At last, at last!

Hey there all!

So, my life has been a little topsy turvy, but I need to update y'all quickly on what's going on with my hair, including how my washdays have changed in general.

So, wash days: As y'all know I have been struggling with tons of new growth, shedding and breakage and just trying to get my hair under control! Being 6 months post is no joke, and in all honesty, I don't think I'm ready for transitioning, nor am I ready for a big chop. So, the past couple of wash days my mission was to infuse lots of moisture and to strengthen the line of demarcation with layers of protein. So generally lots of coconut oil during the prepoo process and strengthening leave in conditioners. Also, a bit of "experimentation" regarding deep conditioners, since I brought a boat load with me back from the UK.


So let's start with my experiences with a few of them, and first off Roux Porosity Control and Corrector.

As y'all know, I have always said that my hair is quite porous. When roller setting I ALWAYS need to have a spritz bottle of water nearby as my hair air dries quicker than i can roller set. So I got this and tried it for the first time a couple of wash days ago, and I must say, I like it. It's quite slippy and my hair did feel stronger and more supple after using it. Also, my natural hair (which at stage was about 2 inches worth, LOVED it. I have no discernible curl pattern but after rinsing the Roux it looked as if mini ringlets wanted to pop. If I ever go natural, I think that THIS must be a complete staple just for that fact alone!

The next issue that I felt needed to be seriously tackled was the SHEDDING. Like a husky in the summer baby, I was being driven nuts with the amounts of hair I had in my hands after every stage of my wash day regimen. Again I turn to something I found in London. 

So, I have never before heard of nuNaat as a brand but I have read of girls extolling the benefits of garlic in reducing shedding, so when I saw this in a little hole in the wall beauty supply store in Barking, I grabbed it. Also, LOVE! Going to use it again SOON - slippy, very light nice scent (no garlicky smell whatsoever) and it's been a week since I used it - i notice MUCH less shed hair in my comb, so that's a start!

Next up, my new staple leave in.

I have been reading about this leave in conditioner for years! I am about to add myself to the ranks of people who love this leave in. Why? Let me count the ways:

• Big ass jar!!! Generally I hate tubes and stuff where you have to pump out your product so THIS is awesome.
• A little goes a long way! I've used it three times now and the last time I opened the jar it still looked like it has never been used!!! 
• Did I mention BIG ass jar? Now combine that with a little going a long way - this thing is going to last a LONG time, which I am a big fan of!
• My hair has been feeling stronger and softer since I started using it. I still use the MoroccanOil leave in as well, y'all know that is a massive staple for over a year now, but the Cantu is here to stay. (Side note: i need to start a little fund for all these foreign products that I love so that I can import them at ridiculous prices when they finish.)

Other than that, it has been same old same old.

So, news is - I relaxed my hair! After 6 months, two of which I really struggled. 

I self relaxed with the help of my friend, using my staple ORS No Lye for Girls. 

As I've told y'all before, I have a sensitive scalp, even when I base the hell out of it and this kit has been perfect for me for years! Even though it is a milder formula I still add a good table spoon or two of oil to the mixed relaxer, not to texlax, but to give me a few grace minutes. This kit has everything you need, I however did add an additional step - a protein treatment after neutralizing and before using the moisturizing DC they include in the kit. I used Palmers Protein pack and i loved it. Left my hair a bit stiff but that was corrected once I applied the moisturizing DC. 

Then I applied Bone Strait as my leave in and roller set. I LOVE my hair right now. It's STRAIGHT and smooth and soft and all kinds of awesome. Also, now I have at least a good 3 months that I can pamper and take care of it and focus on length retention instead of worrying about the thicket of new growth. It does have that bit of stiffness though that FRESHLY relaxed hair tends to have from the mineral deposits. So this weekend I am planning to wash my hair with a good chelating shampoo and then I will also take lots of pics so that y'all can see what is currently going on on top of my head. 

In meantime, tell me about your experiences with the above products that I've been using? 

Have a great weekend!

An update, despite the insanity

Good morning everyone!

I apologise for being away for so long, I can't remember the last time it took me so long to write a blog post. Regardless of my absence, I see that y'all are still reading, and that slightly older posts have been getting love. I want to thank y'all so much!! 

