SPOTLIGHT THURSDAYS!!!

This was the first non Aphogee product that I bought for my hair when I started my HHJ, and I’ve consistently bought bottle after bottle of it since. It's small....It's in a purple bottle........It's a leave-in conditioner!!! IT'S.......AUSSIE HAIR INSURANCE!!! *fireworks, marching band, etc.* Ahem, well let's begin. 

Ingredients:

Water, Aloe barbadensis leaf juice (Australian aloe), Silk extract, Panax ginseng root extract, Amodimethicone, Cetrimonium  chloride, Tridecth-12, Polyquarternium-11, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, PPG-2 methyl ether, DMDM hydantoin, Frgrance, Disodium edta, Polysorbate 80, Aminomethyl propanol, Citric acid

Directions:

Spritz onto clean, damp hair and work throughout. Don’t rinse. Do get chic in a snap (Haha Aussie! I love products with a sense of humor.)

First Five Overview:

**This is a new section where I just go over the first five ingredients listed in the product, and give a brief idea of what each one does for your hair.

Ingredient	Purpose
Water	Moisturizing
Aloe Juice	Rich in minerals and vitamins. Moisturizes hair/soothes scalp
Silk Extract	Brings shine to hair
Panax Ginseng Root Extract	Strengthens the hair
Amodimethicone	Protects against heat damage/protective barrier over cuticle

MY OPINION

This product comes in a spritz bottle, and is in liquid form. When sprayed on the skin, it tend to leave a slightly sticky feeling; however, that is not felt on the hair. I always get product all over myself though, so that is a bit annoying for me. For smell, I’d have to say it smells slightly sweet, but not overpoweringly so. It does give me something nice to sniff throughout the day. In terms of application, my hair is extremely porous, so it takes up moisture rather quickly and this product is no different. I usually only use about 7 spritzes of the product for my entire head and then work it through with my fingers. In about 10-20 seconds it’s absorbed, and my hair feels SUPER SOFT! I honestly sometimes feel like whipping my hair and carding my fingers through it while staring alluringly into the camera like those women in the commercials….but then I crash back down to reality and settle for a simple hair toss and call it a day. Lol. It tends to keep my hair feeling nice throughout the day and I usually just do the formality of applying it at night because I’m a creature of habit.  The only claim that this product makes is that it will protect “not-so-healthy hair…” and in my opinion, that’s exactly what it does. The one complaint that I have (and this really has nothing to do with the product itself) is that it is near impossible to find when I need it the most. My Kmart (the only real store we have for this sort of stuff) is always out of stock, so I’m left high and dry (literally!) a lot of the times. Kmart people, get on that.

Anyways, I really love this product and it is one of my staples now and I think forever! It definitely gets the Reese seal of approval! Total score: 5 out of 5 stars

HAPPY HAIR DAYS!

UNBEWEAVABLE??

One of these pictures is a weave….the other is not. Can you guess which is which?? Leave your answer in the comments below and I’ll reveal the truth tomorrow after Spotlight Thursdays.

Happy Hair d

RELAXING TIME!!!!

Back View

Sorry for the delay in posts, first of all, but it’s about that time for University finals and I’ve been S to the WAMPED!! But, I’m back, and I’ll be trying to get back into the groove of posting. As you could probably tell (or not, curse you crappy camera!) from my previous post, I recently relaxed my hair! *cue fanfare and parade* Now, I know…I said I wouldn’t be doing it until December, but all that new growth meant for some serious tangling which led to breakage. No bueno. So, I swallowed my pride, and took the plunge. Remember, there’s no shame in ending a stretch early. LISTEN TO YOUR HAIR!!!Things went from semi manageable to plain out crazy very quickly for me, so I had about 3 days to prepare for my relaxer. Countdown!

T-minus 3 days to relaxer: Protein Treatment using Aphogee 2 minute keratin reconstructor and an egg

T-minus 2 days to relaxer: Detangle CAREFULLY using a wide tooth comb and a whole lot of patience.    

