The Vitamin B Experiment

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Three days ago Recently, I've had to start taking a Vitamin B supplement for non-hair reasons (nothing major but let's just chalk it up to the fact that being a girl can suck sometimes). This current development has me thinking. As some of you may know the B vitamins are great for hair growth. In case you forgot, let me tell you what B vitamins do:

Biotin – This vitamin produces keratin that prevents hair loss and hair graying.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)-activates vitamin B3 and vitamin B6

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)- Allows scalp blood circulation.

Vitamin B5 (Panthothenic Acid)-prevents hair loss and graying.

Vitamin B6- prevents hair loss and helps in the formation of melanin to give hair it's color.

Vitamin B12-prevents hair loss

Cool, huh?

Being the scientist I am, I want to do an experiment to see if me taking a Vitamin B supplement has any effect on my hair growth (I'm particularly interested in what Vitamin B3 can do).

So, here's the plan: I will take my Spring Valley Super B-Complex daily for 3 months or until I run out (but I shouldn't run out since certain factors dictate that I need to take them). Each month, I will do a length check to see if there are any drastic differences in hair growth. Hopefully, it will help you guys to decide if you should believe the hype regarding supplements!

Alternatives to Wrapping....

I have to admit. Me and wrapping go waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. I remember when I learned how to wrap my hair. I was a freshman at Norfolk State and up until that point I had never wrapped my hair. In fact, my friends thought that was quite odd (I went to an HBCU). Anyway, they were the ones who taught me how to wrap my hair. Fast forward 7.5 years and I'm still wrapping my hair.


Until now.

The further I get into this hair journey of mine, the more I see how traumatic this whole wrapping thing is for my hair. Simply put, for my hair it is A LOT of manipulation. Every time I wrap/unwrap I have a little more breakage than I'm used to. Quite frankly, I'm tired of seeing it. I just don't feel right doing it on a daily basis when my hair is straightened. This means I need to find alternatives right? Right!

Well so far I just have 2 alternatives (cross wrapping is not one of them...me+cross wrapping= #fail all around):

-Flexi-rods. I dunno why it didn't occur to me eons ago to use them on my dry hair like rollers. Oh well. Better late than never right? I pretty much take the 1 inch flexi-rods (the ones I have are green if you want to go by color) and roll them in my hair. I use a smaller flexirod for my bangs. I'm finding that the 1 inch flexirods provide a nice little "bump" to my ends. All I have to do in the morning is unroll and style. Boom! Done! It's great right? Another benefit of this is that I don't have to use heat on my hair. This is perfect since I just got a trim and if I wanna keep up with the trend of going extremely long periods of time without trimming, I gotta lay off the heat.

In the future, I may try using smaller flexirods to see what kind of look I get from that. For now, however, this will do.

-Pin curling. I've done this once and have been too lazy to try it again. Simply put, pin curling is basically rolling your hair without the roller. Honestly, I'm too lazy to do it. For me, it just seems like a lot of work to do night after night after night....ugh!!

But......

If you want to learn how to do pincurls on your hair, SalonCabelo on YouTube has an awesome pincurling tutorial. Just click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLST3eCHgJ4

Hopefully, throughout the year, I can find more no heat wrapping alternatives but for now, these will do.

Happy Saturday everyone!

A Word About Trimming: How I Handle It

There comes a time in your hair journey where you have to trim your hair (or "get rid of those janky looking ends" as I like to call it). Now, cutting your hair while you are on this growth journey may seem a little counterintuitive. Why would anyone cut hair that they are trying to grow out? Trimming is, believe it or not, an important part of retention and it gives your hair a new, fresh look.

Now some folks may say that you need to trim every 4, 6, or 8 weeks (or as some stylists will tell you--after every relaxer). In my opinion, that is far too frequent. I find that you may have to trim that often if you use heat a lot. Take me for example, I got my hair trimmed today after not having a trim in over a year. Then to top it off, a lot of hair didn't need to be cut off because my ends were in good condition. I attribute this to not using a ton of heat on a daily basis. Anyway, I say all that to say that you decide how often you want to trim. If you want to trim once you meet a hair goal, by all means do so! Don't feel like you have to stick to some hard and fast schedule of trimming.

How do I trim my hair?

Well, I trim my hair 1 of 2 ways. Usually, I will do a "search and destroy" mission through my hair. When I'm sitting in front of the tv, bored, I will grab my shears (you can pick up a good set of hair shears at Sally's for $25. Do NOT use regular old paper cutting scissors. They will jack your hair up!) and just go through my hair looking for splits. When I find a strand with a split, I will cut the split from that strand.