Life has getting in the way of regular blogging a little bit. I am still without wheels and my social calendar has been INSANE, even though it is only January. So far I have had a birthday party, a catch up barbeque with friends I haven't seen in months, a bachelorette party and within the next 72 hours I have a huge birthday bash that I am attending (the theme is A Night at the Opera, which includes live performances and dressing to the nines!) and a slightly out of town wedding. In the meantime that has meant that my hair has not been getting the complete attention I normally give it. Now, I have not been neglecting it per se. I have just been going the faster, easier route and my hair is not quite THAT happy with me. So starting February, I promise to be more diligent, regarding the care I give my hair, as well as keeping up with my blogging. 

Okay, I will give y'all a quick update as to what my hair is currently doing.

I am about 2 weeks post now, having self relaxed my hair with ORS Olive Oil No Lye in Regular at 14 weeks post. The For Girls kit was sold out, so I grabbed the Regular Box and diluted it by adding sunflower oil to the relaxer mix as well as about a tablespoon of Tresemme Naturals Conditioner. This allowed me to fully relax all my new growth without my scalp being irritated. I based my hairline and scalp THOROUGHLY, like a person possessed. When I rinsed and neutralized, I truly felt the effect of no lye relaxers i.e. the mineral deposits. So after neutralizing like a crazy person with ORS Creamy Aloe shampoo and my hair felt softer, I clarified with Amla 3 in 1 Body Filler Shampoo. I then DC'd with the ORS Replenishing Conditioner for a good hour before roller setting. I'm very happy with the results. Length wise, I think I may be officially APL, I haven't done a true length check yet (I know, naughty, naughty). Look below and tell me what y'all think? 

My ends are a little uneven, I am planning to have a slight trim this coming Saturday before the wedding to even them out, and then  I will also take official length check pics. 

Regarding the wash days of the past couple of weeks, I kept it VERY simple, but I have the most amazing leave in product that has been added to my stash. My bestie brought me bottle of MoroccanOil Treatment from India, and I am so in love that I am scouring our little town for stockists or importers of it so that I can have the rest of the range. The rest of my wash days have been pretty routine, although with the crazy schedules I have skipped a prepoo here and there. On Saturday when I go to the Salon I am going to take MY products with me and have a stren talking to with my stylist before she starts, and hopefully walk out happy as a clam. 

Until then, what has been new with y'all? What new products have you added to your stash that you simply LOVE? Have a great day everyone and happy growing!

Untwisted, touched up and truly entering summer!

Hello there everybody. Yep, it's been a while. Partly because I have had a CRAZY week, changing jobs, being between jobs (yes, at the same time), moving out of my old office, preparing for a friend's wedding, taking out my twists - lots going on.

My last weekend in braids/twists

Okay,  I can tell you the following - I definitely retained all my growth whilst wearing my twists/braids, and will do it again. However, my nape experienced some MAJOR damage. My next stint with braids or any long term protective style I will keep my nape out and not put them in braids.

The nape damage as clear as day pre touch up

 For the next few months I am going to BABY my nape. I removed my braids myself, using a crap load of coconut oil as I removed each braid so as to enable to have shed hair simply slide out and to minimize hair loss. Except for the breakage around the nape,I lost very little hair during this process.

Hair lost during removal process

 
Although I have had transitioning thoughts I realized that I am not ready and thus this week prepped my hair for a touch up at 18 weeks post - LONGEST STRETCH EVER!

18 weeks post dry texture shot, hair was stretched via rollersetting during prep wash

My wash day prepping for my touch up I did a LONG prepoo using a cholesterol mask and coconut oil to fortify my hair full of protein. I then shampooed using Tressemme Moisturizing Shampoo, instant conditioned with Tressemme Thermal Protect Conditioner and deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing Conditioner, also for an uber long time. I then used my leave ins of TCB Bone Strait, Avon Moisture IQ treatment and a little coconut oil and rollerset. My hair felt strong and soft but I did notice quite a bit of demarcation breakage. Long stretches are NOT for me, I just realized AGAIN. I let my hair airdry in the rollers and then just wrapped it before bed, using my lovely Amla Legend 1001 Oils Wrap Cream.

Last night I started prepping my hair for the relaxer to come by massaging my hair and scalp with coconut oil. This morning I grabbed my box kit of ORS Olive Oil No Lye Relaxer for Girls and based my scalp completely with the enclosed protective gel. I then covered my hair with the enclosed protective pre-treatment (yes, I love this kit!!) and then started applying the mixed relaxer. I self relaxed ALL by myself this time, no help. My usual helper became a mom again and that new born is taking up all of her time. After the maximum time allowed my scalp still did not tingle or burn in the slightest, but I went to go rinse anyway. I am deathly scared of over processing and the resultant damage. I did a mild mid protein step using my ORS Replenishing Conditioner and then started neutralizing. I must have shampooed my hair 6-7 times before the lather was white, but rather the resulting back ache than insufficiently neutralized hair! I am a paranoid relaxed head! I then deep conditioned for almost an hour with the enclosed conditioning pack, which is awesome! I love it, my hair felt SO soft, the conditioner simply SUNK in. After rinsing I applied my leave ins and roller set, letting my hair airdry in the rollers. The result - silky, shiny, straight hair.

