Journey officially started on the 11th of April! So far so good...

Hey... man ain't been on for a week and a half now, blogging ain't easy y'all! So my bad on the lateness.

So my HJ started last Thursday - started with relaxing and ended with straightening. Here's what I did:

Step 1: base scalp with Vaseline and applied it to protect relaxed ends.

Step 2: Got my wonderful flatmate to relax hair (cannot remember the name of relaxer) and this time you guys, I followed the instructions in terms of how long you should leave it on for. So I left it for 25 mins. It's bad habit to go over prescribed time (i'm especially speaking to you Africans out there, y'all know yourselves lol...)

Step 3: Washed it all out with warm water. Then applied the ApHogee-keratin 2-min re-constructor made to "restore strength and softness".... left it on for 2 minutes and washed, and verdict? Hair felt kinda hard... dunno why. But it got better when I did step 4 and 5...

Step 4: Neutralized the crack outta my hair till it turned absolutely white! Ain't nobody gat time for burns...

Step 5: Deep conditioned with the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment which is a moisturizing DC. Used plastic cap and my new Leila Ali bonnet dryer (this dryer is good yo!) Washed out after 25 mins. Hair felt normal again.

Step 6: Applied leave-in, blow dried, and straightened at low-medium heat using Tresemme thermal heat protectant spray. Then applied argan oil for shine. See pictures below.

p.s: Hair grew a couple of inches but we'll really see the difference in 3 months time (next relaxer).

Wet hair before blow drying                                                                

Hair after blow-drying

Hair after flat ironing and Argan oil

I've been moisturizing and sealing every 2 days since, now it's once a day because it's getting into the colder months in this side of the world. After that, I put my hair donut on to protect the ends, spray sheen if needed, and I'm good to go! I've had minimal shedding so far (maybe 20-30 strands per day which is normal). But my hair needs elasticity after all that chemical so I cannot wait to proteinize tomorrow (washday).


Next washday: 20th April, 2013. Till next time.

Peace n Love. x

Wash Day! 3 days late but better late than never...

So my wash day is usually Saturdays but I was too busy attending functions this weekend (my poor hair). I'm also terribly busy with studies. I eventually diverted from my busy schedule today and gave my hair some attention finally. So my next relaxer is this Thursday, so my regimen a week before relaxers is to apply a medium protein treatment after shampoo and before deep conditioning. This time, I left the products on my hair for about 15-30 mins as I really needed to squeeze a lotta things into my day (How time flies!). Here was my process and mini review of products:

Step 1: Section hair into four parts. Pre-poo'd with oils for 30 mins (applied towel heat but I don't think it made a difference).

Step 2: Washed oils in shower. Shampoo'd each parted section ONCE with a moisturizing shampoo Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo. I shampoo'd once because I don't want my scalp totally clean as I will be applying relaxer in 2 days and it will burn if it's too clean. This is what I get for washing late... *smack*.

Result of shampoo: soft hair, most especially soft new growth, not over-drying, lathers extremely well, smells great.

Step 3: Towel-dried, then detangled by combing each section with the tail bit of a tail comb. It's much better because wet hair is too fragile to comb.

Step 4: Applied ORS Hair Mayonnaise to protein-treat to each 4 sections. Applied towel-heat. Left on for 20 mins.

Step 5: Washed off and towel-dried. Result: the ORS Hair Mayo is the bizness! This will be my 2nd time using it, it just makes your hair feel really good to finger comb through.

Step 6: Deep conditioned the same parted style with Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner - a moisturizing conditioner. Towel-heated and left on for 20 mins. Result: Nothing special, it stinks like a gutter too. Poof! The smell just masked any other benefits it may have had on my hair.

Step 7: Washed off with cold water to close the cuticles. Towel-dried. Applied my leave-in (Dermorganics).

Step 8: Used tail comb to part sub-sections within each hair sections to comb with a wide-tooth comb (comment if this isn't clear), applied S-Curl moisturizer and sealed with almond oil.

Step 9: Air-dried by tying the hair into a ponytail. I didn't have time to put in rollers so left the hair to dry itself. I'll be relaxing it soon anyway so no qualms!


Reason for sectioning hair into 4: Aside from easy application, I told y'all last week that my hair tangled when I clarified after taking my braids off (even though I combed it before shampoo). I didn't section it then, I just washed the entire head at once. So I was careful this time. Sectioning helped me comb tough new growth and delicate wet hair so I had minimal shed hair. And I had NO TANGLES.

So that is it for now! I'll be back on Relaxer Day....

Until then, keep them locks healthy !! x