The Harvest Hair Regimen 2014: The Hair Growth Challenge

Hello Lovelies!

So, as a mentioned in my previous post, I've had some hair regimen hiccups that have caused me to change my hair care approach.

I call my new regimen the Harvest Hair Regimen not only because it will take me into the beginning of fall, but because I expect a "harvest" of new growth by the time I complete this challenge.

Basically, my plan is to keep my hair in cornrows throughout the month of August and September. During this time I will be keeping my hair very moist. Basically, my hair growth challenge was inspired by this YouTube Vlogger 7Princess7Noire7's  vid:

I won't be doing wigs, I'll be doing crochet braids, just personal preference. In my recent article I posted a link to a crochet braiding video if you're curious.

I've read two points of advice so many times 1) that protective styling is very important and 2) putting a lot of tension on strands inhibits length retention, but in my case, experience has been the best teacher. I'm being very cautious about my hair during this Harvest Hair Regimen; I'll only have it "out" on special occasions.

So... for the actual regimen:

1. Grease my scalp almost every night with a organic coconut oil, castor oil, blend. 
2. Some nights mix in a little tea-tree oil to my nightly/every other night scalp greasing
3. Keep hair covered at all times: scarves, silk bonnets or shower caps**
4. Wash hair every 2-4 weeks. I know this may be a point of contention for people who stick to washing once a week, however, I would prefer to keep my hair braided up for a long period. 
5. Cornrow wash and conditioned hair to secure moisture. I've found that when I moisturize my hair really well, then put in cornrows, my hair strand stay soft from root to tip. 

** Note: shower caps seal in H2O vapors--it works as a natural steam. 

Yeah, that's really about it. 

Wait! One more thing! This would be an excellent transition style! Why, you ask? Well:

1. It protects that fragile divide between the old, relaxed hair and the growing natural hair.
2. It seals in moisture. 
3. It gives you more growth time before cutting the relaxed ends. 

I will definitely updating you on how this works out!

Don't you love Harvest Season?! (Photo Credit)

5 Hiccups in my "Hair Growth Journey"

Hey Lovelies!

Just as a side-note, my posts are so far and few between because it seems like hair blogs are already a thing. By a thing, I mean this blog is a tiny drop in a huge ocean of very popular hair blogs. I love talking about hair, but I feel like everything about natural/black hair has been said already.

So, what I have decided to do is focus on my personal holistic health journey. My hair will still be the central topic of my blog, but I will be discussing it as it relates to my general health and personal growth.

I will say I am a bit discouraged as fair as my hair growth journey is concerned. I did my "big chop" at around the same time as several of the online hair personalities that I follow on Facebook and YouTube. However, they've surpassed me by FAR in terms of hair length. I've taken their hair-type and ethnic background into account when I compare my hair growth and theirs, however, those who still have similar "hair backgrounds" as me have still "outgrown" me. I began my hair growth journey in December of 2010 and its almost August 2014... this right around the time my big afro should be making its debut...right?

I guess not. I decided to do a bit of self analysis in order to figure out what am I doing to cause the hiccups in my hair growth journey. This is what I found:

1. I have severe Hands-In-Hair Syndrome. Its sooo bad. I play with my hair when I'm stressed, bored, in thought, or not fully focused.... so 90% of the time. Yikes
2. I was dying my hair quite often early on in my hair journey.
3. I was not as gentle as I could be with my quite fragile strands 
4. I wasn't protective styling enough
5. I began living a Vegan lifestyle in 2013 which destabilized my protein and iron levels for a while

What am I doing to improve my hair care habits?

• O July 17, 2014 I decided to start a whole new hair regimen. My hair has been in cornrows. I did crochet braids for almost 2 weeks, washed my hair, and re-did my cornrows. I will be wearing scarves for the rest the week. Every other day I grease with a castor oil.coconut oil mix. I don't plan on wearing my hair "out" for a while. I want to seal in as much moisture as possible and I've found that cornrows are the best way to do it. Also, I don't look cute in cornrows, which pushes me to find ways to keep my hair wrapped up... which meeeans... no more Hands-in-Hair!
• I'm taking my vitamins and minerals and trying to be more careful with my vegan diet. I am doing research and trying to have more well-rounded meals so that I can get all the nutrients my hair needs to grow

These are two quite simple solutions, but I'm very confident in them. For one thing, I've noticed that dudes who wear cornrows always have nice, lengthy hair. That's because they don't mess with their hair... its all braided up, and most times, in a du-rag. The pressure on women to "look cute" all the time, in combination with the natural hair "movement," have made the big hair with a gorgeous twist-out the holy grail of natural hair beauty. Trust, I want my big afro too, but most days, I think its best for me to protect my hair and keep it moist. Having "cute" hair everyday has led me to knots, dryness, and breakage. If I really want to be cute and fabulous, I'll find a nice natural hair wig or weave. 

