Keep It Straight

I'm trying to be serious with this wash day log because I've realized I don't always remember which combination made my hair look good. So every week is a surprise. Wish me luck! New Products :  Queen Helene's Cholesterol I remember using this product when I was home as a deep conditioner. My hair never really liked hot oil treatments (or at least the hot oil treatment they were using) so instead I would deep condition with Cholesterol.  I was looking at pictures of my hair back then and it was full and rather healthy so something must have been going right. Right?

Every relaxer session is an opportunity to try something different in my quest for the (quasi) stable hair routine.  For this stretch I worked on length retention...so making sure my ends were well moisturized, trying to keep them away from clothing and scarves and deep conditioning every week.  I tried to extend that practice to my relaxer prep. 1 Week before relaxer. I applied both a protein conditioner and moisturizing conditioner for my deep condition. I used Hairveda sitrinillah on my new growth and put Cantu on my ends in a effort to strengthen them before relaxing.  Market consensus is that relaxers break down the protein in your hair in order to get them straight. So you've got to do what you can to fortify them. Of course this made my hair a little extra dry that week so I had to up my moisturizing and sealing regime. I switched to 70% castor oil mix. 3 Days before relaxer I started prepping my scalp and already relaxed and texlaxed str...

It's that time of the year! When people gather together with one goal, one thought, one aim. A time of togetherness. No. Not this BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY!!!! And in keeping with my new found product junkism I've prepared a wish list of things I'd like to try and re-purchase. If you click on the company names it'll take you to the website.

It's been very difficult to find products that don't contain protein. I'm slowly building up a list of products that either 100% do not contain any protein or have a protein very low on the ingredient list.  Standard convention with ingredient lists is the lower it is on the list, the lower concentration/percentage of it in the product. (So if something says "With Argan Oil" and argon oil is number 13 or15 on the list? Put that thing back on the shelf). I've identified ingredients that are PROTEIN or may cause Protein Overload symptoms. 1. Hydrolized Wheat or Silk or Keratin 2. Keratin 3. Coconut milk (coconut oil does not contain a significant amount of protein but you may want to use it sparingly while you assess the effect on your hair. Coconut milk however contains quite a bit) 4. Wheat, Soy or Silk Amino Acids 5. Algae (though I'm not certain about this, I've used products that contain algae and my hair has not reacted well. so I'm...

Is this what love is? I have found happiness and she is Hairveda Sitrinillah Deep Conditioner. It took a long time to get to this and I have JeniJen from JustGrowAlready for introducing me to this pretty awesome product. Since my brush with protein I've been keeping an eye out for a good moisturizing deep conditioner. I've already chronicled my thoughts on Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose. It gets the job done but I wasn't feeling the smell. Anyway...On to the review!

WINTER IS COMING!! The phrase is so played out right now but the threat is real. It's winter time which means winter weather in much of the US. Which means dry warm air inside to cause the frizzies and dry cold air outside to make you feel miserable. You've probably heard/read all the winter advise before but I thought I'd list out the "poh" girls version for those of us with a little less money in the bank/ more financial obligations than most.

The seamless comb. A thing of legend in the healthy hair journey community. I've read a lot about the seemingly wondrous and magical powers of this comb. So (finally) when I came into some extra cash I decided to give it a try. I had a couple of questions about this going in and I'm guessing if you're reading this you do too. So I'll do a bit of Q&A first before my review.

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!!

Welp. I finally got my relaxer. I think my hair was a little over cooked this time around. My hairdresser said there was so much new growth she couldn't get to everything fast enough.  I'm kindda happy about that (but not really).

I got this product because it was recommended as a good moisturizing only deep conditioner. I needed that after I found out that I'd put too much protein in my hair.

Success?

This is a check in for my moisture quest. It's been a wild ride but I think I'm coming out of it stronger and wiser.  I outlined my plan in a previous post but I'll give you the basics again + the new addition that I think is helping as well. 1. Protein free deep conditioning with aubrey organics honeysuckle rose 2. GHE for extra moisture boost 3. Leave-in moisturiser mix 4. Co-washing (new addition)

Is fraught with giant boulders of dryness. I just can't....

Ok. Before I start, I just want to say...I was the biggest skeptic about hair growth vitamins. I tried biotin for a couple of months and the only things that grew were my nails and my cystic acne (which at my age is not pretty). So I don't expect much from vitamins that claim to "grow hair fast". Until Manetabolism. What is it? How did you find it?

