In my last post, I documented how I suffered from major breakage and how I have recovered so far. I am almost armpit length but as mentioned in the last post, I have a row of breakage at the back of my hair which is currently trying to play catch up to meet the longer lengths.
I am really serious about getting my length back as soon as possible, so I have put a plan together to help me on my way and hopefully achieve my goal of retaining length:
Castor Oil challenge
o Oil scalp every night with Jamaican black castor oil
o Add JBCO to my deep conditioner
o Add JBCO to my oil mix to seal my hair.
I have done the castor oil challenge a few times now and have really noticed a difference to the thickness and general health of my hair after the 12 weeks have passed so I have decided to do my own challenge to help with my goal.
I will be oiling my scalp every evening with Jamaican black castor oil which I have mixed with extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil and avocado oil. My hair is always in a bun or updo so I don't have to worry about ym hair looking or feeling weighed down and if it does, I will co-wash midweek.
I will add 1-2 teaspoons of JBCO to my weekly deep conditioners and also add JBCO to my oil mix which I use to seal my hair following on from a moisturiser.
Hair Vitamins
I purchased Vitamins for the Hair from Holland & Barrett which is for maintenance of normal hair and hair colour. I read the reviews beforehand and read good feedback so I thought I would give them a try. I had a blood test recently and I am anaemic with low blood pressure so I am taking these vitamins to give my hair a bit of oomph.
No Heat
I haven't used heat since 27th December and I plan to keep it that way. I will be air-drying on wash days and when my new growth gets too much for me, I will blow-dry my hair with cool air.
Low Manipulation Hairstyles.
This is an easy goal for me as I never wear my hair down for work and at the moment whilst I am trying to grow out the back layer of my hair, it makes it easier to keep my hair in a low manipulation protective style throughout the weekends too. If I have an event or am going out in the evening, I will blow-dry my hair with cool hair and I am always happy with the results.
Following my mid-neck bob cut, I realised I was starting my hair journey all over again. I knew I would be dealing with shorter length hair than I had in quite a while however I wasn't realistic about my previous regime working for me with my new short cut.
I had just assumed that I would stick to my routine of using no heat on my hair at all and have my easy simple wash days where I washed, air-dried and kept it moving but with my kind of cut I had get used to flat ironing my hair with every wash day so I had to change things up.
I was so used to washing my hair every weekend with the occasional mid week co-wash but knowing whenever I washed meant using heat, I had no choice but to switch my wash days from every week to every other week and that was a huge deal for me going from no heat to heat twice a month.
Washdays couldn't be spontaneous as I needed to ensure I had time to air-dry and then flat iron so depending on my plans, I would pre-poo overnight either Friday or Saturday night and then wash first thing in the morning to get my hair out of the way. Before my cut, I used to wash my hair with a sulfate free shampoo three times a month, clarifying every 4 weeks. After my cut, I had switched to fortnightly washdays so I began to use ORS Creamy Aloe shampoo which is a sulfate shampoo; with every wash to ensure all build up had been removed.
The biggest thing I missed was moisturising and sealing my hair each night and oiling my scalp every other night. With my hair flat ironed and making it last two weeks at a time, I had to moisturise and seal sparingly and only oil my scalp the night before washday. Things had changed quite drastically and although I really loved the cut, I couldn't wait to get some growth so my hair would be long enough for low manipulation styles so I could avoid heat and just air-dry.
It has been four months since the cut and following my relaxer touch up on 24th July, my hair is now shoulder length. My hair is now long enough for me to just air-dry and wear low manipulation styles such as buns and updos which means I am no longer relying on heat. My relaxer touch up could've gone better, my new growth came out straighter than I anticipated which is annoying as since my cut in April I am now officially fully texlaxed. My texture is by no means uniform from root to tip but I have got rid of all my relaxed ends, making my hair so much thicker which is why I couldn't get away with the bob style without the use of heat.
I will be getting all future trims done professionally at the Electric Hair salon, at least until I manage to grow out my hair to armpit length. Getting my trims done at the salon means there will be the use of heat, I am due for a trim now and will be booking an appointment for Friday 9th September as its my mums birthday weekend so it will be nice to have my hair blowdried and flat ironed for the special occasion.
Saturday 16th January 2016
It is official, winter is here and this cold weather in the UK is no joke... I had no intentions of going anywhere but to the mother-in-laws for a lazy evening yesterday so decided to pack all the hair necessities and wash my hair whilst I was there.
Before I left home, I pre-pooed with extra virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil to make life easier so I could wash my hair as soon as I arrived and get on with deep conditioning and air-drying in a timely manner. Despite my good intentions, I got there and could not be bothered to start washing hair and having to sit under the dryer etc whilst the rest of the family watched films so I continued to pre-poo which ended up being for 4-5 hours.
