Wash Day & Relaxer Update!

This past Saturday I relaxed my hair at 8 weeks post. As always I went to my stylist. Here's what I did to prep leading up to my relaxer:

• 1 week prior used Nexxus Emergencee as a protein treatment.
• 1 day prior:
• Thoroughly detangled using my Mane N Tail Detangler
• Coated the length of my hair with the GVP Smoothing Serum
• Applied JBCO to my new growth and ends

These preventive steps help to protect my hair from relaxer run off. Here's how my visit to the salon went.

• My stylist thoroughly based my scalp
• Next she applied the Mizani Honey Shield to the length of my hair.
• She began applying the relaxer. My total processing time was 16 minues.
• After she thoroughly rinsed out the relaxer she applied the Pherphecting Creme Normalizing Conditioner for about 20 minutes.
• Lastly she shampooed my hair twice with the Balance Hair Bath Neutralizing and Chelating Shampoo.

I recieved a trim as I do every 4 months and got my hair flat ironed. This is normally the only time that I use direct heat. Overall I was pleased with my results. The biggest question for me was did I finally make it to Arm Pit Length?! Based on my length check picture below I believe that I did, however I believe that I am only grazing APL and am not full APL. Clearly I was having a my hair doesn't seem that long moment because based on the picture I've OFFICIALLY REACHED APL!!! **Throws Confetti** At first I was aggrivated with my progress until I looked at my progress pictures and realized that my hair is growing and while I'm not where I want to be I'm a lot closer than I was! With that said now that I've reached APL what's next? Don't worry I plan to dedicate an entire post to answering that question so stay tuned!

For more details check out my quick video!

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The Washday Experience | Relaxer Update!

So this wash day post will be a bit different for me because I didn't actually wash my hair myself. For those who are not familiar with  my relaxer routine I leave it all in the hands of my beloved stylist. I did however make sure I paid extra special attention to what was done so that I could share with you guys!

First let's talk about my relaxer day prep process...

• Even though I rocked a fabulous roller set for the first part of the week my scalp was super itchy (am I the only one who experiences that only on the week leading up to your relaxer?!) so in the name of caution I did a quick cowash and bunned my hair for the rest of the week.
• On Friday afternoon I detangled using my Mane N Tail Detangler (shout out to Divachyk for giving me the idea to try this). I also applied JBCO to my scalp and new growth, but did not massage it in as I didn't want to risk irritating my scalp.

• After my detangling session I moisturized my hair in sections using my Giovanni Direct Leave In and sealed each section with a bit of my GVP smoothing serum (equivalent to the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum).

Overall my hair felt super soft and moisturized and quite frankly it hadn't felt like that in weeks. To put it simply, this stretch SUCKED. I believe it all started with a new product that I tried and my hair never seemed to get back on track again. I plan to cautiously give that product, which shall remain nameless for now another shot before I ban it from my hair forever. Either way between this last bout of winter and more shedding and tangles than normal I was happy to put an end to this stretch. Despite all of my hardships I did experience a bit of a growth spurt which was confirmed by my stylist! Now onto the actual relaxer day.

• Per usual my stylist assessed the state of my hair making sure nothing was out of the norm (breakage etc.) She also likes to keep an eye on my problem area (my crown since I experienced breakage in that area from not detangling properly last year).
• She then based my scalp thoroughly and proceeded to apply my nomral relaxer of choice, the Mizani Butter Blends Sensitive Scalp formula. I love how gentle this relaxer is.
• The total processing time was about 17-18 minutes. She noticed that I definitely had more new growth than I normally do (Whoop whoop!).
• After rinsing out the relaxer she applied the Mizani Moisturefuse to my hair (this stuff smells amazing by the way) for about 20 minutes or so.
• Lastly she neutralized my hair with the Mizani Phormula 7 Neutralizing and Chelating shampoo. She always shampoos twice to make sure all remanents of the relaxer are gone.
• Since I was not getting a trim she applied a bit of the Keracare Foam wrap and some of some sort of Mizani oil that I forgot to get the name of and roller set my hair. 

Overall it was a great relaxer day experience and based on an unoffiical length check I'm almost certain I've reached APL! I'm not doing an official length check until May so you'll have to wait until then for confirmation! How was your wash day?

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Why I Still Go To The Salon Even Though I'm On a Healthy Hair Journey

     When I originally began my hair journey back in 2010 I was a serious 'bandwagoner'. You know...the girl who's new to the healthy hair scene and is so desperate for results that everytime she finds someone with hair results that she wants she tries to replicate their regimen down to the letter! Yeah...I used to be that girl. In the midst of trying to force my hair to adapt to what everyone else likes I convinced myself that self-relaxing was what I needed to do. Now I will admit that moving after graduating from college also helped to convince me because I no longer had a hair stylist and the very thought of trying to find someone I could trust was exhausting. In preparation for the big day I watched every self relaxing video I could found. I read countless forumns about the topic and read hundreds of blog posts detailing how to self relax. In the end I ended up with tons of breakage and severely underprocessed hair. The damage that I'd done to my hair while still trying to be a bandwagoner was undeniable.
     For a few months I still held on until one day I looked in the mirror and saw this.

 I was aboslutely devastated at the state of my hair. It was then that I decided to seek professional help. After asking around I eventually found my stylist. I'd seen her work first hand as she'd turned the health and length of a coworker's hair all the way around. Even though I'd seen her work I was so nervous the night before I met her that I couldn't even sleep good! I knew I needed help, but was still a bit leery of trusting someone else with my hair. I mean let's be honest. I think many of us have a hair stylist related horror story that we can share, but that's neither here nor there :/.
     Meeting Tera was like a breath of fresh hair. She was on time and before she let anything touch my hair she gently parted it with her fingers and did an assessment of the state of my hair's health and let me tell you it wasn't pretty. However instead of berating me and making me feel like I'd failed she gently told me what I needed to, how much I needed to cut, and then asked me if I would be okay with that. That was the begining and now almost 1.5 years later my hair has flourished!

     I totally admire ladies who self relax and even understand why many do. Most of us are probably jaded by a stylist experience whether it was a trim gone wrong, an hour long wait, etc. What I had to realize for myself is that going to a stylist works for me on my healthy hair journey. I can't do it alone and finally have no problems admitting that I needed help! Not to mention sometimes it feels so nice to let someone else take the reigns while I kickback and relax!

Are you looking for a hairstylist, but have no idea what to look for? Check out my YouTube Video here to get tips on How To Find A Great Hairstylist!  


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