Moni's Awesome Braidout!

Hi Kcurly,

First, I want to say that I love your blog!  It’s definitely one of my favorites.  Now that the weather is warmer, I’m wearing my hair out in my signature braidout (picture attached).  Do you have any suggestions for a good daily moisturizer?  I’d like something light, either a lotion or cream, to use on my hair when I rebraid it in large braids at night.  I’m looking for something close to a hair milk, definitely not a spray.  Thanks for your help!

Cheers,

Moni

Moni, first of all your braidout is on fiyah! Just off the top of my head here are several suggestions for a light cream/lotion you might like for the warmer weather.

Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root

KBB Hair Nectar or KBB Hair Milk (Most people say the Nectar is lighter, though I’m the odd man out on that one)

Coconut Oil (Used sparsely of course)

Kinky Curly Knot Today

Maybe some of the ladies here can give you more recommendations. Thanks for reading!

I tried my winning combination of swimming gear out again, but this time without conditioner or wetting beforehand. Risky, I know! But it’s hard to tell if the hair is getting wet when I’ve already wet it and it’s weighed down with conditioner.

As I was swimming, I could feel some water seeping in around my edges. I was convinced that my entire head was drenched, but I completed my workout anyway. In the locker room, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that only my edges got wet…and not soaking either.

I went ahead and shampooed with Ion Swimmer’s Shampoo, focusing mostly on my hairline. I think, just to be on the safe side, that I will continue to perform my old routine prior to swimming. However, I will be revising it to include my swim cap combination, minus the chin strap caps.

My swimming is about to go into high gear pretty soon. I need to get up to 1/2 mile by June. The most I’ve done is a 1/3 of a mile. Ah the torture!

In other hair news, I’ve bought a wig. I know, I know I said in this post that I was done with wigs.

I was careful in choosing one. I got the same color as my hair, which ended up being 1b. I wanted to get a “natural” looking wig and they actually had one that looked like it could be a kinky curly ‘fro. However, it was rainbow colored (meaning, various shades of brown) and they had no other colors to choose from. So I got the one that looks liked a rod set.

Considering that I never can properly do a rod set (yet!), I really enjoyed at least pretending to have one. Truthfully, I just bought this wig for when I’m letting my hair air dry or doing a treatment under it.

"Plaits" done with shea buttter and sealed with coconut oil

I pinned them back so that they would fit under the wig

Here's the wig! Texture shot for ya!

I think it looks ok. It's not that shiny. I saw a tip on NC.com to put cornstarch on it to take out some of the shine.

Under the wig, my real hair is nice and protected in braids! I decided to just use plain raw unrefined shea butter. I’ve been using a lot of products lately,but some of my best hair days have been courtesy of plain old shea butter. Granted, it takes awhile to sink in, but it’s simple, cheap, and works great!

I sealed with coconut oil and also dabbed some on my scalp. My hair is happy! I’ll probably undo them sometime in the next few days for a braidout.

Comments on the wig thus far? From my son’s tumbling teacher: “I just love your hair! I wish mine were curly like that! May I touch it?” From my best friend: “Your hair looks GREAT!” (this was from afar)

LOL! It’s funny, but kind of sad too. The tumbling teacher has seen my hair many times in its natural state and never said anything about loving it before. I almost told her that she too could have curly hair just like this!

Wig tip: If the nylon doesn’t agree with your hair, try wearing a satin cap under the wig cap. That way your hair is protected from rubbing against the nylon.

Hooray!

You may remember me talking about the addition of the lycra swim cap to my routine. Well, I’ve been swimming several times with it and also the swim band. Here are some  realizations I’ve made:

The first time I went in the pool after receiving my new goodies, I just used the lycra cap and the swim band. I ordered the XL cap, so it fit my hair, but not very snugly. The swim band does help to keep the cap on.

Good news: The lycra cap does not slide off with the conditioner.

Bad news: OMG at the water I could feel swirling around my scalp! I did not realize how much a regular silicone or rubber swim cap does protect the hair. Even though some water does eventually seep inside, there is no constant onslaught of water.

Not so with the lycra! I know I was told this, but seeing is believing.

So, fast forward to the next time I went swimming. I soaked my twists with conditioner, applied my lycra cap, followed by a silicone cap and furthered secured with the swim band.

