So this last week started out as usual: wash with castile soap, tone with ACV, mask on Friday morning then follow it all up with the beauty fluid moisturizer.  I didn’t double wash this week on Monday like I’d mentioned in last week’s update, but since I wore makeup on Wednesday I did add a nightly wash to the regimen.

I don’t have any pictures this week because not too much has changed with my skin from last week.  Still experienced the drying and stinging with the ACV and still dealing with the “large” pores on my cheeks, but my skin and complexion are both smooth and even so that’s a good thing.

Because I got my order in from Pegasus Soaps Friday afternoon and didn’t wash the light makeup I had on (hey… I was tired as all get out and an evening nap turned into an all night sleep *lol*), I decided to wash my face on Saturday morning using one of my new toners.  I used the chamomile bergamot after my cleansing and I am happy to report there is absosmurfly no stinging.  The toner is cool and gentle on the skin and has a very delightful fragrance to it.  Once the toner dried I did feel a little bit of tightness, which is normal for toner, but I DID NOT have to apply the beauty fluid to combat any dryness!  You read that right, there was no dryness at all, not even on my cheeks!  You know I’m loving this, right?  Now I’m not sure whether to stick with the chamomile bergamot tomorrow or switch to the lavender tea tree to see how it works, but I do know I’ve found a natural toner brand that I’m going to stick with from here on out!  Thank you again, Michelle, for such great product.

Water-wise… Uh… I’m still not reaching my daily goal of 62 oz., but my intake has increased from what it normally is. Because I do not like the “taste” of water I think I will have to invest in those flavour packet thingies in order to get my proper intake in.

So there it is.  Week three down and one more to go.  I’m not sure how long Veronica over at My Natural Me is going to take her updates but since there’s not much further for me to go with mine I’m going to cut with the weekly updates and switch to monthly.  Of course the skin care regimen will go on since I know healthy skin maintenance is ongoing just like with cultivating natural hair.

How are you coming along with your progress?  I’d love to hear your progress by comment here or via Email at amichelle@journeyback2me.com.

Healthy Hair (and skin) Wishes,

Here we are at the end of week two and seriously I am LOVING this cowash thing!  Seriously, my hair has not been this fabulous since… Well, since birth, I suspect. *lol*  It is lush and full, it is SOFT, it is well moisturized and it has a glorious sheen to it. And coils?  Fuggedaboutit!  As you can see from last week’s pictures, the curls were on and popping!  Of course there’s still the “over” oiliness that comes with me having used so much oil in my conditioner recipe, but by that evening it had soaked in nicely.  The upside to using the amount of oil I used is that during the week, since I was rocking two strands, I don’t have apply any extra moisturizing product.  Gotta love that.

As an experiment, I decided to cowash The Lion‘s hair to see if I could duplicate my results and you know what?  GLO-RI-OUS!

I often have an issue with getting his fro to form perfectly, but after the cowash this was not a problem at all.  And to revive the shape after he’s slept on it all night?  Simply spritz with water, finger pick, and he’s back looking like he just stepped out of a 70s Blaxplotation flick. *lol*  So I’m loving this regimen all the way around!  Of course, because he’s a guy he kanye shrugged the whole process, but I was ecstatic.

Okay, back to me. *lol* As for differences in the condition of my hair and scalp, my hair does feel stronger, smoother and my ends less ragged.  Scalp-wise, I suffered from extreme itchy scalp for awhile — possibly due to the many years of relaxer exposure — and after two weeks of just cowashing the itch has lessened a whoooooooooooole lot.  This may also be due to the fact that my scalp is no longer being “stripped” of its oils by shampoos and the oils I use are encouraging sebum production.  I’m not a cosmetologist or dermatologist so I’m only guessing, but the difference is noticeable.  There’s also less flaking going on which is wonderful on many levels.

As for the twist/twist out part of the challenge, I twisted my hair shortly after my last update and kept them in until it was time to cowash again (I was really unwilling to take them down so soon but wanted to keep up with the process), and rocked the twist out to work.  No comments from coworkers but I was pleased with the results (the top pic is the result, which isn’t much different than last week… I need to get some new accessories. *lol*) This coming week I will probably only leave the twists in over the weekend and wear a twist out the rest of the week to see what the response is.

So there it is.  Going into week three and I’m really having a grand old time with this challenge.  Five more weeks to go, and possibly a trim come week four.  I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Whether you are doing just the cowash part or engaging in the full monty I’d love to hear your results here in the comment, via twitter at @jb2me or via Email at amichelle@journeyback2me.com.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Well isn’t that a sight for sore eyes?  No?  Ah well, moving on. *lol*

Picking up where I left off last week, I started using the Kirk’s Fragrance Free Original Coco Castile Soap to wash my face in place of the Dollar General Oil Free Apricot Scrub, and I really like how “clean” it gets my skin.  The only draw back is, it is slightly drying in tandem with the ACV toner, which made it necessary to use the “Beauty Fluid” moisturizer.  No real worries there, though.  Since I only wash my face every other day (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays unless I plan to wear makeup) I did not have to use the moisturizer too much during the week so that’s good.

