Baggying: I'm Officially IN LOVE!!!!!

Last night I decided to really give baggying a chance, and I definitely wasn't disappointed.  Instead of only baggying my ends I decided to do my entire head lol, my hair really drinks up moisture.  After pre-pooing, shampooing, a light protein treatment and DC'ing, I moisturized my hair the same way I normally would I twisted my hair up and put on a conditioning cap.  I immediately felt the bag steaming up.  When I got ready for bed I still wore my silk scarf. The next morning my hair was DUMB soft!!!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  The only thing I did that morning was seal and style in a bun. 

The only things I'd change in this process are:

- Baggying soon as I get home for 3 hours instead of overnight.  I prefer to M&S at night instead of in the morning.  

- Baggying in 4 sections instead of in one twist.  This will allow me to seal easier and allows for my nightly castor oil scalp applications.

I plan on doing this nightly for a minimum of 3 hours so I can maaaaaaybe prevent my ends from needing a major chop.  By the way, my ends are looking great, my hair is still shedding A LOT less than before the Aphogee 2-Step protein treatment and my shower comb is STILL gliding thru my hair.  As for my Castor Oil Challenge progress, I haven't measured but I think I have 1/4 inch of new growth at 1 month post relaxer.  Slow progress but I'll take it lol.  I really need to buy a measuring tape :)

Last Night:

- Pre-poo

- Wash

- Light protein

- DC w/ heat

- Air dry

- Moisturized

- Bag'd entire head

Checking In

Haha!!!!!! Just stopping by to give a quick update.  This was really a TRUE aha! moment :) The shower comb works wonders when detangling, even with my new growth and castor oil applications.  It's really like butter.  The protein treatment significantly decreased my shedding, today I detangled before M&S and I shed less than 10 hairs!!!!!!!!! Dang! I wish I'd figured this out before lol.  Lastly the protein seems to be helping my hair retain moisture and the castor oil is making my new growth feel...well, lets just say, I can't keep my hands off it.  Heavy protein will be a staple from now on.  It's a slow process but I'm learning :)

To Chop or NOT to Chop???

I was up real late last night reading hair blogs and watching YouTube videos...way past my bedtime lol. Ulovemegz has a bomb video on how she tames her hair at 12 weeks post relaxer, it was very inspiring.  In the video she used two heat protectants I just ordered :) and a Chi flat iron that is currently discontinued :(.  From the video it looked like that flat iron would have been the ish for getting at that new growth.  So after searching...and searching and searching some more trying to find that flat iron I decided to do a little online shopping for flat irons.  Right now I have a Chi that I've had for almost 3 1/2 years and an ISO that I never really liked.  After going to Folica.com and reading their tips on buying a new flat iron I made up my mind to make that plunge again.  I don't ever really use heat but I'm thinking that since I'm choosing to stretch for 6 months this time I better update my hot tools :).  I usually looooooooove shopping for hair products (I'm what you would call a "product junkie") but lately I haven't really been feeling up to it.  I think I finally narrowed it down to my top 3: GHB, Sedu and Chi. I'm dying to try out that GHB iron but I'm leaning more towards the Sedu.  The Sedu has a ton of positive reviews but the few (compared to the number of positive) are making me nervous.  Most of the negative reviewers all say that that their iron stopped working well before the two year mark.  At $160 a pop I'd be PISSED lol so I guess my search continues.  

So why heat all of a sudden?  I actually plan on tracking my progress each month.  I've been on my journey for two years now and I'm not seeing nearly as much progress as some other ladies.  Now I know that everyone's hair is different, but at two years I expect to be at least BSL, come on! lol. I figured that I need to actually see how my hair is doing after each month so that I can adjust my regimen when needed, pictures and verbalizing your results actually help.  So I plan on allowing one heat pass monthly for a length and health check.  Occasionally I might even blowdry my hair just because I feel like it's easier to manage and my job takes up a lot of my time during the week.  I ordered some of the heat protectant Ulovemegz usedin her "How I GetMy Hair Laying" video: Nioxin and Olive Oil Stimulator, can't wait to get that in the mail :).

