I am now a DOCTOR!! Oh...and my defense day hair (LOTD: 10/23/2013).

Happy Friday lovelies!

This past week was a busy one for me since my dissertation defense was on Wednesday. As of 1pm on October 23, I am officially a doctor (of the Ph.D variety, not MD)! The whole process was exciting but stressful and I'm glad I don't have to go through that process ever again!

Anyway, I just wanted to post my hair for my defense day. I just put some pin curls in my hair and just rolled with that. I think it came out great! Take a look!

Wash Day: 10/18/13

Or "I Absolutely Had To Do This Wash Day"

Happy Friday lovelies!

I know I have kinda been ghost lately but things around here have been CRAZY!! I will be defending my dissertation on the 23rd (read: I will get my PhD) so I have been preparing for that in terms of writing and getting stuff done. Aside from that, there have been weddings, interviews, etc that have distracted me from my hair. I have been so distracted that I haven't washed my hair for 2 weeks!

My hair and scalp are not pleased about this at all. My scalp began to itch like crazy and my hair was really weighed down. I couldn't go another day without cleaning my hair. So, last night at 11pm, I got to work.

Since this wash day is the first one since my relaxer, I first shampoo with Silk Elements Neutralizing Conditioner just to really ensure that all of the relaxer has been washed out. I then followed up with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo. Next, I wanted to give my hair a much needed protein boost so I applied the Sally's brand of Joico K-Pak (GVP Reconstructing Conditioner) to my hair for 5 minutes. After I rinsed that out, I placed Aubrey Organics GPB on my hair and DCed overnight and rinsed it out this morning. Finally, I sprayed Aphogee Keratin Green Tea leave in (see how I'm keeping with the protein theme this wash day?), applied some Hairveda Ends Hydration to my hair, and proceeded to wet wrap my hair. I am currently sitting under the dryer as I type this lol. Some time this weekend (when I have the time) I will whip out my trusty Sedu and my Fantasia IC heat protectant to straighten my hair and then follow up with a saran wrap treatment.

That's it. That's my wash day. I have to be really quick with it since time is limited. In the meantime, I need to figure out how I want to style my hair for my defense. I'm leaning towards pin curls but I don't know. Any suggestions?

October 2, 2013 Relaxer Day and Hair Update

Happy Thursday lovelies!

Yesterday, after the longest stretch ever, I got my hair relaxed!! Yay! As with any relaxer day, I am absolutely thrilled that I can see my scalp again and to see what progress my hair has made since May. I also get to share my experience with you guys!

Last week, I prepped my hair for the relaxer by washing may hair, doing a protein treatment, and DCing with a moisturizing deep conditioner to ensure that my hair had some strength and moisture going into my relaxer day. Yesterday morning, I walked into my scheduled appointment with my stylist, LaToya. I have to say, LaToya is a stylist who I absolutely trust with my hair. She is really concerned about hair health, which I absolutely love. She also does both relaxed and natural hair. So for all you naturals who keep asking me if I know of any natural salons in B'ham, this is your answer! She does silk presses, twist outs,whatever you want! Annnnnnd...you can be assured that she won't rip through your hair. If you are in Birmingham, you should go to her! Now that I'm done with that PSA, let me continue with my relaxer day lol. I walked into the salon and after a brief wait, LaToya got to work on my hair. She based my scalp, then applied Mizani Butter Blends relaxer to my hair in sections, saving the nape for last. After neutralizing my hair and all that, I decided that I wanted to have my hair straight so that I can do a length check. So, LaToya sprayed some leave in conditioner in my hair (from her own product line: Silk Hydration), detangled my hair, and then sat me under the dryer so that my hair could dry a bit. After about 15 minutes, LaToya finished up by blow drying my hair and then flat ironing it. Since I got a trim with my last relaxer (and I have pretty much been in braids/twists since then), I declined a trim this go 'round but will probably need one my next relaxer.

ETA(10/7/13): Check this pic that shows where I was back in May after a fresh relaxer and a trim!

All in all, I am pleased with the results. Please believe me when I say that I was flinging and slinging my hair all day yesterday lol! As far as length goes, I think that some pieces of my hair are MBL-ish, with the rest of my hair needing to play catch up (SN: Times like this I wish that my hair would grow at the same rate!). So, by the end of this year, I hope to be full MBL. Anyway, check out the pics snapped by LaToya and check out her blog while you're at it!

Autumn Hair Plans

Happy Tuesday lovelies!

I hope you are all having a great day so far. I just wanted to stop by and tell you what my plans are for autumn (yes, I say autumn rather than fall. It just sounds better lol). I actually have a few things that I want to accomplish before winter hits.

1) End my heat break. Now that we are well into autumn, I can end my self imposed heat break. Heat has not touched my hair since June and my hair has been all the better for it. While I enjoy giving my hair a break from heat every now and again, I am itching to straighten my hair. Don't worry though, I won't get too crazy with the heat. I will still follow my '1 indirect heat and 1 direct heat' rule and also stay on top of giving my hair the protein that it needs.

