most beautiful red tint! So I asked the mother if their hair was naturally reddish like that (mom is Caucasian and a red head) and she laughed and said "no, I henna their hair". Of course this turned into a 20 minute conversation! The mother then proceeds to pull out a carry-on bag filled with henna! She told me she got it from Iraq the last time they went. She then informed me that her mother-in-law told her to brew some tea and mix the henna with that. The mom said that's all she does and she does this to their hair once a month. So now.....I'm convinced and I had to try it!

Today, I exchanged the henna I had when I noticed it expired last year and bought Nehal Herbal Mehandi henna. It is henna with harad, bahera, amla, shikakai, coffee, kattha, brahmi, and Bhringraj in it. I also ordered some Rajisthani henna from Mehandi.  I'm using the Nehal Herbal because I could get it locally and it should be okay until I get the henna I ordered. I'm going to mix it with the tea and see what happens. But I want to find a mix that gives me exactly what I think I'm looking for (since I've never henna'd).

 

 

 

Now I'm up for a challenge! I want to once a month for the next 6 months and see what comes of it! I am looking to see if the health of my hair improves, if there is shine, less shed, and more strength. The color is neither here nor there with me, but a red tint would be nice, so I'm all for it! I'm going to do this tonight, so sometime in the next week, I will post how it all went down! Until then......



Peace

How do you Pre-poo??

Do you pre-poo your hair? What's the purpose?

Yes! I do pre-poo and i do so to add moisture to my hair before i wash. I also do it to aid in detangling.

So what is this pre-poo you ask? In my opinion, it is a moisturization treatment to add moisture to your hair before you shampoo. It also provides an awesome detangling session that makes washing the hair so much easier.

What's my pre-poo routine, well its fairly simple. Here is what I use:


-Africas Best Ultimate Herbal Oil or EVCO
-Herbal Essence Hello Hydration conditioner (at least that is what I am using now. I also like V05 conditioners as well as Tresseme Naturals conditioner)
-a water spray bottle, afro comb, wide tooth comb, and Denman brush

And the process begins. First i divide the hair in 4 sections and clip out of the way. I start in the back on one side and add a generous amount from ends to root. Then I spritz that section eith water to get it  damp. Next I add a generouse amount of conditioner and begin detanling. The slip of the oil and conditioner make detangling a breeze. Last, I twist the detangled section into about 4 twists and move on to the next section. I repeat this process until all sections are detangled and twisted.

After that whole process os complete, I cover my hair with a plastic cap and keep it moving. I usually keep this in for a couple of hours while I'm cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, or whatever.

When I'm ready, the cap comes off, the hair is rinsed, and  begin the wash routine. Easy peasy. My hair is always super soft and remains that way after i shampoo.

Thats it yall. No magic, tricks, or special products. Just simple, cheap products you can pick up anywhere that will give your hair what it needs!

Questions?? Hit me in the comments......

Peace

Post Partum Shedding! AAARGH!!

I know you guys don't know me that well and I don't know you, so I am going to share something with you......

Almost 10 months ago, I had a baby girl! She makes baby number 2 for me, but my kids are 9 years apart. Don't judge me!! Anyway, having this child has wreaked havoc on my hair!!! I didn't expect it to because when I had my son, the effects were so different.

So here is the bundle of joy that has cause so much change in my hair. When I had my son, I was relaxed, and my hair went through something different. With him, my hair completely changed textures. I didn't get a perm for the last 6 months of my pregnancy and after I had him, I got a perm about 4 weeks later. My hair shed with him, but nothing like with this little girl!! I had more growth than anything with my son and the shedding did not affect my hair one way or another.

Fast forward to 2012 when my daughter was born and man oh man! What a difference! My hair shed like crazy! I lost so much hair that my edges are much thinner than they used to be as is my crown. I mean overall, my hair doesn't have the fullness it used to. My twists don't look the same and styles just look sub-par at best. It's so frustrating.

At first, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what was going on with my hair. And then......DING, DING, DING, DING!!!! It dawned on me that duh......you just had a baby! So now it all makes sense! Now I have to work hard to get my hair back in shape.

I'm thinking a trim is in order and I have found a product that I think will be key to helping me get my hair back:

I found this at Sally's. It 's ion Repair Solutions: Effective Care Treatment. They had these on sale last months for like $1.99 so I bought 4. I have used 2 of them thus far and I love them! Using this has reduced my shedding significantly, added moisture to my hair, and definitely made it stronger! I'm thinking I may keep this in rotation for a treatment after I clarify every 6 weeks or so. With that said, I am going to Sally's to buy the bottle when my other two packs are gone.

Now I'm intrigued by ion. I've seen it in the beauty supply for years and never gave it a second look...until now. It's 100% vegan as you can see and they have a line of products for repairing your hair. I think that at some point I will check out their shampoo and conditioners because the treatment has been working well for me.


Have used this product? If so, hit me up in the comments and let me know your experience! Well, that's it for now.


Peace