Embracing Your Textured Hair: 90 Days of Guided Textured Hair Care with a Professional Stylist
Hair Diary,
I've known it for a while now, but I wasn't sure my community would commit to it. Felling confident and loving your textured requires a level of dedication, a level of commitment. Time, energy, effort and money are the cost, are they willing to invest?
The truth is, in my almost 11 years of being a certified cosmetologist, I have observed who gets results and who does not. It's not about how bad you want it, or how loudly your scream in frustration that a miracle will happen and you figure it out. Success comes to those who listen to experience. Experience says textured hair requires devotion for at least 90 days with the support of a knowledgeable textured Hair Care Provider. The path is one of self-discovery that evolves into self-love and further into self-trust.
Start with Proof
Vivian Olodun is holistically successful in life (IMO), we crossed paths in early 2024. She has the most easy-going personality paired with the grit necessary to endure, two characteristics required for textured hair deep work. She would commit. Vivian has run a successful company for 8 years, Flourish Media. Her work has given her the unique lens that women need support in funding their business. Flourish media has a sister non-profit, Behind the Leaf, which is how we met at one of their events. She has heart. A wife and mother of two beautiful girls, textured hair care is gift she can give to them, a part of their inheritance. She is ideal. A woman committed to bettering her best, the secret sauce of a successful life.
My intentions for our partnership are
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For you to gain a thorough understand your textured hair and how to embrace it
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For me to offered tailored advice and support as you meet challenges along the way
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For us to document your journey as proof for women to see what the path looks like
I want you be honest at every step of the way about your experience- what you learn, what feels easy, what is challenging, what you prefer, what you desire to try. I want this to feel guided and supportive rather than transactional. It's a gift, new skills of caring for your textured hair, that I want you to embrace and pass on to your girls.
Let's begin this hair discovery together. Here is what you can expect.
Week 1-2: Understanding Your Hair’s Unique Needs
- Initial Consultation and Hair Care Session:
A Pre-Consult allows me to prepare for the actual consultation. Getting clarity on her hair goals and existing routines etc, allows me to prepare a hair care path that aligns with her lifestyle. Next, we meet, an in-person consultation. We assess your hair at the chair, in its dry state. Personalized analysis in common areas- your hair's texture, density, elasticity, scalp health, strand health, porosity, etc. Wet Analysis is equally important. I observe how your hair responds to three key types of shampoos, its ability to absorb moisture and how it feels when nourished with protein. These key indicators are the foundation of your Hair Care Profile. A few factors are constant throughout life while others are variable. The variables are what we tweak to get your hair to its optimal health. Those are the leavers we will be exploring in the upcoming weeks.
- Common Experiences of Textured Hair:
One can often experience a combination of issues such as dryness, breakage, and tangling, which can affect the everyday experience. These are coded messages that the hair is sending to let you know what it needs. In partnership with a textured hair care provider these messages can be decoded in real time, which allows for a swifter transformation.
Hair Care Sessions are designed to give your hair the nourishment it needs while being a safe space for insight to be transferred. The frequency of every two weeks allows for communication to happen as it unfolds. Its an ongoing conversation between you and your textured hair stylist about observations you have at home as well as making micro adjustments to the variable levers from your hair analysis. Honoring the suggested dates for professional visits are crucial to success.
Week 3-4: Product Testing and Selection
- Guided Product Testing:
The first hair care session is diagnostic, the feedback you give over the next two weeks will inform the product and technique adjustment for the next session. If you hair is fine, and porosity is low the product used must be easily absorbed, having a water base while not being heavy to weigh down your hair. The first series of moisturizers used can give the moisture deposit but leave a residue. This insight when shared confirms that the cream moisturizer needs to change but maintain the others.
- Essential Products for Textured Hair:
Product testing happens over time, we begin with the best combination then alter as we go. The main categories are:
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Shampoo - cleansing, balancing, moisturizing
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Conditioner/ Treatment - moisturizing + protein cocktail
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Wet Care - liquid, water based moisturizer, oil based moisturizer
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Styling/Defining - mousse, gel
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Finishing - hair spray, serum, oil
Additional products that will be added based on analysis will be scalp care, pre-fill treatments, herbal baths etc. Home Care products will support the hair's needs, while products used within the hair care session will do the professional heavy lifting.