No heat used.

 

 

 

Relaxed scalp texture shot

Nape damage as seen post touch up

I shall grace you with a length check pic soon. I wish to first clarify and chelate my hair and then of course yank out the straightener to have the most accurate measurement. But I am confident that if I keep babying my hair I should be at least close to APL by 31 December 2013! Confidence is key people!!

I am going to go back to basics, be as careful and obsessive as I was when I started my journey, as if my hair is still in that dismal state. THAT way I should be able to UP my retention and to ensure that the breakage I experienced does not result in a set back. The weather is HOT and a little more humid this side of the world now, so I am thinking of incorporating some glycerin and grape seed oil in my moisturizing and sealing of my hair and of incorporating cowashing more often, especially as I'm going to get my lazy ass a personal trainer to give my swift kick I the behind on a daily basis regarding my workouts. Workouts and hot weather and sweat equals more regular washing which means co-washing and a VERY gentle hand. I am NOT going to have any of my journeys suffer now.

In the meantime have a great Friday y'all!! And an awesome weekend!

Procrastination is so not a good look

It has been a minute since I've posted. Partly, life is crazy. And partly because I'm in a hair rut. today I started realizing that procrastinating when I'm going to write a blog post most definitely will not help me move out of the rut, and therefore I must get my behind in high gear.

So, let's start with the fact that I touched up at 15 weeks post. I am not going to stretch that long again. It was my longest relaxer stretch yet and I was not doing my hair any favors, to be honest. I'm still not too adept at dealing with lots of new growth. Yes, I am a lot more able than I was a year ago, but when I'm dealing with two distinctly different textures, I fully realise how new I still am to this hair game. I was as gentle as possible, I provided my hair with plenty of moisture and protein, I attempted to manipulate my hair as little as possible on a day to day basis, and still I experienced demarcation line breakage. My goal for the next three months (12 week maximum stretch) is to make sure that I baby that demarcation line, reduce breakage and shedding and retain the length that grows out of my head.

In any event, let's quickly summarize my most recent touch up. I used ORS No Lye Olive Oil for Girls Relaxer kit. I love this kit. It already contains a scalp protector, a protector for previously relaxed hair AND nice tight fitting latex gloves. Personally I highly doubt that I would move away from this kit. The sad part of this relaxer day was the visual evidence of me stretching for too long. Relaxing one's hair in general requires quite a bit of manipulation and during the process I saw the demarcation line breakage hair going down the drain. And I repeated to myself - long stretches simply aren't for me. Each and every person needs to address their hair journey on a personal level. Long stretches may work for other ladies, their hair may even thrive, mine does not.

My next projected touch up date is the 17th of August at 12 weeks post. It's actually perfect considering that the following weekend I have a BIG wedding, to which we have all been looking forward to for some time already. A couple of things I know for sure - I can't stretch for longer than 3 months at a time; the ORS Olive Oil No Lye kit for Girls is the best relaxer I have used so far in my life and I need to baby my demarcation line at all times.

Until next time, happy hump day everyone!

Touch up at 11 weeks post, and a review

At 11 weeks post I was technically a week early with my touch up, but since hair does grow a bit faster during the summer months (and here in Namibia, we are having a very hot and sunny summer) my new growth was getting a tad hard to manage. No, scrap that, it was becoming out of control! No matter how gentle I was, no matter how much I moisturized and sealed my new growth, no mater how diligently I deep conditioned, I was experiencing demarcation line breakage. I've come to the conclusion that my hair is not really a fan of the Namibian summer. In any event, here I was, with THICK new growth and I simply couldn't take it anymore. So on Friday I bought a Motions kit and on Sunday me and one of my besties tackled my tresses.

Usually I would have grabbed the ORS Olive Oil No Lye for Girls kit, but since I've started my journey I thought it might be a good idea to try a few different relaxer systems and see which ones my hair and scalp agree with most.  And the Motions kit was on SALE, and my broke bum thought - yes, it is YOUR turn. 

