I’ve been meaning to do this for ages but you know how it goes. So my hair now; I’ve coloured it. Twice yeah. so it’s a mixute of brown and black. I used Nurtint from Holland and Barratt but first I went to Aveda. Since coming back from honeymoon in June my hair has been mis-behaving or it it the other way around I have been mis-behaving to my hair. I think sun, sea, chlorine and stress (of the wedding overseas kind) has freaked my hair out and also not being able to access my cupboard full of hair remedies (backpack only honeymoon). So it’s been a mission of recovery with daily protein spray, two trims done by moi with boots hair dressing scissors and not 1 but 2 deep treatments a week. This has saved my hair. I’m going to Ibiza this Friday and I am determined not to make the same mistakes as on wedding and honeymoon month away in the hot sun!

Marleyhill’s hot holiday strategy:

1. Wearing always a hat/scarf/swimcap to avoid direct sunlight on hair (Epic fail on honeymoon particularly when swimming)
2. Keep hair soaked in tap water and conditioner under head gear(epic fail on honeymoon and during wedding prep in hot countries for 4 weeks!)
3. Wash any chlorine or sea salty water out using non-sulphate gentle cleanser at night(failed to pack this in wedding suitcase and honeymoon backpack but I did wash it every night with the wrong shampoo!)
4. Bring out the big guns, i.e. shea/coconut oil leave in, at night to aid recovery from sun. (again failed to pack this)

Wedding/honeymoon products: sulfate shampoo, sulphate conditioner and weak leave in and a few weak hair mask sachets. Result: fried weakened hair which broke and needed copious amounts of protein! (what I remembered to pack or bought in the airport)

Ibiza trip intended products(which must remember to pack):

homemade leave in with aloe vera, shea butter, rose water, gylcerin, coconut oil and tea tree. super strength leave in.

Lush snake oil solid treament bar. super strength mask

Bodyshop mini shampoo as below. non-sulphate cleanser

Sun, sea, sand, salt and chlorine barrier conditioner- Alberto Balsam coounut & lychee copnditioner, AB intensive treatment and superdrug Essential peach balancing conditioner mixed together. It’s cheap and it doesn’t have too many nasties and good ingredients high up in the back of bottle lists. If you only do organic, faith in nature is quite good here.

This and keeping my hair braided in kinky twist extensions should hopefully save my hair. Nothing more fustrating that going back to square one on your hair journey. I’ll let you guys know the result in about two weeks.

Ok so I didn’t come back with the result in 2 weeks because I thought I might as well wear the kinky twist braids for 3 months as my protective autumn style which I did and today is B-day! Braid take down day and Barbados Independence day! Barbados is my home country.

Ok back on track my hair grew like a weed which was expected. I also had a lot of build up probably do to not washing my hair a lot after coming back from Ibiza in September (naughty!) and spraying it everyday with braid spray and protein spray and also not being strict with covering it in a satin scarf every night (extra naughty). Also a lot of hair came out but if you shed about 100 a day, then that’s 8400 hairs that have been left in situ in my braids! and now it’s being detangled out (carefully) Detangling is important then I guess for us curlies!

So hot holiday strategy:

I remembered to pack everything. Tick

My hair was kept covered and soaked in barrier conditioner mix and tap water during the day! Tick

At night my hair was washed with the non-sulphate shampoo and treated to the Lush mask and lightly rinsed out. Then it was spray with my special blend of leave-in. Tick. (Lush Snake oil did stain the pillow pink Lol! Oops not my sheets though hotel’s)

So not breakage and hair grew like a weed.

State of my hair now I am taking my braids out:(halfway there. Taking ages! Must do them bigger next time!)

So far: My hair is thicker. Longer. Still soft.  Needs a good trim but that’s expected after 6 months of not being to Aveda and my Girl Candy. My home trims are hardly the bomb….

So once I’ve removed all of the braids, build up, shed hair, I’m going to wash it, protein treat it and then deep moisture treat it and add my homemade natural leave in, shea butter and oil. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Coming up: Hair after Braids, Journey to Aveda to see Candy, Xmas and New Year’s hair and Winter hair.

Ok so now my hair has been washed and deep conditoned. I have about and inch or so of new growth. I can tell from the difference from the black and brown. My hair is soft and spongy. So as far as I can tell no holiday or braid damage yeah!! BTW I went to Adornment in Brixton. Twist out for 20 quid since I don’t have a home hooded dryer. Not bad. Querying some of the things said but I will post that in the forum somewhere else.  Cheers.

marleyhill34 - 02 December 2011 05:12 PM

Ok so now my hair has been washed and deep conditoned. I have about and inch or so of new growth. I can tell from the difference from the black and brown. My hair is soft and spongy. So as far as I can tell no holiday or braid damage yeah!! BTW I went to Adornment in Brixton. Twist out for 20 quid since I don’t have a home hooded dryer. Not bad. Querying some of the things said but I will post that in the forum somewhere else.  Cheers.

