Spinoff of "Insert 4b pics here": 4b Regimens

[FtrDrO]

Now that we have the lovely "Insert 4b pics here " thread http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=476344&highlight= courtesy of TheHairLab, showing all of the lovely heads of purely 4b hair on the board , why don't we share our regimens, favorite products, and best tips that have helped us in handling our very fragile cottony mass? Most other threads are geared towards 4a/4b, but I think that our teeny tiny coils have special needs. So let's share!!! Also describe your hair (fine, coarse, thick, thin, shrinkage, or whatever specifics of your hair). And if you haven't added a pic to the 4b thread, feel free to do that too. We can use this thread to actually ask more questions and have more dialogue about the picture thread.

 

[Nonie]

For me, so-called 4B regimens haven't worked for me. Like my hair hates Shea butter and Creme of Nature Shampoo. So I sort of do my own thing.

I shampoo twice a week with any moisturizing shampoo (sometimes strengthening shampoo like the Garnier line), whether it has sulphates or not (Examples: Garnier Fructis, Giovanni Smooth as Silk or 50:50 Clarifying Moisturizing shampoo, Nexxus Therappe, Trader Joe's Tingle or Nourish Spa).

After the shampoo, I condition with mostly moisturizing conditioners (Examples AO HSR, Giovanni Smooth as Silk, Aussie Dee...p, Pantene Mask, Organix Pomegranate) but I do also condition with a strengthening conditioner if I feel like it's been a while since I did (eg AO GPB). I DC once a week, so one of those washes involves a DC. I usually DC on dry with either AO GPB (strength) or AO HSR (moisture) before shampooing my hair and then conditioning with a moisturizing shampoo. Sometimes I will shampoo, DC with Nexxus Emergencee, shampoo again with Therappe, and then condition with one of the moisturizing shampoos I have. (Yes, I shampooing my hair gives me loads of pleasure!)

At the end of every wash, I rinse with a solution of ACV and EOs of lavender and rosemary. I usually air dry. (My hair is braided so no combing or detangling is necessary.)

I baggy nightly, except for a few nights when I am just too tired to be bothered.

My hair is fine and my shrinkage is crazy, but I absolutely love the "illusion" of having short hair, so shrinkage is my friend.

ETA: I don't use any leave-in/moisturizer when wearing my hair in braids or twists--a scary concept for many but works well for me. I only ever use a leave-in (S Curl) when wearing my hair out and in need of slip so that I can comb my hair, and that is the only one I like to use, unless I'm out of it then I use Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1.

 

[FtrDrO]

I would describe my strands as fine but there are a lot of them. My hair breaks easily if not properly handled and constantly gets mid-strand splits no matter what I do. I also have a lot of shrinkage like Nonie (pic attached).

I shampoo and DC my hair once a week.
Shampoo: CON moisturizing conditioner or occasionally ORS Aloe if I feel like I need a real cleaning boost.
Conditioner: I don't know if I've found a holy grail conditioner yet. But, I am currently using AO WC. AO HSR was never super moisturizing for me so I decided to give WC a try instead. It's a little better. I did try mixing it with Roux Porosity recently, and my hair reacted better to that.

I'll usually DC overnight, detangle using olive oil & water with my fingers, shampoo, then do a final quick conditioner with HE LTR, Yes to cucumbers or Giovanni 50:50 or Giovanni deeper conditioner w/ a final detangle using my fingers again or a modified denman/wide tooth comb, and final ACV rinse or Roux Porosity control. If I don't do the overnight DC, then i'll sit under a heating cap for a few minutes, before proceeding with the rest of the process. I let my hair airdry after, with the exception of a few times during my hair journey, where I have lightly blow dried using cool/warm.

I recently made a moisturizing spritz that seems to be working well for me after much trial and error and trying to find a good leave in/daily moisturizer. It's about half glycerine & rosewater, half food grade aloe vera gel (I accidentally got this instead of juice), about 2 squirts of suave tropical coconut, and a 1/4 of distilled water. My hair stays soft, smooth, and moisturized with this spritz.

Things that have helped me the most in my journey are: 1) keeping my hair braided/twisted up. Cuts back on need to constantly detangle, minimizes excessive manipulation of my fragile strands, and aids in retention. 2) DC on a regular basis 3) Minimizing combing/brushing. I only do that on wash day while detangling; first with my fingers, then with my denman or widetooth detangling comb. 4) Always manipulating in sections. My hair stays sectioned off via twists/ braids/clips throughout my wash sessions.

