Hair and Science 101

I am certain this post will be updated continually, 

but this article just HAD to be shared.  

Split ends are no joke!!

This is your scalp!! 

The brown/orange sticks are hair growing out of your scalp.

And here's the Hair 101 Article - a must read!

Porosity in Curly Hair

I should have high porosity hair, being a curly girl that is.  Curly hair tends to drink moisture.  Funny thing, back almost 15 years ago I can guarantee I had high porosity hair!

Once Upon a Time...

However, now after 9 months of no poo and BRUSHING sebum through my hair, and cleansing only my scalp, I now have normal porosity and some characteristics of low porosity hair.

This is a major success for a curly girl!!!   I attribute this healthy, happy hair to ACV and sebum and even in part to regularly using aloe vera gel.

Take a read if you're interested:

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-porosity-and-curly-hair/

I'll take this conversation back to the start of my journey...

If you have high porosity hair and you're new with stripped hair (no sebum or added oil) too much water could stress your hair.  The high porosity hair looks like swiss cheese for example, with cups... If they get filled with water daily, they dry out daily.  Plus, the water weighs the hair down, stressing the pores/cups and leaving the hair extremely dry.  This type of hair takes hours and hours to dry and is likely already dry and frizzy with open pores/cuticles.  When you add oil or deep condition, it takes awhile to help combat dryness.

I only know this because I was figuring out why sometimes oil hydrated for me and other times it didn't, and why my hair hated the coconut oil but loved the super penetrating jojoba oil.  And... Why it took 8 hours to dry! ... And why my new no poo curls were kind of limp.

Now that my hair is sebum coated, my hair dries faster, (1 hour) and no longer exhibits these characteristics.  My curls are boingy, my hair is healthy and hydrated.

Update:  After using henna my porosity changed.  Here's an explanation ...The lawsone (dye) of the henna penetrates the hair shaft and bonds to the keratin in the hair. Remember, hair is made up of keratin protein. As the dye bonds to the keratin, this makes the overall hair shaft much stronger and thicker. In this regard, henna bonds to the hair, fills in any gaps in the hair cuticle, and adds a second layer of strength. (Thanks Janet!)

WO weather...

Spring is blooming, and summer is coming, and I need to figure out how to be successfully no poo, keep my 21 day wash cycle and wear my hair curly.

I remember hating WO and ACV washes in the beginning because I could feel the sebum on the crown of my head just sitting there, I couldn't brush to move it off my scalp whereas when I straightened my hair I could brush it through my hair and be happy and free to go one week curly and then two weeks flat ironed straight before my next wash.

This time I switched things up. Good thing since I got rained on twice!!  First, I washed, then flat ironed on day two because of a very important meeting.  Two weeks of straight hair and I was dying for a wash.  My hair gets limp, lifeless and just needs to be hydrated with water... Not adding aloe or oil, it needs H2O!  As well, I was waiting for my order of henna which was two weeks in transit, I didn't want to wash, receive henna, do henna and wash again, so eventually I just decided to try a WO with ACV and I actually had a lovely scalp week, no itching, but I scritched regularly  and massaged my scalp and it looked pretty good and my hair DRANK up any aloe that I offered!!!

Today I was tempted to do a WO again and push past 21 days but thought better of it because I wasn't sure if the henna would like all that excess oil!  I washed my scalp with my castille soap, did an ACV rinse and detangled with a wide toothed comb air dried clipping up the top fot volume and had a luscious day of curls.  I plan to WO again tomorrow as an experiment, since sebum coated hair dries very fast!  I'll air dry with aloe vera gel again tomorrow and take pics ;)

Hopefully in 21 days I'll have the henna, use it and be able to give it a good washing out!!

WO... What the??

So I was all ready for a wash, 2 weeks of straightened hair makes the oil really obvious, but my henna order wasn't in and I didn't want to cleanse until I had the henna, so I did a WO and ACV to take my mind off of it.

I used a little jojoba and a lot of aloe and let it air dry.  It was gorgeous!!! What a great mess of curls!!!

The next day I wore it in a curly ponytail.  Today half up.  I'm thinking I can WO again tomorrow morning and start again because I desperately need to brush !!!  And I will likely go my full three week cycle thanks to WO.

I previously didn't like WO because I felt I couldn't brush my scalp and I felt Luke there was "stuff" sitting on my scalp.  I still do feel that way and I've scratched and massaged but its just NOT the same feeling as a brushed scalp!!!  I could continue WO for a bit in the summer though which is good!!!

Bonus: It rained today and my curls were rocking out in all their glory!!!

Whipped Shea Butter

Ooohhh luxurious!!!

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time ... I used a LOT of gel.  I was smart enough to realize that products that contained alcohol and mousse, were severely drying on my hair.  This was me then, and I thought my hair looked fantastic!

Now I see a tangled rats nest of mis-shapen curls and sad, dry hair screaming for some TLC.

