Ends Make Inches Tip #1: Soak Your Hair Ties and Bobby Pins in Oil

Happy Hump Day lovelies!

Lately, I have been doing some thinking. When folks talk about their hair journeys, the focus is always on the major changes. I mean how often have you heard about stretching, protective styling, using less heat, etc? Probably more times than you care to think about. However, I'm finding that the further along that you go in your hair journey, it is the little things that add up and can potentially do damage to your hair. More often that not, we don't really think about what that hair tie, what those bobby pins, or what that comb is doing to your hair. So, I wanted to make a series of quick hits that illustrate some of the things you should think about as you go about the business of styling your hair.

If you guys are anything like me, with the mercury rising you have probably started to bun consistently. Personally, I prefer to bun using a good hair tie (sans the metal clip in the middle) and a handful of bobby/hair pins. However, my hair ties and bobby pins present a problem: friction. It is that friction that rubs against my hair and causes the breakage I see when I take either of these items out. Of course there are ways around this. You can substitute the bobby pins for a Goody spin pin or bun without a hair tie. But what if you don't want to do either of those? Well, you still have another way to use these items without the breakage.

Soak your hair ties and bobby pins in oil.

It can be any oil that floats your boat: olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil....whatever makes your boat float. With the bobby pins (assuming you are using pins that have the rubber ends and are coated), that oil reduces friction you get when you place them in your hair (or take them out) resulting in no breakage. When you soak your hair ties in oil, not only do you reduce friction but you ensure that the section of hair that your hair tie is wrapped around stays moisturized (meaning: your hair tie won't take the moisture away from your hair) and minimizes breakage.



Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, oftentimes the little things we do to our hair on a daily basis can make a huge difference in retention. What do you think about this tip? Have you tried it? What were your results?

Mission [Im] Possible: Babying My Ends...

The other day, I did a search and destroy on my hair since I had straightened my hair during my last wash. Thankfully, I didn't have too many splits to get rid of. That in and of itself proved to me that all that blowdrying I was doing last year really did a number on my hair. Now I know for certain that for my hair, I have to keep blowdrying to the absolute minimum. However, I did notice that I still have splits and caused me to really re-evaluate what I have been doing.

And then it hit me: I'm probably still being too rough with my ends.


Let me explain. Throughout your hair journey, you're told that if you want long hair that you have to protect your ends, stay away from heat, etc. So you do that...and your hair grows. And that is fantastic. Until your growth stalls and you can't figure out why you're still at APL or BSL or MBL even though you're doing the same things that you have always done. Your hair growth is probably stalling because you're being too rough with your now fragile ends. I have found that during my hair journey, no one ever tells you that once you hit these great lengths of growth that you have to modify your regimen to ensure that your ends don't break off. Otherwise, you may find yourself stuck at one length. In my case, the ends of my hair have been growing with me since 2009. They're pretty old and weak now. As a result, they really can't take too much direct heat (as I found out) and I think that they are constantly being snagged by the combs that I currently own (all of which have seams). Additionally, I don't really make a focused effort to moisturize my ends. All of these factors combined have kept me at full BSL for a year. It is time to make some changes.

Starting today, I am making some serious modifications to my regimen so that I can give my ends the TLC that they need.

1) I will start using bone combs. On Friday, I ordered two bone combs from Hairsense. These combs are supposed to be really good for your hair because they do not have the seams in the teeth of the combs that can lead to snagging and breakage. I am really excited about these combs and I think that they will keep my hair from splitting and help me retain my length.


2) I will start ponytail baggying. For some reason, I have always overlooked this technique. I just thought it wasn't necessary. However, now I see that baggying may just be the thing to get some extra moisture to my ends. For those unfamiliar, ponytail baggying just requires you to put a small amount of water based moisturizer on your ponytail, seal with your favorite oil, and cover that ponytail with a plastic cap for a period of time (some do it for 2 hours while others do it overnight). I just tried it last night and I have to say that it works! Right now, I am moisturizing my ends with Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 and sealing with Kemi Oyl. However, on Friday I ordered Hairveda Whipped Creme. As soon as I receive that (and it may take awhile), I will begin moisturizing with that and sealing with Kemi Oyl. To prevent moisture overload, I will only baggy once or twice a week.


3) I will continue my '1 form of direct heat' rule. When I straighten my hair, the only form of direct heat that I use is my flat iron. Every other form of heat that I use is indirect (via my hooded dryer). My hair simply cannot handle 2 forms of direct heat.

4) I will continue to protective style. This is self explanatory. Of course I'm not going to go months at a stretch PSing (since I am trying to enjoy my hair more) but it will continue to be a central part of my regimen.


I'm hoping with these changes to my regimen, I can get to full MBL within the next few months (I'm grazing it now...and yes I know, 'pics or it didn't happen' lol). Ultimately, I hope to get to WL (something I decided a few days ago). What do you guys think?