Quick Hair Update

So I'm going to make this really quick because I'm busy editing a writing sample while suffering from a migraine. 

I'm two months into my protective style challenge, so the easy part is out of the way. Usually after two months of no heat I'm itching to run to my Dominican Salon and get my wash and set. To make matters worse, one of my SBU besties called me today and asked me if I wanted to go with her to get my hair done. You'll be happy to know I declined and let her know there are two months left in my hair challenge. 

As far as growth, I think I've retained some length (because hair is always growing). I'm just not 100% sure how much length because when I did the initial measurements my hair was straight. It's difficult to get an accurate measurement in its natural state because of shrinkage. After the first month of the challenge I took pics of my hair braided (I usually braid my hair after washing it to allow the hair to stretch while air drying). I took another picture once I hit the second month mark. I will upload those pics when I get a chance. The only pic I have prior to starting my hair challenge is of my hair straightened, so I think I will get a better idea of the growth once the hair challenge is over and I straighten my hair.

In addition to growth, I am noticing a lot more thickness. Back in the fall, I braided my hair with synthetic hair and when I took the braids out my hair was sooooo thin. It was very discouraging. But, now I am noticing my thickness return. Additionally, I've noticed that my hair does not have as much heat damage as I thought it did. The back of my hair is pretty much completely natural. The front my hair is the problem, but I'm not ready to cut it off yet because...you guessed it...I love my hair straight. 

Well that's all for now. More updates to come. 

F.E.A.R.

Every once in a while in your walk with Christ, you'll find that He keeps sending you the same message...a message that you need to hear...a message that speaks directly to your situation and what's going on in your life. I'd like to share the message that I've been presented with...fear.



At first I thought "nope, this message doesn't apply to me. I dont really have any fears." But, I thought to myself, fear is more than just that fear of falling or that fear of rats, it's also that fear that things won't work out the way that you plan. This may seem fairly obvious for some, but to me it wasn't. Why? Because sometimes when something hurts or depresses you, those primary feelings cause you to forget that it's fear that drives it. Think about it...if you already knew your situation/trial was going to work out in your favor would you be sad or depressed?



Fear can paralyze you to the point where you can't envision better days. Your mind is so clouded with the here and now that you can only concentrate on present day emotions. But, let me encourage you while I encourage myself. There is a Fred Hammond song called "Blessed" and one portion of the song states "Late in the midnight hour, God's gonna turn it around." maybe you feel like you're in your midnight hour where all is going wrong, fear of continuing hardship paralyzes you with fear, and you don't understand why you have to endure these feelings. I don't have all the answers because if I did I'd know exactly how to handle the trials in my life. But what I do have is a God who can make my situations do a 180 and work out for my good. I have a God who has already made me a winner and will never leave me nor forsake me. I have a God who is not a man, so He never lies to me. And because I serve such an awesome God, I can trust in Him when he states that He did not give me a spirit of fear.



We need to remember that fear is not from God and that we must not allow it to cloud our mind. Release those fears and take on a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real. When you step back and look at it, you'll see there really isn't anything to fear at all. If we believe God will provide then we must let go of our fears and watch Him work. That's what's real...God's ability to put you in a position of victory. Don't focus on false evidence. Focus on a very real God.

Random Post

I miss my straight hair...I'm trying to hold on and complete this hair challenge.



I'm ready to be employed again. This is rough ::sigh::



The things are great in my life: loving, supportive family. That includes my boyfriend. Couldn't have asked for a better one. Imperfectly perfect.

Update on My Heat Damage Thoughts

Hey Guys,



As you may recall from my last post, I have been weighing the pros and cons of both cutting off my heat damaged hair or going back to relaxers. Well, I recently saw a YouTube video by DPrincess28 entitled, "Heat Damage 101." I encourage everyone who may be dealing with the same struggle I am to take 12 minutes and 26 seconds out of your day to watch this vlog. In the video, she basically reinforced a few of my previous beliefs about heat damaged hair.



