Havana Twists - 1st Install (19.07.14)

"After many months of procrastination, I installed these Havana twists as a short term protective style for my holiday in Ibiza at the end of July."

A couple of months ago I made a last minute mad dash to Old London Town to pick up some Marley hair as I had an overwhelming urge to install some Havana twists.  Needless to say, when I got home and found my mind [which I had apparently lost shortly before jumping on that London bound train], I realised that really didn't feel like standing in a bathroom for hours on end installing hair - so I just kept wigging it!

Fast forward two months, with vinegar pre-soaked synthethic hair in hand I kept my camera handy to document the install and took a few photos of the process.....

The Big Chop - Simply Into My Hair Naturals

So I fancied a change (again!) since starting my hair journey I just don't know how to style my new hair and have basically been living in wigs and crochet braids, which is great for having a quick style change but I've been looking for something a bit more day to day.

Wash Day Diary @ 39 Weeks Post: 25.04.14

 "I washed my hair again and this time I thought I should take a few pictures to show that I do still have some hair left on my head – despite the shedding!

My hair has shed approximately the same amount for as many weeks as I have been documenting my wash days over the past 6 months plus.  The length of time between my wash days has increased averaging at around three weeks so with this in mind the amount of shedding I experience is similar to that which I would experience if I had my hair in long term protective style then taking down that style after 4 weeks (i.e. crochet braids or a weave) but less than I would experience if I had my hair in kinky twists etc. 

At this point in time I am not sure if my shedding is something to be concerned about or not.   

Anyway, onto my wash day…..

My eBay Lace Front Unit - Flat Ironed and Trimmed

"So, after FINALLY adding a few wefts to my new found best friend, I decided that this week is her week - which includes wearing her to work!"

I still had my curls left in the unit on Monday so I rocked her to work exactly like that....  Some smarty pants said that it looked nice and likened my hair to Esmeralda curls!

Now, this smarty pants may have thought she was being kind/witty but I'm sorry, if you mention the name Esmeralda to me I'm automatically going to think of Quasimodo!!!  So not the look I was going for.....

My HAIR On My Mind: The Future For My HAIR

 

"Over the past month or so I have reached the decision that I will be taking an extended break from relaxing my hair.  Alongside this, I will be cutting the relaxed/texlaxed ends of my hair off over time.  I am hesitant to say that I am ‘going natural’ but what I can say is that having a relaxer doesn’t feature among my hair plans."

I am continually wearing wigs and plan to install some chunky twists in the coming weeks/months.  It has dawned on me that wearing my hair in these styles does not require my hair to be straight.   

Therefore, seeing as I don’t style my hair in a way which requires me to have these straight ends, I don’t really see the point of continuing to struggle with them on wash days.  It is just taking up way too much of my time, time which will be better spent doing other things.  I dread my lengthy wash days because of the tangle struggle and I put off each episode for as long as possible.  I have cut back my regime considerably from what it once was this has all been in the hopes of reducing my wash days.   It would be a breeze if it wasn’t for the relaxed ends.

Wash Diary Diary @ 36 Weeks Post: 02.04.14

 

"Two wash day posts in one day – even though they actually took place almost a month apart!"

Yesterday I finally washed my hair, a whole week later than planned.....  I always know that I need to set aside most of the evening for wash days and that time in my schedule needs to conincide with me feeling up to the task that is Washing My HAIR!

Wash Day Diary @ Alot Of Weeks Post: w/c 03.03.14

"I haven’t posted my previous wash day diary as I never got around to it…. 
I can’t even remember the exact date which is probably because it wasn’t preplanned.  I got home from work one evening around the beginning of the month and realised that I had some serious matting going on in my nape area so plans for the evening where shelved and I got on with my impromptu wash day tout suite!"

This is going to be a rather short post because I was on auto pilot and wasn’t focused on documenting the process; I was way more interested in avoiding more matting and hair loss.

Wash Day Diary @ 28 Weeks Post: 05.02.14 (Hard Protein Treatment)

“I almost couldn’t be bothered to document this wash day. I didn’t feel like taking photos and I really didn’t feel like writing this post!” 

Before this wash day I noticed that I had some breakage at the front of my hairline.   At least I think it's breakage but when your hair has been shedding heavily (falling out from the roots), how do you differentiate between breakage and new hair growing back?