Since ditching the product, and going no poo, my hair is healthy, hydrated and my curls are luscious, luminous and curl back on itself!

I love my hair.  I love no poo.

My little experiment is an absolute success!!

SoapNuts

Here's the real deal! Those are my soapnuts and my finger is in the pic to show you the size.  The one to the left is cracked open, that black thing is the seed of the nut; I put it all into the pot to boil out the juice for hairwashing. 

Cool tip: like any juice, you can freeze it into ice cubes.  With my bra strap length hair, I defrost two cubes close to wash day.  I use it through out the length if my hair, unlike the castille soap bar that I only use on my scalp in the colder months. With both, I follow with a 50/50% apple cider vinegar solution. 

Here's a great recipe.

Brushing curly hair to move sebum..

On the day you think you should wash, take a deep breath and do this... brush it out and keep it up for 3 more days on your dirty hair.

Then add oil to your hands and rub together till there's a slight sheen, so very little.  Then start at the ends kind of grabbing chunks and pulling downward in sections.  Brush from root to tip and put in a bun.  If the center is dry, add oil to the center "thickness" in the same way.  Brush brush brush.  3 days of brushing and it wearing up, then wash - ensure you're using at the very least 25% ACV in your rinse and the most a 50% ratio as your rinse.

Keep in mind you're brushing with the intention of moving natural oils from scalp to tip and adding oil from tip to the center. Sebum will meet you in between sooner than later ;)

I use this brush, the others are in my brush graveyard drawer.  The longer nylon bristles gently detangle, the balls on the tips gently massage and the padded base helps the brush contour gently to your scalp.  The boar bristles although shorter also work by pulling oils from the scalp through the hair, conditioning with natural sebum.

In my research, I've found jojoba oil and argan oil to be the best for curly girls.  Some adore coconut oil though, I hope your hair does too!!  Some say with the porosity of our hair, coconut oil doesn't infuse into the hair, it sits on top - that's how you know its not suited to your hair type.  By morning, any oil you added yesterday should have absorbed.  If not, use less or change your oil choice.

Here's my schpeil on how I brush ;)

What is "scritching" your scalp?

When I scritch, I gently scratch my scalp with my fingernails before I brush at night.  Sometimes bits of scalp release (gross), sometimes I find little blemishes, sometimes I find sore hair follicles maybe because I pulled my ponytail too tight?  Maybe I missed brushing the area?

I don't do it long, I use both hands and scritch from my crown to the outer edges like I'm drawing lines like a knit cap, does that make sense?  I only do it at night and it tells me where to brush or massage more, and where to add aloe vera gel to fix dry spots. 

I must also say that my brushed are generally pretty clean until close to wash time.

Whats transition?

Okay your big question was what's the ultimate goal of no poo??  I believe, and  others may disagree, that when the natural oil called sebum reaches your ends, magic happens. Some say nirvana (its a constant work in progress so I don't like that phrase), some call it being transitioned.  Basically, when the natural sebum is brushed through the entire length of your hair, it changes your hair.  It becomes shiny, lustrous in the sun (rainbows kinda thing) and the new sebum slips down faster because the cuticle of the hair becomes smoother.  Lots of cool things happen like your hair becomes fuller, dries faster, all kinds of interesting things happen, but slowly.  So here's the thing...  Your scalp is becoming healthier, the vinegar rinses and the brushing and scritching are making your scalp and hair follicles happy ... your hair will grow more, grow faster, be more supple, healthy from the root, and the sebum... when it realizes you won't be shampooing and robbing your scalp of sebum, it'll go on vacation, cutbacks at the sebum factory... and production will slooowww down... Its pretty cool.  Not everyone will experience the same transition or results but really... Its soooo cool :)

Oops! I washed ;)

So, in my kitchen I found powdered coconut milk, I whipped some up not adding water, applied it to wet hair and put a disposable plastic shower cap on and a towel on top of that for 30 minutes.  This is my extra hydration attempt.

Next, I washed with two whole eggs, thoroughly whisked no water added (I should have done 3) and I applied it to my roots in slimy watery scoops and massaged and massaged my scalp.  Then I worked the yuck slowly in sections down the length of my hair careful to leave a bit in my dish for my ends.  I dipped my ends into the dish to ensure they were saturated and then braced for the cool water... Eek!!!  Man!  I haaaate even cool water!!! 

Then I finished with a 50/50%  ACV rinse with 10 drops of tangerine EO and carefully wide tooth combed from ends up to roots. 

Then I added aloe vera gel, like gel, scrunching, pre-defining my curls in the thickest part of my hair, too, sides, ends and even parted the top, re-combed and arranged and defined them and then long sleeve T-shirt plopped to dry. I slept in it overnight. 

In the morning, I'll manually define with a bit more water and more aloe vera gel so the curls fall how I want, and are super juicy ... and that my dear, will be the start of my curly cycle. 

