Well my relaxer treatment has been fine although I think that it could do with going down in strength as my hair was pretty limp after a few days and I really do not like that. However what is more pressing to me right now is that my hair is now down to my armpits I can see that it is damaged in places. It makes me sad because it seems that all the heat that I put on my hair earlier this year caused serious breakage and dryness that now having reached a goal point I can see more clearly.
This has happened to me before in 2004, my hair had grown to a beautiful length, or so I thought until my cousin pointed out that my hair needed a trim. I thought she was just jealous but checked myself into a hair dresser anyway. I was smug sitting in that chair, I had been doing hot oil treatments, using mild relaxers and it had really paid off. Then the hair dresser pointed out that the back of my hair was very uneven and sure enough my nape had broken off leaving a space in my hair line. I cut my hair and then disheartened by my loss of progress I simply decided to give up and shave my hair and go natural. That was when my serial transitioning began and ended only two weeks ago, six years later.
I was really upset at first because then I had thought it was colour treatments I had done, but as the damaged has occurred much higher the hair shaft then my last colour two years ago I had to conclude that it was something that I had done since to damage my hair. Then it hit me, back then I flat ironed my hair every week after air drying. Due to my hairs thickness I tend to do a really good job on the fine haired nape and hair line but the middle of the hair gets less heat. Except when I heat trained, then I was very through, to the point where I could smell burning hair, my hair was dry from all the heat but I was convinced it would work so I carried on going. For all the good its done me I should have just taken a pair of scissors and chopped parts of my hair off.
So as a result I have decided to give up heat, in all honesty I have noticed that my GHD's are too hot for me and I only blow dry on cool. However even that has caused further breakage and its clear that my relaxed hair can not handle heat and I am never going to have waist length hair unless I stop using it. Well a couple of strands will get there but nobody likes that look.
I also consider my hair to be course but I have realised that not all of it is, only the crown, so I am going to stop using course relaxers, I am now going to use mild only. I will begin at the point that needs the most time and end at the part that needs the least. Hopefully these changes will stop further damage occurring. 2012 will be the year of the air dry style :-)
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
Healthy relaxed hair tips, building a routine.
With this new revelation that relaxed hair is the way for me I started to rethink my routine. If I am going to become a committed chemical user then I wanted to do it well. I also had to think about how to keep my hair slippery and free from tangles. I have learned a few things in this last year about my chemically treated hair that I would like to share.
I now wash my hair in the sink, not the shower. For years I have been untangling my hair in the shower with plenty of conditioner from scalp to tip. That has caused mechanical breakage due to the wet tension and over stretched my hair weakening it as well as irritation because my scalp hates conditioner. I have sensitive skin and I barely use anything on it, I now do the same for my scalp. I now untangle my hair, plait three ways, shampoo with a sulfate free conditioner and then condition the last two thirds of my hair under a plastic cap for at least an hour. I rinse very well in the sink losing no hair as it has already been removed when untangling and then finally add a watery leave in conditioner and pour olive oil on the center of my scalp and smooth down to the tips of my hair.
I have started to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the ends of my hair to keep it lubricated and to condition my scalp after washing. I have discovered that that not all EVOO is equal, some brands are too light for my hair, but my favorite so far is the unfiltered bottle of Fillipo Berio that I picked up in Waitrose for 3.99. There is a liter of it and because its unfiltered it contains more body and a bit if sedament. It also works in my daughters fine 3C hair.
I have also started to roller set under a warm bonnet and blow dry on warm occasionally with no ill effect. This was a sort of evolution of sorts, as when I flat ironed my hair and I realised that I really did not like to do something that I knew would leave my hair dry and split in a couple of days. I really enjoy roller setting but it takes me about 48 hours to dry it naturally and sleeping on them gives me a headache so I use my bonnet on cool for about and hour and pin curl the areas that may be damp. I use my leave in and a little silicone or even better olive oil and the result is lovely heavy hair, full of moisture. I like my hair to be in large waves which suits my love of vintage style but I also would like to experiment with the large purple rollers. Problem is that my hair is so dense that I need a few packs for the job, storage is a problem as I seem to have a lot of rollers, my kids love to play with them.
