So last week officially marked eighteen months since Luquisha Renáe and I embarked on our second tour of being natural. Well technically I started transitioning to natural in January of last year. Hmmm well now that I really think about it, I suppose I started transitioning before January 2013 because it had been at least since October 2012 since my last relaxer. So we’ll just say it’s been a journey for Luquisha and I. A very long journey.

Products
At this point of my journey, my bathroom counter looks like a beauty supply store. I have so many different brands and types of product. Do I use all of it? Not really. Sometimes it just depends on what I am trying to do with Luquisha. Most times I wear her out and proud with a decorative clip, a headband, a satin scarf, side pinup or in a frohawk.

I use a SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Milk, distilled water and coconut oil mixture for everyday re-hydrating. Since Luquisha is so dern thick she dries out pretty fast. So when I wake up in the morning, I spray the mixture on my hair and work it through. Sometimes I concentrate on the kitchen as this area tends to be the most dry.

I have a jar of Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream for not only moisturizing Luquisha but I usually layer it with Miss Jessie’s Leave in Condish when I’m doing a twist out; which is becoming more infrequent. I can’t even express to you how much I love this stuff. Partially because it smells like a piña colada but also because it makes Luquisha feel so soft when I undo my twists.

Speaking of the Miss Jessie’s Leave in Condish, this leave in conditioner is a ma zing! I really love the slip it provides when I finger detangle my hair. Which let me just pause for a second to say I can finally finger detangle through all of my hair. It’s something I really haven’t been able to do at any point of my natural journey. For added slip, I add maybe a quarter to fifty cent piece size of Garnier Fructis Marvelous Oil Frizz Defy to my hair while my hair is dripping wet so I can distribute the oil evenly. If needed, I’ll add more.

Wash Day
Wash day is becoming more and more of a ginormous production. By hair typing standards I would say Luquisha is a combination of 4b/4c hair. In some parts, she can be really springy in the front and in the kitchen area. She’s probably the thickest around the sides by my ears and in the crown area. With all of this said, it takes at least four maybe six hours do completely wash, condition and protective style Luquisha on wash day.

Are you tired yet because I am!

At the moment, I am using SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus shampoo to cleanse and Herbal Essence Hello Hydration for conditioning. I bought the Coconut & Hibiscus conditioner but um it’s extremely too light to use while in the shower. So I’ve been using it as a pre-poo detangler along with the Garnier Fructis Marvelous Oil Frizz Defy for slip.

The Coconut & Hibiscus shampoo was great at first but I can already tell Luquisha is growing tired of it. She can be rather temperamental when it comes to shampoo. This will make four maybe five shampoos I’ve used on Luquisha since 2006. I used to wash her with L’Oréal EverCurl before switching to SheaMoisture. Miss May (my beautician) suggested I use more products geared towards natural hair so I said goodbye to L’Oréal.

Hello Hydration has been a staple in my wash day regimen for many many many moons. I have to say this is the best middle of the row conditioner I’ve ever used on Luquisha. It’s thick and heavy (at least to me), coats my hair nicely and smells great. What I also like about Hello Hydration is that it provides a lot of slip. Luquisha is a pain to detangle especially if I haven’t bothered to detangle in a long while. So I’ll definitely keep this in my wash day repertoire.

Time to Try New Products
So there are a couple of products I would like to try on Luquisha. I bought a gel by Curls about two weeks ago. I’ll probably try it this weekend.

My little sister uses As I Am on my beautiful little naturalista nieces. I saw that this brand has a conditioning co wash cleanser which is something that is not a part of my regular routine.

I have a number of trial size products by Miss Jessie’s that I need to try before making the decision to purchase the full size bottle.

I have the Mimosa Pomade by Carol’s Daughter in my bathroom at the moment but I’ve never tried anything else. I eye the Black Vanilla product line every time I’m in Target.

Stay tuned for my length check which will more than likely be in December when I get my hair flat ironed for the first time in a year or two.

Thanks for reading…

 

The Southern Yankee