When I opened the box, I felt encouraged. A pre-treatment included as well as a conditioning mask and a leave in conditioner. I felt confident that my hair would be as sleek and shiny as the chick on the box. Alas, it was not meant to be.  But let me not skim over my experience.

As we were watching Hell’s Kitchen I applied the pre-treatment to all my previously relaxed hair and based my scalp and hairline with Vaseline. I mixed up the relaxer and activator gel and the resultant consistency was very nice and smooth. It also has the most pleasant smell of any relaxer I've ever used. We started applying the relaxer creme at the crown, moving up, down and side ways so that the hair line and nape get processed last as they’re less resistant and finer than the rest of my head. We were working at a good pace, but within 10 minutes the back of my scalp started tingling, despite all the basing I did. 2 minutes after the tingling came the (quite intense) burn and I rushed to the bath and started rinsing. Luckily for me all my hair was processed to the desired degree. Unfortunately for Motions, just the fact that my scalp started burning so soon puts it on the “not again anytime soon”list.

I neutralized with the included shampoo, and hell’s bells, my back is STILL killing me, having had to be bent over the bath shampooing and rinsing about a hundred times before the foam looked white instead of pink. I followed this with the included conditioning mask, and decided to do a DC after I applied it to my hair, leaving it under a plastic cap in 100 degree summer heat for 45 minutes. When I rinsed it off I started to feel truly discouraged.  My hair did not feel smooth, nor conditioned, nor very soft. I started praying that the included leave in conditioner will deliver said results. AND…it did NOT.  My hair felt stiff, as if I put strong hold setting lotion on it. Detangling and roller setting was a nightmare. My ends felt like straw after I took out the rollers when my hair was finally dry (took about 3-4 hours air drying it in the rollers). I am so disappointed.  There was no additional shine as promised by the ad campaigns! The breakage was more, not less! And my hair does not feel more conditioned than when I use another system. It did not feel like silk!

I’m sorry Motions, but your relaxer kit gets a thumbs down from me, and believe me, I have tried PLENTY.  And unfortunately this experience had discouraged me from trying anything else from your line. Perhaps this system works for other ladies, but for me…I think I now have a pretty accurate idea of what works best for me, and it’s a kit for little girls.

Very close to claiming SL.

This past Friday I relaxed my hair at 12 weeks post. I think I'm going to not stretch longer than 12 weeks, which also means that my projected next touch up would be on the 8th of February. I used the ORS Olive Oil No Lye Relaxer kit Regular strength. My BSS was out of stock of the kit for girls, which is the one I prefer, but I thought it would be best then to stick to the ORS brand, and honestly I'm not disappointed. For the most part. 

The process - I based my scalp with petroleum jelly. The kit does not contain a scalp protector, which the girls kit does. Secondly, I covered my previously relaxed hair with Pro-Vitene Conditioner,  cheapie conditioner I picked up at Clicks, since the regular kit doesn't contain a product for that either, which the girls' kit does contain. (Get where I'm going with this??? Kit for Girls is BETTER!) Then started applying the mixed relaxer to my new growth with the help of a friend. We started in the middle of my head as I have experienced some breakage around my nape and wanted to avoid that area being over processed. The nape and hairline received relaxer last. 

Even though my scalp was thickly based, we had to work pretty fast. This regular strength is still quite a bit stronger than the Girls' formula and my scalp is pretty sensitive. Application and smoothing in total I think took about 15 minutes and then I immediately got up to rinse. Hair was still relaxed nice and straight, I also think that parts that were slightly under-processed previously were corrected by the chemical run-off as it now feels like I have a uniform relaxed texture again. I rinsed and shampooed with the supplied packet of Creamy Aloe Shampoo. I HATE not neutralizing with a colour indicator neutralizing shampoo, as I'm never sure then whether I neutralized correctly. To make sure of that, by the time I applied the shampoo for the third time, I left it sitting on my hair for a good 10 minutes, after which I rinsed and shampooed at least another two times. Of course I loved the provided Replenishing Pak, deep conditioning with it for a good half an hour. After rinsing that i applied my usual leave in of 3D Rescue and Bone Strait lotion, roller set, dry and straighten with a single heat pass as I wanted to do an official length check. 

My hair felt soft and smooth and straight and I'm generally happy with the results. My ends feel pretty dry though and I'm going to pamper them for the next few weeks so as to soften and nourish them as I do not want to lose any of my progress which I am pretty happy with, and I feel that I am super close to claiming full  shoulder length. 

