Hair Update And a Touch Up Finally!

Late November 2017…starts blog post…

I finally touched up my hair after God knows how long. This was my longest stretch yet, I believe, I went a year and some months. My last touch up was sometime in 2016 This was a totally unplanned stretch to be honest I have been feeling uninspired to do anything with my hair this year. My side business is partly to blame for that; I crotchet scarves and beanies on the side and I ended up making myself some beanies which would end up on my head almost all the time if I didn’t feel like doing anything to my hair. But on the other hand it ended up actually being a good thing coz my hair was always in a protective style under those beanies so that worked perfectly ok for me. Low manipulation, reduced breakage and all. That was very much needed and good for my hair and length retention.

I used Dark and Lovely Beautiful Beginnings no lye relaxer kit as always.  I touched up like I always do starting at the back coz I long figured out my back hair takes longer to process so it only makes sense to start with the back in order to avoid over processing the front bit. Touch up, shampoo and very thorough rinsing done I deep conditioned with Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Grow Treatment Masque with Shea butter, Peppermint and Keratin wow that is a mouthful! This was a free sample (two sachets) I received at a hair event I recently attended, and my hair loved it so much I think I will be purchasing the full-size tub. It made my hair feel so soft I was tempted to do nothing else to it after rinsing until the next day. Which I did save for applying a leave in conditioner and let it air dry and left everything else until the next morning.

image source: Amazon

The next morning I oiled my scalp with this blend of amla oil, see the ingredient list below. It’s called Bio Amla by a company called Vedova. I quite like the way it smells and how lightweight it is. This is my first time using this particular brand of amla I bought a 50ml bottle and I can already see myself repurchasing a bigger size bottle when this one runs out. I had this insane need to use amla or anything along those lines these last few weeks so I went out and got myself a bottle. Scalp done I applied my leave in conditioner and did two jumbo braids. The plan is to do a henna treatment three days later.

Continues typing blog post…February 2018

Day three well more like two thousand years later in February 2018 I finally did the henna treatment! Well what had happened was...lol I don’t even know why I stayed this long well a lot happened the Christmas holidays included but the bottom line is I finally did my henna treatment.

I added a bit of food colour to my henna mix, it gives my hair red highlights which i like. it is temporary so a little bit washes off with every wash

Henna treatment done I had my hair rinsed and applied this leave in conditioner from mega growth and then my cousin blow dried my hair for me at her salon and we were done at least for now. 

I KNOW I need a trim that will be done some time soon if not the next two thousand years hahaha soon I promise those ends look terrible I am currently in buns 90% of the time so they don’t bother me as much but I know the importance of trimming ends etc so I will get it done asap.

Touched up..finally!

I finally ended my longest stretch yet and got a touch up about two weeks ago. I had lost count of how many weeks post I was at that point all I knew was my last touch up was in early November 2015 – self touch up. I tried to detangle my hair one Sunday afternoon and it was a real struggle no one had to tell me to pick up my phone and make an appointment for a touch up at my friend’s salon. I used my “texlaxer” of choice down below…

My new growth was so thick I did not want to deal with it myself and quite frankly did not trust myself to get good results with this amount of new growth so I went to my trusted hairdresser friend to do my touch up. I wasn’t paying much attention to the relaxer process as my friend had done my touch up before and I trust him to handle my hair as I would. Relaxer process done it was time to rinse, he used the neutralizing shampoo that came with the kit to neutralize the relaxer, several rinses and shampoos later it was time to deep condition. He used Crème of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment; and deep conditioned with heat for a little over half an hour. Deep conditioning done it was time to rinse off once more and then proceed to the hooded dryer. I asked that no products other than a heat protectant leave in conditioner be used as I wanted my hair flat ironed and that was exactly what he did. My hair was roller set and I sat under the hooded dryer until completely dry and then got my hair flat ironed. Other than the leave in conditioner the only other product used at this stage was an oil sheen spray and we were done. I was impressed with my length retention this year as I have only long term protective styled for a little over a month in the past ten months.

 

This was the result on relaxer day a few hours later

All I have been wearing is buns and two jumbo braids when not in a bun so in essence I was still protective styling just not long term with extensions and it worked just fine. I just took care of my hair as I normally would did not obsess about length every other month and when I was not paying attention I retained length; or maybe it was all those eggs I eat on an almost daily basis…you know eggs are a great source for biotin and biotin is essential for healthy hair growth. My ends though…need to go…my hairdresser really wanted to give me a trim on relaxer day but I told him we would do it when I came in next for another steam session in a few weeks.

 

Last year's touch up March 2015

Touch up August 2016 see the difference  year. I am happy with my retention so far. This was the best angle we could get the photos as my ends were still curled up from the flat iron process tried my best to get them as straight as possible. will probably do a length check photo once i get those ends trimmed

Half and Half!

I found out last week that the lady who owns the braiding salon where I get my cornrows done had invested in a hair steamer, now I can’t remember the last time I had my hair deep conditioned using a hair steamer it’s been many years so I was more than eager to try hers out. I touched up this past Sunday at exactly 12 weeks post; I have been wearing my hair out for a little over a month now and was ready to end this stretch. I honestly think that stretching is much easier when in long term protective styles, the initial plan was to get my hair braided then touch up in April but I changed my mind so I did the reverse, touch up now and braid in April.

So back to my half and half wash day since I touched up at home using my trusted ORS Olive Oil No Lye Relaxer kit, all I had to do was rinse off the relaxer and neutralize using ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, detangle with Enliven Raspberry and Red Apple conditioner, pat the hair dry using a t-shirt, apply some olive oil and go to the salon for my steaming deep conditioning treatment. The salon is literally round the corner from my house the location comes in very handy for times like these.  So I packed my products and combs; yes I take my combs to the salon sometimes and off I went with damp hair. I had them apply my Natural Classic Henna Wax Conditioning Treatment and then sat under the steamer for about thirty minutes. I just have to say that everyone needs to steam their hair with a hair steamer every now and then my hair felt so soft and conditioned I had forgotten how good hair steamers were.

After steaming the lady attending to me rinsed off the deep conditioner without combing at my request, I then asked her to pat my hair dry as opposed to rubbing like they usually do with a towel, she then sprayed my Crème of Nature Argan Oil Strength and Shine leave in conditioner which I had brought along, detangled using my wide toothed comb, applied my ORS Carrot Oil moisturizer and then proceeded to set my hair in big rollers for a rollerset. I sat under the hooded dryer fell asleep magazine in hand, woke up 45 minutes later and my hair was ready and soft as silk:).  I had the lady apply my castor oil and eucalyptus oil mix to my scalp before wrapping my hair since it was around 7pm by then it didn’t make sense to comb it out only to go home and wrap it before bed. Got my hair wrapped sat under the dryer for five more minutes to set the wrap and then I was done. 

End result! I didn't do a length check this time round because I had a trim of about one inch all round  a few weeks ago I doubt if I would have noticed much difference in length from my end September length check. Sorry for the half photo as usual I was home alone at the time of taking this photo.

She used my combs for everything at my request. Did I mention the scalp massage? They give really good scalp massages at the salon that is one of the things I miss most about getting my hair done at the salon all the time. Because I get my cornrows done there and have built a relationship with them they are used to me by now and never raise eyebrows when I bring my own combs or products to use I don’t even have to ask in advance they already know that I will be bringing my own stuff. And that ladies was my half home half salon wash day.

ORS: Organic Root Stimulator