This past Saturday I headed to the salon to get a touch up. The same products were used, but since I've got some new readers (Heyyy y'all!) I'll go ahead and mention them below. Here's what my stylist did:
Based my scalp
Applied the Mizani Sensitive Scalp relaxer. Total processing time was about 20 minutes.
Rinsed and applied protein treatment for about 30 minutes.
Rinsed and shampooed several times.
Applied leave ins (Keracare foam wrap lotion, Chi Silk Infusion)
Style: I decided to try somethng different (which so happens to fit this week's wash day them
perfectly). Instead of my usual rollerset I decided to get a spiral rollerset. At first I was unsure of how I felt about the style, but as my curls fell the more I liked it. I tried the pineapple method to preserve the curls, but the next day the boo and I went to a theme park where it was ridiculously hot and humid and I ultimately decided to pin up the back of my hair. By day 3 my curls were barely holding on so I set my hair with flexirods overnight and my curls are back in action! How was your wash day?
So I feel like I've really been slacking on my washday posts and in reality I've been slacking on my hair too. As some of you already know I recently got engaged and have jumped head first into wedding planning and house hunting! It was a bit intense at first and my hair took a backseat. Needless to say my hair literally felt like straw no matter what I did, no matter how much moisturizer I used it felt awful. Partly because I was neglecting my hair and partly because I was trying to make a product work for me even though I knew it wouldn't. Needless to say that resulted in a minor set back that ended in a small cut *GASP* I know...y'all are probably thinking I had heart palpitations and broke out into a cold sweat. The other part to this story is that I've been bored out of my mind with my hair. I was tired of buns and my overall feeling about my hair was just blah. I was itching to make a change. I bravely walked into the salon and explained my dilemma to my beloved stylist (she cut me some slack due to wedding planning). It turns out that my hair wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Shrinkage told me a very dark and twisted tale. Thank God for shrinkage! I ended up only getting 1/2 inch cut from my ends, which I was totally happy with because it also gives my layers a chance to catch up! In addition I decided that I missed my bangs and needed something to jazz up my bun life so I got side swept bangs cut! Overall I was super pleased with my hair cut and basically I just cut off what I grew this relaxer stretch! How about a hand clap for the happy ending to this story! Now that I've told y'all what went down here's how my wash day went:
My stylist based my scalp and the perimeter of my hair as she always does.
She sectioned my hair into four sections and began applying my relaxer (Mizani Sensitive Scalp Formula). Application and processing time took about 16-20 minutes.
She rinsed thoroughly and applied my protein treatment for about 20 minutes.
She then shampooed and sat me under the dryer for about 15 minutes.
Next she removed the remaining moisture with a blow dryer and showed me what needed to be cut using the white paper method (the easiest way to spot thin ends!).
She trimmed my ends and cut my bang :)
Because I'm in a I don't care what length it is as long as it's healthy mood I decided to get spiral curls!
Oh I almost forgot to mention that I got to show my length retention pictures to one of my stylist' clients. She couldn't believe how far my hair has come in less than 2 years!
Overall I really had an awesome experience as usual. While I did have a minor setback I'm back on track and back in the right mindset to keep my hair on track. Stay tuned for a product review about that product that attributed to my straw like hair dilemma! How was your wash day?
It feels really good to finally say that I've officially reached APL! I've been so focused on reaching APL that I haven't thought of what Mini goals I want to achieve next. For those that don't know my ultimate goal is BSL (Bra Strap Length), but since I'm about 4-6 inchese away from that I'm going to set mini goals for myself. Here's what I've come up with so far:
When my hair is pulled forward I want it to reach my Arm Pits (my ultimate goal is for it to reach boobie land, but baby steps!
My hair is cut into layers and my shortest layers only reach my neck. I would like for these layers to reach shoulder length.
I would like for my hair to reach the top of my length check shirt. I have about 3 inches to get to that point.
When my hair is curly or flexi rodded I want it to be shoulder length. I swear I suffer from shrinkage even though I'm relaxed because the minute a curl hits my hair it shrinks like nobody's business!
Those are my top mini goals that I will be focusing on during my journey to BSL land. Having mini goals really helps me to stay on track and not get discouraged. What goals have you set lately?
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!
Spring is FINALLY upon us! For me that normally brings about a few changes to my hair regimen. Some things that work for me in the winter aren't necessary in the warmer months and some things...well they just aren't working at all! In addition to putting some techniques on hold I also brought back a few that my hair is totally digging right now!
Pause/Stopped
Midweek Cowashes - Winter was ROUGH on my hair. The constant wind, snow, & below freezing temperatures left my hair always feeling thirsty! Between the harsh weather conditions and my daily dates with the gym I added midweek cowashes in addition to my weekly wash day to keep dryness and breakage at bay. Now that the weather is warming up and I've discovered an awesome conditioner that keeps my hair moisturized for longer I'm able to get away with 1 washday a week! However if I see where my hair needs that midweek cowash I will definitely add it back into my regimen
Tea Rinses - Quite frankly I've tried to make tea rinses work for me, but I don't see where they do much for my hair and I hate the way they make my hair feel. Since this was a no go this was an easy step to eliminate from my washday.