Anyway, as a precaution I have gone back to wearing an inside out skull cap as my preferred wig cap because the smooth satin material doesn't rub my hairline out.  I have no idea why I stopped wearing them for the past month because they work just as well underneath my lace units as a traditional wig cap and aren't visible.

I also decided to add some heavy protein to this wash day.  A few days have passed since the wash day so I am documenting the event for reference purposes. 

A New Lease Of Life For My Old eBay Lace Front Unit

 

 "Some of you may recall that just over two years ago, I went on my first lace wig purchasing spree! In November 2011 I purchased two units from sellers on eBay, one of which was a full lace yaki textured unit and the other was a silky textured lace front unit. It seems I like buying my wigs in pairs juging by my recent purchases from RPG Show and OWigs!"

Anyway, I wore the heck out of my full lace yaki unit but barely wore the lace front silky unit. In the two years I had her I probably worn the unit like 10 times in total!

On once of these occasions I was wearing the unit for date night but I ended up taking the unit off in the back of a taxi and pulling my own hair into a high bun, shoving that wig into my oversized clutch bag! Yep, I did that and all in front of my partner – no judgement! I just didn’t feel comfortable wearing that lace front.

From the outset, in my mind there were a few issues with the unit:

1. I thought the hair was too silky and didn’t look like it could be ‘My Hair’.
2. The cap was a bit too big and the front didn’t lay flat against the front of my head.
3. The hair on the unit behind the lace front is attached to wefts which are stitched to the flesh-toned wig cap. A small gust of wind could be the cause of huge embarrassment!

Now fast forward about 6 months and it so happens I have gained a new love for this unit.

Wash Day Diary @ 26 Weeks Post: 21.01.14

"I realise that it has been quite some time since my last wash day post!  I seem to be settling nicely into my new 2-3 week schedule."

Normally, when I'm not protective styling I would carry out my wash days between the 7 to 10 days mark.  However, due to protective styling with wigs I've realised that it isn’t necessary for me to carry out my wash days so often.  To be honest, I really don’t know how I used to find the time to do this ‘ish every single week!!  Ain’t nobody got time for dat these days!  Well, definitely not this somebody that's for sure!

This was the first wash day in about the past three where I have switched up my choice of pre-poo oil and deep conditioner and I must say I was a little hesitant to do so seeing as I like the results I obtained during previous wash days.  Nevertheless, I had no choice seeing as I’d run out of ORS Hair Mayonnaise!  I also wanted to try a lighter oil than sunflower oil as it can be difficult to rinse out of my twisted strands.

These are the steps I followed:

Long Crochet Braids

Long Crochet Braids - Aftress Deep Twist

New year and a new hair style, Crochet Braids!! Towards the end of last year I'd had enough of my hair having recently started my hair journey and desperately wanted a change.

Wig Review: Introducing - OWigs PS010-S

"I have wanted to get my hands on a full lace glue-less unit for about 2 years.  So, this year I was ready for Black Friday when it rolled around!!"

After watching this video by Buttaripple countless times, and contacting the wonderfully helpful Ebony over at Longing4Length, I jumped on the discount code like a tramp on chips in order to snap up my first glue-less full lace unit from OWigs!


I have a feeling this is going to be a rather lengthy review because I really want to show you all the steps I went through to make this unit my own.  At the moment I don't post YouTube videos so I want to provide as much information on this unit as I can.

So, make yourself nice and comfy – or just skip to the pictures if you don’t want to read about me going on and on about a wig!

Wash Day Diary: @ 24 Weeks Post - 01.01.14

"What better way to start off the New Year than with a wash day!"

I wish I could wholeheartedly agree with that statement however, what with running out of my therapeutic Dermax shampoo, Superdrug having to order it in then not phoning me to tell me when to collect and also generally not having time to do my hair, I wish I had been able to get around to doing it sooner than the last day of my annual leave before returning to work!



These are the steps I followed:

Hiding My Hair – It’s A Long Ting!

 “I started off this now ‘long-term protective styling’ journey accidentally in summer 2013 however, it seems to be morphing into a full on ‘Hide Your Hair Challenge’!” 

When I say ‘challenge’ I use the term very loosely because I’m not finding this to be a challenge at all. It just makes my hair-life so much easier right now.