However, I cannot live on search and destroys alone. My hair does have to be trimmed at some point. To do that, I will go to a salon to get it done. Now, some people are coordinated enough to do trims on their own with shears or some sort of trimming gadget. I am not one of those people! I'm too much of a klutz and would wind up cutting a huge chunk of my hair. Before I go any further, let my post my personal thoughts about this. I firmly believe that if you want to get a trim that actually is a trim, go to a place that has the word -Cut in the name ( e.g.-SuperCuts, MasterCuts, the Hair Cuttery). I find at these places, they will do exactly what you want. First of all, these people have been trained in hair cutting. That is what they do all day everyday! They also know how to cut to specifications. These people most likely deal with members of the military (who have to have their hair cut according to regulations), parents of young children (who want their child's hair cut a certain way), etc. Trust me, they will do what you say. Now if you want to take your chances in a regular salon, be my guest but don't say I didn't warn you!

Anyway, I go into SuperCuts (and the girl who does my hair is amazing by the way). I tell her what I want done (trim) and tell her to cut no more 1/4 of an inch. She'll tell me she won't have to cut that much off and proceeds to cut off the bare minimum because she understands that I am growing my hair out (she also has a lot of AA customers so she understands we are serious about getting a trim and not a cut lol),
Now it's like my hair is starting off on a clean slate AND I didn't lose any length-which is great.

So to summarize (because I know this post is long):

-Trimming: you have to do it but you choose how often you do it
-You can search and destroy as a trim option or do a full blown trim
-Your best bet for a successful trim (if you want a salon to do it) is a place with the word "-Cut" in its name

Getting From SL to APL

First, let me say Happy New Year! I hope you all are having an amazing 2011 so far.

Anyway, if you have been following my progress then you know that in 2010 I made SL and APL. One question that I have noticed on the hair boards I frequent that comes up a lot is a) How long does it take to get to APL from SL? and b) What do you do to get past the SL/APL hump? Well, I figured that it would be a good idea to share what I have done. Hopefully, this will help those trying to reach their APL goal.

First things first......

It took me 7 months to graze APL and it took me 9 months to achieve full APL. So for the people who say they reached APL in 3 months, I'd really like to know what they did.

How did I get past the SL/APL hump?

1) Maintain your regimen if it works. Whatever you have been doing to maintain your hair, keep on doing it! Your hair obviously is thriving from it. Do not feel like you have to kick up your regimen to achieve your goal! You washing and DCing your hair 20 times a day isn't gonna get you to APL any faster (yeah...I know that example is a little extreme but you know what I mean)

2) Lay off the heat. I think this is the most important factor...even more important than protective styling. If your ends (which are the oldest, most fragile part of your hair) are getting bombarded with heat everyday...of course they are gonna break off! In turn, you aren't able to retain as much length as you would like. Personally, I did a lot of bunning and phony ponying to keep from using too much heat. My hair is thanking me for it too.

3) Let your hair be. Give it a rest. I did a lot of low manipulation/protective styling during this growth period. During the summer when it was unbearably hot, I keep my hair braided up. In the late summer/early fall season, I wore a lot of phony ponies and buns. When I finally did wear my hair out, it would only be for 2-3 days at a time. For the most part, styling wise I left my hair alone. I wasn't constantly in it which meant I wasn't constantly combing, brushing, or whatever else. Again, my hair thanked me for it.

That is really all I did. There really wasn't an elaborate plan to reach APL. I just did what was best for my hair. I want to point out that some people can reach APL without doing any of this which is great. However, I am not one of those people. I really had to be aware of what I was doing to my hair at any given time. So as you begin your journey to APL, you really need to have a good idea of what your hair responds to...what it likes...what it doesn't like. Once you have a grasp on that, reaching APL is a breeze!

Hats, Hats, and mo' Hats!

LOL

I can be so lame sometimes.

Anyway, it has been downright FRIGID in the 'Ham as of late (it was 17 degrees this morning plus whatever the windchill was when I headed out to lab smh) and I found out that my hair doesn't like it at all. So this morning, I put some shea butter on my ends, bunned my hair, and placed a slouch beret thing on my hair and called it a day. It turns out that my ends love shea butter...well in this winter weather they do. My ends are definitely nicely moisturized and it's cutting down some on this breakage I have been seeing (nothing major, just a few more broken pieces than I'm used to seeing).

So far this week, I've been wearing hats and I just wanted to post my looks from Monday and today. Now, be warned, I've latched on to this slouch beret thing. I purchased a rack of them at Rue21 and my local beauty supply store.





I'll probably incorporate different types of hats as the winter progresses. I just need to find styles that I like. I definitely need to find satin/silk lined hats. As of right now, I have a satin scarf on underneath my hat lol. I gotta protect my hair man!


Happy Tuesday everyone!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful.......

....and it's kicking my hair's behind!!

This cold weather is just running a number on my hair and I am on a mission to keep my hair moisturized and happy. To this end, I am trying 2 new things: Shea Butter and Silicon Mix. Although I have been using them a short while, let me tell you about my experiences with them thus far.


1) Silicon Mix




Oh where has this wonderful conditioner been all my life!?!? I deep conditioned with it for an hour on Thursday (even though the directions say leave it on for 2-3min) and my hair felt......AMAZING!! It was so soft, yet strong. Although I can't definitively say that Silicon Mix is specifically a protein condish or a moisturizinf condish, I can say that this conditioner has protein (keratin), ceramides, and glycerin in it. A word of warning though. The second ingredient is mineral oil so if you're trying to avoid mineral oil, this may not be for you. Also, Silicon Mix is pretty heavily scented. I can still smell the scent on my hair and I DCed 3 days ago! All and all though, this is definitely a keeper!

