After Trim Pics!!

I finally took my butt to the salon to get my much needed trim.  Of course I begged the stylist not to cut off too much.  I figure if I can trim every few months, I can gradually rid my hair of all the bad ends while keeping the good ends healthy.  In the meantime, I'll search and cut any individual strands that are damaged.  Heres my new length:

I LOVE my hightlights but as much as I would like to highlight my new growth, I just cant risk more breakage.  BSL here I come! 

Length Check!! One Year comparison

Below are my length pics from early January 2011 and January 4, 2012.  My hair grew between 5 and 6 inches over the year.  Unfortunately Ive had some breakage from my relaxer and highlights. 

I plan to cut my ends and continue to treat them so that I can reach my 2012 goal of mid-back length.   My next length check will be in April where I hope to reach BSL.  Lets see!  Happy New Growth year!

I Made APL!!!

I am so excited and amazed that I have finally reached armpit length!  My regi is definetly one that I will stick to.  I have seen great progress from it.  Why switch up now?  Check it out:

Can I reach BSB (below shoulder blade) by the end of the year??  Lets see!

Length Check!! (Another month; another inch)

Am I really seeing this?  It looks as though my hair grew an inch in the last month!!

Ive been keeping up with my regi washing weekly and moisturizing my scalp every other day with wild growth oil with drops of castor oil and rosemary oil in it. I recently added some sulfur 8 to my mixture.  I continue to seal my ends with castor oil and I am consistant with my Nioxin vitamins but lowered my dosage to 1 a day.  Ive also been bunning.  I have no patience for styling especially since Ive been going hard at the gym.

So another inch should bring me to APL!  Im praying that I can grow an inch this month and next bringing me to two inches by December 31.  Fingers crossed!! 

Stay tuned!  : )

Length Check!! (One month progress)

I am so happy to say that my hair grew 3/4 of an inch in the last month.  My hair was braided under a weave the first two weeks and in cornrows under a wig the last two weeks.  I washed bi-weekly and moisturized my scalp every other day with wild growth oil with drops of castor oil and rosemary oil in it.  I also sprayed my hair daily with african pride braid sheen and sealed my ends with castor oil.  I am pretty consistant with my Nioxin vitamins.  I've been taking 2 daily.  I relaxed my hair on September 30th and then did my length check.

I am 2 inches away from APL which is my goal for the end of the year.  I am really aiming for an inch a month.  I will continue with my Nioxin and my wild growth mix regimen.  I bought some Sulfur8 and added a few scoops to my wild growth mix. I will do another length check the end of this month.  Lets hope to see an inch of new growth!

Length Check and New Regimen

Its September 1st and I joined the 2 Inches In 2 Months challenge on LHCF (http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=562979).  This is the perfect time to do a length check and decide on a new regi.  My goal is to be APL (armpit length) by the end of the year.  That means growing and retaining 2 1/2 inches.  I think its possible.

Here are my length pics:

Past my lips.  This is the longest my bangs has ever been!

My left side is almost at 6 inches on the ruler.  Theres some breakage there due to constant flatironing.  I need to stop!

My right side is reaching 5 inches.  Some parts are at 6.  Theres a lot more breakage on this side.

The longest part is past 2 on my shirt. 

My edges are really bad. : (

Im going to say that I am a little past 2 on my shirt.  As you can see, I need growth of 2 1/2 inches for the back to reach APL. 


I believe its duable with the following regimen:


Stay in a weave for the rest of the year.  Take out after my current install and redo around the beginning of November.  Before installing, I will do a deep protein treatment with Aphogee 2 minute Reconstructor. 

I will condition every weekend and shampoo every 2 weeks. I will moisturize my hair daily with olive oil moisturizer and S Curl.  I'll greese my scalp with Wild Growth Oil with a few drops of peppermint and rosemary oil.  Smells bad but will promote growth.  I'll seal my ends of the hair left out with castor oil or vasaline. I really have to limit my heat and figure out another way to keep my left out hair straightened.  

As far as my diet, I am going to continue drinking tons of water.  I'll also watch what I eat and increase my protein.  I just ordered Nioxin Intensive Therapy Recharging Complex from Amazon.com and I hope to see some great progress from it.

 Products I'll use:
Shampoo: Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Creamy Shampoo

Conditioner: Organic Root Stimulator Conditioner, Replenishing, Olive Oil

Deep treatment: Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise Treatment

Moisturizer/Sealant : Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Vasaline, S Curl

Scalp treatment: Wild Growth with drops of rosemary and peppermint oil

Vitamins: Nioxin Intensive Therapy Recharging Complex

Protein Treatment: Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment



Will post more pics after my next install in November. Hope to see atleast an inch! : )

New Weave Installed

Last week I noticed that I had a lot of breakage and that was extremely dissapointing.  I know that it is because I have been using a lot of heat since I am due for a relaxer.  Ive also been lazy when it came to moisturizing my hair. 

I decided to have my sister install a weave and keep it in for atleast 2 months.  By the way, check out her blog and youtube videos at http://www.hairdelacreme.com/.  She has great information on growing and maintaining healthy hair.

My sister braided my hair in sort of an orange peel design.

She left out my edges in case I want to wear ponytails. 

 She then sewed the braids down.

