Waiting...

Good night everyone!

This is my first hair post in weeks because I've been waiting...

....waiting to fall back in love with my hair!

After my last relaxer in which my new growth was severely underprocessed, I haven't been showing my locks a lot of love. Combined with the breakage that I'm still experiencing...I've been having a dull time.

The breakage may be due to some ends that need to go, my texlaxed roots or just dryness. (Admittedly, because I fear causing even more hair snapping off I haven't been moisturizing and sealing very thoroughly.)

Lawwd it's like I need to be a hair scientist just to figure out what my hair needs!

I'm really looking forward to my next relaxer so I can do an official length check and cut off any straggling ends.

Pray that I have patience and resolved my breakage!


How is your hair journey going? I hope you're enjoying it more than I am.

The good old days!

Waiting to fall back in love with my hair...
~Hatter

Wash Day and Mini Relaxer Update

Goodnight everyone!

I have been neglecting my little blog and now this post is one week overdue *shameface*.

On Saturday 23rd February I had my hair relaxed by my aunt, since I really did not want to go back to the hairdresser.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone to the salon because my roots did not get straight! I practically remained with a head-full of fuzzy, texlaxed roots.

I think the issue was that my aunt should have smoothed my roots a second time after letting the relaxer "sit" on my hair for some minutes. 

I was pretty surprised (and amused) to run my fingers through my hair and feel the kinks! Admittedly, my hair is more manageable than before it was relaxed, but I'm just not used to the texlaxed feel lol. 

Since my roots are so textured, I haven't done an official length check as yet.

Last week I washed my hair and got some bouncy, healthy-looking results. However, I'm still battling with breakage that I can't seem to determine the source of. I've tried clarifying my hair and strand testing, but still I have noticeable short and long-strand breakage...even while using my new seamless combs...heck, even while finger-combing! 

While I am grateful for the hair I still have, I'm honestly a bit tired of my hair and discouraged...

I've been trying to reduce my manipulation as much as possible and infusing it with moisture.

So now I need to work on staying positive while I battle out this breakage. There's no way I'm going to let it make me have a failed hair journey!

Have you ever dealt with unexplained breakage?

Avec amour,
~Hatter

Wash day @ 7 weeks post + ORS Nourishing Conditioner

Today's wash and deep condition was relatively easy for 7 weeks worth of new growth.

First, I deep conditioned on dry hair using Organic Root Stimulator Nourishing Conditioner.

After leaving it on for an hour with my heat cap, I rinsed it out and shampooed.

Then I air-dried my hair with a t-shirt for about 15 minutes, and applied some Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Split End Protector. Even before applying the moisturizer, my hair felt very soft and smooth.

Today my comb was able to glide easily through my hair, and at seven weeks post that is something to rejoice about!

Usually at this time I would already be experiencing major tangles and friction when de-tangling after deep conditioning. Today I experienced none of those problems.

Firstly, I attribute my results to the ORS Nourishing Conditioner. This is the second time I've used it, and both times it left my hair very soft and smooth...even my thick 4c new growth! It did a marvellous job in increasing slip and leaving my hair well conditioned.

For my hair, it seems to be a light/medium protein. I actually like it better than the ORS Replenishing Conditioner, which was my main staple. The Nourishing Conditioner is less sticky, absorbs into my hair easier and makes my hair a bit smoother.

*Beware! Some may find that the ORS Nourishing Conditioner has a peculiar smell...the first time I used it I hated it! In my opinion it smells like play dough and faintly of bananas...today however, it wasn't that bad since I am a little used to it. My results outweigh the odour so I'll continue to buy this conditioner.

Secondly, I think deep conditioning on dry hair has also helped to reduce tangles and friction between my strands. Like a pre-poo, DCing on dry hair added strength and slip even before shampooing, allowing my hair strands to glide past each other with relative ease.


However, even after using the conditioner I still experienced noticeable, short strand breakage when de-tangling. It was no where along the lines of my previous stretches, but still unusual! My ends are thinning too. Before DCing, I dusted my ends in the hope that it would reduce breakage but it looks like I need a proper trim...and I thought I was protecting my ends well! I guess not...

