The wash day files: Loc takedown + wash

01:56 Sandra N.U. 6 Comments

Hi all! This is coming a little late. The locs came out on thursday, after my exams were over. It's just been crazy since then.
       Ok here's how it went- I cut off the burned tips and unwrapped the kinky hair, then I took out the braids with oil on my fingers to minimise friction. There were good things-
If I burnt or cut any of my own hair, I didn't notice (yay!), plus my hair didn't feel dry at all. I thought it would cos I hadn't been consistent with moisturising.
    On the other hand, the junction between my natural hair and my relaxed hair was well and truly matted. Have a look:
It took time and patience, but I finally separated it all and to my surprise i had very little shedding and mimimal breakage. Here's what I was working with after:
Next it was time to pre-poo. I used Nigerian black palm kernel oil (PKO) in my deep conditioner the last time and I've been curious to try it other ways. So I set some aside and then poured in some mustard oil. Too much. Cripes. I couldn't pour it back obviously so I kept going and added some of my vo5 conditioner. It says 'strengthening' on the label and I'm all for that especially since my hair didn't feel like it needed protein. I applied in 4 sections, massaging my scalp and covering hair from root to tip. Then I covered with a plastic cap and settled down for an hour.
This turned out to be my oiliest prepoo ever cos I had to use it all up. Ororo everywhere- my neck, back, shoulders. Ugh.
   An hour later I shampooed with my diluted doo gro moisturising shampoo and warm water. Hair still felt kind of oily afterward but I didn't want to overdo it with the shampoo. I skipped adding any oil to my deep conditioner and just used it straight. I covered again with a plastic cap. Normally i would wrap it up in a towel for warmth but I was so sleepy, it was about 1am after a very long day. I just crashed. I woke up by 5am and caught sight of my black tea (to combat shedding) which I was supposed to use BEFORE deep conditioning. Sigh. I rinsed with it anyway and finished with plain water.
   I used my towel to catch drips without rubbing my hair at all. Then I wrapped it up in a cotton t-shirt to dry. When I took off the t-shirt, my hair felt moisturised and still a little oily, but not as soft as the wash day when I raved about PKO. My theories are:
1. Shampooing after using the PKO as a prepoo might have washed out its effects.
2. I shouldn't have used the black tea, which is known to harden hair, AFTER deep conditioning.
I sealed in the moisture with a very tiny drop of oil in each section.
  Detangling was not a breeze. Did i say before that there was very little shedding or breakage? My bad. I spoke too quickly. I encountered a couple of stubborn knots, more shedding than before I washed, and a few broken strands when my patience wore thin.They were all nice, healthy strands except one: it was split in not one, not two, but get this- three spots along its shaft. The horror. I went on a search for more of those to cut out but didn't find. I think it was just a deviant.

Finally  tangle-free

I put the hair in loose bantu knots and went back to bed. I had this picture taken when I got up later and noticed this:
 Straggly ends. Attack!
I chopped off about this much from each section,
then redid the loose bantu knots. When I took them down later I had these waves:

Worth the trouble eh?

I had a busy day ahead so I had to put it in a bun. That busy day ehen, whew! It would have a post of its own.
How did your wash day go?


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