Now this is a winning combination! My caps stayed on, I couldn’t feel any water seeping in, and there was no need for a chin strap! I still looked goofy, but it worked!

Here’s me after my swim this morning. Excuse the poor quality, I took it with my camera phone.

Straight out of the pool! The blue item is the swim band, the yellow cap is just a regular silicone cap, underneath is the lycra cap.

Just a good shot of my twists after rinsing the conditioner out.

Yay! So happy to be done with chin straps!

The swim band (here’s the link to the site I ordered from) also helps keep my ear plugs in. I’m going to try this combo a few more times and then update my Swimming Routine page if it still proves to be a winner.

Even though I have a pretty firm swim routine down, I am still working on improving my game. I would love to wear a cap without a chin strap. You get used to it, but I just feel that I would be more comfortable without it.

I’ve purchased a Lycra swim cap. Lycra is material similar to that of swim suits. I am hoping that, with all of the conditioner that I put on my hair to protect it, that it will stay put. I may put a silicone/rubber cap on top of it.

I received a helpful email that I thought I’d share here.

Hi, I saw your post on longhair forum and your web site. The neoprene caps will not keep any water out at all, as you know, there for warmth only.  The bubble caps do work for some people. You may want to try a swim band. You cut only a small amount off to start and when it will come over the ears thats when its ready for a outer cap.

A lycra cap can help hold your hair up in place under a bubble cap so ends dont go out from the outer cap..The bubble caps have a sponge rubber seal and it has to contact skin . If any hair gets in the seal more leaks occur. You might try a swim band over your bubble cap to seal the edge even more.

Lycra caps by themselves will not keep any water out and conditioner will go straight into the pool. I guess you know the bubble caps come in sizes, but you have a full hair style and probably need a large or regular size. I double cap with a silicon cap under a bubble strap cap and it works great for me but everybodys different and it can be hard to get good results.

Here are some sites to look at, for tips on swim bands and caps for tri swims in colder water.

http://www.bellasugar.com/Get-Best-Hair-Protection-From-Your-Swim-Cap-3503391

http://dryhairswimcap.blogspot.com

http://openwatercaps.blogspot.com

Hope this helps , Lapswimr

Swim Bands

That’s why I’m not incredibly concerned about Lycra not blocking water. If it stays on my head, I am fine with using another cap over it.

Or not. We will see.

Thanks to Amazon Prime, my ear band should be here tomorrow, I’ll try it out Wednesday!

As always, tips/comments/experiences are all welcome

If you look over under “Categories” you will see that  I have one called “Protection from Swimming and Summer Sun”. There you will find product reviews for anti chlorine shampoos under that heading and you can also follow my process for learning to protect my hair from the constant swimming I’ve been doing this summer.

However, I thought I’d go ahead and post a solid routine. I’d planned to wait until the spring/summer rolled around to do this but I see that a lot of you are taking swimming lessons this fall (which is awesome, keep it up!) My hair has suffered no ill effects that I can see which is much different from my last experience in the pool. These are only tips that I have gathered from experience and I can not guarantee that your hair will not be damaged from frequent swimming.

Before swimming:

Put hair in twists, braids, other protective styles. If you have your fro out, you will soon find the agony of trying to stuff one into a swim cap. My preference has been twists. I’ve also tried to wet my fro under a swim cap and it just doesn’t cut it. It was a detangling nightmare afterward. Unless your hair is shorter, I would do a protective style of some sort, even if it’s some big, temporary twists.

I tried bantu knots, which worked ok, but my swim cap wouldn’t fit very well and my head just felt waterlogged compared to twists. When doing my twists, I use a very moisturizing product, sometimes a bit more than I would normally use to make sure each section is fully coated. I really think this helps protect your hair as well. Sealing with an oil is also good. The vaseline that I used on top of my conditioner once was way too messy and unnecessary.

Applying conditioner to wet hair. There’s no special conditioner you need to use.  I have been using this opportunity to use up all of the conditioners that I didn’t like. One time, in a pinch, I even had to put lotion on my hair. Just put something on there! I’ve heard of people using butters and oils as well.

I’ve been applying it to the ends first on dry hair to let it absorb. I then wet my hair in tap water thoroughly followed by applying conditioner to the rest of my hair.

If your hair is in twists or braids, make sure to squeeze it in gently, wait, apply more, and squeeze again. Don’t just slather and rub it on, especially if you want to keep your twists looking nice. They can get ratty quite fast.

