Product Review: Organix Coconut Milk shampoo and conditioner

Hey! I just wanted to come and do a quick product review. I've heard so many people rave about this shampoo and conditioner so I decided to try it. Well.... My hair hates it. It leaves me feeling dry , tangled, and not conditioned at all. The only reason I continued to use it is because I paid $18 for the two of them. However, I just can't take it anymore. As of my next wash day (either tomorrow or Saturday) I will be switching back to my favorite; suave almond and Shea butter. Apparently my hair appreciates the cheap stuff. I was also leaning back towards Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. My hair  responded very well to that line also. We'll see. All I know is that there will be no more Organix in my future!

Relaxer Day

Hey! So today I went and got a relaxer at 18 weeks post. The top left picture was taken at the beginning of this week after washing my hair. This is when I realized that I needed a trim. The top right was taken today after my relaxer and the bottom two were taken after my trim. Overall I'm very pleased with how my hair came out. I went to a Dominican salon and completely expected the stylist to be scissor happy, which she was not. So I may have lost a small amount, but my hair looks so much healthier. Not to mention the body and motion it has now. Also, this is the length I'm at two years after getting my pixie cut. I would have liked it to be longer but of course I've done trims over the past two years. I'm not complaining! My next goal is going to be APL. No more ponytails every day for me. I'm getting back to the TLC I know my hair needs. So happy growing to us all!

I'm back! Hair update

Hey! It's been forever since I posted. Almost a year! I've been busy working, moving into a new house, pretty much just living life. So I just wanted to pop in and do a quick update. My hair has definitely grown a lot. BUT... Because I've been working so many hours (hospital job) I've been just throwing my hair into a ponytail. After I washed my hair a couple of days ago I noticed that one side has been breaking off. I'm going to get a relaxer on Friday at 18 weeks post. I'm going to a salon this time, only because I really need a good trim to even it all out. That really sucks, because I just made it to two years after my pixie cut and here I am having to cut my hair again. All I can say is lesson learned! I'll have to start doing my hair the way I used to. I'll be back on Friday after my relaxer to post a picture before and after the trim. I also have a few product reviews coming up so be on the look out!

Wash Day!

Hey there! I got around to washing my hair  today, although a few days late. I felt like my hair needed a protein treatment so I gave it one. Nothing major. I just whipped up an egg and let it sit in my hair for about twenty minutes. Then I rinsed it out with cool water (didn't want scrambled eggs in my hair) and proceeded to wash it. I used my normal products, herbal essences shampoo and suave conditioner. After deep conditioning, I roller set my hair and sat under the dryer for forty minutes. Once my hair was dry, I took out the rollers, applied some coconut oil, and wrapped it. This week, instead of flat ironing it I decided to try the Saran Wrap method. Let's just say that was a fail. Not an epic fail, but still a fail. So right now my hair looks like it normally does. I may or may not decide to flat iron it. We'll see how the week goes!

Major Problem Area

Hey! So today I figured I would put my hair in a bun since it is a protective style. I kept some hair from when my hair was braided and made a ponytail out of it. After I was done I decided to take a picture to make sure everything was in place. This is what I found... 

I have a huge patch of hair missing! This is a major problem for me. And the worst part is that I can't be mad at anyone but myself. When I had cornrows a couple of weeks ago I knew they were too tight and I should have taken them out. Instead, since it was a protective style, I kept them in for two weeks. Clearly they did more harm than good. 

So now I have to take extra special care of my nape and hope that it grows back nicely. I'll be doing lots of scalp massages with JBCO in that area. We'll see how it goes!

The Importance of trimming.

Current Wrap

Last night, I was wrapping my hair for bed and it made me think about the state my hair was in prior to going natural. There were times when I would wrap my hair and no matter how much i brushed it, the ends just would not lay down. I would brush like crazy then quickly tie it up before they jumped out of place again. In the morning the hairs would be laying in place, but was it smooth? Definitely not. 

These were the days before I knew (or cared) about split ends. And don't even bother asking me to get a trim! All I knew was that my hair was a decent length and I wasn't cutting it. Shame on me. In this case, ignorance was not bliss. 

