Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil

Well hello :). I was out doing some running around today and I just happened to be across the street from my favorite beauty supply store. I was trying to stay away but my mom asked me to get her some JBCO so I had an excuse. I have been telling her about my.progress with it so she wants to try it out. They didn't have the brand I have but I was glad because they had the Tropic Isle Living brand. The first day I used my JBCO I went on youtube and the only brand that popped up was this one. That sucked for me because I was not.about to spend another $10 on the same thing with a different name. That was in November. I guess today was my lucky day because the BSS had it for $5.99. So I got one for mom and one for me. The first thing I noticed is that it doesnt have salt which is great. Then I smelled it and was surprised that this brand basically has no smell. That's a huge plus for me because I am tired of my husband telling me I stink after I oil my scalp. The only negative is that it does not come in an applicator bottle. No worries though, my original bottle is an applicator so I will be using that. Actually, I'm tempted to dump that bottle and use my new one (only because of the smell issues). We'll see what happens.

Patra Braids: Update

BEFORE

AFTER

Soooo after three weeks I got my edges touched up. As you can see in the first picture, they were looking really bad with all the new growth. The middle section is growing fast too, but at least I can cover those up. In all my years of wearing braids, my hair has never grown this fast. Ever. But at the same time, I was one of those people who put braids in and left it alone for two months. In fact, the only thing I did do was wash them back then. I never even knew about moisturizing and sealing until 2011. Thankfully, I know better now.

What have I been doing to my hair? I've been applying JBCO every night faithfully. I started doing this on November 1st and basically continued it while I have my braids. I've also been spraying my hair with my leave in conditioner (water based) for moisture and sealing with coconut oil nightly. I'd have to say that my personal JBCO challenge is going well because that is the only thing I've been doing differently and my hair is growing faster than usual. I'd also like to throw in there that I've washed my hair once so far. Like I mentioned before, I won't be washing weekly. And now that I've done it I know for a fact that I'll only be washing when necessary because these things are 10x as heavy when wet and they take forever to dry.

How long will I keep these in? This set of braids will be staying put until February 1, 2014. After removing them, I'll wear my hair out for a week so it can breathe and then I'll be going to get them redone (keeping until April). Also, I will NOT be touching up my edges again with this set. I really only did it because I am going away for a week and I couldn't go looking crazy. Plus, my widow's peak popped out and I HATE that thing! Anyway, I don't want to put too much strain on my edges so they will be left alone for the next five weeks.

Overall, I really like these braids. They give me the ability to wear a bun again and everyone knows I love a good bun. I don't like micros so I'm pretty sure this will be my go to protective style during the colder months.

By the way, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a great one and spent it among family and friends. Good night!

Finally!

As you all know, I've been trying to find pure coconut oil everywhere. I went to three different beauty supply stores and NONE of them had it (the struggle). Well today was my lucky day. I was in Walmart picking up a few groceries and I just happened to go down the aisle with the oils. I started off looking for some olive oil and then I saw the coconut oil. It was staring at me, waiting for me to pick it up lol. So here it is!

The best part about it is that it's scented and I love it. The oil I used to get from the beauty supply store wasn't. It was a decent price. I got a 14oz jar for $7.66, but it didn't really matter. As long as I've been looking for this stuff, who knows what I would have been willing to pay. Anyway, now that I have this precious gem back in my life, I'll be using it to seal my hair. It's my favorite oil to seal with because it's so light and just melts right into the hair. That's all for now, just had to share the great news :P. Good night!

My Patra Braids!

Here they are :). I got these done on Sunday and it only took about six hours in total. After they were done I dipped them in boiling hot water to seal the ends. I chose to dip them as opposed to burning them because I think they look more natural this way. Also, we only used eight of the ten packs of hair I bought. I love them! As you can see, they're pretty long which means they're heavy. Like... really heavy lol. It feels like my head moves first then the hair follows. At night I put it in a high bun and tie it up with my silk scarf. I will say that sleeping comfortably with these things is a real task. Hopefully it wont be so bad once I've adjusted to them.
As far as caring for my hair goes, it will be very simple. I'll wash every two weeks, oil my scalp with JBCO nightly, and for now I'll be spraying the length of MY hair with leave in conditioner. I don't have a braid spray yet so this will have to do.
I'm planning to keep these in until February 1st. Then I'll decide if I want to do a relaxer or not. Right now I'm thinking that I will take them out, let my hair breathe for a week, and have them redone. If I go that route, I'll be taking the second set out in April.  The main reason I'm leaning more towards that option is because that will take my relaxer stretch to 24/25 weeks. That would definitely benefit me in this second hair journey. Besides, it will still be the cold winter months and our hair needs as much protection as possible.
My main focus during these months is to continue caring for the hair underneath the braids. Too many people think they can get extensions or weaves and not touch their hair at all. I've even seen people keep box braids in for almost four months without washing at all. Then they wonder why their hair is the same length or shorter than it was when they put the braids in. I'm not about that life! I'll be doing all I can to retain a decent amount of length. With that being said, I'm gone :).