When we got home later in the evening (after 10pm), I headed straight upstairs and washed my hair using Creme of Nature moisture & shine shampoo, lathering twice.
After towel drying for 5 minutes I did a medium protein treatment using ORS Hair Mayonnaise mixed with my castor oil mix, covered with a plastic cap, spritzed the inside of a second plastic cap and wore it on top of the previous plastic cap (for a steaming effect) then sat under the hood dryer for 40 minutes.
I rinsed my hair then applied Creme of Nature Intensive Conditioning Treatment mixed with my castor oil mix, covered with a plastic cap, spritzed the inside of a second plastic cap and wore on top of the previous plastic cap then sat under the hood dryer for 20 minutes.
Once rinsed I t-shirt dried for 30 minutes then applied my leave-ins; Creme of Nature Straight from Eden leave in, Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter leave in and sealed with Inecto Pure Coconut Oil Serum in sections and detangled each section as I went along with a wide tooth comb and then smaller medium tooth comb to ensure my hair was tangle free.
I air-dried using the scarf method and when 90% dry I moisturised and sealed with Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter moisturizer and my avocado oil and lavender JBCO. I oiled my scalp with my oil mix (extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, avocado oil & lavender JBCO) and massaged for 5 minutes, then put my hair in a loose pun secured with a satin scrunchie and tied my hair down with a satin scarf ready for bed.
This morning I took off my satin scarf and this is the result. My hair is feeling moist, soft, manageable and so bouncy.
How was your wash day this week?
Sunday's wash day had to be quick and easy as I had to to be ready and out of the door by 2.30pm for my sister in law's baby shower and I could not afford to be late.
Here are the steps followed for yesterday's washday:
Pre-pooed my hair with my virgin coconut oil on Saturday evening and left in overnight. On Sunday morning as soon as I woke up I shampooed using Crème of Nature Moisture & Shine Sulfate free Shampoo.
Towel dried for 5 minutes then deep conditioned with ORS HaiRepair Nourishing Conditioner mixed with my Castor oil mix of Lavender JBCO & pure castor oil, covered with a plastic cap and sat under hood dryer for 30 minutes, rinsing once cool.
T-shirt dried for 40 minutes before applying my leave-ins; Crème of Nature Straight from Eden Detangling Leave-in, Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter Leave-in and Crème of Nature Argan Oil. I detangled my hair in sections, added a few drops of Fantasia IC Olive Oil Serum then air dried with a satin scarf laying down my edges.
When my hair was 90% dry I moisturised and sealed using Root2Tip Triple M Miracle Moisture Milk and my Avocado & Castor oil mix (avocado oil, lavender JBCO and pure castor oil). I also oiled my scalp with my castor oil scalp mix; pure castor oil and lavender JBCO and massaged my scalp for 5 minutes before putting my hair in a loose bun and laying my edges with my satin scarf whilst I got ready.
The weather here in the south of the UK was amazingly warm yesterday so I decided to wear my hair down...
Here are the steps followed for yesterday's washday:
The weather here in the south of the UK was amazingly warm yesterday so I decided to wear my hair down...
How was your wash day?
Sunday 31st May
I'm late posting last weeks wash day as I had such a hectic week. These are the steps I followed for last weeks wash day:
I pre-pooed using Virgin Coconut Oil on dry hair, covered with a plastic cap and left on overnight (Saturday night). On Sunday morning, I shampooed with Creme of Nature Moisture & Shine Shampoo and then tea rinsed with Green tea.
I towel dried and then deep conditioned with ORS Nourishing Conditioner mixed with a teaspoon of pure castor oil, covered with a plastic cap and sat under the hood dryer for 30 minutes.
T-shirt dried for 30 minutes then spritzed my hair with ORS Olive Oil Girls Leave in Detangler and finger detangled my hair. Applied leave ins; Root2Tip Honey Rain Juice, Giovanni Weightless Moisture Direct Leave In Conditioner and Crème of Nature Argan Oil before detangling with a wide tooth comb then air dried with a satin scarf securing my edges.
When 85-90% dry, I moisturised and sealed in sections, doing the LCO method using Root2Tip Honey Rain Juice, Root2Tip Triple M Moisture Milk and sealed with Grapeseed Oil. I oiled my scalp with my oil mix; Lavender JBCO and Virgin Coconut Oil. I put my hair in a loose bun and secured with a satin scrunchie and covered with a satin scarf before bed.
I'm late posting last weeks wash day as I had such a hectic week. These are the steps I followed for last weeks wash day:
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How was your wash day this week?
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