All Finished

With using MN that is.  I finished my last bit yesterday, and I've been using it consistently since December 2011. Since my first mix, I went to a more potent option with 3 oz of castor oil + the same amount of MN. I have been applying it to my scalp daily.

I am scheduled to relax my hair in two weeks, so I wanted to be sure to stop using MN at this point. I want to give my scalp a chance to rest because I still don't know what the implications of mixing MN + relaxer are, and I have no intentions of finding out.

I am curious to see if I have experienced accelerated growth as a result of using MN. If I decide to use it again, I don't plan to do so until the end of this year. I don't really want to become dependent on a growth aid to reach my length goals, so I told myself that I would only use it between relaxers, once per year (the same way I did it this time).

I'm planning to do a length check after my next relaxer, so at that point I'll assess whether or not I experienced better growth.

MN Update

I finished my first round of MN after using it for 4 weeks. I posted how I mixed it here. I purchased another tube of MN and am debating on how I want to mix it this time. I think I want the mix to be a little more potent this time. I'm debating between mixing it with my Amla & Olive Heavy Cream or with Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO).

I have just enough Amla & Olive Heavy Cream to make a mix that's 1/2 cream and 1/2 MN. Although the instructions on the packaging of the Amla & Olive Heavy cream say that you can use it on your scalp, it seems a little thick to me to use on my scalp. I checked the ingredients and everything seems ok for my scalp, but the consistency of the cream is thick and sticky. I don't want to risk clogging my pores, or doing anything to impeded growth. But I'm curious to try the MN in a scalp cream, vs. an oil.

On the other hand, if I use the JBCO, I will use 3 oz of JBCO and add the MN. I like having an oil base because once I apply it to my scalp, I believe the oil is able to penetrate other parts of my scalp that I can't reach since I have cornrows. With the cream, the only parts of my hair that are likely to have the cream on it are the parts where I apply it.

I think I'm going to visit Long Hair Care Forum and explore a few threads to see which may be a good option. Feel free to let me know what you think!

Quick Update

Hi friends! I hope you all had a great holiday and happy new year!

I've been away for a while due to some personal matters, but I hope to get back to posting at least once a week soon.

Things have been quiet with my hair - I've had my cornrows in for the last 4 weeks and will go to my stylist on Saturday to get a steam + oil treatment, and new braids. I have been shampooing my hair weekly in the cornrows as well as M&S'ing daily with a spray mix of African Braid spray + Aloe Vera Juice (got this from Ms. Kibibi) and sealing with grapeseed oil. I actually don't think I love this mix, but I'm going to finish what I have and then experiment with other liquid moisturizers while I'm in my cornrows.

I've also been using my MN mix daily and haven't seen any negative side effects (thankfully)! I'm just coming to the end of the 6oz mix that I posted about earlier, so it looks like 6oz lasts me about 4 weeks. I'm not sure that I want to have MN sitting for that long since there are active ingredients, so I think I may change up the mix this weekend when I get some more. I may do a 3oz mix with less oil to make it a little more potent, but I'll see.

That's it for now!

I Have a Secret

I know I'm going to get a lot of raised eyebrows from people after reading this post, but I felt like I would be keeping a secret if I didn't share.

One day my sister sent me the following video of this young lady's hair journey and progress to date (we're always stalking searching for women who have hair "like ours" to keep us motivated about having long hair one day). While I was watching the video, she mentioned using miconazole nitrate (MN) to help speed up her hair growth. For those of you who are unfamiliar, MN is commonly used to treat yeast infections. I had heard of MN for hair growth, but wasn't really interested in learning more. However, once I saw this video, I was a little more curious. Long story short, after about 2 weeks of research, I decided to give it a try. I know there are many people who are like HELL NAW! And I was one of those people, but after learning more, it didn't seem there was much to lose.

After reading a few threads about MN on Long Hair Care Forum, I decided to do a simple mix of 2% Target Brand MN with 4oz of castor oil and 2oz of grapeseed oil. I mixed it all together and shook vigorously in order to blend the MN. I'm hoping to get roughly two weeks or more out of this 6oz mix.

My plan is to use MN daily from now until two weeks before my next relaxer in April, which is roughly 12 weeks (I waited 4 weeks after my last relaxer before starting to use it). The primary reason why I want to use MN is because I have always had a problem with my temples. Fortunately, I'm not bald, but the hair is VERY THIN. So I'm hoping that the MN will help fill in this area because nothing seems to be working.

Right Temple_October 2011

Left Temple_October 2011

So that's my secret. I don't plan to use MN forever. Depending on my results, I'm thinking that I would like to do this 1X per year for a few weeks just to get an added boost. I do feel like I'm cheating a bit regarding my progress if I do get great results, but we'll see. I'll cross that bridge once I get to it.

So what do you guys think? Have any of you ladies tried it and saw results, but decided you didn't want to continue using it anymore? Or have you just watched from the sidelines and shook your head (lol)?