Please help me find a routine?

[PoliticalPilot]

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with all the things I need to *do* to my hair. Since I like everything planned out and written down, I'd like to come up with a monthly routine for when to do what. Can you help me figure it out?

These are the things I do/plan to start this month:
-Deep henna/horsetail treatment (has to be rinsed out one day, washed out the next)

-SMT moisture treatment

-Castor Oil treatments

I am trying to CO wash every other-every third day.

I was thinking the henna treatment first Monday a month, the castor oil treatment twice a week, and the SMT treatment he third Monday a month.

Anything that sounds off, or I need to add?

[Ermine]

Whatever you do, I'd ease into it so it's easy to identify what's working for your hair and what isn't. I'd stick with one of those experiments for a couple weeks or so, then add in something else to see what happens. Otherwise, it might be very confusing finding out what's going on if you're trying many new things at once.

[mallorykay13]

Whatever you do, I'd ease into it so it's easy to identify what's working for your hair and what isn't. I'd stick with one of those experiments for a couple weeks or so, then add in something else to see what happens. Otherwise, it might be very confusing finding out what's going on if you're trying many new things at once.

I agree. If you start a lot of new things it is very hard to change your routine to fix it because you dont really know what is good vs. bad.

[Maktub]

I also agree !!

[archel]

Your routine is a lot like mine, but I've been perfecting it over 3 years. Is all this stuff new? They say to try a new item once every 2 weeks (though I was not that patient when I first got on LHC).

[PoliticalPilot]

Thanks for the advice!!
I've done the deep horsetail treatment before, and the castor oil I started last week. I've been experimenting with CO-washing for a couple weeks off and on to see if different methods work.
So the short answer, is no...it's not all new. :-) But it is a good idea not to try everything all at once. :-) I will try to tame my enthusiasm. :-p

[celebriangel]

I would 1) sort out your wash routine, without doing any deep treatments. Deep treatments can affect your perception of how well a wash routine works.

Then, 2) Try doing a deep treatment once per week - the same one! - for two or three weeks. See how your hair responds. Perhaps try modifying the recipe the last time.

Repeat for each DT you want to try. Then try to make up a routine. Currently, my routine is: henna once per month. Do an SMT directly after henna - recipe modified to include coconut oil and shea butter, melted. CO wash once per week the remaining 3 times, oil with nightblooming's panacea salve. WO rinses in between to refresh hair if going out/need to stretch wash further/no time.

This is because I am still trying to work out which conditioners work best for my hair. My hair has the opposite problem from every other CO person's hair, it seems - CO is not moisturising enough! I have a few conditioners that work great as cleansers, but my length needs something more moisturising, so I'm trying to work out which heavy conditioner to use.