Another Hair Care Haul

Because I'm so obsessed with hair care & styling I went to 2 beauty supply stores and picked up a few more things.

I got a bunch of magnetic rollers in different sizes from small to large. As well as clips to hold them in place.

Grabed a shower cape and satin scarf, just because. Two large jars of hair gel to use for smoothing ponytails & wash & goes. Two more combs. The purple one I use when flatironing. It makes sure the hair comes out very smooth.

I then found a great set of tools used when coloring the hair, so I had to grab that. And some ApHogee reconstructor and 2 step protein treatment.

Finally I picked up some hair for my next few styles. Some Kanekalon Marley braid hair for kinky twists, as well as a drawstring ponytail by Outre.

All items are pictured below.

A quick update of my hair

Since chopping off my hair, about a year and a half ago, I have not been as aggressive with taking care of my hair as I have been in the past.

Its been about 20 months since the chop, which would yeild me a good 10" of new growth. I chopped it down to about 4" all over and if I would have had no breakage what so ever I would be at 14" which for me is a little longer than APL.

I just measured my hair and it ranges between 10-11" all over. I measure my hair from root to tip. Right now my hair is at APL with layers, with the shortest layer being chin length.

This means that I have lost about 3-4" due to breakage and trims. Which truthfully is not bad, I was expecting much more. :(

Over the past year or so I have been wearing sewins and curently I have been rocking my two strand twists over the past month or so.

My goal is to get back to MBL with layers.

14" will put me at BSL with layers and full APL.
22" will put me at full MBL, but since I prefer layers I will only need 16" all over.

Therefore, if I take care of my hair and avoid breakage as much as possible I will make my goal in a year give or take.

Let's see if I can do it.

I have a few pics of my current hairstyle on twitter. Its kind of a two strand twist mohawk. I really like it and will be redoing it in a few days because its a little old.

After this style I will probably be going back to my daily cowashes and ponytail baggy.

I will try to update more often.

Hair Care Haul - Marshalls

I made a trip to Marshalls to pick up a few things that I wanted but didn't necessarily need. Marshalls is a great place to shop because they have great products at low prices. Walking into the store I knew what I wanted to get but I cant seem to keep to my list because I always see other things that I want to get.

Here's what I got:

A Revlon Blow Dryer with attachments

A Jilbre 1 1/2" ceramic flat iron and a 1/2" Chi ceramic flat iron.

A few round brushes (Boar bristle of course) and a paddle brush.

As I was passing through the store I came across the kitchenware & glassware section where I grabbed a few more things.

I completely fell in love with theses platters that were on display.

This one looks like a flower petal. I love it!

I love the color on this one. Its so pretty!

 

And this one. The pictures do not do it justice. Its a sparkly bronze, gold and silver. Very beautiful.

All and all I had a great shopping trip which did not break the bank. If I were to buy any of these items at their original retail value they would just about equal the cost of what I paid total for everything.

Caring for a childs slightly relaxed hair

Since relaxing my baby girls hair it has been much easier to take care of.

However there are a few rules you must not neglect because even with the relaxer her hair is still very textured. Here is a list of do's & dont's when dealing with my lady's hair.


Dont's

Do not shampoo the hair more than once every week or 2. Shampooing the hair too much will strip all the moisture. Being that the hair is relaxed it is already dry and needs as much added moisture as possible.

Do not comb, brush, or style the hair while dry. Relaxed hair is damaged no matter how you look at it and how well you take care of it. Because the hair is still very textured it will break very easily and adding a little water & conditioner will give it the slip it needs in order to prevent further damage when combing.

Do not wash the hair without deep conditioning. This gives the hair the moisture and srength it needs to prevent damage and breakage.

Do not use a regular bristle brush to style the hair, especially on the edges. These brushes are harsh and damaging.

Do not expect the comb or brush to glide through the hair just because it is relaxed.

Do not force the comb through the hair or rip hair out.

Do not use regular ponytail holders or rubberbands to hold the hair.


Do's


If the hair needs to be washed, Do use a light conditioner like Suave or Vo5 to wash. This way you can style and clean the hair as needed without stripping moisture.

Do use a Denman D4 brush or similar to style the hair. These brushes are not harsh and are very good at detangling when used properly. These can be found a sallys and there are cheaper versions by Goody and Conair which do the same.

Do comb or brush from the ends up to the roots.

Do keep the hair tied up with a satin/silk scarf at night to protect the hair  from breakage & drying out from cotton pillowcases. Or sleep on satin pillowcases.

