Wash Day...Back To The Basics!

In the name of using up products I somehow managed to get away from the wash day process that has always worked best for my hair. Well this wash day that came to an end and I got back to the basics! Here's how it went:

• Applied my Tropical Isle Red Pimento Oil to my scalp and gently massaged it in for about 2-3 minutes.
• Deep conditioned on dry hair with my Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner and my One N Only Argan Oil Deep Restorative Masque on my ends for a shot of protein for about 20 minutes using my heating cap.
• Rinsed and applied my As I Am Coconut Cowash to my scalp *newbie alert* 
  
• Rinsed and applied my PMSSDT to the length of my hair for 1-2 minutes.
• Did a final rinse and wrapped my hair in a t-shirt for about 20 minutes.
• Applied my leave ins using the LOC method (Chi Keratin Mist, Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, Kimmaytube Leave In). 
• Sat under my dryer for about 25 minutes using the cool setting. 

Style: This past week I made the most of my flat ironed hair and wore my hair down almost every day and loved it since I don't get to do that often. Of course it was time to get back to protective styling because I've got goals to reach! This week's style was super simple AND I even recorded a tutorial for it *Yay!* I created a cute full high bun using kanekalon hair for added fullness. I promise to post the tutorial to the blog once it airs on my Youtube channel!

How was your wash day?






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Weekly Finds: As I Am Coconut Cowash!

Wow I really can't remember the last time I did a 'Weekly Find' post, but an unexpected trip to Sally's is the reason for this one! While trying to help the boo find a moisturizer for his hair I happened to notice that the As I Am Coconut Cowash was on sale for $5.99. As you guys know I've been on a serious savings challenge for the last month and since I've been doing so well I decided to treat myself. I've been wanting to try this cowash conditioner for at least a year and since I caught it on sale I had to get it! Stay tuned because I will do a detailed product review once I've had a chance to use the product for a while. I believe this As I Am Coconut Cowash will be on sale until January 31st!






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Relaxer Update, Length Check Sneak Peek, & Edges Update!

This past weekend I got a relaxer at 8 weeks post. As I've mentioned before I am currently not a long term stretcher yet ironically enough I still had a ton of new growth! I guess I can credit that to my consistent protective styles and continuous application of my JBCO. Overall my salon experience was awesome as it always is. My stylist is phenomenal and together we've helped my hair to make a complete turn around from where it was a little less than 1.5 years ago! As usual I used the Mizani Butter Blends Sensitive Scalp relaxer. I've been using this relaxer system for the year and a half and have had nothing, but great results! This relaxer always leaves a bit of texture in my hair and never leaves my hair feeling dry or like straw. In case you couldn't tell I LOVE the Mizani Butter Blends relaxer system.
Also, you guys may remember me mentioning my personal edges growth challenge that I created for myself after removing my senegalese twists. My edges are coming along nicely and although they aren't where I'd like for them to be they are certainly well on there way!

Now let's get to the good stuff...Pictures!

Based on the measurements of myself and the boo I'm only about 1/2 inch away from officially reaching APL!!! Length check comparison pictures will be coming next week! For more info about my relaxer update check out my video below!

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Is It Always Worth it To Use Up Products?

As some of you already know one of my goals for the month of January is to use up products in my product stash that my hair and I aren't the biggest fans of. Lately, I've been thinking though, is it really worth it to try and use up a product if your hair HATES it? Am I saying that every product that produces an 'eh' reaction from my hair should be tossed...absolutely NOT! I'm talking about those products that no matter how many oils you add to them, no matter how much heat, no matter how much you try and mix it with something else your hair still hates it! I've come to the conclusion that those products (especially if I didn't pay that much for them) will either be donated to someone else who's hair may love them or will be tossed in the garbage. I love my hair too much to compromise it's health just to use up a product. At the same time I've had lovely results just by adding a few oils to other products to make them tolerable enough where I can finish using them. So what do you guys think? Is it always worth it to try and use up a product regardless of what your hair thinks?


