You've Gotta Be Kidding Me - No Henna!!!

"After work today I popped into my local Tesco hoping to pick up a few boxes of henna.  Tesco are completely out of stock and don't appear to be selling any Ayuuri products whatsoever.  I insisted that the Manager check the ordering system and it confirmed that the item was Not In Stock and was unavailable to order.  This is not great news.  I really like using this brand as I knew what I was getting every time I used it.  I will need to go to my local Indian store tomorrow to track down some BAQ henna and no doubt pay over the odds for it...!"

Wash Day Diary: 24.12.11

"I decided to wash my hair on Christmas eve as I figured I wouldn't have enough time to get it done on another day during the holidays.  It was a pretty straight forward cowash."

1.  Detangled in 4 x sections using AVJ as my detangler.
2.  Pre-poo with coconut oil.
3.  Deep conditioned with a few more spritz's of AVJ, grapeseed oil and AOHSR which is the first time I have used this.  Covered with a plastic bag and put my hand held dryer on to heat it up a bit.  Left to sit for 30mins.
4.  Cowashed out using Treseme Moisture Rich Conditioner (not sure why I've not used this in ages, it made my hair feel wonderfully soft.  Rinsed.
5.  Cowashed again using Nutrine Garlic Conditioner. I love this stuff.  Rinsed.
6.  Placed towel on my head for 5 mins then applied leave ins; Elasta H2o, AVJ, Giovanni Direct Leave In, Grapeseed Oil and Giovanni Frizz Be Gone serum.  Applied JBCO to my scalp.
7.  Left to 80% dry before detangling and two strand twisted before putting into two side buns to stretch out the texture to make it more manageable.

8. Once dry, I applied some Shea Goodness Serum to my scalp and a little coconut oil to my strands for shine.

On Christmas day I covered the buns with my lace front.  Since then, I have worn my hair in two flat twists and M&S twice daily.  I plan on doing a henna gloss treatment this weekend as it's overdue and my 'wisdom hairs' are really announcing their presence!

Ciao 4 Now

Product Haul: December 2011

"I made the decision to purchase only two products this month, although they are pricey ones but both are things I have been dying to try out!  These two items are Joico Moisture Recovery Leave In Conditioner and Kerastase Masque Nutri-Thermique.  I didn't get either of these this month"

This is actually what I brought this month:

Giovanni Direct Leave In  £6.39
Giovanni Frizz Be Gone Serum £6.39
Aubrey Organic Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner £8.41


Total Spend This Month = £21.16

Not very much this month - about £5 per week which is great.

I am hoping there will be some sales coming up on the dearer products that I want to try before I decide to shell out on them.  Also going to use up some of my existing stuff and doctor up the stuff I don't like, by adding oils, aloe vera juice and coconut milk to make them more useful to My HAIR.

Ciao 4 Now

Texlaxing: Is It Right For My HAIR....?

"Since my severe under processing (which I know I keep on going on and on and on about....!) I have been reassessing whether texlaxing is the right thing for me.  As a new year approaches and being 18 months into my HHJ with disappointing progress, I'm wondering whether I should change my relaxer practices to one which could be a little easier to manage when it comes to my relaxer."

Don't get me wrong, I love texlaxed hair.  Texlaxing has made my hair appear fuller, especially when air dried.  Even bearing this in mind, I don't know if it is the way to continue to go for me.  If my hair could look as lovely as Miss Kibibi's or Zan and Rob's hair then that would be all good and you wouldn't hear any kinda complaining from me.  But, as we all know, no two heads of hair are the same, nor are the environmental conditions which support the growth.  I am just thinking that maybe I should try to find another way.  Somewhere in between the bone straight relaxer result I got when I used to go to a stylist and the highly varied texture which I currently have.

Yes, my hair fell out real bad when I was bone straight, but that was down to a mixture of things.  Although I used to buy great produts (soley the Keracare line) and take care of my hair to some extent, I really knew nothing about really taking care of my hair, apart from how my hair felt and looked.  I  had some bad practices also combined with a not so great diet and I also had my touch up and trim done every 5-6 weeks and only went to the salon once a year for a treatment (although I used to do these regularly at home).  I know that the frequency of the touch ups are the big contributory factor in damage which ultimately thinned out my hair and then this was only exacerbated by the low iron related shedding which would have been far worse if I had not embarked on this HHJ 6 months prior.