2) Shea Butter

I had to find a thicker moisturizer to use during the winter other than my ORS Carrot Oil (which I primarily use in the summer months). I'm kinda weary about this. Don't get my wrong, I know how awesome shea butter is. However, it is so thick and I don't want to weigh my hair down with it. So, thus far, my experience with shea butter is being taken with baby steps. I basically place a small amount of shea butter in my hands (and when I say small amount, I do mean a small amount!), rub it until it melts, and place it on my hair focusing on my ends. So far, everything is good. My hair feels moisturized for the most part which is what I wanted. More to come on how it actually works for my hair.



Also, since it is winter time and we're all wearing hats and such, remember to either line your hats with silk or satin or wear a silk or satin scarf under your hat. It'll keep your hair from drying out. Also make sure to protect your ends (moisturize and seal or even bun) as they will be rubbing up against some rough fabrics (like wool, for example).

That's all I have for today you guys,

Happy Sunday!

This Girl Gives Awesome Tutorials

I found this awesome channel (via LHCF) on Youtube: SalonCabelo. It gives such awesome styling and hair care tips from a stylist! I felt that I had to share this with you guys!

Who's Down For a Challenge?

So...I am in week 8 of a 13/14 week stretch and quite frankly my hair is getting on my nerves.

I guess it decided to do some rampant growing and didn't pass the memo onto me. Thus, straightening it with heat is just not a desirable option right now. So what do I do now? I'm laying off the heat for the next 5 to 6 weeks. This weekend I did a flexirod set and put my hair into a puff. That should last about a week. Next week I'm going to attempt I twistout (since I have enough hair to grab). Hmm...maybe I should post pics on that.....anyway, I'm challenging myself to lay off direct heat so why don't you guys give it a shot?? It doesn't have to be for as long as I'm doing it but the point is to give your hair a break from all of the heat.

So....who's down?

Turn the Heat Up....

After I got my hair relaxed last week, I did a dance of joy. Let me tell you...it wasn't because I just got a relaxer. As of 8/1/09, I can wrap my hair! YES!! You must understand, this is a very important milestone for me. I's can use less heat now! I'm sure you guys already know that shorter hair=more heat. It sucks but that's just the way it is. Shoot, on the days I didn't use heat I would look like Goku from Dragon Ball Z

Even though I had to use heat frequently when my hair was shorter, here are the things that I did to make it through those long, dark months:

1) Invest in a good flat iron

Find a good ceramic and tourmaline flat iron. This type of flat iron not only straightens your hair, but it smoothens it and helps to keep moisture in. Also, get a flat iron that has a temperature gauge (just so you don't fry your hair to death during your straightening sessions). Although there are other good flatirons (like the FHI Platform) I use the Sedu and the Sedu Revolution Shortie Styler (check www.folica.com for pricing/availability).

Just as a note, if you have a ceramic plated flat iron make sure the coating has not worn off. If it has, it is time to get a new one!

2) Find a good heat protectant and use it every time (yes...every time!)

Finding a good heat protectant is so important. It serves as a barrier between your hair and the flat iron which minimizes damage. There are sooooo many protectants out there and finding one may require a bit of trial and error. A good starting heat protectant is IC Fantasia Heat Protectant Straightening Serum (which is $7.99- $9 and can be found at Sally's and Walgreens).

3)You may have to increase the frequency of your regimen

It is important to keep in mind that heat a) changes the structure of your hair and b) removes moisture from your hair. Those two things combined can result in dry, brittle hair. When I first had my hair cut, I washed and deep conditioned my hair no less than 2x a week. I was always doing my hair! Sometimes I would use a moisturizing DC ( like Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose) or a light protein DC ( such as ORS Replenishing). I would then follow up with a light protein leave-in (Giovanni Direct Leave In). The point is: if you use more heat then you must make more of an effort to ensure your protein/moisture balance in check at all times.

If you can, try to sneak in no-heat/ indirect heat when you can. For example, you may decide to air dry your hair then flat iron or dry via a hooded dryer then flat iron.

4) That temperature gauge on the flat iron is important

Although I used heat frequently, please believe that the temp gauge on my Sedu was set a 250 ( 280 at the highest). Since my hair is relaxed, I don't need to crank up the flat iron to the max setting just to bump my hair. Shoot...I really don't need to set it to the middle temp (360). Just as a general rule (for me) a flat iron set at the lowest temp+ a heat protectant is better for my hair health than a flat iron cranked all the way up. I can still get the style I desire while keeping my hair as healthy as possible.

I've found that by following these 4 guidelines, the increased heat did not significantly damage my hair and as someone with short hair, there is no need to fear heat. You just have to make the appropriate adjustments to your regimen.