Relaxer Update February 2015

So it's been awhile... Happy New Year & Happy Valentine's too! I find that with me protective styling the majority of 2014, there hasn't been much to blog about :( Luckily this year I plan to wear my hair out slightly more, which means I can experiment with more products and styles. Anyways, my last stretch was 12 weeks long and it was fairly uneventful. I left my hair out for about 3 weeks, then wore a sew-in for about a month, and ended my stretch with Senegalese twists. I ended my stretch by clarifying my hair and giving my scalp few days to breathe.

On Tuesday I started with my relaxer day by detangling my hair, and oiling my scalp with vaseline. I parted my in four sections, then pre-parted each section to make my relaxing process quicker. To relax, I used the ORS line in Normal, and added 2 tablespoons of olive oil to slow processing. From start to finish, I only kept the relaxer on for 18 minute, and 30 seconds. After rinsing the relaxer from my hair, I did a mid-step protein treatment with Aphogee 2 min Reconstructor. After a few minutes, I rinsed and neutralized my hair three times.

 Once the relaxer process was over, I wanted to restore my moisture and protein levels in my hair. To deep condition I used both ORS Replenishing conditioner, and KeraCare's Humecto Creme Conditioner. I left the mixture on my hair for thirty minutes before following up with my Paul Mitchell smoothing conditioner. When I stepped out the shower to dry my hair my hair felt really great. I let my hair t-shirt dry for a few minutes before applying leave-ins and heat protectant. To style my hair I blow dryed & flat ironed my hair.

I am overall happy with my progress this past year, but I do miss my hair and my blog. I am now at a length that I can comfortably bun, or try other short term protective styles. This year I plan to wear my hair out 5 weeks, then protect for 7 weeks. That way I will get to enjoy my hair, but still spend a good amount of time protecting my ends. I'm looking forward to hitting new goals this year, I'm officially APL now too :)