Finally, I concentrate more conditioner at my hairline, as it may be more likely to be exposed during the swim.

Get a swimcap. I know you are probably thinking, why? If you’ve ever been swimming with a cap on, then you know they do diddly squat for keeping the water out. However, I’ve noticed that they do keep your hair from swishing all about. Even when I put my hair back in a pony, strands start to escape in the front and I can see that my hair has a roughened look to it from cutting through the water. In other words, too much manipulation.

They also keep the hair out of your eyes. Even though your hair normally is not in your eyes when it’s dry and shrunken, being wet will drag it down, which can annoy to no end.

Now, as you are trying to put on your swim cap on your conditioner laden head, you will probably experience major slippage and sliding because the cap will not stay on with all of the conditioner. No one ever seems to mention this frustrating phenomenon when suggesting the use of conditioner while swimming. Maybe it’s just me? I don’t know.

Here are some swim caps that have worked for me:

The first is a bubble cap with a chin strap and the second is a neoprene swim cap. The second one is something most people use in cold water, usually along with a wet suit. It stays on my hair so much better, but it does have a kind of felt-like material on the inside that will be against your hair. The other will be rubber. The chin straps for the rubber one snap on either side and the strap itself can come off completely where you can adjust how tight the fit it.

Now, the ones that did not work included all of the standard swim caps that are out there. They say that using silicone is better, but at this point I’m just using what will stay on my head.

For either one, be very gentle when trying to get your hair in there. The rubber one in particular can be prone to ripping from fingernails. I never did find one that left none of my hair uncovered, but these two covered most of it. Usually my nape was a bit exposed and the very front.

I’d thought this one would be a great cap:

But it turns out it slipped a lot worse than the others and resulted in partial strangulation as well.

Snags and Such. Be careful of pulling off and adjusting your cap while it’s on. Even though your hair is protected with conditioner, you still want to be gentle. Also be aware of swimming goggles if you have them on. I have had one too many nape hairs snap from me being careless while pulling off my goggles.

After the swim:

No matter what, rinse thoroughly with tap water I also make sure I rinse my scalp because chlorine gives me a terribly itchy scalp.

If you prefer, you can use a anti-chlorine shampoo (see my reviews here and here) if you feel you need to. I initially started with ending every swim with a diluted shampoo, followed by a DC. I soon found that my hair would often still feel coated after a swim and, on a leap of faith, I cut shampooing down to once a week, if that. I’d just rinse and then cowash.

My hair seems to have suffered no ill effects. I think if you hair is coated enough and it’s absorbed a good amount of moisturizer, that cowashing is good enough and shampoo might not be necessary. Whether to shampoo or not is your decision and I would never tell anyone not to shampoo after swimming, that is a personal choice.

Other tips:

Continue a healthy hair routine. Even though you will be protecting your hair to the best of your ability, keeping your hair healthy in the first place gives a good fighting chance.

Step up the protein treatments I also did protein treatments and used protein heavy products to try to keep my hair strong. This may backfire on those who are protein sensitive, but I am a protein lover and sometimes I could just tell that my hair needed it. I also enjoyed the ZSC treatments for strengthening my hair.

Chlorine kills. Try not to use the same towel on your freshly washed hair that you used when getting out of the pool, as it probably absorbed chlorinated water. This also goes for ponytail holders.

Feel free to add your own tips and/or questions in the comment section.

Mahisha Dellinger, curly hair expert and creator of the CURLS (www.curls.biz) natural/organic line offers some End of Summer Hair Tips and an At-Home Milk & Honey Tress Smoothie Treatment to bring those dull tresses back to life.  Along with those hot summer months comes the daily assault of taxing chlorine compounds, drying sea salt, and damaging sun rays – not to mention all of the havoc everyone does to their hair from daily styling.  If there is a time to be extra gentle on hair, it is now. Chlorine and salt water both dry, discolor, and damage hair. Chlorine binds to the hairs cuticle layer, stripping it of its natural protein, and fills in gaps in the hair shaft with its damaging chemicals. Mineral deposits in salt water make hair brassy and brittle. Both, chlorine and salt water severely dehydrates hair. Imagine how these elements affect delicate curly, kinky, wavy, natural and/or relaxed hair which tends to be much drier than straight hair.
Here are SIX of Mahisha’s summertime tips to help put damaged, split, brittle, frizzy hair at bay!

