Category Archives: hair

feb 2018 hair care routine

*drumroll* IT’S TIME FOR AN UPDATED HAIR CARE ROUTINE!

Though not much has changed I just want to keep you all updated!

Prepoo-

  • Before I wash my hair I always add a generous amount of oil- normally either shea butter or avocado oil

Washing-

  • Prior to washing, I rinse my hair with warm water to get rid of the excess product and oil
  • I wash my hair once a week using Shea Moisture’s Jamaican Black Castor Oil Shampoo. I normally wash three times; I could probably do two washes and be fine but I like three.
  • Normally when I wash I try to massage my scalp for at least one of the washes. Scratching your scalp can leave your hair tangled, so I try to limit it.

I always use warm water to wash

Conditioning-

  • I always deep condition after EVERY wash. it’s essential to making my hair easy to maintain. I’m currently using Shea Moisture’s Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment mask, but I also really like Eden Body Work’s Natural Deep Conditioner (they just didn’t have it at target when I needed deep conditioner).
  • I section my hair in four parts. I work one section at a time to add conditioner then comb out that part using my denman brush (which is a lifesaver- it defines your curls and makes detangling easier). Then I normally twist the section that I just added conditioner to or use a ponytail holder to secure it. After all sections are done I go over my hair once more with the denman brush
  • I either sit under the drier for 15 minutes (while wearing a clear shower cap) or use an old target bag over my shower cap for about 30 minutes. I like both methods but the bag is easier if you’re trying to do other things while deep conditioning.
  • I rinse out the deep conditioner with warm water then after it’s all out I use cold water to rinse my hair. It seals in the moisture and reduces frizz.
  • I then take a t-shirt and wrap it around my hair to dry it.

Styling-

protective styling is a must, especially in the winter. it helps you retain moisture plus it’s easier to maintain. I need something that’s going to be easy to maintain. Mostly because I’m a little lazy.

  • pick the right protective style- the two most popular styles are braid outs and twists outs. i used to do braid outs a lot until one of my friends twisted my hair and I saw how much less shedding I had. After that, I pretty much only do twists or twist outs.
  • Once a week I wash, deep condition and style my hair. I do twists of some sort. How I style the twists depends on if I’d like to wear it down or not- I’ll do flat twists if I want to wear it down. I like flat twists because the root is twisted so it’s easier to get through.
  • Normally i leave the flat twist in for a day or so then untwist it. I moisturize my hair every day.

Moisture-

Normally I do the LOC method, but I read that doing the LCO method reduces frizz so I plan on trying that out.

  • Liquid/Leave-In- I use water and peppermint oil first (they’re mixed in my spray bottle; Leave-In- I use Miss Jessie’s Leave In Condish
  • Cream- I use Cantu’s Coconut Creme and Camille Rose’s Curlaide
  • Oil- I use OGX coconut milk, shea butter and avocado oil.

my main tips-

  • wash and deep condition weekly
  • protective style
  • drink lots of water! at least half your body weight
  • use satin ponytail holders and bonnets
  • also use a satin pillow case
  • be gentle while combing your hair

this is the amount of shedding I had after eight days of no combing (i don’t comb my hair when it’s twisted, I had it in a twisted style for two days, then wore a turban for three (i put a bonnet on underneath to keep my hair protected from the turban), and then wore it different ponytail styles for three days.

make sure you’re following my blogging instagram- mayahn24

straight hair care regime 

As promised, here is my hair care regime when my hair is straight!

  • how often I straighten my hair

I actually do not straighten my hair myself. My hairstylist, whom I got to when I go home and about once a month when I am home, straightens my hair. She’s been doing my hair for over two years now, and she’s been doing my mom’s hair for probably like 10 years. My hairstylist is the only person who straightens my hair.

  • why I straighten it

I think straight hair is cute. As my hair has gotten healthier, I love how it looks straight. I also love how easy it to take care of.