 

[FtrDrO]

BUMP!!!!!!!!

 

[sheanu]

bump!!!!!!!! I just decided to stop wearing weaves and braids and was pleasantly surprised at how much my hair has grown. The only thing is my hair is dry and has NO definition. I need help!

 

[Nonie]

sheanu, you probably need moisture. I don't know what products you use but your hair sounds like my mom's used to be until I introduced her to DCing and S Curl.

What products do you use? What's your regimen? (I wish there was a sticky that said when people ask for help, they need to share what they've tried already. )

 

[charmtreese]

I have about 85% shrinkage mostly 4b, fine, medium density hair. I don't have a BC date (I cut randomly until the relaxer was gone), my last relaxer was 6/2011.

Shampoo weekly with Keracare Hydrating shampoo (the sulfate free one) or 30/70 mix of Castile soap and aloe Vera juice or My Honey Child Cleanser

Pre poo, section, and detangle prior to ever wash with what ever leave-in I have on hand that I don't really like any more or oil and avj

I shampoo my hair in three sections (2 in front 1 in back)

Deep condition after ever shampoo with joico moisturizing treatment balm or keracare restorative treatment for 1-2 hours. I always use heat for at least 30 minutes.

After deep conditioning I spray my hair with avj or acv

Apply leave-ins and oil using the LOC Method: keracare naturals leave-in, oil, qhemet heavy cream or keracare butter

Detangle with wide tooth seamless comb

Braid in 9 plaits, scarf, and air dry over night.

To style:

I normally pull back into a puff, Baggie ends and cover with a phony pony.

Sometimes I were it all out with a headband

These are the only two styles I wear currently, if I'm not weaved up.

Nightly:

Moisturize and seal, put in two puffs, Baggie, and scarf




Phony pony



Novembers Shrunken puff with headband

 

[sheanu]

sheanu, you probably need moisture. I don't know what products you use but your hair sounds like my mom's used to be until I introduced her to DCing and S Curl.

What products do you use? What's your regimen? (I wish there was a sticky that said when people ask for help, they need to share what they've tried already. )

Hi Nonie!

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my hair as I only stopped wearing weaves/braids a week ago. I have about 3-4 inches of hair (after 2 years of being natural ) and so far my fine, 4b hair doesn't like what I'm doing:
Cowashing daily after workouts (alternating between shea moisture thickening conditioner (protein) and restorative conditioner (moisture).

Afterwards I apply products (spritz with ON organic curl-n-wavy detangler, apply SM thickening grown milk, nubian heritage repair and extend butter on my ends and finally eco styler argan oil gel) to try to achieve a curly twa look with my hair but so fair that hasn't worked and now my hair is a hard tangled mess and I had to cut out a TON of ssk's.

Retention is such a major problem for me and I'm pretty sure wearing my hair in a twa isn't helping so I will try braiding my hair next. My plan is to shampoo with the thickening shampoo twice a week followed by either the thickening conditioner one day (while in braids)or a dc with the restorative conditioner the other (on loose hair) before the shampoo for 3-4 hours. On dc day I plan to braid so I'll apply castor oil and rebraid. In between I plan to just mist with water and oil my scalp with my bhringraj mix 3x a week to avoid getting the build up I got during this first week of taking care of my hair.

My hair is thin in addition to fine so I know it will look skimpy but I cannot deal with the knotting!

Does anyone have advice or critiques on my proposed regimen? I'm aiming for low manipulation now.

 

[Nonie]

sheanu, unfortunately, I don't know what all those steps you are doing to your hair are. 4B hair IMO is not that hard to maintain and it doesn't need so many products. I recently sent my sister S Curl (and she too has been using 18937987 products on her recently BC'd hair--she was previously relaxed--and has been complaining about how difficult it is) since she followed the S Curl regimen I recommended, she texted me to say that it's a miracle worker and she is excited because she now has hope for her hair to grow long.

Also you want a curly TWA look. Uhmm...if you have 4B hair, it will look like a cloud unless you do a twist-out or shingle. It will only show curls if people get up close and personal. So rather than want your hair to look a way it may not be, focus on getting it soft and healthy. Get to learn from your hair what it can do, don't try to make it do what you see another head's hair do.

