MY CURRENT REGIMEN

1 pump of this.. 3 squeezes here.. shake 4 times to the left.. and voilà! I wish it was as simple as a pump, a squeeze & a shake, but anywho.. As most of you know, it is extremely important to create a hair regimen. For those of you that don’t know, it is extremely important to create a hair regimen. By creating a regimen, you are formulating a method to not only see what your hair likes, but to make wash days and hair management easier. Once you do this, washing (shampooing or cowashing), conditioning, and styling your hair should become a breeze. I usually get a lot of questions about my regimen like, “what do I use to do this?!” “how do you get your hair like this?!” or “how did you do that??”, so I’m going to break my regimen down so you can all see what I do to get her like this, or that

First: I wash my hair (usually with shampoo). Yes, I am a shampooer! I find that I get better results if my hair is clean clean. I find that cowashing doesn’t really do it for me, especially after a couple of days of eco styler gel use. I have not found a conditioner or cowash cleanser that can remove old, built up eco styler gel, so shampoo it is! At the moment I am using Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Threat Invigorating Shampoo. It provides me with the clean feeling that Ilove. Next: After my hair is thoroughly clean– free from product and rinsed from the shampoo– I condition and detangle my hair with a wide tooth comb. This is one of the most important steps because this is when things get real! If the right amount of slippery conditioner is not provided, you can end up ripping your hair out.. ouch. I apply my conditioner all over, either TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner or Suave Naturals Conditioner, I stand under the shower stream for a few seconds to distribute the conditioner, then I grab my wide tooth comb & go to work. I do not section my hair with twists, only because it doesn’t take me a long time to detangle. When wet, my hair is shoulder length, and extremely wavy; I rarely encounter knots and tangles so detangling is pretty easy. If I do have a knot, or tangle, that the comb can’t fix, I pull it apart with my fingers. This way, I don’t rip it out and cause harm to my hairs. I usually start with the front left then I move to the back, applying more conditioner as needed. Then I detangle the right side and finish the back. I try to remove the shed hairs from the comb and my hands before moving to another section. I would hate to detangle then mix the shed hairs back into my hair– that would defeat the purpose of detangling. After I’m done detangling, I add more conditioner, comb through my hair once more, and place my hair into a clip until I’m done showering. Then: After showering, I rinse the conditioner from my hair, squeeze the excess water out, and apply my deep conditioner. I use Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask (sometimes mixed with coconut and/or olive oils), Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Moisturizing Hair Treatment, or ORS Hair Mayonnaise (usually once a month). I gather my hair into a processing cap, exit the shower, and sit under my bonnet dryer for 30mins to an hour on medium heat. After my session, I remove the processing cap and allow the conditioner to cool. I want to make sure that my hair has absorbed the goodies from the treatment before I rinse my hair. When I do rinse, I rinse with cold water— cold water closes the cuticle to lock the goodies in! Next: I squeeze the excess water out– while doing this, I am careful not to wring my hair because I don’t want to disturb the curl pattern. So I gently squeeze my hair to remove the excess water. Now I’ll apply my leave in conditioners– TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner, Kinky-Curly Knot Today, Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave In Cream, Infusium 23 Repair & Renew, Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream, and/or Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner. I do not use all of these at once! I use 1-3 depending on how I’m feeling, or if I need added moisture or protection. Once I have added my leave in, I seal my hair with olive, sweet almond, coconut, or JBCO oil. I also apply JBCO to my edges and scalp (I swear by it for hair growth).

Finally I decide on the style. If I decide to do a WnG (Wash & Go), I apply my Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. I use this to not only enhance my curls, but to lock in all the moisture that I can! Along with this, I’ll apply a gel to add shine, bounce, and hold to my WnG. I use either Miss Jessie’s Jelly Soft Curls or Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel. If I’m pressed for time, I usually diffuse my hair to help it dry quickly. Other than that, I air dry.

If I do a twist out, I will apply my leave in: TRESemme Natural NM Conditioner, Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream and an oil, etc. and/or my Curly Kinks Twist Whip to twist. If I use the CKTW, then I use one leave in and twist on damp hair. I alwaystake down my twists with some kind of oil on my hands. The oil will add shine and help reduce frizz side notes: – My newest/most common leave in combo is the KCKT and Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner – I’ve learned that the secret to avoid hard, crunchy curls with Eco Styler Gel is to put an oil underneath – Yes, that is a cookie monster toothbrush in my drawer (I have to lay my edges down sometimes lol) – I do refrigerate my TRESemme Naturals Conditioner– a cold leave in will also help to seal the hair cuticle – That’s only one drawer worth of products LOL – Most importantly– Once you create a regimen, and it works for you, stick with it! The longest part of my regimen is usually the time spent under my bonnet dryer and my styling time, especially if I decide to twist my hair. Other than that, I find my wash days pretty easy. I do alter things in my regimen once in a while, such as my deep conditioning treatments (I have used coconut oil & JBCO before), and I pre poo once in a while, but this is what I do more times than a few. I found that this particular regimen works for me. I wanted to share my regimen with you all so that you can see what I do to get my hair to look a certain way, but so you all also have an idea of how to create your own regimens. I hope this helps, but I’m willing to answer questions if you have any!

Xo, Ashley Have you created your own hair regimen? Does it work for you? Comment below!