Hair

Conditioner as a Moisturizing Styling Aid Part II

A few weeks ago, I tried the conditioner leave-in method as advocated by Teri, the author of Tightlycurly.com (To get the full scoop regarding my first attempt, see Conditioner as a Moisturizing Styling Aid?). Although I didn't get the results I was hoping for, I stated in my initial post that I would be trying the conditioner leave-in method again. This time however, I did seal in the moisture using my Vitamin E oil by African Angel. Here's what I did in detail:

Step 1: I washed and conditioned my hair with my Garnier Fructis Moisture Works shampoo and conditioner (Since one of my divas, Nicci, hipped me to the fact that Garnier Fructis, which is actually owned by L'Oreal, has been found guilty of racial discrimination, I will no longer be purchasing this product. I'm just finishing up the bottles I own. For the full story, see "French cosmetics giant L'Oréal guilty of racial discrimination").

Step 2: I divided my hair into four sections and applied a small amount of my Totally Twisted Curls and Waves Conditioner by Herbal Essences to each section. I then combed through each section to ensure that the product was evenly distributed.

Step 3: I added a small amount of Vitamin E oil by African Angel to each section and combed through.

Step 4: I did my Tombraider Ponytail and allowed my hair to air dry for a few hours.
Step 5: I took down my Tombraider Ponytail so that my hair could continue to air dry.
Step 6: Once dry, I applied a little more of the conditioner and the oil to my hair, then created five plaits as I normally do for my braidouts.
Step 7: I noticed that with these products, the ends of my hair would not stay braided. Normally when I do my braidouts with coconut oil (See My Braidout Updated), I don't have to put anything on the ends to keep them together, but this time I had to secure the ends with my Ouchless bands.
Step 8: I wrapped my hair in a satin bonnet, went to bed, then took the braids down the next day. My hair was lacking the sheen I love when I first took the braids down, so I sprayed them with some of my oil sheen by Soft & Beautiful, and this is what I got:
Although I was happy with the results (You'll see more of it in my Simple Tan & Brown makeup post), I'm still not totally sold on this method. Even after sealing with the oil, my hair dried out the following day. I didn't bother reapplying the conditioner or the oil because for one, my hair was looking a hot mess! I sweated it out dancing the night I wore my braidout, so the sweat may have also contributed to the dryness. Either way, I was worn out and didn't feel like doing anything to my hair, including combing it. I may still play around with other conditioner formulas to see if there is one out there that works better than the Herbal Essences, but for now I'm just going to go back to my tried and trues!