I Made APL and HOTD

Happy Sunday! 

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

This weekend I decided to wear my hair out and when randomly pulling a piece of hair down, I realized it touched my arm pits! To say I was surprised is an understatement. Now, only the back portion of my hair is full APL, but I'm okay with that. I prefer a layered look anyway. The front of my hair goes below my chin and the sides are past collar-bone. I will do an official length check when I reach one year natural. Just to note, my hair DOES NOT grow the average 6 inches a year. I retained about 10-10.5 inches of growth in 2 years and grew 6-7 inches(of natural growth) when transitioning for 16 months. 

So, as a brief recap of where I started at 16 months post relaxer: 

Sick of Protective Styling

So I am 5 weeks post relaxer and I'm at the point where I am sick of braids, twists, buns and so-forth. BUT I know for maximum retention, I need to keep my ends protected and I really only need to do this for another 3 months.
I was thinking about getting some half wigs..but to be honest with you, wigs and weaves just aren't my thing. I must admit I wore weaves in the past..usually curly in the back and cornrowed in the front..But I just don't like them on ME anymore.
I took out my twists last night and was going to just wear a bun today...but my hair felt so greasy that I had to co-wash then do an Apple Cidar Vinegar Rinse.
I ended up air-drying in 6 braids..so I wore the braid-out for today and it feels good having my hair down!

 

 I was going to do another set of Cornrows, but I think my edges need a break so I may just wait another week to do that. But then again...I may just change my mind! I'm sure I will get out of this rut soon.

Quick Hair Update

Hey Everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend and a Blessed Mother's Day (although that should be celebrated EVERY DAY).

So, I relaxed on Friday night. My Mom did the back while I did the front. So, when I did the front right section, she did the back left section. My mother was a little afraid of ruining my hair..haha..so the back is a little underprocessed. No biggie though(even though I was a bit angry at the moment).

More on the Relaxer and Flat Ironing Process coming soon.
I did flat-iron on 310 degrees in the back and 285 on the remainder of my hair.
I wanted to do a black rinse, but didn't in fear of ruining my parents shower and sink.

Sorry to rush this post!
Here are some pics. The flash was on, so it made my hair look really brown.

I dusted a little after these pics. But I plan to cut off a half inch or more in 3-4 weeks.

My hair is unintentionally layered, if anyone recalls from a past post, I had breakage in my crown(it was like 1 inch long) which is now past neck length.It's making a lot of progress, but my hair isn't as full as it should be!!! Argghhh!

Gel is My Friend

I am 8 weeks post relaxer and just been damp bunning/clipping my hair lately. Right now, retention is key, so in order to retain most of my length, I have to keep my ends really moisturized. The only way for me to do that is to cowash more often and on days I don't cowash..... I moisturize and seal daily.

On co-wash and wash days, I do use products(conditioner, prepoo, leave-ins) with light protein such as wheat & vegetable protein or silk amino acids. Those products are keeping my hair strong yet soft and help to prevent a moisture overload.

Now about the Gel

The ONLY Gel that has been laying down my edges all day long, is Eco Styler Gel (olive oil). In order to prevent flakiness, I only apply it to my edges when they are damp, then I tie a scarf on the front of my hair for 10-15 minutes.
I usually use Aloe Vera Gel, but going forward during this stretch,  I'm sticking with Eco.
I bought a 12 oz tub of the Gel last summer and I have used it since then..but still have 90% left. A little does go a long way.




Ingredients:

Water , Carbomer , Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein , PVP , Glycerin , Triethanolamine , Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate , Polysorbate 20 , Tetrasodium EDTA , Olive Oil , Fragrance , Blue #1 , Yellow #11 , Love and Pride

When using a Gel like this, I have to make sure I clarify or wash my hair once a week, because this does cause build-up.

8 Weeks Down...8 to Go

I decided to stretch my relaxer to 16 weeks. Currently, I am 8 weeks post relaxer and my new-growth is very manageable, so I'm like heeey..I can go another 8 weeks. This leaves me relaxing my hair around January 18th.
I told myself that I would not relax my hair no more then 4 times a year, so if I were to relax in December which I originally decided, I would be relaxing 5 times this year. Which is the number one reason I plan on stretching to 16 weeks. Also, I realize my hair is the most healthiest when I stretch to at least 16 weeks.

My Hair Yesterday to show some of my newgrowth

Last night I did a mild protein treatment, followed by a moisturizing deep conditioning treatment..let my hair airdry for an hour..sectioned my hair..applied heat protectant to each section..then Blow Dryed my hair with Medium heat.