Difference in between my skin with the castile soap and the apricot scrub?  Well, those dry cheek patches are noticeably smoother now, even in between washes.  I think maybe the scrub was too abrasive on my cheeks to use as often as I did (like duh).  The soap provides a real mild clean and foams really, really well even with our “hard” water ( I use quotes because I wash with warm water, and hot water is a tad bit softer than cold).  The soap also works well with my seaweed mask, which I use on Fridays, giving my skin a good balance of surface and deep cleaning.

Complexion wise I am noticing my skin tone evening out a bit, whereas I had a few discolourations here and there due to past blemishes:

One discovery I made during this week is I have rather “large” pores on my cheeks as compared to pores on other areas of my face, something I never really noticed before (from what I’ve been reading they come with age).  Now I’m not sure if it’s the large pores that are making that area of my face drier than other or visa versa, but I have noticed they are diminished in appearance with regular use my seaweed mask.  Yaaaaaaaay seaweed mask!

As for the ACV toner, while it’s a natural wunderkind with removing an excess cleanser from my face and tightening my pores, it leaves a “too tight” feeling to my skin and actually stings my cheeks horrible.  Also… the smell leaves a lot to be desired.  So in theory, it is an excellent toner but I think I’m going to stop using it after this week.

So there we have week two.  A whole lot more diligent on the regimen, and a slight increase in my water intake although it’s not nearly as much as I should be drinking. *smacks hands with ruler* I ordered two 2 oz. bottles of Lavender Tea Tree and Chamomile Bergamot facial toners from Pegasus Soaps to see if they work better for me than the ACV.  I’m also flirting with the idea of making my own apricot face scrub if I can find the right recipe.  Since I start both work and school next week I more than likely will be up’ing my regimen to twice every other day (once in the morning and once when I come home from class), but I guess that will depend on what I’m actually exposed to during the day.

How are you coming along with your challenge?  If you haven’t started yet it’s not too late to jump in.  A good facial should be a part of every beauty regimen in addition to your hair routine.    If you also have taken up the challenge, or deciding to do so now, I’d love to hear your progress by comment here or via Email at amichelle@journeyback2me.com.

Healthy Hair (and skin) Wishes,

Well here I am at the beginning of week two of my challenge and let me tell you… I am in LOVE with my results!  Well… on the co-wash side, since I have yet to twist my hair (which I’m scheduled to do tonight… I think. *lol*) because I loved my washout outcome so much.

It has been a week since I started this challenge and honestly, I have to say the results have been remarkable.  I’ve often heard many people say that co-washes leave their hair feeling greasy and unclean I have not had that experience so far.  For me, my hair feels cleaner than when I used shampoo, if that’s possible!  This might be because I use a homemade conditioner that incorporates four different oils and shea butter so I did not have to add add extra oil for moisture once my hair dried, or it might be the ACV rinse and tepid water rinse. *kanye shrug*  Either way, my hair was lush, full of body and ever so moisture rich without feeling heavy.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to shampoo for cleansing again!  Okay so, not really but the results are to be desired.

After the final rinse my coils were well defined, soft and full of life.  Since I detangled while the I “washed” I came away with absolutely no kinks whatsoever.  The above picture is of my crown while partially damp, full and fluffy and coily.   Even after my hair dried my kinks were minimal and my hair was still soft.  Here’s a closer view:

Note: Admittedly, while my hair was wet my hair was oily to the touch, which isn’t a big thing for me since I work from home (for the moment) and can allow it to soak in as my hair air dries.  This can be avoided by decreasing the amount of oils used or eliminating the shea butter.  The excess oil soaked into my hair by the next day, leaving behind a nice sheen and accounting for the soft, supple feel of my hair.

Scalp wise, I did not experience the same amount of buildup or dryness as I had when using my usual Garnier shampoo and conditioner duo.  This seemed kind of odd to me since the co-washing process doesn’t leave hair “product free” like shampoo is supposed to.  I guess this could be due to there being no chemical preservatives in my conditioner of choice. *kanye shrug reloaded*

Since I wore a wash out for the entire first week the one thing that was a constant concern was shrinkage and how to refresh my style after sleeping on it all night.  Well all it took to pop my style back into effect was a few spritzes of water from my trusty spray bottle and a few run-throughs of my fingers and I was good to go.  The water worked to reactivate the oils already in my hair thanks to the conditioner, so extra added products were not necessary, although I did use a bit of Going-Natural’s Silky Shea-Aloe Butter that I won from Afroglitz Mag‘s giveaway a couple weeks ago to “smooth” my edges (Thanks again!).  This was my week-long style, in a nutshell:

So in conclusion, I am loving the challenge so far and how it leaves my hair feeling nourished and full and curly. I also love the fact that I did not have to use additional products to keep my hair from feeling dry in the week between washing and it has improved my washout success!  I haven’t noticed any growth or strength differences as yet, but I’m sure that won’t be noticeable until at least update four.