I, like many people, didn't understand the importance of trimming my ends.  My hair was the same length for what seems like forever but I didn't think anything of it. Now, I hear people say "Why won't my hair grow?", and my answer to that is this. Your hair is growing every day. If it was not, there would be no new growth to relax. The problem is that the hair is breaking off at the same rate it's growing so you can't see the progress. The solution would be to take care of your ends. Regular trims can make all the difference in the world. Couple that with moisturizing and sealing, some protective styling, and you'll be just fine! Until next time...

Update on Imani's Hair

Hey! Back in November, I mentioned that myself and my one year old daughter would begin using JBCO. It has definitely made a change in both of our hair. 

At the time you could look right at Imani's scalp without even touching her hair. This is what it looks like now. 

I don't have any direct top shots, but you can clearly see that her hair has thickened up. You can't see the length of it because of shrinkage, but it's gotten longer as well. 

I don't really use the JBCO as much for her hair but I do moisturize and seal it every day. That seems to work for her. So that's about it, I just wanted to give a quick update... Eight months later lol. Until next time!

Relaxer Day!

Today is the day! I finally sat down and relaxed my hair. I used Africa's Best again and once again, I am not disappointed. My hair looks and feels amazing just like the last time I used this brand.

This is what my hair was looking like before I got started. Luckily, it looks worse than it felt. Thanks to moisturizing and sealing my new growth was nice and soft. I had to include the picture of this shed hair. I was looking at the hairs in my comb (like I always do) and I came across this one. I know what my natural curl pattern looks like so I knew that this hair was pretty much all new growth. The picture on the bottom is of me and my son stretching it so see just how long it was. I thought it was pretty interesting.

01/24/14

07/16/14

Here are my results! The picture on the left is my relaxer in January and the one on the right is from today. I am EXTREMELY happy! I did do a minor trim and fortunately there wasn't much that needed to come off. The picture below shows what I trimmed off. There is more hair there than it looks like, it just looks like less because I had already started gathering it when I remembered to take the picture.  

I really can't complain at all about this progress. The pictures of the back of my hair show a significant amount of growth over the last six months. 

I took the same steps I always take when I do a relaxer. I parted my hair in four sections before applying it, rinsed it out, deep conditioned for fifteen minutes under the dryer, rinsed again, roller set my hair on my purple rollers (my hair is long enough for them again!), and flat ironed. After I deep conditioned, I applied my Creme of Nature Argan Oil leave in conditioner, moisturizer, and some grape seed oil. After sitting under the dryer for 45 minutes on medium heat, I flat ironed and trimmed my hair. I used my Babyliss Pro flat iron on 15 (310 degrees). After it was all said and done, I just wrapped my hair and covered it with my silk scarf. 

Now that my relaxer is done, I can definitely say that my 25 week stretch was a success. I'm not sure if I'll be going a full six months again but I know for sure that I won't be doing another relaxer until at least November 7th (16 weeks). Either way, I hope I continue to retain everything I grow!

I **think** I have an obsession...

... With nail polish!! The first two rows are all new, bought within the last two weeks. Now I know there are people with sooo many more but I'm buying like five bottles a week! Anyway, this post has absolutely no relevance at all but I was excited :).

Why My Six Month Stretch Was a Success

Hey! As you all know, it has been six months (or 25 weeks) since my last relaxer. Someone asked me how I made it so long without the creamy crack. My answer to that is protective styling. That has been the absolute biggest help during this stretch. I've had box braids, Senegalese twists, cornrows, and of course my trusty wig. All I had to do was moisturize and seal every day, oil my scalp, and wash my hair every other week. It's great to know that I can still baby my hair and protect it at the same time. 

Another reason this stretch was a success is because I limited my heat usage. In fact, I didn't use heat at all for four of those six months. It might make your hair slightly less easy to manage, but the benefits outweigh that by far. 

