MSA, you're an angel..thank you soo much. Since I started on here you always give me the first reply and most positive feedback....
Basically today I washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo mixed with some peppermint oil, moisturize shampooed with Mizani Bontifying..then I deep condition with a mixture of Mizani Hydrafuse and Mizani Keratin condition... it wasn't until the heat part took place that my hair went haywire... and then I noticed those broken patches that my hair stylist referred to as "thick areas because my hairs growing so much"
how evil. Anyway at night i always use a scarf, I use castor oil to seal my ends and massage my scalp with a mixture of olive oil and peppermint oil daily. My hair has been growing alot lately, my ends are beautiful...my problem is my hair is dry and feels unhealthy. I don't want to use heat anymore, I want to be like the ladies who don't use heat only twice a year and have very long hair... but sadly my natural hair doesn't seem to cooperate :-/
I think I'll try the 2x's a week, styling is my biggest issue. Im just scared to hear my young college peers sneer at my kinky curly poofy hair... :-/ this is all stressful.
I think what you need is a change of perspective and a more positive outlook. Handling your natural hair is going to be different and maybe a bit difficult at first, but you CAN do it.
So your hair feels dry and unhealthy? First thing I would change is the shampooing, you don't need to clarify and then use a moisturizing shampoo. That's way overdoing it. Use one. Personally, I don't use shampoo, I just use a baking soda and water mixture because it's not as harsh as shampoo.
Anyway, on to DCing. I know NOTHING about Mizani products. If your hair isn't feeling good afterward you may want to move on to something else. Now the clarifying and shampooing could have really dried your hair out so that could be the culprit. Do those products usually work for you? When I still used commercial products, I loved Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Conditioner for my DC and cowash. It has silk protein which helps the moisture penetrate and keeps the hair strong. But if your products usually work, don't switch.
I don't use anything on my scalp so I can't really help there. I don't know what peppermint oil is supposed to do. I only use olive oil in conditioner mix (honey, olive oil, coconut oil) so I don't know about that for the scalp either.
I love love love castor oil so yay for that.
I think maybe you should try doing your hair twice a week. Wash, either with shampoo or just cowash (or you could do conditioner mixed with a teaspoon of baking soda, that will get your hair clean but keep it moisturized). DC with whatever you like, just make sure there's protein and moisture. And then moisturize. Personally, I just seal in water with castor oil. But my hair isn't color treated and I don't use heat. You probably need a bit more. Do some research on moisturizers if the one you have isn't working. Or you could just leave in some conditioner.
And then style...watch some youtube videos and tutorials of styles you can try. The important part is to figure out a style that you love and work on perfecting that one before you move on to something else so that you always have something you can fall back on. For example, I love bantu knot outs. My hair is fine, so knot outs give me more volume and they're pretty easy to do. Remember, if something doesn't come out right, do a quick pin up. That always fixes things for me. And you could get a half wig just in case your hair is really not cooperating.
Remember to be PATIENT with yourself and your hair. I've had my hair my whole life and have only really learned to take care of it in the last couple of years. It's a learning process. Don't be too hard on yourself and don't let yourself be discouraged by others. And you'd be surprised how positively people will respond. People at my University used to always ask me how I got my hair a certain way or tell me how cute it was.
Hope this helps! Sorry it's so long!