Guuuurl look at those ends.

Honestly, I'm a bit discouraged because when I did my self-trim 7 weeks ago I thought it was thorough...and now it seems that my hair has gotten damaged since then. So I'm really not sure why I'm experiencing breakage. Is it moisture/protein levels, manipulation or something else?? My ends aren't horrible, but if I don't take care of them as soon as possible I might have to trim more than I'm comfortable with when I relax my hair.


But in all things, I give thanks. I'm trying to stay optimistic and I'm determined to regain thick, healthy ends as one of my 2013 hair goals.


How have you been caring for your hair recently? If you're busy busy like me you know its not always easy!

Love,
~Hatter

2013 Hair Goals

2013 is here and its time to set some goals for the next 12 months ahead.

source

Last year, my goals were to stretch my relaxers to no less than 8 weeks, and achieve Arm Pit Length by December. About 95% of the time I was able to stretch to 8 weeks, and I was grazing APL last month!

This year my overall goal is health: both for my body and hair.

My hair goals are:

1. Thicker Hair

When my hair was first relaxed, about 4 years ago, I had super thick, healthy hair. Now, years and countless relaxer services later, my hair is much thinner (but still healthy, thank God).
Thankfully, thin hair can be combated with....

Castor Oil

Yes, I'm going to try using castor oil at least 1x per week to thicken up my new growth so that *hopefully* I'll have thicker, fuller hair by the end of the year. To track my thickness I can compare pictures of my ponytail this month, to that in September, then in December to see is there was any significant progress.

     2.   Longer Hair:

Megan of ulovemegz.com She is my inspiration!

Bra Strap length maybe? It seems a looong way from APL. I hope that I can at least reach Below Shoulder Blade by the end of the year. In the picture below, the second blue line is about BSB and the third white line is BSL. I'm already excited about comparing this starting length picture with the one in December 2013!

I can achieve this goal through:

• Healthy Ends

Preventing split ends is a key to length retention. Strong, even ends are also more resistant to breakage and gives the hair a fuller, healthier appearance.

Protective styling is what jumps to mind when I think of preserving my ends. I've been very bored with buns so using youtube to find creative, easy protective styles is a must.

Dusting and trimming my hair when needed can also help. Now that I accomplished my first self trim I look forward to dusting my hair after every relaxer (or maybe every 6 weeks or so).

• Reducing breakage

Over last month or so I've noticed a number of both long and short broken strands in the bathroom sink after combing my hair. I'm a person who can get easily stressed over any noticeable hair loss, so this issue is of great importance to me. I can focus  on:

Proper protein/moisture balance by moisturizing, using the baggy method and perhaps deep conditioning more frequently. 

Drinking more water to hydrate from the inside-out. 

Buying seamless combs to reduce the stress on my hair. I was introduced to these through Jeni of justgrowalready.com. I plan to purchase some Hercules Sagemann combs from hotcombs.net. 

Those are all of my hair goals for now! I may add to this list later but for now I'm focusing on the two main goals of thickness and length.

I can't forget that Jesus is my inner strength and helper. I often fall short of my personal goals, so I shouldn't be wary of calling on His spirit to give me the strength, determination and perseverance I need to accomplish both my personal and hair-related goals.

Here is the link to posts by Nadege of relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.com that are great for motivation and tips for accomplishing goals. If you're like me and need an extra push, these posts should be of great help.


Good luck with your 2013 hair goals!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

-Philippians 4:13

God bless.
~Hatter

My Stretching issues 8-9 weeks post relaxer

*disclaimer: this is a lengthy Hatter post!*

Okay, now that you're prepared, read on valiant reader!

On my last relaxer stretch I successfully made it to 9 weeks post. *woop woop!*

Ironically, the only other time I successfully stretched that long was earlier this year on my very first relaxer stretch of my hair journey. Since then I've only been able to manage my new growth for about 7-8 weeks before getting fed up and going to the hairdresser.

As I've mentioned before, by the 7-8 week post relaxer mark I usually encounter these issues:

1. by eight weeks post my hair does not feel "slippery" or smooth and lubricated after deep conditioning. 
2. detangling after washing and deep conditioning becomes almost a nightmare as breakage, tangling, matting (and tears) increase and rollersets become increasingly difficult.