I also blow dry my hair wet, I always thought I should air dry first to about 80% but the Science of Black Hair taught me to use water content as an additional buffer against heat damage. So now I squeeze out the moisture with a towel and then add a leave in and a silicone blow dry gently on cool with a paddle brush. I keep the blow dryer concentrator nozzle a few inches away from my hair, once dry I seal my hair with some EVOO as I want to stop my ends from being crunchy. They are usually a little damp as I do not dry them completely and I like my ends to be to be lubricated and free from tangles.
I no longer avoid from silicone as its a great at protecting my hair from damage and helps stop tangles from forming. This means I do not have to invest in expensive silicone free conditioners, I am not doing the curly girl method anyway so why avoid silicone? Even the strongest one can be washed away with sulfates.
I have realised that I am protein sensitive, I love hard protein and now use it every other week or I do a henna treatment. However I can not use light proteins as my regular conditioner and there are so many of them out there. Finding a leave in has been testing due to the fact that the companies make leave in conditioner for people with damaged hair and so they contain protein. I can only use a protein twice a week tops and if I seal with coconut oil my hair is rigid the next day.
In fact I now see my extra virgin coconut oil as a protein sealant and my extra virgin olive oil as a moisturising sealant. Its very important that I remember this when I am choosing my oils before I go to be or I will end up with difficult hair in the morning. I also use shea butter as a creamy moisturiser on damp hair but it has so be sealed with EVOO to take away the waxy finish that can leave my hair a little dull. I am allergic to caster oil, it makes my scalp break out and become sore, horrible as its a fantastic lubricant,
So my last relaxer was on the 20th November 2011, I had washed and deep conditioned with nexxus emergencee and Humectress, and then air dried in a bun. On the night of the 19th I pretreated my ends with olive oil, this left my hair easy to part in the morning. After applying ORS Lye in normal strength with an applicator brush starting at the crown, I smoothed lightly and rinsed in the sink then used the last of my ORS hair mayonaise as a mid relaxer protein treatment. Conditioners have a lower ph than relaxer so the neutralising process had already begun (see science of black hair book) I left the protein on for about ten minutes, then rinsed, used my ORS neutralising shampoo and then deep conditioned with the last of my humectress for an hour. The result was fantastic, I am closer to bra strap and when I dried my hair it was heavy and full of moisture, I can not remember when my hair was this long or healthy.
So I am trying to stick to what I know to avoid buying too many products, I recently had a big clear out. I am however having some problems finding the perfect moisturiser other than water so I have decided to try Joico Daily Care detangling leave in as it was on special offer on amazon. Nexxus has a brilliant moisturiser but it only comes in 300ml that is not enough for the twelve pound price. Joico was twelve pounds for 1000ml on special offer! I am also on the look out for a new deep moisture conditioner as Humectress says leave on for three minutes and I need hardcore moisture. It just does not work for me the instructions should say ten minutes or longer. So next I am going to try Joico moisture recovery balm and I managed to get 500ml quite cheap and apparently a little goes a long way. I will do a review on these products as soon as I ave given them a good trial.
Well I hope this helps somebody, I feel my hair journey that has been almost a decade now I finally turning a corner and I can see long hair at the end of the tunnel. I think 2012 will be a good year :-)
I now wash my hair in the sink, not the shower. For years I have been untangling my hair in the shower with plenty of conditioner from scalp to tip. That has caused mechanical breakage due to the wet tension and over stretched my hair weakening it as well as irritation because my scalp hates conditioner. I have sensitive skin and I barely use anything on it, I now do the same for my scalp. I now untangle my hair, plait three ways, shampoo with a sulfate free conditioner and then condition the last two thirds of my hair under a plastic cap for at least an hour. I rinse very well in the sink losing no hair as it has already been removed when untangling and then finally add a watery leave in conditioner and pour olive oil on the center of my scalp and smooth down to the tips of my hair.
