The Healthy Hair Diary: apl

Relaxer Touch Up - 13 Weeks Post Relaxer & Mini Chop

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Thursday 17th March

I decided enough was enough and I needed to touch-up my hair at 13 weeks post relaxer, last Thursday evening, here is how it went...

Sectioned hair into 4 quadrants then went through each quadrant dividing it into 1 inch sections and applied Roux porosity Control conditioner sealed with olive oil and petroleum jelly and twisted each section for ease of application.

I applied petroleum jelly to my hairline and scalp and then beginning with the back, started applying relaxer to my hair. Timer was set for 22 minutes. Hair was done in exactly 22 minutes so went to wash out of my hair... The water was freezing cold... I ran downstairs and for some reason my boiler wasn't on. I then had to reset the boiler and dash back up the stairs to finally wash the relaxer out.... All I can say is that, my end results are a lot straighter than I hoped and the front two sections of my hair look just about bone straight...

Anyway, I did a mid-step protein treatment with Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor and then went on to neutralize my hair with ORS Creamy Aloe shampoo, lathering 5 times.

Once the relaxer was fully out of my hair, I applied my deep conditioner ORS Replenishing conditioner, sealed with my oil mix of extra virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and grapeseed oil and sat under the hood dryer for 40 minutes.

Once rinsed I t-shirt dried for 25 minutes and then applied my leave-ins, Crème of Nature Strength & Shine leave-in, Aunt Jackie's Quench Moisturizing leave-in and sealed with Fantasia IC Olive oil Serum. I detangled in sections and then air-dried using the scarf method.

Once 90% dry, I moisturised and sealed with Cantu Shea Butter Creamy Lotion and sealed with my grapeseed oil and JBCO oil mix. It was mega late so I just put my hair in a loose bun, covered with a satin scarf and took myself to bed.

The next day was my Mr's birthday so for the day I just put my hair up in a loose bun as we were in the car heading up to London. For Friday night, I just added a little serum and finger combed my hair, wearing it down... I didn't get any pictures... However, here is my hair on Sunday at the end of the day after an unplanned twist out...

My hair was just below bra strap length but as I mentioned before I had experienced some breakage nearly 4-5 months ago which has had a knock on effect to the back length of my hair so I decided to take the plunge and cut my hair back to arm pit length.

Sad times however, there is no point hanging on to long hair when the back is not as long and leaves my ponytail looking thin and when my hair is down well... You can imagine...

My hair grows pretty fast and at arm pit length I rarely wear my hair down except for the odd occasion so I am anticipating that I can get some length back within 5 months taking us to August which is when my birthday is so that is my hair goal. Here is to choosing health over length and to help me along I have just purchased some chewable hair skin and nail tablets which are to be taken twice a day. They are not the greatest tasting tablets and are quite chalky but hey needs must and I am so serious about getting my length back...

apl

Corrective Relaxer Update - 23.03.14

Sunday, April 20, 2014

apl

My 1st Hair Journey Setback - 2 Inch Trim (26.04.13)

Saturday, June 01, 2013

At 8 weeks post, I had a shock of a lifetime, I had faced my first setback since starting my hair journey last year. On Thursday evening (25.04.13) after washing my hair and air-drying, I noticed that at least the last two inches of my ends were thin and see through, it was 10.30pm at night and if I could of I'd of got to a hair salon there and then. I called my boyfriend to examine my hair and I'm sure he was just being polite as he said it didn't look that bad at all but I was determined these ends had to go and reminded myself that my goal is to have healthy hair so I had to choose health over length.

My boyfriend suggested I try a new salon as I always complain whenever I get my hair trimmed with my usual hair dressers as they always end up cutting off way more hair than I agreed to but when it's done it's too late. I had been told about a salon in Reading used by quite a few girls I know so decided to book an appointment with them the very next morning.

The Salon is called Belle Hair, based in Reading and they also have another salon in London I believe. At work on Friday I was excited for the end of the day as I couldn't wait to get rid of the dead ends and have healthy looking hair again but as the time came closer I was also nervous and annoyed that I obviously wasn't assessing my hair as good as I had thought otherwise my ends wouldn't have got to the stage where they looked thin and dead.