This is the hair that was installed. There was a sale at my beauty supply store.  I bought two packs, one is 14 inces for $59.99 and the other is 12 inches for $49.99.  Duvessa is premium quality Remi hair designed to last longer.  Its tangle free and easy to care for.

After installing the weave, I dyed my hair with a black rinse, blowdried and straightened.  Here is my final result.

I am really loving the straight look.  When I get bored I'll layer the front and curl it.  I'll be sure to post those pics.  Later guys!



Hair update (So much happened since January!)

Where do I begin? Ok let me put it like this, I:

1. texlaxed - tried to relax my hair because I could not take it anymore.  My hair was too hard to manage and since I am so picky with hairstyles, my choices were limited with natural hair.  I tried to relax it but I did not leave it in long enough.  I ended up having texlaxed hair, meaning I softened my kinks but kept the texture. I liked it for a while but got tired of the big hair. 

2. hightlighted - As you can see in the pic above, I added some highlights.  The salon was careful about using bleech but ended up leaving the color in my hair so long I might as well used bleech.  I love the highlights! It adds so much pizzazz to my hair.

3. relaxed - As I said, I missed my straight hair.  All I kept picturing was going to the beach or pool and having such a hard time maintaining my hair.  I LOVE my relaxed hair and do not think I will ever go back to natural.  Its just my preference.  Here is a pic of my hair last month:

As far as my regi goes, I no longer have one.  Once I relaxed my hair, I have been washing, co-washing and moisturizing.  I tried a new shampoo and conditioner but I do not like the feel in my hair.  The condition smells very good...very almondy.  The shampoo smells like cologne...a bit strong.

Here are some length pics that were taken about two months ago:

I will treat and install a weave in my hair this weekend.  I'll do the length check before and after I clip my ends.  I'll post those pics along with the pics of the install and some info on the regi I will be using.

See you then! :-)

2011!! Happy New Growth!!

Hey guys!

I straightened my hair last month so that I can post my end of year lenth pic.  As you can see, I am currently neck length.

My goal for this year is to pass necklength, pass shoulder length and move right to armpit length.  I am about 6 inches away from APL.  If I grow and retain atleast 1/2 an inch a month, I will be graduating from APL school in December. 

My regi will remain the same.  I'll be cornrowing my hair and protecting it with weaves and wigs.  I'll wash biweekly and moisturize daily.  I am also keeping up with my hairfinity vitamins.

I currently have an install in.  Im wearing the Bohyme Brazilian Wave, 14 inches.  Very beautiful hair and great for kinky curly naturals.  Im not sure how long I will keep this hair in but I am shooting for atleast 2 months. 

So thats my hair update.  I will keep you posted on my progress.  Grow girls!! Grow!!

I can still braid my TWA!!

Yay!  I can still braid my hair!!

So I bought a new wig and could not get my freshly washed hair to lay flat so that I can see the beauty of my wig. I decided to cornrow my hair. I braced myself for a frustrating task but no...the process was so easy!

I applied some Ms. Jessie's Stretch Silkening Creme to each parted section and then braided. 

I was amazed that after chopping off 2 inches from my hair, I still have decent length! Sorry, I didnt take a pic.  I will next time.

After braiding my hair, I continued with my wig wearing regi:

Apply some braid spray

Apply some S Curl

Put on my wig cap

Put on my durag and pull the back to tight to flatten my braids

Then on goes my beautiful wig!

I usually take out my braids and wash my hair every weekend to get rid of the product build-up but I'm going to see how long I can keep these braids clean and neat. Hopefully 3-4 weeks...pretending I'm wearing a weave. Plus I'll be able to see the progress of my new hair-growth vitamin called Hairfinity. 

My New Easy Regimen!

Wearing wigs is a great way to grow and maintain healthy hair.  Now that my hair is long enough to braid, I have been keeping it cornrowed underneath my wigs to keep it safe from damage. 

Here is my new regi:

Every Weekend
Wash hair with Nexxus Humectress
Deep condition with Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayo and Pearl Collection Avocado conditioner
Spray hair with African Royale BRX Braid Spray
Detangle with wide tooth comb
Cornrow my hair straight back (about 10 rows)
Pin up the ends of my braids with hair pins
Oil scalp with mixture of rosemary, jojoba, castor oil, and peppermint oil
Spray (saturate) hair with S Curl moisturizer
Tie down with wig cap and/or du rag

Daily
Spray my braids with S Curl moisturizer

Every other day
Apply mega-tek to my scalp

This low maintenance regi is very quick and simple providing moisture and promoting healthy ends which is key to growing and maintaining healthy hair.  I hope to see nice progress in the coming months.

Its Growing!!

Here are some comparison pics:

Looks like almost 2 inches of growth in 4 months; guess my hair grows 1/2 an inch a month.

Hopefully my bangs will touch my lips by November.

I've been keeping up with my regimen, oiling my scalp and keeping my hair well moisturized every day.  I moisturize and wear wigs during the day and moisturize again at night before bed.  I baggy some nights with my megatek/oil mix on my scalp and conditioner in my hair.  Here are more progress pics:

Looks like Im retaining every bit of length!  Yay!

Now for the moment of truth...my length after hot combing

I used a lot of heat to get it straight and it wont happen again any time soon.  I'll most likely do it again in 3 months (end of October) for my next length check. I hope to gain another inch by then!  I also hope to be APL by May 2011 and BSL by December 2011.  Lets see!