Wash Day 3.1

Closer to fully texlaxed

           It feels like it has been forever since I posted anything about my hair. Since my relaxer update I have done a few cowashes, and I finally washed my hair this past week after putting it off. I was so happy to see the amount of texture that was left in my hair after this past relaxer, even though I thought my stylist did not. False alarm people lol.

      Pre-pooed my hair while I worked out with grapeseed oil, castor oil, and V05 Clarifying Conditioner under a plastic cap.
Washed with Organix Awapuhi Ginger Shampoo.
I made a fresh batch of black tea rinse and let it steep for about 2 hours this week. I applied to the tea to my hair in the shower and let it sit on my hair for 30 minutes.
On top of the black tea rinse I applied the Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream for an hour without heat underneath my plastic cap.
After deep conditioning I applied my Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Daily Treatment for a few minutes while I showered.
T-shirt dried for 30 minutes then put my leave-ins S-curl & Aphogee Keratin Green Tea Leave in before detangling in 4 sections.

Hair slightly damp, texture left from relaxer

Slowly getting away from my bone straight ends

I decided to do a simple braidout with a row of 3 braids on the bottom, and a row 3 braids on the top. I used water, eco-styler gel, and Shea Moisture's Curl & Style Milk. Then I sealed that with grapeseed oil and castor oil. I took a nap for about 4 hours and removed my braids before going to work. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the braid out :/ but I am still getting used to my super busy summer schedule. I gotta get my life together man lol

Relaxer Update 2

After relaxer & trim

      This past Friday I relaxed my hair at 13 weeks post. I had my regular beautician do the job for me but I prepped my hair by detangling and saturating my relaxed ends in grapeseed oil. When I got to the shop my relaxing process went pretty smooth. She based my scalp with some type of petroleum based product and she used Affirm to relax my hair. I have been using Affirm ever since I got a relaxer back when I was 13.
          A few things I noticed when she did my relaxer were that she proceeded to talk with other clients and accept phone calls while she applied my relaxer!!! That really bugged me and I'm pretty sure there was not enough texture left in my hair :/ The good thing is I did not have any scalp burns or any major problems with the relaxer itself. The whole process just made me more anxious to try self-relaxing/getting a new beautician.  As of right now the plan is to start self-relaxing in November, but it may happen sooner than that if I can talk myself into it. After my relaxer I sat under the steamer to deep condition, then she blow dried, flat ironed, and trimmed my hair. My trim put me back at right above APL in my opinion, but my hair looks a lot better as far as fullness and uniformity is concerned.

I have officially been on my Healthy Hair Journey for a full year on May 15th!!! I bought myself a real length check shirt to celebrate from justgrowalready.com . My hair is slowing but surely changing for the better and I am sooo glad to be on this journey. I love seeing all my hair work paying off, and I am looking forward to seeing where I will be next year on my HHJ anniversary.

New Length Check Shirt

My next stretch will be 100% heat-free with lots of protective styling I have got to retain some length this stretch!

Wash Day 2.12 Relaxer Prep

     

This NG is outta control lol

This week has been crazy, but I somehow managed to squeeze in a wash day while finishing finals, packing etc. At the end of the week I am going to be relaxing my hair so I needed to do a protein treatment and clarify.

Pre-poo- "Protein treatment" and I say that lightly because honestly I just threw some stuff together. My mix consisted of greek yogurt, Proclaim Intensive Strengthening conditioner, small amount of honey, EVOO, EVCO, and Castor Oil. I left this on for 30 minutes under a plastic cap.

Wash- I clarified my hair with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo in 2 sections. I then followed that up with the Kera Care Hydrating Detangling Shampoo, which I have been loving late into my stretch.

BTR for 30 minutes

Deep condition- This week I used my Kera Care Humecto for 90 minutes, 30 spent under my hooded dryer. I would be hurt if this product discontinued lol

Clear Rinse- It's been 5 weeks since my last clear rinse so I decided it was time to do another. I left it on for 25 minutes under a plastic cap. I love how smooth and maneable the rinse makes my hair feel.

Smoothing Conditioner- Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Daily Treatment left on for 5 minutes while in shower.

T-shirt dried about 15 minutes, applied leave-ins Aphogee Green Tea & Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Serum & detangled.

Let air dry then put in a bun.

Weeks 4-8-12. I'm going to start using the flash from now on.

