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Ah Manic Panic :) I know that it shows well on my natural color but generally only in the sun and I have heard that it will show well on silver. I may have to pick up a few colors eventually since I am a student and not really looking for a job type thing for a while. My DD's birthday was this last weekend, a couple of the photos caught the top of my head and showed a lot more silver streaking then I thought I had!
Hey everyone -- just checking in. Are you guys doing any experimenting with your routines or have you landed on something that works? Are you having to change anything with the increasing length?
A few months ago, I started experimenting with no conditioner but I got crunchy ends after awhile. I'm using shampoo bars now which have completely taken away the crunchies. Actually, my hair is looking better than it has in awhile. The only thing that gives me pause is that I lose more hair when washing than I did with diluted shampoo. But I also lose less hair through out the day so it might even out :shrug: I'm keeping an eye on it.
I do find that my ends need a bit more pampering as they get further away from my scalp and I oil every night before a wash. I've got a batch of catnip tea brewing and plan to do a soak later today.
I am finding that I oil my ends more often then I did before but other then that not really. Scalp wash with my sulfate free shampoo then condition, leave in for the duration of my shower rince and add more conditioner (I am a wavy/curly girl).
I've been doing ACV rinses of late. It makes my hair feel lovely but smells bad! I usually do it as the final rinse, but I'm gonna do one more water only rinse after when I next do it I think!
Thanks for the reply Serina! I'm 2c/3a and I'm trying not to use conditioner. I don't know why; I guess I just want to see if I can. It would be pretty neat to be able to make all of my hair care stuff myself from things that come from nature directly. But I would go back to condish if nothing else works for me.
Joflakes, I use ACV every wash and I find that the smell usually goes away once dry (or I can't smell it anymore but everyone else can :laugh:). I do also add a drop or two of essential oil (lemongrass is pretty potent; I also like lemon and ylang ylang). Sometimes if it is rainy out and my hair gets wet, I can smell the ACV. I have a batch of herb infused ACV which I plan on straining this weekend and hope that it isn't as stinky. What about citric acid; have you tried that instead?
I use JASON stuff for conditioner which is nice, I am just not up to task on making everything from scratch yet although to add a day between washes I will dust a little coco powder then bbb it through combed hair. Works wonders and between it and whatever coconut oil is still in my hair I smell like chocolate all day long :)
Mmmmmm chocolate! I've been using cornstarch to stretch washes but I'm sure if I mixed cocoa powder with the cornstarch it wouldn't be too dark. I have also seen a dry shampoo for redheads that had red clay in it. But I have cocoa in my cabinet, so I think I might give that a try! Thanks for the idea~
The only thing that's really changed in my routine is that my hair is finally long enough to try a few updos. I've learned to do french/dutch braids and some messy buns. Every day I work on crown braids and SOME DAY I WILL SUCCEED!!!
Right now my biggest frustration is doing a gibson tuck. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but stuffing my ponytail in the pocket only works for 15 - 30 minutes at best. The ponytail just falls right through the bottom no matter how I secure it. So, I've gotten to the point where I'm just considering that its own style. A gibson tuck ponytail? Or something...
Oh, and I think I need to lay off those. Too many pony tails of any kind (no matter what I secure them with) cause breakage in the canopy of my hair. :( I may try Blax ponytail holders.
Neccola, it's only a one day wash stretch, anything more and your hair get's funky so if it's a little darker for a day it should be fine, that and it won't dye your hair so you aren't looking at permanent change, you may want to look at cinnamon as well, it smells good and is supposed to work well with red hair.
Imaroo, on the gibson tuck I am not sure if I can make this make sense but if you do your pony but don't fully pull the hair through the last loop you can tuck the whole thing which leaves your ends shorter and the loop at the bottom of your hair nest. I saw a video on you tube but now I can't remember who did it. It makes it less likely that the ends will poke out. Or you can use the ends and braid however many you are up for, loop and pin them up to the base of the pony for a pretty finished look, although I don't know how well that would work till past APL, I know my hair would be too short at this point. I know what you mean about ponies and breakage, I use scrunchies at home and double ended knitting needles as hair sticks to keep my hair up most of the time when I am out and about.
I also still fail at crown braiding so I often do a horseshoe braid with either french lace braiding or lace rope braiding, it keeps my ends tucked and if I use my U pins just right I don't need a pony tail on either braid, I hope all of this helps :)
That really is a huge help!!! I love the idea of not pulling the pony through the holder all the way. That makes sense. I also hadn't thought of a horseshoe braid. I'm not sure exactly what that is, but if it's easier then I'm all over it. Off to Google...