I am feeling really pissed off with my hair at the moment.  Yes, it is longer..  Yes, it is stronger....  Yes, it is healthier.......BUT  it looks so damn thin!  This is despite all my hard work, time, effort and lets not forget money......!!!  In the back of my mind I know it will take a while for my hair to recover from the serious shedding I experienced for months, if not years.  In reality I think it will take as long to get better as it did to get so bad.   I just need to be patient, but paitence is not one of my strong suits.

I have very fine strands and low density, although when I look back at pictures I think my density was more on the medium to low than the low low low low that it is now.  At the moment my strands seem stunted to me.   It is only now since this last relaxer that I have truly realised just how bad my shedding was in the past.  I literally couldn't touch my hair without losing precious strands...it really was that bad! I left strands of hair everywhere.  Now, I can M&S then style my hair and lose less than 5 strands to shedding or breakage combined during the whole process!  This is how it should be.  I really feel like I have lost out on at least a year of my HHJ which really hacks me off!  I am so deflated by my lack of progress.  I've had to trim and cut my hair last year like it's going out of fashion.  Another trim will be coming up when I do the corrective as it's been over 7 months since my last trim/cut.

At the moment my hair looks pretty thick because it has been air-dried. I think I should pack away my flat iron and blow-drier for 6 months and only use them on my lace unit and just air dry or roller set my hair for 6 months.  I will also continue to take my iron tablets, L-lysine and MSM as I have slacked off this for the past month and see where I am at the end of the 6 months.  (I would love to join Longing 4 Lengths roller-setting challenge but I am rubbish at challenges so joining in would set me up for failure.  I might join in unofficially  which is what I did for Love Your Tresses 6 month protective styling challenge.  I started late (half-way through) but I still carried on for the 6 months and got great growth and retention).

So, back to the original subject matter of this post.   I think I've decided that when I do my corrective relaxer I will take some of the texture out of my texlaxed strands by pulling the relaxer down through the under-processed areas and only putting preservo on the texlaxed section and vaseline on the previously relaxed sends, which I will probably cut off.  This way my hair will have a smoother feel and appearance and will need less heat when I straighten my hair. It should be easier to detangle, less prone to dryness and breakage.  The only part of my hair that I think I will continue to texlax will be my nape as it seems to be working for me in this particular area.

I hope I can manage to hit some hair goals in 2012 which will put a smile on my face....!

Ciao 4 Now

Wig Wars: The Winning Wig...!!!

"Okay, so I've had both of my units for a while now so it's about time for a review.  I must admit that I'm going to have to approach this differently to my initial plans as when I was gearing up to wear the wigs for the first time I was pushed for time and did not get time to take as many pictures as I'd planned.  Anyway here goes - The Wig Wars Ultimate Unit!"

Okay, to make things simpler for the purpose of this side by side review, I will refer to the units as follows:

The Full Lace = (FL)                                             The Lace Front  =  (LF)

I will give each a mark out of 3, 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest score, then I'll tally up the scores at the end in order to decide upon an overall winner.

Cornrows: My 1st Attempt!

 "I DID IT!!!"  

True, they ain't all that pretty or uniform but they will keep my hair very nicely protected underneath my wig for the next 5 days.  I am very proud of myself that my first attempt went so well and that they took less than 30mins to complete.




Ciao 4 Now

Update on My HAIR: Thickness & Length Check #3

"It's been exactly 6 months since my last length check and update.  I'm not really fussed (at the moment) about reaching a particular length goal, I just want my hair to thicken up, quit shedding and experience zero set backs between my updates, which I am happy to continue doing on a half year basis."

Overall I am pleased with the length but I am less than pleased with the thickness when blow-dried and or flat ironed.  Just aswell I rarely use heat so it shouldn't be a problem for the next 2 months as I will be pretty much 100% PSing until my next relaxer.

