SPEED BUMP

So...my hair is in a rut right now...a standstill. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm using all the right ingredients and giving my hair the proper TLC but it seems like it's rebelling. I am still experiencing LOTS of shedding even though I'm taking garlic pills. Still no breakage tho...I guess that should make me feel good, but to be completely honest, it doesn't. I don't feel like I'm seeing an equal amount of progress compared to the amount of effort. I recently decided to go natural instead of attempting long stretches...mainly because I want my hair to thicken up and I know relaxers are the main reason for my thinness. It's already proving to be very difficult...I'm almost 3 months post relaxer and I'm already experiencing major difficulties detangling my hair, even in the shower under running water. Not exactly sure what I'm doing wrong??? I recently tried washing my hair with African Black Soap (purchased thru www.coastalscents.com) again and STILL don't like it on my hair...or my face. When I lather it feels soooooo good but when I begin to rinse out the shampoo my hair feels waxy, like the ABS leaves a film on my hair. This film is so thick smh...the main reason it bothers me is because I think the "film" will prevent my hair from receiving all the moisture it needs, not to mention I can't detangle will it's in that state. I end up having to use a moisturizing shampoo behind it in order to detangle, to me it's just not worth it. ABS does the same thing to my face, only I find it dries my face out too. Tonight I'm going to attempt to make a sew-in wig lol FIRST ATTEMPT y'all! :) Will definitely post pictures of my fail lol. Instead of making the wig on my head I think I'll attempt it on my foam head first, that wayI can get used to using the needle and I actually can see the back of my head. If all goes well I'll be wearing it to whatever New Years celebration I attend. Also, tonight I'm going to doa major trim...well as major as my "hair ego" allows lol. Wish me luck y'all!!!!

MY 1ST SEW-IN

So I decided to go to my squadrons holiday party after all and settled on trying a sew-in...I didn't really know what else to do to my hair lol. Let me just say...I AM NOT A FAN! My hair was cute no doubt but the braids were suuuuuuper tight which made me extremely nervous. I have very thin, fine hair on my edges and they were just starting to show some progress. I planned on having the sew-in taken out the following Monday but I just couldn't take the pain...not to mention it would have stopped me from following my regimen, especially the rule against no heat (left the top/front out). It was so hard to take down myself lol worse than micro braids. I will never get that put in my head again...moving on to the wigs.

Still experiencing a lot of shedding. Brewed some black tea for three days and gave myself a black tea rinse after washing my hair with Kenra Moisturizing Shampoo. Crossing my fingers :)!

1 MONTH & 2 WEEKS POST RELAXER

Right now I'm 1 month & 2 weeks post relaxer (last relaxer was 24 Oct 12) and I'm seeing an unusual amount of new growth :). I guess I should be happy but instead I'm a little worried. Why? I'm considering going natural or at the very least, stretching my relaxer for seven months. Why the concern? I'm already having issues with detangling and I know it's only going to get worse lol. I'm currently taking Affinity pills for hair growth (2 pills/day) and garlic supplements (2 pills/day) for shedding. I think the biotin I was taking (2 pills/day) and the castor oil I was applying to my scalp every two days is causing the unusual amount of new growth but I still haven't seen a change in the amount of shedding :(. I looked at a couple of hair blogs and I think I'm going to try the ACV rinses again (before weekly shampoos & DC's). This time I'm going to stick to it for at least 2 months (8 washes) in order to reeeeeally be able to tell if it's actually working or not.

Today I cowashed my hair and air dried it as usual. I'm having a difficult time actually getting the conditioner to actually clean my scalp. Because it doesn't lather or spread as easily as shampoo I can't really get to my scalp to clean it. I wish I could find a video showing HOW and not TELLING how lol that would be helpful. I am still bot seeing any breakage :) but I do feel like my hair is at a stand still, showing no progress and that is definitely a concern. As my hair grows AND retains length (which I know it's doing because I see no breakage and I do see new growth) I'm going to clip my ends faithfully every month...approximately 1/4 inch a month until I cut off all my dead ends.

GOALS:

- stretching relaxers 7 months
- cutting off dead ends
- avoiding ALL direct heat
- growing edges
- achieving better moisture retainability
- slowing down shedding
- speeding up hair growth
- increasing thickness

Wish me luck! ;)

NEW PIBBS DRYER

Sooooo my PIBBS dryer just arrived and I'm do excited to use it :)!!!! I ordered it from IBEAUTY online, pretty reasonably priced and very quick delivery considering I'm in Japan.

- Washed hair w/ Neutrogena Triple
Moisture Cream Lather Shampoo
- DC'd (Bee Mine Bee-u-ti-Ful DC,
Neutrogena Triple Moisture Con-
ditioner, Joico K-Pak Moisture
Intense Hydrator , AtOne
Botanical Conditioner, vegetable
glycerin, and avocado oil mix) w/
heat for 25mins
- Rinsed
- Applied Neutrogena leave-in
- Moisturized w/ spritz (S-Curl Moisti-
rizer, aloe vera juice, rose water, and
V05 Moisture Milk)
- Sealed w/ coconut oil
- Air dry