Winter Hair Upkeep

My Marley Twists are working out quite well...even if I do have 6 packs of extra hair, but it's wash day and my scalp's driving me crazy. Last week I redid my twists, but I didn't feel like redoing them this week so here's another first! 

I hopped on YT to see what alternatives there were to washing hair with extensions and picked the no-rinse method using a liquid shampoo. Excited, I hopped on Google to find a no-rinse shampoo in my area and was directed to Walgreen's...their web site said my desired product was in stock. After a 15-minute search, with my eyes landing on two different dry but powder shampoos, I left empty-handed. On a hunch, I stopped at my fave beauty supply store on the way home and OMG, why did they have exactly what I was looking for?!

I need to keep this stuff around!

Clean Life Products' No Rinse Shampoo and Conditioner have the consistency of water and lack scent and color. Both are applied directly to the scalp. The shampoo is massaged into the scalp until it foams. Then, you have to towel blot your hair dry. The conditioner is used similarly, but it doesn't foam.

It took no more than 20 minutes to use these products and I must say, the results shocked me! Not only did my hair feel soft and clean, but my scalp stopped itching...it always itches when it wants to be washed and cold, dry winter air makes it worse. 

Since the ingredients in these products are questionable, I decided to grab something else to ward off the itchies until I get ready to wash and redo my hair next week.

Might have to keep this around, too!

I've been using my Snake Oil (a blend of black castor oil and Ayurvedic herbs) on my scalp throughout the week, but decided to try Organic Root Stimulator's (ORS) Anti-Itch Scalp Oil. Not only am I a huge fan of ORS products, but this oil is in gel form so there's no dripping or oozing! The ingredients are 100 percent natural, but this does contain a paraben.

Overall, I'm VERY pleased with my no-wash results and will definitely use this as a back up plan to extend the life of styles with extensions!

Marley Twists Redo

So, my Marley Twists held up all week for the most part. Only four got loose at the roots so I had to redo them mid-week. Fortunately, my hair is long enough so there was never any fear about them slipping off my head to be left behind at my desk, the grocery store or the gas station.

I'd never done anything like this before, so first I watched a ton of YT vids to see how to best approach this. The general consensus is to add the hair to blow-dried or stretched air-dried hair. But, this weekend I opted to redo them and had much better results on wet hair!

Prior to reinstalling, I washed my hair as usual, applied Giovanni Direct Leave-In Weightless Moisture Conditioner and  OBI Natural Hair Care's Curl Enhancing Custard to one inch sections of my hair and then twisting in the Marley hair.

I LOVE Marley Twists!

Immediately I noticed a remarkable improvement compared to last week. This time around, my roots are tight and the Obi product, which has a gel-like consistency, helped my own hair blend with the Marley hair. Doing this on wet hair also shaved two hours off last week's time of six hours! While my hair air dries overnight, I suspect I won't have any slippage or loosening of the roots as the week goes by although I liked the loose, fuzzy roots look better.

So, when it's time to do my Havana Twists, I think I'll be doing them on wet hair. Anyone else prefer to add extensions to wet hair?

Winterized My Hair

It's that time of year again...time to prep your hair for winter! The concept is simple-protect your hair from harsh winter elements. I never really paid attention to winter hair, but when I experienced frozen hair for the first time, I knew it was time to give it some serious thought. So last year, I bought my very first wig.

I got mine in a 1B.

I loved La Jay and wore her every single day. She was such a close match to my bantu knot-outs, no one knew I was wearing a wig unless I told them. And I loved the ease of wearing a wig. Every weekend, I'd wash my hair as usual and twist it up. In the mornings, I just plopped on my wig and went to work.

This year, I wanted to find another wig, but my hair has grown quite a bit and I couldn't find a wig similar to this that was longer in length. So, I decided to go with a different protective style this winter-Havana Twists!

This was love at first sight!

I've never worn extensions or weaves, let alone had my hair braided so this is a first for me. So, I ordered 5 packs of hair from Finger Comber to give this a try. But first, I got 5 packs of Marley hair to give this a test drive, and....I am ecstatic with my results! Ironicaly, I needed 1 pack of hair plus three strands from a second pack to complete this look.

So proud of myself!

Close up side view.

After watching a few YT vids, thanks Alex and Black Onyx, I decided to try this myself and it was so easy! It took me 6 hours and I used some hair gel I had laying around with Organic Root Stimulator Carrot Oil. When I was done, I pineappled and went to sleep, praying I wouldn't lose any and I didn't! So, I think this is going to work for me this and subsequent winters! In a month, I'm going to install the Havana twist hair. I also plan on getting their wefted Coily Comber hair to make a wig.

What are your plans for winter hair?