Although I adapted my regimen slightly during my last stretch to try to deal with these issues, I still encountered similar problems. =(

Some things I thought would have helped:

•  using diluted moisturizer to hydrate and soften my new growth. (This actually did work! My new growth was as tame as a lamb lol.)

• more low manipulation and protective styles during the week such as buns and braidouts.

• I also stopped using combs everyday and decided to finger comb more often. I do think that this contributed to less breakage than I usually experience around 8 weeks post relaxer.

• I focused on keeping my ends moisturized by generously apply deep conditioner from tip to root, as well as coating my ends with oil at night.

• I used a heavier protein treatment to deep condition with. 

On my last wash before my relaxer I used the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise after pre-pooing with the Optimum Care Fortifying Conditioner. I realized that I gave my hair a double shot of protein! That might explain why I still experienced significant breakage on my last wash day. My hair might have gotten too much protein, causing it to snap and break off. 

This is actually ironic as my hair usually loves protein. I guess I messed up my moisture/protein balance that time.

It also didn't help that at 7 weeks post, I failed to detangle properly and as my hair air-dried I got some wicked dreadlocks forming at my roots. (For realz)

I can't understand why my hair gets so tangly and rough after 7 weeks post. Is it that my cuticles remain raised? If so a product like Roux Porosity Control or even an apple cidar vinegar rinse may help to close my cuticles and make my hair smoother and easier to manage.

Or maybe 8-9 weeks post just isn't a viable option for me. I know that the longer I stretch, the healthier my scalp becomes between relaxers, but I really don't want to sacrifice the health of my hair. My hairdresser claimed that the texture of my hair makes it difficult to stretch longer than 8 weeks. Honestly, I think I agree with her. I have a tight curl pattern...picture the thickest,  most dense afro you can imagine...

...yup! That resembles my 4c hair texture.

Can that texture and relaxed hair realistically coexist for an extended period of time? My experiences seem to be telling me no =(

I hate the relaxer process and I really want as few trips to the salon as possible in a year, but the cons have been outweighing the pros of stretching 8 weeks and beyond. The breakage (and tangling in particular!) I experience at 8 weeks post have to stop as I really can't bear to continue dealing with them in the near future.

I'm honestly not looking forward to stretching beyond 8 weeks again, so I think that on my current stretch, my last wash day will be at seven weeks post, then a couple days after that its relaxer time.


Any advice?

~Hatter

Relaxer Update

On Saturday 3rd November 2012 I had my hair relaxed at the salon at nine weeks post.

The hairdresser used Ultra Precise Relaxer in Mild formula, and again, my results were excellent.

Ultra Precise relaxer in mild strength.

This time the hairdresser didn't base my scalp (eek!) but, gloriously, my scalp hardly got burned by the relaxer (yay!) It's either due to the mild relaxer strength or the fact that my scalp hasn't been very sensitive lately. In fact, I haven't had a flare up of seborrhoeic dermatitis for over a month =)

I'm quite impressed by this relaxer. Compared to the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Relaxer in normal strength, the Precise does not irritate my scalp nearly as much and it gets my hair much straighter. (Maybe this is because I can leave the Precise relaxer in my hair for a longer time? Either way I'm loving it!)

