One Year Progress

This picture shows from when I cut a few inches of damaged hair last May through my most recent relaxer (yesterday):

I didn't reach my goal of shoulder length when I wanted to, but I did reach it!

Last year, I would get a trim every other relaxer, but I've been getting a "dusting" every relaxer, which is every 10 weeks now. I really like my ends to look even. My stylist told me that my hair looks and feels great!

Bad Hair Month

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but it's been raining or cloudy or misty almost all month, which does not equal nice hair. Fortunately, my hair has been holding up pretty well. I guess it's from all the conditioning I do. I think setting my hair with serum helps too. Last night, I walked around a lot in the mist, which made my hair a frizzy mess. It's so funny how a mess now is so different than a mess 2 years ago before I started my hair journey. Then, it was a true mess. Last night, my curls fell and my hair was frizzy, but it wasn't a dry, rough afro like it's been in the past- especially at 9 weeks post relaxer!

When I got home, I put some grapeseed oil on my ends and put about 6 rollers in my head. Today my hair was really curly and the strands are smooth. It's still a little moist outside, so my curls fell by the time I got to work, but it still looks okay.

World of Curls

I'm so sick of the flat wrap. I want more body in my hair and something more exciting. So I've been pincurling my hair for the past 2 or 3 weeks. I haven't mastered this method, but I'm liking how it looks. Every day it seems like my hair does a little something different, so I'm finding some versatility.

Update and April 2009 Relaxer

Work has been kicking my butt, so I haven't really had time to blog. My hair is doing well, though. My new recent photo was taken a few days after my last relaxer, which was 2 weeks ago. I couldn't believe how much my hair had grown. My stylist pressured me to trim it. I was mad at myself later for letting her, so next time I will stand my ground.

I haven't changed my regimen or any of my products, but I may go up a roller size for my rollersets. I haven't been co-washing much lately since I've only been washing once a week, but now that it's getting warmer, I'll start washing more often. I also want to start wearing more hair accessories, so I'm going to experiment this weekend with my scarves and clips.

I still can't get that darn black color out of my hair, although my stylist said she saw some of it washing out in the sink. I put in a medium red brown rinse last week, but I still don't see any difference- except where my hair is going platinum.

10 Weeks!

I canNOT believe I went 10 weeks between relaxers. I don't think I've ever gone this long. Ever. The thing is, my hair really isn't that bad. Yes, the roots are thick, but they're soft. I could probably go longer, but my birthday is this weekend and I want my hair to look nice. I can't believe I actually like my hair at this point. The key really has been to keep my hair conditioned and moisturized. I've only been washing it once a week, but I always deep condition and I use the Aphogee 2 minute protein treatment every other wash or so. Hopefully, I have about an inch of new growth.

Baking Soda

I've been trying to get this black rinse out of my hair for over a month. I really think my hair gets addicted to rinses because it doesn't act right when I don't regularly put them in after a while. I still want to use rinses, but I want to go a little lighter. Last week I decided to finally try clarifying my hair with baking soda. Besides being too black, my hair felt a little weighed down, so it seemed like a good idea.

I didn't pre-poo with my usual Organix conditioner. Instead, I put a little vatika oil in my hair in the morning. That evening, I mixed about a half tablespoon of baking soda in a large water bottle mixed with room temperature water. I got in the shower, soaked my hair with water, and applied the baking soda mix. I let it sit in my hair for a few minutes, massaged my scalp and rinsed. Instantly, my hair felt better. It felt like I really got a lot of gunk out of my hair, but it didn't feel stripped at all. I did it one more time, then shampoo'd once with CON shampoo. When I got out of the shower, I applied an Adore medium brown rinse and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes. I rinsed and deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing. After I rinsed out the conditioner, I rollerset as usual.

My hair feels so much better. I was 7 weeks post relaxer and it felt like I was only 4. My hair was soft, manageable, and looked good. I won't have any trouble going another 2 weeks without a relaxer. It still looks black, but that's okay for now. I'm just happy that it's so soft and easier to do. I will try to do the baking soda treatment once a month from now on.

Potato Salad

When my mother used to put mayonnaise in my hair, my father would tease me and say my hair smelled like potato salad. I hadn't used mayonnaise in my hair in years, but I decided to try it this weekend. I've been feeling like I need more protein, and since I'm afraid to try strong protein treatments, I went with the old faithful mayo.

I planned to sleep with it on overnight as a pre-poo, but I didn't think I could stand the smell while I slept. That's the one bad thing I remember when I was a child- that nasty smell seeping through my scarf! Instead, I put it on Sunday morning before my weekly walk with my girlfriends in the park. I left it on for about 5 hours and then washed my hair. I felt like it took some work washing it all out, because after shampooing twice, my hair still felt heavy and oily. I shampooed once with KeraCare and twice with Creme of Nature. I deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing and rollerset my hair as usual. This morning, when I combed down my wrap, I noticed my hair felt thicker and looked shinier. My hair is usually pretty shiny, but it is really shiny today. The thickness and shine is even more surprising since I'm weaning my hair off the jet black rinse. I thought it would look dull and flat without fresh color, but not even close. I'll be doing the mayo pre-poo at least once a month from now on.