Well Hello...

I haven't posted anything in at least four months, my role at work changed and time just wasn't on my side to blog consistently, work and have quality time with my family so unfortunately something had to give.

From the end of 2015, I had been mentioning that I was unhappy with my hair as the majority of my length was texlaxed but the relaxed ends were making my hair look so thin especially in a ponytail and I even mentioned the possibility of cutting my hair into a bob for the summer. Well on 21st March as seen in my last relaxer update post, I cut my hair from bra strap length to armpit length myself. Although the trim made quite a difference to my hair, I knew that I still needed to lose a few more inches due to the back left section of my nape suffering with breakage due to having some majorly under processed sections in my hair.

Before cutting my hair to armpit length

I haven't been to a salon in a while as I was so used to doing my own hair but I knew in order to have a cut where I could also wear my hair down when blow-dried or flat ironing my hair, I'd need a proper cut. I have a friend on Facebook and his sister Serina was always uploading photos of her client's hair which always looked amazing and the clients looked really happy so I sent her a direct message and she got back to me within minutes. We had a lengthy conversation about my hair, the fact I'm texlaxed, the breakage suffered and the kind of cut I was after. She works for a salon called Electric Hair in the town centre of Reading Berkshire where I live and told me it was as simple as downloading the Electric Hair app on my iPhone and choosing a date and time convenient for myself ensuring to select her as the specified stylist to do my hair.

Armpit length

I booked myself in for Friday 29th April and headed straight there after work. It was such a pleasant and pampering experience from the minute I walked through the door. I was offered the choice of either, a hot drink, wine or soft drink before I even managed to sit down in the waiting area and  Serina was ready for me within minutes, I was escorted to a base towards the back of the salon mentioning she wouldn't be a fan of people walking past and staring at her from outside as she got her hair done so likes to do the same for her customers.



Once seated we discussed my hair again and she assessed the back section I spoke about and we agreed that realistically if I wanted my hair to be one even length and be able to wear it out, I needed to lose another 4-5 inches (yep hurtful times) which to be honest I already expected and had prepared myself for it. Serina did however mention that other than the breakage I was experiencing at the nape, the rest of my hair was in really good condition (which made me feel good as it proved all the hard work on wash days, moisturising and sealing etc was actually paying off).

I was ushered to the washing area and another lady took over to wash and condition followed by a 5 minute head massage which was so good and intense, I was left feeling relaxed and ready to doze off. Anyway with hair all clean and conditioned it was time for the cut. Serina was amazing and made me feel at ease with the way she was handling my hair in general and by making sure to confirm where she'd be cutting to before she began. After my cut, she blow-dried my hair and then went through with the flat iron.

I was in and out of the salon in just over an hour and a very happy customer. I'll be honest I forgot to take a picture of my hair on the day but I took one a couple of days after on the Sunday.

My hair 2 days after the cut on 1st May 2016

Overall, I was really pleased with my cut and my salon experience and have already been back for a wash and blow-dry and will definitely go back for my trims and special occasions. Serina has recently started to do professional hair relaxing at the salon using Mizani hair products and I have promised myself before the end of the year (probably my Christmas or new year touch up) to go and sit down and enjoy someone else doing my relaxer touch-up for a change as we have already discussed how I texlax my hair and her just following my routine so I will let you know how I get on..

The only issue I didn't think about with cutting my hair so short and being texlaxed was that my hair laughed at me when the week after my salon visit I tried to just blow-dry my hair with cool air after wash day and think I was finished. My hair did not look presentable at all so I had to dig my hair straighteners out to flat iron my hair. I went from using little to no heat on my hair over the last few years to having to use heat with each wash day which made me want to cry so I had to tweak my regime to washing my hair every other week and air-drying first before flat ironing using plenty of heat protectant to prevent heat damage. 

May 29th 2016 a month after my cut

Every washday since, I have promised myself not to get into the predicament of having to cut my hair this short ever again unless by choice. The style is really cute and was a complete change for me which I loved and the weather has been good to me majority of the time, but the high maintenance of flat ironing to achieve the style just isn't for me, I can say I've been there, done it and am ready to move on.

I could go on but this post is long enough so in my next post, I'll go into what products I have been using and where my hair is now, four months later.