By day 4, sebum needs to be brushed, so I may wet my brush and brush out my curls and brush the sebum through and then French braid it, or simply brush out dry and flat iron it in small sections on medium heat.  I then will add jojoba oil to my ends, especially the ends of the layers I've got too, and the next morning add mire oil and spot treat if needed.  Now with straightened hair I can brush so much better and can keep this straightened style for up to 2 weeks. 

My current wash cycle is 3 weeks.

I don't think I can manage sebum only SO much longer than that because my hair seems to go limp and lifeless at that point, and I actually produce much less sebum so I need to rehydrate!

Well 5 hours later, my hair was still damp, now that its dried, it's full of curls and super hydrated!!  THIS... Is bedhead!!! Holy curls batman!  It amazes me that before going no poo, my ends were split, dry, scraggley, couldn't curl.  Now, the curl back on themselves, they're healthy and well hydrated!  Time to depouf, and fix up a bit with a little water and aloe vera to help define curls that aren't sure what to do with themselves ;)

Hi ho hi ho... Four days of curls we go... Then I'll iron it straight so I can brush brush brush and maintain oiling the ends and using aloe IF I need hydration, all to maintain my hair health.  Awesome!!,

I'm 8.5 month no poo and loving it!

Have a great day!!

Coconut Milk Conditioner

Its officially awesome!  I put coconut milk all over, put all my hair into a disposable shower cap and wrapped that into a turban for 30 minutes.  I then washed with an egg wash.  That was 5 days ago.

Last night I gently brushed out my curly hair, and boy despite my curly mess it was very easy to brush out and detangle.  Was it because my hair was sebum infused, restored with the protein from the egg wash or hydrated from the coconut milk?!

I'm trying to figure out whyyyy my hair is shiny, moisturized, not at all oily, smells like nothing and barely needs my flat iron on the ends because its sooooo straight!!

My scalp feels great, my hair looks and feels awesome but it was kind of flyaway like (too moisturized) when I wore it curly, I was afraid I'd have to wash it out in case it was oily, but its not!

Never in my life..... But I'm not complaining.

Sebum Only Washing...

Sebum Only:  its when you don't wet your hair at all.  You scritch to loosen dead skin cells on the scalp, preen like a cat, massage your scalp and brush with a boar bristle brush.

I've been in warm weather on vacation for 12 days, no water, no oil, nothing.  Just me and my brush.  My last wash was on March 2nd.

I have no issues with oily scalp anymore, 8 months into no poo (no shampoo) however, even in the warm weather, I'm dying for some aloe on my scalp.  Its as if my sebum is diminishing and its a little dry.

SO (sebum only) is something I've always thought about, I'll have to be careful with those darned monthly hormones though, I've come to realize that there is a smell and extra oil production at a certain point in my cycle which if left alone does goes away.  That may be me weak point... it makes me crazy when I can't predict my hair!!

It could be an opportunity though for a once a month water only wash.  I'm thinking as a curly, there will have to be WO (water washing) at some point.  There will also have to be flat ironing so I can brush.  That also means adding oil and aloe vera since I tend to be dry.

I do worry a little... rspecially mussing the benefits of ACV (apple cider vinegar), but hey!  I'm in!  I've got fantastic SO partners, one over there in the UK, my hair guru C.N. herein referred to as "The Lone Ranger" unless she chooses another nickname for this space, and from down under, DoobyDubai who's sure to keep me laughing at myself along the way!!

Officially, I started on March 2nd with my last wash, and I'm SO washing, with a little water here and there ;)

UPDATE March 20th: My hair is limp and lifeless. I need some flat iron touchups because of mist or rain or snow melting in my hair and making it go wavy.  I'm a mess & I can't stand it... I need conditioning!!!!  I'm thinking of doing an egg wash followed by a coconut milk rinse... perhaps with ACV, I'm not sure.  I'll wear it curly for awhile and then flat iron it straight and hopefully go another 3 weeks again.

Stay tuned.

April 2nd: I've realized that curly hair by nature needs water.  I don't think I can be SO, but I certainly can keep my cleanse days 3 weeks apart so I can enjoy the glorious, nourishing benefits of sebum!!

Going for 3 weeks again...

And I'm doing very well!!  I'm already wearing my hair straightened and brushing well.  I'm away from home so there's very temptation to wet my hair for any reason at all!!!

I've noticed something though.  Back when I found this fabulous brush, I didn't realize that my scalp would miss the exfoliation that the nylon bristles give me.  So I've got this brush, but a mini ($5) for my purse, and happened to give my hair a good mid-day brushing and does it ever give a great brush and exfoliation!!  I love the gentle scratching feeling the longer nylon bristles give!

Highly recommended, this could very well be the only brush I use!!

So, I'm going for a minimum 21 days again.... And since I'm out of town without even acv in sight... I have no choice but to persevere ;)