2) Get a relaxer. I haven't had a relaxer since May. May!!! I will be 21 weeks post on Saturday, which is an abnormally long stretch for me. I have scheduled a relaxer appointment for October 2nd and I am chomping at the bit to get it done. In the meantime, I am wigging it up to keep my hands out of my hair and to avoid any potential setbacks.

3) Try new products. After hiding my hair in braids/twists all summer, I am ready to try some new products. I really, really want to try Darcy's Botanicals Pumpkin Seed conditioner. I have heard so many great things about it that I absolutely have to try it. I must try it! I'm sure my list will expand as I begin looking at hair products again, but that is at the top of my list.

4) Get to full MBL. This is self explanatory. I want full MBL by graduation. It would be even better if I were grazing WL but I will take what I can get.



Those are my hair plans/goals for autumn. What are your hair plans? Let me know in the comments section!

Wash Day: September 17, 2013

Happy Hump Day!


Welp. The Havana twists are out. They were starting to look raggedy and I couldn't take it anymore. So I got to work...and about an hour later, that Marley hair was in a pile beside me.

Marley hair all in a pile

I can't lie. It felt great to run my hands through my hair again. I was also low key excited about this wash day. It's funny how sometimes wash days can be so tedious but when you hide your hair for awhile, you yearn for another wash day. Life is funny in that way. Anyway, I knew this wash day would be some work because I am 19 weeks post (I will be 20 weeks post this Saturday). So in addition to all the shed hair that I have to remove, I have some serious, serious new growth to deal with as well. For that reason, I don't plan on manipulating my hair much after wash day either. My hair will be plaited for a half wig and I will call it a day (SN: Leaving your hair alone is the best way to deal with long stretches. Constantly being in your hair will frustrate you. Trust me on this one). This will be my plan of action until the beginning of October.

My hair before I started my wash day
I started my wash day by coating my hair in Tresemme Naturals Moisturizing Conditioner (you know..the condish I wasn't all that impressed with but still had a huge bottle of it in my cabinet?), detangling my hair with my wide tooth bone comb, and prepooing for 4 hrs (I had to go to practice and I didn't want to start the wash process and wind up having to stop midway). Following the prepoo,I proceeded to perform my post extensions wash routine. I washed my hair using the sulfate free KeraCare 1st Lather shampoo (clarifying shampoo--removes any dirt that may have accumulated while my hair was in extensions) and Shea Moisture Moisture Retention shampoo (to put moisture back into my hair. Even though it is sulfate free, that clarifying shampoo still strips my hair). Next, I applied Aphogee 2 Minute Keratin Reconstructor to my hair and got under my heat cap for 5 minutes since I wanted to give my hair some much needed strength. Then, I applied Aubrey Organics White Camellia conditioner to my hair and DCed for an hour and a half. I finished up my wash day by spraying Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave In on my hair and detangling with Dacy's Botanicals Transitioning Creme (a must at this stage of my stretch). I then sealed my hair with coconut oil and place my hair in a ponytail to air dry.

Also, during this wash day, I did an impromptu length check, which you can see here. I'm thinking that I have hit MBL.


Today, I will do a search and destroy to find any splits and plait my hair for my half wig. I must say, it feels good to get back into the swing of things hair wise. After spending this summer in protective styles, I'm actually glad to see my hair and give it some TLC.

Quick Snapshot of My Hair

Hello lovelies!

I'm back with a quick post. After close to a 3 week run, I gave those Havana twists a rest and took them out. As I was going through my wash session, I just wanted to do a quick length check since I will be protective styling via wig until I relax in October. Right now, it looks like my hair is at MBL (mid back length) or at least pretty darn close to it. I am definitely interested to see what my hair looks like once I relax it (as of today, I am 19 weeks and 3 days post relaxer). At any rate, with the way I'm going I will hit MBL before the year is out and will be well on my way to WL.

I just wanted to share with you what I saw this evening (please excuse the conditioner in my hair! lol):

What Have I done To My Hair Now...

Happy Tuesday lovelies!

Last week I was sitting. Sitting and thinking. Sitting and thinking that I still didn't want to manipulate my hair on a daily basis. When I finally took my box braids out last month, I decided that I would just rock a half wig, leaving my own hair braided, until I got another relaxer. Turns out, I didn't even feel like doing that. I have serious lazy hair spells every now and again.

So, I decided that I would braid my hair up again. However, this time I wanted to try Havana twists. What's more, I decided to put them in myself. You guys have to understand, this is a big step for me. I have never done my own installation of any type of braid. After making sure that my hair was clean and conditioned, I spent about a half day or so looking at Youtube tutorials on how to install Havana twists and got to work. Two days and six packs of Marley hair later, I had my style. I am hoping that I can get a month of wear out of these twists, then go on to relax my hair in October (which will be my third and last relaxer for 2013). Anyway, enough of my ramblings, check out my style!