Taken with my mobile straight after washin and blowdrying 16.12.11

Comparison Shots June 2011 & December 2011:

Left Side

Right Side

Back

Nape

Nape December 2011

Although my hair has grown, personally I think it looks a bit crap!  The ends look so thin in these photos when compared to my cut in June so I will need to trim these which I'd expected to do yesterday but I ran out of time and to be honest, I didn't know how much I should cut.  I will postpone my trim until after my next relaxer so I can have a true view of my hair.





Ciao 4 Now

Wash Day Diary 16.12.11

"Last night was wash night.  It took ages, I started around 7pm and was finished by midnight!!!"  I really need to find a way to cut down the amount of time it takes, but I also don't want to start rushing the process either, especially when it comes to detangling and also doing the whole wash process in sections as the steps that I take during these parts greatly decreases the amount of hair I lose."

1.  Detangled with aloe vera juice.

2.  Pre-poo with a mix of Vatika hot oil treatment (strengthening), aloe vera juice, glycerin, grapeseed oil, L'Oreal Elvive Full Restore Masque, applied in sections, twisted then added some ORS Mayonise to the ends as this was almost finished.

3.  Shampoo washed in sections with ORS Creamy Aloe, then again with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo.

4.  Applied Aphogee 2 Minute Reconstructor to towel blotted hair and left on for 5mins.

5.  DC'd with some left over conditioner mix from my last relaxer and mixed in some aloe vera juice, glycerin, Roux Porosity Control and little bit of JASON biotin conditioner which I've had hanging around for ages and only used once as a pre-poo.

6.   Rinsed and had a final cold rinse.

7.  Applied leave ins - aloe vera juice,  Infusium 23, Elasta QP H2 and CHI Silk infusion.  After 10 mins I added some Giovanni Direct Leave In and Giovanni Frizz Be Gone Serum and CHI Iron Guard.

8.  Blow-dried using my Toni & Guy Dryer using the pik attachment.

This process took ages but went really well I lost hardly any hair, only one strand came out during the first detangling session and less than 10 in the last detangling session so it wasn't worth taking a picture.   It was also really easy to detangle my hair, although anything would seem that way after dealing with 6 months post new growth!!!

I had a good opporutnity to assess my under processed areas and as a result I think I may just wait 8 weeks and just do my corrective whilst I relax my new growth and just not bother stretching this particular relaxer.  I'll wait and see how it goes.

Ciao 4 Now

My HAIR Plans

"So, after the mishap which was my last relaxer I have decided to plan ahead for my wash day's over the next 5 weeks before my corrective relaxer."

I have been checking out my hair and I am definitely under-processed in several areas.  I am currently trying to ascertain what corrective relaxing process to adopt in order to correct this;

Option 1
 Do I...wait 5-6 weeks and then correct the under processed areas only and then stretch my relaxer for a further 8 weeks?

Or

Option 2
Do I...wait 10 weeks, relax my new growth using the half and half method and then smooth down over the parts that are under-processed during the last 5-8 mins of processing time - depending on level of under-processing as some parts are worse than others?

To be honest, knowing me (let's say I can be a little impatient...) and knowing My HAIR (quite dry, fragile with shedding issues), I think that Option 1 is what I will most likely end up doing.  I feel that this option will give my hair less chance to break off in the the next few weeks at my self-made-line of demarcation, especially in the most severely under-processed areas which are in the back and on the sides - actually, it's all over my head - who am I kidding!??!.  I definitely want to avoid another set-back after all the hair I have lost in the last year due to excessive shedding caused by my iron deficiency..

For now the plan to get me through the next 3-4 weeks will be as follows:

I think this should work nicely, although I've never been in this situation before.  Right about now I am even more pleased that I have my full lace unit!

Tomorrow will be wash day so I will follow the steps for 1 week post and they will be as follows: 

Wash Day #1
* Detangle - with aloe vera juice and grapeseed oil
* Pre Poo - with grapeseed oil, glycerin and L'oreal Elvive Full Restore 5 Mask with heat cap
* Shampoo Wash - 1st lather with ORS Creamy Aloe
* Cowash - 2nd lather with Hair One Cleanser
* Protein Treatment - Either ORS Hair Mayo and Alter Ego mixed with oil with heat or Aphogee 2 min reconstructor (for 5 mins)
* Deep Condition - Moisturising conditioner mixed with aloe vera and a little glycerin

Looks like I have a long evening ahead of me tomorrow....

