Monthly Routine: Week One

Today marks week one of my monthly hair care routine (I started this post this past Saturday)! This means that I get to spend half of my day washing and styling my hair. As I mentioned in my last hair care post, caring for natural hair can be quite time consuming if you don't have a plan.  I've created a monthly routine for my hair that allows me to do minimal styling for most of the month, and gives me the option to wear my favorite styles with little effort, at any time.  I'm able to do this by using protective styles as my default style and transitioning them into other styles throughout the month.  This may seem like common knowledge to some naturals, but there are still a lot of naturals who don't have a solid routine.  I just started mine this year!

Here is my process for day one of the first week:

Step One: Wet and Detangle hair
I begin by spraying my hair with lukewarm water to soften my hair.  In the picture below, you can see that my hair is damp, and not soaking wet.  This allows me to detangle or separate any pieces that are tangled or curled up together.



Step Two:  Apply Hair Treatment
Once my hair is fully detangled, I apply an egg mixture to my hair to strengthen it.  I leave the egg mixture in for at least 30 minutes (1 egg & 1tbs honey).  If you are mostly looking to strengthen your hair and provide your hair with protein, the honey isn't really necessary.



Step Three:  Wash and Condition hair

After leaving the egg mixture in for at least 30 minutes, I rinse the mixture out using cool water.  Next, I do a vinegar rinse (1tbs Apple Cider Vinegar & 1 cup of water) and co-wash my hair with Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Conditioner.  I leave the conditioner in for about five minutes and rinse with warm water, and then I do a second co-wash and a partial rinse with warm water.  I leave some of the conditioner in to act as a leave-in conditioner (This really helps me to be able to comb through my hair after washes).  Some sources state that you should either include moisturizing/conditioning products with the rinse or do it before the rinse because the hair shaft is sealed afterwards, but I do what works best for my hair.  This process works for me. 

Step Four: Dry Hair

To dry my hair, I start by separating my hair into four sections.  If I'm going to blow dry my hair, I comb through each section and apply heat protectant.  If I'm going to air dry my hair, I comb and braid each section or let my hair dry in individual puffs. 





Step Five:  Protective Styling/ Hands-Off Style
Now that I have a dry head of hair, I'm ready to put in my protective style.  I like individual twists the best because they are the most flexible and they are easy to put in and take down.  This can take several hours depending on how small the twists are, but it can carry you through the next two weeks.  You can actually wash your hair while the twists are still in. 





Individual twists in an updo. 

I will be posting more as I transition into different styles throughout the month. 

Later