Relaxer Day: July 28 2011

Welp. I relaxed last night.


My hair was pretty much signalling that it was about that time.Shedding a lot and just being downright---rebellious. I was 14 weeks and 2 days post--a pretty decent stretch. I try not to stretch too long because, as a self relaxer, I want to have an easy relaxer day. I've self relaxed at 20 weeks post and it was just....a mess. So, I now try to stretch long enough for it to be of benefit to my hair but not so long that becomes a source of frustration come relaxer day.


Anyway, I put my hair in sections and relaxed using Mizani Butter Blends. I neutralized with my Silk Elements Neutralizing Shampoo (I finally finished the bottle--YAY!!) and DCed with ORS Replenishing Condtioner (also finished off 2 almost empty bottles!) for an hour. After rinsing the condish out, I sprayed Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer on my hair and used Qhemet Biologics AOHC as a leave in. To finish off, I used One N Only Argan Oil as a heat protectant and straightened my hair.


Today, I went to SuperCuts for a much needed trim. I'm pretty pleased with the trim. The stylist wound up cutting my lead hairs so that they are on par with the rest of my hair (YAY!)

*PSA: When you go in for a trim, make sure you emphasize you want a trim. Some stylists think that a trim= you want your hair cut in layers. Do yourself a favor and make sure you emphasize that you want a trim NOT layers.*

See how evened up everything is!? Now I can really really begin to predict when I hit BSL. In the meantime though, now that I'm trimmed up...I'm back to protective styling.


On my next wash day, I will lather 1 time with a neutralizing shampoo to ensure that there is no relaxer in my hair and follow up w/ Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo. I will then DC with a protein condish (Aubrey Organics GPB- I'm big on getting my hair's protein/moisture balance in check immediately following a relaxer) and do a final rinse with Roux Porosity Control. I'll probably wind up air drying my hair and bunning.

BSL Is Gonna Tick Me Off I See.....

Happy Monday lovelies!!

I just wanted to stop by with a super quick post. Sometime last week, I had a strong urge to do a length check. I mean I've been protective/low manipulation styling for so long and I've had to make some progress right? :slanty face:


Well I did the length check and I've learned one very important thing. This little tidbit is something that I must carry with me throughout my hair life. You ready to hear what it is? Here it goes:

ALL OF THE HAIR ON YOUR HEAD DOES NOT GROW AT THE SAME RATE!!


...that was me yelling at myself, by the way.

As per usual, some of my hair is touching BSL while other parts are inching ever closer. Ugh. I mean I'm glad my hair is doing well...I guess but I would just prefer it if my hair could just sync up for this length goal.

Either way, I'm expecting to hit BSL by early Fall (September/October).

Check it out!

* Oh before you check it out: just note that my hair is not breaking off, it just grows out jankily until all of my hair is about the same length *

Twists Are Out!!!

Happy Sunday!

As you know, last weekend I put some really cute mini twists in my hair. Well, I found out that I can only keep them in my hair for a week max. I began to notice that shed hair was beginning to accumulate at the ends and form knots (which could up my chances for a potential setback). I also began to notice some product accumulation at my roots. So, on Friday, I took my twists down and detangled my hair using HE Hello Hydration. I then clarified my hair using ORS Creamy Aloe and followed up with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo.

* My 'naked' hair. My mom doesn't call it a lions mane for nothing! *

I also DCed with Silicon Mix. Now that I'm 12 weeks (well 13 weeks this Tuesday) post, I have to definitely make sure that I'm getting enough conditioner on the line of demarcation. For that reason, I have been applying my DC the same way that I would apply a relaxer. I find that it keeps my new growth soft and moisturized. However, on Friday, I was feeling particularly lazy so I DCed overnight. My hair felt so soft! I may have to do it more often. Saturday morning I washed the DC out, sprayed on Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer , and some One N Only Argan Oil and air dried using the scarf method. When my hair was about 80% dry, I put my hair into plaits for a braid out. Since I didn't go anywhere today, my hair remains in plaits and will be taken out tomorrow morning.

I still have no clue when I'm gonna relax. I don't want to push it to 20 weeks because relaxing my hair will take more effort than usual to do (lesson learned from last summer). However, I'm not really feeling the urge to relax just yet. I do know that I want to straighten my hair for my birthday so I will be getting my hair flat ironed for that.

I'm also on a mission to curb my PJism. I'm doing pretty good with that so far in that I'm trying to use up products that I haven't finished up yet. For example, I'm using the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque as a styling aid (because I wasn't impressed with it as a deep conditioner--it has absolutely ZERO slip!) for my braidouts. I think I like it a little bit better now.

My PJism isn't completely curbed though. Last week I ordered a sample from Qhemet Biologics. I'm looking for a moisturizer that has no protein in it and they offer that. So stay tuned for my review on that!

Well...I've chattered enough for one evening. Good night lovelies! :)

Mini Twists: Day 3

At this point I have had my twists in for 3 days and I LOVE them!!! They aren't frizzing up or unraveling at all. I have been keeping them moisturized w/ my Shea Moisture products and sealing w/ One N Only Argan Oil.

I have been doing some research abou twists trying to determine if they are a protective style or low manipulation style. I've found that, depending on who you ask, it can be either or. However, in my humble opinion, twists are a low manipulation style. I say this simply b/c your ends are out and you have to take great care to keep your ends moisturized. Now twists can be made into a protective style if you wear them in a bun or some other style to keep you ends tucked away. However, as it stands, twists are low manipulation.


Today, after an experiment gone wrong (apparently I DO have to set my ends on flexirods every night if I want to have curly ends), I'm wearing my twists in a bun (thus, making them a protective style). I suppose that's a good thing. I had a serious case of hand in hair yesterday and today I'm feeling extremely low key. Also, it has been extremely humid here lately so it just may be better to keep my hair up.

Anyway, here is how my hair is looking today. Still fresh and happy! :)

June 2011: 6 Month Update

Wow. The end of June is upon us and I cannot believe that 2011 is halfway over!!! Thus far, this year has been nothing short of amazing! Anyway, I just wanted to make a post that shows my progress from the beginning of the year to now.

This picture was taken in January following my first relaxer for the year and a trim.

I took this picture 2 weeks ago following my proposal defense. I was so excited to not have anything school related to do when I got home that I did my hair!


You know what? Now that I look at the pictures I see that I have made tremendous progress in 6 months. For awhile, I've felt like I haven't made the kind of progress I wanted to. However, now that I see the pictures from January until now, I see my hair is doing it's thing.

How is your progress going? How would you classify your progress in 6months?

A Watched Pot Never Boils...

I just had the most anti-climatic relaxer day ever.

I relaxed my hair yesterday after a 15 week stretch (since 20+ week stretches are not for me)using Mizani Butter Blends.After going through all the motions of getting a relaxer, I expected to be grazing BSL by now but wound up at pretty much the same length as seen in my March update. o_O

All things considered though, my hair is still thick and healthy. It's also taking on a distinct U shape which I think is kind of neat. In the meantime, however, I'm still half wigging it up and will probably do so until September or so. Anyway, here are the comparison shots. The top photo is the newest update and the bottom is the March 2011 update:




I guess if I keep trying to track my progress, I'm never gonna see growth as fast as I want to. I'm gonna have to keep my hair hidden for a bit so I don't get frustrated trying to reach this hair goal. I guess it is true what they say...a watched pot never boils.

Guess Who's Back!

Hey everyone! I'm back with another post!

Well I have to tell you that I took the tree braids out 2 weeks ago. They were starting to wreak havoc on my edges. I'm glad I took them out when I did though..I was starting to get buildup galore on my edges. After going through all that, I think tree braids would be the last braid style that I would recommend to anybody. If you have to get braids, get kinky twists.


I also did a my first length check of the year. I'm slowly getting to BSL. However, I wonder if my bra strap is actually where MBL is. Anyway, let's take a look at the progress from December to March. The top photo is is the most recent photo while the bottom one is my update from December.






You can see my hair starting to even out a bit which is great. I can't wait until I reach my final goal of MBL. Maybe I can get there by the end of this year. Who knows? :)

End of Year Length Check: 2010

Happy Sunday!

Well....it's almost the end of 2010! Hair-wise, my hair has grown so much! I started 2010 grazing SL, now I'm APL! I must say that I am definitely pleased that I have been able to meet my hair goals for the year and I hope the trend continues for 2011.

Ok....enough with the small talk. Here is the length of my hair as of December 19, 2010.




In case you forgot, in October 2010 my hair was here:



As you can see, my is is APL without a doubt! :)

I Guess It's True What They Say.....

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a little free time before class so I figure I'd stop by with my musing of the day. Ever since I've hit APL and I have folks falling over themselves about my hair, I just feel like my hair isn't very long. I know---crazy right? Before I hit this hair length, I thought APL was long and couldn't wait to reach that length. In fact, I thought folks were crazy for thinking that their BSL hair wasn't that long. I guess I now understand how some folks can get hair anorexia. I figure it has a lot to do with me always being in my hair and watching its growth. Perhaps it's so easy to get caught up in the care and maintenance of your hair that it is difficult to see the progress that you have made. I dunno. Just a thought.


Anyway, on the hair front, I have been bunning a lot. Nothing major. I'll probably straighten my hair again this weekend and wear it out for this weekend only then go back to bunning. I'm definitely gonna have to do a good protein DC in preparation for that. I'm so glad that I can enjoy my hair a little bit more :)

Oh and here's a shot of me from earlier this week (Tuesday I think) and my attempt at a side bun lol

I MADE IT!!!

