MHM: Day 17

Is today day 16 or 17?

Anyway, I did something slightly different and the results seems great. I actually applied the leave-in in sections, immediately followed by the gel. I managed to see definition and clumps everywhere! I also applied in smaller sections.

I had gone to the beach and after having fun, I applied my BS mix and drove home. It was in my hair for over an hour. I then applied conditioner and left that in for about 1 hour. I followed with clay for about 45 minutes and then aplied the leave-in in small sections, followed by gel. I squeezed out excess moisture and applied it to non detangled parts of my hair.

When done, I squeezed out more excess water and mu=y hair began to actually dry!

Right now, my hair is in plaits and I am off to bed. We'll se how much definition and clumping I have, if any, in the morning.

I'll take pictures then.

MHM Day 16: Updates

So, since August 8th, I have done my hair an additional 5 times.

Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday

for a total of 16 tries (though 2 might have to be removed leaving me at 14).


I skipped Wednesday because on Tuesday, I did my hair at night, sleeping with conditioner at the cowash step. On Wednesday morning, I applied clay, leave in and gel.

Here are a few new pictures of my hair -

I see some definition in the back and hang

My hair after being out all day (Wednesday 8/13)

Morning hair (after undoing bantu knots (8/14)

I wish my hair was further along than it is right now. =(

Still, my hair is soft and I am beginning to notice more defined strands all over. And more clumping.

I hope that this progress continues as I would really, really, really like to have most of my hair clumping over the next 2 weeks.

I attribute the few improvements I have noticed to using BS, taking my time to truly spread the clay and taking my time to apply the gel.

What I want to do now is apply the leave in and gel in smaller parts and take my time to truly spread everything well. I watched a new video from Msdeekay and I hope it helps my application process and results in better hair.

Next try will be later today and that will take me to day 17.

Homemade Marshmallow Root & Slippery Elm Leave In

MARSHMALLOW ROOT AND SLIPPERY ELM LEAVE IN (modified by pdthompson on BHM's MHM thread)

"Based on Love your tresses detangling spray with Marshmallow Root and Slippery Elm (She has a youtube video that shows how she makes it).  I left out the Argan oil because I wanted it to be more of the consistency of the KCKT).   I only use a fingertip amount of extra virgin olive oil mixed with castor oil before applying my Flax seed gel after applying this leave in because my hair is very fine but dense and APL which can get weighed down and oily with a lot of product.  I am still playing around with the ingredients but so far I like it.  I also leave it in the fridge.  I hope this is helpful."


MARSHMALLOW ROOT - 3 TBSP
DISTILL WATER 3 CUPS
VITAMIN E OIL 20 DROPS
ALOE VERA Gel 1 TBSP
LAVENDER ESSENTIAL OIL - 15 DROPS
LEMONGRASS ESSENTIAL OIL - 15 DROPS
SLIPPERY ELM - 1 TBSP
1/3 DISTILL WATER
SPRAY BOTTLE

COMBINE MARSHMALLOW ROOT, WATER, SLIPPERY ELM, AND BOIL ON LOW TO MED HEAT FOR 15 MINUTES. ALLOW TO COOL AND STRAIN HERBS.  FILL 1/3 OF SPRAY BOTTLE WITH DISTILLED WATER AND ADD STRAINED HERBS MIXTURE.  ADD 1 TBSP OF ALOE VERA GEL, VITAMIN E OIL, ESSENTIAL OILS AND SHAKE.

Personally, I would use Eucalyptus and Jojoba oils as replacements. I would also have to find an aloe vera gel that does not have TEA in it.

My Hair With Clay

Here are a few pics of my hair with clay in it from Saturday the 9th of August.

I took pictures to see how well the clay coats my hair.

Conclusion: Not well enough.

Back of my head

Back of my head

Crown area

 

 Front

So, I went and applied some more clay in an attempt to improve coverage.

Back

Crown

It seems that I got just a little more coverage. The clay appears to glide off certain strands and settle on my scalp instead. I will thicken it a bit for the next trial and see whether there is a difference.

I definitely think that the clay part might be retarding my MHM goals. 

I will say that I saw and felt more coils around my head after this treatment. The wavy section of my head around the crown now has actual coils. I'm a bit shocked because I thought the hair there was nice before. Now I am realizing it might just be frizzy and not just looser in texture.

Anyway, I will continue to observe changes as I go along.

I must also note that this MHM Try was my 13th try (except if the 2 days I only did CLAY-LEAVE IN don't count, then, I'm only at day 11.) There were a few changes to the process. I did the BS-COWASH-CLAY-LEAVE IN-GEL (BCCLG), leaving the cowash for about 45 minutes and the clay for about 70 minutes. I heated the cowash and really worked it in. The clay was well applied as well, spending almost 30 minutes dispersing it everywhere.

