Braids Again

On 21.8.14, I did something that I haven't done in a very long time, years in fact. I paid for someone else to braid my hair. I was desperate for a change and did not have the time or patience to do it myself, so I went to my sisters hairdresser. This was an interesting experience and was a reminder of why I started doing hair myself.

I asked for my braids to be BSL, but they were more tailbone length. The amount of hair used per plait was too much as it is almost impossible for me to grip all the hair with one hand to style it. And it is super heavy. BUT... she did to a great job. My hair was neat and wasn't braided too tight at all. The other benefit is that it only took 4 hours. I arrived at 5pm and left at 9pm. Which I was very pleased about.  Had I done it myself it would definitely have taken 12 hours.  Definitely. However, this is because I had 2 people doing my hair at any one time. I bought 4 packs of expression hair. But didn't use it all.

So it's been in for about 6 weeks now. I wash them once a week with a mild shampoo and condition with the red HE conditioner. I spray it with braid spray every day and oil my scalp from time to time.

I really should take them out, but I'm going to try and hold on to it a bit longer and just re-braid the front and edges. I'm going to see how long I can keep it up. Braids are so low maintenance, and I love that.

Biotin Trial

Holland and Barrett Biotin

Since I have hit a stumbling block with my hair for the past 18 months, in that I have not retained any length, I have decided to try a different approach.  Following my relaxer in February, I began to take biotin in early March.  I anticipate that this will help my hair to grow, to retain length, get healthier and to get back on track. I started taking the 300mg (4 tablets with my lunch) once a day every day until I finished the 100 tablet bottle. When I ran out, I bought the 1000mg tablet bottle and began taking that early April.  Below is a picture of my hair length airdried at the beginning of March 2014.  I'll give you an update of how it went once I have finished the bottle.  If anybody has any advice on other things I could add to regime, please let me know. Thanks.

Relaxer Day - October 2013

If you follow my Instagram, you will notice that I was experimenting with different styles recently - the main reason is that my new growth was becoming a bit too much to handle for me.

So, Saturday 26/10/2013 was relaxer, this time I went to the hairdressers.  She used Affirm relaxer and got my hair super straight.  I gave her permission to cut of two inches, and she said she took off 1.5 and put a long layer in the middle (cos my hair is really thinning there).  asked her to trim off what I needed trimming and she took of about 1.5 inches.  So I think all of the length that I gained.  Sigh.  My friends are natural and suggesting I go natural too, but I want to reach my goal first.

Here's how it looks at the moment.

  

12 months - No Length Retention!

So it's official, it has been one year and I have not retained ANY length, in fact, my hair is shorter.  In the picture on the left, my hair is between 5-6, however, in the picture on the right, my hair is between 4-5. This sure is a long lasting setback!  I need to figure this out, by my calculations, I should be beyond BSL by now, but I am sitting at this odd length between APL and BSL.  Any advice is greatly welcome.

Why I'm Not Retaining Length

I think I've figured it out.  I have not been doing the protective styles that my hair loves.  I have returned to the products and method of hair-care that I used, but not the styles.  At the start of my hair journey, I would put my hair in braids at least once every 4 months (usually when my new growth got too much to handle), and with each relaxer I would see some length retention.  I think I am gonna go back to protective styling in the form of braids, and probably try a weave too.  I just can't figure out why else I've not retained length.  So I have a wedding to attend at the end of the month, so I'll put in the braids the week after and see if I can keep them in until my birthday in November (we'll see)

If this is not the reason I'm not retaining length, then I will have to go back to the drawing board to try and figure this out.  Wish me well!!!

As a side-note, my 'satin' scrunchies arrived today... however, it says '100% polyester' - go figure! lol.  I've noticed that the hairbands that I use, although they are ouch-less, they do sometimes drag out my hair too when I'm removing them, so I ordered these on Amazon, to see if they would help with that problem.  Lets see how they work.