January Goal Review & February Goals

January review 
1. Moisturise and seal hair and ends regularly - Success

2. Regular blogging – Success

3. Exercise once a week - Success

4. Review of monthly goals weekly -Success 

February goals

1. Exercise twice a week

2. Make two new dishes a month - includes baking

3. Undertake weekly protective styling

4. Moisturise and seal regularly

How were your January goals?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

‘It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it’ - Aristotle

Midweek Hair Update

DC blend

As I was having issues with dry hair last week, I blended in oils and glycerin with my DC treatment for my Saturday wash day. I have not used glycerin or honey with my DC for a while. I was pleased I incorporated it in my wash day, and with this harsh winter weather I will be adding glycerin to my DC treatments all the time

Rosemary tea rinse

I did a rosemary tea rinse on my Saturday wash day. Since incorporating rosemary into my wash day I have not had any issues with my scalp, I will continue to do tea rinses going forward, and I feel the benefits for me have been more for my scalp, I have not noticed any changes with my hair.

Tension blow drying method

I really loved the results of this during my wash day, my hair dried in a different way to when it is air dried, and it retained moisturise better as well, compares to air drying!

It did require more working time on my hair which I did not like but who said being on a hair journey would be a walk in the park!

I am still looking for ways to finish off my hair after wash days (drying methods), so I am willing to try other methods.

Goals

My goals have gone well this month, will put up a month end goal review soon. The one goal I am extra proud about is how I have managed to start exercising, so happy! I have been running 3 times a week. Yesterday it was raining but I still went running in the rain, now if that is not commitment I don’t know what is, I am really enjoying this new habit I have picked up!

Porosity

So I have just discovered that the hair at the back of my head is actually very low in porosity! This has been an amazing discovery for me, as now I will approach it differently. The things I noticed were:

1.        It took my relaxer so long to process it, it is the most textured of my hair

2.        It takes forever to get any products to penetrate, this includes conditioners, and moisturisers, but once I get it right it stays moisturised throughout the week

3.        It takes longer for the hair at dry

I feel like I have embarked on a whole new hair journey as I discover how I treat my hair. The back of my hair has always suffered due to the lack of knowledge.

Overall, it has been a good hair week, my hair has been moisturised well throughout the week!

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

“ If you look for perfection, you'll never be content. ” - Leo Tolstoy 

Wash Day

[1] Applied Organics APH steaming conditioner mixed with walnut oil, glycerine, peppermint oil, rosemary oil and lavender oil, to my hair. Last time I used this conditioner my hair got no joy, but I was determined to clear up my stash. (End results were really good) 

I covered my hair with a plastic cap, heat cap and scarf and went running.

[2] Rinsed out the conditioner after 1 hour

[3] co washed with Herbal Essence Honey Bee Strong conditioner 

[4] tea rinsed my hair with rosemary tea.

[5] Applied PMSSDT and left it in for 5 minutes

[6] Rinsed out hair and t-shirt dried my hair for 45 minutes

[7] Applied Aussie Hair Miracle leave in conditioner and processed to detangle my hair.

[8] I blow dried my hair on cool usingthe  tension method. I would dry then twist the section up and move on to next section 

[9] Moisturised my hair with ORS Carrot oil and sealed my hair with a serum.

This week I am the girl confused about her moisturising DC, I have repurchased a conditioner from a tried and tested brand Darbur Vatika. So far on my budget hair products list this has been the best moisturising conditioning treatment I have tried.

The tension blow drying method gave me great results, I will be doing this going forward. Air drying my hair naturally has been making my hair really dry.

How was your wash day  and has anyone tried Darbur Vatika conditioners? 

What do you guys think of natural air drying vs cool air blow drying?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

“ Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can. ” — Mary Frances Berry

Midweek Hair Update

This week has been an interesting week for me.

Midweek Wash day

I washed my hair on a Wednesday - today (co wash). It was super simple.

[1] I applied my moisturising DC Tuesday evening – Maroochi Miracle – Macadamia Butter Intensive conditioning treatment and slept with it.

[2] In the morning I rinsed it out.

[3] I co washed with Herbal Essence Bee Strong Conditioner.

[4] T-shirt dried and sprayed Aussie hair Miracle Insurance Leave in Conditioner.

[5] Detangled and air dried in a PS

New Protective Style

I have found my new go to PS that does not pull on my edges and keeps all my ends tucked away, see pictures below

 

 

Dry hair

At the start of the week, my hair felt really dry and straw like, even after M&S. My mid-week co wash was very welcomed. The culprit for this I believe is

[1] Use of sulphate shampoos weekly– I will be putting the sulphate shampoos away. I had not realised how gentle my non sulphate shampoo was Elasta QP crème and conditioning shampoo

[2] Also my hair does not like alternative sulphate ingredient as can be found in ‘no sulphate’ L’Oreal Shampoo.