      

T-minus 1 day to relaxer: Base scalp with Vaseline and coat previously relaxed ends with a mixture of EVOO and coconut oil

RELAXER DAY

Front View

On the day of the relaxer itself, I coated my ends with oil again (sorry, I’m a little paranoid) before I started with the process. After cracking open my new Sprush, I recruited my mom to apply the chemical relaxer to my hair. I used the Organic Root Stimulator No-Lye Relaxer System and left it on my hair for about 10 minutes. I parted my hair into four sections, so it was a lot easier to move through the hair, and I made sure to do my nape and edges last since those are my most sensitive areas. Note: I did not wait for the “working burn” but rather, I stuck to the time limit instructed on the sheet. I rinsed my hair or the relaxer and applied the Motions Neutralizing Shampoo once before coming back in with Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor to bring back some protein to my hair. After 2 minutes, I rinsed that out and proceeded to neutralize about 3 more times (once again….I’m paranoid).I chose to let my hair air dry for about 20 minutes, and then proceeded to roller set my hair after applying my Aussie Hair insurance leave in and sealing with my oil. This process left my hair feeling soft and bouncy, and I absolutely couldn't resist doing a bit of swinging lol. Overall, I’m very content with the results of this process and I can definitely see some length added and the thickness of my hair seemed to improve as well. Nothing feels better than seeing your hard work pay off!

5 months difference

Happy Hair Days!!

ONE YEAR HAIR-IVERSARY!!!!

'Nuff Said! :)

SPOTLIGHT THURSDAYS

So, in order to get myself posting regularly, I came up with several themes for various days of the week and one of them happens to be……SPOTLIGHT THURSDAYS!!! These posts will basically be features of various hair products or tools that I use and find beneficial. Or that I didn’t. It will just be my honest opinion on the product and how it worked on MY hair. Keep in mind that just because something may not have worked for one person doesn’t mean you’ll have the same experience. None of these products will be sponsored (all are bought with my own money. However, in the event that I am given a product to review, I will inform you and I will maintain my policy of total honesty. After all, I’m all about trying to help you guys out, and lying wouldn’t benefit either of us. Before I get caught up in rambling, let’s go to the feature product for this week: Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream.

Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Conditioning Repair Cream

Ingredients:

Water, Canola oil, Cetearyl alcohol, Stearalkonium chloride, Glycerin, Dicetydimonium chloride, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Alo Barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, Actinidia chinensis (kiwi) fruit extract, Chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower extract, Urtica dioica (nettle) extract, Salvia officinalis (sage) leaf extract, Achillea millefolium (yarrow) extract, Fragrance (parfum), Olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Dimethicone PEG-8 meadowfoamate, Hydrolyzed wheat protein, Pentaerythrityl tetracaprylate/tetracaprate, Silk amino acids, Panthenol, DMDM hydantoin, Dimethicone, Disodium edta, Polyquaternium-4, Polyquaternium-32 & mineral oil & PPG-1 tricedeth-6, hydrolyzed wheat protein PG-propyl silanetriol, Hydrolyzed glycosaminoglycans & Sodium hyalronate, Propylene glycol, Citric acid, Sodium chloride

Directions:

Apply to towel dried hair. Work a generous amount of product into hair beginning at the roots and working towards the ends. Comb through for even distribution. Do not rinse. Apply more to longer hair at the ends or problem areas.

MY OPINION

Firstly, let’s start with the consistency. The product is basically like a thick cream, but very smooth to the touch. When doing the finger test, it does slide down; however, not quickly. The smell is divine. I can’t tell you exactly what it smells like, but it’s not overpowering at all. Applying it to my hair is a hit or miss at times. Some days, it goes on evenly and is absorbed into my hair wonderfully; other times, it seems to sit on my hair for a bit and takes a generous amount of “working in” before it becomes absorbed. This is a problem for me, especially when I want to put on a bit right before I leave the house, but end up spending an extra 5 minutes in the bathroom mirror pushing the product in. Loses some points for that there. Upon initial application, my hair feels baby soft and it’s very easy to manage, and that maintains throughout the day, until my second application at night. I’ll go through each of the claims now and let you guys know how it worked for me.

