Getting Through this Learning Curve is a BEAST!

I know it may seem like I have this hair care thing down. However, just like you, I am feeling my way through the process as well. Learning what is good for my hair, at this length, has been a pretty difficult task for me.

Let me explain.....

When I started my healthy hair journey, I just wanted to stop the massive breakage my hair was experiencing. The breakage was so bad that every time I touched my hair, massive amounts of hair would break off. I had finally had enough and began to look up what I could do to remedy that. Taking care of my hair at this stage was easy. I laid off of the relaxers for 8 months, I began to wash and DC my hair weekly, and I cut down on my direct heat usage. As you can imagine, my hair began to bounce back.

Then I cut it.

Since I cut my hair, I had to learn how to take care of short hair. Taking care of my hair during this time was easy as well. I would still wash and deep condition weekly but since I was using more heat, I deep conditioned more. I took extra care to alternate between protein and moisture conditioners. I continued to stretch my relaxers and began to dabble in low manipulation hair styles.

Now we're here.

My hair is longer (which is awesome) but figuring out what it likes has been somewhat of a task. Here are some issues going on with me:

1) Shedding: I have figured out when the shedding phase of my hair growth process is--winter time. I have been shedding like a freaking dog lately. I'm not alarmed or anything since I believe I am shedding at the higher end of the 50-200 shed hairs per day range. However, it is getting on my NERVES! On Friday, I ordered the Alter Ego garlic deep conditioner. Hopefully this will curb some of the shedding.

2) I have to deep condition 2x a week. When I deep condition 1x a week, my hair isn't as happy as it could be. However, I'm finding that when I deep condition more, my hair just responds better overall. Now I have to suck it up and begin buying more conditioner.

3)When I use deep conditioners and Porosity Control, I have to specifically focus on my ends. It dawned on me last night to just saturate my ends on conditioner and porosity control. Let me tell you, my ends are thanking me for it. Usually, when I deep condition, I pay special attention to my roots, then coat the rest of my hair. Also, when my hair was shorter it was easier to ensure that my ends got enough conditioner (I mean, my ends were right there!) Now I have to learn to establish some sort of balance between my roots and my ends.

4) I can air dry earlier on in my stretch but cannot later on in my stretch. Self explanatory.

These are 4 truths of my hair that I am just now discovering. This hair journey hasn't been easy and I am learning that I have to adjust my routine for every milestone that I hit.

Etc.

So a lot has been going on for me hair wise....

Last Friday, I relaxed my hair. Like before, I used Silk Elements Lye relaxer (mild strength). I have to say that I am in love with the Silk Elements relaxer. It loosens my curl just enough and it doesn't suck all the life out of my hair (which I like). I definitely will be using this relaxer in the future.

My hair is still growing. I am really hoping that I am able to make it past the SL hurdle. I know it is a tough growth stage for a lot of ladies but I am hoping. My hair is inching toward SL and I probably won't take length check pics until my next relaxer (probably around May or June).

I have to learn how to keep my hands out of my hair. I wore my hair out Monday and I kept playing in it. I have learned that my hair really doesn't break unless I keep on messing around in it. Note to self: stop stop STOP playing in my hair.

That is it for this post...just some random thoughts about my hair while I'm doing some deep conditioning....

Nioxin Hair Vitamin Experience: Week 4

I finally finished my month supply of Nioxin Hair Vitamins.

And I'm not sure how I feel about it. Yeah I said it.

On hand, my nails grew faster and stronger. My skin didn't break out either. Unfortunately, I can't say it did much for my hair. Part of me feels like I should try another bottle, just to be sure. However, spending $20+ on some hair vitamins that don't do much for my hair is not the business. Another just says to make sure my diet is on point. I dunno. I guess I'll figure it out soon.

What A Difference A Year Makes....

January 29, 2010 marked exactly one year since I cut my hair! Ladies I have made so much progress since then! I thought it would be fun to take you guys through my journey since then and tell you the story behind it. When I cut my hair, my hair was this length:






I had cut my hair that length in November to give my crown a chance to catch up with the rest of my hair (when I started my journey in March 08, my crown had broken off pretty badly). Anyway, back to Jan 29, 2009, I had been thinking about cutting my hair that whole day. Finally, that afternoon, I had made an appointment with my stylist to cut my hair--that day.