Action plan – more co washing and keep shampoo down to once a month and repurchase Elasta QP crème and conditioning shampoo, for my monthly shampoo washes.

Monthly Goals – weekly check ups

Great news I have achieve all I had set out to achieve last week and this week is shaping up really well.

1.       Regular blogging – tick

2.       Moisture and seal regularly – tick

3.       Exercise once a week – tick, tick

4.       Check up on goals – tick!

Am happy with myself, I started jogging last Saturday and then did Pilates on Tuesday and jogged Tuesday evening.

 My next exercise is scheduled for Thursday and it will be a job!

Plus, my water intake has also increased in these 2 weeks!

My edges

When I was not looking it appears that my edges have grown back! My edges are back to their glory days, I am living my glory days!!

Dandruff

I am happy to say after my Saturday wash day and my co wash today, I have not had any itchy or flaky experiences I have been having for the last 2 weeks! Yay me!

Hope everyone’s week has been going great!

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

‘To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. ‘– E. E Cummings

Wash Day #2

Wash day at 2 weeks post.

[1] prepooed overnight with coconut oil and peppermint oil

[2] shampooed with Herbal Essences hello hydration shampoo twice diluted

[3] tea rinsed my hair and scalp with ginger tea and let it drip out

[4] added tresemme moisturise rich cinditioner for 5 mins and rinsed out

[5] applied Maroochi Miracle - Macadamia Butter Intensive conditioning treatment. I left this on for 3 hours, under a heat cap and saran wrap.

[6] rinsed out conditioner, t-shirt dried hair for 1 hour.

[7] sprayed Aussie Hair Miracle leave in conditioner and processed to detangle my hair.

[8] I left my hair to air dry for the rest of the day.

[9] I the moisturised with Elasta Qp Mango and Butter on 3/4 of my hair and it run out and I moistured the rest with ORS Carrot Oil, I moistured my ends with Herbal Essence Beautiful ends and sealed with walnut oil on 1/4 of my hair but the smell was terrible so I switched to almond oil.

This week will be a bun week, so I pulled my hair back and had a high messy bun. 

This week I have enjoyed prepooing with coconut oil and will continue using it weekly. I enjoyed using the ginger tea rinse. My scalp is clean but it still feels tender in parts but no more flakes or itchiness....hope it's the last of it.

How did your wash day go?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :-) ♥

'We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, scared to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we risk curiosit, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.' - E E Cummings.

Dandruff oh Dandruff

I have been having a dandruff and tender scalp proble this past 2 weeks after my relaxer.

I have been moisturising and sealing my hair more often than normal and also apply an oil on my scalp.

Last week, I clarified my scalp and hair to help with this, but after 2 days the tender scalp and itchiness was back again.

I will try using peppermint essential oil in my prepoo this wash day.

My hair has been under a wig all week, so my scalp and hair have been protected.

I really wonder what this could all be about, am really putting it down to my new relaxer :( will see how the peppermint prepoo works. I have read from other blogs how they found this helpful with dandruff and itchy scalp. I will also use my ginger tea blend as ginger has amazing fungal properties.

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

1 Year Hair Anniversary

Today is my 1 year hair anniversary, yeah I cannot believe it’s been a full 365 of DC, M&S, tea rinsing! Wow, it’s so in my system, thank you for all the lovely ladies who supported me through it all!!!

It’s been a time of highs – getting my longest length in September even and lows – protein over load, thinning hair line, and bad ends!!!

This has been my results through the year

16^th January 2013 – hair journey started, I was in a weave so my first picture was taken in February

 

First relaxer on my journey was 15^th March 2013 (relaxer #1) - SL

Next 6^th June 2013 (12 weeks later – hair was breaking badly) (relaxer #2) – between SL

Next 7^th September (learnt all the good stuff started blogging more and got my longest length grazing APL) (relaxer #3) – grazing APL

4^th January my last relaxer was a few days ago, and here is where I am now!

The things am looking for this year

1.     Continue length retention

2.    Continue blogging

3.    Shooting for BSL for my 2^nd year anniversary!!

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :0)

‘It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.’ - Epictetus

Weekly Hair Update

This week I have kept my hair in the 4 cornrows I braided after my wash day and will be wearing an instant weave all week. All I have been doing is lightly moisturising and sealing with Herbal Essence Beautiful ends for my moisturiser and coconut oil or the mixture of castor oil and grapseed oil for the sealant, morning and night when I can.

My plan for the next week is to continue wearing the instant weave, or keep it in a PS I can moisturise easily.

For my goals for the first 2 weeks of January this is how they have gone

1.       Get back to regular blogging – I think I am back to my regular self on my blog, this has been mostly due to removing my braids and handling my hair more.

