Taking A Heat Break and a Few Other Things

You all know that I have no qualms about putting heat on my hair. I usually try to get my hair straightened once a month but I have decided to give my hair a heat break for a bit. I don't have a set time for how long I will be doing this. I have been throwing around the idea of getting twists and giving myself a break from dealing with my hair. If you are familiar with the hair vlogger Donedo, then you might know that she lives in the Chicago area like I do and does braids and twists. In her latest videos, she has been sporting some really nice twists that she dubbed the "Brandy Twist". I am contemplating letting her do them. One of the reasons I am taking a break from the heat is because I have a love hate relationship with my flat iron hair. I love the ease of flat ironed hair and see the length that I have achieved but I am not a fan of the fact that my hair is fine and doesn't have much thickness to it. Also, the older my flat iron hair gets, for some reason, I find that my hair starts to stick together at the ends. This makes combing a bit scary because I am afraid of causing unnecessary damage the ends. I have also become length obsessed slightly. lol If I keep my hair kinky/curly, it makes it harder for me to really see how long it gotten.

After seeing a video from MoKnowsHair earlier in the year about the Aphogee Texture Treatment, I finally understand what the hell that product is suppose to do. The area that I am trying to "fix" is a section in the bangs area because I have no clue what is going on with section. I don't if it's heat damage or if that area just has no particular curl pattern at all. I have been leaning toward the latter because it's always been waaaay more straighter than the rest of my hair. I used it this past wash day and I saw some semblance of a curl coming through. I will use once a week for about month to see if it makes a difference. This is my hair with the treatment on it. I am thinking that my hair is a type 4b/4c with a hint of 4a right at the back. I am still not use to my hair at all. I have moments where I want to say f**k and go get a relaxer. 

I revisited the Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-in as well. I tried this on my hair about 2 or 3 years ago and didn't like it. Now that I am fully natural, I wanted to give it a shot again. I like it way better this time around. My hair is easy to detangle and is left moisturized once my hair has fully dried. The price is steep but I don't mind treating myself to a good hair product. lol Despite what the bottle looks like in the picture I haven't used a lot of this product.

How is your hair journey going?

SSS Plates Update

I mentioned once before about how the black stretch plates have been breaking on me. I have lost a lot of these plates because of this. As you see pictured on the left, this is what has been happening. These plates do exactly what the creator has said that they do. They stretch my hair very well. I think that this is my fault. I prefer to air dry my hair in twists. I believe that I put too much hair on there. I'm not tripping over it because I prefer to use the purple plates that stretch the roots anyway. If she starts to sell them on separately I would buy more purple plates.

Have you bought a set of the plates? How are they treating you?

Wash Day Chronicles ft. Uncle Funky's Daughter Products.

1. I started out by clarifying my hair 2 times with the Silk Hydration by L. Jones Clarifying Shampoo. My hair felt very clean.
2. Next, I did something that I haven't done in awhile. I followed up with a moisturizing shampoo to put some moisture back into my hair. I used Uncle Funky's Daughter Rich and Funky Moisturizing Cleanser.
3. I used Uncle Funky's Daughter Richee Rich Moisturizing Conditioner next. At first, I used it as my rinse out conditioner. It felt extremely smooth and moisturizing going on to my hair. The one thing I noticed about this line is that it did not have a deep conditioner. Upon further reading of the label on the Richee Rich conditioner, I saw that it could be used as a deep conditioner and that's what I did. I left the conditioner on for a few hours before rinsing out. I really need to get back to steaming though.
4. Next up: leave-ins - I used the UFD's Thristy Curls Leave-In Curl Revitalizer on my hair after t-shirt drying. It detangled my hair very well. On top of that, I applied their Extra Butter Brilliant Shine Creme. This product is very smooth, light weight and moisturizes really well. Lastly, I used the infamous Curly Magic Curl Stimulator. This gel is very slimy but defines curls like nobody's busy. lol
                                             

  

Unfortunately these pictures don't show how shiny these products made my hair. My hair has never been this shiny ever. I am not big on layering products because I don't want to deal with greasy hair. lol These products didn't leave a greasy film on my hair but my hair very well moisturized and feels lightweight. These products are winning so far.

One Month Relaxer Free

It has been a little over a month since I cut the rest of the relaxed ends off. I have felt a wide range of emotions. One minute I am loving my hair. The next minute I want to relax it. Another minute, I want to cut it off. There is no happy medium. Lately my the ends have been super bushy but when I put some curl defining gel on, it curls up. It's the weirdest thing to me. My hair is shorter and tighter at the crown. The back is looser and longer. I think it will be awhile before I am fully use to me hair. I tried a twist out last week. Everyone else loved it but it was super frizzy to me. 

Here are a few more pics of my hair texture

I got a trim about a week or two ago. That got rid of some of the straighter pieces that were lurking around. I haven't done a full review of the SSS Plates but just let me say this. I still like the plates but they come apart quite easily. I have had to throw out a lot of the long black plates because the snaps have come completely off. I think that it is my fault though. Maybe I put too much hair on there. The small purple plates are my favorites and have not tore on me at all.

I am still trying to figure this natural thing out. Man, does it take a lot to get use to. Lol I will master my hair sooner or later.