When I say this was a success, I don't say that because I made it this long without relaxing. Because if you think about it, you can go six months without a relaxer and not retain a bit of hair (trust me, I see it all the time). So to me, I was successful because I retained what I grew, my hair feels moisturized, and it feels healthy in general. That is my main concern. So for anyone who wants to do a stretch, do it! It's not as hard as it may seem. 

Regimen

Here it is guys! I finally sat down and wrote one up instead of keeping it all in my head. I have to give the credit for this one to my little sister. She's decided to go on a healthy hair journey  and I told her I would show her my regimen. Anyway, it's pretty basic. Not much has changed other than the length of time between my relaxers. As for trims, I have every six months because that's what works for ME. Everything won't work for everybody so this is just my personal preference. I know people who trim every time they get a relaxer and I just don't get it. That's basically cutting off the hair you just grew. Oh well. So for me it will be every six months or as needed. 

For my relaxers, as you can see, I have a minimum of every 16 weeks. Right now I'm going on 25 weeks. I think I'll see a nice amount of growth since I spent a lot of that time doing protective styles. As much as I wanted to stretch through the whole summer, I don't think it's going to happen. I went to Walgreens and picked up a relaxer yesterday (along with the biotin). I didn't do it yet but I'm anxious to see how it turns out. I MAY do a tiny trim, and I may not. I saw a few split ends and I want them gone. It's definitely not like it was last time I did a trim and I don't want to get to that point. On top of that, it's been six months. So we'll see. Like I said, it won't be anything major. If I do decide to do it, it will be done tomorrow since I'll be home all day. 

So there's my regimen! I'm excited to finally have it all mapped out. Now all I have to do is stick to it! Until next time...

Biotin!

Hey! Today I decided to go and pick up some biotin. I've been planning to get it ever since my bottle of hairfinity went missing. Anyway, I think it's about time I give it a try. I have read mixed reviews so I figured I would start off with the 1000mcg tablets. Since the bottle has 100 tablets in it, I'll be documenting my progress. Think of it as a biotin challenge. I have to say, I'm excited! Anything that promotes healthy hair is good in my book. I started taking it today so hopefully we see a good change in 100 days!

One year later

You guys! Can you imagine how happy this makes me??? This obviously doesn't show my complete length because it's not relaxed or straightened  but look how much my hair has grown since 07/04/13! This is one year after cutting and 24 weeks post relaxer and trim. I am definitely pleased with my progress. The last year has been major learning experience and I'm so glad I got back on this hair journey. Otherwise who knows what condition my hair would be in. 

My last protective style was the cornrows. I literally just took them out right before this post. I liked the look of them but they were extremely tight. To the point where I have a few scabs in my head. For the health of my hair and my peace of mind, I had to take them out. My worst nightmare (hair wise) is not having any edges. I'm not about that life lol. I'm not sure what my next style will be. I did take some of the hair from the braids and made a ponytail. That will come in handy on the days where it's just ok hot for my wig. Let's face it, in the middle of July that will be almost every day. When I go down to the city I will probably go and get a wash and set just so I can really see the length of my hair. I don't feel like I need a trim right now, my ends seem to be in pretty good condition. As far as a relaxer, I want one and I don't. At 24 weeks post, this is the longest stretch I've done since I natural. The good thing is that my hair isn't at a place where I just can't manage it. So we'll see how that goes. 

Over the next year, I would like my hair to continue thriving. I KNOW I can make it to shoulder length by 7/04/15. So I want to challenge myself to make it to APL. It will definitely take some dedication. I want to limit direct heat, which shouldn't be a problem for me. I haven't used a flat iron or blow dryer since March so it's not a new concept to me. It will be much easier for me now that I have a little bit of length again. My main problem when I first cut my hair was that I didn't know how to manage it. I had never had hair so short so it was completely foreign. I thought it would be easy and it turned out to be the opposite. As far as my current length, I've been here before. This is a little bit longer than my hair was when I got my last relaxer before going natural (02/2011). The difference is that y hair was so damaged then. I was constantly coloring it so it was always dry and seemed much thinner and brittle. So I'm already doing better. 

I used to stick to a regimen. Perhaps I should start doing that again. Things always seem to work better for me when I have a routine. I'm just excited to see what the next year brings. Until next time!

