Relaxer Results

Hi friends, happy Sunday! I hope everyone is well.

I got my hair relaxed today, and unfortunately had to get 4 inches cut. Talk about a set-back. I wasn't surprised because my hair has been breaking on a consistent basis since the beginning of January. I noticed the breakage early on, but I hadn't changed any part of my routine, so I wasn't sure what to do to try to stop the breakage. I finally chalked it up to the weather (I live in Philadelphia). I had this same issue last year this time, but before the breakage was mainly because I was using Amla Oil and my hair had a bad reaction.

Fast forward to today and my stylist could see the damage. She initially wasn't going to cut much (and do a normal trim), but I'll ALWAYS choose health over length, so I told her to cut it! It really hurt my feelings/ set in when I threw my length check t-shirt on and saw that my hair was at line #1 and I was on pace to be at line #5, which is BSL. However, I had to remind myself that last year this time I was at the same length and by the end of the year I was at line #4, so I can certainly do it again this year. It's not an ideal situation, but at least I know that I can grow my hair.

Moving forward, I'm going to experiment with my conditioner and see if that changes anything. Although I'm blaming my breakage on the weather, I'm still not 100% comfortable with my conditioner. I exclusively use Phyto products because that's what my stylist uses and I'm too lazy I find it easier to stick with a product line that she knows well and can provide recommendations for based on her knowledge of my hair. However, Phyto did a major overhaul of all of their products last year and they discontinued the conditioner that I previously used. I used one replacement and immediately thought my hair was breaking a little as a result, so I changed to another and had the same results. I've been using the new conditioner(s) for about 1 year and I did retain length, but I still think it's playing a role in the breakage.

Following are some photos:

3.9.14_Line #1

3.9.14_Line #1

Left: 3.9.14 line #1; Right: 12.1.13 line #4

Looking at these photos, I should have gotten a cut sooner, but I thought the thinness in my ends was the result of styling and not bad ends. Anyway, you live and you learn. My goal is to maintain this thickness throughout the year and reach line #4 again!  I'll keep you all posted :-).

HHG

I'm Engaged!!!

Hi Friends,

Happy holiday's everyone!!! As you can tell from the title, I GOT ENGAGED last night!!!! I am so over the moon and feel like the LUCKIEST girl in the world. Naturally there is a hair component to this story, lol.

So my fiance (can't believe I'm saying that) and my family planned an amazing proposal and engagement party. As you guys know, I got my hair relaxed 3 weeks ago, and I haven't done much to it since then. I've just been wearing it out and straight down. Earlier this week my older sister asked me about getting my hair done, but I said I didn't think I could fit it into my schedule. I ended up wearing my hair in a pony tail while my BF and I ran errands earlier in the day. That night I knew we were going to dinner and I planned to wear my hair in a pony tail, but my BF suggested that I wear my hair down to show off my hard work (he's so sweet). I put some bantu knots in my hair in order to try to get soft waves, but that didn't work so well since I had too much oil from M&S'ing over the last 3 weeks. I still wore it out since my BF requested it and just tried to make the best of it.

By the time we got to the engagement party, my hair looked less than desirable, but it didn't matter because I was soooo happy!!!! In hindsight I definitely wish I would have gotten my hair done, but it's all good. We haven't set a date as we're still basking in engagement land, but I already know how I want to wear my hair for wedding day. I'll show you guys once I finalize the details.

Happy holidays and new year to you all!

Relaxer Results

Hi friends! I apologize because I have not done a good job of posting over the summer. In my last relaxer update, I mentioned that my goal was to wear my hair out over the summer in order to “enjoy” it a bit more and give myself, and close family and friends a break from my wigs. I had planned to post my hairstyles, but only shared the details of my curlformers.

Fortunately, I did stick to the plan of wearing my hair out for the summer, which I’m SOO proud of myself for! After I did the curlformers, I did bantu knots a few times, followed by twist and curls, followed by braid and curls. My favorite styles were the curlformers and braid and curl. It’s funny because the braid and curl was a HUGE hit with everyone! Literally – it was to the point where complete strangers (ex: middle aged white man) would approach me to compliment my hair and/ or ask how I achieved the style. It was also interesting because everyone commented on the length of my hair, stating that if my hair was shoulder length, or a little beyond with the curls, then it must really be “long.”  I’m sure you all can relate in that when you’re on a hair journey, you often don’t think your hair is that long considering the many women who have MBL, and longer hair. However, I’m now a little past APL, and am finally starting to feel like my hair is long!

I got my hair texturized on Saturday at 12 weeks, and it was business as usual (texturizer + trim)! At one point when I was roughly 6 weeks post, I thought I was experiencing more breakage than normal. I kept an eye on my hair and stopped using JBCO (Jamaican black castor oil) and eventually gave up EVCO (extra virgin coconut oil). Fortunately, I didn’t actually have any unusual breakage (based on my stylist’s assessment), so either eliminating the oils did the trick, or I was being overly sensitive.