But anyway, back to my hair...Like I said in my last post, Im currently in two Hairlista.com competitions: "Grow 1 Inch in a Week" and the"Castor Oil Challenge 8".  Both require that I use castor oil on my scalp.  Let me just say, I have a love/hate relationship with that oil.  I have very fine/thin hair and it seems that no matter how much I use or how often, it just seems to make my hair oily and very tangly :(.  But I do LOOOOOOOOVE how thick and moisturized my roots are.  It seems like my hair is growing so fast :), can't complain about that but sheeeeeesh!  I just want to be able to manipulate the tangled mess into a bun after using the darn oil lol.  I hear ladies all the time talking about low manipulation and how they finger comb into their desired still after M&S, I don't see how they do it.  How do you do it ladies???  I can't get my hair into anything remotely neat until I pull out that comb lol.  So instead of using my normal wide tooth detangling comb for everyday styling I decided to switch up and use an actual shower comb.  I have to say, that made ALL the difference! :). My hair is easier to detangle and noooooo breakage.  Bad thing, it seems like from the middle of my hair shaft to my ends are dry but oily.  I don't even know how to explain it, it's not "snap, crackling and popping" lol but I can definitely feel the dryness underneath all that oil.  So today I'm switching up from my normal DC to a more moisturizing mixture (I think anyway lol).  Hopefully this corrects it <crossing fingers>.  Right now I'm sitting under my Pibbs dryer and my hair feels sooooo moist.  I don't know if it was the KeraCare or the DPR but I could see the moisture and feel the difference when I applied it.  Also, I decided not to leave my hair in four sections after applying my DC, I just smoothed it into one ponytail...of course, no band lol and I kind of massaged the DC into my new growth.  

Tonight's Routine:

- DC w/ heat for 40 mins

- Co-wash

- Air dry to 50-60% w/ Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship

- Blow dry w/ heat protectant

- Trim (maybe 2 in chop but definitely search & destroy)

- M&S

- Apply castor oil to scalp & massage

- Inversion

I gotta make sure that I take a picture and measure my new growth from the scalp.  I don't know how ima do it but ima get it done :). 

1. After blow dry 2. After trim 3. Length check w/o straightening (front) 4. Length check w/o straightening (back)

Soooooooo!!!!! :) I'm happy with the trim!  I didn't loose a lot of length at all.  And with most of my raggety, tangled, dead ends gone I'm not experiencing the usual snagging that I experience when I detangle.  This is gone be a regular thing for me.  No more being afraid of cutting off that dead limp hair, at the rate of growth I'm experiencing now I know my hair will grow back soon.  Still APL too! :p. My hair feels fuller, stronger (probably because of the protein) and a lot softer, that KeraCare and DPR mix is the ISH!  And even better (drum roll please) my hair isn't tangling after applying my nightly castor oil.  HHJ!!!!!!! 

New Thang

The comb I was using to detangle seemed a little hard on my hair. I don't know...it didn't seem like my hair was breaking but when I tried one of my shower combs I had an "AHA!" moment lol.  It glided thru my hair like butter.  I'm also trying out moisturizing my new growth with my moisturizing mix of S-Curl and vegetable glycerin and I think my hair likes it.  Unfortunately my hair feels like it's not retaining moisture as much as I'd like :( so I think I'll be hitting it with more and more moisture until it gets right.  Luckily it doesn't feel hard, so I don't think I have a protein overload or anything.

Yesterday I DC'd with steam & co-washed. I decided not to detangle in the shower again lol bad choice, I think I'll detangle in the shower and let my hair completely air dry before I manipulate it any more.  Also I decided not to use my Cantu leave-in any more, I just discovered it was protein ugh!  Going back to my moisturizing mix as a leave-in until I can get more Neutrogena leave-in.  

