Progress Update

So, I relaxed Friday and I cut my hair back to APL and it looks great! I did not have any more breakage after this relaxer, no underprocessing and just plain greatness. I am definitely sticking with ORS Lye. I am going to keep my hair at this length until it evens out which will hopefully be by the end of March.





It looks great! I think the best way to tell the length of my setback hair is by the fullness of the length of my hair. There are still spots in the length without hair, but it looks tons better. Here's a shot of my hair when it was APL a couple of years ago.








This is what I am shooting for and hope to reach sooner than later!

Lye vs No-Lye: An Experienced Perspective

I have done a post before about the scientific differences between Lye and No-Lye and its affect on the hair. Basically Lye is more damaging to the scalp and No-Lye is more damaging to the hair. After experiencing both types for a good period of time I have to say that I prefer Lye.

Now I will never tell anyone to use one over the other, this is just a point of view based on my experience.

I have to say that No-Lye is great because it can get the hair straighter, so a + for No-Lye. No-Lye relaxers are less damaging to the scalp so there are no scabs to speak of, no unsightly dandruff, and so ++. However, No-Lye causes the hair to become porous (meaning the pH level can be off which causes dry or over moisturized hair), more so for some than others. I know that the hair that I have that is No-Lye does not absorb product as well as my hair that is Lye, so -. This can be solved by using a chelating shampoo at least once a month and a porosity controled shampoo to be sure the hair has a balanced pH. My hair is balanced with the use of Roux porosity control and I do chelate occassionally. However, this is not necessary if I use lye!

On the other hand Lye relaxers are better for my hair. The hair that is relaxed with Lye is smooth, moisturized and so ++. I do not burn from Lye, but since it is harsher that is always a possibility, so -. If this ever happened my scalp would have to heal and then the hair could start growing again, so not ideal! However I have yet to experience this, so no harm no foul. Really I have not experienced any adverse affects from using Lye and so I will use Lye from now on. My hair air dries better with Lye.

This is not true for everyone, but as I said this is my experience.

Week 12: Old Braid Out Bun

(Old Picture)

In this picture I tried this style with hair that had been airdryed staraight. Not cute! This bun is best done on hair that has been in a braidout for a day or two. So yesterday I washed and styled my hair in a braidout and today its dry and I did the bun that Traycee shows in the video below. Trust me it looks much better that way. So, below is the video on how to achieve this cute style!

Things to come

Relaxer:
I will relax Friday and cut! I am more than excited because my new growth has definitely taken over my hair. I am sticking to ORS, so no surprises there. My next stretch will once again be twelve weeks and I will once again try to do different styles, I am shooting for 24 weeks of different styles and techniques. We will see if I can make it. All suggestions are welcome!

Product Reivews to come:
Phyto Organics Humectin
Hairveda StriNillah Mask
Hairveda Whipped Clouds

Topics:
Oils
Butters
How I store Ayurvedic Powders
How I store Ayurvedic Tea's
and more....

Feel free to let me know what you want to see and hear and I will do my best to accomadate!

Week 11: Southerntease Bun

(old Picture)

This week since I have so much new growth, this is the perfect style. Plus I have a job interview and audition this week and this bun looks elegant and sophisticated enough for that purpose. The creator of the blog, mane and chic claims this bun as her signature style which is why its called the southerntease bun. Instructions can be found in this video:

An Update on my sister's progress

So, my sister has achieved another goal! The back of her hair has caught up with with the rest of her hair! She's also achieved slightly thicker hair. She went to the salon last Thursday and was relaxed with Affirm Fibergaurd. She had the stylist even out her longer upper strands with the bottom hair length, so there is not much more noticible length, but the difference in thickness is visible. No more see through hair since she has been using JBCO(Jamaican Black Castor Oil) after washing and in between washes which equals out to about once a week.

Here's a six month thickness and length comparison:


Here's a photo that shows the amount of length that was cut off:

As you can see, it was necessary and had to happen sometime.

Also, a long term comparison:


Her next goal is APL by January. Let's wish her luck- she's doing so well!