2.       Moisturise and cover away ends – This has been a win with my instant weave and buns I did in the first week after my relaxer

3.       Start exercising once a week – This has not taken off yet, I am really finding it so difficult to do any form of exercise. I have a palates dvd which has 10 mins exercise sessions which I am hoping to start. My plan is to wake up 20 mins earlier and exercise.

4.       Check-up weekly on my monthly goals – I have not checked up weekly, but I am definitely keeping them in mind.

I have purchase Hask Placenta Leave in, which is supposed to be good for strengthening the hair; I am really looking for a leave in conditioner than I can apply to my ends to keep them from breaking. I have not been able to find a light protein leave in, so am hoping this will help. Has anyone tried it before? The thought of Placenta is weird but let me try it before I beat it down.

I have also been thinking of using some henna for my hair, anything to strengthen my strands, I was very disappoint with the length retention I got from my last stretch and for it being my longest stretch I really did expect more retention than I got.

My best length retention has been achieved by bunning and protective styling my hair (not permanent PS). I thought having braids would be good, but this might have lead me to have drier ends which just broke off when I took down my braids, so for this stretch, I plan on keeping more access to my hair for weekly DC and better M&S and protective styling from buns, my instant weave and other non-long term PS.

Hope your week has been going well and your hair has been on track.

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

‘Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.’ – Maxim Gorky

Wash Day #1

This was the first wash day after my relaxer. About half way in the week my scalp was super itchy. I thought of washing my hair on Thursday but time was tight, my scalp continued to itchy, and closer examination I had dandruff.

I have not had dandruff in a while, I wonder if it was my new relaxer 'Luster Pink'. I absolutely loved the results I got with my texture eith this relaxer, but my scalp might not be too keen.

Ok so my wash day went something like this

[1] Prepooed my scalp and hair with an oil mixer I have I believe it's castor oil, rosemary, peppermint, lavender and grapeseed oil. Placed a heat cap and plastic bag and scarf for 3 hours.

[2] Shampooed my hair twice with dilute L'Oreal Hair Expertise Eversleek Smoothing & Moisturising No Sulphite shampoo.

[3] T-shirt drier hair for 15 mins and detangled

[4] Applied Maroochi Miracle - Macadamia butter Intensive conditioning Treatment. On first appliction the conditiiner does not have the best slip, the smell is very cocoa/coffee, the smell lingers on even after washing. The great thing about it is it sinks right into the hair strands. I detangled again and put on my heat cap, plastic bag and shower cap and left it on for 2 hours.

[5] I rinsed out the conditioners with cool water and t-shirt dried my hair for 30 minutes

[6] I sprayed Aussie Hair Miracle Insurance leave in conditioner and detangked. I left my hair to air dry in a bun.

After my wash day I moisturised my hair with Herbal Essence Beautiful ends and sealed it with coconut oil. I really loved the results from my new conditioner, though the smell really does linger on for a while.

I cornrowed my hair in 4 cornrows and left my front hair and have been wearing my instant weave, this will be my style this week.

How did your wash day go? Has anyone had issueswith changing relaxer brands?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

'There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. '— Albert Einstein

Inversion method and GHE – the details

Monday – Inversion & GHE

1.     I started but finger detangled and moisturising the length of my hair lightly

2.    I used a mixed of grapseed oil, castor oil and some essential oils (peppermint, lavender and rosemary)

3.    I left my hair to suspend between my legs and set the timer to 4 mins and started massage my scalp.

4.    I pinned up my hair and put a plastic bag on my head and then tied it with my regular sleeping cap

Tuesday – Skipped

Wednesday - Inversion & GHE

1.     I started but finger detangled and skipped moisturising the length of my hair as it was also moisturised

2.    I used a mixed of grapseed oil, castor oil and some essential oils (peppermint, lavender and rosemary)

3.    I left my hair to suspend between my legs and set the timer to 4 mins and started massage my scalp.

4.    I pinned up my hair and put a plastic bag on my head and then tied it with my regular sleeping cap

Thursday – Inversion method

1.     I started but finger detangled and moisturising the length of my hair lightly

2.    I used a mixed of grapseed oil, castor oil and some essential oils (peppermint, lavender and rosemary)

3.    I left my hair to suspend between my legs and set the timer to 4 mins and started massage my scalp.

4.    I pinned up my hair and tied it with my regular sleeping cap

Friday - Inversion & GHE

1.     I started but finger detangled and skipped moisturising the length of my hair as it was also moisturised

2.    I used a mixed of grapseed oil, castor oil and some essential oils (peppermint, lavender and rosemary)

3.    I left my hair to suspend between my legs and set the timer to 4 mins and started massage my scalp.

4.    I pinned up my hair and put a plastic bag on my head and then tied it with my regular sleeping cap

This was all I did, I must say my scalp did not really like GHE, my hair and scalp felt damp and itchy after day 2 of using this method, I do not think it is something I would use going forward. The thought of an itchy scalp had me thinking I might be breeding some fungal farm in my head as my hair and scalp were damp.

