Wednesday, January 21, 2015

My hair journey thus far....

Hello world, I want you guys to get to know me a little better through my hair journey.

  Let first start off by saying, I have THICK hair! I started wearing weaves/ extensions  about ten years ago while I was studying for my cosmetology license. I learned that my hair cannot take a rinse and that I had to bleach or strip my natural hair color before I could achieve a new color. Outside of beauty school, I learned how to install sew-ins from my grandmother.
 Once I was done playing in my hair, I decided to let it grow out. My hair made it to shoulder length and noticed that my hair was shedding A LOT! So I decided to boy cut my hair and color it red. The new look worked out for me for about month, then I found out I was pregnant and decided that I didn't want all those chemicals in my hair. That didn't stop me from wearing weaves though. I wore protective styles the majority of my pregnancy.
     I after the baby, I noticed that my hair grew out to the same length before ( shoulder length). I maintained that length for about a year then.......... I cut it off again! I kept it short for about six years. during that time, I colored my hair, wore quickweaves, and braids. Whatever the trend was I had. Meanwhile, my hair was taking a big beating. I was messing up my hair, as if I had no knowledge on how to care for my hair. I preached a good talk about my hair but, I wasn't practicing it. I kept telling myself that I will just over it up by weave.
About early 2013 I called myself not using relaxers on my hair and just wearing protective styles but that short lived very quickly. I would put a relaxer in my hair and flaunt my own hair for about a week then I was back at the beauty supply buying more hair. By the summer time I went through a back breakup and decided I needed a new look. That's when I placed a permanent wine color in my hair. The color turned out great, and my hair was looking pretty healthy in a cute bob. I missed my weave so, I purchased some more hair and continued to wear protective styles and not pay attention to my own hair.  By the fall, the color faded  to brown and began to breakoff. I ignored and kept with my weaves.
  When the 2014 New Year arrived I new that I needed to give my own hair some much needed attention. Plus, it was cute hair cut that I was dying to try. So, I relaxed and cut my hair  (again) , chopping off about 90% of the damaged hair. I wore my new look for about a couple of weeks and then felt that it was too cold outside to wear my hair that short so I bought weave. This time, I didn't place any color in my hair or wore relaxers. I wasn't going natural, I just didn't care to grow through the trough of putting one in. While I was wearing my weaves, I decided to protect my hair more by using caps with my quickweaves , installing sew-ins, wearing wigs and using leave- in conditioner on my leave out.
   By this past November I noticed that my hair has really grown and that most of my hair was natural. Then I decided to officially start my natural hair journey. I still have relaxed ends and heat damage from my leave outs, so I choose to transition instead of the BC. So far, I have tons of trial and error with twist outs and flat twist. Luckily I flex rods and perm rods work best for my styles.

My journey has just begun so stay tuned..............

   

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

hair growth at its best


Hair Growth at its Best!!!!

Hello Beauties!
                I want to talk about the “hair growth “pills that’s going around. Ladies don’t think that just taking the pills are going to make your hair long and pretty like Rapunzel and Pocahontas. You have to use good grooming habits. I’m not saying that your hair won’t grow; you have to help keep what’s growing healthy. Besides the pills are not for everyone . Here are a few steps that will help you with your growing process:
1.       Plenty of water- using water inside and out will help keep the moisture form natural oils
2.       Cut back on using heat- minimize the heat usage. Air dry hair if possible , use rods or rollers,flat iron hair and then wrap to maintain the style for the rest of the week 
3.       Shampoo and condition hair at least once a week – sulfate free is best to so the natural oils won’t be stripped
4.       Deep condition every 2 to 4 weeks- helps increase the elasticity and strength. There are many different treatments out there that you can use
5.       Be mindful of the of the styling tools you use-  wide tooth comb for detangling and natural bristle brushes will help reduce breakage on the hair.
6.       Satin scarfs or pillows at night- sleep with a satin scarf or pillows. Helps look in moisture and reduce breakage that cotton ones may cause
7.       Use proper hair products- use oil free base conditioners (water is your friend) natural oils as much as possible (coconut oil, olive oil). Sulfate free shampoos
8.       Protective styles- keeps our hair safe from heat, styling tools and the environment ( wigs, sewins, braids) 
No matter what hair growth pills that you use, good grooming habits will help your hair grow to its desired length.