Bids & Grace – The Regimen

The Regimen (as of February 2014)

Generally, Grace gets washed every 7-10 days. The frequency will vary depending on the style I have in – I wash my hair more frequently when I wear “out” styles (e.g. twistouts) and less frequently when in protective styles like mini twists.

Over the past year, I have been co-washing, using clays and generally trying to fine tune my wash day routine. I have come to the realisation that co-washing does not really work for me. I am someone who can be quite heavy handed with product and I sometimes found that co-washing did not always help me get rid of build-up. Now that I have found my shampoo (details below), I am good. Clays will remain part of my routine but I think I will seek to do a clay wash once every 3 months rather than every month.

Wash day for Grace and I is a step by step process so I have set out the steps below:

1. Grace is so much happier when washed in sections so I will divide her up into at least 4 sections.
2. I detangle each section, first with my fingers and then with a wide tooth comb. Sometimes I do this just with water, other times with some second-rate conditioner hanging around in my cupboard.
3. I shampoo each individual section.
4. Afterwards, I blot dry with a towel and apply Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture conditioner with Vatika coconut oil and then slap on a shower cap on and chill out for a couple of hours. Twice a month, I will sit under my Huetiful Steamer for 20 minutes which clearly speeds up the deep conditioning process. Sometimes I just let Grace stay in the shower cap with the conditioner in for a little longer, even after using the steamer!
5. Once done with the DC process, I rinse out my hair completely and then towel dry so that it is damp but not soaking wet.
6. I apply my mix of leave in conditioner to Grace – a mix of:

• Vatika Coconut Oil
• Pure Argan Oil
• Ogx Instant Repair Weightless Healing Oil (Keratin and Argan Oil)
• Giovanni Direct Leave in
• Kinky Curly Knot Today
• Ogx Biotin and Collagen Lotion

7. After applying my leave in conditioner, I am ready to style my hair in whatever style takes my fancy.

I don’t generally use heat on Grace. I usually twist when she is damp rather than soaking wet. Sometimes if I twist late at night and I want to rock a twistout in the morning, I will sit under a heat cap for an hour on a low heat setting so that I can speed up the drying process. I also straighten my hair once a year. That’s about it for heat for Grace and me.

The Products

PRODUCTS

I have set out my product staples. Every once in a while I may dabble in a new product or try something out as you may see from my posts, but these are the core products of the regimen – they are tried, tested and true!

Cleansers

Shampoos – The Body Shop Anti-Dandruff Ginger Shampoo or Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Shampoo

Clays – Bentonite Clay or Rhassoul Clay

Apple Cider Vinegar

Conditioner– Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioner

I have put together a mix of products which works really well for me, in terms of acting as a moisturiser and incorporating the sealing oils in the mix. Here goes:

–          Kinky Curly Knot Today

–          Giovanni Direct Leave in

–          Ogx Biotin and Collagen Amplifying Lotion

–          Vatika Coconut Oil

–          Argan Oil

– Ogx Instant Repair Weightless Healing Oil

Stylers

• Design Essentials Natural Curl Stretching Cream
• Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie
• Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream

Oils

• Argan Oil
• Vatika Coconut Oil
• Ogx Instant Healing Oil

Moisturising sprays

• Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Hold & Shine Moisture Mist
• Shea Moisture Yucca & Baobab Thickening Moisture Mist

You may have noticed that I don’t have a staple deep conditioner in my list above. For me, I generally just leave my conditioner on and then add some coconut oil to it before sitting under my Huetiful steamer. I am in the market for a deep conditioner so watch this space…

The Tools

TOOLS

• Wide tooth comb
• Butterfly clips
• Perm rods
• Flexi rods
• Rollers
• Goody hairbands
• Bobby pins

Details of my old regimen can be found here.

For tips on how to go about creating a regimen for your hair, click here.