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Listening to My Hair (Wash Day)

As many of you know this past week I totally enjoyed rocking my curly updo and have been throwing all kinds of things into my wash days (clear rinses, tea rinses, prepoos with random conditioners, etc). However each night as I moisturized and sealed I started to notice more broken hairs than usual and my hair just felt a bit more dry than usual. Now seeing as though my breakage has been little to none for the past few weeks I had to figure out what suddenly caused the change in my hair. As I pondered through out the week it finally dawned on me on Thursday that I'd missed my monthly egg protein treatment! *slaps hand across forehead* How could I forget the best protein treatment I've discovered to date for my hair! I was only 1 week past my monthly protein treatment however my hair had no problems letting me know that I was late and needed to fix the problem as soon as possible. Needless to say this wash day I listened to my hair and gave it what it was asking for! Here's how my wash day went:

• Prepooed with 1 egg mixed with some of my One N Only Deep Restorative mask for about 15 minutes using NO HEAT (there will be no scrambled eggs in this hair)! 
• Rinsed with COOL water and then shampooed with my Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo. 
• Rinsed and wrapped my hair in a towel for about 20 minutes to soak up most of the water
• Applied my Kenra Moisturizing conditioner and sat under my heating cap for about 30 minutes.
• Rinsed and applied my Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment for about 2 minutes. 
• Did a final rinse and wrapped my hair in a t-shirt for about 30 minutes. 
• Applied my leave ins using the LCO method (CHI Keratin Mist, Kimmaytube Leave In mix, Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum). 
• Sat under my hooded dryer for about 25 minutes.
• Moisturized with my Giovanni Direct leave in and sealed with coconut oil and JBCO on my ends.  

Style: I head into the salon to get my hair relaxed this weekend so I opted for a relatively quick and painless style that will get me through the week with minimal fuss. I gently party my hair down the middle and created two low ponytails. Using my kanekalon hair I made two jumbo two strand twists making sure to entwine my hair with the kanekalon hair and crossed each twist to the other side and secured with bobby pins. I call this style the infiniti bun. Of course I will keep my tresses moisturized with my homemade moisture mist. Friday evening will be dedicated to prepping my hair for my relaxer. Stay tuned for my relaxer update and a length check! Can you believe it's been 5 months since my last length check?!





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Traveling In Style!

Between traveling home for Christmas and a recent business trip I've had the opportunity to rock some fun low manipulation and/or protective styles. As many of you know one of my hair resolutions for 2014 was to become more creative with my protective styles and I think I'm off to a great start so far! The great thing about these styles is that it allows you to still rock a cute hair style while protecting your hair as much as possible.






Low Manipulation Styles:

Flexi Rods On Rollerset Hair: Before leaving for Christmas I stopped by the salon to get a rollerset. I love how it makes my ends super smooth and allows me to really show off my length. Unfortunately I just don't have that 'unwrap and Go' kind of hair. Instead of dwelling on that I decided to throw a couple of flexi rods in my hair and rock it that way for my first few days home. I absolutely loved it. To jazz things up a bit I threw a cute flower in.

Perm Rod Curly Updo: On a whim during last weekend's wash day I decided to create a cute curly updo inspired by an instagram picture. Using a headband comb and a few perm rod I was able to achieve beautiful curls and loved the style so much that I decided to rock it on a recent business trip. I loved the ease of this style. Can you say low maintenance?!






Protective Styles:



Curly High Crown Bun: While away on business last week my style of choice was my perm rod curly updo, however after a few days the cold, wind, and rain started to get the best of my updo so I decided to remix my style by creating a curly high crown bun. To achieve this style I swirled my curls in a circular motion and used bobbi pins to secure my hair.







Low Bun Twist: While enjoying my time away with family during the Christmas holiday I chose 'no fuss' hairstyles that I could rock for a few days before having to restyle. One of those styles was my low bun twist. I took a section of Kanekalon braid hair and did a jumbo two strand twist making sure to entwine my hair and secured it with bobbi pins. I added a side part to make things a little more interesting.  





