Thursday, April 18, 2013

It's been a minute...

since I posted a decent wash day post. I must admit, I've been going through the motions a little bit. Last night however I decided to do wash day RIGHT. I haven't broken any wash day rules, in general, but being in auto pilot mode, one simply is not as diligent, and last night I saw not only the not so great results of not being diligent, but I also have been loving the compliments I've been getting all day today because I made the extra effort last night.

Okay, let's start at the beginning. Even though the protective styling challenge officially ended on Monday the 15th, I was still rocking a french plait until Wednesday. So, I got home, loosened the braid and then started to lightly detangle. First of all, I realised that I need a much more intense moisturizer. My hair felt slightly straw like, despite the fact that I moisturized every morning.

I did my prepoo using the Dove Anti Hair Fall Conditioner, covered my hair with a plastic cap and watched 2 episodes of Modern Family. I shampooed using ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo. I lathered up a solid three times, massaging my scalp three ways from Sunday. and then again afterwards realised that I wasn't being very smart considering that I'm over 11 weeks post. I applied  Sunsilk Anti Hair Fall Conditioner (and a ton of it) and tried to detangle. I tried to be as gentle as possible and still felt that I lost way too much hair in the process. It took me quite a while.

After rinsing that off I applied Pantene's new 2 minute Intense Moisturizing Conditioner to DC with. Of course I kept it on for almost 45 minutes whilst wearing a plastic cap. After rinsing that off my hair did feel very moisturized and strong. I must admit that I love Pantene products and that I'm planning to stock up on more of them. After rinsing off the DC I applied my leave ins of Bone Strait and Kair Serum and then proceeded to roller set my hair. I'm telling y'all, 11 weeks of new growth is no joke! I used more rollers than usual so as to be able to pull the hair as taut around each as possible without breaking any hair. I had my hair air dry to about 60percent dry and then pulled out the hairdryer, using the coolest setting as it was getting late. When it was dry and I took out the rollers my hair felt soft and smooth. I however REALLY wanted t straighten my hair and thus whipped out the GHD straightener and flat ironed my hair in tiny sections so as to only use one pass each time. I then wrapped my hair and went to bed.

This morning my hair was so lovely and straight, and everyone has been complimenting me on how good it looks and commenting on how it's grown. Clearly I have retained a good bit of length during the protective styling challenge. I haven't taken any pictures yet, planning to do that with a salon visit as I also want my ends to be dusted, just a little bit. I am however loving the fact that I know that my hair is the longest now than it's ever been and I'm looking forward to having it grow to even greater lengths.

In the meantime I need to rethink how I handle my hair when I'm over 8 weeks post relaxer. In addition I need to re-examine my products, because the staples from 6 months ago simply are not cutting it anymore. I can't afford a setback now, not when I feel like I'm on a roll!

Till next time lovelies.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Inspiration has been evading me

This post is way over due. I have not been so lax with regard to blogging in quite a while. I've been keeping up with the other ladies, and I've been following my regimen as I always do. But I have simply not been inspired lately. My hair is either in a bun or high (little) pony. The Protective Styling challenge is in the home stretch and I am actually looking forward to the end so that I can let my hair down. Since I've already used my single heat pass and I'm a good 9 weeks post I am very much looking forward to using heat again to not just check my progress, but with the cooler weather we're having these days, to also be wearing my hair out and about and swanging for a couple of days. The other day my own sister asked "do you EVER wear your hair loose? Every time I see you your hair's is up in a bun or tucked up" and I realised that the challenge really wasn't bad. But I miss DOING things with my hair now. And also, I wanna show off a little bit, heehee.

So, here's a couple of my plans at the end of the challenge:

  • Major wash day which will include a LONG pre-poo and a LONG DC, rollerset and then straightening it using my flatiron. 
  • Wearing my hair out for a day to two. 
  • Prepping my hair for relaxer day by incorporating a it more protein than usual whilst also drenching my hair in moisture to keep my new growth soft and manageable. 
  • At the end of the challenge I will be 11 weeks post, so I'll be pampering my hair for a week and then relax it, using the ORS Olive Oil No Lye kit for Girls, after which I will also dust my ends. 
I love that my hair is growing, unfortunately these past few weeks I have fallen into a rut, and I can't wait for the end of the challenge because I think that may be the end of this rut as well. 

Until next time, have a great weekend everybody!