On another note. I joined two hairlista.com challenges yesterday: castor oil challenge and grow 1 inch in one week.  I joined the castor oil challenge at the advance level which means I'll be using castor oil on my scalp every day.  And since the other challenge requires oiling of the scalp I decided to join both at the same time.  The second one requires me to do an inversion every night for 4 mins a night for 7 days.  Ok sooooo lol inversion isn't that hard but I think ima try it on the couch tonight instead of off the bed like last night, I kept feeling like I was gone slide off the bed.  

New growth at one month post relaxer

Heavy Protein

Today's the day 19 Oct!!!! :) I'm finally trying the Aphogee 2-Step Protein again.  I was so scared I stayed up all night the night before researching methods to apply it and not loose any hair, that was my major concern...I didn't want to rinse my hair and my hair come out in clumps lol.  Reasons for the heavy dose of protein?  I recently got a "professional" relaxer and afterwards I discovered my hair was breaking really bad.  Plus I've been experience some heavy shedding since I've been stationed in Japan.  When I looked on shorty2sweet's blog she recommended the heavy Aphogee treatment for both shedding and breakage so I decided to give it a try...again lol.

I detangled my hair into four sections and washed with Aphogee Damaged Hair shampoo in those same four sections.  It was easier that way because I didn't have to worry about sectioning my hair when I got ready to apply the protein.  I used a spray bottle like shorty2sweet recommended and it worked out fine.  I only ended up sitting under the dryer for like 3-5 minutes and my hair was solid as a rock lol.  I hopped in the shower and let the water run thru my hair for another 3-5 mins and lightly touched my hair to see if it was still hard.  Once the protein was completely rinsed out and my hair wasn't hard I applied the Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer to each section and left it on for 2 mins and rinsed out each section.  I detangled each section after rinsing out the balancing moisturizer, applied my DC mix and sat under the dryer for 40 mins.

I could immediately tell that my hair was a lot better, a lot less shedding and my hair felt fuller after applying my DC.  I also hit it with conditioner after I washed out my DC just in case lol. 

I let my hair almost completely air dry before I tried to detangle, that definitely made all the difference.  My hair felt soooooo soft and strong at the same time, I couldn't believe this was my hair :).  I moisturized with my Elasta QP Mango Butter, sealed with coconut oil and oiled scalp with castor oil.  I was finally able to use a brush on my hair without fear that I would break my hair.  I'm excited! 

After applying leave-in

After air drying

After M&S

LONG Stretch

So stretching it is! lol I'm so mad at my hair right now...and a tad bit sad.  I've come sooooo far only to see my progress cut short because of a bad stylist.  I'm currently 1 month post relaxer and have a lot of new growth :) that's the good part.  But I'm also experiencing a little breakage, not much but the scary thing is it might be breaking a lot more and I just don't know it yet :(.  I didn't notice that my hair was breaking badly until I got ready to trim so it's reasonable to think it might still be breaking without my knowledge.  I been hitting my hair with so much TLC it's crazy lol.  Right now I'm sitting under the dryer and doing a DC, crossing my fingers that I'm doing the right thing.  After I DC ima co-wash and air dry. 

So what's been happening with my hair, besides the massive amount of breakage I recently discovered (tear) lol?

- I haaaaaate DC'n my hair! Seems like I can't wash or DC without seeing shredded hairs.  And I'm so freaked out that the hair is actually broken hair.  I don't know why I'm shedding or if it's an unusual amount but I know I don't like it. So I'm back on my garlic supplements to try and slow it down.

- Seriously thinking that my hair actually needs LESS moisture and not more.  My hair hasn't been soggy but that would be my only guess as to why I'm still having breakage issues.  

I'm still using castor oil on my scalp every other day.  And I decided to stretch until the end of December, putting me at about 15 weeks post.  I needed to order me a hair softener/texturizer/kiddie relaxer because thin hair, that's NOT what's up lol.

Oh, and I almost forgot...I'ma try my Aphogee protein again, the harsh kind but only every 6 weeks and my light Aphogee 2-Min Reconstructor every co-wash (2x week).  I'm really scared that I will do something wrong with the harsh protein but I'ma give it try Saturday :).