Twisted Donut: This is another style that I rocked while away during Christmas. I gathered my hair into a ponytail in the center of my head. Using my beloved kanekalon braid hair I created two separate two strand twists and twirled each in a circular motion until I created a donut bun of my liking and of course I secured it with bobbi pins!






Each of these styles were fairly simple to create and allowed me to look cute while protecting my hair as much as possible. I used my homemade moisture mist to keep my tresses moisturized and soft. I plan to rock a lot more styles like this until winter is over because this cold dry weather is doing the most and my tresses and I do not have time for that!

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MEGA Wash Day!

After being out of town for almost 2 weeks my hair was in need of a really good washing. While I was away enjoying my Christmas holiday I cowashed my hair several times, but that was it. So Friday after work I hankered down and decided to get to work. Here's how my wash day went...

• Massaged Tropical Isle Red Pimento Oil into my scalp and olive oil onto the length of my hair.
• Applied the last big of my GVP Nexxus Humectress conditioner mixed with a bit of VO5 moisture milk conditioner to the length of my hair and prepooed for about 20 minutes. 
• Rinsed and spritzed my hair with a mixture of my CC's Natural Marshamllow & Burdock Root Hair Tea mixed with aloe vera juice. I left it on for a total of 5 minutes. 
• Rinsed and shampooed with my Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo. 
• Deep conditioned with Kenra Moisturizing conditioner mixed with JBCO for about 30 minutes under my heating cap. 
• Rinsed and applied my Paul Mitchell Daily Treatment. 
• Did a final rinse and applied my turbie twist for about 20 minutes. 
• Applied my leave ins using the LCO Method (Chi Keratin Mist, Kimmay tube leave in mix, and Paul Mitchell Super Skinny serum). 
• Sat under my hooded dryer for about 30 minutes
• Moisturized and sealed using my Giovanni Direct Leave in and Coconut oil and JBCO. 

Style: I was inspired by a lovely photo that fgrogran of youtube posted on Instagram and decided to try and recreate it. She is natural and created a beautiful flexi rodded puff updo. I gently gathered my hair using my fingers and a very soft bristled brush. Using a head band comb I secured my hair and then lightly spritzed my hair with aloe vera juice and applied a few pumps of my lotta body wrap lotion. I randomly grabbed sections of hair and wrapped them around an unused pack of perm rods I had laying around. I used end papers to prevent any damage from the teeth on the perm rods. After sitting under my dryer for about 15 minutes I tied my hair up and went to sleep. The next day I carefully removed the perm rods and separated the curls. I absolutely love this style and will definitely be doing it again! What do you guys think?

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December Goals Recap & January Goals

DECEMBER GOALS Recap:

1. Do an egg protein treatment-Done (You can read about my results here)! As some of you may recall I loved the results so much that this is now apart of my regimen!
2. Exercise at least 5 days a week leading up to Christmas. (I want to be in tip top shape for my trip home!).-I did pretty good with this goal although I did not workout 5 days a week. Due to my regular workouts I got a ton of 'skinny' compliments when I went home. Score!
3. Try the Inversion Method for a week. After reading tons of information on this I've decided to give it a try. I'm interested to see what my results will be!-Well I started this, but never finished the full week. I'll try again in January.
4. Finish my Christmas shopping by December 14th. I'm about halfway there!-Done! I finished early. I HATE shopping last minute during the holidays.
5. Apply JBCO to my edges daily. They are a bit sparse from my braid install, but I'm determined to help them make a full comeback!-I didn't quite get to do this everyday, but I applied it regularly and I'm starting to see my edges thicken up a bit!  
6. Use up at least 1 hair product!-Again I almost got there, but due to the fact that I traveled during the last part of December I only took products that I needed. Here's to January though!