I go into the shop and tell the stylist what I wanted. I got my touch up and sat in my stylist's chair. She asked me one last time if I was sure I wanted to cut my hair. I replied "yes" and my stylist got to cutting. As she started to cut, the shop got dead quiet. So quiet that you can hear a rat pee on soft cotton. I looked up and everyone in the shop was watching the stylist cut my hair. I commented "Boy, it sure is quiet in here" That's when the flood of comments came in. I heard everything from "I don't know why you want to cut all that hair" to "I'm trying to get my hair back to the point where she was, and she's cutting it." Whatever. I didn't care. Hair grows back. I walked out the shop with this cut:



My year of growth has been marked with remarkable progress (as you ladies know)! By December, my hair was grazing SL (my longest layer). I have surpassed my original length by leaps and bounds!



I am excited to see where my hair journey takes me and what lengths I will achieve!

"Why Do You Wear Wigs When You Have All That Hair?"

...or "Confessions of a Protective Styler"

I had went to the beauty supply store yesterday to purchase a wig. I am about 12 weeks post relaxer right now and don't want to relax my hair just yet. So, I thought it would be a good idea to purchase another, longer wig since the only wig I have currently is really short. As I'm trying on a wig, another customer comes up to me and asks me about my hair (apparently she had be looking at my hair since I entered the store). She asks if it is all mine (yes) and who does it (me). She then asked why I wear wigs when I have all that hair (her words, not mine). Secretly, I have a real catty response for questions like that but I just replied "I wanted to try a different style for awhile."

I don't know if I like having to justify my protective styles you guys. Part of me is flattered by the the questions and the compliments but the other part of me is like...leave me alone (lol). I guess this is something that I will have to go through until I make it past SL (I'm getting there slowly but surely). I will post pics of the new wig later on when I get home!

ETA: took a pic with my camera phone. Kinda fuzzy but y'all get the idea!

Got A Little Protein Happy....

....and my hair let me know that it was not pleased!

I took my cornrows out this weekend after about 2 weeks of wearing them (I noticed some build-up in the braids and took them out ASAP-edly). So I washed my hair and conditioned with my Organix Coconut condish...then sprayed the Giovanni Vitapro leave in on my hair. I proceed to do a roller set and flat iron my roots...which was a good plan. However, my hair felt so ROUGH! Like it was moisturized but not quite. Needless to say, I'm not wearing my hair down this week. I did a bantu knot set and called it a day. When I wash my hair this week, I will most definitely use a moisture-based DC.

The point of all this is that your hair doesn't have to be breaking off all kinds of crazy to tell you that you have a protein overload issue. Your hair could feel dry like mine did, you just have to pay attention to your hair.

"I Can See Your Track Girl!" and other Random Thoughts While Sitting In a Waste of Time Conference

Hey everyone!

So today I had to attend a mandatory conference for my fellowship, if you could call it a conference. Since the conference was not beneficial to me at all, I began observing other girls hair. These may sound a bit harsh...but,in my mind, I'm a wee bit uncensored. Here are my thoughts!


1) I can see your track...do you know I can see your track?/ Do your know your natural hair is not hawaiian silky or that shiny? Like my bff says, the point of a weave is to fool people. You aren't fooling me if I can see your weave or if your tracks look like weave. This is actually a pet peeve of mine. If you're gonna wear weave, make it believable please!

2) That poor pitiful ponytail. I saw the saddest ponytail today. If you could call it that. It was a wisp of hair put back. I have to admit. It made me feel kinda bad. I wanted to tap the girl on the shoulder and tell her about LHCF b/c she tried to make the ponytail style look somewhat presentable but it kinda missed the mark. :sigh:

3)Dang, does everybody relax bone straight? As I looked around, a noticed a lot of girls relaxed bone straight and most of them didn't have hair past SL. Could there be a connection with this? Hmm...

4)What am I gonna do when I take these cornrows out? Since I can't relax yet, I have to figure out what I'm gonna do with my hair. One minute I think I'll roller set it and another I think I'll do a flexirod set. I dunno more to come on that.


I probably had more random thoughts like this since I have become more observant of other peoples hair (being on a hair journey does that I suppose). Sometimes, I just want to say something but it's hard b/c you don't know how others will react to it. What is one to do in situations such as these?