At last! I have reached glorious APL!!!! I am so thrilled!

Since the weather here in B'ham has cooled down (finally), I decided that I would straighten my hair out and wear it out for a few days this week (just a few days....I play in my hair entirely too much when my hair is out). I wound up doing a length check and found that my hair is here:




Now remember that at the end of July, my hair was here:



Can you believe it!?! Now granted, it isn't a full APL so I'll probably continue with the continuous protective styling until December. Anyway, just for general knowledge, it took me about 6 months to get here from SL and that is with constant protective styling. It feels so good to be reaching my length goals. I got so many compliments on my hair today (and a lot of questions on if my hair is real or not-smh). Anyway, tell me what you think!

Relaxer Day!!!

Today was relaxer day and I learned a few things today:

1) I will never, ever ,ever ,ever ,ever ,ever stretch that long again! I was 24 weeks and 1 day post and oh em gee. It was ridiculous. I self relax and let me tell you that getting through all that new growth was definitely a task. Yeah...I think in the future, stretching for 17 weeks may be the upper limit of stretching. SMH

2) It took me 4 hours to do my hair from start to finish. 4 HOURS!! What the heck!?! I see that I have a lot of hair and the longer it gets, the longer it takes to actually do it. For a moment, I was wishing for the days where it took an hour, hour and a half to do my hair. That short cut spoiled me. I didn't think doing my hair would that 4 hours worth of effort.

3) It's flippin' hot in Alabama. It's been 90+ degrees but the heat index makes it feel like it's in the 100s. So yes, my hair is out of braids and all that but I surely will not wear it out everyday. I'm gonna have to bun until September because straightening my hair everyday is not an option.

Aside from all of that.......

It felt so good to get back into my routine! I relaxed using the Silk Elements Mild Lye Relaxer ( I use Mild because it doesn't make my hair bone straight), neutralized, DCed with ORS Replenishing Conditioner (because I was too lazy to drive out to Whole Foods to get my Aubrey Organics DCs), dried, and flat ironed. As far as progress, my hair pretty much looks how it did in June....maybe just an itty bit longer. Even though I don't have a pic, my sides are growing steadily too which is great!

Well I know you guys want to see how my hair looks so, here you go!






See...I told you that there wasn't much difference from June (but it's only been 4 weeks. I wasn't expecting insane growth anyway lol)

Can You Retain Your Length Without Protective Styling?

This is something I have been toying with for awhile.

When I first cut my hair, I said "Man, when my hair gets to shoulder length I'm gonna wear it out all the time! Surely you can grow your hair without wearing a bun all the time." Well....as you guys saw, the minute I was grazing SL my hair has been hidden. I rarely straighten it and I surely do not wear it out.

But....

Now I am bored with the protective styling. I want to wear it out just a little bit (maybe 2 or 3 days out of the week) but I don't want to suffer a setback. I suppose that in order to do this, I would have to make sure that my ends are really really moisturized but it's scary. However, next relaxer I'm gonna try wearing my hair out 3 days out of the week and up the rest of the time and see how that turns out. Wish me luck.

Speaking of relaxers, I am relaxing my hair this weekend. When I took my cornrows out, I was met with a bunch of hair to get through. OMG it was insane! Even with the best of the best deep conditioning, my hair was just rebelling. The last time that my hair did this was at the start of my journey. My hair was so damaged back then, I didn't put a relaxer in my hair for 8 months and I kept my hair braided up then too. Anyway, I will probably do a real length check (ends trimmed and all) too. I can't wait!

Taking the Cornrows Out

It has been a fun 3 weeks but the cornrows must go. They are starting to fuzz and get build-up. It's good that I'm taking my cornrows out now so that I can let my hair recover before I relax it. I'm debating on if I should straighten it but I will probably put it into a phony pony.

I decided that I will relax my hair early next month around the time of my birthday (Aug. 6). What better way to bring in the big 2-5 than by showing off my beautiful hair? It has also come a very long way from where it was this time last year so I'm happy about that. Also, it will probably be the last of the braids for awhile. With autumn around the corner, I'll probably start wearing more buns and phony ponies. Hopefully I reach my goal of APL soon so that I can ease up a little bit on the protective styling. I would love to wear my hair out more often but I'm so scared of a setback that I just choose to keep it up.

Anyway, that's it for now. Just wanted to post an update.

Ding Dong The Twists Are Gone!.....and Other Random Things!

Hey everyone!

Well, the twists are out! And not a moment too soon. I found out that I had a lot of nasty product build-up in my hair. If I would have waited to take those twists down, I would have had dreds for sure.