January Goals:

1. Apply JBCO to my edges and scalp at least every other day. (I'm on a mission for thicker edges in 2014!)
2. Protective style for my life! (January is usually a cold and windy month here on the east coast so my ends will protected at all times.) 
3. Record at least one protective style hair tutorial
4. Do the inversion method for one week.
5. Use up at least 1 product. (Honestly I'm pushing for 2 so we'll see)
6. Start back with my weight training. (I'm slowly falling in love with strength training!)
7. Eat out less and eat in more. (It's time for me to put some of those yummy pinterest recipes to good use!)

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2013 Hits & Misses

Now that 2013 has come to a close what better time to revist what was a hit or a miss for me. As I look over my blog I'm so grateful that I finally decided to blog on a regular basis in 2013 because I LOVE it and because it really helps me to hone in on what really did and didn't work for me.














Hits

• The LCO Method- (Liquid Cream Oil) The LOC method was nice, but using the LCO method has really stepped up my hair drying experience!
• Giovanni Direct Leave In- I really discovered how much I love this gem in 2013. It is a multipurpose product for me as I use it as apart of my leave in mix, my daily moisturizer, and in my homemade moisture mist. 
• Protective Styling with Kanekalon hair-Towards the end of 2013 I began dabbling in various protective styles outside of my boring old bun and boy oh boy and I glad I did. Kanekalon hair has taken my protective styling adventures to the next level! The icing on the cake is that kanekalon hair is super cheap and reusable. 
• Egg protein treatments- This is another gem that worked its way into my hair regimen. After a lot of research I decided to try an egg protein treatment because I haven't had a lot of luck with many of the  normal protein treatments. Either they didn't really work or left my hair feeling rough and dry, however the egg protein treatment left my hair feeling soft, thick, shiny, and strong. My breakage is so minimal until it almost doesn't count...almost :)
• Drying my hair under a hooded dryer- It cuts down on my wash day time and leaves more time for me to dedicate to styling
• Sealing my ends with JBCO-This has really helped to keep my ends in tip top shape.

Misses

• Air Drying- I really tried to like air drying. I used tons of different products and methods and my hair just doesn't like it!
• Long term stretches- I've been sticking to 8-10 week stretches because that's what has really been working for my hair. I'm not saying I won't ever revisit the idea of relaxer stretching, but for now it's a no go. 
• Store bought protein treatments-I just didn't have the best of luck with them. Most don't do what they claim they will for my hair. Thankfully eggs have helped resolve that problem and now my hair is stronger than ever! 

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New Year's Hair And Health Resolutions!

Hi guys! So I know y'all probably think I dropped off of the face of the earth but as some of you know I went home for Christmas so my time was focused on my family and friends, therefore Finally Growing was put on the back burner...BUT...I'm back y'all! I thought what better way to start off the new year on Finally Growing than to talk about my hair and health goals!

1. My number 1 goal for this year is to reach FULL APL! I'm only about 1/2 inch away from reaching APL so I know that reaching full APL is possible for 2014.

2. Have full thick edges! Those who follow me on YouTube know that I started a personal edges growth challenge in December to help my edges make a comeback in 2014 (braids always thin my edges). Honestly I've never had really thick and full edges so 2014 seems like a great time to really focus on getting them where I want them.

3. Protective style for my life this winter! Cold dry air and exposed ends is just asking for trouble so to help combat that I am protective styling for my life this winter. The fun thing about this is I will be able to create lots of fun hairstyles because I refuse to rock a plain ol bun from now untilSpring!

4. Record more protective style tutorials. It's no fun rocking a cute hair style if I don't share with you guys how I achieved it! 

5. Continue weight training. In 2013 I began strength/weight training which I surprisingly fell in love with and want to continue. I can't wait to see where it takes me! 

6. Eat out less. I love to cook so this honestly shouldn't be too hard as long as I keep my house stocked with food. Cooking in is always a healthier alternative that also keeps a few extra bucks in my pockets too! 

7. Continue my egg protein treatments 1x/month. My hair never felt as amazing as it did when I tried my first egg protein treatment. Best part about egg protein treatments is that it is way cheaper than a lot of protein based products. 

That's all I've got. What are your Hair and Health resolutions for the new year? 

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