SilkenDove: baggying

Showing posts with label baggying. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

11 Essential Tools For Your Hair Toolbox Part 2

As promised, here is part 2 of my essential tools list:

Spray Bottle - I have several of different sizes and misting capabilities, but you probably only need 1-2 spray bottles. I use them mainly for my oil/water mix and just plain water.

Trimming shears - You should have a pair of hair shears to get rid of split ends and single strand knots, even if you don’t trim your hair regularly. I have a pair of Conair shears that I love. Do not use these shears for anything but your hair, and replace them as soon as they start to become dull.

Disposable Shower Caps or Plastic Shopping Bags - If you deep condition, which you should, or if you do the green house method, then plastic caps or shopping bags are essential. Personally, shower caps are so cheap that I just buy them. I do re-use each one a few times before throwing it away.

Mircofiber Towel or T-shirts - If you haven’t heard by now, let me be the first to tell you that you should not be using regular towels to dry your hair. Regular towels rough up your strands and create frizz. Use a microfiber towel or old T-shirts. I do both. The microfiber towel does a better job of jump starting the drying process for my low porosity hair, but the T-shirt works well too.

Satin Hair Coverings - I have satin straight scarves, a large satin hooded scarf, a satin wrap to keep my buns neat for days, satin pillowcases, and a satin bonnet. You do not need all of these things, but you do need at least one method of protecting your strands while you sleep. My large stain hooded scarf is my favorite, but it sometimes slides, so I always sleep with a satin pillowcase. Do not go cheap on your hair covering or you might as well not bother. Most of the generic beauty supply scarves are not enough to keep cotton from sucking the moisture out of your hair. If you can see through it or your fingers catch on the fabric, it won’t cut it. Wait for a good Black Friday sale, and get a double-lined satin/charmeuse scarf. I haven’t purchased any of her products due to price, but Eboni of EboniCurls has a good Youtube video on this. As I mentioned in my last Black Friday haul, I purchased my hair bonnet from BonBons Cheveux Boutique. I purchased my roomy hooded scarf from Crystal's Coifs, but it appears that it is no longer in business. Most of my pillowcases are the Betty Dain brand, which is reasonably priced.

What are some of your essential hair tools? Let me know if you think I missed something!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

My Personal Baggy Challenge

Because of my hair's low porosity, it is really difficult to get moisture into my hair. My hair was feeling a little dry, so I decided to give it a moisture boost. Thus, this week, I decided to use my homemade oil/water spritz to do a personal baggy challenge.

As part of my challenge, I did my usual wash regimen, then I flat twisted my hair with Bee Mine's Bee-u-ti-ful deep conditioner. Every night, I spritzed my hair with my oil/water mix, then I put on a plastic shower cap and tied it down with a satin scarf. In the morning, I took the plastic cap off to let my hair breathe during the day. I baggied nightly for four days, and my hair feels wonderful.

The basic idea of the baggy method is similar to a greenhouse. The moisture is trapped in the bag, and has no place to go but into your hair. Further, because of the body heat that is also trapped in the bag, it makes it that much easier for the hair to absorb the moisture. You can do a whole head baggy with a shower cap, grocery bag, or saran wrap. There is also the option of baggying just one section using a sandwich bag or saran wrap. However, while the baggy method can be great for moisture, as with anything else, you have to listen to your hair to make sure that you don't overmoisturize it or irritate your scalp.