My Favorite Relaxed Youtubers

As we all know, I love youtube tutorials. I just like to see people who know what they are doing talk about healthy haircare, styling and their journey. I usually look for women who stick with the hair practices that I stand by, have clear instructions and reviews, and keep the videos coming. So, in alphabetical order:

alraines

caisha1

chinablk

dontspeakdefeat

goldenchild789

HairliciousInc

JustThisGirl1

KISSseventyseven

Macheriehair

SalonCabelo

southerngapeach

sylver2

Hair Typing

There are several systems out there to help you determine you "Hair Type." These systems classify not only your curly/straightness level, but also how coarse or how smooth the hair is. I do not subscribe completely to hair typing, I just don't think you need all of the little letters from a-z, but it helps. If you are trying to find products or hair styles it does help to find someone with your hair type to determine the likeliness of those products or styles working on your hair. So here's the basics and all that I think you need to know:

Type 1=Straight Hair
Type 2=Wavy Hair
Type 3=Curly Hair
Type 4=Kinky/Coily Hair

NaturallyCurly.com has a great description of hair types with pictures.

Checked Your Nails Lately?

Did you know that your fingernails can stunt your hair growth? I'm not saying that some magical force inside is connected to your fingernails! However, those jagged edges or just really long nails can take some hair out when you massage, scratch or even run your fingers through your hair. So, just be sure to keep those nails manicured before messing with your hair.

I KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE SETBACK!

Its stupid really, but as you know I have been saying it was the relaxer. Guess what! It WAS the relaxer or should I say relaxers.

So, on my Setback Pt. 2 post a reader asked me to do a post about what I learned from this setback. I called my sister today after thinking about it so that she could give me some input on my answer. I really could not think of much because I did not do anything wrong. We went over what happened that day because she was there and she reminded me of something very very crucial!

The stylist ran out of the relaxer I bought and so she applied another brand of relaxer! I know better than this, you should never ever apply two different brands to the head. Relaxers are a chemical and each one is made in specific portions from that company. When mixing relaxers from different companies an unwanted chemical reaction can occur that is adverse to the health of the hair. Lo and Behold the place where she applied the different relaxer (where they overlapped, she put the relaxers on top of each other) is the place where my hair broke off!

In my defense I have never had to use more than one jar of relaxer on my head when self relaxing and since the stylist saw that I only had one jar she probably should not have been so heavy handed, but you live and you learn.

This makes me feel sooooo much better. I should never have let her do that to my hair, I KNOW Better. I do not blame the stylist because I should have told her not to and relaxed the other part the next day with another jar from the same brand. It was stupid and as a result my hair suffered.

I feel better because I know that I have not been doing anything wrong. My hair thrives under my care and as a result I think I will just stick to doing my own hair. Aside from the occasional wash and set done at the hair dresser I will be doing all major services to my own hair.

Its great just knowing!

Week 10: Braided Bun

(Old Picture)

Coming to the end of this stretch and my new growth is monsterous. The braided bun is a cute bun that can be jazzed up with beads, shells, etc. I just think its a great way to jazz up the classic bun.

Traycee from the Keep It Simple Sista blog shows you how to achieve this style in this video:

Setback Pt. 2

OK, so this is the part of my setback that frustrates me the most which is why it has taken me so long to post about it. The breakage. I have a whole middle portion of my hair that broke off severely. So what am I going to do about it?

Well I am going to keep the same regimen, but I am also going to cut my hair shorter one more time. I am going to cut it all to BSL and keep it there while I wait for the broken section of my hair to catch up. I am going to relax at 12 weeks (Sept. 23) and then cut to BSL. I am doing this in the hope that most of the broken hair gets close to APL by December (its mostly SL ), if not then by March 2010 for sure. Once all of my hair is BSL again I will grow it back to Waistlength once again. What can I say, its a really significant amount of hair and at longer lengths I feel it looks sad compared to what my hair can look like.

As usual, the pics. It was kind of hard to capture this on my own, so I did my best to make the hair that's broken stand up while the rest of the hair lays down.



Try again:

So nope

I remembered why I relaxed in the first place and I have decided to stay relaxed. I go through this soooo very often. Anyways, I am going to make some changes. I need to simplify things and not use so much Ayurveda. So I intend to use Henna as needed and mostly use tea's before co-washing. I need to just simplify things for myself for awhile. So, no natural, but I will be changing my regimen. I will deep condition and co-wash once a week without Ayurvedic powders.

For Real this Time: Back to Natural

Yes, ladies. I am going back natural. I miss it and after my setback I really want my natural hair back. I have nothing against relaxing and I still will never knock women who choose to be relaxed. I intend to transition for at least 9 months, I really want to transition for a year, but time will tell. If I do end up chopping early, no sooner than 6 months for sure, then I will put some braids or kninky twists in for a time.