Shea Growth And Retention Regimen 2018

Has Shea Butter 'got you'?

  • Let me look over my investment portfolio and see if I have room for shea related stocks.

    Votes: 21 12.8%
  • I've got 8 pounds in the house, I need to order me some more because I don't want to run out.

    Votes: 29 17.7%
  • 1 Day without sealing my ends is just unthinkable.

    Votes: 12 7.3%
  • It works for me for now.

    Votes: 45 27.4%
  • Nah, I can take it or leave it.

    Votes: 12 7.3%
  • Meh, I'm here for the posts.

    Votes: 28 17.1%
  • That stuff just weighs down my hair. No thanks!

    Votes: 17 10.4%

  • Total voters
    164

sunflora

Flowah Powah
I ran out of Scurl almost two weeks ago. My hair is running on Scurl fumes. But I had head full of fuzzies and needed to redo it. All I had was water and my Shea butter mix. My braids are elongated more than usual due to the water/Shea butter combination. They are thick and jet black in color with a nice shine. My hair is not greasy at all. You can see the coarseness of my hair really clearly in this picture.

My hair idol has braids that touch her behind. She's been telling me to ditch the Scurl, even if just temporarily. Although my hair is NOT Scurl-Free, it is in an Scurl 'starved' state. I like the texture and the way it came out with just water and Shea butter added. I bought some Scurl today...the biggest quantity size THEY MAKE!

View attachment 435281

:drool:

#hairgoals
 

Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
I found a tub of raw shea at Wal Mart! I cowashed my hair and did another set of about 14 braids using that instead of the other mix. I'll probably take them down tomorrow night and then put in two large braids with the resulting dry/stretched hair, and hope that lasts me until the hurricane passes. If I'm out of power/water, the last thing I want to worry about is what to do with my hair.

BE SAFE!
 

SunkissedLife

basking in the sun
So I’m back in town (of course just in time for a hurricane ‍♀️ be safe everybody) from Argentina. The last time I did my hair was before I left like 10 days ago and it’s been out (I mean not even sleeping with a satin bonnet out) to the sun wind everything else. It was sooooo dry and some pieces starting to mat/loc.

Last night I spritz with water and a little conditioner before drenching in melted (scooped some unrefined into a little jar on candle warmer) to detangle and braid with my fingers in 5 sections.

Planning to wash tonight (just in case lose power tom) then moisturize and seal with Shea to braid. I think I need to switch up my styling - got some breakage I want to stop in it’s tracks - hoping braiding it up will make a difference or maybe try binning I just don’t feel my hair is long enough yet.
 

SunkissedLife

basking in the sun
Washed, deep conditioned under hood dryer and working in 5 sections:
Tea spritz (green tea, hibiscus, chamomile, lavender)
KCKT leave in
CRN cocoa nibs & honey Ayurvedic growth oil on scalp
Whipped Shea butter (w sweet almond oil, EVCO, and lavender essential oil - new batch) to braid

My hair was so smoooooooth with Queen Shea no product compares all smooth and shiny and silky got all he she’s hairs slipping out for painless styling

First time trying my hand at cornrows (vs individual plaits which I’ve been doing since young) much more difficult and time consuming and my roots look nothing like the super neat defined cornrows of yt but it’s a start. I hope to one day get so good I can do jumbo ones all over for easy styling and good growth. I’ve always heard braids promote growth.

Braids + Shea Butter = long luscious locks
 

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Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
@Chicoro
Your friend's Hair with the Moisture Pre-Poo Treatment:love:

I will be interested in following her progress in 2018.

Okay, I originally posted about my friend from South Africa in post #258 of this Shea butter thread. She's been natural for 3 three years, and up until Dec 2017, she had never ever done her own hair. Since Dec 2017 until now, Sept 2018, she has been doing her own hair.

Well, she had a set back. She let someone put extensions in her hair and it not only thinned her hair, on the bottom half of ALL her braids, it MATTED her hair into dreds. She asked me for some help. She thought she was going to have to cut out all the matted hair and cut her hair back down to a teeny weeny afro.

All this time she has been using Shea butter, even over the matted hair. Here's the story in pictures.
 

Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
Saturday, September 15th, 2018

Caveat #1: I'm not a cosmetologist. I've never had the privilege to attend a program. I have a
"Street Degree in Cosmetology". I went to the school of Hard Knocks and Hair Setbacks.
I recognize some of my classmates here at LHCF. If you've not personally attended, you have probably heard of this heralded, long-standing institution. :giggle:

Caveat #2: I explain to women with afro-textured hair how to understand and gain healthy, length on their hair. Invariably, the practical, how-to aspect, arises. Thus, I've been doing hair for years. It accelerated since I moved to France. I have personally worked on and helped with the health, growth and length retention of women's hair from:
  • South Africa
  • Venezuela
  • Brazil
  • Morocco
  • Mali
  • Senegal
  • Nigeria
  • Ivory Coast
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Mayotte [Island of Mayotte]
  • Uganda
  • African American
  • Italian/Spanish (man)
  • European American
  • Angola
  • Cape Verde
And not, one single head of hair was the same. All had beautiful hair. BUT!!! All the hair responded positively to the same basic process I have developed and employ to help get hair stabilized. The only new addition to my process is Shea butter.

Caveat #3: My South African friend asked me to post the photos. When I was taking photos [for her] I covered her face. She told me to move my hand! She stated that she would like others to be helped and encouraged by her difficulties and successes with her hair, to not to give up!

Matted Hair:
When she walked into my place, she was so dejected looking. Her hair was matted halfway between the root and the ends, in every section. She had 16 sections. She thought I was going to either turn her away and tell her I could not help, or tell her to cut it back to an afro. I did neither of these.

SA 18 Sept162018.JPG

Matted and Broken:
Here she is holding one section of one braid and I am holding the other. It turns out she put extensions in her braided hair, that were intertwined with her natural hair. This broke her hair and that broken shedded hair stayed in the section. Hence, the creation of the matted sections.

SA 19 Sept162018.JPG

Hot Water Magic:
So, I got out my secret detangling concoction which is just
glycerin, oil and aloe vera gel. Before I apply it, I tend to spray
the hair with warm to hot, plain water first. In her particular
instance, all I needed was the warm water sprayed on to detangle.
I did have to TEAR the hair apart to release the shedded, broken
hair that was wrapping around the intact hair. It sounded horrible
but I had no other option, except to cut. It worked!
SA 20 Sept162018.JPG

Twisting to Minimize Pain:
She is tender-headed so I have to twist the hair at the root
to immobilize little hairs from moving and pulling. Twisting
while detangling stabilizes the hair and minimizes the tension
on the scalp. Right above the bottom of the photo, you can
see where the twist is kind of 'fat'. That is exactly where the
hair was broken by the extension style and where it matted.
She has learned from this set-back. She cannot wear extensions
in her hair. If the natural strand or section is covered, like in the case of
marley braids, she's okay. But if the extensions are braided within
her hair, that causes severe breakage.
SA 17 Sept162018.JPG

Detangled hair:
This is a photo of that same matted section after I put
some hot water in it to saturate it, soften, relax and elongate
the hair. Then, I had to tear away and separate the matted
hair. Then I would gently finger detangle and smooth the hair.
Then, I would comb it through with a wide tooth comb and go
through with a smaller comb to locate any shedded hair still
trapped in the section. The water worked beautifully! Talk
about a universal solvent. It surely is.
SA 21 Sept162018.JPG

Hair Texture:
Here is a closeup of the hairline. I have personally never
touched or worked with hair of this texture. Her individual
strands are so very textured, that her hair literally is straight
looking when it's wet. You can see how tight and tiny and fine
her lovely curls are around her hairline.
SA 16 Sept162018.JPG

Halfway there:
This is the section that was left. First I detangled then those sections
were saturated in Shea butter and braided. You can see the
braided hair in the picture.
SA 22 Sept162018.JPG

Unfortunately, the damage had been done before she arrived to my home. The matting was due to extreme breakage. The hair is forever damaged. That's okay. She'll rise from the ashes and probably gain, super long, healthy length. She has been natural for 3 years.

She used Shea butter and Scurl throughout the 2 month matting. I believe that the Shea butter saved her hair. I say this because, when I put water on her hair it began to respond immediately to the detangling in the matted sections. Water alone has NEVER worked for me and my massive tangles. But then again, I was not using Shea butter!

Yeah, Shea butter!
 
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Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
Sunday, September 16th, 2018
Sunday, I asked her to come back and told her I would straighten her hair for her.

Braidout Texture:
On Sunday, we wet the ends and unraveled the braids that I had
detangled and saturated with Shea butter. I explained this is the
same process she can use in the future to do a braid-out.

