2.5 year update

Hello all!

It's been too long! Life has gotten shockingly busy, but it's time to get back to doing things I enjoy, like blogging. I'm going to jump right into it...

It's currently the middle of a super cold and snowy winter in nyc, so my hair has mostly been in a bun or under a hat, which has been excellent for retention! This weekend, I decided to blow my hair out to give my scalp and edges a break from all of the bunning, here's my wash day in pictures:

Pre-Shampoo Treatment:
I applied sweet almond oil to my scalp to help with the dryness from the week. To prep my hair for washing and heat styling, I decided to use the ORS Hair Mayonnaise as a light protein treatment on hair that had been lightly moistened with a spray bottle. I then added a light coating of sweet almond oil over the conditioner, put on a plastic cap and put on my heating cap for about 30 mins.

Wash:
I shampooed twice with the L'oreal Everpure Sulfate-Free shampoo (diluted with water in an applicator bottle for easier application). After rinsing, I used Aussie Moist conditioner and let it sit with a plastic cap over it for the remainder of my shower. I then rinsed and detangled my hair under cool water and did a final cold rinse. I then t-shirt dried for 30-45 minutes.

Post-wash and styling:
After t-shirt drying, I applied my leave-ins (silicon mix bambu and organix argan oil of morocco weightless healing dry oil)   in 4 sections to detangle. After that was completed, I began blow drying using the Conair Yellow Bird blow dryer on cool air for the length, and warm air to dry the roots. Before drying my ends, I applied a bit more of the silicon mix bambu. After each section was dried, it was pinned away and I spritzed some of the organix spray oil on the section.

Here are the final results:

  

Yay! So I was quite pleased by the final results. I haven't clipped my ends since November, but from all of the bad winter weather protective styling they've been doing quite well! I did a lot of trimming and cutting last year to get my ends together, and it seems to have gone well. The last pic im showing my bra strap, so i believe as of right now I am grazing bra-strap length! Fingers crossed for reaching bsl by my next relaxer (if the weather stays this bad I should be good, lol).

Thanks for reading :),

Wash day

Alter Ego Garlic Treatment Giveaway open 'til the 15th!

Hey there,

I've been a bit under the weather the past few days, but I finally got together some energy to do my hair on Wednesday. It was feeling a bit coated since my last wash and it was also dry as a desert -__-. I also realized I couldn't remember the last time I actually clarified my hair, so I figured it was definitely about that time.

1. Pre-pooed with sweet almond oil on the scalp and the length for a few hours without heat. Not sure how many hours, def took a nap :).
2. Shampooed once with Neutrogena Anti-Residue and then shampooed again with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo. 
3. Deep conditioned with Aussie Moist with heat for 20 minutes.
4. I allowed the conditioner to cool, then rinsed and finger detangled in the shower under cool water.
5. I applied my leave-ins, Silicon Mix Bambu and argan oil and detangled using my seamless combs. 
6. I then airdried my hair loose, and put it in a bun to go to sleep.

On Thursday night, i had enough energy to do a full flexi-rod set. It certainly has been awhile, here are the results:

 

  

 This set was done on dampened hair  (using a spray bottle) and the following products:

1. Bee Mine Deja's Hair Milk
2. Bee Mine Hair and Scalp Moisturizer (scalp only)
3. Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream
4. Optimum Amla Legend 1001 Oils Cream Night (canopy, edges and nape only)

My hair was super soft after the initial wash day, and I actually got to skip a night of moisturizing (almost unheard of for me!). It still feels pretty good now. These pictures were taken at the end of a humid, rainy day. I think my little curls held up quite well.

Thanks for reading :),

Random Hair Pics

Hey guys,

I've been having a ton of fun this summer with hair styling. Now that I have found my fav hair styling product ever, the Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream, I have been doing the most lol. On Wednesday night, I decided to co-wash my hair with aussie moist and giovanni smooth as silk conditioner and then do some pincurls. Thursday's pin curls were a fail because there were too big, so I popped a banana clip in the back. I tried the look again today, just with better pin curls and I was pleased with the outcome.

 

Products used:

• Bee Mine Deja's Hair Milk
• Bee Mine Hair and Scalp Moisturizer (scalp only)
• Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream

Thanks for reading :),

Wash Day/2 Year Hairniversary!