It's protective styling season!

Hey all! It's been awhile but hey, it's the holiday season and we all know how that goes. Life gets in the way... of everything. Just a quick update, I've continued to wash weekly and  moisturize and seal daily using Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisturizer and grape seed oil. I've also been applying JBCO to my scalp and massaging it in nightly. Since using JBCO my hair seems so much thicker than usual, and its always thick! I'm planning to stretch my relaxer to the end of January, and as you can see from this picture, it's feeling like I need one NOW! But since I'm trying to get my hair back in tip top shape, I won't. What will I do? Begin protective styling, of course. So this is my beginning length. It's definitely grown a lot since I cut it back in July. I can even get into a little ponytail that I'm too embarrassed to ever show you a picture of :).

It's winter, or at least it feels like it, and around this time my hair, and probably yours too, tends to be more dry than usual. By protective styling I'll be able to combat breakage because my ends won't be exposed to the harsh winds and other elements. So my first style of the season will be Patra braids (aka poetic justice braids / Solange braids / WHATEVER you wanna call them. I went to the beauty supply store and got ten packs of kanekalon hair and a pack of elastic headbands. I can't wait to put my hair in a bun again! It's been far too long.

I'll be installing them tonight and keeping them in until January 25, 2014. Speaking of which, can you believe its almost 2014?! I can't! Anyway, as far as my regimen goes, I'll still be using JBCO nightly for sure. I will NOT be washing weekly, just when I feel it's necessary. I'll be mixing a few oils and some conditioner to use as a braid spray for moisture, and sometimes I may just use my leave in conditioner. When I take them out I'll be getting a relaxer and a much needed trim. I was planning to get one when I go visit my mom for Christmas but I refuse to take these braids out after only four weeks. It works out though, because it wont be as short after my trim since I'll (hopefully) have a decent amount of growth over the next eight weeks. That's all for now. I'll be back with pictures!

Wash Day

So I finally washed my hair, four days late. I used Herbal Essences Hello Hydration and conditioned with Suave Almond and Shea Butter. My hair feels nice and soft BUT I am still having excessive shedding and breakage. I don't know what is going on but I DON'T LIKE IT. I did a protein treatment using Aphogee two step protein treatment last Sunday and it did absolutely nothing. I guess I'll just have to see what happens.

I'm still moisturizing and sealing with Creme of Nature argan oil moisturizer and grape seed oil. I have to say, I love this moisturizer! It has such a light scent and it doesn't weigh my hair down so it will definitely me a regular part of my routine. I alsi like, not love, but like JBCO. The one and only reason why I don't love it is because of the smell. I don't like it at all and my husband certainly isn't a fan of it either. However, since using it on my scalp I've noticed that the itching I was experiencing has completely stopped. At one point it was so bad that I thought I was gonna scratch my scalp away. What's crazy is that I didnt even notice the itching had stopped until I was washing my hair in the shower.

I also noticed today that I have some new growth peeking through. It's mainly in the crown of my head. It's not much but it is definitely there! Every bit of new growth excites me now because I JUST WANT MY HAIR BACK!! And on that note, I'm off to relax... The kids are asleep :)

JBCO Challenge

As I mentioned before, I'm embarking on a JBCO challenge. Mainly because I want to see if it will aid in growing my hair back and also to see if the thinner side (left side) will thicken up again. I've been applying it nightly since 11/01/13, so I'll say in about twelve weeks we'll see if there's any difference. I'll also be applying the oil to my daughter Imani's hair. She had a head full when she was born but it came out... almost all of it. Now it is growing back nicely and since I can still see her scalp I figured her growth would be easy to track. I'll only be using the JBCO in her hair 3x a week. So here is her starting pic, taken on Halloween.

This was taken at Kaylin's Fall harvest party, she enjoyed herself. You can't tell from this picture but the top and sides of her hair are about an inch long. My main goal for her is not really length, but thickness. I just want to see if it will fill back in. 

So our start date was November 1st, which will make twelve weeks from now January 24, 2014. I'll also be relaxing my hair on that date, which will be 13 weeks post. Or maybe I should say I'm planning to stretch to that date. Hopefully I make it! 