I have started to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the ends of my hair to keep it lubricated and to condition my scalp after washing. I have discovered that that not all EVOO is equal, some brands are too light for my hair, but my favorite so far is the unfiltered bottle of Fillipo Berio that I picked up in Waitrose for 3.99. There is a liter of it and because its unfiltered it contains more body and a bit if sedament. It also works in my daughters fine 3C hair.
I have also started to roller set under a warm bonnet and blow dry on warm occasionally with no ill effect. This was a sort of evolution of sorts, as when I flat ironed my hair and I realised that I really did not like to do something that I knew would leave my hair dry and split in a couple of days. I really enjoy roller setting but it takes me about 48 hours to dry it naturally and sleeping on them gives me a headache so I use my bonnet on cool for about and hour and pin curl the areas that may be damp. I use my leave in and a little silicone or even better olive oil and the result is lovely heavy hair, full of moisture. I like my hair to be in large waves which suits my love of vintage style but I also would like to experiment with the large purple rollers. Problem is that my hair is so dense that I need a few packs for the job, storage is a problem as I seem to have a lot of rollers, my kids love to play with them.
I also blow dry my hair wet, I always thought I should air dry first to about 80% but the Science of Black Hair taught me to use water content as an additional buffer against heat damage. So now I squeeze out the moisture with a towel and then add a leave in and a silicone blow dry gently on cool with a paddle brush. I keep the blow dryer concentrator nozzle a few inches away from my hair, once dry I seal my hair with some EVOO as I want to stop my ends from being crunchy. They are usually a little damp as I do not dry them completely and I like my ends to be to be lubricated and free from tangles.
I no longer avoid from silicone as its a great at protecting my hair from damage and helps stop tangles from forming. This means I do not have to invest in expensive silicone free conditioners, I am not doing the curly girl method anyway so why avoid silicone? Even the strongest one can be washed away with sulfates.
I have realised that I am protein sensitive, I love hard protein and now use it every other week or I do a henna treatment. However I can not use light proteins as my regular conditioner and there are so many of them out there. Finding a leave in has been testing due to the fact that the companies make leave in conditioner for people with damaged hair and so they contain protein. I can only use a protein twice a week tops and if I seal with coconut oil my hair is rigid the next day.
In fact I now see my extra virgin coconut oil as a protein sealant and my extra virgin olive oil as a moisturising sealant. Its very important that I remember this when I am choosing my oils before I go to be or I will end up with difficult hair in the morning. I also use shea butter as a creamy moisturiser on damp hair but it has so be sealed with EVOO to take away the waxy finish that can leave my hair a little dull. I am allergic to caster oil, it makes my scalp break out and become sore, horrible as its a fantastic lubricant,
So my last relaxer was on the 20th November 2011, I had washed and deep conditioned with nexxus emergencee and Humectress, and then air dried in a bun. On the night of the 19th I pretreated my ends with olive oil, this left my hair easy to part in the morning. After applying ORS Lye in normal strength with an applicator brush starting at the crown, I smoothed lightly and rinsed in the sink then used the last of my ORS hair mayonaise as a mid relaxer protein treatment. Conditioners have a lower ph than relaxer so the neutralising process had already begun (see science of black hair book) I left the protein on for about ten minutes, then rinsed, used my ORS neutralising shampoo and then deep conditioned with the last of my humectress for an hour. The result was fantastic, I am closer to bra strap and when I dried my hair it was heavy and full of moisture, I can not remember when my hair was this long or healthy.
So I am trying to stick to what I know to avoid buying too many products, I recently had a big clear out. I am however having some problems finding the perfect moisturiser other than water so I have decided to try Joico Daily Care detangling leave in as it was on special offer on amazon. Nexxus has a brilliant moisturiser but it only comes in 300ml that is not enough for the twelve pound price. Joico was twelve pounds for 1000ml on special offer! I am also on the look out for a new deep moisture conditioner as Humectress says leave on for three minutes and I need hardcore moisture. It just does not work for me the instructions should say ten minutes or longer. So next I am going to try Joico moisture recovery balm and I managed to get 500ml quite cheap and apparently a little goes a long way. I will do a review on these products as soon as I ave given them a good trial.