Did you take up the challenge too?  Whether you are doing just the cowash part or engaging in the full monty I’d love to hear your results here in the comment, via twitter at @jb2me or via Email at amichelle@journeyback2me.com.  Maybe next week I’ll have more on the twist/twist out side of the challenge to speak of. *lol*

**ADDENDUM**

I actually twisted my hair!!!

Okay so, they aren’t much to speak of since I wear them wrapped up most of the time, but at least I did get that part of the challenge met this week. *lol*

Healthy Hair Wishes,

So last Sunday I embarked on a skin care challenge inspired by Veronica of the My Natural Me Beauty Blog, and was whole heartedly excited about getting into the thick of it, the week proved to be a bit too busy so I didn’t get started until Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon I began my regimen with a cleansing scrub using my apricot scrub which left my skin feel ever so luxurious.  Once that was done I applied my kelp mud mask and allowed it to set for a half hour.  Since the directions for the mask instruct me to wait at least an hour before applying toner or moisturizer, I allowed my skin to air dry and set about co-washing my hair.  What’s amazing is, by the time I was done with my hair I found I didn’t need to apply my astringent or moisturizer to complete my facial.  My skin was properly hydrated and exfoliated and my natural oils were popping like Lil Mama’s lip gloss so the dry patches I “complained” about were minimal.  There wasn’t even a cause to apply moisturizer on Friday either, which would be my “off” day per my usual routine anyway.  Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of the before or after, but there really wasn’t much difference from the image in my initial challenge entry.

Yesterday morning, because I had a meetup event to attend, I washed with my apricot scrub but left the astringent out of these equation because I didn’t want to dry my skin (I find that the warmer the weather becomes the less I need to use toner, especially since my astringent of choice contains alcohol) but applied very little of the “beauty fluid” since I was planing to wear a bit of make up to the event.  The above picture was yesterday’s results.

NOTE: I do not wear foundation, just a triple shadow, mascara and eyeliner, blush and neutral lipstick.  I also keep my colours on the “earth tone” side.  And while I admit the picture is a bit “fuzzy”  cause my camera sucks, that is the true complexion of my skin. I’ll be sure to try and take “clearer” pictures in future updates.

Now, with the second facial cycle I am finding that whether I use moisturizer or not, the “cleaner” my skin is the more oily it tends to be.  Mind you, it’s not abundantly oily but it is oily enough for me to notice a few “pimple-like” bumps on my forehead and on my cheeks where the dry patches were (which was pointed out to me by a complete stranger who recommended I get  a “liver flush” ).  So more than likely I am going to have to use toner and moisturizer each and every time I cleanse in order to balance the oils out.  However, I no longer want to use my normal astringent, so I’m considering switching to apple cider vinegar for my toning needs from here on out.

When I reconsidered taking the challenge I took a real hard look at the products I’d committed to using.  Although they had all served me well in the past, I grew more interested in using “natural” products for my facial needs.  With that in mind, in addition to my toner switch, I picked up a bar of Kirk’s Fragrance Free Original Coco Castile Soap and will be using it in place of the commercial apricot scrub to see if it balances my oil production.  The routine will be the same: basic cleanse and tone every other day with an added mask once a week.  I’m not exactly sure what I’ll use for moisture, if it becomes necessary to use it with this regimen, but I want to move away from the “beauty fluid” because it contains a few undesirable ingredients (shea and coco butter prove to leave my skin too greasy).  I guess I’ll report more on that in my next update.

Sad to say, my water intake has been rather low this week, which may also account for the increased oils, so that will be tackled more aggressively in the next week.

So there you have it.  My first week of the challenge wasn’t a total wash-out (pun intended) but I do need to be more diligent with caring for my skin, and drinking water as an overall rule.  I might even consider that liver flush thing at some point in the future. *shrug* Whatever keeps the skin and system in the pink, right?

If you also have taken up the challenge, or deciding to do so now, I’d love to hear your progress by comment here or via Email at amichelle@journeyback2me.com.