Sorry lovelies, picture quality is sucky as always but I think it's clear enough to see the progress I've made so far. 

The V of my hair touching the top of my tattoo.  I think it's officially the longest my hair has ever been in my adult life.

Still very much in layers, not quite SL yet, but I can practically taste it!

My last official length check will be on the 31st of December 2012. We have 6 weeks to go until then and I am planning to protective style, moisturize and generally pamper and baby my hair for the next 6 weeks so as to retain every millimeter of growth, and I think I should be able to attain at least 1-2 cm of growth during that time. I love having longer hair and I love that my hair is in such a better condition than it was when I started this journey. I love that I haven't had any major setbacks so far and I pray that it stays that way. Considering where I was when I started, so far I am pretty happy. 

PS I'm thinking of trying a few more available relaxers in the coming year. So far I'm pretty satisfied with ORS, and I've used Dark & Lovely most of my life, but just maybe what is PERFECT for me is something else completely...I'll make a final decision on that in February 2013. 

Looking forward to Friday!

Well, that sums up most people's feeling on a Wednesday, everybody looks forward to the weekend, and Friday is easily most people's favorite day of the week.

Personally I'm looking forward to Friday as I'll be 12 weeks post and I will be doing my touch up, finally. My new growth is ridiculous - thick and wiry and I am fast approaching the stage where my stretch will be doing me more harm than good, I've already started experiencing increased breakage around the demarcation line and I AM NOT HAPPY. To a certain degree I feel a little despondent, as I try to be as gentle as possible with my hair, especially my new growth and still every morning way too many hairs lie in the sink, a mix of long shed hair and short AND long broken hairs. The shed hair I have kind of made peace with - it was simply their time to go. But the broken hair - NOT COOL.

I've noticed that my retention is very good during the first eight weeks of my stretch - very little breakage, even shedding is minimized. Now, I'm not going back to relaxing every 8 weeks, but I do have a plan for that period where me and my new growth don't "get" one another - after this touch up, around week 6, I'm going to have braids installed, which I'll be wearing for 6-8 weeks. I won't have to "deal" with the new growth, the new growth will have a chance to simply grow and I can step up my retention. Braiding in my mind is simpler than weaving as I've had a bad sew in experience after which my hair was very damaged (the track were braided SO tight I had a migraine for 2 days after the install and when it was removed the hair simply broke quick fast and i a hurry in my stylist's hands), and I don't wish to go through that again. So, box braids it is for the remainder of the summer. I did do it once and in my opinion  looked pretty darn cute.

Roger Goode party 2009 - with my friend, the lovely Ms Ashante Manetti and rocking box braids. 

So, very soon,  am going to be walking down that road again, and I'm actually quite looking forward to it. 

Okay, quickly, regarding the touch up. Since I'm doing it on Friday, I will not be washing my hair before then, as it opens up the pores of the scalp, which could lead to scalp burn - ouch! Also, I'm skipping workouts this week - I've got a terrible cold and exercising also opens the pores. Thirdly, to keep on looking presentable I shall continue to M&S every night, wrapping my hair to keep it tamed. On the day of the touch up I am going to protect my previously relaxed hair with a protein conditioner to protect it from the chemical run off, and also because I didn't have time to do a protein DC in this week to prep my hair properly. I will once again be using the ORS Olive Oil No-Lye Relaxer Kit for Girls, after which I will roller set and flat iron my hair to do an official length check, and I am praying hard that I will be able to officially claim full shoulder length by the end of 2012.

And there we go. Plans for the week, plans for the weekend( kind of) and plans for when hit 6/7 weeks post already. Happy hump day everyone!!

PS I've come to the conclusion that the best moisturizer for hair truly is WATER - as long as you SEAL it in. No more buying fancy moisturizers for me. Now just to find the perfect LIGHT oil with which to seal. Yay! Only 9 months in and I'm actually streamlining my regimen. 

Longest stretch yet - 14 weeks

Good morning everybody. It's been a minute since I did a decent HHJ update, so here goes.

Last week Friday, on the 24th of August, I finally got around to relaxing my hair at 14 weeks post, which has been my longest stretch yet, and in all honesty, I must admit that I doubt that I would stretch for that long again, unless I can truly learn how to baby and pamper my new growth, because I in this stretch I experienced breakage around the demarcation line and I was NOT happy about it. The breakage was not extreme and I still maintained my retention rate of about 2-3cm during the stretch, but one of my goals is to have breakage and shedding to an absolute minimum, so during the next 12 weeks or so I am going to focus on that. 