Claim 1: Stop and mend hair breakage. Well, it does keep my hair VERY moisturized, and since moisturized hair is less prone to breakage, I think I can give them a checkmark for this claim.

Claim 2: Repair split ends and reduce frizz. Now, there is absolutely NO product out there that can “repair” split ends. Once a hair is split, it is split. Case closed. Wheel bend, story end (a typical island saying lol).  So the first part of this claim is not even to be taken seriously. Now the second part I can attest to reducing frizz. When used on my new growth, it keeps that bad boy in check! No unsightly poofy, frizzy mess halfway through the day. Half a checkmark for this claim.

Claim 3: Protect hair from heat damage. I have never personally used this product as a heat protectant, so I wouldn’t know how effective this is. I always use my regular heat protectant.

Claim 4: Hydrate and moisturize with Shea butter and natural oils. Like I said in claim 1, this product leaves my hair extremely moisturized and soft, and keeps it that way for the greater part of the day. In terms of the Shea butter and other oils, going to the ingredient list, we can see Shea butter is the sixth ingredient (one short of making the Top Five) while other oils such olive oil and canola oil make an appearance as well. They get a checkmark here as well.

Overall, I really love this product! It’s definitely on its way to becoming a staple of mine, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone. Total score: 4 out of 5 stars.

HAPPY HAIR DAYS!

I WON!!!! AHHHH!!!!

Source

So….I’m super de duper excited today because I WON MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!! Jen from Just Grow Already,  one of my favorite hair based blogs was hosting a giveaway for a Sprush (if you've never heard of that, check it out here) and I was one of ten winners! The sprush is basically like a rubber spatula of sorts for applying relaxer, color, and other substances to hair with greater precision that a regular bristle brush. I actually won the pink Sprush, which can be used for foiling, retouch, relaxing, and waxing (I'll only be using it to relax).  I’m so happy because it was my first giveaway win ever, and I really wanted to try the Sprush after hearing such rave reviews about it on her blog and many other blogs. I haven’t opened it as yet, but I can’t wait until my next relaxer day to try it out. I’m so excited I even contemplated ending my stretch earlier to give it a whirl lol….but I won’t. (I think). I'll just have to wait those four weeks until I can try out my new toy! In interest of all honesty, I can' say anything about it other than it's really cute, for now; but don't worry, I’ll be back with a review once I actually use it. 

Happy Hair Days!

Stretching: the Good, the Bad, and the Plain Ole Ugly!

So, in my previous post, I shared my experience of stretching my relaxer with you and gave a brief synopsis of exactly what it meant to stretch. However, not everyone tells you the truth about stretching a relaxer, and I feel that I should have been a bit more frank with you guys. As with anything you do in life, there will be the good, the bad, and the plain ole ugly, and relaxer stretching is no different. I warn you in advance that not everything seen in this post will be easy on the eyes, and I apologize for that, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. So here we go! *cues Wild West music*

THE GOOD

1.               NO DOUBLING UP!! Stretching for longer than 8 weeks prevents the overlapping of relaxer unto previously treated hair. The longer time your hair has to grow, the more new growth you will have, and the more space you will have to work with for the relaxer. Think about it this way: is it easier to stay in the lines with a ½ inch of space, or upwards of 2 inches? Exactly.

2.               THICKNESS!!! Now, a lot of people will contest me on this one, but I firmly believe that stretching a relaxer improves the thickness of hair. Firstly, while you’re stretching, you hair looks much fuller. Also, because the chances of overlapping are less, your relaxed hair will be a lot thicker as well. (Overprocessed hair is generally thinner).

