8 months post relaxer: the Daily Bantu

Eight months later and my natural hair is growing out strong and healthy!

Comparing my new growth to my relaxed ends makes me want to hurry up and do the big chop soon, but I know that I would feel more comfortable cutting off my relaxed ends when my natural hair grows out longer. Soo, I'm gritting my teeth and bearing the struggle gracefully. =)

Do you remember when I had my last set of braids installed? I estimated that I would have kept them in until the end of October. Well, a girl can dream!! It took about four weeks before I got fed up with them and took them out. Since then I've been learning how to create my transitioning fro look on my own, since I'm back in university and my mom is farrr across the sea.

 

I re-bantu my hair every other night, but I'm trying to preserve my curly style for a third day by pinning up the back or french-rolling it, and keeping the front loose.

Let me tell you, this style might be cute and funky but it is hella-time consuming!
It takes me 2 hours to re-set my hair, and at least thirty minutes in the morning to release my knots and style. But maybe I'm just personally really slow at this.


I'm looking forward to having braids put in again just so that I can have a much needed break from the constant styling. Until then, I'm looking for some simpler styles for my short transitioning hair.
Have any suggestions?


Love!
~Hatter

Hair Update: 11 weeks post relaxer

Saturday 11th May made me exactly 11 weeks post relaxer.

This is a milestone on my hair journey seeing as I've gone so long without a relaxer and I still have a lot of hair on my head! *hoopla!*

For the past month or so I have not rollerset my hair. I'm reluctant to go back to rollersetting because it takes so much time and effort...Honestly, airdrying gives me satisfying results in half the time.

On another note, the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner is really helping me to manage my two textures with less and less headache. Even 3-4 days after my wash day on Wednesday, my new growth was still soft and manageable!  The ORS Nourishing Conditioner is very effective in making my hair soft and slippery, and even though its a bit expensive, I will keep it as my new staple as I transition to natural hair.

**Note to self: I must be careful to rinse out all conditioners thoroughly from my hair! There were wash days when I was left with horribly sticky hair. Now I undo the braided sections that I wash my hair in while rinsing to avoid future trauma from hard, stiff hair and more breakage.

Last week I wore some jumbo twists which I then loosely flat twisted and pinned the ends up. Then on Sunday I untwisted them and wore a pinned up-do. On Monday I made two cornrows and pinned the ends around the sides of my head- sort of like a crown.

Today I washed and deep conditioned my hair. Detangling was painless and quick, thank God!

As you can see from the picture above, I have a mixture of natural hair textures- some strands have super tiny spirals while others have larger loops and waves. I even have some zig-zags (not pictured above) and strands that coil up on themselves. However, looking in the mirror at my hair, its difficult to find the exact line of demarcation, maybe because I have some texlaxed areas of hair that come between my fully natural hair and my bone straight relaxed hair. 

This week I also got some jojoba oil, lovingly purchased by my aunt (thank you aunty!) It hardly has any smell and has a relatively light consistency. I plan to use this to replace my ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils and to mix it in my shea butter once I get home.

I have at least one more week to go before I get my braids (extensions) installed. I'm happy that over the past weeks I've learned to manage my two textures better and have almost eliminated my previous stretching woes. I look forward to my natural hair growing longer and longer so I'll be closer and closer to the big chop!


How's your hair journey been going?

Love,
~Hatter

Wash day @ 7 weeks post relaxer

On Monday I washed my hair at 7 weeks, 3 days post relaxer.