By the way, does anyone happen know whether it will be a problem with putting my kinky twists back in my hair about 3 weeks after the corrective relaxer?  This will help me during the stretch and will keep manipulation to a minimum.

Ciao 4 Now

Relaxer #3

"After 6 months of stretching I've decided that I can no longer take another wash day with my multi textured hair, so time to grab my trusty pot of Affirm Fiber Guard Lye Relaxer."

Again I followed my ritual of booking my mum in beforehand to get her to help me out with applying the relaxer to the back of my head, leaving me to concentrate on the front and the nape.

Below are the steps I followed this time:

1.  I still had my higgle-dy-piggle-dy plaits in so I set about the monumental task of detangling these one by one.  I first spritzed the plaits with aloe vera juice and then applied a little grapeseed oil to ease detangling. I chose this method as it resulted in minimal hair loss whilst removing my last set of kinky twists.

These plaits sure ain't pretty, but they are pretty effective!

2.  Once I finished detangling a section I applied some Affirm Preservo (Step 1) and then some Roux Porosity Control to each section before putting into a two strand twist.  The whole detangling session took me about an hour - AGES!!!  But I had to do it properly and gently so as not to loose an unecessary amount of hair.
 

Detangled and ready for the creamy crack!

3.  After detangling and  protecting my hair it was time to apply the relaxer (Step 2).  My mum and I agreed on how much new growth there was to cover so we put on our gloves, I set the timer and we proceed to apply the creamy crack!  I don't know what my mum was doing back there, I couldn't see, but any time I felt that the ends were touching relaxer I told my mum and she moved them straight away.  In the front I seperated each two strand into 4 parts and then applied loads of relaxer to my new growth.  It was at this stage that I realised that it was difficult to judge how far down the hair shaft without overlapping.

4.  The whole application process took about 20mins.  The alarm went off after 15mins but I still had to do my nape at this stage and smooth through slightly before rinsing out.  After I'd finished apply the relaxer to my nape the left hand side of my head started to feel like it was burning.  I wasn't surprised about the burning because I'd made the decision to use the relaxer straight out of the tub because I didn't know how much relaxer I would need to use.  Alas, this meant that I couldn't add any olive oil to the relaxer...

5.  Once I started smoothing through I realised that a section of about half an inch hadn't really been covered by the relaxer **yep, I had some issues!!!** I then began smoothing the relaxer down a little more but at this stage I could leave the relaxer on longer because the roots were getting straighter and I didn't want them bone straight....!  Oh, and did I mention that my scalp was starting to burn!!!?

I washed out the relaxer about 1 minute after this picture was taken as my scalp was starting to tingle

6.  I then rinsced out the relaxer throughly and could tell that sections mainly on the left hand side of my head had been underprocessed.  Not too much of a biggie, I would prefer under rather that over processed hair any day!

Smoothing:  Can you see that massive section where the relaxer is not thickly applied....?  That is where I am now underprocessed...

7.  Next I applied some Trespak reconstructor to my hair for 5 mins before washing out with the Affirm Normalising Shampoo (step 4).  I rinsed and repeated the shampoo process.  It states on the package to do this a maximum of twice, what a load of shi*e, my hair needed more than that I would not feel comfortable leaving my hair after two shampoos - which I did throughly, the lather was still pink.  I then did one more shampoo with Organics Creamy Aloe Shampoo and then once more with the Affirm Normalising Shampoo, just to be sure all traces of relaxer were out of my hair.

8.  I then applied a healthy amount of Affirm Sustenance Conditioner (Step 3, yes step 3, I messed up with the steps, I was supposed to apply this after the Trespak but I got well and truly mixed up - probably due to fussing over the underprocessed hair!) I mixed the Sustenance with some hemp seed oil and left on for about 10mins without heat - to be honest, I couldn't be bothered to apply any heat at the stage, I was ready for my bed.