I used this Andis Ionic Blow Dryer which I purchased from Target for $20.00 and used the wide tooth comb attachment.

This was my first time in 7.5 months blowdrying my hair. I mainly blow dryed because halfway through parts of my hair are texlaxed areas...so I wanted to get those areas straight so I can dust my hair evenly, which I dusted about a quarter of an inch. My hair felt a little dry after blow-drying, so I'll make sure if I continue to do so..I will keep it at a once a month maximum kind of thing just to dust my ends evenly.

Weekly Protein & My Winter Regimen

...well light protein.

So, I tweaked my regimen a little and for the last two weeks I have been doing light protein treatments that worked out really well. So for this winter, to make sure my hair is in tip top shape, I will be adding weekly light protein treatments to my regimen.

I will be using the Aphogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructer. My hair always feels strong, yet soft after washing this out, but to balance everything out I do a moisturizing deep conditioning treatment after.




I live in New England, so you can just imagine how my winters are. It does get really cold out here and I do have to switch up my regimen/products to accommodate. In the summer I was doing a lot of co-washes, which is great for the moisture and I needed to do so after my work-outs, so that's one part of my regimen that will stay consistent except I wont be doing it as often.  I always moisturize my hair daily, but in the summer I used Glycerin based products...for the winter, I will needed a heavier/oil based moisturizer instead. I am also using Shea Butter mixed with Coconut Oil to seal in moisture because it's heavier and will hold me down in the winter months.
I will still Airdry, but I will always make sure my hair is dry before going to sleep and leaving the house.

To be honest with you, my regimen isn't changing that much, but here it is:

Once a week: Usually Sundays
Prepoo Saturday Night- Conditioner mixed with Hemp Seed Oil
Shampoo- Sulfate Free Shampoo
Protein Treatment- Leave on for 5 Minutes then Rinse
Moisturizing Deep Conditioning Treatment- Leave on for 1-3 hours without heat(I may sit under the dryer from time to time for an hour)
Leave-ins, Detangle Hair(after 6-8 weeks post I will detangle when I prepoo then wash in braids) and Airdry
Once a Month- Add in a Porosity Control or ACV rinse

1-3 times a week
Co-wash with Moisturizing and Volumizing Conditioners after work-outs
Leave-ins and Airdry

Daily- Spray scalp with Aloe Vera Juice Mixed with Castor Oil, Eucalyptus Oil and Rosemary Oil
Spray Hair with just Aloe Vera Juice mixed with Rose Water and Distilled Water(which is Kept in the Fridge)  OR
Moisturize hair with either a Moisturizer (such as BioInfusion Olive Oil or Hollywood Beauty Carrot or Olive Oil)
*Sometimes I will do both depending on the condition of my hair
Seal with Shea Butter mixed with Coconut Oil

Monthly- Dust ends and length of hair  ( I trimmed a half inch of my hair last night..but I will only dust lightly going forward and get a professional trim on my next relaxer)

Protective Styles Daily and on Special Occasions/When I go Out- Braid outs or Bantu-Knots

NO DIRECT HEAT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Hair Update

If you remember, about 2 weeks ago I relaxed my hair with Silk Elements Mild Lye Relaxer. It was so underprocessed that it didn't even feel or look like I relaxed my hair. I did two things wrong. I didn't leave the relaxer in long enough and I didn't apply enough relaxer to my hair. I was 5 months post so the new-growth I was dealing with was ridiculous.
I got to the point where I couldn't wait 6-8 weeks for another touch-up and for the simple fact that the relaxer didn't take at all...I decided to relax my hair again yesterday. I did a mild protein treatment last week and my hair was in good condition to do so. I do not suggest this to anyone else...but its something I felt I needed to do.
When I did my relaxer, I followed the same steps as before, but this time I kept it on/smoothed it out for 15-20 minutes.
Although it processed a lot better then before, I was still a little underprocessed. I ended up texlaxing my hair(think of a texturizer, its just relaxing but for a shorter time to leave texture in your hair). I believe I came out texlaxed because I used a mild relaxer opposed to regular and I had 5 months of newgrowth.
My hair/newgrowth may not be completely straight, but its so much easier to manage now.
My next relaxer will be in December, by then I hope to be full arm pit length.
I will not be using any direct or indirect heat in my hair as well, so sorry ya'll...no straight hair pics until then..unless I change my mind which I do a lot. The above pic is of my hair damp and airdrying(of course)

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Just so you can see the difference from last week to this week. Here are pics..the first one is 8-17 and the second is 8-24.  Both pics are airdryed hair.