Crochet and Retouch Date Moved Forward by 1 Month

So my protective style a month ago was crochet braids with Freetress (as seen in pic).

I learnt how to install crochet on YouTube, taught my flatmate and she installed them for me.

p.s: The crochet needle is now my best friend; it's affordable and so much easy to use so if you get one, don't lose it!

Anyway, I had the hairstyle in for 2 weeks, but I have to say it's hard to maintain. Between consistently having to use olive oil to re-curl each strand, trimming tangled or rough ends and moisturizing my hair underneath, I got tired. So I removed it; but I did enjoy the time I had it on as it was my first crochet ever.


Relaxer date moved forward by 1 month

So I was supposed to relax my hair a week after removal but I decided to move the date forward to the 11th August (this weekend!). So I had my hair out as I didn't want any braids or weaves in. I put it in corn rolls and rocked my wig to protect it. A week ago (pre-relaxer regimen), I experience some breakage (probably due to the cold and stretching) so I decided to do the Aphogee 2-step treatment (if you're a hair addict like me, you must have heard of it right?). That stuff does what it does - infuses protein and thickens hair. But you have to be very careful because sadly, I got an eye shot of it and I had to get my behind to the pharmacy.

I have to say stretching by 4 months have been nothing but difficult. My hair started to break and it was hard to maintain (it doesn't help my deep conditioners have run out!) I'll have to revert to every 3 months from now on. But it was worth a try!

Anyway, so my relaxer date is tomorrow and I REALLY cannot wait to see how long my hair's grown (if it has! =O). Fingers crossed!

New Growth

x

Coconut Oil + Deep Conditioning

Coconut Oil is THE BUSINESS for New Growth

I'm currently 10 weeks post relaxer, hooray! So far so good. I've had little breakage and minimal shedding and I have been retaining length. I've just finished washing my hair and I've got to note that I'm not really feeling the popular Alberto Moisture Milks Conditioner, that stuff tangles my hair! Anyway, I managed to detangle with a tail comb and for deep conditioning, I applied my ORS Replenishing Conditioner. I also applied coconut oil to the ends, roots and all over the hair.

I really needed moisture back in my hair this week because MY MOISTURIZERS - S CURL and WAVE NOUVEAU RAN OUT a few days back!!! To make matters worse it's winter in this side of the world and cold dries hair out. It's true when they say black hair thrives on moisture! Also I want to note that the Paul Mitchell Daily Moisture Mist sucks. Thought I could make do with that but it hardens my hair! Won't be buying again after this runs out.

So all in all, my new growth was hard as hell and hard to comb so I thought why not add coconut oil to my deep conditioner this week. I gotta tell you, this was a fab decision because after sitting under the steamer and washing the conditioner out after 20-30 mins, my hair (most importantly my ends and roots) felt so moisturized and silky soft. I ran a wide tooth comb through it and it just made sweet love to my roots. Applying coconut oil also replenishes the oil the hair lost during the shampoo process. I applied my leave-in (Argan oil) and left hair to air-dry.

Protective Style Pre-Relaxer: Crochet Braids

I'll be self-installing crochet braids this week and will leave it on for 2 weeks. My next retouch should've been on the 13th of July but I'll do it the following week since I'm braiding late. Will remove the crochet on the 13th of July and give the hair a week's rest and the necessary prep pre-relaxer.

Update: Porosity and Skin Care

Hair Porosity Update
So remember I rinsed my hair with diluted apple cider vinegar on my wash day (2 days ago). So yesterday before putting my hair in cornrolls (my latest protective hairstyle), I did the porosity test with 2 shed strands. Both strands stayed on the surface = low porosity. This means my cuticles are tightly closed (not good!) and I'm aiming for normal porosity (where hair sinks to the middle of the jar). So I'm guessing next ACV rinse, I won't use as much ACV. But anyway, I'll do another test right after I deep condition next washday and see what happens. That'll indicate whether I need to repeat the ACV rinse or not. And if so, I'll put less ACV this time!



Skin Care Update
As you know by now, I've been doing the facial steam weekly. Let me remind you the steps: Cleanse, Exfoliate, Steam, Mask, Tone, Moisturize. I initially used a combination of honey, avocado and coconut oil as a mask but it was too messy. So this time around I used the Montagne Jennesse Squeezed Lemon Green Tea Peel Off. That ish smells gooooood y'all!!! Whether these products work or not, of course will depend on the results in the long run.

Anyway the main point of this post is to let you guys know that I'll be choosing my products around my need for: even skin tone and getting rid of hyper-pigmentation which I have from years of pimples (just my oily skin luck huh!). There are way too many natural items these days so I'll just pick the ones suited to my needs. Therefore, I'm going to try out the following for a couple of weeks:

Moisturizer: Aloe Vera Gel (although it's generally for dry skin, it absorbs into my skin anyway and I feel hydrated and moisturized so thumbs up). Also Aloe Vera is said to be good for acne - so double thumbs up!

Face Mask (during facial steam): Lemon juice (1/2 squeezed) + Manuka Honey (2 tsp) - Lemon is known for treating pimples and brightening dark spots. Because it's quite strong which can cause itchiness, it's advisable to mix it with honey which in itself is a moisturizing ingredient. So hopefully this should be a staple mask for me.

