How long have you gone since washing?

Yesterday I read a Facebook post by a woman who has not washed her locs in 6 months. She still moisturized and groomed, but the labor of washing her waist length hair was a bit much for her current schedule. Also, she wears her hair covered reducung the amount of debris which might otherwise land in her hair.

Different strokes for different folks. Depending on the loc forum you subscribe to, you will read a wide range of recommended grooming intervals. Most say that clean hair is healthy hair. Some say that dirty hair locs faster. I say you need to know your hair and know yourself. Quite a few are more concerned with how often you retwist. Retwisting too often can lead to thinning hair. Test different regimens and determine what your hair responds to best and keeps your confidence up.

When I got my hair done last week, Lauren commented that locked hair doesn't need to be washed more than every two weeks. I usually wash and retwist my hair every week. After about that long, my scalp sends out a reminder.

I don't think I can last 6 months. The longest I think I've gone without washing my hair and I didn't have braids is two weeks. I'm going to try to beat that and go a month. If I reach the three week mark, I might as well keep going, right?

The plan: Shower without a cap so that the steam can permeate my hair. Apply a daily moisturizer.

Today makes one week since my hair was washed. Wish me luck.

1 week since washing

Lauren F. Stylist Review

Website: www.urbannaturestyles.com
About: A New Yorker transplanted to the DC area.

Why I went: Lauren had several very good reviews on the website.  And she has locs - plus!

Location:  She works at the DC and Silver Spring Locations

Making the Appointment: Online, so that was easy

My Experience With the Stylist: Lauren arrived several minutes late for my appointment, but her personality won me over.  I felt like I was talking with a friend.  

The Process: Lauren paid attention to me and my hair.  She noticed my scalp issues and gave me a treatment to help combat them.  She inquired of how I usually wear my hair.  Since I can go with the flow, I let her do what she was in the mood for. When the appointment was over, she gave me her number in case I needed to ask questions or needed to get in contact when running late.
 
Overall Take:  It was truly a  pleasure to have Lauren take care of my hair.  I didn't feel like she was doing me a favor by taking my money.  I walked away feeling more confident and like I had a new ally on my hair journey.

Would I go back? Yep

Would I request the same stylist? Yep

Would I recommend them to others? Hmm, yes!

I forgot to take a before picture, but here's the after:

Side view

10.5 months

Natural Shampoo Recipe I

When I first decide to loc I looked up how to wash my hair.  Dr. Bonner's Liquid Castille Soap came up quite a few times.  I knew I had to dilute it, but couldn't figure out the right measurement.  Every trial left my hair cloudy.  So, I just stuck to my Garnier Nutrisse and added tea tree oil to the bottle.  Then I came across a concentrate recipe:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup liquid castille soap
1/2 tsp of olive oil

My hair reacts well to tea tree oil so I added it along with rosemary oil.

I put all the ingredients in a plastic bottle in a twist tip bottle.  All this was done last week.  This week, I applied the concentrate directly to my scalp and massaged it in.  I got a pretty good lather.  Lather, rinse, repeat, and I was done. Miracle of all miracles my hair looked black rather than the grey it looks when it's still dirty.

I'm so excited.  I have one more shampoo recipe to try, but for now I'm glad that I finally found one that works.

Loc Butter Take 2

So the first run at making the loc butter didn't go so well.  I decided to make some tweeks to the recipe:

2 tbsp shea butter
1 tbsp mango butter
1/2 tbsp coconut oil

I melted those in the double boiler on medium.  Then I added:

1 tsp sweet almond oil
1 tsp jojoba oil
1 tsp avocado oil

I poured the mixture into a glass bowl and mixed it on low for a few minutes before adding:

5 drops lavender
10 drops of tea tree oil

I alternated between mixing and freezing the mixture until it whipped up like a thick lotion.  On the last run in the freezer, it ended up solid so I think I should have quite while I was ahead. I whipped it one more time before putting it into the old shea butter container.

Tomorrow, I'll do my hair and see how it works out.

Follow up: I left the ACV rinse in my hair for 3 hours then rinsed it out with warm water. After washing with a shampoo concentrate, I retwisted my hair. I was being lazy so some of it dried before I got to it. I palm rolled the locs this time. Then I sat under the dryer for an hour.  I'm pretty sure I was under there for too long, but I wanted to make sure that it was fully dry.  I didn't get the same shine I got from the shealoe recipe, but I'll try tweeking the recipe later.

Loc Butter Take 1

The shealoe was okay, but I think I'll pass on further use until I find or come up with a different recipe.  I found a loc butter recipe and I'm trying it out today.  Using my newly purchased double boiler, I melted:

2 tbsp shea butter
2 tbsp mango butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp liquid lanolin
1 tsp sweet almond oil
1 tsp jojoba oil
1 tsp avocado oil
10 drops ylang-ylang oil
10 drops lavender essential oil (my personal touch)

I poured the mix into a cleaned out hair grease jar and let it cool.  It did not solidify so this "butter" is more of an oil.

This is a 4 oz jar.  It was filled, but I poured some out into two other jars.

I washed my hair this morning and rubbed a mixture of  liquid lanolin, avocado oil, and tea tree oil onto my scalp. To add some moisture back, I applied aloe vera gel to my hair section by section before starting in on the "butter."  I put the "butter" to my finger tips and retwisted my roots.  After clipping them down, I finger (instead of palm) rolled the rest of the loc.

The plan is to spread this batch over three uses before tweeking it:
1. Use aloe vera gel to "wet" hair
2. Retwist right after washing
3. Retwist dry

Initial reaction:  Not sure that my hair is at the point where finger rolling works.  At least not when done dry with an oil.  The roots look good, but the rest of the loc is a bit puffy and dull looking.  My scalp does feel good.  If all else fails, this may be the moisturizing product I've been looking for. Based on how this came out, there is no need to do #3.

5 days in: My scalp is not happy.  It looks moisturized, but it is flaking.  Actually peeling is more like it.  I've been adding avocado oil, but it doesn't seem to be making it through.  I think the lanolin was a bad move.

Verdict: Take 1 was a fail.

Tweeks to come:  More shea butter, some tea tree oil, no lanolin