Now, to rewind a little to Friday, I must say that I think that I have my PERFECT relaxing kit, which is the ORS Olive Oil Relaxer kit for GIRLS. As you know from my previous posts I have always been more partial to the formulations for the young ones, but for the longest time I've grabbed the Dark & Lovely Beautiful Beginnings box. I am now officially changing over. The ORS kit is simply awesome. The relaxer itself, after mixing it with the activator is a smoother consistency and smells MUCH more pleasant. the kit includes not only a jelly for basing one's scalp, but also a wheatgerm oil based protectant for previously relaxed hair to assist in preventing over processing. It includes nicer, better fitting latex gloves as well as a shower cap to assist with the deep conditioning step. All in all, a great product, and bang for your buck. 

Okay, now to get to the actual relaxing:

• Based my scalp with the provided jelly and covered previously relaxed hair with the provided oil (which smells nice as well)
• Applied the relaxer with the help of a friend. Application and smoothing time was between 12-15 minutes, I'm not entirely sure. Scalp did not burn at all, but 30 seconds prior to rinsing I felt my nape starting to tingle just a little. 
• Rinsed as thoroughly as I could before first shampoo with ORS Creamy Aloe Moisturizing Shampoo. 
• Shampooed and rinsed with the neutralizing shampoo twice and then did a mid protein step with ORS Hair Mayonnaise for about five minutes, after which I shampooed and rinsed with the neutralizing shampoo another 4 or 5 times. My legs were WAY shaky and wobbly from being bent over the bath tub when  finally finished rinsing. 
• Applied the DC provided in the kit, put on the shower cap and then just chilled for about 20 minutes whilst I had a cup of coffee with my friend. 
• Rinsed the DC (hair felt so soft and smelled so heavenly!) and then applied a little Bone Strait as leave in and proceeded to roller set. During the roller set I realized exactly how much my hair has grown because I used ONLY big orange rollers, which are maybe 1 and half inches in diameter, which I have not been able to do before now, EVER. 
• Had my hair airdry in the rollers for about half an hour and then dried it further with a blow drier. After removing the rollers, my friend straightened it with her GHD iron using few quick passes and then I was good to go. 

My hair felt way smooth, moisturized and had SO much movement. I went out clubbing afterwards and got SO many compliments. I seriously trust that I will not use another product again for my touch ups again. Sorry for the lack of pics, will ask another friend that we do a little photo shoot soon with decent pics taken by a killer CANON camera. 

Fresh touch up after 13 weeks post

13 weeks post relaxer in my life was a test of patience. My last stretch was 12 weeks and simple logistics prevented me from having this current stretch also end at 12 weeks. Nevertheless, the tresses were relaxed at 13 weeks post with Dark 7 Lovely Beautiful Beginnings No-Lye Relaxer Kit. Yes, I used the kiddie brand, as I have found it years ago to be gentler on my scalp. In addition I stirred in about a teaspoon of castor oil before applying it to my NG to prevent over-processing. After application and smoothing I rinsed and shampooed with the kit's neutralizing shampoo immediately, using ORS Hair Mayonnaise as the mid protein step, which I kept in my hair for about ten minutes, after which I shampooed again with the neutralizing shampoo and one final lather with ORS Creamy Aloe before applying ORS Replenishing Pak which I sat with for 30minutes whilst wearing a plastic cap. After rinsing that I spritzed on some leave in for slip because although my hair was soft, it had very little slip.

HUGE POINT THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE: Prior to starting my HHJ, whenever I had a touch up, when rinsing I would see SO much hair in the tub. My hair broke like it was being paid. It went on for so long that for the longest time I believed it to be the norm. Until yesterday. During the entire rinsing process, I think I saw a maximum of 8 hairs! Yes, breakage and shedding have been reduced to the very minimal in only three months!!! I'm so happy I did a happy dance right next to the tub.

Okay, and we're back. My hair was then roller set and left to air dry in the rollers, which only took a couple of hours. After removing the rollers, I decided to not yet straighten it with heat but to only do that on the first wash day after this entire relaxing session. I strongly believe that my hair looks it's best after that first wash day on freshly relaxed hair. I will at that juncture then also take a progress pic to determine if my retention goal of 2-3 cm have been met (but I believe, just from pulling my hands through my hair, that the goal was achieved). I honestly believe that my regimen is working. It's still a little touch and go, but the important thing is progress, not perfection.

Till next time :-)