MHM Day 24

I slept with clay in my hair!

Okay, I had to. I had gone to the beach around 4pm and didn't get home until after 7pm. As is my usual beach routine, after frolicking, I did an ACV rinse, then put conditioner in my hair. It was in for about 2hours.

After feeding the kids, and myself, and then washed out conditioner from my hair and took my time applying the clay. I had it in for 3 hours while I worked out but, I was too tired to start washing it out, so instead, I had a bath, put on an additional shower cap and my scarf and then went to bed.

This morning, my hair shed a lot more than usual when I was applying my leave in and gel.

Not sure if this is because I didn't wash out the salt water from my hair enough. Anyway, I do not plan to sleep with clay again, save for an emergency. And if I do, I'll use full-strength conditioner for stage 4.

Sadly, no pics of my hair as my phone is acting up. *sob*(Got my DD to take pics with the ipad mini. Not great quality, but it'll have to do for keeping track of my hair's progress.)

I definitely like the way my hair looks.

Yay!

Day 23: 2nd day hair

Did my hair yesterday and finished last night. As such, my hair was nice and wet in the morning.  It didn't hurt that I wore a shower cap to bed.

Here are pics of my hair the night before (freshly washed) and the next morning (after taking out my braids). I managed to destroy my phone's screen and couldn't take pics of my hair at night.

MHM: Day 23

I have to admit, I spent most of my day dealing with hair today. I started around 1pm and didn't finish until just before 9pm.

The reason was that I was busy doing other things.

I ACVed for about 5 minutes and then left my conditioner in for over an hour. Then, I left the clay in for over 3 hours.  This stage.worked.wonders as usual.  I applied the.clay then decided to work it in in small sections. Each section I put into a bantu knot. Doing my hair this way I could feel which sections needed more clay. It took an hour Once I'd wrapped it into knots I put on a shower cap and worked out for 2 hours then dealt with laundry. It was actually over 3 hours before I washed it out.

My hair felt different. T he coils were more evident and actually looked like protective princess's in that they hung low and didn't just go straight out. I have been wondering about why mu hair never lays down I now think its because my roots needed ... well I'm not sure.

Morning hair.

Hair after washing out ACV.

I pulled down my hair strands because they were pointing upwards.

Hair with gel.

Hair with gel.

day 22: 2nd day hair

 2nd day hair in the morning. 

 2nd day hair in the morning.

 Crown of my head

At night, I started to shingle the fuzzy parts - don't like the look though.

Shingled some of the fuzzy parts

MHM Day 22

I got cycle 22 done today and even managed to do an MHM cycle for my daughter.

Here's what I did: Baking Soda - Cowash - Clay - Leave-In - Gel

My Clay mix contained eucalyptus oil today and it tingled on my scalp. Nice!

Things went well and I spent a lot of time focusing on still-frizzy bits.

Baking soda step.

Front of head with baking soda.

Clay Stage (worked superhard to coat as many strands with clay).

Product-free hair.

Hair with Leave-In and Gel.

Hair with Leave-In and Gel

So far, no setbacks. I didn't notice improved definition at the clay stage. But, I did notice that when I washed my hair there were no straight bits and the coils were prominent to the touch.

Will wash tomorrow evening and maybe do an overnight DC with jojoba oil on my scalp.

3 Day Hair

So, cycle 21 was on Friday afternoon and my life didn't permit me to do my hair on neither Saturday nor Sunday.

Well, its Monday morning and after breakfast I'm going to tackle my hair but I figured I would take pictures and keep track of what my hair has looked like.

Here they are -

Friday hair (Day 1).

 

Saturday morning (Day 2)

Sunday morning (Day 3)

Monday morning (Day 4)

Today is cycle 22 day and I hope my hair responds the way I want it to - makes it better.

mhm day 21

Its been a month and I am now at 21 cycles. My hair looked good this morning even tough I did not wash it yesterday. Lots of clumping everywhere, but some frizz began to make an appearance.

To celebrate, I did a cherry lola treatment sans the avocado.

Hair is alright. Not much different since cycle 20 IMO but I'm happy to not go backwards.

I left the CL treatment on for 2.5 hours, applied hot KCKT for over 40 minutes, applied clay for an hour and then showered and put the leave-in and gel.

I think I will wash again tomorrow. However, I am considering simply doing an ACV, Clay, Leave-In, Gel process (ACLG). We'll see.

Hair with CL treatment

Product-free hair after washing out CL treatment

/hair with CL treatment

Hair with (too much) heated conditioner

Hair after rinsing out conditioner. Notice the serious clumps at the bottom there?