1. Before entering a pool, lake, ocean, or any body of water, drench your hair with water and apply a coat of conditioner to protect and coat the hair. See below – Mahisha’s At-Home Milk & Honey Tress Smoothie (a pre and post conditioner).  Made from pure coconut milk, avocado, olive oil and honey, this delectable delight will fill up the gaps in your hair shaft and act as a barrier from the chlorinated water.

2. Immediately after swimming in chlorinated or salt water, purify your curls with a clarifying shampoo. CURLS Pure Curls Clarifying Shampoo was formulated to rid the hair of  these curl killing chemicals. It is the ideal summer cleanser to gently, and effectively remove chlorine. Pineapple extract nourishes as grapefruit extract adds sheen while removing buildup from unwanted chemicals. Follow up with a deep conditioner.

3. Over-shampooing and under-conditioning are common culprits to dry and frizzy hair…especially in the summer months. Shampooing more than 1x a week is not recommended on naturally curly hair. On “shampoo-less” days, simply do a conditioning rinse – rinse hair to remove styling products (this is when using the right products that are water soluble come in). Apply an ample amount of your favorite Conditioner (CURLS Curl Ecstasy Hair Conditioner), comb through, rinse, and proceed with styling. Doing so will pump much needed moisture back into your hair without stripping away essential nutrients, rinse away unnecessary dirt and oil, and give you a fresh, clean start.

4. Avoid products that contain synthetic oils such as mineral and/or petrolatum oil, as they sit on the hair, blocking out moisture further dehydrating your hair. Also avoid products that contain drying alcohol, such as hair spray, mousse and some gels. Instead, opt for a curl creams and lotions.

5. Pay special attention to the ends of your hair; after all, they are the oldest part of the hair. Mix a bit of a conditioner with a natural oil, apply, and comb through ends; leave in for extra protection.

6. Hydrate curls DAILY…this is very important! Quenched Curls Moisturizer is excellent as it softens the hair, eases comb ability, moisturizes and conditions, preps it for the next step, and leaves a little goodness behind. This product can be used daily under any styling product you use. Consider this “underwear for your hair. It is a great “2^nd day hair” reviver as it tames “bed head.”

Mahisha’s At-Home Milk & Honey Tress Smoothie – Pre/Post Swim Treatment

• 1 can of pure coconut milk (rich moisturize -  hydrates, conditions and de-frizzes hair)
• 1 ripe avocado (natural source of protein – chlorine robs the hair of protein)
• 2 tablespoons of pure honey (conditions and adds sheen)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (hydrophobic oil that acts as a barrier to chlorine and salt water)

Directions:

Add ingredients to blender.  Mix at high speed until your concoction reaches a smoothie consistency.  Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

You can warm up your hair smoothie in the microwave before next application.

Instructions for Use:

• Section hair into 4 segments.
• Generously apply evenly to hair, from root to ends concentrating on ends…as they are the most prone to damage.
• Smooth hair into a protective style (e.g. braided ponytail, or bun).
• Enjoy your day at the pool, lake, or ocean!

Company Name: Ion

Product Name: Anti-Chlorine Swimmer’s Shampoo

Price: 6-7 dollars

Ingredients: WATER ,SODIUM C14-16 OLEFIN SULFONATE ,COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE ,COCAMIDE MEA ,GLYCERIN ,PROPYLENE GLYCOL ,SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE ,PEG-120 METHYL GLUCOSE DIOLEATE ,SODIUM CHLORIDE ,FRAGRANCE ,DISODIUM EDTA ,ISOSTEARAMIDOPROPYL MORPHOLINE LACTATE ,DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE ,PANTHENOL ,PHENOXYETHANOL ,POLYQUATERNIUM-10 ,CITRIC ACID ,MALIC ACID ,SODIUM GLUCONATE ,HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN ,METHYLPARABEN ,ALLANTOIN ,MAGNESIUM ASCORBYL PHOSPHATE ,GLUCOSE ,PROPYLPARABEN ,TOCOPHERYL ACETATE ,ASCORBIC ACID ,CI 42090 ,PEG/PPG-6/2 GLYCERYL COCOATE

Scent: Mild

Review:

This shampoo lathers up very well and I didn’t end up using a lot. Diluted and full strength,  it is actually slightly less stripping than Aubrey Organic’s Shampoo for swimmers. It says it’s safe for color treated hair and for everyday use (I won’t be finding out if that claim is true, sorry ladies LOL).  It’s available at Sally’s and I believe that’s the only place that sells it, if you don’t buy it online somewhere. I’ve seen this shampoo on the hairboards as a favorite, but I can’t go that far.