  • trims

I only get trims with straight hair because my hairstylist trims my hair. I love getting my hair trimmed straight because it makes it look really nice straight but when it’s curly it looks just as fabulous. My ends always look super clean, no matter if they’re curly or straight.

  • preservation of curls

To preserve my straight hair, I roll my hair. I started using flexi rods, which I really love. They last all day!!! Last time I got my hair straight, it ended up raining and the humidity made it a little curly. So what I do is use Camille Rose’s Curlaide (just a small bit, it doesn’t make my hair turn curly, but it does make my sisters turn curly so I’m not sure about that for everyone). I then wrap my hair, to make it stay straight. But without any rain incidents I just keep rolling it. And I wear a satin bonnet.

this was right after my hair appt. 
this was after rolling with flexi rods

  • products to use
  1. flexi rods- I use the smaller diameter red ones.
  2. Silk by design essentials- this is my go to product. Silk penetrates the hair shaft and doesn’t leave your hair too oily. I just use a little
  3. Curlaide by camille rose- like I said, if my hair happens to get a little curly, I use curlaide to make it straighter
  4. Satin bonnet- I love using my satin bonnet, scarves and wraps. It keeps my hair moisturized

I never put heat on my hair- I’m not a professional and I want to keep my hair healthy! My fabulous hairstylist is the one who does my hair! I think it’s great to have her do it- I’ve never suffered from heat damage or breakage that was her fault (the eczema I have was what caused all of my hair issues).

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope this helps!!

my hair routine (nov 2017)

hey y’all! it’s been forever since i’ve posted my hair care routine (I actually need to do a review on this homemade deep conditioner my roommate and I made). I just wanted to give you all an update on what I’ve been doing!


this was my hair in August of 2017


this is my hair this week!

isn’t it crazy how much it’s grown?! well here’s how I did it

major tips:

  • wash once a week

I used to wash my hair every ten days, with a shampoo that helped my eczema and then co-wash every five days. I thought that doing this was helping to keep my hair moisturized. After I had my sew-in  I really realized how much I was overwashing my hair. Your hair needs water, but it doesn’t need to be washed that often. I shifted to washing my hair once a week and deep conditioning. I really like it, plus it’s easy to keep up with.

  • deep condition weekly

I cannot stress the importance of deep conditioning. What I’ve recently been doing is adding my deep conditioner (I’m using Natural Deep Conditioner by EDEN), deep conditioning for 15 minutes under the drier and then detangling after. The deep conditioning makes it really easy to comb through.

  • use a satin bonnet AND a satin pillow case

I only use satin products on my hair. I have two satin wraps, a scarf, a long bonnet, two regular size bonnets and two pillow cases. though my bonnet normally stays on, I like having the satin pillow case just in case my hairline comes outside of the bonnet. Plus the pillow cases are really pretty lol.

  • drink lots of water

I know I drink WAY more than most people do. I drink probably around a gallon of water a day. It keeps my body hydrated and my hair moisturized. You should at least be drinking half of your body weight in ounces!

  • detangle outside of the shower

As my hair has gotten longer, detangling takes a lot longer. I started detangling in the mirror outside of the shower for a couple reasons. One, I was tired of my hands turning pruney from being in the shower too long. Two, I wanted to see my hair as I was detangling it. This has allowed me to see tangles earlier so I’m not just ripping out my hair. Last week, I kept my hair in two french braids for a full week to see how much I shed, so I could get a basis for how much I should be shedding.


This is how much hair I shed after a week! I believe my routine along with detangling gently allowed for this to happen.

  • trim your hair (NOT YOU A PROFESSIONAL)

Getting trims are so important to maintaining healthy hair. I get a trim just about every time I need one- since I go so long with curly hair, I get them close to every time I get my hair done. After a trim my curls are so bouncy and beautiful. You should get your trim done by a professional- they went to school to learn how to trim properly and it is impossible to accurately trim your hair. My hairstylist has been doing hair for at least 20 years and told me she still struggles trimming her own hair. It’s just hard. So let someone else do it for you! And make sure that person is a professional.