Also why are you using thickening products? I wish you'd take a chance on the regimen I suggest in this thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=526649
which is simple and cheap and doesn't involve so many steps. If your hair is thin, I hope the braids you will be doing will be w/o extension. My hair doesn't thin in braid extensions but then I do them myself and I'm really anal about ensuring I do the braids in a way that won't damage my hair. I also stay on top of dusting to ensure ends stay thick.

I don't know why you cowash so frequently with protein. That may be your problem. Also IMO cowashing is not a cleaning method but a way to condition hair. If you're washing so often because of your workouts, then IMO you need shampoo. If you're putting conditioner on your scalp, you need to stop doing that. Conditioner is supposed to COAT hair and leave a protective layer. If you're doing that to your scalp, you're making it harder for natural sebum to do its job. A clean scalp is a healthy scalp. You could even do what vevster will be doing which is focus shampoo on scalp only, then condition the hair. When I apply conditioner, I skip an inch or so of hair at the base so that it's focused on the hair not my scalp. I put nothing on my scalp and my sebum takes care of the base of my hair.

 

[SimJam]

Im

• 4b,
• course, medium to thick density.
• my apl hair (10 inches) shrinks down to 2 inches
• Dont know if im low, no or high porosity
• likes frequent doses of light protein

My general regimen

• pre clean scalp with ACV
• cleanse with a cleansing cream every week, sometimes 10 days - no sulphates, if i need a deep cleanse I wash with castile soap
• DC protein
• DC moisture
• style

DC with protein at least every 2 weeks
spritz my hair with a homemade tea blend just before I style
or
soak hair and scalp with coffee before doing my moisture DC

 

[virtuenow]

Simple moisture focused regimen: (1) Weekly DC on dry/damp hair w/protein reconstructor (Aubrey Organics Gpb); (2) wash scalp w/diluted shampoo in applicator bottle, (3) rinse, (4) oil rinse w/castor oil

 

[sheanu]

Nonie,

sheanu, unfortunately, I don't know what all those steps you are doing to your hair are. 4B hair IMO is not that hard to maintain and it doesn't need so many products. I recently sent my sister S Curl (and she too has been using 18937987 products on her recently BC'd hair--she was previously relaxed--and has been complaining about how difficult it is) since she followed the S Curl regimen I recommended, she texted me to say that it's a miracle worker and she is excited because she now has hope for her hair to grow long.


Also you want a curly TWA look. Uhmm...if you have 4B hair, it will look like a cloud unless you do a twist-out or shingle. It will only show curls if people get up close and personal. So rather than want your hair to look a way it may not be, focus on getting it soft and healthy. Get to learn from your hair what it can do, don't try to make it do what you see another head's hair do.

Also why are you using thickening products?
I was using this line in the shea moisture collection because I was looking for a more natural line of products and I like the ingredients in the thickening line (bamboo, biotin, yucca). The shampoo especially works for me but as you mentioned below, the conditioner is probably too much protein to use on a weekly basis so I'll stretch the time in between strengthening treatments and focus more on the moisturizing products.

I wish you'd take a chance on the regimen I suggest in this thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=526649
which is simple and cheap and doesn't involve so many steps.

I thoroughly read this thread and followed all links therein. Girl you are hilarious! I plan to purchase this miraculous S-Curl and use it on braiding days. Hopefully detangling and braiding will be as easy and painfree as if I'd swallowed a bottle of felix felicis only minutes before starting!

If your hair is thin, I hope the braids you will be doing will be w/o extension. My hair doesn't thin in braid extensions but then I do them myself and I'm really anal about ensuring I do the braids in a way that won't damage my hair. I also stay on top of dusting to ensure ends stay thick.

NO these braids are with my own hair. I flat twisted my hair yesterday using simply a nettle tea spritz, a dime-sized amount of the thickening growth milk and castor oil. They came out better than any twists/braids I've ever done with my own hair before and I was surprised to see how much my hair thickened up. I just wish I'd known about S-Curl before I started because my hair was still knotting up really badly and I had more ssk's.