A poo is a poo. As long as it’s getting the chlorine out and doesn’t take my hair out in the process, I’m ok with it. If you’re looking for more natural ingredients, then you should check out the AO shampoo. But this one is probably more readily available to most people than the AO brand.

What I did:

• Shampooed with diluted AO Swimmer’s Shampoo
• DC’d with Jessicurl WDT
• Twisted wet hair with KBB Hair Butter, re-wetting with Homemade Spritz
• I braided at the roots first and then twisted to prevent puffiness

You may have read earlier that I was afraid to leave my hair in twists for fear of chlorine being trapped/me not rinsing it out well enough. Well, it’s time for me to experiment because I’m tired of wearing my hair out so much. I love wearing wash n go’s and puffs sometimes, but I’ve been doing it entirely too much lately and my hair will suffer either way. My hair LIKES twists and twist outs and that is what it’s going to get.

It’s not uncommon for me to rinse my twists on a regular basis and I will even sometimes cowash them, but this will be a new ball game. Even then I usually have a few unravel and I have to redo them (maybe 6-8 at most).

Here is what I figure I need to do:

• Use a sponge to squeeze the shampoo in
• Dunk my head in water to try and rinse thoroughly.  A shower stream can sometimes be a bit disruptive in this case
• DC my twists and then dunk again to rinse
• Continue to apply conditioner to my hair prior to getting in the pool

We will see how this goes. If anyone has suggestions/experience in this area, please share I’m flying blind here. I considered cornrows again but thought I’d be able to rinse my hair more thoroughly in twists.

I don’t want to be afraid of the pool, which I know a lot of women of color are because of hair issues. Deep down I know it’s silly but it’s something I can’t help. My friend who is doing this triathlon training with me can’t see what the big deal is, but she can just wash her hair, shake it and go.

I keep thinking back to that article about how black women don’t work out because we are afraid of messing up our hair. Obviously, being natural offers a bit less of an excuse since we don’t have to worry about reversion, so I’m not completely in that category but it certainly lights a fire under me to try and find a good regimen for swimming on a regular basis.

Swimming is an excellent form of aerobic exercise and I would like to continue doing it. Ug, ignore me I’m just whining. Here are the pictures:

Well, much to my surprise I was chosen as the blogger winner for the FAK contest held by NC.com. For someone who is on a No Buy Challenge, this soothes my little PJ mind like nothing else LOL!

Here is a video that include the winners and their unique hair concoctions:

Here is the CurlySuzy Q&A that includes a promo for 15 percent off your purchase from Curlmart (scroll down and see the little box on the right for the promo).

I’m pretty excited about the products, and can’t wait to recieve them. Of course, reviews will be incoming soon

Two weeks or so ago when I went swimming, I had an annoying experience.. I applied my conditioner as usual after wetting my hair. Up until then, I’d only tried to use my swim cap with my hair in big bantu knots or big twists. This was the first time I’d done it with loose hair. I pinned it up in the back and then tried to get my silicone swim cap.

Much to my annoyance, it would not stay on. It kept slipping and sliding off. I finally got it on well enough to leave the locker room and go to the pool. After dipping my head under water, I came up only to find my swimming cap floating next to me.

I jammed it on my head once more and it split in two. I was mad, ya’ll. I threw that sucker in the trash and just swam as is.

Obviously I can’t continue swimming without a cap, even though caps are worthless as far as I’m concerned. But the pool likes you to wear them and the triathlon will require that I have one. So I went “grandma” on my hair with this:

It was annoying at first feeling it under my chin but I’ve gotten used to and most importantly, the sucker stays on.

—

In other headgear news, I finally used my headwrap  and chose the bun option. See my TWA post to see more information about headwraps. I was taking my son to the zoo and did my DC beneath the headwrap. It turned out nicely.

I thought it might be too hot for it. It was about 90 degrees outside, but I felt no hotter than usual, especially for all the walking we did in the hot son.