Do protect the ends by keeping the hair braided or twisted. Relaxed hair breaks very easily and protective styles such as braids, twists, and buns help to keep the ends intact.

Do use a wide tooth comb to detangle the hair.

Do use Knee Highs cut up as ponytail holders. These are the only holders that do not rip out hair or cause breakage.


Products Used

I like to keep it simple when it comes to my lady's hair. I myself do not use very expensive products and i have found that her hair has done well with very minimal product use.

I use Suave or Vo5 conditioners to wash the hair. I hardly use shampoos because it dries her hair out severely. I deep condition with Motions CPR and Lekairs Cholesterol or Queen Helens cholesterol.

I use Creme of Nature shampoos because they are not as harsh. Shampoos from companies like Pantene are very bad for dry hair. You want a shampoo that does not contail sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates. These products strip the hair very badly.

I use the Suave or Vo5 conditioners as a leave in or Olive oil Moisturizer. My lady's hair has responded very well to using the conditioners as a leave in and i have done so since she was a baby. The cheap condtioners help with detangling the hair and keep moisture in.

When she wears braids sometimes its a little tight which may cause her scalp to itch. I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on her scalp and hair to help seal in the moisture on wet hair.

I like to keep my lady's hair in french braids or singles with barrettes and knockers. Very pretty and she loves lots of color. She is very girly and a complete diva. She likes to look good and loves to learn about caring for her own hair.

If you would lke to learn more about detangling natural or semi-natural/relaxed/texturized hair i do have a video on my youtube channel called detangling natural hair. The process should not take as much time on texturized/relaxed but doing it this way will reduce or eliminate any breakage that may occur.

I do hope you find this helpful. Natural hair is very different and takes much more time and effort to care for than other textures.

Relaxing

Me and my daughter have both been contemplating on relaxing our hair for the longest time.

I told myself a few years ago that if I still want to relax after a year passes then I will take the plunge. But if it was just an itch that I may regret later it will pass and after the year is up I will no longer want to relax. Well its been more like 2.5 years... and the itch is still there.

My daughter on the other hand, I love her texture, but I have to admit that it is quite a challenge getting her hair done. We have not had as much free time as we would like to have in order to keep up with our hair the way it should be taken care of.

I asked my lady and explained to her very carefully about relaxing her hair. She said yes. She is very smart being only 6 years old and she definetly knows what she wants.

I did hers first.

Now, when I say relax, I do not mean Straight.. I am relaxing to reduce the amount of shrinkage and lossen the curl only. I am keeping as much texture as possible but leaving the possability for her to wear curls, straight styles, and also for her to be able to do her own hair.

She is a beauty fanatic like myself and loves to do hair. She knows how to braid and twist at her age, which is fascinating because I myself did not teach her! She learned all on her own.

The process we went through was a little tedious but the results were beautiful and exactly what I hoped for.

I started by applying conditioner to her hair and let it sit for a while.

I separated her hair into 3 sections and started with the back. I applied a lye relaxer by optimum to the back section and completely covered every strand while smoothing lightly. I left the relaxer on for less than 5 minutes before rinsing the section clean. I shampooed twice and applied deep conditioner and tied that section out of the way.

I did the same process for each section and shampooed her entire head a few more times. Deep conditioned again leaving in overnight. Rinsed out in the morning and applied leave in conditioner braided her ends up and put it in a bun.

She absolutely LOVES her hair like this!!

She has been shaking her curls and combing her hair like crazy...

It hangs now and she likes that it layes on her back instead of shrinking up.

Here is a pic of her natural texture.

This is the very back section stretched to show the crazy amount of shrinkage she naturally has.

This is the back section after it has been relaxed. As I said I did it one section at a time.



I didnt get a pic of her entire head relaxed but will post that as soon as I rinse the conditioner that she currently has in out.

Her ends are a little thin and I did give her a nice trim. After the relaxer her hair actually resembles my hair. Its so soft and so much easier to comb. It used to take me hours just to get through and detangle her hair now it takes minutes.

Here is what it looks like today. A very simple style. If these twists were done on her hair before the relaxer they would have shriveled up into nothing!

 

 

 

There are no straight pieces and I did a treatment with Motions CPR to give her a little protein. Her texture is very similar to what it was before, just less shrinkage which was our goal! The relaxer was left on for less time in last section on the top right. That section is a little more poofy so next time we will have to spend a little more time there.

 

Over all, I am happy with my decision and so is she. She still appears to be natural to others so it will be our little secret...