I don't know why you cowash so frequently with protein. That may be your problem. Also IMO cowashing is not a cleaning method but a way to condition hair. If you're washing so often because of your workouts, then IMO you need shampoo. If you're putting conditioner on your scalp, you need to stop doing that. Conditioner is supposed to COAT hair and leave a protective layer. If you're doing that to your scalp, you're making it harder for natural sebum to do its job. A clean scalp is a healthy scalp. You could even do what vevster will be doing which is focus shampoo on scalp only, then condition the hair. When I apply conditioner, I skip an inch or so of hair at the base so that it's focused on the hair not my scalp. I put nothing on my scalp and my sebum takes care of the base of my hair.

I cowashed with protein once a week because I thought my hair might have been over-moisturized: a lot of my ends are really straight (and I did my real bc 2 years ago, mind you) and a lot of the strands have a tight curl pattern then a really loose curl ending in straight ends. I'm not sure if maybe the ends are straight light that from having been pulled during combing or what but I thought protein might help.

Your routine, however, has a lot of moisture. Does your fine hair not get over-moisturized with baggying nightly with s-curl and all of the moisture from your moisturizing shampoos and conditioners?

I don't put conditioner on my scalp although it may get there when I'm washing it out and I try to focus the shampoo mostly on my scalp to cleanse.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie,

@sheanu, unfortunately, I don't know what all those steps you are doing to your hair are. 4B hair IMO is not that hard to maintain and it doesn't need so many products. I recently sent my sister S Curl (and she too has been using 18937987 products on her recently BC'd hair--she was previously relaxed--and has been complaining about how difficult it is) since she followed the S Curl regimen I recommended, she texted me to say that it's a miracle worker and she is excited because she now has hope for her hair to grow long.


Also you want a curly TWA look. Uhmm...if you have 4B hair, it will look like a cloud unless you do a twist-out or shingle. It will only show curls if people get up close and personal. So rather than want your hair to look a way it may not be, focus on getting it soft and healthy. Get to learn from your hair what it can do, don't try to make it do what you see another head's hair do.

Also why are you using thickening products?
I was using this line in the shea moisture collection because I was looking for a more natural line of products and I like the ingredients in the thickening line (bamboo, biotin, yucca). The shampoo especially works for me but as you mentioned below, the conditioner is probably too much protein to use on a weekly basis so I'll stretch the time in between strengthening treatments and focus more on the moisturizing products.

Oh OK.

I wish you'd take a chance on the regimen I suggest in this thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=526649
which is simple and cheap and doesn't involve so many steps.

I thoroughly read this thread and followed all links therein. Girl you are hilarious! I plan to purchase this miraculous S-Curl and use it on braiding days. Hopefully detangling and braiding will be as easy and painfree as if I'd swallowed a bottle of felix felicis only minutes before starting!


If your hair is thin, I hope the braids you will be doing will be w/o extension. My hair doesn't thin in braid extensions but then I do them myself and I'm really anal about ensuring I do the braids in a way that won't damage my hair. I also stay on top of dusting to ensure ends stay thick.

NO these braids are with my own hair. I flat twisted my hair yesterday using simply a nettle tea spritz, a dime-sized amount of the thickening growth milk and castor oil. They came out better than any twists/braids I've ever done with my own hair before and I was surprised to see how much my hair thickened up. I just wish I'd known about S-Curl before I started because my hair was still knotting up really badly and I had more ssk's.

OK, I must tell you that when I wash my hair with shampoo like Giovanni 50:50, and condition it, then finish with an ACV rinse, my hair strands are very easy to separate. I never get tangles and I can undo and finger comb a mini-twist with ease. I usually use no products when I'm not wearing my hair loose. But in August 2010, I tried to use S Curl because I do like it on my loose hair, and adrienne0914 who was the person who introduced me to S Curl, used to use it on her braid extensions. I know hair is better with some product on it (I just hate the feeling against my skin so that's why I don't use anything but I know product protects strands...) so I decided to see if I could get used to S Curl on my twists and maybe wear them up away from my skin. They felt OK, but I redo them one by one as I watch TV and when I tried it with S Curl on, my hair threatened to knot. SSKs are not things I deal with. Seems to me that manipulating my hair with S Curl or maybe any product on it will cause it to knot up. I find my hair easiest to work with then my hair is freshly washed and free from any product. I just thought I should mention this here, in case this may be the case for you. (I shared this experience in this thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=495886)

Also I want to mention there is no way I'd braid my hair w/o extensions unless I'm doing very fat braids that are many times larger than my kinks. Mini-braids would turn into locks if I dared wear them for long without any additional hair to keep the 3 strands separated. The only style I can wear for months on end without getting locs are twists, and I believe it's because I twirl each strand first so as to keep the hair in each strand separate from that in the other strand. So no matter how long I wear them, the hairs from either strand don't get to tangle with those in the other. Also because the hair is stretched tight from the twirling, it means the hair doesn't get to curl back on itself. So again, I NEVER DETANGLE coz I never get tangles.

