Two months post big chop: tips, tricks and routine

Matching blues 😀 It’s been two months since I decided to finally go natural and chop off my hair and it feels like it’s been forever! I’ve learnt a lot, tried a lot and I’m excited about the future of my hair! LOL!

I’ve definitely seen the inch or maybe even more of growth that is projected for a 2 month period. In fact, it was going through that weird, not-sure-what-to-do-with-it growing out stage and so I actually chopped down the sides to give me a very weird mullet/mohawk shape, but I think it looks a little better than just a ball of clown-looking curls.

I’m still in the stage of finding the products that I love so I don’t have any favourite products as yet but I do have a regimen.

I -co-wash my hair every Sunday and deep condition after. I’ve only pre-pooed once and it’s when I applied box colour to my hair to try and lighten it and of course box colour is very drying so I needed the extra moisture.

I warmed olive oil that night and left it in my hair overnight with a plastic cap over it to penetrate and moisturise. It did a pretty decent job, but I have no real need for prepoos otherwise right now. My deep conditioner is enough.

I also pre-pooed munchkin’s hair recently and have decided that I prefer the effects of my aloe deep conditioner in her hair over that of a pre-poo. Pre-pooing is a step we don’t need.

After washing, I apply my leave-in conditioner. This is the part that still needs some work where it comes to product. Well actually, conditioners on a whole. I’m supposed to be getting my hands on some much coveted Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Hold Smoothie soon and also the Conditioning Milk so I’ll be testing those out on our hair.

Update: My favourite leave-in and why I had to skip out on the Shea Moisture products. 

I also want to try the Giovanni Leave-In Conditioner as the ingredients look so good. I’m trying to avoid becoming a product junkie, there are way too many lines out there that I hear great things about

. As I run out of these, I’ll cycle through my list until I find my faves. It would be great to find a product that works in both my hair and munchkin’s.

After my leave-in, I seal. I went OD and bought so many different oils and can now proudly say that I’ve found the ones my hair loves. I had greasy hair for a few weeks there and some days my hair felt both greasy and trashy, but now when I seal in my moisture my hair dries nice and soft and touchable.

I use a simple mix of castor and argan oils with a few drops of essential oils for scent. Right now my essential oil of choice is sweet orange. The castor oil gives a bit of hold to my curls and so my ‘fro is popping all day long.

I recently realised how many Jamaicans are naturals but aren’t sure how to care for their natural hair. I mean, a lot of this stuff is new to even me and I only know because I decided to check out blogs that were experts on this subject before starting my natural journey.

It’s on these various blogs that I knew what was necessary for me to do each night and morning to have a great hair day. Right now with my hair being so short, I don’t do anything to it at night. I just make sure to sleep on a satin pillowcase.

When I wake in the morning I spray it with water and allow it to penetrate my hair before putting anything in it. Did you know that water needs 15 minutes to sit in your hair before it penetrates the shaft? Read that on CurlyNikki and I definitely feel the difference if I apply product immediately after wetting as opposed to letting it sit first.

When my hair is nice and damp, I put more leave-in conditioner and then seal again with my castor/argan mix. Yes, every day.

I shampoo once a month to clarify my hair and get rid of any build-up from the daily oils and such, though I must say that these products have not been bad in the build-up arena and I really only clarify because I hear that it’s good to do so.

Some people skip the shampoo all-together and clarify with apple cider vinegar. I still have shampoo from my relaxer days so I’m using it up. Then maybe I will try African Black Soap or some sulfate free shampoo.

For the growth chart fanatics…is there an eye length? LOL

See what my regimen is like now, many years into my journey and a self-titled wash and go queen. How’s your natural hair journey coming along?