Reader Q: How Do You Do Your Tea Rinses?

For both tea and coffee rinses, I boil water and pour it over whatever tea bags I'm using or coffee (I use instant coffee) I have in a mason jar. To make my life easier, I use my Black & Decker Brew 'n Go. The process is pictured here.

After letting the tea steep/coffee cool, I transfer the liquid to the bowl I'm holding below. After I shampoo, I take the pitcher... and before anyone starts thinking my bowl and pitcher are dirty lol, they're not. They're stained from using them for tea rinses and now coffee rinses, week after week for months. So after I shampoo, I tuck my hair into the pitcher and slowly pour either the tea or coffee over my hair and scalp. The pitcher catches the run off liquid. Once the bowl is empty, I squeeze out the excess liquid from my hair into the pitcher, pour it into the bowl and repeat the whole pour/catch process 2 more times. I rinse my hair with water once the tea/coffee stops dripping from my hair.

Product Review: Silk Dreams Go Moist Shampoo

Price: $8.00 for 8 oz bottle

Purchased At: www.silkdreamshaircare.com

Promises: "Go Moist will make your hair say WOW! This lauryl/laureth sulfate free shampoo delivers a perfect, mild, cleansing that won't strip your hair. This shampoo delivers manageability, moisture, and protein and moisture binding properties to your hair. Go Moist sets your hair up for optimal conditioning results whether you follow with a moisturizing conditioner, protein conditioner, or something in between. Go Moist today!"

Directions: Apply to wet hair. Smooth down the hair shaft to create a moisturizing lather. Rinse and condition.

Ingredients: Water, Sodium Myreth Sulfate, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide MEA, Sodium Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid, Lactic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Polyquaternium 10, Glycol Distearate, Triticum vulgare (Wheat Germ) Oil, Beta vulgaris (Beet) Sugar Extract, Olive Oil PEG 7 Esters, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Panthenol, Polyquaternium-7 Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid, Urea, Yeast Extract, Fragrance

My Assessment: This is the first cleanser I've tried by Silk Dreams and I was most drawn to it for its claim to set up my hair for optimal conditional results. On wash days I always have oil on my scalp and either oil or conditioner on the length of my hair, and even with my hair heavily coated, this shampoo still successfully cleanses my hair and lathers up well. It does a good job of loosening tangles, making it easy to work my fingers through my hair to massage my scalp which I appreciate when it comes to making sure my scalp is cleansed while not tangling my new growth. After rinsing out the shampoo, it doesn't really feel like I've just shampooed my hair - in a good way. My hair feels as though I just applied a cleansing conditioner to it.

A few weeks ago I realized that I had an applicator nozzle that fit perfectly on the bottle. Because of its consistency (think of nice hand soap consistency), it was  easy to dispense from an applicator nozzle, making it even easier to apply the shampoo directly to my scalp.

Overall, it's a nice moisturizing shampoo that softens, detangles, cleans hair and does live up to its claim that it sets up for optimal conditioning results. It's a keeper for me.

Hair Story Feature: Meet Courtnea2001

Hi all, meet Courtnea2001, our first hair story feature!

Your hair is?... Relaxed (this includes texlaxed)

When and why did you start your hair journey?
I originally started my hair journey in 2007. However in 2011 I suffered a major setback after removing a set of braids and not detangling properly prior to washing. My hair became matted and I experienced an extreme amout of breakage. In August 2012 I cut my hair and officially restarted my hair journey.

What is your current regimen?
I wash my hair twice a week and deep condition every wash. I alternate each wash day between a moisturizing DC and a light protein DC. I use a sulfate free cleansing conditioner (Hair One) and only clarify once a month. I moisturize and seal my hair 1-2 times a day and wear protective styles mostly during the week. I get my hair professionally relaxed every 8-10 weeks with the Mizani Butter Blend Sensitive Scalp relaxer and trim every 4 months.

Do you have any hair goals? Have you achieved them? How did you achieve them? How are you working to achieve them?
My current hair goal is to reach APL (arm pit length) by August 2013. My ultimate goal is reach anywhere between BSL (bra strap length) and MBL (mid back length). I hope to reach BSL by August 2014. I am
working to achieve my hair goals by remaining consistent with my regimen and sticking with products that I know work for my hair. I've also found an amazing hair stylist who's all about healthy hair and is helping me to maintain the health of my hair.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your journey? 
I wish I knew that I didn't have to jump on every bandwagon out there and that just because a technique or product is great for one person's hair doesn't mean that it will work for mine! I also wish I knew that keeping my regimen consistent and simple are key ingredients to being successful and reaching my hair goals. More importantly I wish I understood when I first started that my hair will not grow down my back overnight...even though some days I still wish it would!

What are your favorite protective styles?
My favorite protective style is just a plain ol' bun that I like to jazz up from time to time with cute hair accessories such as flowers. In the winter time I also enjoy wearing cute winter hats with a pin curled bang.

What do you love most about your hair?
I love my hair's thickness and softness. Before I started my hair journey I never thought I could achieve soft hair at home!

How do you deal with people who doubt you? What motivates you to keep going?
I allow people's doubt to fuel my motivation to reach my goals. I don't expect everybody to believe that I can achieve long healthy hair and I'm okay with that. My mom, dad, boyfriend, and the hair community

(bloggers & youtubers) keep me motivated. Whenever I need a little inspiration I can always find it there. Also my length progress pictures keep me motivated when I feel like I'm not making any progress.

What is the funniest or strangest hair related experience you've ever had?
My funniest experience was when I first started my hair journey and would spend hours doing 20 different things to my hair. My mom would just shake her head and say 'I don't understand how or why you do all of that!' Fast forward a few years later and I have her on a hair regimen of her own!

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Courtnea2001, thank you for sharing your hair story with us! Don't you just love how thick and shiny Courtnea2001's hair is?! I love her idea of wearing pin curled bangs with winter hats. It's definitely something I'm looking forward to trying once Fall and Winter hit. Check out her blog 'Finally Growing' at www.courtnea2001.blogspot.com.

Video: How I Detangle

Wash Day

(1) Pre-pooed overnight with coconut oil.
(2) Shampooed with Silk Dreams Hair Care Go Moist Shampoo.
(3) Coffee rinse.
(4) Applied Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment for 5 minutes then rinsed.
(5) Wrapped my hair in a towel for 15 minutes to soak up the water from my hair. Deep conditioned with my steamer using Silk Dreams' Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream conditioner.
(6) Wrapped my hair in a towel for about 30 minutes. When my hair was about 70% dry, I applied my leave ins: Darcy's Botanicals Daily Leave-In and KeraPRO Anti-Frizz Serum.
(7) After detangling, I applied aloe vera gel to my edges, tied my edges with a silk scarf and let my hair air dry.

The next day, I went with a simple bun. I recorded how I detangled my hair - it'll be up tomorrow. I'm currently 10 weeks post and normally I would have relaxed my hair this week but I've realized that because I mentally committed to extending my stretch weeks ago, when week 10 rolled around it didn't feel like week 10... if that makes sense.

My new growth has created a sort of pillow on my head. In the pictures above, I was able to push in  the hair at the top of my a good half inch before I hit my scalp. My boyfriend teases me by saying my hair makes my big head even bigger... such a loving man lol. I always deny it but when I have to push in just to feel my scalp, it seems he has a point. And when he read this I'm going to deny I ever meant what I just wrote.

For the week, moisture and low manipulation will be my best friends until my next wash. I'm hoping to stretch until my birthday in mid-September. Yikes.