Diary of a Hair Day - A New Hope

In the ongoing saga that is my effort to do a good job with Baylie's hair we have reached a new crossroads. Her hair requires more intensive care now than before and we needed to step up our regimen. Fortunately, I made a new friend who has been an excellent source of information for me. Her hair type is very much like Baylie's and she has big beautiful hair. Thanks to her, we now go through a daily, weekly, and monthly ritual with Baylie's hair. The instructions below are all from her with some minor modifications of my own.

Daily
Hair that is well moisturized does not need to be wet daily…If hair seems dry, spritz with a small amount of water (I use water mixed with coconut oil) and seal in the moisture with a very small amount of shea butter mixture. (Note: Little girls that play hard may still need to have the leaves and pine needles rinsed out of their hair on a regular basis...)

I purchased the unrefined shea butter on Amazon and made the following mix.

Shea Hair Butter

½ cup shea butter

1 Tbs coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
(I used almond because I love the smell)

5 drops essential oil (I used lavendar)

This goes a long way in hair and also on skin. I whip it up in the food processor and this is what the finished product looks like.

Weekly (we do this on Saturdays)
I divide her hair into four sections and work on a section at a time with each step. She spends a lot of time in and out of the shower and the whole process takes a couple of hours.

1. As needed for strength and moisture, pretreat the hair with a protein treatment (we use ApHogee Curlific Texture Treatment) and sit under hood dryer with a plastic cap for 15-20 minutes

2. Shampoo (we are currently using Tea Tree Tingle, but we also like Kinky Kurly)

3. Condition (we are currently using Tea Tree Tingle) and sit under hood dryer with plastic cap for another 15-20 minutes

3. Rinse out conditioner with cold water

(Never use hot water on the hair as it will cause damage. Use warm water when washing and always rinse with the coolest water possible.)
4. Spritz with ApHogee reconstructor
5. Add some shea butter and style
6. Seal in all that goodness with an oil

Note: If I am doing a style in her hair, I go ahead and add detangler while styling. Our detangler of choice is Kinky Kurly. I've been keeping her hair in an afro for the past month because I'm trying to recondition it after having it in extensions for too long. We'll be doing a hairstyle this week (a bun - her choice) in preparation for her baptism.

Once or Twice a Month

1. Protein Treatment (ApHogee Curlific Texture Treatment) – 10-15 minutes w/ plastic cap
2. Shampoo twice (Tea Tree Tingle)
3. Deep Conditioner – 10-15 minutes w/ plastic cap under heat
4. Rinse out
5. Leave in conditioner (ApHogee reconstructor)

Deep Conditioner (you could actually eat it!)

1 banana

½ avocado

2 Tbs honey

2 Tbs coconut oil

This is what the finished product looks like.

Baylie's hair has never been healthier. We are both really happy with the results. I am especially grateful to see my little girl being proud of her natural hair.