You know how I was raving about cantu my last post? Well...*smacks lips* lemmi tell you... I was using it every week thinking it was cool because it only had wheat protein and it was like number 14 on the ingredients list. Then I retouched (aka relaxed) my hair and my strands were hella dry! Like surprisingly dry. Like individual pieces of straw dry...and I was confused and a little scared.

Wow. I'm already 1 year into my hair journey. First thing's first...how did my hair do? Lets take a look. From left to right. I'm currently at shoulder length

I've been meaning to review this product for ages but wanted to be sure my initial reaction wasn't a fluke.

I’ve used my curlformers dups (new word I learnt on the interwebs) twice so far and unless I’m not as smart as I think, all those estimates of 30- 40 mins installation time are wrong. It’s still taking me 1.5+ hours to install L and its taking aaages to dry.  I need one of those

That time has come again! I've broached the 8 weeks post barrier, at this point any contact with my hair results in breakage. Last week I attempted curls (using flexi rods) as a defense against the scourge of retention. Since I only had 12 (supply fail) the roots were pretty exposed and the front part wasn't pretty. The back however! Looked quite good. This will definitely be attempted again with more! more! more!

When people say "It's what they do that counts" They were talking about this product. I run out of my go-to moisturizer, the Neutrogena Triple Moisture Leave-in Cream two weeks ago. I really wanted to continue using it because it's relatively cheap at about $8. My hair, however, has not been impressed with it this weave cycle. I was starting to use more and more product and my newly texlaxed hair just wasn't having it. So I went shopping at my local CVS for a good alternative. I bought the Dove Oxygen Moisture Leave-in after careful deliberation of the small sample at CVS. Ok, I lied. I chose it because the packaging was pretty and slick and it had castor oil as the second ingredient...Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil. Little did I know that Whatsit Castor Oil isn't really castor oil but a derivative of castor oil and it's primary job? Is to boost foam production. So basically it makes the product come out all nice and frothy. Ingredient Fail ...

Hmm how do I put this. The itching!!   I think I must like punishment. Why else would I buy (again) a weave that has issues? Then again maybe all weave has issues... just like hair has issues. So then my job is to find the best weave with the least issues...

Welp turns out my lovely bantu twist outs don't hold up very well in 30°C humid weather. Good to know for the summer eh?   I started using creme of nature conditioner. I love it for the slip and the deep moisturising effect. I made the mistake though of using it twice and my hair is like straw. The deep conditioning treatment I did though was *kisses fingers* so soft and easy to use.   I also did a weave (more of that in another post) and left hair out. I was very against that after the last weave but ego overrode fear of breakage. Afterall...it'll grow back right? Right?!   So lessons learned are...   1. Always check that the conditioner is light not heavy protein 2. Bantu twist outs don't last in humidity 3. 12 inches of hair is a lot! I can't believe people get longer. Kudis to them cos I dont know if I could.

Its 2014 and my stretch has ended!!! I'm so happy.  The last two weeks have been especially stressful because of breakage and thick new growth. Don't get me wrong.  I'm thrilled at the evidence of my hair to shoot like weeds out of my scalp. It only strengthens my resolve to protect it fiercely and keep it from falling off. Buuuut, detangling was a chore. Made for natural I am not. So I got relaxed this weekend and did my first texlax. My stylist uses mizani on my hair.  I've read about people using relaxer made for kids so that its not too harsh. I think either works its just based on how long you keep it in right? Results : is my hair as flat on my head as after a bone straight relaxer? No. Did I get the promise of curl that you see on youtube videos? Nope. Am I disappointed? Yes kinda. I have to be realistic.  I have 4b/c hair. Loose curly curls are not in my future. I should be happy that its healthy and retained much of the length growth...and I...

We're two weeks into the new year and I've been thinking about my journey to come. I'm fully committed to making my hair as healthy and as long as it can be. I started out with a small arsenal that I've stuck to faithfully but I'm beginning to think maybe I need to mix it up a little. So here are my resolutions for 2014

Random thoughts about my hair.  I'm 12 weeks post. Every time I touch my hair, strands fall out. It feels like I'm watching my length gains break away. Maybe stretching my relaxer is not for me.

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.