Look Back part II

So here's what been going on yal lol/ 2 weeks post

Today I am officially 12 weeks post! Over the past year I have been relaxing at either 12 or 13 weeks post. Nowadays 12 weeks is a breeze since when I first decided to start a hair journey I dove in head first. I went from relaxing every 6 weeks to automatically relaxing at 12!! Anyways lol
This stretch I focused on heatless styles from BKO's, flexi-rods, and numberous braidouts, and I had so much  fun with my hair. I have even gotten some of my friends to join the healthy hair train.
The funny thing about heatless styles is they turn out so differently every time.

4 weeks post- loving the thickness

Here's a few random braidouts/bko's that were not in previous posts.

BKO 6wks post

What was different about this stretch?

I love the pout #guilty 11wks post rained out BKO

1. I absolutely love the Paul Mitchell products I added to my regimen. They both save me so much time with drying, and I love how much smoother my hair is afterwards.
2. I have started to do clear rinses which really help with tangles and shine.
3. I'm loving my Vanilla Silk Creme Moisture Dream deep conditioner by Silk Dreams :) It's almost time to reorder
4. Castor oil was applied daily to my edges
5. Consistent exercise
6. Better diet/water intake- see my skin glowing right? haha


I'll be prepping for my relaxer on tuesday (protein/clarifying) and ending my stretch on friday, which will be 13 weeks post. Look Back from 12 weeks ago...

2.11 Wash Day

I've been dreaming of straight roots lol. I am ready for silky smooth tresses & my patience is growing thin from having to be so careful with my line(s) of demarcation. My new growth has been staying moist from S-curl on my ng every other day. At the end of next week I will be relaxing my hair so I have a bunch of posts coming out including a relaxer update, relaxer stretch wrap up, and 1 year progress. This wash day was pretty basic and I do not even have a picture of the end results :/, but here's how it went.

1. Prepoo with Coconut Oil and V05 Strawberries and Cream Moisture MIlk Conditioner for 20 minutes. My hair actually loves this stuff as a prepoo, and I love the consistency (thin) for the purpose of prepooing.
2. Shampooed with KeraCare hydrating detangling shampoo, and I forgot how great this product works so deep into my stretch. I will definitely be using this next week after I clarify.
3. Black Tea Rinse sprayed in shower and left on for 15 minutes.
4. Deep Conditioned using Kera Care Humecto for 45 minutes- 1 hour. My new bottle came in exactly one week after I ordered it!!!
5. Followed with Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment for 3 minutes. This stuff is amazing!
6. Aphogee Keratin Green Tea leave-in and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to detangle, after allowing to airdry partially.

At about 60% dry I put my hair in 12 bantu knots using water, Kera Care wrap lotion, Shea Moisture's Curl & Style Milk, and coconut oil. My curls were short lived due to the weather and I forgot to get a fresh picture, but I enjoyed them while they lasted. Short N' Sweet :)

Wash Day 2.10 Air Dry & Bun

      

Excuse all the flyaways

This week I decided to keep it simple when it came to styling. I do tend to get pretty bored with buns but this summer I plan to play around with some different tweaks to the traditional high bun. I should be having another product review coming some time this month to talk about some of my recent buys :) This week I picked up Elasta QP Shampoo for Relaxed Hair & the S-curl New Formula.

1) Pre-pooed using the last of my Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship conditioner (this product took forever to finish b/c it did nothing for my hair) grapeseed oil, castor oil, olive oil combo for an hour.
2) Washed using Elasta QP Shampoo for relaxed hair conditioner shampoo... I'll do a review after a few more uses.
3) I haven't done a protein treatment in a few weeks so I used my Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor for a light protein treatment.
4) I made a new batch of BTR and let it steep for 6 hours before I started by wash day. I sprayed the rinse in the shower and let it stay on for 15 minutes.
5) Deep conditioned with Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream for about 90 minutes. I spent 15 minutes under the dryer using my steaming method.
6) Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment left on for 4 minutes
7) T-shirt dry for 10 minutes
8) S-curl new formula & Kinky Curly Knot Today as my leave-in this week, plus Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to detangle.
9) Let air dry hanging down and loose bun to sleep.

I really NEED a fullsize mirror but #OOTD

10) In the morning I pulled my hair into a high bun using Eco Styler Morrocan Argan Oil & Edge Control for my 10 weeks post new growth yikes!