What I did:

1. Sectioned my hair into 8-9 parts, spraying diluted moisturizer on my roots to soften them and help with the parting. Finger de-tangled, applied ORS Vital Oils and braided each section. 
2. Pre-pooed for about an hour under my heating cap. 
3. Shampooed with ORS Neutralizing Shampoo.
4. T-shirt dried my hair for about 2 minutes, then applied ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner, using 1 & 1/3 packs. Sat with heating cap for about 1 & 1/2 hours.
5. Rinsed my hair and T-shirt dried for about 5 minutes.
6. While hair was still damp, I sprayed diluted moisturizer on my hair, focusing on the roots. Applied Herbal Essences Split-End Protector and de-tangled. 
7. Blow-dried lightly, using tension by pulling down on my hair while blow-drying to stretch my roots.
8. Sealed with ORS Vital Oils.
9. Cross-wrapped my hair for bed and done!

~~~

source

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The next morning I bunned for the first time in a looong time. After doing my hair it felt very soft and manageable. I definitely attribute it to the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner. It always make my new growth a breeze to de-tangle!

Unfortunately, the breakage is still occurring but I've almost accepted that as normal (sad isn't it??) so I ignored it and styled. I'll be dealing with this issue in a later post.

I planned to wear the bun for the whole day but...5 minutes after going outside it collapsed!
I didn't secure the ends well so when I charged into the wind...let's just say it was hair blowing left, right and centre =P After that I took out the bobby pins and just wore a simple ponytail.

Hair fails... they're inevitable!


Have a great weekend =)
~Hatter

Mini hair haul

Last Friday I went hair shopping, and although I had a long list of items to buy, these are all I ended up purchasing:

 

Can't wait to use my ORS Nourishing Conditioner! This is fantastic on my new growth, so I hope that it'll help to make my hair softer and decrease my manipulation issues.

I also bought a moisturizer from the new Shea Butter Miracle line from African Pride. I already use the original moisturizer I described here, but I took this one just to see if it'll be any different on my new growth.

New bobby pins! I'm sure every girl knows what it's like to have these disappear right under our nose! I shouldn't lose all 120 any time soon :)


Love

~Hatter

HatterSnap: New growth @ 8 weeks post relaxer

Although I lump myself into the "4c" natural hair category, I do have several slightly different textures of new growth. In my crown area especially, I have tighter coils alongside looser waves. My nape and hairline have the loosest textures that I call "fluff"- there is no distinguishable curl pattern, just waves, zig-zages or c shaped bends.

8 weeks post relaxer new growth!

 



New growth: loose waves that I call "fluff"

My roots have been so tame lately that I'm surprised that I'm this far into a stretch. Since I've been keeping them moisturized and conditioned my hair has been less "poofy" and my roots blend better than normal with my relaxed hair.

I plan to relax my hair next Saturday at *gasp* 9 weeks post relaxer!



Have a great day!
~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

All Twisted Up: wash day @ 5 weeks post relaxer.

Today's wash day was very easy and enjoyable! 

What I did:

• Skipping my usual oil pre-poo, I instead deep conditioned on dry hair with Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment with my heat cap for one hour. After my hair cooled down I rinsed in the shower.
• Using my trusted Motions Lavish Conditioning shampoo, I cleansed my hair once and rinsed with cold water.
• After air-drying with the T shirt method, I applied some African Pride Olive Miracle Anti-Breakage Moisturizing Lotion (see above photo) from root to tip, detangled, then proceeded to twist medium sections of hair. I lost very little hair today! Might have been due to my conditioning on dry hair :)

I have to say that the African Pride Moisturizing Lotion is fantastic for my new growth as it always leaves it extremely soft, moist, and flattens my poofy roots. Although it's a lotion, the consistency is light, quite watery and not too greasy to apply, which makes it perfect for my hair. It also helped to keep my twists from unravelling.

Both the Creme of Nature Conditioner and the African Pride moisturizer worked well for my hair- leaving it very easy to manipulate. I was able to easily finger-part my hair, plus, I had almost zero tangles!  Although in my opinion the Argan Oil Conditioner is nothing extraordinary, it's a nice weekly moisturizing treatment. 

I hope it works this well on 7 week post hair!

