Relaxer / Trim results!

Let me start by saying that I will probably be using Africa's Best Relaxer from now on! I love the way my hair turned out. It's soft, shiny, and bouncy... although the trim could have something to do with that also. Anyway, I parted my hair in four sections, applied the relaxer, rinsed, applied the deep conditioner and sat under the drier for ten minutes, then rinsed.

01/24/2014

Now, I can see that I retained a nice amount of length when looking at the top right picture. But even though it did grow, there are a lot of split ends that needed to go. So after rinsing out the deep conditioner, I applied my leave in conditioner, a small amount of moisturizer, and some coconut oil. Then I roller set my hair using purple rollers (I got these when my hair was longer, I need to invest in some smaller ones now) under the dryer for 40 minutes on medium heat. When I finally came out of the sweat box, I put a small amount of Grape seed oil on my hair as a heat protector. Then the fun (not really) began!

I know that we get split ends all over our head, so I didn't only trim the base of my hair. I know people who do that and even without having done it myself, I knew that's not the way to go. So I flat ironed my hair in tiny sections and trimmed the ends as I went along. I made sure to hold my hair up as well, making sure I got it all. I won't lie, at first I was trying to hold on to as much of my length as possible, but then I just started cutting what needed to be cut. And I'm glad I did. This is what my ends were looking like. And that's not even the worst of it.

My hair feels and looks SO much better now. And it's so nice to run my hands through my hair and all of it is soft, not just the roots. You know how you get a relaxer and no trim, but you REALLY need a trim, so you end up flat ironing the hell out of your ends (and further damaging them) so they blend in with the rest of your hair? That was me for the last few relaxers. But no more! Now that I know I can trim my own hair without looking busted, I definitely will. 

This is what it looks like now. I took off a nice amount but hey, it had to go (there's more hair on the floor, this is mainly from the front). And my hair is still longer than it was after my last relaxer. So I'm happy and it's healthy! By the way, I just noticed how much clearer my skin looks. Go me!

Change of plans and new relaxer!

Well, I've changed mind about going to the salon tomorrow. I went to CVS today for a relaxer and some shears. I've been using ORS Olive Oil relaxer since 2012 but this time I'm going to try Africa's Best Relaxer. 

What made me decide to switch? Long story short, it was only $5.49. I know a lot of people who swear by this relaxer and that's almost half the price of ORS so I figured why not? As for the shears, I just grabbed what they had. They're Conair so hopefully they're decent.

Now, I have never trimmed my own hair but I'd rather do it myself than go to someone I can't even find reviews on. So, my lovely husband is going to do the back and I'm going to do the front. I've been on YouTube all day looking at different techniques so hopefully it doesn't come out too bad. I'm going to have to hide these because I know they are only to be used on hair. And I can guarantee that if I leave them out then someone is going to use them for paper. 

On another note, I'm getting a new flat iron :). I let someone use my old one and lets just say I don't want it back. SO, I'll be getting the BaByliss Pro Ceramix Xtreme Red 1" Flat iron. It should be here Monday.  I really want the BaByliss Pro Titanium Nano but that will have to wait. 

That's all for now, until next time!

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!

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 :).