Hey there,

It's been quite a while since my last wash day post, so it's about time I got back to it! I relaxed my hair on July 4th , and by last night my scalp was crying out for a wash. Here's what went down:

1. Pre-shampoo treat with sweet almond oil on the scalp and aussie 3 min miracle with sweet almond oil on the length. I left this in for about 1.5 hours without heat (the house was hot anyway, lol).
2. Shampooed twice with diluted L'oreal Everpure Moisturizing Shampoo.
3. Conditioned with Herbal Essences Honey I'm Strong rinse off treatment for the remainder of my shower and then finger detangled while rinsing. This is actually my first Herbal Essences purchase and my first time trying it-- the slip was insane, i actually said damn! Lol. It had an odd smell, but it cut through the tangles. I'll have to see if this is still as efficacious later in my stretch before I can recommend it :).
4.  T-shirt dried for about 30 minutes (had to finish up some TV :).
5. Applied my leave-ins, Silicon Mix Bambu and argan oil, then proceeded to detangle using my seamless combs. 
6. I then let my hair air dry loose and put it into 5 big pin curls before bed.

These are my results:

look! i got new glasses! lol :o)

It also occurred to me that I completely missed my 2 year hairniversary! On July 1st, 2013 it has been officially 2 years since I began this journey towards healthier, happier, longer hair. I'm pleased by how far I've come and certainly didn't expect the results that I have achieved. My hair is a constant reminder of what hard work, research and a strong routine can do for every aspect of my life. This is where my hair is currently:

I will be spending some time this year clipping off uneven ends, but I'm where I was hoping to be by now--grazing bra-strap length. I look forward to full bra-strap by the end of the year, and hopefully midback by my 3 year anniversary.

My start:

 

Cheers to progress! I look forward to seeing what this next year will bring. To see the progress from year 1, click here.

Thanks for reading :),

Checking in

Hey all,

It certainly has been far too long since my last update :(. Life has officially gotten in the way of my blogging. If you've been following me for a bit, you may have seen my post about Hurricane Sandy. Well, the madness is finally over post-hurricane, and I am back home! I've been settling in for a few weeks and have completely dropped off the face of the earth lol-- but what can I say, it's good to be home! In all the commotion, I've still been taking pretty good care of my hair, though I've been doing way more overnight deep conditioning due to exhaustion than I normally do lol. It's summer time, and it's been pretty hot in nyc, so I've mostly been living in twist-outs, buns and half-up/half-down styles to keep from getting too hot.

 

I'm about 10 weeks post, so deep conditioning and moisturizing and sealing have been the only things keeping my hair happy. I've found a few new products that I'm currently loving, but I'll save that for the next post :o).

I also wanted to say hi to my new subscribers! It has been brought to my attention that google friend connect is going to be shut down by July 1st :(, so I'm on bloglovin!

So follow me on Bloglovin instead!

My blog also celebrated its one year anniversary on April 22nd, which I so clearly missed by a mile lol. I will be doing a giveaway shortly in honor of the day though. 

Thanks for reading and I'm so glad to be back!

Blowout and Flat iron at home!

Hey there,

The original plan was to do my hair Friday night in preparation for an evening out on Saturday, but that totally didn't happen. Jenna got sleepy lol. I did, however, begin my wash day on Friday, it just didn't end there ;)...

1. Overnight deep conditioning with coconut oil and Alter Ego Garlic Treatment applied to the length, along with sweet almond oil applied to my scalp.
2. The next morning, I shampooed twice using the L'oreal Everpure Moisturizing Shampoo.
3. I then deep conditioned with Nexxus Humectress for 15 minutes using my heating cap. I know, it's been a while since Humectress and I have been together but I brought it out in preparation to heat style!
4. I allowed my hair to cool for 5 minutes, then rinsed out the deep conditioner.
5. I then applied Aussie Moist to my hair as a final rinse to check my pH and to assist in detangling.
6. After rinsing, I t-shirt dried my hair for about 10 minutes and got started.

