How I Care For My Relaxed Hair'

I am writing this post because as I gain more length I am starting to get more attention/inquiries on my hair care regimen & what it is that I do & why. 

First I would like to reiterate that I DO RELAX MY HAIR!!!

Many people see that I am on a hair journey & automatically assume that I am natural. Being on a hair journey or developing a hair care regimen has allowed me to gain knowledge on how to maintain my hair relaxed as well as my kinky/coily new growth, which allows me to only relax my hair every 5-6 months. 

Another reason that I am writing this post is bc my blog is pretty much a journal for my journey. Some may reference it & find ideas here & there but it is not quite an informative hair care blog. I am only a year & a half in so I still consider myself learning. I post what I learn, as I learn. Then there are other things that I know of, but don't post because I don't utilize them. That is one thing you will learn if you are just starting out on your journey, there are MANY MANY products, DIY treatments, methods & hair utensils out here! There is no way that you will utilize everything that you read. So I don't consider this an informative blog bc I am a bit selfish...if I don't do it, I don't write about it. Perhaps one day I'll grow, when the traffic starts coming in & I have questions to answer & requested posts, but until then this entire blog is based on what I've learned & what I've found useful. 

Ok now down to what I do!!!

Daily:

 I take my vitamins bc my diet is not the best & I spritz my hair with a DYI Green Tea & oil mix.

I spritz my hair for a tad bit of moisture.

Every other day I oil my scalp with an oil. Sometimes (most times) it's Castor Oil, but right now it's Liquid Gold Sulfur BasedOil. Both are for growth aids.

I also moisturize my hair every other day & GHE.

What do I moisturize with?

Mizani Overnight Tx

Mizani ButterRich Hairdress or

ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion.

What is GHE?

It's Oiling your scalp & moisturizing your hair, then placing a plastic cap over your hair followed by a head scarf for at least 30 minutes.

Weekly:

I cowash with V05 Clarifying Conditioner.

Cowashing is cleansing the hair witha conditioner opposed to shampoo.  I know it sounds sketchy but it truly does cleanse my hair while adding & reserving moisture.

DeepCondition: I deep condition under a hooded dryer weekly.

Monthly:

Clarify hair with an ACV rinse.

Apple Cider Vinegar rinses clarifies hair while closing the hair shaft creating a smooth & sleek look. 

I use 2 tablespoons of ACV w/ 2 cups of water. Pour over hair, allow to sit for 2-5 minutes then rinse in cool water.

Protein Treatment: I use Aphogee 2 min Reconstructor for protein. 

I also seem to flat iron my

Hair once a month. It's not my intentions to do it so frequently but I do love being able to show my hair off every once & a while. When ever I do flat iron I use the comb & chase method &ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a heat protectant. 

After straightening my hair I use my Split Ender to dust for split ends. 

Outside of straightening my hair I use buns & wigs as protective styles & Bantu Knot Outs & Braid Outs as low manipulation styles.

My current length is APL: 

 

App for Hair Journey!!!

This is just a quick little post to let those of you who may not be aware that there is a hair journal app on the iPhone, I'm not sure if its available to Android users but you are welcomed to check!! It's called "Hair Journal"

I find it extremely useful to keep account of even the smallest details of what I've done to my hair.

It is set up to where you can have more than one profile.

That comes in handy if say you & your sister are both using the app on a shared device.

As you can see it has tabs for a hair diary:

Which contains a calendar to pick a date & allow you to write down any notes, measurements, or pics for that specific date. 

It also contains an entire photo album where you can see all if the pics collectively 

 But to only see certain pics for a specific day you would need to go to the calendar inside of the diary & click on that specific day.

Then there is a tab to list your favorite products, staple prods & what you like about them!

If you are anything like me, keep your phone at hand & have to FIND time to even physically write on notebook & paper lol, this may be the app for you!!! I have literally used this EVERYDAY since downloading!! Just thought I'd share :-)

HHJ EVERYONE!!!!

Protective Style Check In: Month 2

Well I have made it to the second month of Longing4Length's PSC. So far I used a pass to wear a cute Bantu Knot Out and one heat pass, even though I straightened my hair I still wore it up in a bun, way to cold to wear it out. Well now here I am March 1, and I am wigging with Creta Girl:
 She is synthetic, my synthetics USUALLY last me 2 weeks, the curlier ones, if I'm good, will last me 3. I am pushing fot 4 weeks this time lol, I would love to wig, without having to buy a new wig for the entire month of March.
I plan to continue my regimen as stated before with weekly cowashes and deep conditioning under the dryer. Typically I braid my hair underneath my wigs, I just want to make sure not to neglect my hair, which is soooo easy to do while wigging.

