L4L Protective Styling Challenge Final Check-In

So, I’m doing my last check in for L4L’s Protective Styling Challenge. I know I’ve been MIA for some time, but life has a way of tripping you up and then hitting you when you’re down. I’ll try to do better, pinky promise. Anywhos….these past few months have had its ups and downs in my hair world. I was able to stay within the guidelines, and I even managed to have an extra down day left over! Whoot Whoot for small success.

HAIRSTYLING

I did get into quite a bit of a rut with my hairstyles, turning to “buns” for most of the days. I did try to mix it up a bit with some crochet braids, but that was a…completeandutterdisasterthatirefusetotalkabout. They were in and out of my head in the same day. Yeah, my family gave me that same look you’re making at your screen right now, but I absolutely HATED how it looked so I refused to keep them in any longer than necessary. That was the only time I tried to switch up my hair drastically the entire duration of this challenge, but it didn’t really bother me too much at the time since I had bigger life fish to fry.

CHALLENGES/SETBACKS

I was several months post relaxer when I started this challenge—my previous relaxer being in November—so by the time this challenge really got into gear, I was dealing with significant new growth. I didn’t want to relax until I was at least 15 weeks post (personal challenge) so I had to struggle with the two textures which SUCKED! My hair went all French Revolution on me and absolutely refused to be quelled. I eventually relaxed on April 15^th at a whopping 22 weeks post, but I do have a bit of breakage in this one frontal section of my hair which is so inconvenient when it comes to styling because it’s always falling out of line…but I’m still proud of myself for lasting that long. Hopefully next time I’ll be successful with no damage.

SUCCESSES!!!

So, aside from that one section (grrr) I can say that I’m pleased with the results that protective styling has given me, and I’m definitely going to keep this up for the rest of the year. I think I’ve grown so accustomed to not seeing my hair that it won’t be an issue. I’ll post the comparison pictures below so you guys can tell me what you think, but I feel like I’ve definitely retained length. I just wish that I had the foresight to take my pictures with the same item of clothing on…..but hopefully you can still get a good view. So without further ado……drumroll please……

Original Picture (left) After PSC (right) 

Different angle so you can see the armpit crease. 

Side view and front view

So there you have them, my results!! I’m going to go in for a trim later this week, but since I posted my starting pic pre trim, I decided to post my ending pic pre trim as well. Tell me what you think, and if you like you can go to the Longing4Length website to vote for me or any of the other ladies who competed in this challenge. Can’t wait for the next one!

Happy Hair Days!!