Since I did my hair in the morning, that meant there was no time for overnight air-drying, or any of my usual low manipulation styles (I find when I use heat I get unpredictable results from some sets and twist outs), so I decided to straighten my hair! I haven't blow dried my hair since I began this hair journey in July '11, and I haven't flat ironed my hair since my birthday (end of October), so I figured why not!

1. To begin, I applied my leave-in, Silicon Mix Bambú and began to detangle after t-shirt drying. I used my Jumbo Rake comb to get out the big tangles and then blow dried in sections. I used medium heat, high speed on my roots to dry and straighten them faster and cool air on the rest of the length to make sure it didnt dry out.
   Where was the heat protectant? There is a ton of silicone in Nexxus Humectress as well as the Silicon Mix leave-in. I opted to skip additional heat protectant to avoid heavy hair.
   Also, why no oil after applying my leave-in? I avoid heat styling with most oils. I'm aware that that many of the oils I use are safe up to the temperatures that I use to heat style, but since silicone is safest, I just stick with that.
   
   
    
   
   
   
2. My roots were still a bit damp, so I let them dry naturally for about 2 hours. When they were finally dry, I began the flat-ironing process.
• In small sections, I applied a bit more of my leave-in to my ends to ensure a more moist result, and then along the entire length I applied the Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide.
• After allowing the remaining leave-in to dry into my hair (never flat iron wet or damp hair!), I took my 1'' Solia flat ironing and got to work.
3. I was pleased by the smooth results and how silky and soft my hair felt. Pheww, gone are the days of bone dry, stiff heat-styled hair!
   
   

For some reason I forgot to take a pic of the back of my hair. My hair held up pretty well for the evening; when I returned home I lightly applied the Mizani Butter Rich hairdress to my hair, very lightly sealed with pure argan oil and then wrapped my hair into 3 big pin curls. I'll snap a few pictures and return with those in a bit!

three pin curls 

 

The final results!
I am also happy to report that after taking down the pin curls and combing my hair out, it was still super soft and even after using a water based moisturizer the night before my ends were still smooth and straight. I'm hype! Maybe I have finally mastered heat styling! I'll see how my hair holds up for another day or 2 ;)

Thanks for reading :),

Wash Day

Hey all,

It's been a while since I have done a wash day post, but then again it's also been a while since I've had an interesting/amazing wash day. Mostly co-washing and styling, which is actually pretty boring lol. So I'll just get right into it...

1. I applied sweet almond oil to my scalp, and macadamia oil to the length. Over the macadamia oil I applied the ORS hair masque to dry deep condition. I proceeded to sit under the dryer with a shower cap on for 10 minutes.
2. I rinsed my hair in warm water and shampooed twice with L'oreal Everpure Moisture Shampoo. Why? I ran out of the Shea Moisture shampoo and haven't been able to find it! The good news is, this shampoo actually wasn't half bad. May add it to my rotation, cheers L'oreal!
3. After which I followed up with Aussie Moist for the remainder of my shower, and then rinsed and finger detangled under lukewarm water. This combo left my hair buttery soft and tangle free, detangling after only took 15 minutes!
4. I applied my leave-ins Silicon Mix Bambu and argan oil, then detangled with my favorite detangling combs. Seamless combs for the win - Hercules Sägemann HS5580 Styler Comb and Magic Star Jumbo Rake. Jeni of Just Grow Already and Ebony of Longing 4 Length rave about these combs, and their reviews are accurate. I've had them for months and they have completely revolutionized my detangling process.
5. I then let my hair air-dry loose and I moisturized with Toque Magico Emergencia w/Avocado Rinse Conditioner. Now this is clearly marketed as a rinse-out conditioner, but it has no slip and my hair is too thick for that nonsense. It does, however, make a fantastic silicone free moisturizer, cheap too lol. On the canopy and most of my crown, I lightly applied the Silk Dreams Satin Smooth Hair Cream, which turns my new growth and texlaxed hair into silk and smells amazing.
6. I then wrapped my hair into three large pin curls, put almond oil on my scalp, put on a satin bonnet and called it a night. 
7. In the morning, I removed the pin curls and applied grapeseed oil to the length and sprayed the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Weightless Healing Oil on the ends and nape to protect it from my clothes and the cold air. 

