Hey everybody! It’s hump day! My wash day on Saturday and Sunday was one of discovery, finally getting my hair feeling moisturised and a failed perm rod set – booooo! I love perm rod sets but they seemingly don’t love me back sometimes. I am not a quitter though, I will persevere.
Discovery
I found the culprit of my oily hair after last week’s shampooing – the shampoo that I am currently using contains pracaxi and mongongo oil. Honestly, when I bought this shampoo I did not read the ingredients properly because I know that products from The Body Shop are gentle on the hair and do not contain any harsh products. So anyway, the oiliness disappears after I have done my instant conditioning step. The previous shampoo I used from The Body Shop also had oils in it, but it never caused the oil slick that I experienced with this one. I am going to try using a small quantity on my next wash day and see how that works out. If my hair is still oily, I will have to go back to using Aunt Jackie’s Oh So Clean Moisturising and Softening Shampoo.
Bringing moisture back
After my last wash day, I felt like my hair still did not have the right moisture levels, so I had to do another moisture focused wash day. Here is what went down…
- Prepoo Coconut Oil for around 1 hour with no heat
- Shampoo The Body Shop Rainforest Moisture Shampoo
- Instant Conditioner Watsons Repairing Treatment Conditioner with Honey – which I finished *whoop whoop*
- Deep Conditioner Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Ultra Noourishing Deep Conditioner Repairing Mask – I had 2 sachets of this product that I bought at my fave hair shop. I added a dash of castor oil to the DC
- Leave In Conditioner ElastaQP Olive Oil & Mango Butter Leave-In Conditioner – I like this product. I noticed last week that my hair still slightly smelled of mango 3 days after my wash day. I thought the scent had disappeared but clearly not.
- Moisturising and Sealing Afrobotanics Conditioning Moisturiser and Shea Butter. Shea butter is everything! I used it to seal my hair during the week and my new growth responded so well to it
The quest to bring moisture into my hair has worked, it still feels moisturised 3 days after the wash. *fist pump*
Perm rod set
After moisturising and sealing my hair – I sprayed it a bit with some water and applied Schwarzkopf Smooth ‘n Shine Conditioning Foam Wrap. I then started putting in the perm rods in small sections of hair. I detangled the hair and applied some of the Easy Waves Smooth & Shiny Edge Tamer, this process took me 45 minutes. I sat under my soft bonnet dryer for about 1 hour to dry the hair. 
This was my hair looked like after taking out the perm rods. I separated the curls while I had some coconut oil on my hands to add that extra shine. Here is where it all went wrong, I decided to leave the house and I got caught it some light drizzle and a strong wind. So by the time I got back home, you can just imagine that my curls weren’t so bouncy anymore and some had fallen. I stretched out the curls to make a wavy look and over the past few days I’ve been wearing my hair like that.
*just a note, I have been snipping of my ends at nearly every wash day that coupled with the damage that my last protective style caused on my ends… My hair is getting shorter and shorter through this transition.
Lol. We both did perm rods this wash day. How many rods did you use? I saw a marked improvement when I used more rods. Also, you may want to try twisting your hair as you roll the rod up. I tried it for some of my rods and it really helped stretch and blend the new growth.
How long did it take you to do? How long did the curls last?
Thanks for the tips Uzo, I used about 30 rods I think, I will try the twisting next time.
Installation took me 45 minutes, the curls didn’t last long cos I got caught in rain 🙁
Your new growth is looking delicious madame!!! I can see it through the curls!
Yaay on the moisture success
I am also so excited about my new growth! I love it more than my other textures now.
Okay, I love the natural hair peeping out! I tried getting some curl going with a roller set (because that’s all I own so far) but they fell and I ended up rocking an updo. Anyway, would you say perm rods are better than flexi rods? I want to buy some so I need to decide which to get first #studentlife
I have flexi rods as well, but I have struggled to use them, I just can’s install them right, they end up coming off. So I prefer perm rods. Try buying the newer version with the caps at the end. I have the very old school ones and they can be a bit rough on the hair.
Nice results! Your perm rods came out well. I should try using a styling foam when next I try perm rods.
Thanks Joie!
Hi Lungi,
I sent you an email.
Turned out nice. Seems you’re transitioning to natural. How long do you plan to stretch? By the way, I nominated you for a Sisterhood world bloggers award, plz kindly check it out on my blog.
modhancrochet.blogspot.com
Where did you get the perm rods? Im looking for the orange ones or a bigger size
I got them from Arrow Cash and Carry in Durban, but this was nearly 5 years ago. I don’t know if they still have them in stock