Anyway, below are my pics from this DC and co-wash.

Sticking With My Regimen

It's hard lol.  I'm so tired everyday but I've experienced the benefits of sticking to your regimen so I know this is what I have to do, no questions about it lol.  I think the hardest part of my regimen is sticking to my prepoo's on my wash days.  It's sooooo much easier to just wash and DC but that extra step is killing lol especially on the days when I'm in a rush to do my hair.  I'm finding out that DC'ing on dry hair is the way to go.  One reason is because detangling on wet hair is detrimental to it's health plus it's a lot harder to do.  Today because I'm in a rush I had to detangled on damp hair (not wet but not entirely dry), I'm literally kicking myself right now.  Since I chopped my ends I feel like my hair is shedding a lot less, maybe it has more with me adding garlic supplements back to my regimen, who knows lol.  So this is what I did to my hair today:

- prepoo

- wash

- protein k-pak

- DC w/ steam

- applied leave-in 

- air dried to 80%

- applied heat protectant

- blow dried on cool

- M&S

 

Today is supposed to be 'awesome lady day' and I'm running late as usual but I still gotta take care of my hair :).

DC'n With Added Co-Wash

I'm following shorty2sweet's regimen and incorporating DC's before co-washes and starting to really use my dryer more.  It's way too early to actually tell the benefits (if any) but I have HIGH hopes :).  Since I cut off about 2 inches the other day I've notice less shedding.  I don't even know how the two are connected but I'm grateful lol.  One of the things I dreaded the most while following my regimen was moisturizing my hair & seeing the shedded strands in my hands :(.  Hopefully this change is more rule than exception.  I decided to stretch till December of this year instead of relaxing in November at 12 weeks, I think I miss the feel of my new growth lol.  After I posted pics of my 'chop' (but not really, more of a deep trim) I received a ton of support from my Facebook friends.  I also got a lot of questions as to why I did it.  I thought the picture of my breakage would say it all lol but I guess people are just as hesitant as I was about cutting their hair, no matter how damaged it was.  Those ends needed to go well before I discovered the breakage.  They were completely dead :( they would barly hold a curl, a clear sign that they were damaged.  And a two friends of mine are starting their journies this week too :).  The more the merrier! 

After DC

Air dried 

After M&S (used a brush to make sure each strand got a little moisture, thanks shorty2sweet!)

Stealth Breakage

:(!!!! I don't know what happened.  I've been following pretty much the same routine, haven't really deviated that much...but for some reason I'm experiencing breakage in the back of my head.  I haven't even noticed it.  I only noticed it when I started ti trim my hair tonight and took a before picture.  The only thing I can think of is the relaxer smdh.  I decided to start getting "professional" relaxers earlier this year, seemed like a wise enough decision but I did notice a few things about the process that turned me off.  The stylist wasn't that aggressive when washing it out of my hair and that reaaaaally freaked me out.  They tend to focus more on the top of your head but not giving much attention to the back, it's more like an after thought.  This is so discouraging, if I choose to cut to the breakage point I'll loose sooooo much length.  Not only am I switching to a texturizer I'll start relaxing my hair again.  It just sucks that I've made so much progress and get sent right back to square one when you call yourself doing the "safe" thing.  I guess the only person who truely cares about the health of your hair is you. UGH!!!!! :( 

I'll be stretching this relaxer until December which will put me at 16 months post.  After doing my hair a couple days ago I remembered the reason I stopped using castor oil lol.  My thin hair can't handle that heavy oil.  Today I washed with Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Shampoo, did a light protein treatment with Aphogee 2-Min Reconstructor and conditioned with HairOne conditioner.  Instead of using a cream based moisturizer I went back to my oldie-but-goodie moisturizing mix.  I did use castor oil on my scalp but A LOT less than I did last time, I can definitely tell the difference.  I can always tell when I use too much, my hair feels soggy (over moisturized) and greasy, also it gets very tangled.  

