It is no secret that my favorite natural hair style to date is the twist out because of its versatility and longevity.  I am always trying to find new ways to style a twist out, whether its fresh or a few days old.  My favorite characteristic of a twist out is its ability to elongate my hair.  The twist out that I am about to share with you gave me the most stretching I have experienced to date!!  My hair looked closer to its true length and it was super defined. Before doing this twist out, I used the LOC (liquid, oil, cream) Method to ensure  that my hair retained the oils and moisture that I put in it.  Check out the video below to see how I achieved this look.

Le Sigh. The last time we talked about this dry hair problem I thought we had settled it ***inserts angry face**.  I started here with determining the porosity of my hair (low), then I went on to determine that the LOC method was the best moisturizing technique for my type of hair.  Case closed right? Wrong.  A lot has changed about my hair since then.  I got my hair colored in April of 2013 and I must admit I began my moisturizing and conditioning attempts zealously, but I am a little ashamed to admit that I became lazy. I had box braids installed in June 2013 for 2.5 months and became comfortable with not doing much to my hair. It literally just dawned on me (right before creating this post lol) that I have not been considering the fact that my hair is colored and that it needs more attention.  I have been floating around haphazardly moisturizing only on co-wash day and expecting some type of moisture miracle.  Crazy right? 

 After giving myself a firm slap  on the hand for neglecting my tresses, I began to research again about moisturizing techniques for natural hair. I stumbled upon a video from Naptural85 about hot oil treatments and decided to give it a try.  I deviated slightly from Naptural85's recipe.

Hot Oil Treatment:
Grapeseed Oil
Olive Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Castor Oil
Jojoba Oil
Vitamin E Oil

Honestly, I just freestyled the amounts of oils based on my hair type.  I made the majority of my hot oil treatment with the lighter oils because I have low porosity hair (2 ounces jojoba oil, 2 ounces olive oil). I used about 0.5 ounces of the vitamin E oil and 1 ounce each of the remaining oils.  I mixed it all in a bowl with my fingers.  I started with dry hair. Then I massaged the oil from root to tip through my hair, section by section.   After I had oiled each section, I smoothed the oil throughout all the sections collectively.  I also massaged my scalp with the oil. This stimulates the scalp and feels great ; ).  I then put a plastic processing cap on my head.  If you have big hair like mine, you can either use two caps or twist your hair in large sections to make it fit under the cap.  I then sat under a hooded dryer for 30 minutes.   The oil that I had left,  I put in a spray bottle and filled it with water.  This will be my daily moisture mist.

After the dryer, wash and condition your hair as normal.  I used Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat shampoo and Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner.  Curlfriends...let me tell you. My hair was so soft and virtually detangled before I ever put a comb to it or did the LOC method.  I am VERY PLEASED with this treatment. I followed this with the LOC (liquid, oil, cream) method using Giovanni Direct Leave-in/Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-in mixed, the hot oil treatment moisture mist, and Camille Rose Curlade Moisture Butter. I am going to be sure to do this once a month, along with deep conditioning once every week to week and a half. I am anxious to see if this improves the dryness of my hair.

  If you decide to try this treatment, please let me know.  Either email me the pics at [email protected] or tag them on instagram or twitter with #bmycurlfriend.  Good luck!!

 

Forever on a quest for the perfect moisturizing regimen for my low porosity hair, I decided to try the LOC method.  LOC is an acronym for liquid, oil and  cream.  You start your hair off with water or a liquid based leave-in conditioner, followed by an oil and finally a cream.  The concept is that the oil will seal in the water (or water based leave-in conditioner) and the cream will seal in the oil into your strands. After repeated usage of this method, you should be left with well moisturized strands. Many naturalistas swear by this method and depending on your hair type you may experience the same success. Below is a list of what products I used for the LOC method.

     L-Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner
     O- Desert Essence Jojoba oil
     C-Eden Bodyworks Jojoba Monoi Hair Milk

 I started by treating my hair that had been rinsed with warm water with a baking soda/water mix to open my cuticles. I dried my hair using the plopping method.  I followed this with deep conditioning with Shea Butter Intense Moisture Masque. I wrapped a towel around my hair and allowed  this to sit on my hair for 30 minutes.  After rinsing my hair with cool water to seal my cuticles, I sprayed it with an aloe vera juice/water mix to balance my hair's pH from the alkaline baking soda mixture.  After detangling, I was ready to begin the LOC method.

 I sectioned my hair into 4 and worked a quarter sized amount of Giovanni Direct Leave-In into one section from root to tip.  I rubbed a few drops of jojoba oil into my palm and rubbed it together.  I also applied it to the section from root to tip.  Finally, I rubbed a quarter size amount of the Eden Bodyworks hair milk into my hand and worked it through the section from root to tip.  Repeat this until you have moisturized all sections.

Verdict so far:  My hair was noticeably shinier and softer.  I will most definitely be trying this method again to see what the long term results are.  I will keep you posted!