New Hair Style

Here is my new protective style, as promised. I will not lie, these braids are EXTREMELY tight! I'm planning to keep them in for two weeks but if they don't loosen up in the next day or two, they will be coming out. I need my edges! When I take these out, I will be at 24 weeks post. Yay! This is the longest stretch I've done since I started relaxing again (November 2012). I have no idea what my next step will be. My husband wants me to get a relaxer... I'm not so sure. I like the fact that with protective styling, I can still take care of my hair (moisturizing and sealing) without manipulating it so much. I've never had a weave, and I love my wig but it was just way too hot. Maybe I'll go for some more Senegalese twists... who knows? At least I have some time to decide! 

Protective Styling Update, Unofficial Length Check!

Hey! So I managed to keep the Senegalese twists in for two months. I got them done on April 13th and took them out on June 17th. For the first month I was taking hairfinity, but my bottle for the second month mysteriously disappeared so I didn't get to take them. That's another story for another day. Anyway, even without taking the vitamins for the month of May, my hair definitely grew a lot.

I didn't get a picture of my hair right after I removed the twists but these were taken right after washing and conditioning. Even though there is some shrinkage, you can see that my roots are pretty thick and full. This Friday makes 22 weeks since my last relaxer and I don't plan on getting one any time soon. To me, it's pointless in the summer time. I'm going to straighten my hair just so I can go out and have it stuck to my forehead? I think not. SO, tonight I'll be getting another protective style. I'm being simple this time around, just getting some cornrows braided up into a bun. That should hold me over for a couple of weeks and then I'll be deciding on something else. My goal is to wear protective styles throughout the summer. I'm not sure how that will work out but it's worth a shot. 

Also, 07/04/14 makes one year since I chopped all of my hair off! When I cut it I had all intentions of wearing my hair short forever but I'm just not about that life. Which is how I ended up back on this journey. It's not as long as I would like, but if I hadn't trimmed it in January the length I have now would be worthless. Since my hair is not relaxed and also because I'm braiding my hair up tonight, I won't be able to do an official length check on that day. So here is my length as of today, in comparison to the day I got it cut!  

07/2013

07/04/2013

10/2013 Relaxer

01/24/2014 Relaxer and Trim

06/25/2014 Length Check

I'm pleased with the steady progress I'm making. Hopefully I'll continue moving in the right direction!

Hairfinity Update: Month 1

I finished my first bottle of HairFinity today! So far, so good. If you remember, I began taking the vitamins the day i got my senegalese twists done. As you can see, exactly one month later my roots are looking pretty thick. I am planning to keep these in for another month (while I take the second bottle of Hairfinity) but I really don't think the style is going to last that long. My hair usually grows pretty fast but not THIS fast. We'll see how much longer I can hold on to this style.

My first month taking these vitamins was not too bad. I did have a few minor breakouts at the beginning for about a week, but after that they cleared up. Clearly my hair is growing, and I'm pretty sure it's helping my nails too. They seem to be much stronger and thicker so that's a good thing. I start month two of my two month supply tomorrow, and we'll see how much growth I retain when it's all said and done. I don't know what I am going to do with my hair after I remove the twists. I love this style, it has been my absolute favorite protective style to date. I'm thinking maybe I'll take them out and redo them a week or so later. I do not want to get a relaxer just yet. My last one was on January 24th, so this week makes 16 weeks post and by the time I take these out I'll be 20 weeks post. If I can make it to 24 weeks that would be great, possibly even longer. I may just wear my wigs for awhile. Who knows? I guess we shall see...

Senegalese Twists

I got my Senegalese twists done today. I paid $140 and it took five hours to complete. I love them! They are very lightweight, much lighter than box braids in my opinion. I'm planning to keep these in until June 8th (8 weeks) which will take me to 20 weeks post. At that point I'll decide if I want to do a relaxer or another protective style. Also, during the eight weeks I have the twists in I will be taking hairfinity. I purposely waited until I got my hair done to start taking the vitamins because I want to accurately track my growth. Of course I will be moisturizing and sealing as usual so we'll see how much length I retain!