Since I discovered this breakage I'm going to start some serious hair rehabilitation:

Monday:

- DC w/ oil under heat for 30 mins

- Co-wash

- Air dry

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

- Castor oil on scalp

Tuesday: 

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

Wednesday:

- DC w/ oil under heat for 30 mins

- Co-wash

- Air dry

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

- Castor oil on scalp

Thursday:

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

Friday:

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

Saturday:

- Prepoo 

- Shampoo

- Aphogee 2-Min Reconstructor (light protein)

- DC w/ oil under steam for 45 mins

- Air dry 

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

- Castor oil on scalp

Sunday:  

- Moisturize w/ moisturizing mix or cream

- Seal w/ coconut oil

* Clarify once a month

* Texlax every 16 weeks

* Trim every relaxer

The breakage: After relaxer, when I realized breakage (today) and after chop :(

Prepoo Mix

I'm trying the whole prepoo thing again.  I tried it again for the first time in months yesterday and my hair LOVED it!  Below are the ingredients in my prepoo mix:

- Herbal Essence Conditioner
- AtOne Botanical Reconstructor
- EVOO
- Coconut oil
- Almond oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Avocado oil

I don't use exact measurements when making my mix, I usually just eyeball it.  I use enough conditioner for one application and about 4 spoonfuls of each oil.  Make sure you really mix it good so that the oil will be evenly distributed.  Also, make sure you apply the prepoo evenly, getting each strand.  I leave mine on for a minimum of 4 hours but sometimes I leave it on overnight. 

Regimen Overhaul

So I have to admit...with my busy BUSY schedule I haven't had much time to really stick to my regimen and believe me, my hair is screaming at me.  After my last relaxer in Aug I noticed that my hair was thinning out badly on the ends, making me realize how badly I need tostart clipping my ends.  I'm frowning as I'm saying this...no one wants to lose length but in the end I have to think of theoverall health of my hair.  I also stopped taking my vitamins, no real reason why but I'm back on it now :).  So to the point of this post, because I'm so busy I decided to make my regimen a little less time consuming lol SIMPLE is always better.

I started watchn Shorty2sweet59's youtube channel and reading her blog for inspiration.  Her hair is amazing!  It's soooooo thick and long and her regimen is simple that it will encourage even the laziest folks (me) that we can do it too.  So I adapted her regimen with products my hair likes and will continually update my blog with results.  I can already say my hair loves her prepoo advice.  

Last night I prepoo'd for about six hours and clarified my hair.  I've been experiencing problems with itchy scalp, seems even at my old age I still can't seem to wash my scalp properly lol.  This time I massaged my scalp for about five minutes to make sure it was clean.  I am still experiencing a little itching but that might be because I haven't oiled my scalp yet.  I DC'd with heat for the first time in months and followed it up with a conditioning rinse.  After I got out the shower my hair felt different, in some ways better and in some ways bad.  It took longer than usual to air dry but I felt like I had lost less hair due to shedding.  I plan on keeping this up for my current stretch. 

New Regimen: (inspired by Shorty2sweet59)

Nightly Routine:
1. Moisturize w/ Elasta QP Mango Butter Moisturizer or moisturizing mix
2. Seal w/ coconut oil
3. Apply JBCO every other day

Shampoo Washes (2x/month):
1. Pre-poo
2. Shampoo w/ moisturizing shampoo
3. DC w/ heat for 35 minutes
4. Rinse w/ moisturizing conditioner
5. Apply leave-in w/ coconut oil
6. Air dry

Clarifying Washes (1x/month):
1. Pre-poo
2. Shampoo w/ clarifying shampoo
3. DC w/ heat for 35 minutes
4. Rinse w/ moisturizing conditioner
5. Apply leave-in w/ coconut oil
6. Air dry

Co-Washes (2x/week):
1. DC (alternating between heat & steamer)
2. Co-wash w/ moisturizing conditioner
3. Apply leave-in w/ coconut oil
4. Air dry

* No direct heat!