SA 14 Sept162018.JPG

Braidout Texture Extended
This is just elongating the hair. It is very beautiful. I've never seen 'ugly'
afro-textured hair. I've only seen unhealthy afro-textured hair that is not
as beautiful as it could be.

SA 15 Sept162018.JPG

Whole Head of Bantu Knots
Once the braids were undone, finger detangled and placed into bantu knots,
the hair was ready to be washed and conditioned.

SA 13 Sept162018.JPG

Back Blown Out
Although she has been natural for three (3) years, she has never
trimmed her ends. Also, due to the damage of breakage and
matting from that 2 months of wearing extensions, you can
see the hair is thin and damaged and see-through. It was not
like this when I did her hair in December 2017.

SA 11 Sept162018.JPG

Front Blown Out
The front of the hair is blown out. The breakage was all around her
entire head. She has really thick hair so she was lucky that it is not that
visible in the bulk of her hair.

SA 12 Sept162018.JPG

Back After Trim
This is the first trim. I don't like cutting hair. When I trim
someone's hair, it is always a discussion that ensues before the
trim. I also SHOW people what I think may need to be cut and
ask them to look at the hair and give them time to reflect before
I cut or trim.

SA 9 Sept162018.JPG

 
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Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
continued:

The Way I Love to See a Black Woman:
She is smiling and happy and loves her hair. She said this
is the longest her hair has been as a natural. She loves the
fullness and the thickness of her hair.
SA 1 Sept162018.JPG

Length of Hair:
I flat ironed her hair and put some serum in it to give it
a shine. This is before I wrapped her in cellophane and put
her under the dryer to get it straighter. I was not going for
a bone straight, silky press because I don't have the skills
or the tools to do it.
SA 2 Sept162018.JPG

Curls Bumped into Hair:
I used a curling wand to bump some curls into her hair.
Her hair is really shiny. There are tiny, diamond like beads
of light that reflect off her hair.
SA 3 Sept162018.JPG

Back of Hair After Flat Iron:
Here's a photo of the back of her hair. I was
happy that I was able to retain some of her
hard-won, length.

SA 4 Sept162018.JPG
Final Trim of-Back:
We had another discussion after the blow dry. I suggested
that she trim it deeper to this level. The hair was still
snapping and snagging. It had to be trimmed. She was okay
with it and I trimmed it to what you see here in this photo.
SA 5 Sept162018.JPG
Final Trim of-Left Side:
I just did a basic trim of the sides as well. The ends
were not as uneven in the front.

SA 6 Sept162018.JPG

Final Trim of-Right Side:
You can see how truly thick her hair is. The ends are fuller and
not painfully tangled. I still could not comb through her hair
from root to ends because of the breakage in the middle of the
hair. It would be pointless to trim to the breakage. That would
be so discouraging. I believe that her hair will recover beautifully.
SA 7 Sept162018.JPG

Final Trim of-Front:
Here is the view of the front hair trimmed.
SA 8 Sept162018.JPG

Although I cut of some of the longest strands, she now can see that her hair has the capacity to grow past her bra-strap. Now, she just has to nurture her hair and care for the ends.

The breakage may be a blessing in disguise. Now, she has learned that a style she has employed before, using extensions, is not beneficial to her hair. Also, when she does her braids going forward, and her braid outs, she will have beautiful fresh ends that will add to the gorgeousness of her styles.

She will be going back to South Africa in January. Thus, for us here on LHCF, her story ends here. I believe she is forever changed, as it relates to her hair.

Thank you for your interest!:2inlove:
 
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IDareT'sHair

PJ Rehabilitation Center
@Chicoro
While Lurking Today at Work I really enjoyed reading the Chronology of the Young Sisters Hair and how you were able to navigate through her "setback"
Based on everything you detailed and described, it could have been a lot worse.

You got International Skills for the Variety of Afro Textured Hair you have worked on since you've been in France.

Thank you for documenting with Pics.
 

Sarabellam

Well-Known Member
I had a eureka moment this week. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been wearing my hair in two braids frequently for convenience. Well I decided to take the laziness up a notch and wash my hair in those same two braids. The braids were loosened at the roots but still neat along the length from sleeping in them over night. I shampooed using the J.R. Ligget shampoo bar focusing on the roots and occasionally smoothing the hair into the direction that it was braided. I skipped the dc because this was an early impromptu shampoo session.

