Wash Day July 20, 2014

This wash day was an experiment with ceramide-rich products to see if I could reduce or eliminate the shedding I normally experience when I air dry and roller set as opposed to heat styling my hair. I followed my initial plan for this wash day, only including one additional step. Here is what I did:

1. Shampoo with Mane'N Tail: As planned I skipped the pre-poo step this wash day because of the oil I already had in my hair from the GHE/Inversion challenge I did all week. I split my hair down the middle, lathered one side at a time, then rinsed. To be sure I got out all of the oil I did two lathers.
2. In-shower conditioner: I opted for a quick in shower conditioner using Suave Naturals Almond and Shea Butter Moisturizing conditioner. After ringing the excess water from my hair I applied the conditioner in sections making sure to get my ends and proceeded with normal shower activities. Rinsed after about three minutes. 
3. Deep Conditioner: As planned I used my GVP Joico K-Pak Reconstructor. I sectioned my hair in fours and applied the conditioner from root-to-ends on each section, again concentration on the ends of my hair. I also took special care to use a downward smoothing motion while applying the conditioner, hoping that this would smooth my cuticles. I donned a plastic cap and sat beneath a warm drier for 15 minutes, then rinsed with cool water. 
4. Leave-Ins: In addition to the products I planned to use, I found that Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave-In also contains ceramides to help smooth the cuticles, so I sprayed a generous amount to each section followed by Proclaim Glossing Polish and Ion Pre-Shampoo Oil Treatment to seal.
5. Curlformers: I set my hair on curlformers, using about 1/4' sections - it took a total of 45 minutes and I used 40 curlformers. I sat beneath my hooded drier for 45 minutes.
6. Styling: Once the curls from my set dropped I smoothed my hair into a bun for the week.

Results: While removing the curlformers I noticed a little shedding, but not nearly as many broken hairs as I normally get. I ran my fingers through my hair periodically throughout the rest of the day and although I did experience some light shedding there were no broken hairs. I removed my bun to re-style both Sunday and Monday morning and had zero shedding or breakage.

Ceramides - Shedding - Breakage = Wash day Success!

I am not fond of air dried hair, it just does not look as appealing to me as hair that has been heat styled, but fortunately this month concludes my summer heat-free regimen and I will be back to heat styling on a regular basis.

How was your wash day?