Although I may have heat damaged hair, my hair IS NOT DAMAGED!!! Lol just had to clarify that. That's not what I was trying to say in my last post. What I was really trying to get at in my last post was that my curl pattern has been morphed by constant use of heat. So, instead of being puffy all over, I have straight ends that will not curl again. That's what you call heat damage. The purpose of me waiting until after the hair challenge is over was to assess how my hair is doing overall, meaning whether my ends were really uneven or if the two textures (straight and kinky) affects the overall look of my hair. I do believe my hair is healthy, but if the straight, heat damaged ends are not thriving as much as the roots of my hair, I may be convinced otherwise.



But, anyways, back to the YouTube video. So, it helped me realize that I wasn't "ignoring" my heat damage. Not at all. I always knew my ends were straight. The fact is, as I stated in my last post, I like to wear my hair straight. When I stopped perming my hair, my real thought process was, "Oh, I can get a wash and set without a relaxer and still get the same results? Bye, bye Affirm" lol. Thus, due to my preference for straight hair, I have been tolerant of my heat damaged hair. If I were one of those naturals who wears their hair in its natural curly state 90 or even 80% of the time, I might have taken a scissor to those straight ends a long time ago. However, for me it doesn't make sense. Because when I wear my hair in it's natural state, my mind is set on retaining length so my ends are tucked away in a protective style.



So, here's what I'm thinking now. I will continue to be natural, I'll work on decreasing my usage of heat (really for the sake of retaining length), and I won't be hindered by straight ends because they never really bothered me. If I ever feel different, because let's face it we all change our mindset, I will gradually trim off the straight ends.




Well, that's my decision for now. It may change, it may not. Who's to say *kanye shrug*

True Life: I Have Severe Heat Damage

Hey All



So I was doing what I do, watching my YouTube videos and I decided to look at some videos of individuals with heat damage. Now, I did not just suddenly come to the revelation that I have heat damage. I always knew that was the condition of my hair.



You see, the real issue is that I can't stay away from the dominican salon. I looooooovvvveeee my wash and sets. When I decided to stop relaxing my hair I never had ANY intention on abandoning my regular wash and sets. Oh No!!! Perish the thought. However, as time went on, I realized that the constant heat was hindering my ability to retain length, a goal which I've always had in mind. So, I cut my heat usage back to once a month, then eventually to once every two months. I did notice a lot of progress in the area of length retention, but I ignored the heat damage.



I decided to write this post because I have finally accepted the fact that my hair is severely heat damaged. Like, if I ever decide to post videos you will definitely see what I'm talking about. So this leaves me at a crossroad in my hair journey.




I don't believe that your hair has to be natural in order to be healthy. I believe that if you take proper care of relaxed hair, you can maintain the hair's health. So, I'm considering two options now: Go back to my relaxed hair or eliminate heat and cut off the damaged hair.



Anyone who knows me knows that I am leaning towards returning to relaxed hair and they support that choice. Why? Because I loooovvveeee my hair straight! That's just a personal preference. I love natural hair and have been on this natural journey for about 2.5 years, but i always return to my straight hair. And honestly I can't see myself straightening my hair only once a year or every six months. That's too infrequent for me. The beautiful thing about a journey is that you can make choices...choices that you're comfortable with because ultimately it's your life and it's your hair.



However, I say all that to say.....I'm not sure what I really want to do yet. I really don't want to perm it because I'm afraid I'll regret my choice and I definitely am not ready to chop off my hair. So, I figure since I'm doing my hair challenge, that will give me time to assess my hair's overall health and eventually make a decision. In the meantime, please sound off and let me know what you think. Should I (a) stay natural and chop of the damaged hair or (b). Go back to the creamy crack lol.

Protective Styles vs. Low Manipulation

Hey guys. Sheesh, this blogging thing is harder than I thought. Only my third post about hair and already I'm slacking off.



Anywho, I'm here to discuss the difference between protective styling and styling which should be labeled as low manipulation. The major difference comes down to this...where are the ends of your hair?