Hyper-pigmentation Daily Treatment Serum: I'm still on the hunt for the perfect organic product to help with my dark spots. I'll be using it as part of my nightly washes (cleanser > serum > moisturizer).

Body Lotion: Still thinking about this as well - was thinking Shea butter but I don't think my oily skin would agree. Or what do you think? So yeah, still on the hunt. I'll miss my Nivea body lotion (love that stuff).



So that's it ladies! I'm really keen on getting healthy glowing skin by the end of this year x

Wash Day 25/05/13: Did my first ACV rinse

So a week ago on my wash day, I wanted to see how porous my hair was. Hair porosity test determines the condition of the cuticles and how well moisture penetrates and stays in the cuticle layer of the hair shaft. See below.

A popular way to test this is to dip a strand of shed hair - wet or dry - into a jar of water. I would advise your hair is not coated in oil as this will skew the results and sink under water anyway. The strand stays on top if its porosity is low and sinks to the bottom if its highly porous. We want it to stay in the middle (normal porosity). So I did the test after shampooing and within seconds my 2 test strands sunk = highly porous.

When it's highly porous, it means that it absorbs moisture but it loses it as fast as the cuticles are too open to retain it. This is bad news because too much moisture can lead to breakage, and that's the last thing I want. So I decided that yesterday I would fix this.

How I'm fixing my highly porous hair
Wash day yesterday: I shampoo'd with a moisturizing shampoo then deep conditioned with a moisturizing conditioner under the Secura Steamer (yes I finally used it!). Then I did the ACV rinse. Apple cider vinegar is acidic and it's known for closing the cuticles. So I added 1/4 cup of ACV in 2 cups of diluted water and 5 drops of lavender oil. After washing out the deep conditioner WITH COLD WATER (cold water also closes the cuticles), I poured the ACV mix over my head. That shit stunk y'all lol But not too bad.

Then I applied my Dermorganics Hair Masque to further close my cuticles and balance my hair pH, washed it out and applied my Dermorganics Argan Oil leave-in to kill the ACV smell. Applied moisturizer (my mix of glycerin + olive oil + jojoba oil + diluted water) and further sealed with coconut oil. Then air dried and put my hair in a bun.

Change of Sealant: I'll also start doing the LOC method - moisturize, seal with oil (olive/coconut), further seal with butter (mango butter/shea butter). I changed my sealing oil from almond oil because even though it's odorless, it's too light and it feels as if it doesn't penetrate as my hair gets very oily. Although normal porous hair should absorb whatever you put on it so maybe it's 'cause mine is highly porous.

Anyway, I will repeat the same process next wash day and test my hair porosity again and see if there's any improvement.


Until then.... stay cool!
x


p.s: I still want the Roux Porosity Control!!!

Finally did my first facial steam - Secura

So a few hours ago, I used the Secura hair and face steamer.

Here's what I did:

Step 1: Washed face with cleanser and used St Ives Apricot Scrub

Step 2: Steamed distilled water in the steamer, and steamed face for 10 mins

Step 3: Applied mask - Avocado + Honey + Coconut Oil; left on for 20 mins

Step 4: Rinsed face with distilled water to close pores. Applied toner with a cotton ball - Apple cider vinegar (ACV) + 10 drops of tea tree oil + green tea + distilled water

Step 5: Moisturized with Palmolive 100% Aloe Vera Gel


Results: Glowing skin; non-drying. Steamer feels nice and safe to use. Love the whole process but I guess results will be glaring with continuous use. I'll start deep conditioning with the steamer as well.



Currently: Hair is in corn-rolls. I'm moisturizing and sealing with coconut oil every two nights (then put it back in corn-rolls). Still on the hunt for protective weave styles, seriously considering the ombre effect style. Will keep you updated. Ciao! :-)

Last wash day commentary 30th April, 13

Hey queens how y'all doing!

Yet again I couldn't wash on Saturday (normal wash days) as I was too busy entertaining visitors. I was travelling on Tuesday so I decided to wash that morning as I wouldn't get the chance to do it away from home. So I did the moisturizing shampooing and DC'ing. I used the Dermorganics Shampoo and Masque, followed by the ORS Replenishing Conditioner. Since I bought the dermorganics range, I found that it lathers well and hair is moisturized, but I'm not so sure if it shampoos clean. The day after, I literally scratched a bit of dandruff off my scalp. I thought my hair was clean after two washes but I guess it wasn't.

Also, I had quite some shedding afterwards (see picture) but I guess it's not that bad. All in all, it was an okay thing. I couldn't use rollers as I was travelling that day, so I just put it in a bun and let it air-dry.

Unfortunately, I traveled outta town to a place colder than where I'm at. And the cold took a toll on my hair in terms of how often I moisturized/sealed and exposed my hair. I literally HAD TO wear my satin bonnet indoor and put the hair in a bun or braid out to go outdoor. So that got me thinking about what to do when winter hits MY town! I've got a few ideas in my mind which will be discussed in the next post. Stay Tuned!!

CURRENT LENGTH

Hair journey ain't easy, but it's the goal that keeps me going. Stay motivated! :-)

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