DarkJoy, I do not PS and while my journey is as slow as they come, it's a journey of progress and I think it will work for you.
Since you like glycerin, why not throw away every product you have and get S Curl No Drip Activator and use only that as your moisturizer. When hair is NL, as long as you are starting off with nice healthy ends (which is usually the norm after a BC), your ends are somewhat protected by virtue of being away from your clothes. And if you are OK with styles that involve shrinkage, like puffs, then your ends also kinda tuck into the rest of the hair so get protected. And if you use S Curl and aren't in a dry environment, then you get the same effect of jheri curl days where your hair is smothered in moisture so drying and splitting is less likely to happen.
PSing becomes most important when your hair reaches SL for two reasons:
- Your hair is hitting shoulders so your ends are now in contact with a surface that can cause friction and file them away ripping them into shreds;
- Your ends are so much older and therefore more worn.
So first, if your ends are bad then you will have to get rid of them. No ifs or buts about it, or you'll be at NL next year and the year after. You must throw away the damage if you're to retain healthy hair.
Next, after you get rid of the damage, fall in love with S Curl and baggying. Now you will get lots of shrinkage, but trust me, that's a blessing. Not only will you then get used to having short hair, the day you decide to stretch it w/o product, you'll have the best surprise ever. And I can tell you from my own experience, NOTHING beats that surprise in the HHJ. NOTHING!
You see, right now, you're at NL. You could keep flogging a dead horse trying what hasn't been working...trying protective styling and failing and still be at NL months later. Or you could just go out on a limb and try my regimen:
I shampoo, condition, ACV rinse (<---very dilute solution) my hair twice a week. You can do it once a week if you prefer. After the ACV rinse, you towel dry your hair and apply S Curl so it's easy to comb--if you have somewhere to go. Expect to have the shortest TWA if you do this. If you don't have anywhere to be, braid your hair while damp after washing. (BTW, throughout your wash, comb your hair whenever you have something slippery in it
like this or when water is running through it to remove shed hair--100 hairs is fine so don't panic if you see a lot of hairs; probably means you hadn't been removing them properly. It'll be a lot less next time--and to ensure fully detangled hair.) So yes, you braid your hair as soon as you towel dry while it's damp and let it airdry so it stretches. It should be completely detangled and easy to part for the braids to stretch. Once dry, undo each braid and spray it well with S Curl, comb through and braid it up while you work on another section so it doesn't curl up too much. Once all sections have been moisturized, undo and style. At night just braid it up and baggy. In the morning, take out baggy and let it dry some then undo and comb. No more application of S Curl...but I can tell you, you hair will be nice and soft and easy to manage. It will not be dry as long as you baggy every night. And you will find yourself retaining.
I know you said you hate braiding but our hair does well with low manipulation. My mom doesn't care for long hair but she is following my regimen and wears wigs all the time, and my sis told me her hair is growing nicely. I suppose she'll chop it off coz she likes short hair...but hope my sis can get me a pic before she does.
You need a wig cap and you need to make sure the wig band isn't rubbing against your hairline. (Do all wigs have combs? Can't you wear one w/o? Better yet, how about phony puffs. You cornrow the front and put on phony puff in the back. It'd not be rubbing on your hairline. I wear hats a lot and find that Saran wrap coming down to my forehead and a satin cap help to keep hats from messing up my hairline.
BTW, I think your hair may be at a length where
washing in braids can help. Sounds like a lot of work, but how easy your hair is to deal with afterward is why this attention to keeping tangles at bay is important.