Well done on the growth from braiding, i had one bad experience with extensions when i was 14 and have never done them since! i’ve heard mixed reviews on Adornment so it’ll be interesting to hear what you thought they sell hooded dryers in Argos, i don’t know how good they are but i’m looking to invest - my hairs growing longer which means my head is damp as hell, and that is no good in this weather!! 

Aha…but you see I do my own braids! so I don’t do them too small. (must remember to make them bigger next time as took too long to take out.) Also I am very careful not to pull particularly on the sides and nape area. yes I am contemplating at the moment about getting a home hood.  Yeah I’m not a big fan of wash and go’s particurlarly in the any season but summer! The water normally goes on the ends of my hair and not my roots/scalp.Not trying to get mildew as one member remarked! Lol!

So…...almost a week later and I’m struggling with my hair or actually struggling with finding products and hair dressers that won’t do any serious damage and do what I ask/need.  So I moved to London so no more Candace from Aveda Nottingham. Also Candy moved before I could ask her recommendation for a stylist in London and Aveda/Urban Therapy wont give me any info on how to contact her. How annoying! Anyway. I have a hairdresser/salon phobia. My hair needs a trim and a treatment desperately and it was my six month visit due date. I refused to go to the hairdresser anymore than this unless it is a special event( wedding/batchelorette night). So after hunting around and having a few near misses I have decided on Kliffe at Gina Conway. Let me take you through the process.

Adornment: Kept me waiting. Said that my hair needed moisture instead of protein which I refute because my strands are incredibly thin. Refered to my hair as 4b when I think it is 4c. Then tried to sell me products at exorbitant prices. I won’t be going there for a treatment. The environment slightly put me off as it was like a typical black salon, a very rushed and busy environment i.e. not relaxing. However their twist out was 20 quid so might go there for a style for a special event and they use all natural products. NB the lady told me I should leave in my twists for a week. I’m not convinced of this if they use the right products and techniques. Adornment for style not for care.

Called Raquel Wheeler as recommended by the good salon guide. Needless to say this was far too much like a Black salon in the way how the phone was answered and the way how the lady said she couldn’t give me an estimate of the cost of price. Also the Google street View showed a fairly run down place with not enough room to swing a cat. Another problem of black beauty salons. tiny and overcrowded. At least Adornment tries to convey a relaxing environment and I doubt this woman uses only natural products. Raquel wheeler 4 stars by the Good salon guide..Nil point by me who has very high standards and expectations when it comes to a salon.

Called Morris Roots…they don’t do trims…fantastic. but may try them for a treament and style. Lady on phone was professional and they use natural products.

Out of desperation I decided to go back to Aveda Salons although not all specialise in Afro/kinky curly hair.

So Gina Conway Salon. Wimbledon is the winner so far. I live in the Southwest so I don’t want to be trekking to the hairdresser. The stylist I will be seeing is Kliff who I believe is a Director from his price of £70 for a cut/trim and a blow dry. Treatment is an additional 25 which Kliff said he will customise to my hair with moisture AND PROTEIN(see adornment protein is important and necessary for my find strands!). Pricey but it’s London and Kliff is in high demand I have to wait for 10 days from my consultation for him to be available.

1. Near to home/easy to get to: 1 point
2. Uses natural products: 1 point
3. Relaxing environment to calm my hairdresser phobia: 1 point
4. Consultation without commitment: 1 point
5.Did not try to sell me anything: 1 point
6. Expert knowledge about afro/kinky curly hair: 0 points. Kliffe refered to my hair as coarse. Ha! I corrected him my hair is fine but there is a lot of it so it is dense. Coarse hair is hard to manipulate and suffers protein overload. My hair is easy to manipulate (far too much!) and lacks protein.
7.Willingness to listen to the customer me and try new things: 2 points. Kliff listened to everything I said including the bits I
corrected him on, he gave his recommendations (more than one option) and asked my opinion/advice on how he should hand my hair. This makes up for his lack of knowledge. A true sign of a professional who recognises their limitations and is constantly learning. Who knows your hair better than the person who is with it 24/7/365/366 for how many years!
8. Excellent Customer service: 1
9. Improves my hair not damages it/Impresses me:0.5 I’m impressed so far with Kliff but I need to see him put it into practice!
10. Price: 0.5.. they don’t get the full mark cause I’m used to Nottingham prices but they get half a mark because you get what you pay for in this case

So you can see the obvious winner hair (lol):Adornment: 5/10. Raquel Wheeler 0/10. Morris Roots 6/10 Gina Conway Aveda Salon: 9/10.

If Kliffe has magic hands they’ll get a 10/10! I’m taking my curly girl hand book with me and my goody wide tooth ouchless detangling comb just in case. You never know!

Winter routine…..Well I’m doing a 6 week aphogee two step today simply because I have weird split ends and SSKs Single strand knots. Now this could be from a combination of factors.

