Took matters in my own hands

Hi there y'all. 

So, you remember me lamenting my busted ends? Thanks for telling me it's not that bad, but I simply could not take it anymore. So last night, I decided to wash my hair and give myself a slight trim, as it seems like a salon visit will have to wait a little due to budgetary constraints. 

So, last night I prepood for 20 minutes using Tresemme Naturals Conditioner, Amla oil and coconut oil. Shampooed with Tresemme Moisturizing Shampoo, instant conditioned with L'Oreal Elvive Triple Resist Conditioner. I then DC'd for 15 minutes with Gliss Ultimate Repair Anti-Damage Mask. (Review coming as soon as I finish the jar). I only had it on for that short time because I feared a protein overload. As it turned out, I did have a little bit of hardness on my hair, but that was pretty much fixed with my leave ins of Avon Moisture IQ and Moroccan Oil treatment. At least now I know that my hair's protein levels are a little higher than optimal and I only have to focus on moisture for the next month or so. I then roller set my hair and dried it with my hair dryer using the cool setting. 

When I took out the rollers, it took a while, because that's when I started dusting/trimming. As I removed one roller, I would cut off a maximum of 1 cm (less than a third of an inch) on that particular section. I did this with each and every section as I removed the individual rollers. When I was finally done I simply wrapped up my hair and went to bed. My phone's camera has the nasty habit of shutting off the phone when I try to take pictures, so I gave up on the idea of taking a pic of my hair itself. But, I at least got a pic of the amount of hair that was cut off, which is the following:

Now, I know that it doesn't look like much, but when I did my sideway French braid this morning, my hair just FELT so much better under my hands and I knew that I did the right thing. I will have a friend take a pic of my hair from the back in a few weeks and then we'll see if I achieved anything positive regarding the evening out of the hemline. Till then I am going to protective style up the wazoo and focus on moisture, moisture, moisture.

Have a great Thursday y'all. Just one more day and it's Friday!!

Yep, I definitely need to get a trim!

Good morning there y'all. I trust everyone had a good weekend. I envy everyone that was on vacation during December. I was part of the dreaded skeleton staff and thus, although it is only February, I am exhausted, drained and not very motivated about anything in my life right now because I am simply too bloody tired. I haven't had any true time off since December 2012 and 2013 was a tough year in general. I can't wait for the weekend of 21 March. 21 March is our Independence day and thus a public holiday, which to us means a lovely 3 day weekend!! And I NEED it! 

Regardless, being on my hair journey, I know that I should not be neglecting my hair just because I'm in need of some R&R, so yesterday I did a wash day which included a length check, and people, I am going to get a trim, very very soon. (I just need to work it into my calendar and my budget) My hair feels nice, but my ends need to be evened out, otherwise I am never going to hit BSL by the end of this year. Right now I am grazing APL, ever ever so slightly. So any trim is going to take my back to barely collar bone length, but I can see that if I don't do it, my raggedy ends will not allow me to reach APL in the first place. 

Okay, so here's the recount of my wash day yesterday:

1. Pree-poo/dry deep condition - I mixed up Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Conditioner and Amla oil and applied it to my dry, detangled hair, in a total of six sections. I twisted each section after applying the mix to prevent any tangling while I work. I then covered my hair with a plastic cap and left it on for a good 4 hours. Yep, FOUR hours!! Which is why it ended up being a prepoo and deep condition combo. 
2. Shampooed with Tresemme Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo. I lathered up twice, making sure to concentrate on my scalp and not the length of my hair. This shampoo is definitely a staple, and I will need to repurchase soon, I think I only have about two uses left in that bottle (which I bought more than four months ago!! Talk about value for money!)
3. Instant conditioned and finger detangled with TCB Bone Straight. This conditioner is a jack of all trades. It works as an instant conditioner, a deep conditioner and a leave in. It is an amazing product and CHEAP, costing less than N$30 (about US$3) for a 500ml bottle. 
4. Wrapped my hair in my softest towel for a few minutes before applying my leave ins of Avon Moisture IQ Leave In Treatment and MoroccanOil Treatment, and then proceeded to rollerset. Whilst I was rollersetting I realised that the last 3 inches of my hair is extremely highly porous. I had to constantly spray it with my waterspritz (water, a little bit of Dark&Lovely Moisturizing Spritz and a little bit of Tresemme Naturals Conditioner) because it dried really fast, AS I'm busy rolling in my hair. I then also realised that it is the hair that I STARTED with when I began this journey and thus the oldest, least healthy, most damaged hair on my head. It is THEN that my hair actually screamed to me - CUT THOSE ENDS OFF!
5. I let my hair air dry in the rollers as I planned to whip out the flat iron because I wanted to do a proper length check, as my hair journey turn two years old last week, the 5th of February. (forgot to do an anniversary post, last week was quite busy at work, and when I got home from the gym in the evenings I would be so exhausted that I would pass out straight after dinner.)
6. I took out the rollers and then proceeded to flat iron. Luckily both my leave ins are also heat protectants. Regardless I flat ironed in small sections to ensure that I just do one quick pass on each section with the iron. 
7. After taking a pic of my hair I saw that its general state is healthy and shiny, but my ends need help. A good friend of mine's sister in law goes to a stylist that is NOT scissor happy, according to her accounts. This stylist is apparently also more concerned with the health of your hair than the styling of it. I am going to get this lady's number and make an appointment for a trim to simply even out the back. Anyhoo, after taking the pic, I cross wrapped my hair and put on my satin scarf and went to bed after a mini Pirates of the Caribbean marathon (Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. I LOVE me some Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in these movies! Savvy?!)

