2013 Hair Goals

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

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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

Small Hair Haul

Yesterday I went to one of my local beauty supply stores and bought two deep conditioners that I've been wanting to try for a while now:


1.

Organic Root Stimulator HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner

Since the release of the ORS HAIRepair line I've been eager to try all of its products. I used the Vital Oils and the Moisture Creme and I liked them both, so I was glad to find samples of the Nourishing Conditioner. 

I first saw this product reviewed by my favourite youtube guru, ulovemegz:

There are many more reviews by other women with relaxed hair. Some women thought it was mild/heavy protein treatment while for others it was more of a moisture treatment. What's interesting is that they all agree that this product made their hair soft but strong, and some said that it might not be ideal for weekly use. If my hair responds the same way, this conditioner might be good for my first wash day after getting a relaxer to really strengthen my hair after being striped of protein bonds and moisture. 

2.

Creme of Nature Professional with Argan Oil  Intensive Conditioning Treatment

I'm sincerely hoping that this product is the same as the ones pictured below. The only difference I see from the packaging is that my bottle is all red, says "Professional" and the bottle holds 20 oz. I'm assuming that the formula is the same but the packaging is a little different because the size is bigger than the standard packaging. 

cremeofnature.com

I'm excited to try both products and post a review in the new year. (That's 2 days away!! haha)

This has been my last hair haul for 2012! I wonder how many more products I'll try next year...hopefully I won't become a product junkie x.x

What were some of your favourite hair buys this year?

Love!

~Hatter

My inspirations: Hair journey

Here are some of the major sources for my hair-spiration, tutorials and indispensible information about caring for relaxed (and natural!) hair.

1. Youtube

• ulovemegz

If you read some of my previous posts you would have realized how much I love Megan's videos! She was my very first youtube hair-spiration who motivated me to start my own hair journey.  

• FusionofCultures

I found out about this cute chic from reading loveyourtresses.com. Laila-Jean transitioned from relaxed to natural hair and is now rocking a head-full of beautiful curls! I always admire ladies who are able to take great care of their natural tresses, making amazing looking natural hair the newest envy on the block. ;)

2. justgrowalready.com




Jen! What more can I say? Besides reading every one of her posts and scouring her blog several times a week, I use Jen as a real hair-spiration for what I want my hair to look like some day! She's transitioning from relaxed to telaxed hair and so far she's almost middle-back length. Every post about her journey is informative and, okay, I admit it, I'm a bit addicted to her site!

3. longing4length.com




Ms Ebony, like Jen, is a seasoned lady on her hair journey and likewise inspires me very much. She has hosted many hair challenges (like the Six Month Rollerset) and recently debuted her first e-book! Check out her website, you won't regret it. =)

4. relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.com

Ahhhh, Nadege. May I say she is the top of the top of hair-spiration? Her blog was the first I found that I thought was the key to healthy, long relaxed hair. lol Nadege is always on the look-out to discover better and better products for her hair and blogs about her progress. Jen and Nadege's blog definitely top my list of best hair blogs.

5. hairlista.com

Yup! A great forum site to ask, discuss and receive answers on all and anything hair related. Reminds me of longhaircareforum.com but honestly I prefer hairlista! Like LHCF, you must have an account to access the forum and create a profile. However, the set-up is easy and I recommend any serious hairlista to sign up for the site to expand her knowledge of hair care (both natural and relaxed). Are you a hairlista like me? Check out my hairlista page here.

6. naturalchica.com

The best natural hair care site I've found so far! Like I said before, I admire natural-haired ladies and I can see myself transitioning back to natural hair in the future. After searching youtube I came across Mae's channel, which linked to her site naturalchica.com. Interested in transitioning, caring for natural hair, or, (like me) just love to look at gorgeous hair? haha this is the site for you. Mae also provides tons of great info from hair doctors and other professionals about natural hair care.

I hope these sites inspire you as they inspired me!
Are any of these sites among your favourites? Did I miss any?

Happy hair day!
~Hatter

Hair Journey Spotlight: ulovemegz!

Good Sunday morning! Today I thought I would create a new post on one of my favourite hair/beauty bloggers: Megz!

Megz (Megan) goes by ulovemegz on youtube, where she posts tons of videos about her hair regimen, makeup ideas and fashion excursions.

She was undoubtedly one of the very first black women I ever saw with real, long, gorgeous hair who inspired me to start my hair journey in December last year.
Yup, its allllll her's, folks!

Watching her youtube videos was addictive! I learned a lot of tips from her about moisturing and sealing, protective styles and deep conditioning. She's also such a genuinely real, amiable person! Unlike a lot of black women out there, Megz doesn't think anything should stop us from achieving the lengths and full health that we desire from our hair. I remember one video in which Megz addressed comments that she has long hair because she's "mixed". Ladies, when you explore her vigorous regimen, its obvious genes don't have much to do with it!

I also admire how she does everything herself. From self-relaxing to washing, styling and trimming. She has inspired me to take much more control over my hair and believe that I don't need to have a hairdresser to achieve gorgeous hair!

Even though Megz's hair isn't the thickest of the bunch, she appreciates it for what it is and doesn't try to work against it. Whether you're hair is thick, thin, coarse or stringy...love it!
In the words of Megz: "It's okay, cause it's my hair." :)

Megan definitely deserves this Hair Journey Spotlight for my favourite hair blogger!

Check out Megz on youtube and on her blog.

Who has inspired your hair journey?

Happy hair!
~Hatter