Week 5-6: Exploring New Hairstyles
Personal Style Curation:
Next is deciding on the styles that feel truest to you. For inspiration and clarity my go to support is Pinterest. They have curated the journey of ideation to execution best. Choose hairstyles that complement your lifestyle and aesthetic preferences, ensuring you feel confident and comfortable.
Everyday Styles for Hair Health:
The everyday hairstyle is your go to, it's easy for you to do and maintain. It must support your hair's health by minimizing damage and encouraging hair growth. It can look like your hair rotating between a loose ponytail to a twist out that is re set and last a 5-7 day moisture cycle. I like to solidify three main looks so it maintains diversity and avoids the damage that a single look can cause from tension etc.
- Experimenting with Supportive Styles:
We select 8 different looks that you like, desire to try and is achievable with your hair texture, length etc. These looks will inform which types of hair extensions we invest in and how we customize them to your preference. I deeply enjoy this part as we get to play and explore in curiosity what hairstyles work best for you. This segment is used to stretch you in areas that may seem unattainable; exploring hair color, altering texture, discovering braids, twists and updos that offer versatility.
Week 7-8: Discovering At-Home Routines
Assumptions are made that people are aware of how to perform home hair care routines. The truth is, you got whatever your mom or grandmom thought you or what you saw on YouTube. Refinement for success is necessary. At 7 weeks we have your products solidified and looks are ongoing, its time for building your at home skills. Aside from our look and learn demos in the air care session, we can do 1 on 1 trainings. We select a look that you want to recreate at home and I train you on how to do it. Step by step with guided instruction, you execute it in the salon, so you can duplicate it at home.
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How to have a successful 'wash day'
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Moisturizing for Results
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Perfecting my favorite style
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How to install my extensions at home
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How to handle heat: using hot tools to flat iron or curl my hair
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Roller set Success
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Curl Formation - flexi rod, perm rods, twist outs etc
Hair Care at home requires skills. These skills are taught in a safe, one on one experience for you to be guided and questions asked in privacy.
Week 9-12: Building a Pro Hair Care Schedule
- Developing a Long-Term Hair Care Plan:
You've become a master of your hair at this point. The confidence is high, the results are repeatable, its time to develop your long term hair care support. We adjust your frequency of visits to accommodate your lifestyle needs and incorporate your at home skills to support the in between salon visits. A sustainable hair care schedule with your textured hair stylist includes regular upkeep and preventive measures.
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Plan for regular trims and treatments to prevent split ends and maintain overall hair health
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Adjust your hair care routine based on weather conditions to protect and nourish your hair year-round.
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Set new hair goals such as improved growth, enhanced moisture retention, and overall health to keep you motivated and focused.
Reflecting on the 90-day Journey
The transformation and progress of your textured hair over 90 days will revolutionize your life, the way you feel about yourself and how you show up in the world. With your newfound knowledge about your hair, products that unlock the vitality of your hair, looks that make you feel like a million bucks, skills to care at home. You are empowered. You are confident. You are in love with yourself. You trust your skills in caring for your hair.
- Ongoing Relationship with Your Stylist:
You've found your person; they know your hair and can assist with any future challenges. There is mutual trust, respect and admiration. The partnership is solidified. This support is ongoing with your textured hairstylist for continued hair care and check-ins.
- Share Your Experience:
There are many women just like you, looking for support. Your textured hair stylist loves her work, connect the community. The more women supported is the more radiant we will be as a unit. They can begin in a consultation just like you did. Join the conversation, Hair Talk with ShimiliaB is one a many podcast that are curated for women with textured hair. Listen in to other women's experiences, the state of the industry as it pertains to us and add value. After all you are now PROOF of when Textured Hair is Embraced.
Yours faithfully,
ShimiliaB.
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