1st Relaxer Update of the Year and More!

Well....I fell off the map, didn't I?

See what had happened was.... This winter has been an uphill climb for my hair (and my skin!). I guess after living in Alabama for 6 years, I had taken the year round humidity for granted. I move back to VA and it was like my hair couldn't hold onto moisture for anything! It was frustrating! So in the end, I wound up just braiding then wigging my hair and leaving it alone until I could figure out what to do with my hair. I didn't want to risk a setback trying to figure out what was wrong.

In the midst of that wigging, I realized that I was way overdue for a relaxer. Then I realized that I don't have a stylist in VA that I trust. I swear, this is the sucky part about moving---having to find a stylist. Part of me wanted to find a good stylist in this area but I'll have to repeat the process AGAIN when I move to NC this summer. :sigh: Ain't nobody got time for that.

So last weekend (March 8th to be exact), I relaxed my own hair (which I have done many times before). I used Mizani Butter Blends, neutralized with Silk Elements Neutralizing Shampoo, DCed with Darcy Botanicals Pumpkin Seed Conditioner, did a final rinse with Roux Porosity Control and then proceeded to straighten my hair. This made for a very long evening.

However, at the end of all of that, I was very pleased. I found that my hair is repeating a pattern: the longest length will reach my goal length, the rest of my hair will play catch up, and then all of my hair will be where I want it to be. Right now, my hair is playing catch up. I think I'm ok with that....as long as I have no setbacks, I'm good. Anyway, take a look at my progress!

The pic on the left was taken last week while the pic on the right was taken in October.


To see where I was last May and October, check out this post.

I've come a might long way with still some ways to go before WL. I swear, folks say APL was the hardest length to get to? Pssh. BSL and beyond have been a struggle for me!

Relaxer Day and First Length Check of 2013!

Happy Monday lovelies!

This past weekend, I finally got my hair relaxed after 16 weeks of stretching!! And let me tell you it felt good! However, this relaxer day was different than my previous relaxer days. This go 'round, I decided to go to a salon to get my hair relaxed. I really did not feel like doing my own relaxer. I mean really and truly so I went on the hunt for a good stylist in Bham. One thing that grates my nerves about Birmingham, it is how difficult it is to find a stylist that is a) professional (no double and triple booking appointments, please) and b) cares about the health of my hair. It is definitely a struggle here. Fortunately, during an exhaustive Google search, I happened upon Latoya Jones, a stylist who works at The Look Salon in Hoover ( don't worry, I will be doing a review of my experience in a future post). I was impressed by the fact that she is definitely into healthy hair practices (I mean, she has her own hair blog as well as an e-book of healthy hair care practices. How awesome is that!?) and decided to give her a shot.

Latoya relaxed my hair using Mizani Butter Blends (which is my absolute fave!),did an excellent job with application (none of that relaxing from root to tip for a touch up or leaving the relaxer on too long), and styling. Overall, it was a great experience for me.

In terms of my length, I am pretty much at BSL. The series of trims I had during 2012 left my hair roughly at BSL--maybe a tad shorter than that (and my last trim was in November). So now, I think my hair is growing back to where it used to be. Either way, I'm still aiming to hit MBL (hopefully!) sometime this year. Anyway, enough with the chatter.

Check out my relaxer results below: