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.

Babyliss Pro Ceramix Xtreme Flat Iron Review

My flat iron finally came!! I've been practically stalking the mail man the last few days. I ordered it on Amazon.com for $29.95. So here it is.

Like the box says, it has 25 heat settings. I set mine on 15 which is 310 degrees since I wanted to see how it works on a low setting. Also, I didn't feel the need to turn it up any higher because my hair is freshly relaxed so it's pretty manageable right now. I think the highest setting I'll ever use it on is probably 20 (375 degrees). 450 just seems insanely high if you ask me.

So two things I love about this flat iron is that it has a really long swivel cord, which is great because I always had to untwist my old one when I was curling my hair. The other thing is that the plates come almost to the edge so I was able to curl even the shortest part of my hair in the back. It also heats up really fast, so be careful.

I had already flat ironed my hair once after my relaxer but I HAD to try this out. That's the only reason it got done twice this week. The next time will be when I wash my hair on Sunday and then it will only be once a week. So I used my wide tooth comb and of course my trusty grape seed oil. Like I said the flat iron was hot in no time and it only took one heat pass to curl my hair. Literally, I only went over each section once... that never happens to me!! I always have to do it at least twice to get the look I'm trying to achieve.

Overall I really like it. It got the job done in record time and I didn't feel like I was frying my hair. I give it an A+!

Combat Breakage!

Hello again. I just want to say a few things about breakage. When I decided to get back on a healthy hair journey back in November, one of my main concerns was stopping the breakage I was experiencing. It was really bad, I would even say severe, because after I got my pixie cut I completely abandoned my hair. Aside from not moisturizing and sealing, I was flat ironing daily with no heat protectant. I don't have any pictures but I'm sure you can imagine what it was looking like.

Anyway, back in November I decided to buy the ApHogee two step protein treatment. I figured that if I did that, the breakage would stop. WRONG. It did nothing... literally. I still had hands full of little broken hairs each time I touched or ran my fingers through it. At that point, I was back to moisturizing and sealing daily but it made no difference. Fast forward to this week. After taking out my patra braids I washed my hair and did the ApHogee treatment again. It seemed to help at first, but after my hair was dry and I combed it, it was back to the same thing.

After not one, but two failed protein treatments (that people swear by), I knew the only solution would be to cut all of the split and damaged ends off. I was planning to trim my hair anyway, but it was now a necessity. As you know I trimmed my hair yesterday, and after combing and wrapping it, I haven't seen any hairs in my comb at all. Now I just have to make sure I don't let it get that way again.

Some things that cause breakage:

1. Not moisturizing and sealing. Dry hair becomes brittle and breaks off. The solution? MOISTURIZE AND SEAL!
2. Using too much heat. Too much heat is very drying to your hair. Try to limit direct heat, and when you do use it, (flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers, etc.) always apply some type of heat protectant.
3. Moisture / Protein imbalance. Sometimes too much moisture is used, which leaves your hair limp and prone to breakage. In this case, you would need to do a protein treatment or use a protein leave in conditioner. On the other hand, you can have protein overload. Some people continuously do protein treatments to strengthen their hair, not realizing they may be weakening it. Too much protein is not a good thing. To correct this, you would need a moisturizing conditioner. I usually follow my protein treatments with a moisturizing deep conditioner.
4. Too much manipulation. Combing, brushing, and styling your hair too much will lead to breakage. Sometimes it just needs to be left alone. Try protective styling or low manipulation styles such as braids, buns, twist / braid outs, weaves, wigs, etc. Also remember to take care of your hair under the protective style.
5. Overlapping relaxers. Doing relaxers too close together can cause over processing and weakens the hair. Stretching between relaxers leaves you with more new growth, which makes it easier to distinguish from previously relaxed hair.
6. Split ends. Holding on to split ends because you want longer hair is not a good look. A split may start at the end, but it can travel all the way up the hair shaft and break off if it's not dealt with. So clip your ends. Besides, nobody wants long hair with stringy ends right?

There are lots of resources available for learning about healthy hair ( relaxed and natural). Hairlista.com, k-i-s-s.biz, and longhaircareforum.com are a few of my favorites. Check them out!