One last note – I exercise daily, with the exception of the first two weeks post relaxer (I need to get my money’s worth out of my straight hair, lol), but this summer I ended up taking the entire 12 weeks off from exercising  and I decided to track the impact on my hair. I noticed that although I’m close to line #3 on my shirt, my hair should actually be at or slightly past #3 based on my normal growth rate. So overall, working out makes a difference for my hair growth! Fortunately party time is over, so I’ll be back to Insanity, and wigs in two weeks J.

I’m really happy with my hair health and feel like I’m seeing length progress. If all things remain consistent I believe I’ll hit my next goal of BSL, between lines #4 and #5, by my 3 year hairversary in March 2014. I’m hoping to reach my final length goal of MBL, line #7, by next year this time (September 2014). Until next time…

Left: 8.2013 (~line 3) ; Right: 6.2013 (line 2)

Left: 8.2013 (~line 3); Right: 9.2012 (~ 1 year ago)

Braids, braids, braids!!!

Hi friends! As promised, I wanted to write a quick post about my box braids.

I got them done on Monday, March 25, so I've had them for exactly 3 weeks tomorrow. I LOVE them! My stylist did them and it took roughly 5 hours. She actually started out braiding hair before she moved to becoming a stylist focused on hair health. I love the fact that I have one stop shopping with her because she knows my hair and is gentle with it. It took less than a week for them to loosen. They weren't too tight to begin with, and after the fourth day I had really good movement with them that wasn't uncomfortable. That was a BIG relief.

I have been caring for them just as a I would my normal hair. I moisturize and seal them daily, wash them weekly with my normal products (including my normal oil pre-treatment and protein leave-in). So it's business as usual even though I have braids. The other great benefit is although I follow the same process, it takes about an hour (if that) for my wash day because I don't have to detangle!!!

I would like to take more photos, but here is one that I posted on Instagram (they are pretty long...about waist length and I'm 5'7 for reference):

Until next time!

Breakage Update

Hi friends! It has been a little over two weeks since I posted that I think I discovered what is causing my breakage. Immediately after I wrote that post, I poured out all of my oil mixtures and washed the bottles with boiling water (literally) and dish detergent (I used detergent because it cleans oil/ grease). Then I made new mixtures using coconut oil as a base. I have been using coconut oil since the beginning of my hair journey and have not had a problem yet (at least I don't think). I did a clarifying wash the following week and have rid myself completely of Amla.

So fast forward two weeks and I am still seeing breakage. I believe it has subsided a bit, but it's still way more than I'm comfortable with. Also, now instead of a bunch of really small pieces, the pieces are longer. I don't know what the heck is going on. I keep reminding myself that although I thought it would happen immediately, I had been consistently using Amla oil on my hair since September (roughly 5 months), so I shouldn't expect to reverse the effects immediately. I certainly don't think it should take months for the breakage to stop, but I'm just trying to be reasonable and give my hair a chance to adjust and rebalance.

I am scheduled to go to my stylist for my texturizer in about 3 weeks and at that point I will talk to her and make adjustments to what I'm currently doing. Unfortunately, I'm also preparing myself for the worst in terms of how much I'll have to get chopped off.

At this point, it's all a part of the learning process and I know better moving forward. I'll keep you posted.

I Figured it Out!!!!!!

Hey guys - I know I have been boring you for the last 3 weeks about my stressful wash day sessions. Just to recap, when I got my last relaxer in December, my stylist and I noticed I had breakage in my hair. Leading up to this appointment, I noticed my hair was breaking, but I couldn't figure out why and wasn't really proactive in trying to figure it out.

After my relaxer, my stylist loaded me up with products and I vowed to get back to the basics that I had stopped doing as 2012 progressed. Well I've been diligently taking care of my hair, using protein weekly (which was the big thing that I stopped doing in the second half of 2012), and trying to get my breakage under control. Nothing seemed to be working. This week I ended up not doing the every other day treatments that I had planned because I didn't think that it would make a difference.

Fast forward to today, I was in the shower washing my hair, noticing all of the small pieces of breakage and I again thought back to when the breakage happened and what I changed around that time. Last year, my hair was fine (and actually thriving) from March - September. So what changed after my September relaxer? OOOHHH CRAP.....I introduced 100% Amla Oil.

Amla Oil, really? That would cause breakage? I think so! I don't know for sure ladies, but that's one of the major things that I introduced into my hair regimen around September and have been consistently using. I first purchased Amla oil in May of last year and actually posted about it, but the first bottle I got contained mineral oil and I wanted pure Amla, so I ordered another bottle in late August that's 100% pure and went crazy with it. I put it in my scalp oil mix, of course in all of my sealing oil, and it was the main oil that I was using (as in 30-50% of all of my mixtures). Over the last two weeks I've made two bottles of Amla + Coconut Oil to seal with. It has been a staple since September, and my hair has been breaking since then.