Final results:

 

This wash day left me with ridiculously soft, smooth, bouncy hair. It's shiny and flowy, i'm so hyped lol. There was only one weird draw back, I shed like a dog. I can't remember the last time I shed this much. It may either be due to the shampoo (which was the only thing introduced on this wash day), or perhaps because my scalp wasn't shampooed for about 5 days and was very itchy, and my scalp does tend to remind me that it likes frequent washes by shedding excessively--quite a reminder lol. Other than that I was very pleased. I also dusted a bit, so my ends are looking much better than they have recently. Though I have to say, after my last relaxer, my ends were still looking pretty good. I'm pleased with how my hair is progressing. Can't wait to see what my hair will look like for my 2 year anniversary!

Thanks for reading :),

It's been too long...

Happy New Year all!

I'm horrified by how long it has been since my last blog post! I have been extremely busy with work, life, etc and I have completely slacked on my blog flow. Well, I've decided to get it back together and I have a few ideas for upcoming posts. I do want to first quickly update you guys on what my hair and I have been about...

First off, I am about 10 weeks post relaxer, since I have been slackin' on my gym regimen due to lack of time and I have been eating much less than usual, I have slightly less new growth than I usually do at this point, which is actually not a problem for me, when my new growth goes HAM it eats up a lot of time that I just don't have at this point.

For a few weeks (between Christmas and maybe a week after new years), I had the craziest dandruff ever. I first assume it was either product buildup or mineral deposits (I was visiting my sister and she has hard water), so I clarified and that made no difference. It continued even using sulfate-free shampoos, oiling my scalp and even just only co-washing for a few weeks. I also noticed my eczema was getting worse as well, and that's when it hit me, I wasn't drinking enough water!! So as a reminder, don't slack on your water intake--within a few days my scalp stopped flaking, the rest of my skin returned to normal and all was well.

I've also spent some time experimenting with other shampoos that could potentially replace my Shea Moisture Shampoo just in case I couldn't find it or something and honestly, I still haven't found anything even close. Epic fail :p. The only shampoo that I've tried that I don't mind is the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil shampoo, it doesn't irritate my scalp at all and it doesn't strip my hair, however it fails when it comes to detangling (and if your a fellow thick-haired individual you know detangling is a big deal). So basically the Shea Moisture shampoo is still king... lol

Aside from that, I was experiencing some breakage, so it was time for Keraphix. As usual, Keraphix stopped the breakage and my hair was basically on point after that wash day (2 weeks ago). I should be relaxing tomorrow, and honestly, it's about time for me to cut my hair. My ends are looking a little crazy, so I should be removing about an inch, the good thing is, it will be the same length it was last time I relaxed (around BSB) just fuller. I have about an inch of new growth and its not like my hair broke so much that I lost length.

In terms of styling, I stepped up my protective styling game back to about 70% of the time due to how crazy the weather has been recently. My edges started to feel tender earlier this week though, so I had to kick the bun for a bit so I'm currently rocking a flexi-rod set, which I pin-curled last night for comfortable sleeping :o).

Thank you for reading (and for bearing with me in my absence),

New Product Preview!

Happy Sunday!

I decided to buy myself an early Christmas present a few days ago. I have heard so much about Kérastase products, but because of the $50+ price tags on their deep conditioners I felt that maybe that was a bit much to spend on some hair products. Well, this has been a messy year and I figured I'd try something new and entirely too expensive to cheer myself up lol. I purchased the Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense for Thick Hair a few days ago, and I tried it out last night.
I followed the directions online on the Kérastase website and left it in for 5-10 minutes without heat and then rinsed. It felt soft, smelled amazing but I am not yet blown away. I will try it a few more times and a few different ways before giving a full review. I tried it after a normal wash day, with a coconut oil pre-poo treatment, clarified and shampooed with Aussie moist shampoo and Shea Moisture moisture retention shampoo and then conditioned in the shower with Masquintense. I'll return with pictures of how my hair turned out and more info on this product coming soon :o).

Those are the results of pincurling air-dried hair after applying my Bee Mine Deja's Hair Milk. I didn't separate the curls yet, just let them fall out of the clips and I also didn't use any oil or anything yet. I'm hyped. My hair is soft, smooth and it looks nice and full. Hopefully Kérastase and I will live happily ever after lol.

Thanks for reading :),