My Grape seed oil has arrived!

Yes, yes, yes! My grape seed oil came in the mail today. I forgot it at my mom's house so she sent it to me. So thank you +Tina Rhodie! Now if I could just get my dryer.... :). Anyway, I have the Bonelli brand. I got it a few months ago from a the grocery store and never (not even once) used it. I couldn't wait to use it as a sealant so I purposely waited until the package came before moisturizing and sealing. My first impression is that it is a very light oil, much like coconut oil, which is great. I loved that it didn't weigh my hair down at all. I'll wait about a week or so to see if my opinion changes but as of right now it will be thrown into rotation.

I washed my hair on Sunday so I got to put my new products to use. I did do the ApHogee protein treatment but nothing seems to have changed (bummer). I made sure to shake it before applying, used a blow dryer until it was hard, and used the balancing conditioner but still had breakage after. WTH!? Perhaps it's because I didn't do an extensive deep conditioning afterwards as I was pressed for time. Or maybe it's because my hair is SO damaged that the one treatment wasn't enough... let's hope it's not that. Either way, I'm still experiencing breakage and shedding so I've been moisturizing and sealing like crazy. 

The Creme of Nature moisturizer and leave in conditioner are great.  They smell really nice, not too strong, so I have been using it in my one year old's hair. Also, I actually blow dried my hair on Sunday, which I never do. Surprisingly my hair was REALLY soft. So that's great.

The JBCO... what can I say? I hate the smell, lol. BUT, I did do the GHE overnight with it and my hair felt lovely. So I've begun my own personal challenge. I started massaging it into my scalp daily to see what kind of progress I make. I'm particularly interested in a small section in the back that seems to be so much thinner that the other side. I guess I'll give it 8-12 weeks and see where we stand. I will also be applying a small amount of JBCO to Imani's (the one yr old) hair. She had a head full when she was born but it decided to come out and is now, FINALLY, growing back. I'll post a starting picture of her hair in another post. You can see her scalp so it shouldn't be hard to tell if there is progress :). 

One last thing! I started a new blog today. I am officially a stay at home mom, totally new to me. So it will be all about my adventures (and misadventures) as a new SAHM. You can check that out here. Anddd that's all she wrote... Literally lol. Good night!

First trip to Sally's

I took a trip to Sally's Beauty Supply store today for the first time and I have to say I was not impressed at all. The main reason for me going was to get pure coconut oil, Elasta QP, and Aphogee 2 step protein treatment. They didn't have the coconut oil or the moisturizer, and they only had these little packs of the protein treatment. Huge disappointment. What I did end up getting is a wide tooth comb, because my old one grew legs and waked away, Creme of Nature argan oil moisturizer, Creme of Nature Argan oil leave in conditioner, and the small packets of Aphogee. They didn't have any oil that I wanted so I went to another beauty supply store (which also didn't have coconut oil -__-) and got B's Jamaican Black Castor Oil. Thankfully my mom sent my HUGE bottle of grape seed oil so I can use that to seal. The second store did have the Elasta QP moisturizer but I didn't get it since I already picked up a different brand. We'll see how I like it. I'll be doing a product review on all of these sometime in the next week. 

I've been thinking alot about what I want to incorporate into my regimen. I really want need to stay on top of things like I used to. So here it is:

Wash Days

• Prepoo: either using conditioner or doing a hot oil treatment using JBCO
• Shampoo once a week using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration
• Deep condition once a week
• Protein treatment once a month using Aphogee 2 Step Treatment.
• Apply Creme of Nature Leave in conditioner

Maintenance

• Moisturize and seal nightly using Cream of Nature Argan Oil moisturizer and grape seed oil
• Wrap hair and cover with a silk scarf nightly.
• Stretch relaxers to at least 12 weeks (not sure how this will work out with this short hair)
• Apply JBCO / do scalp massages 3x a week

That's all i have for now. Nothing major, I like to keep things simple. I'd also like to throw in my first impression of a few my new products. The Creme of Nature products smell nice. It's a very light scent so it's not overpowering. The moisturizer is a little looser than what I'm used to though. The JBCO smells horrible. I took a whiff of it and choked lol. Anyway, today is wash day (hopefully) and I'll come back with an update :)

November Goals!

Happy Halloween! I took my 5 year old son Kaylin trick or treating for the first time today. We went out twice actually. The first time we got rained out so we went back out later in the evening. Had to make sure he got a proper experience right? Of course! We didn't get as much candy as we would have earlier in the day but that's fine. What we got is definitely a much healthier amount... for me and him both. With that being said, after eating two pieces of his Halloween candy, I decided that it's time to get back to being healthy and set some goals for myself.