So - since I just came to this realization today during my wash day, I'm going to only use coconut oil to seal this week and complete my normal wash day next week and see if my shedding decreases. Basically I'm cutting out all Amla on my hair for the next few weeks to see if I really did figure out the cause of my breakage. I'll keep you posted!

De-Solv-It

Hey friends! I don't know about you, but when I started my hair journey, I noticed that I was ruining A LOT of stuff with my overuse of oils! Seriously - I can't tell you how many shirts, sweatshirts, pillow cases, other linen, etc. that I've stained with my oil shenanigans!

Anyway, long story short, I work in the Energy industry with oil refineries. I visited a refinery and one of the guys suggested the below product as one that removes everything from oil to the residue that's left on stuff when you remove a tag, to other random crap. By the way when the guy mentioned oil, he was talking about crude oil, the heavy stuff that comes out of the ground!

So I got this and used it on one of my coats that I had stained with oil from my hair wrap that I wear under my wig. I have to admit that I decided to use the product the way that I wanted to and not completely as instructed. So the product seemed to ruin my jacket at first, but in the end it actually did take the oil stains out. I also used this on one of my blouses that had slight stains and it took those stains out as well without ruining my blouse. My Mom used this on a few things around the house and was less than thrilled with the results, which was a bit disappointing because I had such high hopes for the universal application of this product.

Overall, I would recommend this for clothing that you care about, but caution you to use as stated in the directions. In other words, don't be like me and spray a bunch on your clothes and let it sit for 30 minutes instead of 3 because you want it to work extra hard - you will just be playing yourself! Until next time...

New Love

A few weeks ago I purchased Amla Oil. I was curious about this oil because last year I purchased Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream and really liked it. Although it took a few uses, the cream made my hair crazy soft and moisturized. With that, I figured that since Amla Oil was a key contributor in the hair cream, it would likely be great on its own.

I purchased the Amla Oil from a nearby Indian grocery store. I read that the popular brand, Dabur, contains mineral oil + other oils. I'm not overly anti-mineral oil, but I did want to ensure that I purchased the brand with the least amount of additives. With that, I purchased Bio brand. There aren't any ingredients listed on the box, so it was hard to confirm in the store, but I googled the brand once home and it seemed fine.

So far, I love Amla Oil: 

• The greatest issue that I have is the smell - it is very strong. It doesn't stink, but I don't love it. Aside from that, everything else is cool. 
• Amla is a very thin oil - it's very liquidy and not as thick as a grapeseed, jojoba, etc. It has a green color, which apparently can darken hair over time, so if you are concerned with darkening your hair color, you may not want to use this. 
• According to the description of it's uses (listed on a website with details for this brand), Amla Oil creates a healthy environment for hair to grow and can help increase hair growth up to 7X faster than normal. I didn't purchase this oil as a growth aid and don't necessarily believe the claims, but if it does increase my hair growth as an added bonus, I'll take it! 
• I currently have Amla mixed with my scalp oil concoction (Amla, Vitamin E, Castor, and Jojoba), as well as mixed with EVCO as a sealant for daily M&Sing. Just as with the Qhemet cream, when I first started using the Amla, I didn't notice a difference, but after a few days, my hair was consistently soft and moisturized.
• Lastly, over the last 3 weeks I have used Amla with a new deep conditioner that I purchased (I'll talk about it in another post), and it has been great! I use a generous amount of conditioner and then spray the Amla oil on my hair, place a plastic cap and my turbie twist on for a few hours, and my hair is like butter!

I will continue to use Amla Oil moving forward and hope that my hair continues to respond well! HHJ

New Goodies!

Hi friends - I hope you all are having a great weekend and enjoying the early peak of Summer (for those in the Northeast)!

I purchased these bottles a little over a month ago after seeing them on Jeni's blog. I had been in the market for glass bottles to house some of my oil mixtures and products, but didn't commit to finding what I needed. Once I saw her post, I decided to use the same vendor. Glass bottles are great to store products in because they contain less potentially harmful chemicals than their plastic counterparts (such as BPA).

I purchased the following and love them!

 

From left to right:

• 6 oz: I use this bottle for the oil mixture that I apply to my scalp on a daily basis. This has a dropper so it allows for easy and controlled application to my scalp. 
• 6 oz: I'm currently not using this bottle, but I'm sure that I'll find some use for the pump.
• 6oz: This bottle has a spray nozzle which I LOVE for M&Sing! I previously had trouble getting just the right amount of oil to seal my hair. Now, I actually fill this bottle with EVCO, warm it up if it's not liquid, and then spray it on my hair after moisturizing for even distribution on my strands! It's also a bit less messy than applying the oil with my hands - #winning!
• 3oz: I purchased this bottle for traveling. I've been traveling a lot lately and need to be able to transport whatever oil(s) I need in my carry on bag!

Until next time!