Task: combat dry hair

Ok, so my hair has been super dry and rough since my big chop Wednesday. Granted, my hair may naturally be rough, its still way too dry.

I found pure coconut oil (not extra virgin..) at kroger last night. A pretty good sized jar by lou ana for 6 bucks. They also had grapeseed oil and some others that I will be going back for later. Ok, so I took a hunk of coconut oil, some olive oil and canola oil then warmed it and spread it all throughout my hair and massaged my scalp for a few minutes. TIP: massaging the scalp will stimulate blood flow which in turn stimulates healthy hair growth. Don't get too rough or you may damage your hair in the process.

I left the oil on wrapped in a plastic bag overnight. When I woke up my hair felt really soft (and greasy lol). I immediately started working on my deep conditioning mask. I prefer using natural products so for my conditioner I used: 1 egg, a jar of squash baby food, lemon juice, olive, canola, coconut and a little sprinkle of sesame seed oil, then I mixed in 3 spoons of yogurt. I warmed it in the microwave because its very cold. If you're going to do that, be careful not to cook the egg! I applied the mix right on top of the oils in my hair, then wrapped it in another plastic bag and a towel to help hold in the heat. Its not a thick mask, like a like it, but I skipped the fenugreek to see if that would make a difference.

I used the squash, in case you're wondering, because it is filled with keratene (spelling? that stuff in carrots) and super infused with vitamin a, which is great for hair growth. I don't know if it'll make your hair grow faster, but atleast it will be healthy, at whatever rate your hair grows. If you are trying to grow your hair faster, I'm sure using this or similar recipes won't hurt as it is all edible lol.

I fell asleep so I left the yogurt mix on my hair for maybe an hour. O dunno cause I fell asleep lol. Anyway, after I rinsed and co-washed my hair felt really soft. I sprayed on the aussie hair insurance then massaged my oil mix onto my scalp and hair... ok, then the problem started. I called myself sealing my hair with the Beautiful Textures curl creme. My hair started feeling hard... maybe I'm not using it in the right order. I dunno.

I made a mix of my own that I'll use. I'm just going to take both products back to sallys. Someone stole all the money from my wallet, so I need that cash back anyway to get diapers for my Micah

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scab hair

Where do I begin? If you know or have heard of scab hair, its nothing to be afraid of.. it doesn't look very pretty, as you can see from my photo, but hair is hair and it isn't permanent.

For those that don't know what scab hair is, basically (and unscientifically) its the hard, frizzy, fuzzy, straight, curless (curl-less?) new growth as a result of relaxing. From my own understanding, and I'm no scientist, relaxers completely change the structure of your natural hair. Think, mutation (chemical X?). It strips and damages your natural hair in order to obtain that oh-so-desirable straight look. Well, we all know the skin and scalp absorb things from the environment, which includes harmful chemicals, such as relaxers, hair dyes, and texturizers. Although we all know we aren't suppose to get relaxer cream on our scalp, if you've ever done one at home and are like me, you probably slathered it right on there, heavy-handed, thinking what harm could be done, then left it on until you were running for some cold water to put out the fire on your head. How many beauticians have told you the longer you leave it on, the better it will work? hmph... Also, if you've never done one yourself, but you've ever had sores or burns on your head after a process, well, you've had the chemicals on your scalp..

When I was relaxing, I didn't know what scab hair was. I just knew that the hair in the back of my head grew in frizzy and fuzzy. When I couldn't flat iron the frizz away or slick it with pomade anymore (usually between 3 and 5 months), I knew it was time to relax, chemically relax that is. Now, my instincts did tell me that there was a possibility the relaxers and heat were damaging my hair, so I did start to take certain precautions like lowering the heat setting on my flat iron, air drying my hair, and relaxing that section of my head last in order to fix the problem. yea, didn't work.

Back to scab hair.. there really isn't a "cure", so if you stumbled upon this blog hoping for one.. I'm sorry. There is a light at the end of the tunnel if you're experiencing this problem too: it will go away. Let me repeat that: it WILL go away. It can take anywhere between 6 months to TWO years for your non-scab hair to grow back in. Read about it here: . I've been transitioning for 6 months now, and on the right side of my head, I am finally starting to notice my curl pattern growing in.. the left, which I have always had more trouble with, is still straight and frizzy..

Honestly, the best thing you can do for this hair, is baby it: condition, condition, and moisturize! This hair is the result of our harsh treatments and neglect. Its growing in this way to protect itself, from us. So, spoil it, love it, and treat it well; eventually it will forgive you and grow back in healthy and curly just as it was intended.

So, if you have scab hair and you want to get rid of it, keep it moist, keep it trimmed, and keep it happy. Before you know it, the hard ends will be gone and you can start worrying about something else ;P

yogurt? yep.

Since I'm on the topic of hair, I want to mention yogurt..

Like I said in my last post, I don't buy hair products.. Well, let me back up - I don't buy expensive hair products. I'm definitely not against lab created hair stuff. I still don't really understand what silicones are, but apparently they make my hair really soft. Why take that away? lol. Anyway, yogurt has become a staple in my semi non existent regimen. I use it as a prepoo-protein-deep-conditioning treatment (gotta love the all-in-one).

I don't really remember why or how I came across the idea of using yogurt, but somehow I was led to this website: Lipstick Masala.. Yogurt apparently has some type of antifungal and antibacterial properties.. its also good for probiotics, which i will assume does some good for my hair too lol. Well, the yogurt, in all its wonderfulness (except its taste, cause that's just gross) has some cleansing powers as well. A clear, healthy scalp means healthy hair growth, right? Welp, at 3 bucks for a gigantic tub, I was sold. I don't even have to eat this stuff to reap some benefits. YES!

Yogurt also offers protein which is great for hair too.. I don't really know all the ins and outs, and scientifics behind using yogurt, I just know it works for my hair..

Now, to the cut: For my hair mask I mix a few good scoops of full-fat yogurt (and yes, it needs to be full fat), 1 egg, 1 banana, and some olive oil.. blend it up really well (to avoid banana chunks) and smooth onto dry hair starting at the scalp.. I like my masks to be good and thick, so I add just a capsule or two of fenugreek, which coincidentally also conditions my hair and adds a lot of slip to the mixture. I'm terrible about detangling, but this is a good time to go ahead and do that part.. Anyway, wrap your hair up in some type of plastic (I use a Kroger bag), then a towel to create more heat and leave on your hair for 30 minutes up to an hour (2 in you skipped the fenugreek).. then rinse, shampoo and condition as usual.. with the fenugreek though, you may find that you don't need any additional conditioner. TIP: let the yogurt reach room temp, or your head might get really really cold lol.. TIP 2: if you use the fenugreek, don't let it dry on your hair, or you'll have powder chunks in it.. they come out easy though, so I've read.

the fenugreek really softens the hair so I do NOT recommend leaving it on for very long or using it more than once a week, or even bi-weekly (I'm still working out the kinks).. the first time I used it, I added way too much and left it on for nearly 3 hours.. well, now I'm experiencing some breakage. before you FREAK out, I'm not going bald and thankfully I noticed early enough to make some changes. I emptied like 10+ capsules into my mix along with Dove conditioner and some other things.. chances are I just over moisturized my hair. Don't be afraid to experiment. Just know your hair, your ingredients, and your time.

Anyway, I will probably be using this again tonite. Since its getting to be winter time though, I'm on the hunt for a not so cooling hair mask. Any suggestions or tips? I'd love to hear them.