Healthy Hair (and skin) Wishes,

Since it seems er’body and their momma is throwing down challenges with their hair and skin care regimens, I figured I’d throw one down too and set a two month co-wash and twist gauntlet for myself. With all the hulabaloo concerning the harshness of commercial products (shampoos in particular), as much as I love my Garnier Fructis Wonder Wave combo (which I do have a review for, later)  I decided to give it a rest for awhile and see how my hair would fair with just homemade products.

Since I’d bought three avocados a couple of weeks ago and didn’t want them to spoil, plus having written so many articles on homemade hair care implements that could be used in place of commercial products, today I whipped up a batch of my favourite avocado-coconut milk conditioner (with a few choice additions) and decided it would be my cleanser/conditioner of choice for the next two months.  The recipe is as follows:

3 avocados

1 1/2 cup of coconut milk

1/4 cup of olive, sweet almond, coconut and grapeseed oils (combined, not each)

1/4 cup of honey

1/2 tsp of shea butter

1/2 tsp of sage

Mash the avocado with a potato masher until the avocado is nice and mushed.  Add to blender or food processor along with the other ingredients and blend until it’s nice and smooth; the consistency of a commercial conditioner.  Slather on hair after a warm (not hot) water rinse, cover with a plastic grocery bag (reduce, reuse, recycle) and allow to sit on hair for one half hour to an hour.  Rinse away with cold or tepid water.

Now you may enlist the aid of a hood dryer to give your hair a deep condition treatment if you like, but it’s not necessary.

Where does the twist part come in?  Well, because I am absosmurfly in L-O-V-E with my twist outs now that my hair is short (can you say curl definition for days), and I’m really concerned with the condition of my ends here lately (they feel horrid because I have not trimmed since my BC) I wanted to work with a protective style consistently for awhile to see if it makes any difference. So today, after I’m done with my leisure conditioning treatment, I am going to two-strand twist my tresses and leave them in until Sunday, then rock a twist out for the time that I’m at my work assignment.  The point of the twist out is, to boost my confidence with wearing my natural hair free of my signature bun wraps which aren’t really “bad” for my hair but do keep me in the state of being “ashamed” of showing my natural hair.

NOTE: I am not ashamed of my hair, just not confident in carrying off certain styles.

So here we go.  Starting today no shampoo just my homemade conditioner and two-strands and twist outs as my style.  Let’s see how long I last.

If you want to take up the challenge just comment on this post, send me a tweet me at @jb2me or email at ammichelle@journeyback2me.com and let me know.  I’m interested to see both your progress and mine.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

I’ve covered my skin care regimen here on JB2M before, but in the time since that post was written I’ve switched up my facial products a bit and become woefully slack in my routine.  Fortunately I have been blessed to not show my age (a family blessing I am very proud of) however because I smoke and am closing in on my 40′s my skin is changing, not adhering to my normal routine has taken it’s toll.  Changes I am finding most evident in my skin are larger pores and dry patches on my cheeks close to my nose, where my skin used to be relatively well balanced:

This change could also be attributed to the fact that unlike Detroit, here in Columbus the water ranges from moderate to very hard (depending on where you are) and dries the skin horribly, something I don’t like one bit.  Well just the other day Veronica of the My Natural Me Beauty Blog threw down a skin care challenge on Twitter and I decided to take it up, and restart my skin care regimen.

My routine doesn’t vary too much from May 2008 with the except of less product and less actual facialing.  Whereas I used to use two different sets of cleansers and masks, now I only use one:

Cleanse & Scrub – Dollar General’s Oil Free Apricot Scrub: Apricots contain curative properties that aid with curing certain skin diseases and reversing the effects of sun damage.

Tone & Condition – Pegasus Soap’s By the Sea Mud Mask: Kelp is a dynamic detoxifier, rich in amino acids, carbohydrates and vitamin A.

Tone & Deep Clean – Family Dollar’s Deep Cleansing Astringent (comparable to Sea Breeze): Constricts the pores and removes the last traces of the scrub and mask.

Hydrate & Moisturize – Dollar General’s Sensitive Skin Beauty Lotion (another obvious Oil of Olay knock-off): Counteracts the drying effects of the astringent.

Because I only use the apricot scrub for cleansing I’ve taken my routine down to ever other day as to not overdo it on the exfoliation tip. I also only use the mask one a week (usually on Sunday), but considering I’m relying on commercial products I may kick that up to twice a week.  These will be my staple products, although throughout the challenge I will be looking for more natural alternatives, such as the ones I’ve tried during early In the Mix Friday posts. Another change in my routine will involve trying to drink a whole lot more water than what is “normal” for me, since just like hair, skin benefits greatly from inner hydration,

So there you have it.  I’m locked in and committed.  I’ll be posting updates of my progress every Sunday, and wish everyone who’s taking the challenge along with V and I great results.

Healthy Hair (and skin) Wishes,