I really want my twists to stay intact for at least 2-3 days as they are a great low manipulation style. For classes, I plan to put them in a ponytail, bun, or some kind of twisted updo until I'm ready to take them down. The great thing about twists is that I can access my new growth and make sure that its thoroughly moisturized throughout the week. Hope they won't unravel during the night!

Have you ever done two-strand twists on relaxed hair?

~Hatter

Protective Styling Inspiration

source

One of my hair resolutions for 2013 is to maintain thick healthy ends. One strategy to achieve this goal is through protective styling.

Keeping my ends up and away from my shoulders, clothes, or any surface that can rub against my hair and cause breakage is a must to keep my ends even and healthy. I also want to make sure that my ends do not get dried out by the air or sun.

In the past I wasn't too enthusiastic about protective styling because I thought it was...well, boring. Thankfully, Youtube has since changed my view!

Lilith moon is one of my top inspirations for cute, easy protective styles. Here are some of her looks that I hope to use in my regimen on a regular basis when I hit 6-7 weeks post relaxer:

Here are some other protective styling ideas:

I hope I'll be able to manipulate my hair easily enough to achieve these looks at 7-8 weeks post. 

I plan to use water, moisturizer and a lot of finger-combing to be as gentle as possible on my hair, since I'll be dealing with the thick, coarse texture of my new growth, and the more fragile, straight texture of my relaxed hair.

Do you know any more cute protective styles? Don't hesitate to share them! =)

Lurv,

~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 Preparations

On Saturday 3rd November I had my hair relaxed at 9 weeks, 3 days post. Did you really read that?! Yesss Hatter finally made it to nine weeks post. *happy dance*

My relaxer update will follow in another post, so for now I'll just recap how I prepared my hair for my relaxer.

This stretch was in many ways better than my previous relaxer stretches. Unfortunately, there were still some annoying issues that really tried my patience! (I'll be examining these later this week).

On my last wash before the relaxer I:

1. prepooed overnight with a mix of Soft Sheen Carson Optimum Care Fortifying Conditioner and Vo5 Moisture Milks Moisturizing Conditioner.

(Ebony C. Princess reviewed the Fortifying Conditioner on her blog, longing4length.com) 

After rinsing out the prepoo my hair felt very soft and silky. After I've used the Optimum Care Conditioner for a couple of weeks I'll also post my thoughts on it.

2. shampooed, then deep conditioned for about an hour with ORS Replenishing Condidtioner.

3. rollerset my hair. (this was not an easy set! My hair was still clumpy and sticky from the results of my previous wash day)

4. During the week I moisturized and sealed.

5. On relaxer day I applied some of the Optimum Care Fortifying Conditioner to my previously relaxed hair. As this conditioner is protein-based (claiming "instant breakage reduction"!!) I thought it was a good idea to use it to help prevent the damaging effects of relaxer overlapping.
I was also supposed to coat my hair with oil after applying the conditioner, but I just didn't feel like bothering my hair too much.

As I mentioned earlier, this last stretch was quite an experience for me...although I've been trying to reduce my stretching issues such as tangling, matting and breakage, I haven't seem to have targeted the root of my problems. Besides changing my products and perhaps my weekly wash day routine, I've even been thinking of reducing the length of my stretches so that I can manage my hair more easily in the weeks leading up to relaxer day.

Anywhoos, what is your experience like deep into your relaxer stretches?

Stay tuned for my relaxer update! :)

Peace & lurrvvv y'all

~Hatter

University Life...lawwd ah mussy!

Can you believe I'm already in week seven of university?? Time just seems to fly by as I get closer and closer to the end of semester.

Yesterday I had my psychology midterm. It was quite good for 60 multiple choice in 60 minutes (which is more challenging than it seems! lol) I only wish I had studied the topic of learning more thoroughly >.> operant and classical conditioning got me tied up!

Keeping up with the workload in uni is indeed hectic, people. 

I haven't been blogging as often either. I still take time to read my favourite blogs but between studying and the crappy internet on hall its a challenge to update regularly.