On to the results! Wait! Before you look, can you guess how much length I've retained? =D

~~~~~~~

              

September relaxer results.

My November relaxer results: I'm almost armpit length!!

I'm almost armpit length!! Woooot! APL is my goal for December and I might have one last touch up for the year in late December or I might stretch to early January. Either way it feels thrilling to get closer and closer to the first length goal of my hair journey :)

As I'm sure you can tell, I need a good trim! I tried to trim my hair and it was a failure but I'm determined not to let my hairdresser come near me with scissors. Hopefully doing a thorough dusting of my ends again within the next few weeks will even out their appearance.

    

Celebrations aside, I lost a lot of hair during the relaxer process! On my last wash before relaxer day, I literally just left my hair alone with all its tangles and knots. Consequently, on relaxer day, the dreadlocks that formed at my roots were broken down by the relaxer and combed out:

Hair I lost from matts and tangles being combed out after my relaxer.

My hair doesn't feel much thinner but I can definitely tell that I've had quite some breakage throughout my hair.

Anywhooos, I'm now two weeks post and I had a very good wash day today. I'm glad that, after the hair drama I experienced these past few weeks, my hair still looks modestly healthy.

I can't wait to regain the full health and thickness of my hair! Don't you hate feeling that just when you make progress something happens that puts you two steps back again?

I'm seriously doubting that I'll be stretching to nine weeks again in the near future. My last experience just took too much of a toll on my hair. 

Has anyone had a similar experience? How did you overcome your hair health setbacks?

Much love from

~Hatter

Unfortunate wash day @ 8 weeks post: learning from my mistakes

 

On this last stretch I encountered increased breakage that I've never experienced past 6 weeks post since on my hair journey. During my last wash on Saturday at 8 weeks post, my hair emerged from the shower extremely tangled and matted! :( Unfortunately I didn't have my detangler on hand and so it took the better part of an hour to detangle. Even with my patience I ended up with a large ball of broken and shed hair! If that wasn't enough, I think my hair was starting to break at the demarcation line, something I've almost never experienced before. Grrrr

Looking back I can try to evaluate some possible causes of my unusual wash day experience:

• My regimen, even at 8 weeks post was exactly the same as at my first weeks post relaxer

I think this point may be the root of my problems. I've often read many relaxed ladies describe the changes they make to their regimen as they go deeper into a relaxer stretch. I know I should have adapted my regimen too, but honestly, ain't nobody got time for that! LOL 

Ok back to being serious....

I think that as my hair gets deeper into a stretch:

1. I may experience issues with porosity as my cuticles remained raised (from repeated airdrying) This increases the chance of my hair losing moisture faster, remaining in a weak state and thus snapping and breaking off. 
2. I need to condition more often. Co-washing mid-week may help restore precious moisture to the line of demarcation between my natural and relaxed hair, helping to restore elasticity and prevent breakage. 
3. My hair needs. more. protein. Now its a proven fact that my hair loves protein! I definitely think that from 7 weeks post and onwards I should use the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise to deep condition weekly. This conditioner has more protein than my weekly staple conditioner (ORS Replenishing Conditioner) 
4. From 6 weeks post I repeatedly had my hair braided, (cornrowed) several times a weeks. Although the manipulation done to create this style might have increased my breakage slightly, I'm inclined to think that the first three points made my issues worse. 

I'm going to try to make a conscience effort to adapt my regimen as I go deeper into my relaxer stretches. Using the points above, I'll draft a new regimen, post it and evaluate its effectiveness at preventing (and stopping!) any potential breakage, tangles and knots at 8 weeks post relaxer. 

How do you adapt your regimen during your relaxer stretches?

'Tis all for now!

Hatter

Product Review: Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum

Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum

Now that I'm in the States on vacation I've been able to access a lot more products than are available where I live in the Caribbean. For example, last week I was browsing CVS and saw the Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum. Now this wasn't on my wishlist but I remembered reading Jen of justgrowalready.com review it on her blog.

According to Jen the product helped to reduce her breakage significantly. That news was enough for me! lol I bought the Organix and proceeded to test its amazing abilities.

The directions on the back of the product said to use on towel-dried hair. Well, being on a hair journey is all about experimentation ;) So far I've been using it on my dry hair to moisturize my ends. I've also moisturized my hair with my ORS HAIRepair Intense Moisture Creme and then sealed with the Organix.

The serum is quite thick and it has a nice, sweet coconut smell. When I first sniffed the bottle I thought the scent would be too heavy on my hair. When I actually applied it I hardly noticed the smell on my hair!

I've been using this for about four days and I'm pleasantly surprised that it has indeed noticeably cut down on my breakage. I only notice two to three broken strands at most when I comb my hair. I'm excited to keep using it and report my progress. If it continues to meet expectations, I may defer buying the Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Leave-In Split End Protector and just use the Organix. 

Have you used any Organix products? What are your experiences?

Happy huurrrr-day

~Hatter