From the minute I walked through the door, I felt at ease, I was greeted with a smile and the girl at reception informed me that she had not too long ago spoken to my boyfriend on the phone who had rung to emphasise that I was only in for a trim and to warn them I may not even agree to a hot blow-dry as I was on a hair journey. I had to laugh as he knows I mean business when it comes to my hair and he's also worried that someone will cut off my hair and he loves long hair. I was then taken to have my hair washed by a lovely girl who was talkative but who also knew when to let me relax when she was massaging my head. Wow, the girl can give a good head massage, I was in heaven as I'm sure it has been at least 18 months since someone other than myself has washed my hair and that was in August 2011 in a Bajan Salon. I forgot the luxury of having a professional taking care of my hair from start to finish, it was amazing.

After my wash and condition, another girl then came and directed me to my seat and asked me how much I wanted taken off, I was real and said I wanted all the dead ends cut off even if it meant losing three inches of hair. She agreed the ends were dead but luckily said that I only needed to lose two inches so I was quite relieved as that extra inch always makes a difference.She gave me a wet trim and then proceeded to give me a blow dry, using a denman brush. I declined her offer to use the straighteners afterwards as I haven't used a straighteners in my hair for over two years and I wasn't about to break that cycle.

Just from the blow-dry, my hair felt and looked gorgeous and it reminded me why I loved blow drying my hair for the silky straight look and feel every wash day so I was worried I may fall back into my old habits of using heat. I shouldn't of been worried as I am determined to have healthy long relaxed hair and heat plays no part in that (except maybe running low heat through your regrowth on a wash day to help you stretch your relaxer a bit longer).

The day after my trim and blow-dry

If you are local to Reading or the Belle Hair Salon in London, I would definitely give this salon a try. I had a very pleasant experience and will certainly be going back for my trims..

See Ya xxx

apl

My Hair Regime - Updated 01.06.13

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

apl

Starting My Hair Journey

Thursday, February 07, 2013

After reading so many blogs and watching lots of YouTube videos from bloggers on their own hair journey, I felt like I had been left in the dark ages and couldn't understand why I hadn't thought to look up relaxed hair care sooner. Growing up, my hair was always long unless I cut it by choice so I guess I thought I had it all figured out.

Now that I'd discovered a new world of hair care I just had to share it with someone so I invited my friend V round for the evening so she could see the videos for herself and see how long they had managed to grow their hair and maintain their length.

The blogs and videos had the same effect on her as they had on me and we both decided it was all about growing our hair long and healthy too...

That was at the beginning of July 2012 and we were both due to go on holiday to Barbados within a few weeks of each other. I did my research and bought my staple products to help me begin my healthy hair journey before I went away.

I started with the basics:

Products to use for moisturizing and sealing my hair daily.

S-Curl Moisturizer & Creme of Nature Argan Oil Treatment

Luckily, I didn't need to buy products for my future wash days as I was already using Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo & Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment.

Creme of Nature Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner

Judging by the size of my S-Curl Moisturizer and the fact that it was a pump bottle, I realized that I needed to invest in a different smaller moisturizer to take away on holiday with me that would keep my hair as moisturized as my S-curl. In the 6 weeks leading up to my holiday, I fell in love with S-curl... (I'll go into more detail about S-Curl in another post).

After researching online and looking in my local hair stores, I decided to go with ORS Anti-Breakage Creme for my holiday moisturizer. It smells absolutely gorgeous and I liked the consistency, and figured that it could help prevent any breakage whilst on holiday.

I went on holiday for 3 weeks as a nice break for myself and the family and to enjoy some quality time together and between using the ORS Anti-Breakage Creme and my Creme of Nature Argan Oil Treatment to moisturize and seal, my hair was in heaven.

Unlike previous holidays where I went to the beach to look pretty and dip my toes in the sea, this time I was able to join the boys and have fun in the sea without the fear of sea water splashing my hair. Washing my hair was a breeze with the soft water in Barbados and it was so hot over there in August, I was able to airdry within 30-40 mins... Good times...