Goal #1: No junk food. NONE. This is going to be especially hard for me. What can I say? I love snacking. And not even the healthy snacks. No, no, no. I just have to have candy, cookies, and ice cream. You know, the things you should avoid when you want to lose weight. Luckily, I do love my fruit and vegetables. The problem is, when I want something sweet my first thought is not to grab an apple. I need to change that. When I go grocery shopping I need to make sure I get enough fruit and add things like rice cakes to my list. I am nervous but I think I can do it!

Goal # 2: Limit heat styling to once a week. As I said in my first post, this is how often I was flat ironing my hair during my original HHJ. The problem is that flat ironing daily has become routine with my short cut and that's no good. Plain and simple, it has to stop. Hopefully I can break this bad habit.

Goal # 3: Moisturize and seal EVERY night. This has become a major problem for me since cutting my hair. I used to m&s faithfully, wrap my hair, and cover it with a silk scarf faithfully. Clearly the stylist cut off more than hair because my good habits went right out the window as well. I need those back! Right now I'm using ORS Olive Oil moisturizer but after I hit the beauty supply store this weekend I'll be back to my Elasta QP. Not that there's anything wrong with ORS, Elasta QP just works better for my hair. To seal I'll be using either grape seed oil or coconut oil. Coconut is my favorite but I haven't really experienced grape seed oil so that may change.

Goal # 4: Drink more water! I love water and drink it daily, but certainly nowhere near the recommended eight glasses. I've been drinking way too much soda and I'm pretty sure that's been adding to the breakouts I'm experiencing. So for healthier skin, hair, and healthier everything else, more water will be just what the doctor ordered.

That's all for tonight, I'm beat! Good night world  :)

Me! And My Hair Story

Hey! I'm Shaniqua and this is my first post here. I decided to switch my blog from another domain (which shall remain nameless) because blog spot offers more freedom as far as design goes. Anyway, this blog will be about my hair journey for the most part. I'll add in a few other things from time to time but I'll be pretty much rambling about hair, products, developing and changing my regimen, and anything else that comes to mind.

SO, a little back story. I have put my hair through HELL over the years. Up until 2011 I continuously dyed, bleached, and fried my hair. Literally. I was flat ironing every single day, sometimes more than once. Then my best friend and I decided we wanted to go the natural route and chopped all of our hair off. I went from using heat every day to not using heat at all. I didn't even use a blow dryer in 18 months. My hair grew back past its original length, in that time. 

04/2011

10/2012

In October 2012 I decided to go to a salon to get my hair blown out and trimmed. Let's just say it all went downhill from there. Everything was fine until I decided to wash my hair and realized that the lady had mixed a relaxer into my conditioner. I was ready to burn the place DOWN. Instead I just went back and the owner "fixed" my hair, according to her. She ended up cutting off about two inches of damage. It didn't really help, because my hair was just falling out. 

So in November I decided to just relax it again. From there I continued taking care of my hair and it grew back once again. I stretched relaxers for 14 weeks, washed and deep conditioned once a week, did the GHE (green house effect) once a week, moisturized and sealed nightly, limited my flat iron usage to once a week, sometimes less, wrapped my hair and covered with a silk scarf nightly. I also participated in a 3 month long protective styling challenge which did amazing things for my hair.

Newly relaxed, 11/2012

 

It grew a great deal. I made it to just about APL.

02/2013

Then on July 4, 2013 I decided I wanted a change and went to get a pixie cut. Now don't get me wrong, the short cut was fun. But it is WAY too high maintenance for me. 

07/04/2013

07/04/2013

 For one thing , I've gone back to flat ironing EVERY day. Hate it! I also slacked off completely stopped giving my hair the TLC it needs. I haven't been moisturizing and sealing, haven't been deep conditioning, no GHE at all, and tying my hair up when I remember. Shame on me, I know. In my mind, I figured that I barely had any ends so I didn't have to moisturize and seal right? WRONG! Yet somehow, almost four months after cutting it, my hair is growing back nicely. The back is very dry, but after relaxing on 10/25/13, I've gotten back on track. I've been moisturizing and wrapping my hair every night. Haven't been sealing because I don't have any oils right now. I'll be making a trip to the beauty supply store and HOPEFULLY my mom will send me my grape seed oil and hooded dryer. Hi mom :). Anyway, my updated regimen will be in the next post. I'm hoping to be back to shoulder length by August of 2014. We'll see.

Current length, relaxer 10/25/13