I don't know why you cowash so frequently with protein. That may be your problem. Also IMO cowashing is not a cleaning method but a way to condition hair. If you're washing so often because of your workouts, then IMO you need shampoo. If you're putting conditioner on your scalp, you need to stop doing that. Conditioner is supposed to COAT hair and leave a protective layer. If you're doing that to your scalp, you're making it harder for natural sebum to do its job. A clean scalp is a healthy scalp. You could even do what @vevster will be doing which is focus shampoo on scalp only, then condition the hair. When I apply conditioner, I skip an inch or so of hair at the base so that it's focused on the hair not my scalp. I put nothing on my scalp and my sebum takes care of the base of my hair.

I cowashed with protein once a week because I thought my hair might have been over-moisturized: a lot of my ends are really straight (and I did my real bc 2 years ago, mind you) and a lot of the strands have a tight curl pattern then a really loose curl ending in straight ends. I'm not sure if maybe the ends are straight light that from having been pulled during combing or what but I thought protein might help.

OK, I can tell you why your ends are straight. Damage. How often do you trim your hair? You see the minute you trim, damage starts afresh on the new hair. As long as your hair is exposed to air, as long as you're handling it, as long as time is passing, then that organic thing you call hair is experiencing wear and tear. It's starts small and grows. It doesn't always appear as a split down the middle. It could be just the surface flaking off, till your cuticle is lose and the cortex is exposed. If you consider how delicate hair is and then consider how much smaller the scales of your cuticle are...it isn't hard to imagine them breaking away w/o your seeing them. A lot of the dust in your home is dead cells from your body. You don't see them flaking off, yet the are. So the same happens to hair. Most times you'll only know you have damage when the ends--the oldest parts of your hair--behave differently from the rest of your hair. This was my problem for 30+ year, which is why I was stuck at SL. I never saw my hair break...yet it appeared not to grow beyond SL. It had to be growing or I'd be bald since hair sheds after some time. Clearly it was flaking away gradually so that by the time my hair made it to shoulder, the ends would be gone and the new ones would be on their way out. Also when your ends are damaged, they will tangle more easily. Many people know it's time to dust their ends when the ends act differently. If I were you and that was my hair, I'd cut off those ends.

Your routine, however, has a lot of moisture. Does your fine hair not get over-moisturized with baggying nightly with s-curl and all of the moisture from your moisturizing shampoos and conditioners?[/QUOTE]

That routine you saw in that thread is what I do when my hair is loose. The only reason I use anything at all is because I comb my hair daily and need slip for the comb to glide through my hair w/o causing damage to it. What you may not have grasped is I only moisturize my hair on wash day. Not every day like I see a lot of people doing. After the evening reapplication of S Curl, I do not apply anymore until wash day. My hair stays moist but never dripping wet. In fact, it only feels "wettish" when I take the baggy off in the morning. The rest of the day, you touch it, it feels cool, but your hands don't get covered with gunk. In fact, I have often shared that I love that I can lean on walls, furniture and not worry about leaving marks behind. Yet my hair stays very soft.

When I don't have to comb my hair--like now when I'm in twists--I use no leave-ins. I just wash/condition/ACV rinse twice a week (one of those conditionings being a DC with Aubrey's GPB or Emergencee) and then I go bare. Baggying every night ensures a moisture infusion of sorts since my hair smells as if conditioned in the AM as if the baggying recycled the results of my previous conditioning. I am ashamed to say though that since May, I've been so meh about my hair and I only baggy once in a blue moon. Not something I'd advice anyone to do. I do dust religiously though. Every 8 weeks per my phone calendar.

I don't put conditioner on my scalp although it may get there when I'm washing it out and I try to focus the shampoo mostly on my scalp to cleanse.

 

[sheanu]

OK in this case I think I should do a trim on the weekend when I put in the twists. Thanks for all of your advice!

 

[AllTooWell]

This is a useful thread as I'm trying to figure out a regimen.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

This is my current regimen