3.               LENGTH!! Retaining length will be a lot easier as well. Overprocessed hair tends to be prone to breakage, so…less overprocessing= less breakage = better length retention!

THE BAD

1.               WALKING THE LINE! When you’re dealing with two textures of hair it is imperative that you pay a LOT more attention to how you take care of it. The area where the two textures meet (the line of demarcation) is EXTREMELY fragile, and hair that is not kept moisturized or treated gently will tend to break off at that point.

2.               TANGLING!! Enough Said.

THE PLAIN OLE UGLY

1.               TORNADO HAIR! Wild New Growth and Relaxed Ends are NOT best friends. lol. It’s almost a guarantee, your hair will not always look perfect during a stretch. There may even be times when you get the “Girrrrrl, you did NOT come out the house like that” stares (Lord knows I have) but hey, I chalk that up to part of the experience. Below are just a FEW of my *wonderful* stretching hair styles.

Stretching is by no means the easiest thing to do in the world, but it isn’t the hardest either. Just listen to your hair. If you’re having ridiculous amounts of breakage or shedding, it may be time to call it in early and relax your hair. Who cares if you didn’t reach your goal of 24 weeks?! The integrity of your hair matters a lot more than that. Just remember, Deep Condition, Moisturize, and Avoid Over manipulation and you’ll be one step closer to a happier relaxer stretch.

Happy Hair Days!

Stretch It Out!!

As you already know, I’m currently in the middle of an expected 6 month stretch (wowzers!), which also happens to be my second stretch attempt ever. I got the idea of stretching my relaxer from watching various hair videos, and also reading the hair blogs which swore that stretching the relaxer was a great way to help thicken hair by preventing the over processing of the hair. Just so we’re all on the same page, “stretching” basically means extending the amount of time between relaxers. For example, if you normally perm every 8-10 weeks, for a stretch, you would try to perm every 10-12 weeks or longer than that. Most people advise that when stretching, you should try to increase the increments slowly but surely, slowly working your way up to the ideal amount of time that you want. However, I’m the type of person who likes to go into things with the ‘all or nothing’ type of mentality, so for my first stretch, I’m went for my ideal stretch time at once—3 months—and this time, I’m doubling it. I eventually want it to be that I only relax twice a year—once in June for my birthday and then again in December to ring in the New Year.

New Growth

So far, I’ve been getting along rather well with my stretch, but I’ve been having my fair share of struggles. For one, since I’m trying to keep my hands out of my hair, I need a lot of low maintenance hairstyles. With my hair at its current length, I can’t get my hair into a ponytail that I’d respect (I ABHOR tiny ponytails), so my low maintenance hairstyles consist of braid outs, twist outs, and buns. The problem with doing braid outs/twist outs is that my hair tends to tangle a lot, so I end up losing a bit of hair, no matter how gently I try to detangle. I try to combat the tangling by using the Hawaiian Silky 14-in-1 detangling product in my hair, and while that does reduce the amount of tangling, it does not stop in completely. Wearing my hair out also means that I have to carry a spray-bottle of moisturizer and my sealing oil with me because of how dry my hair gets when exposed to air. I’ve recently resorted to just wearing my hair back with the ends tucked and pinned under (not the cutest look, but it does the job) and that keeps my hair soft and moisturized while also protecting my ends. Currently, I have about 1.5 inches of new growth on average around my head, but my hair is WACKY! While some areas are growing in sync, this one patch of my hair has about 2.5 inches of new growth! I don’t know what’s going on there, but I’m not gonna complain about it—growth is growth, and I'm not about to look a gift horse in its mouth.

It gets a little frustrating at times, and I won’t lie, more than once I’ve wanted to run to the Beauty Supply Store and buy my relaxer to get this entire thing over with…..BUT I’ve made a commitment to myself, and I will honor it. I only have four more weeks anyways (thank GOD!!) so I’m sure that I can hold out until then. Stretching a relaxer is not the easiest thing in the world AT ALL, but I know that the benefits will be more than worth it, so I’m willing to put in the work!