Hairfinity, protective styling, and update!

I know, I know... It's been forever. But here I am with a quick update. So my hair is doing well. I'm still moisturizing and sealing daily. I haven't washed it in a couple of weeks, which is strange for me, but I'll be getting that done tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to prep my hair by doing the GHE. I have not used heat on my hair since March 14th. This is huge for me because I usually feel like it's necessary to flat iron at least once a week to maintain this short hair.

I know for a fact that the only reason I haven't used heat is because I've been wearing sighs. Yes, me in wigs! I have to admit, there was a time when I wouldn't touch a wig but now I don't leave the house without putting my hair on. I love them! I do make sure that I always put on a silk wig cap before putting it on. The point is to protect my hair, not pull it out.

My next protective style is going to be either box braids or Senegalese twists. I love the look of Senegalese twists but I'm not sure if they will last the full eight weeks that I'm planning to wear the style. I was originally planning to get a relaxer on April 18th but I really want to stretch this relaxer and retain some length. I'm planning to get my hair done next week so that should bring me to about 21 weeks post. At that point I'll decide if I want to do a relaxer or another protective style.

Now, on to Hairfinity!  I ordered a two month supply on Monday and it arrived today (Friday) which made me happy. The packaging was also really nice. I probably won't begin taking it until after I get my hair done next week. Only because I'll be able to see exactly how much growth I get in those eight weeks.  I'm excited to try it and I hope it works!!

Until next time... 😘

Wash day

I finally got around to washing my hair yesterday. I had gotten into a routine of washing it on Wednesdays, which was annoying to me since that is the middle of the week. So this time I waited until Sunday so I could get back to my normal. One thing is for sure, I will not go that long without washing my hair again. I just knew I was going to scratch my scalp away. I have no idea how I used to go two weeks at a time. Anyway, that's in the past.

Saturday night I decided to do the green house effect (GHE). I usually use coconut oil but my hair was feeling especially dry (my silk scarf refused to stay on last week) so I used JBCO. I used it to oil my scalp like I usually do, then I coated my ends with it as well. After that I put on a plastic shower cap and covered both with my silk scarf. I left it that way overnight and the next day my hair was very damp. I decided to wash my hair in the shower so after I shampooed I put in my conditioner and covered it with a plastic cap. It stayed like that for about an hour because I decided to get some chores done. After I rinsed my hair, I applied my leave in conditioner and applied some grape seed oil. I don't usually blow dry my hair, but since I was not planning to flat iron it I wanted it as straight as possible. So the grape seed oil served as my heat protectant (as you know). After my hair was dry, I wrapped it and covered it with my silk scarf.

On the subject of flat ironing, I haven't straightened my hair since the day after Valentine's day. I haven't had a reason to, so I didn't. I don't plan on flat ironing it until it's necessary. I started noticing a bit of breakage around that time and now that I decreased my heat usage, it has slowed down significantly. I REALLY try to avoid the flat iron, but with my hair this length I feel like I HAVE to use it to achieve the style I want. When my hair was longer, it was easy not to flat iron my hair because I could easily wear it in a wrap or throw it in a bun. It's a work in progress and I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

So there's my quick update. I am still washing my hair weekly, moisturizing and sealing daily, and reducing the amount of heat I use (or at least trying to).

Progress: Almost 7 months after cutting my hair.

I was just looking through some old pictures and I realized how much my hair really has grown. It's not back to where it was before I cut it obviously, but it is noticeably longer. The hair on the sides wasn't even touching my ears in the first picture. Also, the middle section of my hair was cut above my eyebrows and now it reaches my top lip. So there has definitely been progress.

I'm the type of person who, when it comes to my hair, wants to see results immediately. Then I have to remind myself that it took two years for my hair to grow from less than an inch to just about APL. It takes time for sure, but the hard work pays off in the long run. I was just complaining about how my hair was too short, and I still feel that way. But after looking at the pictures I can say that yes, it is still short, but it was much shorter less than a year ago. So I can't really complain. All I can do is hope that I'll be back at APL sooner rather than later.