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Sunday, June 21, 2015

Summer, Braids, and My Plan To Get Past That 8th Month Hump....


Happy Sunday Lovelies!


Temperatures in Eastern NC have soared well into the 90s and you know what that means: summer is officially here!! If you've followed this blog for a certain amount of time, you know that the summer months for me generally mean braids, braids, and more braids. This summer is no different. With the temperatures being set on Hell's Furnace, I just didn't feel like being bothered with my hair on a daily basis. So, I began my search for a hair braider here in Greenville.

A random side note here: one of the sucky things about moving (I moved to NC about 10 months ago) is finding stylists that you can depend on. Back in Birmingham, I knew exactly were to go for any of my hair needs. Being in Greenville, reset the stylist clock so to speak. After a (not so) exhaustive search, I found a braider who I will probably go to fairly frequently for my braiding needs (check out her page here).



Anyway, on Thursday, I washed my hair, followed up with a protein treatment and DC, and blow dried my hair on low heat. Then for the next 10 (yes, 10!) hours, I proceeded to get my box braids installed using Xpressions hair. Check 'em out!



Daily upkeep will be fairly simple. I will be using Oyin Juices N Berries as my braid spray to moisturize my braids and (if necessary) will be using Curls Control Paste to slick down my edges (my baby hair NEVER gets braided up. I value my edges thank you very much). For cleansing, I will use ORS Herbal Cleanse for my scalp and a quick cleanse of my braids weekly. I plan on washing my braids using the methods described in this post but I'm still trying to figure out the frequency since I don't want my braids to frizz. I plan on putting my braids in a bun and other cute styles but I am currently wearing them down because I don't want to put too much tension on my edges right now (side note: I know a lot of women like to immediately put their braids into a bun. Please don't do this. It causes a great amount of tension on your hair. Give it a few days. *PSA over*)

The plan is to keep these in for about 2 months (which should take me through most of August). Around that time, I should be at or close to 8 months post--the month when I said 'eff it' to transitioning before. Following braid take out, I'll do twist outs for 2 weeks, then get my hair cornrowed so that I can wear my Tammy half wig for a while. If I can make it past month 8 still feeling 'whatever' about relaxing, I will schedule my first transitioning chop. This plan should take me to the end of 2015 and to 1 year post-relaxer. As you can see, I'm feeling pretty excited about this part of my hair journey. I am so anxious to see my hair's natural texture and to see how my hair will thrive without the presence of a relaxer (especially my crown!). I am already seeing what my natural hair responds to compared to my relaxed hair (lots of moisture vs. lots of protein) and I am so excited about sharing all of this with you!

Anyway, what are your summer hair plans? Let me know in the comments below!!




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