Happy Hair Days!

Moisturizing and Sealing 101

As most of us on Healthy Hair Journeys know, one of the most important aspects of growing and maintaining healthy hair is the practice of moisturizing and seal. For those who are new to this whole process (as I once was) moisturizing and sealing is so important because hair--especially African hair-- is more susceptible to breakage when it is not moisturized. Every kink, coil, curl, and bend in the hair strand weakens the hair slightly, and is a potential point at which the hair can snap and break, taking away valuable length. Since I absolutely love food, I try to make parallels between food and life, so think of hair as a piece of spaghetti. Dry, it is virtually impossible to bend the spaghetti without breaking it into pieces; however, once the spaghetti is boiled and the water has time to penetrate, it is easier to move and maneuver the spaghetti without worrying about it breaking as easily (granted, if you tug and pull like crazy, it will still snap). Our hair is essentially just like that. To keep our hair malleable, we have to ensure that our hair is moisturized all. the. time. So now that we know the importance of moisturizing hair, what exactly should we use to do the job?

MOISTURIZERS

Water. Water. Water!! I cannot stress how important water is in terms of moisturizing. Water is the essential substance for survival in every living thing, so of course, it’ll be important in maintaining healthy hair. There are many ways to apply this to your hair:

1.               You can do my tried and true method of simply spraying/spritzing hair with water—simple and to the point. It’s water in its purest and simplest form; no need for all the extras.

2.               Mixing the water with a humectant such as glycerin to pull moisture from the air to your hair. Extra moisture? Bonus! If using glycerin, you might want to do a 3:1 mixture of water to glycerin, since pure vegetable glycerin is quite sticky to the touch and can leave your hair feeling like your 2 year old cousin was touching your hair after eating a jumbo lollipop….sigh.

3.               The commercial route of premixed moisturizers. Make sure, however, that the first ingredient on the list is of course, water. Anything else in that first slot, and you might as well put in back on the shelf. Also, when using commercial products, stay away from items that include mineral oil or petroleum on the list, as they can coat the hair strand and the scalp and block any moisture from penetrating. 

**When I moisturize, I always allow the product to sit on my hair for about a minute or two before putting the oil on to seal.

SEALANTS

Now, when it comes to sealing, I ONLY use natural, and I mean 100% natural oils. My hair has always been very “light” so the slightest bit of product can weigh it down and leave it looking oily (a problem I had, even when I was natural). It was important for me, then, to find an oil that was light enough that it didn’t leave my hair feeling like an oil slick, yet would coat my hair enough to protect my strands. Living on an island, the easiest oil for me to come in contact with was coconut oil (it’s like EVERYWHERE down here) and since I had heard of all the benefits of coconut oil, it was the first natural oil I tried and absolutely fell in love with. I also occasionally use castor oil (I’ll go more in depth in a future post) but typically only when I know I’m going to be home for a while, or when I’m fair into my relaxer stretch. Trust me; no one wants to see product heavy hair walking down the street. Most times, I don’t use more than a quarter sized amount of oil to seal, but it will differ from person to person based on hair texture, length, and porosity.

Remember after doing all this work to tie your hair down with a silk scarf or bonnet to protect your hair even more if you are going to sleep or lounging around the house. If you’re going out, just tuck your ends under to protect them even more.

So, just as a quick recap, here are the steps in MY moisturize and seal routine. Ahem.

1.               Spray hair with moisturizer (water) until damp.

2.               Do the “noodle dance” (does anyone remember PB & J Otter???) for about 2 minutes.

3.               Use a quarter sized amount of natural oil and coat the hair from ends to roots.

4.               Tie with a silk scarf or throw on my handy dandy satin bonnet!

Hope this was at least somewhat helpful, and if there are any more tips or ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Happy Hair Days! 