1. I coloured my hair
2. I didn’t do a deep moisture/protein treatment every week while in braids because it would take too long to dry them and I would have to take them out sooner. I hope to remedy this by making them a bit bigger next time.
3.My hair was overdue its 6 weekly aphogee anyway after 12 weeks in braids! (I did do one before I put them in)
4.I trimmed my hair myself in september so I probably didn’t take off enough or get all of them I’m not an expert…
5. Possible over manipulation and getting tangled in the shed hair when taking out braids. do braids bigger

That said it’s not really breaking off in big chunks. The ends just look thin, knotty and raggedly. So they’ll get the snip by Klipp on the 23rd if I don’t do a search and destroy first strand by strand and there’s a lot of strands on my head!

So at the moment I’m waiting patiently ( or not patiently I have things to do) for the aphogee 2 step to dry(airdry!) in my hair. Taking 4 hours and my hair is like 4 inches. Imagine if it was longer! Then I’ll do my deep moisture conditioning treatment to make it moist and soft again. I do my usual triple moisturise (watery creamy and oil seal) every day some times twice a day. I using homemade watery leave-in: organic co-wash conditioner, shea butter, rose water, glycerin, tea tree oil, jojoba oil and aloe vera. TIGI Love Peace Planet creamy Leave in and caster oil since coconut oil freezes in the winter! I haven’t been working since the move so my hair has been tuck up wrapped in a satin scarf under my woolly hat Kliff loved the scarf and hat idea. If I was working it would be tucked, wrapped and under my half wig. So that will be my routine til spring.

Party hair…not sure yet to go to Adornment or keep it under a snazzy new wig. Both cost £20 will have to see what the husband says as he has the money. Or I could diy using my normal half wig or trying a fro hawk. My corn-rowing is appalling! Pratice makes perfect but focusing on extra healthy hair at the mo.

Cheers

So Kliff at Gina Conway trimmed my hair. So as soon as I arrived a little early, Kliff ponced on me so I didn’t have to wait in the line to see the receptionist. Feeling a little bit wired from the Christmas mayhem, I jumped at the chance when he offered me a tea from a range. Chamomile in hand, Kliff proceed to give me a fantastic head shoulder neck massage, instantly relieving any hairdresser phobia tension.  Then I’m off to the wash girl who proceeded to wash condition and horror of horror use a brush on my hair.  I told her I don’t brush it…..She seems stumped so I nudge her in the right direction ” I use a wide tooth comb”. She follows my instructions. Good…or else..The treatment she puts on is a spray watery one…I inform her that I’m used to creamy treatments…..her co-washgirl intervenes and says that this really helps to soak in if it’s a spray… Hmmm…I decide to wait till Kliff comes back. Kliffe obliges adds a creamy treatment and put me under the conditoning heat dryer thingy and proceeds to give me two hand massages! Bliss..and I won’t murder the wash girls as they are after all washgirls I can’t expect them to know everything or anything. Kliff nimbly trims my hair dancing around the chair and once the serious business is over. He says ” how do you want me to style it”. He’s not wanting to damage it by blowdrying..works for me. I exclaim” you are going to have fun now playing with my hair…( this of course is the best part of curly hair playing with it” I tell him just just twist it up into a type of fro- hawk and he skips off with glee to get the hair pins. He twist the sides and the nape area and twiddles the rest….. he struggle a bit with getting me hair to stay in place but eventually suceeds..A for effort. I like and my housemate like. When I co-wash my hair, it hardly feels like Kliff has trimmed loads off which I like. So 10 out of 10 and I’ll go back in six months. Hopefully he is still there so I can get my primp and pamper on.

Cheers

Christmas hair was a style compliments of Kliff and my visit to Gina Conway two says before. twisted nape and sides top and front out.

New years hair…tried to straight blend my hair into one of my half wigs..FAIL due to reversion so Rocked it the way I normally do with all my hair back and in and a headband. Worked for me. I felt pretty under the Eye..although worried slightly about having synthetic hair on fire after Firework debris rained down on us! Perils of hair!

Enjoying your hair diary. we seem to have similar hair so it’s giving me a few ideas also, my mum’s from barbados!

Hi Mellonicoley, Thanks for reading my diary, I aim to entertain. Lol!

Thank you for your hair diary, I have been searching for something that is Afro hair and London based.

I do have one question, would you recommend Kliff for colouring as well?

I had a bad experience with dying my hair for an event and the results are really shoddy to say the least.
My hair needs to be re-coloured, to make it look even and I have been searching for someone who knows their stuff.

A colleague at work recommended Morris Roots, but I am under the impression that they are only Loc Specialists.

Any advice would be great and helpful.

Hi Girlycurly. Thanks for reading my diary. Aveda isn’t exactly an “afro” salon but I go there because Kliff really listened to what I said and their products are natural. You can go for a consultation..you have to be booked in as he is very popular. I had my hair trimmed by him not coloured so I can imagine it would be very expensive to have corrective colour. I suppose I would go to him if I wanted a pro to colour my hair again. It’s always good to go for a consultation..that way you know you will be happy with the salon and the stylist. HTH. Cheers

Great I will try book a consultation, when i get paid.
I hope to read more of your diary.

Till then, take care