When I rinse and added my detangler to my hair I was very confused to find my hair virtually knot free. Seriously 10%-20% of the tangles that I expect on an avg wash day.

I was wondering if I needed more braids of wash day to help with detangling but I really needed the combo of loose moveable roots with my hair secured along the braided lengths. I added more shea/castor mix along my length and braided my hair again.
 

Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
[QUOTE="BronxJazzy, post: 24921637, member: 18933"]I can tell you get great pleasure from making other black women great and for that I luvvvsss youuu:bighug:[/QUOTE]

Yes, I do.

Because every person I help, it feels like I'm helping myself. When I was little, I was made to feel that I was an ugly child and I was told that I was a bad person.

I used to get beat up and no one stood up for me. I remember being punched in the stomach once, and I looked up at someone who I thought would help me, and the person turned and looked the other way.

My purpose for sharing is not to elicit pity or sadness. I am glad that I had those experiences as they have made me a very powerful, fortified human being.

It took many years to realize that people have personal issues and problems. The only way to survive and thrive is to fortify oneself. And that's what I do. I try to help people fortify themselves from within. I do it through hair and beauty.
 
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sissimpson

Well-Known Member
I ran out of Scurl almost two weeks ago. My hair is running on Scurl fumes. But I had head full of fuzzies and needed to redo it. All I had was water and my Shea butter mix. My braids are elongated more than usual due to the water/Shea butter combination. They are thick and jet black in color with a nice shine. My hair is not greasy at all. You can see the coarseness of my hair really clearly in this picture.

My hair idol has braids that touch her behind. She's been telling me to ditch the Scurl, even if just temporarily. Although my hair is NOT Scurl-Free, it is in an Scurl 'starved' state. I like the texture and the way it came out with just water and Shea butter added. I bought some Scurl today...the biggest quantity size THEY MAKE!

View attachment 435281
Your hair is so gorgeous!
 

caribeandiva

Human being
[QUOTE="BronxJazzy, post: 24921637, member: 18933"]I can tell you get great pleasure from making other black women great and for that I luvvvsss youuu:bighug:
Yes, I do.

Because every person I help, it feels like I'm helping myself. When I was little, I was made to feel that I was an ugly child and I was told that I was a bad person.

I used to get beat up and no one stood up for me. I remember being punched in the stomach once, and I looked up at someone who I thought would help me, and the person turned and looked the other way.

My purpose for sharing is not to elicit pity or sadness. I am glad that I had those experiences as they have made me a very powerful, fortified human being.

It took many years to realize that people have personal issues and problems. The only way to survive and thrive is to fortify oneself. And that's what I do. I try to help people fortify themselves from within. I do it through hair and beauty.
Beautiful story! “Out of every adversity lies the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” - unknown
 

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
I need to start making my own. I'm down to the last jar of Jakeala's Alma Shea Parfait. I'm so intimidated though!

OAN, I noticed something about keeping my hair moisturized. When my hair gets dry/hard and needs to be moisturized, all I have been doing is misting my hair at night with only water, massaging in the water really well, and braiding or Bantu knotting in 8-12 sections to keep a nice tension. In the morning my hair feels moisturized again like on wash day when I apply a lot of shea to seal. If I use larger sections and fewer braids or Bantu knots, however, my hair doesn't feel as soft or moisturized, even if i add more shea.
 

VictoriousBrownFlower

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="BronxJazzy, post: 24921637, member: 18933"]I can tell you get great pleasure from making other black women great and for that I luvvvsss youuu:bighug:



Yes, I do.

Because every person I help, it feels like I'm helping myself. When I was little, I was made to feel that I was an ugly child and I was told that I was a bad person.

I used to get beat up and no one stood up for me. I remember being punched in the stomach once, and I looked up at someone who I thought would help me, and the person turned and looked the other way.

My purpose for sharing is not to elicit pity or sadness. I am glad that I had those experiences as they have made me a very powerful, fortified human being.

It took many years to realize that people have personal issues and problems. The only way to survive and thrive is to fortify oneself. And that's what I do. I try to help people fortify themselves from within. I do it through hair and beauty.

This reminds me of something I was recently watching. It was about what makes a champion different from everyone else. He said the main thing about a champion isn't that they don't go through challenges along the way. Quite the opposite. They tend to go through insurmountable challenges through life (and way more than average) but it's what they did with it that makes them a champion.
 
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