My Hair Story

      First of all, let me start by saying that this won't be one of those typical hair horror stories that most people who start their hair journeys have. So be prepared, there won't be any woes of over processed hair falling out into the stylist's hands or 3rd degree burns on my scalp. I've been very fortunate in the realm of hair possibilities, but as I've been taught, there's always room for improvements. 

      After being natural for most of my life, I got my first relaxer the summer before my senior year of high school. I wasn't facing pressure from family and friends, and I wasn't "hating" my natural hair, but I did feel that it was time to change up my look. I felt that at 16 years of age I shouldn't still be getting confused for a junior high school student (talk about annoying!) My aunt and my mother took me to her hair stylist, and as I sat in the chair I can remember feeling anxious but mostly excited. I had seen both ends of the relaxer spectrum--girls who had gotten it done and ended up with long, luxurious hair, and the less fortunate ones who were left with a dry brittle mess--and I was silently praying that I would end up in the first category. Looking back, I realize that I had slightly unrealistic expectations for this relaxer. Natural, my hair barely hit my shoulder when stretched, so I don't know how I expected to have hair running down my back simply by putting a chemical in it. Crazy, I know.  Anyways, about 3 hours later, I was relaxed. 

      The first couple of months, everything seemed to be going great with my hair. I roller set or wrapped it every night, sleeping with a silk head tie on, and in the morning, I'd just comb it down and walk out the door. The convenience was amazing! I loved the feel of the wind blowing through my hair, and even more I loved whipping my hair side to side, just to feel the movement. Yeah, I looked a little crazy doing that all the time. My hair was growing steadily, and by March of my senior year, my hair was full shoulder length (the longest it had ever been). Needless to say, I was ecstatic! However, this is when the trouble began. 

      A "friend" of the family decided that my hair was okay, but I needed a flat iron to make sure that it look flawless at any and every moment, and she gifted me my first flat iron. After a few weeks of straightening my hair every day, I noticed that instead of looking sleeker, my hair just started to look more brittle and dry. And guess how I tried to remedy that? If you answered, 'straightening it some more' you are correct! Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that the flat iron was what was causing the damage until it was too late. By June, most of my hair was breaking, and in the beginning of my freshman year of college, the damage was so bad I had to cut all my hair off. Think Halle Berry's short cut. I know she rocks it something fierce, but it was completely devastating to me! Over the next couple years I still didn't learn my lesson and ended up cutting my hair to curtail the breakage twice. I needed help, but I didn't what to do or where to begin. 

      It was by chance that I stumbled on my first hair blog. I don't even remember how I got there, but I do know that I spent the rest of that night reading hair forums and blogs, and realizing that there were many other women out there just like me who had struggles with their hair, but had done something to improve it and were now rocking long, HEALTHY hair. It was in that moment, that I decided that if they could do it, so could I. I committed myself physically and mentally to doing my own healthy hair journey, went out to by some proper hair supplies and the rest, is history. I am currently 9 months into my HHJ, and although I still have a ways to go before I can reach my goal, I am proud to say that my hair is healthier, and my growth is definitely improving. I'm in this for the long haul, and I know that with a little determination, I'm gonna win this hair race more than just by a hair! 

Introductions

I started this blog as a means through which I can impart my knowledge about relaxed hair care with others as well as learn more about creating and maintaining healthy relaxed hair. I'll be using the information that I have gained through research as well as what I've learned from fellow relaxed women and my own first hand experiences. By the end of my blog career, it is my hope that my hair will be at the state in which I can be truly proud of it and that at least some of my readers will have benefited from the information as well. Although I can't promise that every step of the way will be easy or perfect, I know that at the end of the day, everything that I learn will only add to the making of an even more confident and beautiful me. Join me on my hair journey, it's gonna be a wild ride!

Happy Hair Days!