Anyway, I washed and DCed my hair. It felt so good to play in my hair again. I did do some flat ironing to do a length check. If you remember, in March I hit SL and my hair looked like this:





I did my length check and my hair looks like this:




It looks like I am crawling to APL. I kinda figured this would happen. I have a long torso so aiming to be APL by December is probably a good goal for me. Well....until I make APL, protective styling it is...because it obviously does work.

This week I will be phony ponying my heart out. It is entirely too hot outside to wear my hair out. I will probably to the same for the majority of the following week until I get my cornrows (I can't wait!)


Also....my blow dryer isn't dead after all! The socket in the master bathroom is just acting all janky! YES! Now I can ease up on the search for another blow dryer!

Hmm...yeah well that's about it. Just wanted to update you guys on my progress!

These Twists Have GOT To GO!

After 2 months of having these twists in my hair, the time has come to take these suckers out! Typically, I don't keep twists or braids in longer than 2 months anyway.

Soo......

This weekend (or today), I will start the twist take down process. Initially, I will remove the twists from the center and just continue to wear my hair in a ponytail for the remainder of the week. I find that doing it this way makes for a less frustrating take down process.

I will then wash my hair with my Keracare 1st Lather shampoo (to get rid of any nasty build-up) followed by a wash with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning shampoo. I will DC with ORS Replenishing Conditioner. I will also straighten my hair for a length check. I think I am well on my way to APL but still in between SL and APL. Anyway, since I STILL don't have a blowdryer, I will dry my hair in plaits under a bonnet dryer, apply my beloved Mizani ThermaSmooth serum and straighten with my Sedu flat iron.

I will get my hair cornrowed on June 30th (or July 1st) so that gives my hair ample time to recover and regain strength.

Keep your eyes open for my length check!

I Was Supposed to Relax this Weekend But.....

....I forgot......

I mean I genuinely forgot. I didn't realize this until I had just rinsed my DC out of my hair. SMH. I can be so scatter brained sometimes. So I am now 13 weeks and some odd days post. I don't plan to relax this weekend either. I might as well just relax at 16 weeks and call it a day.

Anyway.....

I am loving the Thermasmooth line! I think that is what is making this stretch a lot bearable for me. I found that I really have to make sure I target my roots but other than that, I flat iron on my wash day and I am done for the week! I love it! I have been using it for the past 2 weeks but I think this weekend I will give the heat a break and rock the flexirod set. I might get slightly larger rods since my hair is longer but we shall see!

Stretching It Out

Lord have mercy it has been awhile! Things have been pretty hectic over here with school (grad school is not a joke) so my hair has been pretty blah: wig, bun, bun, bun,bun, bun, bun, blowout, bun, bun,bun. Anyway, since the weather has cooled some down here, I'm rocking a blowout (didn't know I could do that huh?). My blowout is pretty simple and I do a "quick" blowout. Basically, I don't rollerset and I have to use a LOT of heat protectant and DC with protein based conditioners before I do it. Thus far, I love it! I think I might stretch longer. Apparently, I'm 11 weeks post-relaxer ( I totally forgot and really had to think about that) and I'm not due to relax until the beginning of November. I think I might be able to push it further than that. I'm loving the body my hair has when it's straight and I don't want to forfeit that right now

:whatelsewhatelsewhatelse:

Oh and I'm using my beloved Fantasia IC heat protectant! Thank goodness! I tried to like Beyond the Zone, I really did. I even used up the whole bottle but I could not stand it!!! I guess that's just the nature of trying stuff out.

Don't Mess With A Good Thing...

Hey everyone! So I know it has been awhile since I last wrote something but things have been crazy lately! This is just an update on what I've been doing to my hair lately.

1) I really need to be consistent with the porosity control.

For the past 3 weeks or so, I've been skipping on the PC. I hadn't been deep conditioning with heat so I figured that my hair would be ok. WRONG! So wrong! My hair felt so crappy. It felt dry and would barely hold a curl. At first I thought I needed to clarify since I use products that have cones in them. I figured it might be a product build up issue. Well, I did that and no change. I washed my hair today and used porosity control--my hair went back to normal. My hair felt all moisturized and is holding curl for days! Lesson learned: don't mess with a good thing!

2) Finding an all natural shampoo is more difficult than I thought it would be.

As you know, I'm trying to incorporate more all natural products into my regimen. However, the search for a good all natural shampoo is proving to be somewhat difficult. I tried the Giovanni shampoos but wasn't all too impressed with them. Currently, I'm trying Kinky Curly Come Clean shampoo. At first I wasn't all too impressed with it. My hair felt like it was stripped as I was washing it out. However, once I was finished washing it out, it felt moisturized and it was very easy to run a comb through it. I want to give this shampoo a couple of more tries before I post a review on it.

Well that is really it for this past week. I think I might post some pics of my hair....I'm 7 weeks post now and the body has returned to my hair (which I'm happy about). I'm still considering self texlaxing my hair but I definitely have to do some more research about that.