Well I hope this helps somebody, I feel my hair journey that has been almost a decade now I finally turning a corner and I can see long hair at the end of the tunnel. I think 2012 will be a good year :-)
Accepting that relaxer is your styling choice.
Friends, I recently came to an important conclusion, I have tried to stop relaxing my hair and I have tried every technique but in the end I have come to the conclusion that my indecision is literally ruining my hair. Looking after anything requires patience and consistency, and changing your regime every few weeks is the complete opposite of what you need to grow your hair long and strong. I have been so all over the place jumping on every band wagon going and believing every hype that I read about that this year and as a result I have experienced some breakage and thinning that I can see that I can pin point back to transitioning or stretching my relaxer for too long, using to much heat trying to "heat train" my new growth.
My thick, course and dense hair hides the damage well and I am still on my way to bra strap despite all my changes, but I have seen the most growth in the last four months when I started taking it easy on my hair and swore off anything more than dusting my ends. You see, my hair is damaged and cutting off that damage will give me instant relief but, I think my ends will always have a certain amount of damage so I might as well learn to manage it rather than cutting it off. Its just so demotivating to grow your hair and then chop off three inches, that is four to six months growth.
My previous relaxer was in September after a four month stretch, I thought that I was transitioning but with my hair gaining length I really wanted to enjoy it. I avoided heat, especially my flat iron as I noticed that it made my new growth very dry which eventually leads to breakage. My hair was feeling strong and after some encouragement from a friend I took the plunge and relaxed using Organic Root Stimulator's lye relaxer. I was really pleased with the results but I had this strong feeling of failure and guilt, I deleted my blog in shame. All I could think was why can't I transition am I ashamed of my natural beauty, do I have issues with how God made me?
I started to research relaxer addiction on the internet....and then I came to my senses, I was not addicted to relaxer, I just love to where my textured hair straight. My hair does not look European, Asian, or otherwise. My hair looks like what it is, course, chemically straightened hair, its unique in its own right and its beautiful. Its me, just like I love to wear the colour red and form fitting dresses, its a part of my personal style and I should not feel ashamed.
My thick, course and dense hair hides the damage well and I am still on my way to bra strap despite all my changes, but I have seen the most growth in the last four months when I started taking it easy on my hair and swore off anything more than dusting my ends. You see, my hair is damaged and cutting off that damage will give me instant relief but, I think my ends will always have a certain amount of damage so I might as well learn to manage it rather than cutting it off. Its just so demotivating to grow your hair and then chop off three inches, that is four to six months growth.
My previous relaxer was in September after a four month stretch, I thought that I was transitioning but with my hair gaining length I really wanted to enjoy it. I avoided heat, especially my flat iron as I noticed that it made my new growth very dry which eventually leads to breakage. My hair was feeling strong and after some encouragement from a friend I took the plunge and relaxed using Organic Root Stimulator's lye relaxer. I was really pleased with the results but I had this strong feeling of failure and guilt, I deleted my blog in shame. All I could think was why can't I transition am I ashamed of my natural beauty, do I have issues with how God made me?
I started to research relaxer addiction on the internet....and then I came to my senses, I was not addicted to relaxer, I just love to where my textured hair straight. My hair does not look European, Asian, or otherwise. My hair looks like what it is, course, chemically straightened hair, its unique in its own right and its beautiful. Its me, just like I love to wear the colour red and form fitting dresses, its a part of my personal style and I should not feel ashamed.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Transitioning your mind may take years.
I relaxed again, I do not even know what to say, my hair looks beautiful and full and healthy.
I am using a lot of olive oil as a deep conditioner and sealent and no heat and it is really helping. I still struggle with a dry scalp but its not half as bad as it used to be. Would still love long natural hair, just not the right time i guess, I am starting to think that I would have to transition with braids or something. I really like my relaxed hair I have to say so my problem is not knowledge its a mental transition that I am struggling with and at the moment its a loosing battle.