Most of Feburary I bunned:


I did try the flat twist protective style which came out OK for the first time doing it, but I don't have a pic (sorry). Oh I also wore my hair in actual Bantu Knots, not taken down into a Bantu Knot Out.

It hasn't been much of a challeng protective styling, as the timing is just right. I just cant stand the idea of wearing my hair down in the cold weather...it kills me. I am uber excited and kind of nervous about seeing my end results in April. I mean of course I would LIKE to win the prizes associated with the challenge, but there really is no losing when you hang in there and achieve your desired length retention!!

Hope All is well with everyone and as always THANKS FOR READING!!!!

Progress Update!!

Hi everyone!!! Hope we are all having a fantastic week so far! I just happened to realize that I never did update you all on my December trim! I got it professionally trimmed, aiming at evening up my hair....that went, uhhh, well, it just wasn't as even as I would have liked it to be, I am a fan of blunt cuts, the stylist wanted to do layers. She didn't do deep layers, because I told her that I wanted to keep as much of my length as possible.

I actually forgot all about that trim, and had been complaining about how my hair was not growing, despite my being pregnant, which is usually hair growth heaven for me!! Simply because last I checked in November, I was APL:

November:

This was the results of my visit to the salon, I'm not sure how much she cut off inches wise, but seeing that I had JUST made APL, it did put me back to SL.



After comparing November, the beginning of my journey from APL to BSL (new length goal WOOOO!!), with my December trim (minor set back, very minor) with Feburary's growth/length....I decided to shut up about my hair not growing, bc pics don't lie......well maybe sometimes they do lol, but not this time!



So there is the update to my growth! Back at APL, now in Feburary and HOPING (though I may be stretching) to be BSL by August or September.
As far as my regimen, I had been:

Cowashing weekly.
DC'ing weekly w/ added Castor Oil
M&S'ing  ehhh once a week, I was lazy.
Oiling Scalp w/ Castor Oil 3x a week.
Protective styling exclusively
1 Heat Pass 1x/month.
Taking daily prenatal vitamins
Exercise 3x/week

As for my regimen now, I have tweaked a bit for optimum growth & length retention, it's as follows:

Prepooing w/ Coconut weekly
Cowashing 1x per week
DC'ing w/ heat 1x weekly
GHE'ing 2x/week
Oiling Scalp with Liquid Gold's Sulfur based Hair Growth oil 3x a week.
Protective Styling Exclusively
1 Low Manipulation style 1x/month
No Direct Heat
Exercise 3x/ week
Take Prenatal Vitamins daily.

My PLAN is to follow this regimen until the birth of the baby. For the birth I plan on getting a really low maintainence protective style like sew in or braids, so that I can get away with minimizing my routine, while adjusting to becoming a mother of 4!!! Talk about a handful!!!

Well as always thanks for reading love faces :-**!

Relaxing Your Hair: While You Are Pregnancy!

Whether it hold some truth or be an old myth created by some supersticious over protective mom, relaxing hair while pregnant has been one of the many questions amongst mom-to-be(s).

Some may believe that the use of the chemicals may be absorbed and introduced to and possibly harm the fetus. The truth is that there is no "hard" evidence stating that the use of chemical relaxers has an effect on the baby. On the contrary there is also no "hard" evidence stating that it doesn't.

That's why it solely up to the mother whether or not to use chemical relaxers on her hair. As always first consult with your OB-GYN, if he/she gives you the green light, there are other things to be aware of.

1, Remember to treat this like a normal (pre pregnancy) hair process, base your scalp and do not appy directly onto the scalp.

2.Also take not that depending on the mother and her hormones, relaxers may not fully process your hair, if in case you prefer being bone straight.

SO FELLOW HAIRLISTAS!!! WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON RELAXING HAIR  WHILE PREGNANT?

If you have any more tips or advice pertaining to relaxing your hair while pregnant please feel free to add them in a comment. Thank you all for reading!!

Product Review: Tangle Teezer vs Hair Bean & Tangle Tamer

I labeled this as a "Product" Review but I guess it is more of a hair utensil, anyhow these are three detangling brushes that all appear similar, so similar that it would be easy to assume that they all pretty much performed the same. I have tried all three, so if you are interested in my take on things, this is the post to read!!

