Operation: Grow My Hair Back

I know that I touched on this in the post but I wanted to dedicate a post specifically to my efforts in growing my hair back. It has been quite the adjustment with dealing with shorter hair.  The benefit to this new cut is that I can get an accurate read on what my actual texture is. I thought that the back section of my hair grew in looser. I couldn't be more wrong. It's 4c along with the rest of my hair. I think between the color and heat, the front section of my hair needs a lot of TLC. My edges can stand to be thicker as well.

The picture is of the items that I will be using to give my hair a bit of growth booth.

1. Wild Growth Hair Oil: I use the regular formula. I apply a quarter size amount throughout my head. I also focus it on my edges. Then I massage it in using the next item. I use this every other day to avoid a lot of build up.

2.Scalp Invigorator fromVanity Planet: I use this to massage the WGHO in. I also focus on my edges for about 45 sections each. I also use it when I shampoo my hair. The Invigorator helps to clean and exfoliate the scalp to lift dirt and dead skin cells from the scalp.

3. Mane Choice's It Doesn't Get Much "Butter" Than This: This butter is suppose to help strengthen the hair and stimulate the regrowth of thinning edges. On the days that I moisturize and seal my hair I put a bit on my edges and massage it in.

4. Manetabolism Vitamins: Doubles your hair's growth rate. If you get the average half inch of growth a month than the vitamins help you to get up to an inch a month. I take two pills at night with a full bottle of water.

5. No heat. You all already know that I am taking a break from heat. My long tern goal is to go a 6 months heat free. When I want to pamper myself, I'll go the shop and get a professional flat twist out done. If I can manage the 6 months, I just might go a bit longer.

It's time to get my hair in order!

Starting Over...Sort Of

You ladies already know that I have decided to cut heat from my regimen for a while. It's a decision that I'm happy to be making. I have been heat free since August 29th. I almost caved in today. Let's start from the beginning.

Lately I have not been completely happy with my hair. I feel as though my hair could be in a much better condition than it is in. I have been secretly wanting to cut my hair. So I decided to make an appointment to get my hair done. The style option I chose was the "flat twist-in". Meaning that I left the twist in and went on home. My appointment was on the 11th and I had a different stylist this time. My stylist name was Taylor and I was very satisfied with the job that he did with my hair. Since he has never done my hair before, we sat down at his station and had a consultation. I just explained the issues I have been having and we decided that I might need a cut because their was a drastic length difference. The bottom of my hair was much longer than the top. I thought my hair had to be straightened in order to get a really good trim/cut. He assured me that that wasn't the case. He proceeded to wash and deep condition my hair and also blow dried it. When he was done blow drying my hair he took a paper towel and placed it on the back of the cape. He showed me what my hair looked like. There was the biggest gap right at the back. I ended up cutting the longest layers back to shoulder length from a little past arm pit length. The shorter layers got a trim. In the pictures you can see how short my hair is now. I decided not to rock the twist out because my ends were too frizzy for my liking.

 

I would post some pictures of the how my hair looked with the twists in but the angles I have made me look like a walrus. Those pictures won't see the light of day. lol I am in the process of growing my hair back but most importantly getting my hair healthier. I will make another appointment in about two months to get my hair trimmed again so I can start to get rid of the thinner areas at the top of my head.
My overall regimen will not change. I will continue to wash and deep condition my hair w/ steam once a week. Moisturize and seal every other day. That part is especially for my color treated hair. I will add prepooing with coconut oil to my regimen. Continuing to take my Manetabolism vitamins and every other day and I'll add Wild Growth oil to my scalp every other day as well.  Believe it or not I'm excited about getting my hair back into shape. I had no qualms about cutting as much of my hair off as I did. I'm not playing around about my hair. lol

How is your hair journey going?

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.

Transition Chop Complete! I Am Finally Fully Relaxer Free!!!

Yes you read that right! After almost 2 years of  transitioning, yesterday (8/9/15) I decided to cut what was left  of my relaxed ends off. It wasn't much at all. I cut about as much off as I showed in my last post.

I was basically holding on to much of nothing. lol What made me decide to cut you ask. I was sitting in Wing Stop yesterday afternoon and I started reading "Secrets of A Long Term Transitioner". While reading it, the urge to big chop came over me and I said to myself that I was going to do it. A few hours later, I pulled out my water bottle and some conditioner and went to town. I didn't feel much of anything when it was said and done. There wasn't really much of a change in my hair. I have pretty much been dealing with my natural hair for quite some time now. After I cut went on with my regular wash day routine:

1. Shampooed with SM JBCO Strengthen, Grow and Restore shampoo
2. I used the JBCO rinse out conditioner and let it sit for a few minutes
3. I deep conditioned w/ my Hydratherma Naturals protein treatment.
3. Twisted my hair and air dried for a little bit.

Now the actual cutting process was sort of difficult because I was trying my hardest to not cut more than was necessary. The only section I didn't really touch was the bangs. My bangs have no discernible curl pattern. It's not curly, kinky, coily or straight. It's just there. That made it hard to cut.

Here are a few pics. I might have a few scraggly pieces that I need to get rid of. But for now this is what I am working with.

Bonus: I have been struggling with my styling my hair yet again. Or should I say with bunning my hair. Today was a particularly muggy and hot day. To top it off, I got rained on. My hair was a frizzy mess by lunch time. Especially the front. I was trying to find a better way to style my buns. The first thing that came to mind was flat twists. I can't flat twist worth a damn but I really want to learn how to do them.

Here is a picture of my first attempt at doing flat twists in the front of my hair and a bun in the back.

 

I must say that turned out pretty good. After a few try's, it turned out acceptable. I love how the color is popping a bit in these photos.

What I did was, I sectioned the front of my hair off, sprayed it with water until it was slightly damp and applied Soultanicles Can't Believe It's Knot Cocoa as my moisturizer and styler. This buttercreme is very rich and moistur+izing. The ingredients are yummy. Check them out below. Next, I sprayed the side that wasn't twisted with water and applied my Creme of Nature w/ Argan Oil Perfect Edges to smooth down my edges and also my hair line. The pics are the end result. This will be my go to style. Hopefully it holds up til morning.