  • keep a regime

Keeping a regime is crucial. As a college student, I’m busy. So I want to make sure that I can manage my school work, personal life and hair. Knowing how I’m going to do my hair helps me manage it all.

actual routine:

  • Wash day

Normally I wash my hair on Saturday or Sunday. I use Shea Moisture’s Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Restore Shampoo. I normally wash three times.

  • Deep Conditioning

I use EDEN’s Natural Deep Conditioner when I deep condition. I lather it on my hair, then I put on a clear shower cap and sit under my drier for 15 minutes. I detangle outside of the shower; then I rinse my hair out with lukewarm water, then after it’s all out I use cold water to seal in the moisture.

  • LOC

After I rinse out the conditioner, I put a cotton t-shirt on over my head to dry it. After a while (I can leave mine on for like an hour and be fine, but I try to leave it on for like 10/15 minutes- my hair retains a lot of water), I take my hair down.

L (Liquid/Leave-In)- I spritz my hair down lightly with water. I then use Aloe Vera Gel (just regular from target) and Miss Jessie’s Leave in Condish.

O (Oil)- I use OGX Coconut Milk and Shea Butter. I try to limit my oils because I can get heavy handed (lol). When I use too much oil my face ends up being really oily. So just using the Coconut Milk with Shea Butter has really helped.

C (Cream)- I use Cantu’s Coconut Cream and Camille Rose’s Curlaide. I like the coconut cream becuase it’s really thick but the Curlaide leaves my hair feeling more hydrated so I use both.

  • Protective Style

I try to make sure that I do at least one protective style a week. Last week, I did french braids and left them in all week (I did wear a turban for about 3 days because the braids got a little too curly to wear out). This weekend one of my friends twisted my hair. That was on Saturday night, so I wore twists Sunday and Monday. Tomorrow, I plan on taking the twists down. Since twists work really well for my hair type, I will just add aloe vera, coconut milk and shea butter each night until I wash it again (this will preserve the curls and keep my hair moisturized). I love aloe vera gel because it goes on really easy and keeps my hair looking really nice (but it’s not water based so putting it on twists won’t ruin the twist out). Shea butter also can work as a cream!

These are recent pictures of my hair straight! I’ll do a blog pretty soon on how I care for and maintain my straight hair without heat!

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions! 

miink brazilian review 

IT’S WEAVE TIME! When I went to Ecuador, I wore a lace closure and two bundles of miink Brazilian body wave (12 inch bundles, 18 inch closure (everything was cut)). So you all know I have to review it. So before I go into details I’m going to rate my experience 1-10 (1 lowest, 10 highest) for the following- quality of hair (10), styling experience (7), taking care of my real hair (7- it was tough y’all), taking care of the weave (9).

  • pre-gaming (pre-weave)

So as you all know I’m very into hair care- I want the best for my hair and my body, so I do the research, spend the money and invest in myself. So this experience was no different. Miink Brazilian is known for being one of the best hair brands in Detroit, it’s black owned and local. Kendra P, who I met in real life and I will say she’s so sweet, is known for having great quality hair. The former hairstylist makes some bomb ass weave (that’s literally the only way to describe it). The hair comes with a promise of not shedding or tangling and last very well. This is all the hair that was lost after I washed my weave two days before I got it done. That’s literally nothing. I was impressed with the quality of the hair when I received it. As for my hair, I got my hair trimmed a couple weeks before my appointment so my hair would be prepped.