All three of these brushes are to be used for the purpose of detangling, safe to do so on wet or dry hair with very minimal breakage, if any at all.

First I will review the "Hair Bean"

I never seen the informercial on tv regarding this, but I did find it at my local CVS in the "As Seen On T.V." section. It was $9.99. Now on to the important part, it's perfomance: In my opinion the bristles are too short and flimsy to really be effective for detangling, the soul purpose of the brush. The bristles were too flimsy to even use as a styling brush. The bristles were too short to even touch your scalp, let alone being able to take charge any of tangles. Basically this one is definitely a NO GO!!! I ended up giving to my husband to use on our dog.

Now on to the Tangle Tamer

I actually picked this one up on accident, thinking that it was the Tangle Teezer, I really liked the idea of it having a handle. Anywho I found it at Sally's for about $12, I think. The bristles on this brush are more similar to those on the Tangle Teezer. They are longer and more firm than those on the Hair Bean, making for a good scalp massager and styling brush. This, as a detangler, I would say is "OK". If your hair is really tangled, badly, I would say to be really careful, start at the ends and brush lightly to detangle. The bristles are more firm than those on the Tangle Teezer, which takes away from the flexibility when encountering a tangle, it is more likely to just "snap" right through the hair, oppose to manuevering around it. I have used this in the shower under running water and my hair did just fine, no breakage, didn't get "stuck" in any tangles or pull on my hair. On dry hair is when I noticed that you have to be more careful than you would have to be with the Tangle Teezer.

Last but not least, I will discuss the Tangle Teezer:

Of the three, the Tangle Teezer is best at detangling on wet or dry hair. The bristles have just the right length and flexibility to make the perfect detangling brush. I got mine over a year ago, and it still works as if I had gotten it on day 1. It was at Sally's for $9.99. I use this as a styling brush, detangling brush, and even scalp massager! I simply love this brush, no  snags, no snaps, no complaints!

In a nutshell:

Hair Bean: Too Soft

Tangle Tamer: Too Hard (not to hard to function, but you will have to be careful)

Tangle Teezer: JUUUUUUUUUUUUST RIGHT!!!

Product Review: ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion

 I know I am probably not telling you anything new, if you are seasoned in "hair care", but for those of you who are new, or just plain old "sleeping" on this product (like I was). I have over looked this time and time again, you may wonder what convinced me to finally pick it up. I may sound like a true hair STAN (stalker+fan), but it was seeing it in ULoveMegz stash! I use ORS Relaxer because of her, however I use the Professional kind, not the kit. Anywho my review on this product MAY be a bit biased since my hair is straightened and I recently dusted, using my SplitEnder. However I LOOOOOVE this product!! I am usually a Mizani girl, some of you may know but they can run anywhere from $17-$22 and while it is a great product, if I can get the same quality for less money, I most certainly will!! That is what I feel like ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion is, an equivalent to my Mizani Butter Rich Hairdress, for less money. It is super creamy, does not take a lot, and my hair just feels moisturized!!!It really does just feel so moisturized and soft. It cost about $4.95. Sally's description of it reads:

• Restores moisture to dry, thirsty hair
• Conditions and protects hair from high heat
• Not greasy or sticky
• Long-lasting shine

"An Incredibly rich oil moisturizing hair lotion. With consistent use, hair will begin to show improved elasticity, hydration and shine. Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion protects hair from blowdryers and curling irons. Strengthens damaged hair. "

So far I have only used it once, but seeing how my hair is now it makes me excited to see the results I should recieve if I continue to use it on a regular basis.

The ingredients are:

Water - Aqua, Coconut Oil - Cocos Nucifera, Sorbitol, Trimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol , Petrolatum, Cyclomethicone, Peanut Oil - Arachi Hypogaea , Castor Oil - Ricinus Communis, Cetyl Esters, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Olive Oil - Olea Europaea, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, DMDM Hydantoin, Propylene Glycol, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Carbomer , Cetearyl Alcohol , Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, PEG-25 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Fragrance - Parfum , Benzyl Alcohol , Benzyl Salicylate , Geraniol, Hexylcinnamicaldehyde, Lillial, D'Limonene, Linalool, Lyral, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, BHT , Blue No. 1 - CI 42090, Yellow No. 5 - CI 19140

I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. 4 simply because I wish it did not contain any Petrolatum lol, but other than that it is a thumbs up!!! As I stated I have only used once on flat ironed hair, I will do a follow up update after I wash and go back to my low maintainence hair styles when my hair has more texture in it.