Keep It Straight

I've been a bit mia on the interwebs and that's because I got a new Job! and Moved! and have had about 6 hours of sleep/day since August 18th!! But I'm about 80% settled into my new apartment and I'm figuring out the new job so now I have time to talk about my hair!!

Happy New Year!! In keeping with the most popular theme on the interwebs....this is going to be a post reflecting on the past year. I'm 9 months into my hair journey.

I'm so excited!! Look what I got in the mail! HAIR TRIGGER!!!! I'm excited because it's the same stuff that Jen from JustGrowAlready.com uses as her pre-poo and look at that hair!!* I haven't decided if i'm going to use it daily or just as a pre-poo. Of course main ingredient is castor oil no? so it's so heavy it'll probably be best to use it every other day....or closer to wash day. *claps hands and hops from foot to foot* And (also based on Jen's recommendations) I've got the hair applicator thingie that lets you spread oil evenly so i'm all set!   I was very impressed with the packaging. It was so well wrapped I had problems unwrapping it. Also got a lovely handwritten card and a note on the shipping invoice as well. Very nice and homey. I hope they don't lose that touch as the company grows. Will let you  know how it works out. If it works I'll start working on converting others. *Granted she's using...

For some wierd reason, my edges decided to act up this year. Maybe it was because of the weave I did over the christmas holidays *shrug* maybe it was due to stress or me pulling my hair back too tight. Who knows. But the edges, they were damaged. I only took of my right side before I started but quickly realised the left side need some love too.   June 23. Right Side I decided to try the castor oil challenge  to see if that would help fix this problem. I'd been trying to do that with champion 2000 but it doesn't work as fast as I was looking for and I was a little worried that it was contributing to my breakouts. I started in the last week of June and except for Fourth of July weekend have tried to do it every day when I moisturise.  Left Side. July 17  Right Side. July 17 This is what it's looking like about 4 weeks in. Not much of an effect but it does look like something is happening. Definately on the right side you can...

I'm in my 12th week post relaxer!! Yup. That means there's 3 months worth of new growth on my head. This is the first time I've paid a lot of attention to it. So I'm quite proud of myself. Usually at this time, my new growth is dry and hard to comb; I'm starting to thinking longingly of relaxer and the amount of hair on my bathroom floor is approaching the size of a small dog. This time around, my new growth is (relatively) moist, pretty easy to comb and even though I am thinking longingly of relaxer it's because I'm anxious to see if my hair has grown or not!!! I read a review of this Komaza Care moisturizer spray for new growth on the JustGrowAlready and it sounded really promising. So I bought the 2oz bottle and have been using it for a week now. It's really helped! It's a little weird because it's white and comes doesn't come out as a "spray" it's more as a "stream". Since growth is showing signs...

I've tried GHE with Neutrogena leave-in moisturizer, seal with Hollywood beauty olive oil on tuesday and GHE with just the oil yesterday. I also didn't keep the shower cap on the entire night because it just felt so weird. I know the point of GHE is to use 'natural' products but I think my hair feels less dry doing it the first way. There was definitely more moisture on the shower cap on Wed morning than this morning. I had to moisturize and seal this morning because it dried up so fast. :( So back to the original method. Though....does it become bagging now? Maybe I should just called it the Hair Sauna Treatment. There. I've created a new method interwebs...have at it.

It's been a month since I decided I was going to get serious about growing my hair. It feels like years. I think if anything, this HHJ (Healthy Hair Journey) is going to teach me about patience and acceptance. Coz darn it! This hair should be grown already! lol. I have to accept it though. This first year is going to be hard. Yes I might see some growth but until I figure out what works well on my hair, until I learn how to take care of it properly...I'm not going to see the progress that I want. What Have I Learnt So Far? 1. My hair is really demanding and confused! (or maybe I'm confused) e.g. It really liked the Shea Moisture shampoo I was using, but hated the combination with the moisturizer. So I fixed the moisturizer...but then it didn't like the shampoo anymore. So I got a new moisturizing shampoo...but I think it hates the shampoo even more. Granted the new shampoo has sulphates in it. It's really funny how just weeks ago I was moaning about ...

This topic has been covered and covered and covered but I'm going to do it anyways because well you can never hear too much good information. The Breakdown (like my little pun there?): Hair Porosity is your hair's ability to absorb water and product and retain what is absorbed. There's three kinds (much like goldilocks and the three bears). 1. Normal Porosity - not too high and not too low...just right. This is what you aspire to if you're on the other side of the spectrum. 2. Low Porosity - Your hair has difficulty absorbing moisture. It is also difficult for moisture (once it gets in) to leave your hair. 3. High Porosity - Your hair absorbs water ; a lot of it and very fast. It's however difficult for it to maintain that level of moisture and it very quickly feels dry and rough to touch. There are several things that can affect your hairs porosity. Some are natural causes (i.e. it's not your fault) others are human applied (i.e. it's you...

The weekend of distressing news Saturday: After a progress picture (even though I told myself I would only do it every two months I couldn't resist) I came to the sad conclusion that my ends had to go. :( :( I went of to the salon for a wash, deep condition and trim. I am now at nape length hair. *sad violin music, wailing and teeth nashing* Looks Healthier...so that's good I guess Part of me knows this is for the best. Better to get rid of all those split ends now than wait for it to get worse buuuut.... all the competitive type-A part of me is thinking about is the major setback in my length journey. This is the shortest my hair has been in a long time!! I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out a game plan. Sunday:   I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a hair growth rate problem...I have a retention problem aka super fine ends. I did a porosity test (next post) and concluded that I have low porosity hair.  What does that mean? ...

Yup It's another black girl hair blog. If you're like me, you've come across some amazing women on the interwebs doing awesome things with their hair. And the one thought going through your (and my) mind is their hair is long! Like amazingly long . Scaringly long . How are you ever going to get to that length?? If you've stumbled across this blog then it means you're trying to grow your hair out and can't figure out where to start. There aren't enough blogs out there that show women at the beginning of the Healthy Hair Journey (which is where I am) so hopefully this'll help you. Maybe we can start together?? How Did This Start?      I put on a gorgeous long weave this christmas and loved the way I looked in it. I'd been holding myself back mentally from long hair because I thought I'd sweat too much, my neck would feel uncomfortable etc. It's true that did happen, but I found that the good outweighed the bad. So I decided for my New...