When your hair is in a protective style, the ends of your hair should be completely tucked away. This can be achieved through buns, sew-in weaves, phony ponytails, wigs, etc. protective styling is essential to hair growth. In order to see results in your individual hair growth journeys, you have to preserve the oldest parts of your hair, your ends. See, many people will make statements like "My hair just won't grow" without being properly informed of the actual problem. In most cases, the hair is growing, but you just aren't retaining that length. Why are you not retaining it? Simple, your ends are breaking off.



Low manipulation styles do not keep the ends of your hair protected, but they do allow you to take breaks from handling your hair on a daily basis. As a result, most people will experience very little breakage. Examples include braid outs, twist outs, rod sets, etc.



So, why does my challenge focus on protective rather than low manipulation styling? Because protective styling is the best way to maximize your ability to retain length. Take care of your ends and they will be around much longer.



With that quick lesson, you should understand that my goal is not to GROW my hair, it's to retain my length. Hair grows on average anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1 inch a month. Now I've never been diligent about measuring my hair so I cannot say what's my normal growth rate. However, I will do a length check next month (around February 2nd) and I will let you know what my hair growth for this month was.



On another note, so people have requested pictures and video. I am contemplating whether or not I should start a YouTube page, however, that will happen a little later if at all. Not sure how many people are actually reading and would tune in to my channel.


My next post will talk about moisturizing your hair; this is definitely another key element to hair retention.



Thanks for reading and please drop a comment. Let me know if there are any topics you would like me to address in my next post.


And if anyone's wondering, my protective styles consist mainly of half wigs, buns, and braids :-)

My Hair Regimen

I'll start this off by saying that every hair regimen is going to be different. What works for me won't necessarily work for you....I may love how a product works with my hair, you may hate it. That being said, here's what I do:



I was my hair once a week with my sulfate-free shampoo. However, if I'm going to straighten my hair, I will use a shampoo that does contain sulfates. Why? Because I want my hair to be absolutely clean when I straighten it. Although sulfates are consider harsh because they strip away the hair's natural oils more than a sulfate-free shampoo, there are things you can do to counteract this. Therefore, I will often use a pre-poo mixture of oils on my hair the night before (castor oil and coconut oil are my favorite pre-poo ingredients right now). The sulfate-free shampoo I currently use is Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hydrating-Clarifying  Shampoo. The other shampoo I use is Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo.



To prevent tangles, I wash my hair while it's plaited (usually six plaits). I usually don't have a problem distributing the shampoo throughout my hair, however, I recently purchased an applicator bottle to make sure I'm covering all bases.



After I shampoo my hair, I will proceed to use a moisturizing deep conditioner. Once a month I will use a protein conditioner, followed by my sulfate-free shampoo, and then followed by a moisturizing conditioner. Protein conditioners can be drying, so you want to be sure to continually add moisture back into your hair. When deep conditioning, I remove the braids to make sure the deep conditioner is evenly distributed throughout my hair. I then twist that section into a bantu knot and secure it with a butterfly clamp.



When I'm ready to wash out my DC that also means I'm ready to detangle my hair. Since I wash my hair in plaits and I keep my hair this way for the week, I usually don't have much, if any, tangling. However, it still is important for me to take down my plaits and remove any shed hairs. In order to detangle my hair, I GENEROUSLY apply a cheapie conditioner to my hair and use a wide tooth comb. Once the section is fully detangled, I twist that section back up into a bantu knot and secure with a butterfly clip. The cheapie conditioner I use is V05 Moisture Milk Conditioners. You can find this at any beauty supply store, but I buy mine from the Dollar Tree for $1/bottle.



So, now my hair is detangled and in six bantu knots. Section by section, I take the knot down, apply my leave-in conditioner, and seal that with a mixture of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO) and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). I then braid that section and proceed to the next. The leave-in conditioner I use is a mixture I got from kimmaytube. If you search youtube for "kimmaytube leave-in" you will see the recipe. For those wondering, the mixture is ph balanced.



For daily maintenance, I will co-wash if I feel my hair needs it throughout the week and I pay very close attention to my hair to make sure it doesn't lose its moisture. When needed, I will reapply my leave-in and seal with my EVOO/EVCO mixture.



 Okay, that's it for now. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write them below. In my next post I will talk about protective styles versus low-manipulation styles. Thanks for reading.