9.  After about 10mins I rinsed the Sustenance out of my hair and then applied some Keracare Humecto mixed with hemp seed oil and some aloe vera juice.  I left this mix on my hair for a further 10mins then finished with an ACV rinse.

10.  Next I put a towel on my head for 5 mins before spraying with aloe vera juice, my leave ins and a little moisturiser before sealing with grapeseed oil before airdrying to 70% dry.  At this stage I detangled gently and retwisted my hair into 9 two strand twists.......took a few pictures and then went 'bout my business!

Right side

Front

Left side (not balding, just bad parting - I hope!)

Back - You can see my underprocessed areas quickly

Back:  This is the texture I want all over my head.

Total Hair Lost:  1st - During first detangling prior to relaxer application 2nd during wash process 3rd during final detangling session

Total hair lost (compacted)

I plan on using Mrs D from 6 Foot Long Hair's corrective relaxer process when I do mine in 5 weeks time.

Length check and results to come next week. 

Ciao 4 Now

All I Want For Christmas Is.....

"I would like loads of hair products and a new glueless lace unit!"

I really wish that people would take me seriously in that I really really really want hair products for Christmas.  There are so many products that I want to try and most of them are pretty expensive which is why I've taken my time about getting them.  Below is my top 5 list of things I want to try and they are things that I am hoping are underneath the tree for me this Christmas.

1. Kérastase Masque Nutri-Thermique  £19.43
2. Joico K Pak Reconstructor £11.99
3. Joico Moisture Recovery Leave In Conditioner £12.40
4. Joico Moisture Recovery Treatment Balm £9.99
5. GluelessFull Lace Unit from Lacewigsfront.com

Pretty short list and I have left off a whole lotta items that I really do want, but for now I will be more than happy happy happy if someone sees fit to purchase one or all of these items for me.  I wonder what Santa will bring aferall, I have been a very good girl this year heheheee...!!

The only other thing that I want is Amy Winehouse's Lioness album and Prada Candy perfume.

Think I will be directing my loved ones to this particular post!!!  (",) 

Only 14 more sleeps till Christmas.....I'm looking forward to it, even though I have managed to talk myself into cooking for guests (well my sister and her family so not really guests in the tradditional sense, as she can find her backside in the kitchen along with me and help cook!!!) dinner and an overnight stay.

Right, off to start the relaxer process of this 6 month post hair of mine...!

Ciao 4 Now

Product Haul: November 2011

"I've brought quite a bit this month, really most of it is some vital and long overdue restocking and the other part is the PJ in me coming to the surface...!"

Restocking indicated by *

Vatika Hair Fall Control Cream £2.49 (Tesco)
* Hemp Seed Oil £5.99 (Tesco)
Matrix Biolage Cera Repair £12.50 (Super Cuts Salon)
Elasta QP H2 Leave In Spray £2.99 (Local BSS)
* Roux Porosity Control Conditioner/Corrector £3.99 (Local BSS)
* Large bottle of Jamaican Black Castor Oil £14 (Shea Butter Cottage)
* KeraCare Humecto Conditioner £6.99 (Local BSS)
* Large bottle of Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo £2.99 (Local BSS) 
* Shea Goodness Growth Support Serum £13.00

Total Spend This Month = £64.94

Ciao 4 Now

Just A Little Funny...!

"Last night I got into bed and my boyfriend commented that I smelt kinda smokey.  I was very impressed that he could easily decipher the smell as smokey!  I then informed him it was because I had just massaged some JBCO into my edges and nape.  I also explained that the unrefined castor oil smells this way and the JBCO helps to make my hair grow in thicker.  He said that was "great" but what wasn't so great is that he said that "I smelt like fag ash!".  Charming.   This is a far cry from the smokey I had conjoured up in my head, I was thinking more like a log fire - not cigarettes!   I will continue to use the JBCO, despite the smell, although I may mix in some essential oils so I don't smell like a flipping ashtray!!! 

Oooh, Love That...!

"O.L.T....Finally...!"

Here is the link to our new blog  http://ooohlovethat.blogspot.com/

Be great if you could check it out, and of course follow if you like what you see so far...

Let me know what you think ladies, your opinion is very important as fellow bloggers an' all...!

Ciao 4 Now