My first co-wash; my first air-dry

A couple of weeks ago, I had 2 hair-firsts (I know, there have been a lot of those lately.)

I co-washed my hair using VO5 conditioner. It worked surprisingly well, and I plan to use it regularly. My hair felt clean, but not stripped. I'll be doing this at least every other wash. 

Then, I let my hair air-dry for the first time in 20+ years. I did a braid-out, and it looked pretty good initially. However, I quickly learned that a) that style does not last long and b) it creates far more tangles than blow drying my hair straight.  I'm not sure how often I'll do this.  

Stay tuned for more adventures. 

Hair care regimen

After deciding to put more thought into my overall self-care regimen, I turned to my hair care routine as a large focal point.
 

As I noted in an earlier post, I've been relaxing my hair for more than 30 years. In most of that time, it's never really occurred to me to do something different. I thought my choices were to continue relaxing my hair to bone-straight, waiting the 8 weeks, & repeating -OR- go natural and grow an afro. Based on what my new growth typically feels like, I didn't think I had any other options. Further, after relaxing to bone-straight, I also didn't feel like there were any options except to big chop if I decided to go natural.

In my research  to prepare for doing my own relaxer, I came across the term "tex-lax." I found out that the deliberate under-processing of my relaxer was an option. I can release the the tight natural kinks and curls without going all the way to bone-straight. This idea became the jumping-off point for a lot of new ideas. 

If my hair doesn't have to be super straight, then blow-drying is no longer an absolute necessity. Less heat-styling is ultimately healthier for my hair, which is especially important since I'm trying to recover from some serious breakage earlier this year. 

In watching several vlogs, and reading quite a few blogs, I'm realizing there are several pieces of my hair care routine missing or flawed. 

Sulfates:

With the exceptions of my neutralizing/chelating (post-relaxer) shampoo & a clarifying shampoo I have yet to choose, I'm going sulfate-free. I will be alternating between a co-wash (cleaning with conditioner) and a sulfate-free shampoo. I'm still exploring different products. 

Moisturizer and oils:

I'm not sure why it took me so long to become convinced that my hair needs to be moisturized on a regular basis. I've also just learned that after applying moisturizer, it's best to apply an oil to seal the moisture in. 

Heat protection:

Though I'm planning on less heat-styling, I will now make sure that whenever I do use heat protection and not just whatever product happens to be in front of me. 

Leave-in conditioner:

I'm searching for my post-wash leave-in product. I'm not sure if I'll need a specific  detangler, but I'm thinking anti-breakage and/or split-end-mender would be a good idea.