Ready for Home Hair Care Again

As planned, I made it to Beans Beauty to restock my Phyto products. I got everything that was on my list plus some small samples. As a result of Small Business Saturday, I was essentially able to get my conditioner for free, which is always a plus!

The samples I received are:

• Phyto 9 daily moisturizer, which I have used in the past. 
• Phytojoba Intense Hydrating Shampoo (for ultra dry hair), which is what my stylists uses during my regular appointments.
• Phytokarite Ultra Nourishing Mask (for ultra dry hair), which I have not tried before, but am excited to!
• Phytodensium Anti-Aging Mask (for lifeless hair). I will likely try this so that it won't go to waste, but I'm not sure what to expect from it.

In addition to my hair purchase, I couldn't resist stopping at one of my favorite clothing boutiques across the street. I don't know why I stopped there because it always leads to trouble and more money spent! Needless to say, I walked out with two pairs of jeans that I absolutely love! You know how some women are shoe women, others are purse women? Well I'm a denim girl - I am serious about my jeans! This store was having a buy one get one free sale on EVERYTHING in the store. Do you know how major that is to get two pairs of jeans for the price of one? I also got two cute bangle style bracelets. So I felt a little bad for splurging, but this is what I work hard for!

Need to Restock

I started taking care of my hair myself in July (in terms of washing, conditioning, etc.). I was able to last until last week without needing to purchase any additional product, but now it seems I'm out of everything! I need:

1. Phytosesame Express Hydrating Conditioner 
2. Phytomist Instant Hydrating Conditioner (I love this stuff - it's my leave in and I have actually been using this to moisturize daily while wearing my wig since it's a liquid and easier to penetrate braids)
3. Huile d'Ales Pre Shampoo Intense Hydrating Oil Treatment (I use this for my oil treatments)
4. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO), this was the first product I purchased in March when I first learned about length retention and started my hair journey

I'm actually a little excited that I'm out of EVCO because now I'll try some of the other oils that I've been curious to try as a sealer. I have an unopened bottle of grapeseed oil, which I was inspired to purchased based on the beautiful locks of Just Grow Already who swears by it, and jojoba oil based on Ms. Kibibi. I am excited to experience both of these and hopefully add additional oils to my options.

I would like to restock on these items this Saturday because it is Small Business Saturday, which is a day to support small businesses. There is a lovely little posh, beauty boutique in my neighborhood that sells basically the entire Phyto line, so I can certainly get everything at once. Also, American Express is offering $25 when you support a small business on Saturday, so I'll get some money off of my purchase, which is always a good thing!

Random

Here is a picture of the front of my hair that I took from the car to text my sister...lol! We started our hair journey together so she was anxiously awaiting my results. I thought it might be fun to share on the blog since I don't have any front shots of my hair.

First Length Check: Relaxer Results

So I just returned from the salon for my much anticipated relaxer (I was actually nervous before I went - not really sure why?).

I had my stylist just flat iron my hair straight because I plan to jump right back into my wig tomorrow and wear my hair cross wrapped underneath. So here are the results (sorry for the poor quality - I still don't have a camera, so these are taken with my phone):

11.2011 Relaxer & Trim

11.2011 Relaxer & Trim

It's hard to get a sense of the growth because the damn lines on my shirt start at like APL! I think I'm going to get another shirt starting my next length check. You can check out my starting pictures here.

So regarding my actual hair appointment - everything went well for the most part. My hair has been in cornrows for the last 4 weeks since I've been wearing Mina. I got a steam treatment and a trim. My trim isn't actually jacked up although it may seem so from the photos - my BF took these and wasn't in the mood to have a photo shoot, lol! 

I don't think my stylist trimmed any more than normal, although she made a comment that I shouldn't wait as long between trims next time, which leads me to believe that she may have actually cut more than normal. Whatever the case, I decided that I really want my future long hair to look just as full and thick as my current length hair, so I'm committed to trimming with every relaxer and patiently working toward my goal.

I feel ok about my hair right now. This is the length that my hair has been most of my life (I got it cut into a bob one year ago), so it's funny because I almost feel like now is the start of my hair journey since anything significantly beyond this will be unchartered territory for me.

I usually relax every 12 weeks, but I'm thinking I will actually wait until the end of March 2012 for my next relaxer because:

1. I'm planning to wear my wig through the winter in order to keep my hair protected, which means I'll be in corn rows
2. If I go until the end of March, I'll only be adding another 6 weeks
3. The end of March marks my 1 year hair journey, so I thought it may be kind of fun to get a relaxer and have my next length check then

So that's my story for now! I'm not really sure if what I'm doing is or isn't working, but I guess time will tell!

Almost Relaxer Time!

Hi All! Hope your weekend went well and that you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep (for those who observe DST). I have been crazy busy lately with some personal matters which have required me to travel (away last weekend, this weekend, and part of the end of this coming week).

I scheduled an appointment to get my texturizer today, but ended up canceling because I have to get caught up on my life, lol! So I rescheduled to two weeks from now which will put me at 14 weeks post (that's also the week of Thanksgiving so I may wear my hair out since it's been a while). I would actually consider waiting longer for my relaxer because my hair is currently cornrowed, but I would like to get on a schedule of every 12 weeks. I don't really have a compelling reason to relax every 12 weeks except that's how often I used to relax before I went natural and it seemed to work for my hair. I think moving forward I'll take it on a case by case basis. I think the longest I would consider going between relaxers is 16 weeks which would put me at 3 relaxers and trims per year (I trim with each relaxer).

When I do relax, I'm planning to wear my hair straight so that I can do a length check with my t-shirt. I'm uuuubbbeerr nervous about the length check because I'm scared that I won't have much progress since the one I did in June. But I need to mentally prepare myself that even if I haven't grown as much as I would like, something is better than nothing and as mentioned before, what's the rush?

How Do You Know What's Working?

I often think about this question regarding my hair. As I try different items to improve my hair health and influence my hair growth, I often wonder is it working?

For example, I have been taking hair vitamins for the last year that I actually do think work. You may remember from an earlier post last month when I spoke about hair growth that I couldn't explain - I thought it may have been related to the fact that I was eating way more protein (two hard boiled eggs for breakfast daily), or the B-complex I started taking for better brain function, or the Bamboo Leaf Tea that I started drinking for the ceramide benefit. I say all this to say, although I'm adding one new item at a time, it's hard to tell what's working well and what's not?

I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'll keep doing what I'm doing until I have reason to stop!