The Patra braids are no more!

Yes, it's true. I took my braids out. I originally planned to take them out on January 25th but I took them out last night (January 20th). Five days won't kill me. I've decided not to get them done again in February. I liked them a lot but I get bored quickly. So basically I'll just be babying my hair and giving it the TLC it needs. I have to admit, it looks pretty crazy right now but it has definitely grown. Excuse my expression in the first pic, it was late and I was ready for bed :).

Right after removing

I had no intentions of doing anything to my hair last night, so I combed it out and tied it down with a silk scarf. 

After wash, protein treatment, and deep conditioner

This morning I washed my hair after dropping Kaylin off at school. It was definitely a process. 

- Washed with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration

- Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment (sat under dryer for 10 minutes)

- Aphogee Balancing Conditioner
- Deep condition with Suave Almond and Shea butter conditioner (added in JBCO and EVCO)

 After all of that, I decided to just air dry. I did bring my hood dryer home so I could have done a roller set but I didn't feel like fighting with my roots.

Hair is completely dry

Now... as you can see my roots are looking pretty thick. I am going to the salon on January 24th for a relaxer and a much needed trim. I'm a little nervous because I'm not from the area so I don't really know how the salons up here are. But I have to trust them because I don't know how to trim my own hair. If  I did I'd do my own relaxer and save a bunch of money. Anyway, the main reason for the protein treatment was to strengthen my hair before the relaxer. I know a week before is ideal, but I took my braids out on a whim and I don't have a week. The good thing is that I made it to my goal of stretching my relaxer to 13 weeks. In fact I'll be getting in done on the date I originally planned to. I'm proud. I'm hoping I can get a picture of my hair before the trim so I can see how much length I retained. Honestly, after the trim my hair will probably be about the length it was when I did my last relaxer. I say this only because I haven't had a trim since I cut my hair in July and I know there are a lot of split ends. It might be a minor setback but I'll take health over length!