Clay Step

Product-free hair

Product-free hair looks good

And the final result was - 

Hair with gel

Hair with gel

Hair with gel

Hair with gel

I am getting better definition and dare I say 80% of my hair is defined and clumping. I know this is still the beginning of my mHM journey but I hope my strands will swell to absorb more water and not only look better but feel better for longer periods of time.

Flaxseed recipe from Heyfranhey

Jacked from Msdeekay's tumblr

MHM DAY 21: Thank you Jesus!

I finally am seeing the clumping and definition I have been begging the good Lord and any other MHM angels for!

So, I started Day 21 last night with a quick ACV rinse in the shower and an overnight GHE with KCKT (full strength).

In the morning, I took out my braids and allowed the conditioner to dry (not on purpose though) as I cooked and got on with life.

When the opportunity presented itself, I ran down to the garage (yes, I do my hair there!) and rinsed out the conditioner.

I applied the clay for an hour!!!! Best thing I could have done. Over the last few times (well since I switched to BS), I noticed that taking my time to meticulously apply the clay makes a difference. As such I applied clay in smallish sections and once done, I went over my entire head massaging the clay into the hair. I massaged clay onto the roots and anywhere that I felt frizz got more clay and extra attention. I eventually noticed root to tip definition in about 80 percent of my hair. I kept pulling the clay from root to tip and at the ends, I gently loosened my tips. My head was sometimes upside down, sometimes right side up. Anyway, at the end of it all, my hair looked very pretty!

When I washed out the clay, and when done, I felt my strands and could feel clumping!!!! First time to have felt that much. When I took pictures of my product free hair, I could see better definition everywhere and I got down on my knees to thank God!

I went to my bathroom and rinsed my hair 'one mo gain' (lol!) and applied watered-down KCKT in small sections quickly followed by diluted gel and I loved seeing the clumping.

Morning Hair.

Hair with clay about 27 minutes into massaging it in.

Hair with clay about an hour later (I love this color!).

Hair after clay is washed out. Notice the long ringlets.

Product-free hair at crown

Hair with gel.

Hair with gel.

Hair with gel.

Key notes:

1. Pay attention to your trouble spots - the finer sections at the crown and temples. These sections feel fuzzy, frizzy and do well with extra love and attention.
2. Take your time with the clay - work the clay in until you feel the roots clumping EVERY TIME!
3. Work in small sections for steps 4 & 5 - Apply the leave in and gel in small sections. Use clips and pins to separate the sections and take your time. The results are worth it!
4. Be patient - Don't look at other people's hair and wonder why you don't have similar or better results. Take your time to focus on the plan you created. Pay attention to what works for you and be patient. Your hair is getting hydrated and in due time, you'll have fabulous max hydrated coils everywhere.

MHM Day 20

I skipped Sunday as I spent the day with family and had a great time at Castle Bruce beach and river.

So on Monday I did a BCCLG and spent over 3 hours in my hair. Reason was that I was busy so my cowash stayed in for an hour and forty minutes. My clay was in for 2 hours and for good reason I needed to make a new batch as the old batch wasn't giving me the definition and clumping I desired.

After applying the new batch I worked it thr oily ugh my hair and in minutes frizz became defined.

I quickly applied leave in and gel so I could get on with my life.

Next morning my hair was still damp but not soaking wet. I like my new method of twisting and pinning at night it ensures that I don't have frizzy ends in the morning. The definition is not as good as fresh hair but I can live with it.

My hair Monday morning before washing

Clay step: not coated well enough

Worked the clay abit

Looks a little better

Washed out the clay and see ringlets.

Hair with leave in and gel (I squeezed out excess moisture, shook it several times too).

My hair later in the evening before pinning it for bed.

Morning hair - notice the lack of coils in the middle right there?

I have some tough spots where my hair a different texture from the rest of my head and those spots are highly resistant to defining and clumping. Still, I have learned that it is best to take my time and really massage the clay and other products into these areas. Now that I am trying to spend more time on applying the products better, I am learning what parts of my hair are more receptive to behaving than others.

It is almost a month since I started MHM and frankly, I am saddened that I don't have better definition and clumping. I will however, continue. Today, I will make a new CL mix and put that in my hair tomorrow. I will not wait a month before I do another CL treatment however and will likely do one right before I head out to Trinidad. I will also switch back to ACV rinses for a bit as I have been running through my raw honey.

Hoping to see more improvement and better results.