Possible Flax Seed Recipe

3 cups of water
1/4 cup of flax seed
1 & 1/4 teaspoon of marshmallow root
1 teaspoon of Irish moss


- Posted by crownstar @ MHM thread in BHM forum

A Lightbulb Moment Courtesy of MHM - New Schedule

I read Msdeekay's blog yesterday and she featured Pinkecube.

http://www.msdeekay.com/4143/max-hydration-method-feature-pinkecube/

Pinkecube explained that it took her 32 MHM tries to reach max hydration. Her hair looks great and I can't help but think I should aim for 30 tries in as quick a span as possible myself. My reasoning is that doing so now might make the most sense as I may not have enough time in Trinidad. Also, it would be great to get to Trinidad with hair that retains more water in the cortex, thus having great hang and looking pretty.

So, here is my MHM schedule for now until September 7th.

I am currently 11 days deep and when I do my hair today it'll make it 12 days deep.

Between August 8th and 10th, I'll MHM 3 times.

From then on, I'll MHM every second day and will MHM every Saturday and Sunday.

Therefore, I'll MHM on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Between August 10th and September 7th that will be a total of 16 times.

If I can maintain that schedule, I would have completed 30 MHM tries by September 7th.

There is no guarantee that I will achieve the level of hydration I desire, but I know that I rather try than not.

Once my 30 tries are achieved, then what?

Well, maybe I can start stretching for 3 days between washes, save for weekends when I would try to wash on Saturday and Sunday. That would mean that I wash on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I would do that for a month

Buying Clay for Hair, Skin Purposes

The first clay I ever used was the Aztec Healing Clay (Calcium Bentonite) that I purchased from MOMS Organic Store in Bowie. I purchased it in October 2012 and the 1lb container lasted until July 2014! I used it solely as a face mask, adding tea tree oil from time to time. It worked great. It retails around $6 a pound online and $8 a pound in stores.

The second clay I purchased was Calcium Montmorillonite powder from a supermarket in Puerto Rico. Sold under the brand name Dr.'s Choice Barro, it has been a key ingredient in my MHM journey. It retails for about $3 a pound online and in the store.

 

I am now trying to find other affordable sources of clay powder that I can buy online and use for both my skin and hair. So far, the following sites seem promising - 

Mountain Rose Herbs: This company sells various clays, butters, oils and frankly everything I would need for my hair and skin 'cooking'. They also sell Bentonite clay in bulk at 1lb for $6, 5lbs for $24 and 50lbs for $180.

 

 An image of their Bentonite clay.

Source: Mountain Rose Herbs

Frankly, I am tempted to buy 50lbs but considering shipping costs and the duties I would pay once it got to me in Dominica, it makes no sense.

Bulk Apothecary: Similar to the last online company, Bulk Apothecary also sells different clays. Its Bentonite sells for $2.98 a pound. The 5lb variety costs $7.67 and the 50lb pack is $32.50. This seems like where I would purchase from. I checked online and there are coupons at retailmenot.com. I would honestly purchase 50lbs because at that price, shipping would be worth it and whatever fees I paid on this end would justify the cost.

 

Picture of their Bentonite Clay Powder

Source: Bulk Apothecary

I can also order Slippery Elm powder, Marshmallow Root powder, essential oils like jojoba and more for affordable prices from this supplier.

 

MHM Day 11: Product Free Hair

After two times of doing a short MHM version,  I decided to go back to doing the long version.  The reason was to see if I get better results at this stage of the journey.

So tonight, I ACV'd then cowashed (with full strength KCKT) for about 45 minutes. I then left clay in for about 70 minutes. I applied conditioner (full strength) and put on 2 showershowercaps for bed.

Here are pics of my hair without any product after washing out the clay. To be honest, it didn't look different from when I have product in it. I put some jojoba in my hair aftee the conditioner simply because I had too much in my hands at the time.

ANOTHER MHM UPDATE

So on July 30th, I had done MHM 7 times. Its been a week since then and I only did the regimen an additional 3 times, lol! Yay, 10 times in total!

Haha, I'm clearly struggling to keep up but at least I continue to do the regimen and have not given up, so that's good, right?

Here are some more pics -

Wet hair

Dryish hair

A SWITCH UP
On day 10, I switched up the regimen and instead of doing the ACV - Cowash - Clay - Leave-In - Gel process (ACCLG), I did the Clay - ACV - Leave-In - Gel process (CALG). I got great results. Specifically, I did the CALG at night, then twistedd my hair into tiny bantu knots, put on a vented shower cap and scarf and slept. My hair looked like this before I went to bed -

Here is a gratuitous shot of my roots -

In the morning, I took out the bantu knots, and went out with my hair looking like this -

I was too tired to tackle my hair when I got home, so I put it into bantu knots again and put on a scarf for bed. In the morning, my hair looked like this -

It looks a little dry to me, but no matter, as I am about to do the CALG process again. I hope my results are good.

Can't wait for super hydrated hair.