The Inversion method is something I will definitely be doing again, this was a great way of getting my scalp massage, and also detangling and moisturising my hair.

I was really am excited to see what the results will be like, after my relaxer update, I did not gain an inch  of new growth.

Has anyone tried the GHE or Inversion method, what were your takes on them?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

‘You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.’ – Dr Seuss

Relaxer Day #4 (04/01/2014) – 17 weeks post

1 week preparation – Protein Treatment at 16 weeks posts (ORS Hair Mayo) and massive hair detangling session, for my relaxer day and hair stats keeping reading....

Relaxer day

1.     Sectioned hair in 5 sections

2.    Based my edges with Vaseline

3.    Applied Vatika Honey, Aloe Vera moisturiser (2^nd ingredient is paraffium liquidium) on relaxed hair

4.    Mixed relaxer kit and added EVOO into relaxer to slow down its processing time. ( used Luster's Pink relaxer)

5.    Set timer for 15 mins, started at the back of my hair avoiding nape area and applied relaxer at roots, this took me 7 mins. I then applied it to my front which took me up to 13 mins and smoothen for a minute and the timer went off and I jumped into the shower to rinse it off.

6.    I washed relaxer out with warm water until product was completely gone

7.    Then I started neutralising my hair, I neutralised it 4 times.

8.    I then used the ORS Hair Mayo and kept it on my hair for 10 mins with a heat cap, and rinsed it out.

10. I then t-shirt dried my hair for 30 mins.

11.  Applied Herbal Essence Split End leave in conditioner and Aussie Hair Miracle leave in conditioner and processed to detangle my hair.

12.  After detangling I moisturise my hair with Elasta QP Mango and Olive Butter Moisturiser and TREsemme heat protectant and blow dried hair on cool and started flat ironing hair at 200 degrees.

13.  Hair before trim 

 Before trimming

I have noticed the left front side of my hair grows super fast with strands coming close to BSB, but overall my ends look terrible

14. Dusted 1 inch from my end.

Picture

After trim

not much length retention

Start to finish this process took me about 5 hours, full day’s work! I relaxed my hair at 17 weeks post!

I think I am now almost APL, I don't think I got much length this time around.

My new game plan is all about my ends. Due to texlaxing I have lost all my bone straight ends on the back right hand side of my head, therefore there is a lot of catching up that my hair needs to do and trimming. My ends need major help, protein protein! My nape has picked up well and I am happy with.  

For my length check I put myself at just above APL.

Have you recently relaxer your hair? How was it?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :-)

"It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them." - Epictetus

Inversion method & GHE method

So I going to try this, I will be relaxing my hair next week and will see if I get any success stories with this. The plan has been

Monday – Inversion method and GHE

Tuesday – skip (it’s New Year’s Eve!)

Wednesday – Inversion method and GHE

Thursday - Inversion method

Friday - Inversion method and GHE

I have stretched my relaxer for about 4 months now, and have gained about 2 inches of new growth, with the Inversion method and GHE I am hoping for another inch, and going for a total of 2.5-3 inches of growth this stretch which should hopefully put me just past APL or grazing BSB.

More information on how the inversion method and GHE went and the results will be shown on my relaxer day on the 4^th or 5^th January (17 weeks post)

 

Have any of you ladies tried the inversion method or GHE?

 

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :0)

‘It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.’ – F. Scott Fitzgerald

2014 hair dreams .....ZzzzzZzzzz

Length: I wish to get to BSL by the end of the year. As I have scheduled my wedding day for 2015 my wish is for flowy MBL on the big day. How will this happen, my best length retention has been achieved from long term protective styling. So I intend on doing more of that in the new year and also try the inversion method once every 3 months, so the hope is for 4 inches from normal growth and 4 inches from the inversion method, so 8 inches of growth in 2014! Won't that put me at MBL by year end hehehe, oh these dreams!

Products: I am hoping on clearing up my product stash and getting in some new products that will help me with my new goals. I say new, but most of the products will be things I have already tried, but I will be trying out some moisturising shampoos and new moisturising conditioners. 

Protective styling: I am going to try getting a decent wig. I have a really good weave but I don't want to leave any of my hair out, so will venture to the world of wigs, more in the cold period and will tlc my hair in the spring, summer and autumn seasons. 

Regimen: towards the end if this year I have tried to cut my regimen down, but in the new year I will be incorporating co washing and prepoos again. 

What are your hair dreams and goals for 2014? 

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :-)

“ Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. ” Lao Tzu