I am using a lot of olive oil as a deep conditioner and sealent and no heat and it is really helping. I still struggle with a dry scalp but its not half as bad as it used to be. Would still love long natural hair, just not the right time i guess, I am starting to think that I would have to transition with braids or something. I really like my relaxed hair I have to say so my problem is not knowledge its a mental transition that I am struggling with and at the moment its a loosing battle.
Friday, 16 September 2011
I'm bored
I have been on this journey for so long that I am now just bored. There seems to be no definitive answer to my transitioning conundrum. If I use not heat I have tangles at the root and crazy tangles on my ends. If I use heat then my roots are baby smooth but my mid hair to ends starts to feel really dry on day two and my scalp feels tight because of the heat.
I hate extensions and wigs because they bore me too quickly for the effort it takes to install them. I just feel like it's not worth the bother.
I am also bored of relaxed hair, it's the endless cycle of grow, perm, burn, heal, grow, perm....
So I am bored but I so not sure what to do. Scalp feels better without shampoo and hair feels moist without heat but styling remains a massive challenge. Starting to think I am going to have to make a hat to cover my hair so I for not have to deal with it any more.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Dry scalp when transitioning.
Yesterday I gave my hair a henna treatment, it really warmed up my indigo black hair, finally, and I was super pleased. I have really struggled to go pass five days without washing, in fact three is really the max and so my scalp has suffered, the crown is dry and painful and I have realised that I am going to have to no poo for a while and stop blow drying my roots. I believe that I am sensitive to shampoo and the heat from my hairdryer. This is really annoying as I hate dealing with the curly snarls on my relaxed hair which will either A rip off my relaxed hair or B cause single strand knots. So I had a real brainstorm about the situation, what to do about my need to cut down on heat AND keep my scalp moisturised AND my new growth healthy tangle free. Then I remembered the water, glycerin and oil spritz that I used after my relaxers three years ago. Then I used to spritz my hair and keep it in a moist bun for a week after a relaxer and I did not use heat and it made my hair silly soft. I still love my creamy leave in sealed with coconut oil but I have not moisturised my scalp on a regular basis as cantu does not like new growth so this will have to be it. My priority is maintaining my length and minimising knots the supper sleek look is not really my priority especially as it always results in breakage in the end.
So looks like my regimen has evolved yet again. I really hope that I am bsl by next February
So looks like my regimen has evolved yet again. I really hope that I am bsl by next February
Monday, 29 August 2011
New regimen, low heat less washing. 21 INCH HAIR!
Since reading SBH book I have been very aware of the state of my hair. I have not relaxed again and I think I am about three months post, In fact lets just say that I last relaxed the 1st June 2011. I am not excited with the three months as I have bee here before. I just can not wait for six months to arrive again so that I can start to really enjoy the challenge of transitioning.
So far `I have learned, on refection, that my hair being course and wiry does well with gentle heat to help me manage the density but not very well with air drying and flat ironing. I have an unbelievable amount of breakage on my crown from the bad relaxer I had before my last. I left it for about five weeks before correcting and air dried it lose to try and keep breakage down. Hair always all over the floor I knew something was wrong, however it was not until I tried to air dry a roller set that I really saw the damage as there seemed to be lots of short hairs within my long hair all over my head. My ends are pretty good with just the odd split end but inside my dense hair I would say I have 80-70% breakage at the point of that relaxer application.
I have also rediscovered the very curly tight 'O' type hair on my crown which tends to be the worse for breakage and when fully natural, knots. I have neglected this area and have decided that I am going to maintain my transitioning hair through gentle blow drying only. I only use heat which feel comfortable against my skin and I hold my damp (not wet) hair taught as I dry, concentrating on the roots mainly.
To of set this new addition to my regimen I have decided to try and use less products so that I do not have to wash so often. I mean I have dry scalp and dry hair, so really I am only washing off what I put on my scalp, so to keep my scalp clean I will not add too much product.
