Goodbye t-shirt

Well, it seems I am going to have to wave a fond farewell to my homemade length check t-shirt.  I made it at the very start of my journey over two years ago, but I made two mistakes...

1. I used stretchy material
2. The lines were not straight

For these reasons I don't think that I can use it as an accurate guide any more.  But fear not! I have already bought, and started to use my justgrowalready length check t-shirt, which is far more accurate.  So here is a comparison pic of my t-shirt vs an official one (and a scalp shot!).  From here on out, I will only be using my Just Grow Already t-shirt.

  

   

So please say goodbye to my green t-shirt, and hello to my white one!

My first Video - wash day

Hey everyone, I have finally bitten the bullet and gone through the arduous process of recording and editing a video.  This one shows me applying deep conditioner, drying and moisturising my hair.  No heat was used as this is my typical routine for a wash day.  The video is agreeably a little choppy, but I will do better next time.  My hair is 8 weeks post relaxer and I am planning to go 12-16 weeks before I re-touch my new growth.

I was inspired by sistawithrealhair, on youtube to experiment.  On one half of my hari, I applied the conditioner to wet hair and on the other half I applied it to dry hair.  Once rinsed out, my hair felt just a little smoother on the 'dry hair' side, however on airdrying, my hair felt bushier and more wild on the 'dry hair' side, so the jury is still out on that one

Hope you enjoy

Blessings
Naddy x

I finally dyed my hair!

I have been wanting to dye my hair for such a long time and this morning I finally did it.  YAY!  I used the 'Adore' hair dye in 'Wild Cherry'.  I was a little nervous about the colour, but it turned out really nice IMO.  Please be aware that this post is picture heavy. :D

Apparatus used : Hair dye/applicator bottle, gloves, old t-shirt (for drying hair), old clothes, wide tooth comb, plastic cap, hooded dryer, blow dryer, and  a lot of PATIENCE!

Products used: Adore hair dye in Wild cherry, Hollywood Beauty Castor oil, Aussie 3 minute reconstructer, HE Hello Hydration, Organix Pomegranete Shampoo, aPHogee keratin and green tea reconstructuriser, Virgin Coconut Oil, ORS oil moisturiser, ORS smooth-n-hold pudding.

Firstly I shampooed my hair with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, I then towel dried my hair and split it into four sections.  I then took the castor oil and applied it around my hairline and ears to protect my skin.

I added the dye to my hair in sections starting with the front two sections.  I added the dye liberally layer by layer, parting my hair and saturating the strands in the dye then rubbing it through.  The bottle did say to comb it through, but I just rubbed it in instead.  I then added the dye to the back two sections but less liberally.  I was running out of dye and wanted to make sure that there was colour all over.  I think next time I will need two bottles.

  

I then covered my hair with a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for about 15 minutes.  This was the recommended maximum processing time for the dye.

I then rinsed out my hair with luke-warm water about three times, shampooed with Organix pomegrane shampoo.  The water was still quite red, but I figured that if I continued to wash my hair, all the colour would come out. Lastly I added Herbal Essenses Hello Hydration conditioner to my saturated hair.  I had no leave in conditioner, so that was my make shift leave in conditioner.    I then t-shirt dryed my hair, and a whole lot of dye came out on the t-shirt!  But this is how my hair looked.

    

Next I added the aPHogee Keratin and Green Tea reconstructer and combed it through.  As a heat protectant, I used Virgin Coconut Oil and I blow dried my hair.  After blow-drying my hair I moisturised with ORS Moisturiser and then gave my hair a well needed trim.  I LOVE IT.  I know it is not a great picture, but I have to use my phone and I have no-one to help me take the pictures.  

I put my hair into flat twists for the night, I used some of the ORS Smooth and hold pudding to help set the curls.  And here is how it turned out:

PS.  Dyeing/colouring your hair is messy - wear gloves old clothes and put down newspaper to avoid messing up your bathroom.

Relaxer Day - May 2012

I finally did it on Thursday 24.05.12 I relaxed my hair - whoop whoop!  It was a little unplanned, I called my friend and asked her to do it for me on the spur of the moment.  She was reluctant because she didn't want to do anything wrong - but I took that as a good sign, meaning that she would be even more careful and not be 'gung-ho' about it.  Despite her reluctance I think she did a really good job.

Two weeks before I planned to relax I washed my hair and did the ApHogee 2 step treatment to build up the strength in my hair prior to a chemical service. About 12 days later I was desperate to relax my hair but had no one to do it so I washed and blow dried my hair.  I haven't blow dried in since my last relaxer 4 months ago.

This time I used the Optimum Care Relaxer and I really liked this one.  My hair did get a bit tangled when I put the final thing in, I think it is called the leave-in, but this may be the way it was applied, or because I used too much.  However I am not put off I will try it again on my next relaxer day.  I will relax at 3 months post next time I think (So maybe the end of August), 4 months is just a bit too long of a stretch as my hair becomes unmanageable.

Now my hair is relaxed it is soo much more obvious that I need a trim, but I don't want the hairdresser to be scissor happy and cut off all my hard work.  What do I do?  Anyway, I am closer to my goal, I am grazing BSL and grazing line no. 6 on the hair length t-shirts.

  

My goal is to be full MBL or line no.9 on the length check t-shirt.  I am pleased with my progress because I am on my way there.  I think that I have about 18 months of growing left to get there.  It has taken me 2 years to get from shoulder length to here, so I think that is about right.

In preparation for bed I wrapped my hair to see if I could get some body in the morning, didn't really work for me though.  My hair is so limp when it is freshly relaxed.  I recon that when I wash in a week, I will have the body back.  Not least because I won't be blow drying or flat ironing my hair.  Or I could try a roller set - yeah right, pull the other one.  LOL.

PS.  My sister saw my hair the next day and asked me if I had a piece in my hair - when I proudly declared that it was my own hair, she said it looks like weave.  I quickly retorted - who would get a weave this bad!  IMO the ends look awful and need trimming.  Plus when my mum saw my hair, she said I look like a white girl! I was not offended, I was just shocked. I guess I have got to expect this kind of thing.

Anyway, if you are interested in how I will be styling my hair, please let me know.  Enjoy your day

Blessings x

Heatless Length Check and Wash day!

My hair length t-shirt arrived! I got it from the shop at justgrowalready.com, I really wanted the green one, but that didn't come in the size I wanted :(  It says 'my hair is my hobby' and that is such a true statement for me.  I also got one for my sis who is natural, her's says 'loving my kinks, coils and curls' and is in red.  She is really pleased with it. My other sister want's one now, but I told her she has to be on a 'hair journey' otherwise it's a no-no.  We'll see whether she's committed!

I washed my hair today too.  This time I decided to omit the PPO to see if that was contributing to my itchy head.  So far - no itching, but I'll see how it goes throughout the week.  To start I mixed up ORS hair mayonnaise and EVOO, put that on my hair and put on a plastic cap, left it on for 30 mins whilst I fumbled around the house.



I washed it out and conditioned with HE Hello Hydration, then did the t-shirt drying method.  This pic on the right is with my hair dripping wet immediately after coming out of the shower.  I let it air-dry all day in a pony tail as I had to run some errands.  When I came home I put on my length check t-shirt to see what line my hair dries out at.  Sorry I didn't think to put on the length check t-shirt when my hair was wet, so this is not a very good comparison.




As you can see in both pics both dripping wet and bone dry, I suffer with very frizzy hair, I don't know what to do to lay down my cuticles.  I did do a black tea rinse last week, maybe I should make that part of my regime and see how that works out.

Till next time...

Blessings
Naddy x