Hey there kinky krew 🙂

So, it’s almost spring time-which means warmer weather, moisturized fros and popping curls! (FINALLY!) I know we’re all ready for the sunny days that’ll allow us to wear our hair freely while being able to maintain it’s moisture and natural oils. Recently I’ve been playing around with different techniques that I can carry into the warmer months, and I think I’ve found a method that works for my kinky-coily hair!

Wash Day: 

I start my wash days with a detangling session and a pre-poo. A prepoo is a treatment that prepares your hair for the washing process which can sometimes strip the strands of its natural oils. This step helps to ensure your hair will maintain it’s moisture levels while washing. (Recipe for my pre poo below) I will apply this pre-poo to my hair in sections, and sleep with it overnight. In the morning, I will either wash my hair with a cleansing conditioner, non-sulfate shampoo or do an apple cider vinegar rinse (Recipe found here: How to Remove Excessive Buildup from Natural Hair), depending on the state of my hair. Majority of the time I will reach for my cleansing co-wash because my type 4 hair is already naturally dry so I want to retain as much moisture as I can. After cleansing my hair in the shower, I skip the normal 2 minute in shower condition and go straight for a deep conditioning masque because, why make our wash days any longer am I right? I will then leave the masque on for a minimum of 1 hour with a plastic cap to insulate heat. (And I do mean minimum, I’m notorious for leaving a DC in for anywhere between 3-5 hours after losing track of time on a Sunday)

Pre-poo Recipe:

• Olive Oil
• Peppermint Oil (No more than 5 drops)
• Avocado Oil
• Castor Oil

After deep conditioning for a couple hours, I go back into the shower to rinse out my masque. This step is super annoying but I’ve found that my hair better absorbs the nutrients of the masque when my hair is clean. Once the hair treatment has been rinsed out thoroughly, I reach for my spray bottle of cool aloe vera juice I keep in the refrigerator to help close my cuticles. (This prevents you from having to take those freezing ice baths trying to close the hair shaft with cold water!) This will also be used as my first leave-in. After that has been generously applied I will go through and seal with my oil mix consisting of olive and avocado oil. I leave my hair out to air dry freely until its about 50% dry then apply my thick creamy leave-in. I apply my leave-in on semi-dry hair because I feel my hair is able to better absorb it into the strands.

Once my hair is moisturized, sealed and about 75% dry, I will begin to start my style of choice. To prevent any damage, I try to refrain from twisting or manipulating my wet hair. I know many naturals style/twist wet hair but I always wait until my hair is almost fully dry before I start styling.

Maintenance 

After my wash day, I’m finding that I haven’t been needing to remoisturize my hair nearly as often as I did during the cooler months. Lately, I’ve been able to go between 4 or 5 days without re-apply anything to my hair and I love it! All I do is rub a light oil on my hands prior to fluffing and distribute throughout my hair for added shine.

After about 7 days I will start to lose definition and start noticing a bit of dryness in my curls, so around this time I will refresh. This has to be my favorite hair to restyle because it’s super stretched and I know the results will be even more bomb than the first week! (Am I the only one who LOVES old, stretched hair?) I start out by using my favorite styler, which lately has been the Blue Berry Bliss Twist and Shout Creme by “Curls”, review here: Blueberry Bliss Product Review on 4C Hair: Twist-N-Shout Cream and Curl Control Paste then retwist my hair into two strand twists for a revived week two twistout.

For night time upkeep, I’ll either retwist into chunky twists or put into about 4 or 5 ponytails and tie it down with a silk scarf. In the morning, I take my hair down and allow the steam from the shower to “wake up” my hair from its stiff state. I’ll then just pick and fluff where’s need, lay down my edges and go.

Below you will find products I have been using for my regimen, some new and some old, but if you have 4C/4B hair type I recommend checking them out!

What’s your Spring hair must haves? Let me know down below!

Cleansing Products

As I Am Cowash: http://amzn.to/2mUhe2o

Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Shampoo: http://amzn.to/2m8M47s

Deep Conditioners 

Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Masque: http://amzn.to/2mUiP8u

Tropic Isle Protein Deep Conditioner: http://amzn.to/2mt4Fhl (My review/how to: Wash Day Routine: Hard Protein Treatment)

Leave-ins

SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave-In Conditioner: http://amzn.to/2mt3IWk

SheaMoisture Coconut Hibiscus Styling Milk: http://amzn.to/2ltysXn

SheaMoisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie: http://amzn.to/2mUk2g2

CURLS Blueberry Bliss Reparative Leave-in Conditioner: http://amzn.to/2n3pAnJ

Aloe Vera Juice: http://amzn.to/2mqFQSK

Stylers

Curls Blueberry Bliss Control Paste: http://amzn.to/2n3eyPv

Curls Blueberry Bliss Twist ‘N Shout Cream: http://amzn.to/2mt2JFr

Favorite Oils

Avocado Oil: http://amzn.to/2mtfmR0

Jamaican Black Castor Oil: http://amzn.to/2lPkfAe

Peppermint Oil: http://amzn.to/2m8MsD0