I have also been on a search for a creamy leave-in and I found it! Cantu Shea butter Leave-in. £5.50 for 500g, a good price and it offers moisture and heat protection. I used this on towel dried hair before I went to bed, ignoring my healthy new growth. Then I spritzed my roots with water in the morning, added my nexxus heat protection spray and divided it into small sections for blow drying. The result was lovely soft hair that was not weighed down of stick straight. I plan to moisturise every night wear my hair up as it is getting quite long now and can get in the way.
Products:
Shampoo- Nexxus moisturising shampoo, Kelate for clarifying before a protein treatment.
Conditioner- Nexxus moisturising conditioner (managed to get 1 litre very cheap) HSR for pre-poos.
Protein-Nexxus Emergencee my hair loves protein! pree poo GPB if I feel it needs a boost.
Leave in- Cantu Shea butter, this contains glycerin so I hope that it will work well with water spritz.
Moisturiser- water bottle spritz (mineral water)
Sealant- coconut oil, moisturising in its own right and soaks through to the cortex leaving opportunity for further moisture.
Style- NO heat and protective styling, buns, trying to avoid hair bands, pincurls.
Wash every two weeks prepoo and wash day before, sleep in four loose pincurls with leave-in conditioner. Blow dry in morning, moisturise nightly, hard protein every six weeks.
This should save me money too as I have been washing up to twice a week and slapping heavy products on as if there is no tomorrow.
Good news in that my hair is now 21 inches long, only three inches left until bra strap! Six months!
So far `I have learned, on refection, that my hair being course and wiry does well with gentle heat to help me manage the density but not very well with air drying and flat ironing. I have an unbelievable amount of breakage on my crown from the bad relaxer I had before my last. I left it for about five weeks before correcting and air dried it lose to try and keep breakage down. Hair always all over the floor I knew something was wrong, however it was not until I tried to air dry a roller set that I really saw the damage as there seemed to be lots of short hairs within my long hair all over my head. My ends are pretty good with just the odd split end but inside my dense hair I would say I have 80-70% breakage at the point of that relaxer application.
I have also rediscovered the very curly tight 'O' type hair on my crown which tends to be the worse for breakage and when fully natural, knots. I have neglected this area and have decided that I am going to maintain my transitioning hair through gentle blow drying only. I only use heat which feel comfortable against my skin and I hold my damp (not wet) hair taught as I dry, concentrating on the roots mainly.
To of set this new addition to my regimen I have decided to try and use less products so that I do not have to wash so often. I mean I have dry scalp and dry hair, so really I am only washing off what I put on my scalp, so to keep my scalp clean I will not add too much product.
I have also been on a search for a creamy leave-in and I found it! Cantu Shea butter Leave-in. £5.50 for 500g, a good price and it offers moisture and heat protection. I used this on towel dried hair before I went to bed, ignoring my healthy new growth. Then I spritzed my roots with water in the morning, added my nexxus heat protection spray and divided it into small sections for blow drying. The result was lovely soft hair that was not weighed down of stick straight. I plan to moisturise every night wear my hair up as it is getting quite long now and can get in the way.
Products:
Shampoo- Nexxus moisturising shampoo, Kelate for clarifying before a protein treatment.
Conditioner- Nexxus moisturising conditioner (managed to get 1 litre very cheap) HSR for pre-poos.
Protein-Nexxus Emergencee my hair loves protein! pree poo GPB if I feel it needs a boost.
Leave in- Cantu Shea butter, this contains glycerin so I hope that it will work well with water spritz.
Moisturiser- water bottle spritz (mineral water)
Sealant- coconut oil, moisturising in its own right and soaks through to the cortex leaving opportunity for further moisture.
Style- NO heat and protective styling, buns, trying to avoid hair bands, pincurls.
Wash every two weeks prepoo and wash day before, sleep in four loose pincurls with leave-in conditioner. Blow dry in morning, moisturise nightly, hard protein every six weeks.
This should save me money too as I have been washing up to twice a week and slapping heavy products on as if there is no tomorrow.
Good news in that my hair is now 21 inches long, only three inches left until bra strap! Six months!
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