So...here's where I am now ladies. Longer than CBL, barely (though not quite quite) grazing APL, and the ends (about half an inch to an inch, I refuse to lose more than an inch at this time) has to go!!

I must mention though - I never thought I would see the day that my hair is so long that it completely covers my tattoo!! (I love my ink though! I just never thought I would have hair that actually covers it!)

Anyway, I'm hoping to get that trim by this coming weekend (because then I will have my car back!!!! And I can move around much more freely! I really am not the biggest fan of cabs. As Sandra Bullock said in Speed whilst taking the bus, before the bomb was armed - "I love my car. I MISS my car!") Once I get that done I will update everyone on exactly where I stand. In the meantime, I am going to UP the moisturizing, baggying my ends every night (they NEED it) and protective styling. Any other advice ladies?

Hope everyone has a good Monday, with no blues, and a terrific week to come!

Blessed week everyone, and happy growing. 

The gym plus rainy weather - I'm gonna throw some shade!

Hello there everybody.

We are in the 2nd month of 2014, and one of my new year's resolutions have been going pretty strong, which is going to the gym on a much more regular and consistent basis. I have been doing that and although the results are slowly coming, as my friend Ashante always says, it's about progress, not perfection. Well, I apply the same philosophy to my tresses, knowing that I will get where I want to be, I must just be consistent and relentless.

Now, those two worlds (gym and hair) sometimes do not really like each other, especially the past few days when we have had consistent rain here in Windhoek. Now, I am not complaining about the rain, it is marvelous! Namibia has been in the midst of a very intense, long drought. We were receiving international aid, it got so bad. Livestock were keeling over, so thank God for the rain. It does however make it a little more difficult to look cute AND make sure you take care of your hair. So, I have forsaken trying to look cute and focused on the care, keeping my hair bunned up and appreciating all the moisture in the air, as my hair is also nice and soft as a result.

Now, I wish to tell y'all about my most recent wash day, which was Monday evening. After an intense one hour strength training session, and walking a little in the rain, my head looked a hot mess, so I jumped into my wash day routine.

1. Prepoo for 30 minutes with Darbur Amla Oil, detangling as I applied the very runny oil. 
2. Shampoo with Amla Legend 3 in 1 Body Filler Shampoo. I am still in 2 minds regarding this shampoo. Although it contains sulphates, it does not produce an even half decent lather. I am still not sure if my hair was suffiently clean. However, it was super soft. Thus, still in 2 minds. 
3. Instant conditioned with Tresemme Naturals Conditioner. Still loving that slip!! 
4. Deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing Conditioner. Still my staple DC and the product to replace must practically be sent from heaven, made by the hands of angels and practically create a halo on top of my hair! I DC's with a plastic cap and towel for almost an hour. 
5. Rinsed my DC and then applied my leave ins of  Bone Strait (a little extra protein for the ends), MorrocanOil Leave in treatment serum and Avon Moisture IQ treatment, and then proceeded to roller set. 
6. It was getting late, so I used my hair dryer to dry my hair whilst in the rollers, taking care to not concentrate on one spot for too long. 
7. After taking out the rollers, rubbed on some silicone serum, wrapped my hair and crashed into my bed. 

My hair came out great. BUT, then I went to gym Tuesday after work and proceeded to sweat like a young pig in a high intensity step class, hair thus frizzing up like cray cray. So last night, at home, after gym, and when the sweat dried a little, I applied the Moisture IQ treatment as moisturizer, sealed with silicone and wrapped after making a bun with the ends. Today I'm in an EZ comb bun, and I predict that this will be my go to style for the rest of the summer and its summer showers. 

Any advice out there on how to take care, look cute, still gym and appreciate the rainy weather? 2014 is the year of weddings for me - friends and family alike, so I need to look great at each one, including the bod and the hair. How do you ladies find the balance? 

Have a happy hump day y'all, it's Wednesday, half way to the weekend!!!