In/Out The Shower - For a while on every wash day I found myself hopping in and out of the shower 2-3 times. I soon realized that for me that's annoying and time consuming. By slightly rearranging the order of how I do things or just doing in between steps with my head over the sink or tub I was able to eliminate that. I'm LOVING it!
Being a Mixologist With Conditioners - I used to really enjoy mixing oils and conditioners together to create a magic concoction for my hair. Currently I'm so not feeling it! Right now I enjoy conditioners that can be used on my hair with no add ins, but still give me great results!
Started/Resumed:
Deep Condition on Semi Damp Hair - Somewhere along the way I started DCing my hair after shampooing. I'm not sure why, but eventually it dawned on me that it's not only easier, but my hair responds better when I DC first on semi damp hair.
Detangle Prior to DC - I used to do this and stopped because the detanglers that I was using would leave a yucky film on my hair. Well ever since I've discovered Mane N Tail I no longer have that problem. It melts my tangles like no other and makes my wash days so much easier.
Messy Buns - As my hair continues to grow my messy buns keep getting better and bigger. The bonus is that it's a super easy low manipulation daily protective style.
Weekend Hair Break - During the winter I was protective styling practically 100% of the time because between the wind and the harsh materials that winter clothing is made of it seemed best. However now that winter is gone I'm back to protective styling 5 days a week and enjoying the heck out of my hair on the weekend (usually with a dry flexi rod set or caruso steam rollers). I'm all for length retention, but a girl's gotta have a little fun too!
Have any of you taken a pause on some things within your regimen?
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?
For those of you who don't know my hair story back in August of 2012 I suffered a MAJOR setback due to a failed attempt at self relaxing mixed with severe matting from not removing shedded hair after a braid install. For a while I tried to just grow my hair out and trim away at the damage slowly, but eventually became so disgusted with the appearance of my hair that I sought the help of a professional hair stylist to help get me back on track. Well I'm happy to say that less than 1.5 years later with the help of that same amazing hair stylist and my own healthy hair practices I am almost at Arm Pit Length! I would be lying if I said that I've had days where I NEVER thought I would be this close! Anyway enough of my rambling and on to the actual purpose of this post...PICTURES!
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!
Hi lovelies! On Saturday I went to the salon to get my hair professionally relaxed at 12 weeks post. I absolutely love the results and it feels great to have my hair back! Check out the video below....and I'm hosting a small giveaway on my youtube channel! Enjoy :)
Hi guys! As promised here's my 1 year length check update video chocked full of comparison pictures! I'm absolutely amazed and happy with the progress my hair has made this past year. Since I'm finally starting to flirt with actually hitting APL this is my next official goal length. I don't want to set an time/month to meet this goal. If there's one thing I've learned while being on a hair journey is that your hair will grow and with A LOT of patience you will eventually get to where you're trying to get! I believe I've got about 2 inches or so to get there so stay tuned!
As promised here's my relaxer update video! Next week my official 1 year length check video will be up! I can't wait to share with you guys and show you the progress that I've made!
As most of you know read my 'Relaxer Preparation' blog post already know I received my relaxer on yesterday. As usual I'm very pleased with my results and feel like I got a good amount of growth! Stay tuned for my next growth update at the end of August!
So Tuesday evening my hair was desperately in need of a wash, but I swear for the life of me I just didn't feel like going through my normal steps (hot oil treatment, detangling, tea spritz, deep conditioning, hair one, towel dry, blah blah blah!). I seriously sat there and contemplated just skipping the wash day all together, but I did not like the way my hair was feeling and I knew ignoring it would do more harm than good. Instead I sucked it up and decided to cut my wash day process in half by skipping most of the steps. Here's what I did.
I parted my hair in 2 sections in stead of my normal 4 and oiled my scalp with my (EVOO and grapseed oil mixture).
Next I coated each of my two sections of hair with my oil mixture.
After that I spritzed each section of my hair with water and then applied my moisturizing conditioner (a mixture of my Silk Elements Kera Minerals DC and the Silk Dreams Vanilla silk DC).
I sat under my heated conditioning cap for about 10 minutes and then hopped in the shower and rinsed my hair.
I wrapped my hair in my turbie twist for about 15 minutes and then let my hair air dry for about an hour.
It was still damp, but I went ahead and lightly detangled each section and moisturized and sealed with my Giovanni Direct Leave and coconut oil.
When I woke up the next morning my hair was fully dry and felt so soft and moisturized. I've been rocking a bun just like this since then!
So I'm totally late with my length check post. I apologize, but blame it on a growing crazy work schedule! This is my 4 month update. Overall I'm very happy with my progress although I think my growth cycle did slow down slightly, but I've recommitted to apply my JBCO on a regular basis. I definitely did not stick with it the way I should have during my last stretch! Check out the pictures and the video :)