Hall life is so different from living with my parents but I'm loving it. Its like a cross among living in a hotel, apartment and summer camp. Being both adolescent and adult at the same time. The adult side comes out more than the other, but I definitely still feel like a teen =] Is this what they call the transitioning period?

I can hear a football match being played in the distance. I love observing how the guys and girls interact in uni. I have to keep my head on and focus on my work but it's harder than I thought it would be! Trini guys are the bombb! =P 

Did I mention I'm playing sports? Oh yes! This Hatter played tennis this morning! (weeeeeeee!) The only thing is that the sessions are intense. I can hardly walk the day after x.x lol. 

Hope you don't mind that bit of randomness =]

Now to my hair: lately it's been showing signs of less than average care- unfortunately one of the showers only runs cold water and I happened to chose that one to wash my hair >.< Now my hair feels sticky and coated with residue from pre-pooing with my ORS Vital Oils and washing with cold water. grrrr

My hair is also shedding more than usual! I realized that around this same time last year I also experienced increased shedding so I'm hoping that this is just seasonal shedding. I'm not going to worry about it.

I'm now seven weeks post relaxer and hoping to try out some tweaks to my regimen this weekend when I wash and condition. I hope to prevent the usual matts, tangles and knots I experience at eight weeks post and successfully stretch to nine weeks this time.

How's your week been? 

Life happens!

~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

Relaxer stretch: 8 weeks post!

Good Thursday morning! =) Who's enjoying this lovely day like I am?

This week marks my eighth week post relaxer. So far my new growth is continuing to behave nicely! =)
I'm still wondering if I'm experienced decreased growth rate because at this point on my previous stretches I would be pulling my hair out! loool

Some styles that have gotten me through the stretch include buns, bantu knot-outs (still need practice), braids and braid-outs. Low manipulation is key to managing my hair at this point...and staying sane.

On Tuesday I washed (and rollerset!) my hair. I'm pleased to report that the breakage I experienced last week seems to have stopped. (Good ole' ORS Replenishing Conditioner! =D) My shedding also seems to have reduced over the past couple weeks. I find it a bit ironic since many ladies experience more shedding the deeper they are in a relaxer stretch. Here are some pictures of the hair I would lose on wash days:

Wash day: shed and broken hair at 4 weeks post.

Wash day: 7 weeks post

Wash day: 8 weeks post

Its possible that I'm at the end of a heavy shedding cycle. In the first photo, the ball of hair is much denser than the hair I've lost at 7 and 8 weeks post. Its such a relief not to see the heavy, dreaded hair ball every week!

I've been trying my best to keep my hair moisturized, especially my ends. Last night I made a high, giant pincurl and tied my hair down with a satin scarf. Just to make sure the moisture was locked in, I covered that with a satin bonnet. This morning I unwrapped and my hair was nice and moist!
That's all for now folks!

Happy hurrr-day!
~Hatter

Wash Day @ 7 weeks post

Last Tuesday marked exactly seven weeks since my last relaxer. So far so good! =)

Honestly, on this stretch I don't think I have as much new growth as the last time when I was seven weeks post. However, new growth seems to just "hit me" all of a sudden. lool. It's almost as if I go to bed with perfectly manageable growth and the next morning I can't comb through it! As of this week I haven't had that problem so I'm definitely aiming to make at least eight weeks before I relax.

On Thursday I did a rollerset. My second attempt all by myself! =) This is actually my third attempt, but the second time my mother helped me to set the back of my hair.

This is the texture of my new growth at 7 weeks post. My fingers mark the demarcation line.

Full rollerset!

In all honesty, I surprised myself with my results! I set my whole head in about 55 minutes. (Record!)

As can be seen in the pictures, in the front I put the rollers in vertically. I found this easier than putting rollers in horizontally or using the Mohawk method. 

Unfortunately, I used too many rollers in the front, leaving me with only five to set the back sections! LOL

The amount of new growth is uneven across my head because I had patches of telaxed roots from my last relaxer. =( That means this time I relax I have to make sure I don't under-process the areas with the most thickness and texture. 

I'm excited to master rollersetting! =D

How's your hair doing this summer?

Happy hair day!

~Hatter