Daily Archives: May 9, 2012

May9

April GOC Update: Cococrispecurl (#32)

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Hi Ladies!

Hair:
Guess what? On Saturday April 14th, I did it! After watching Naptural85’s mini twists videos for a couple hours, I felt ready. Seven hours later, I crossed over. I. Became. A. DIYer.

I know, I know. You’re thinking, “Seriously?” Yep. Seriously. I can’t cornrow, flat twist or trim my own ends. I can’t do those fly buns, knots and elaborate styles. But guess what? I’m one step closer. Because now, thanks to our naturalistas and the celebration of natural hair, I can do mini-twists.

And, I’m still obsessed with mini-twists. I kept them in for 2 weeks and then wore a twist out for 2 weeks; most of the time, wearing protective styling like buns and pulling it up on the sides. I attempted a WnG at the end of the month and turned that into a loose braid-out. I think there’s a little growth. Too soon to tell.

Twists Regimen:

  • Separate hair into 2 sections.
  • Pre-poo with EVOO the day before and again one hour before washing.
  • Clarify with 1 part Head & Shoulders shampoo, 1 part water
  • Separate hair into 4 sections.
  • Detangle with Herbal Essence Totally Twisted conditioner.
  • Deep condition with The Body Shop’s Banana (2 teaspoons of Kemi Oyl added) for 20 minutes under the dryer.
  • Apply 2 teaspoons of Herbal Essence Totally Twisted conditioner to each section as a leave in conditioner.
  • Prior to each twist:
    • Saturate hair with water (if drying). Squeeze excess.
    • Apply Jojoba oil 1 inch from root to ends.
    • Apply IC Fantasia gel from root to ends.
    • Run comb through and twist.
  • Set twists on purple and orange perm rods.

This regimen worked pretty well. It was my first time using Herbal Essence Twisted conditioner. I can’t wait to get my ends dusted in a few weeks when it’s straightened. I trimmed a few pieces myself, but I’m not ready to trim my entire head. My ends are pretty rough; they haven’t been tended to since January.


Health & Fitness:
I went to the gym less than 10 times. I need to be going 3 to 4 times a week. I created a schedule in 10 day increments to keep me motivated … we’ll see.

Weight Watchers is going okay. The hardest part is the weekends. The work week keeps me on schedule but, come Friday night, something happens and I want to eat a cheesesteak, chicken wings and chinese food. On a good note, ChaCha got a lot of long walks. Next month, I’m going to add 3 lb ankle weights.

Reward:  6 lb loss, a new hair oil.

Happy Growing Ladies!

♦

 Missed Cococrispecurl’s first GOC post? Then head on over here to check it out now!

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May9

The L.O.C. Method

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by Jackie of Engineering Natural Beauty

Dry hair is a problem for many natural ladies. I suffered with dry hair for the first 11 months of my natural hair journey. I couldn’t go more than 2 or 3 days without having to moisturize. I experimented with everything to try and keep my hair moisturized: olive oil, coconut oil and every type of butter you could think of! It also doesn’t help that I have low porosity hair.

Before

But one day, while perusing the Curly Nikki Forums, I came across a thread for keeping hair moisturized. The women in the thread were discussing using the L.O.C. method and how it helped them keep their hair moisturized for 4 to 5 days! Each letter in the title makes up the steps:

L-Liquid: You first use a liquid on your hair.

O-Oil: You seal the liquid with an oil or butter.

C-Cream: You then put a cream over the oil and liquid.

The purpose is for each layer to seal the layer before it, i.e. the oil seals in the liquid and the cream seals in the oil.

Knowing my situation, I wanted to look into this method more to see if it could work for me. So, off I went to YouTube to find a tutorial and more information. I landed on the Trendy Socialite’s video and decided give the method a try.

via TrendySocialite

I will be honest, I was skeptical. Nothing else had worked before. However, after my first application, my apprehension turned into excitement. It worked!! My hair stayed moisturized for a week … A WEEK! I hadn’t been able to go more than 2 days without having to moisturize. I started using the L.O.C. method in November and I haven’t looked back.

When I first started, the products I used were water, Jane Carter Nourish and Shine and Bioteral Curl Creme or Lacio Lacio! High Shine Leave-In Conditioner. Since then, the products I use have changed as I no longer like Lacio Lacio because it contains silicones and I no longer use them in my hair anymore. Being the product junkie that I am, my products are constantly changing and I’m forever experimenting to find the right combination. I’ve used:

  • Oyin Handmade Whipped Pudding and Burnt Sugar Pomade as my oil
  • PuraBody Naturals Murumuru Moisture Milk, Oyin Handmade Hair Dew and Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk as my cream.

The one thing that has never changed is using water as my liquid. Water is always the best moisturizer for hair, so there’s no need to mess with a good thing. But, no matter what I’m using, I always do the L.O.C. method.

Before

After

Love and hair grease curlies ♥!