  • Installation

So I got my weave installed a week before I went to Ecuador. The lady normally does one of my best friends hair, so I was confident. I had deep conditioned and used my ezcema shampoo the night before, but I still had her wash it. She washed, blowed dry and braided my hair. In my  opinion she left a little too much hair out for the edges. I think it’s because my edges situation is a little complicated- all my edges are blond so you can’t really see them. So she left out the brown hair. Next time I will just make sure she only leaves out edges. I did not like how she styled it at all. She didn’t really do a good job- only one press with no type of heat protectant. But I went home and my sister ended up straightening it for me. I didn’t like how she cut it; it was very very uneven. So I ended up going to my regular hair stylist who cut and styled my weave for $30 (I only had paid an extra 5 for my cut at the other salon).

  • The adjustment

It was hard to adjust to the weave. The hair was very nice but it was so much darker than my real hair it was a stark difference. It took a lot of getting used to, but eventually I loved the weave. It was easy to maintain and very cute. I made sure I rolled it or wrapped it every night. I also had a complicated situation in Ecuador- since I couldn’t drink the water I didn’t want to wash my hair. So I used Root Relief by Cantu and Tea Tree Oil to cleanse my scalp. I did do the LOC method on my real hair twice- using leave-in conditioner by cantu, doo-gro anti-itch oil and curlaide by camille rose. To keep my weave clean I used the dry co-wash by cantu. It was a little difficult to keep it clean but overall it was a good experience. My scalp, due the ezcema, itched a lot and I even scratched a couple sores in my head which hasn’t happened since like the tenth grade. I just had to keep using the tea tree oil and the doo-gro oil.

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(this video was when I was in Baños and I wasn’t feeling the activities)

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  • Post weave

The day I got home from Ecuador my other best friend came over to take out my weave. It was a long process but my real hair felt very very soft. I soaked the weave in my normal shampoo for a very long time, then after all the dandruff was gone and I was able to wash it regular. The hair looked amazing and was so soft. I’m telling you guys this hair is totally worth the investment. It’s so beautiful and soft. As for my hair, I oiled it, sprayed it down with water, added conditioner and combed out my hair. I did have shedding but it was a fairly normal amount considering it had been so long without combing it. I left that on for a couple hours, then washed my hair, conditioned it (I didn’t deep condition until a few days later, then a week later I got my hair done and my ends trimmed). I wore protective styles for the two weeks leading up to my hair appointment- mostly twists. My scalp hurt a lot right after so I tried to do minimal styling. It’s pretty much back to normal now.

(these pictures were taken before my trim) 


Overall this weave experience was great. I had some bumps in the road but I think if I would’ve been at home they would’ve been easy to take care of. I also recommend you all check out miinkbrazilian.com! 

long hair vs healthy hair

i constantly see girls fanning over long hair. i used to be one of them. when I was younger my hair was really long and healthy, so as I got older after the eczema kicked in, I just wanted my long hair back. I quickly understood that long hair was a bonus, but healthy hair was the goal. You see, hair naturally grows. Everyone’s does. The way to see the growth is if you r hair is healthy and you have a high length retention rate. That means your shedding is to a minimum and you can see your hair growing after a few weeks. I want to discuss a little bit more when you need to start focusing on health instead of length.

  • Benefits of Healthy Hair
    • You will see a drastic change in your ability to hold a style
    • lots of compliments
    • it will grow super fast
      • when it grows it will look nice
  • Benefits of Long Hair
    • It’s long
    • can possibly be styled in cute styles (if it is damage free)
    • lots of compliments

As you can see by this short list, long hair really is just long. Long hair is often synonymous with beauty, but it’s not always beautiful. Tons of people have long hair whose hair looks a hot mess. Tons of people have short, healthy hair cuts. Short is a good thing as long as it’s healthy. I think a short bob or pixie cut is adorable, and can allow your hair to grow back healthier than ever. That’s what happened to my mom. Her hair used to be really short (she had it shaved short for a portion of my childhood, then she grew it out, then she got a bob, and now it’s longer). After her bob, her hair grew back super healthy and is super cute. Cuts are a good thing! Just like trims are (one of the most important things you can do is get trims regularly it will change your hair for the better).

At the end of the day, it’s just hair. Just like you would for your body, mind and spirit, focus on your (hair) health!