So, the cure to my hair growth journey hiccups is be simplistic, realistic, and prioritize my hair health above all else.

Love y'all!

Spice Girl Melanie B. aka Scary Spice vs. Blogger Yomi

(Photo Credit)

2013 Regimen!

Hey lovelies.

I haven't been around in SO LONG. Sorry about that. I just wanted to post my new regimen and a couple little hair discoveries.

First discovery:

My hair does NOT like the curly girl method. Basically, the curly girl method is based on co-washing and finger detangling. No tools, no shampoo. See the video below for a better description:

Her hair is most def that 3/4A while mine is 4 to the max.

Second discovery:

That my hair is 4a/b/c. That means it spirals, but is very fine, wiry, and can get matted and tangled easily. it def matted up when I tried the curly girl method.

Third Discovery:

My hair is low porosity. That means I have to apply product when my hair is damp -- no wetter. That also means that I shouldn't apply a lot of product because it will not absorb. To learn about testing hair porosity see here:

Fourth discovery:

My hair loves twists. It stays moist and detangled this way. Everything I do with my hair involves twists, especially washing. I separated my hair into twisted sections when washing, but now I have refined my washing. I do The Breakdown. Watch this video for the breakdown method:

K, so here's my regimen.

Bi-weekly

• shampoo and deep condition
• detangle and stretch

Weekly

• deep condition
• detangle
• protective style

Every other day

• oil scalp with a coconut oil/castor oil mix

My detangling process

1. finger detangle with conditioner
2. comb out with a wide tooth comb
3. Finish out with the Denman brush

I have to have to HAVE to detangle thoroughly. Tangling/ hair that is not thoroughly combed means snapping and snapping means lost ends. NO NO!

My 2013 goal - 5 inches of growth. let's hope!!

Hairspiration!!!

XOXO

Hair Yoga: Stretching & Twisting for Healthy Hair!

Hello Beauties!

My hair has been stressed and tense lately, and I needed to find a solution. I was fed up with the tangles, knots and uneven growth. When my body is tense, I can rely on yoga to loosen me up and make me less stressed. I thought that if yoga can do such good things for the body, why can't there be yoga for the hair? Then I realized - there definitely is such a thing as hair yoga! It's basically what most naturals in a blogosphere and on youtube have been talking about, but I thought a comparison to yoga works to remind me that I need to "destress" my hair.

Let me explain exactly what I mean. There are only two moves in hair yoga

1. Stretching: This basically means keeping you hair detangled as much as possible. This limits shrinkage and KNOTS. Knots have to by clipped, which limits growth retention!
2. Twisting: Putting your hair in two strand twists or braids as much as possible keeps your hair in a stretched state. Twists and braids also retain moisture (in my experience at least). If you leave your twists or braids in for a week or more, then you will lessen the amount of "handling" (brushing, combing, playing with) that your hair goes through, which then limits opportunities for breakage. 

This is all I mean by twists:

This "hair yoga" analogy is kinda corny, but helps me remember that I don't want my hair to be all tense and tangled. Also, I think it pretty much explains why everyone is so hype over protective styling. Protective styling really does help. Now that I have 5+ inches of hair on my head, I really gotten to know my hair type. Its EXTREMELY curly, and the curls are small, which means endless knots. To be honest, I think this 5-6 inch average height is awkward. I'm struggling with coming up with cute styles, and sometimes I just don't have time. Furthermore, I'm getting tired of knots, so over the passed couple weeks I've rarely been seen out and about in just a wash-and-go afro. I keep my hair in twists. I don't LOVE the twists aesthetically, but I've found ways to make them work for me:

• Tiny Twists: smaller twists tend to "adopt" to my curl pattern, while larger twists just hang.

Larger twists 

I didn't really like how these twists came out, they remind me of spider legs lol

Smaller twists

These took longer (way longer) to do, but I like them better

• Curling my twists: Using Eco Styler Gel and perm rods I simply curl and set my twists. Here's how it looks:

At the end of the week, usually a day or two before I shampoo my hair, I'll probably untwist and wear a twist-out. This works well because the twist-out lasts through Friday and Saturday - the days I might want to go out, socialize etc. 

I really hope this "hair yoga" plan works to retain my growth. I plan to take it on as a hair-lifestyle, instead than just a thing I'll do until I have x amount of new growth. Although... I actually would like to have about 5 new inches of growth by this time in December. *crosses fingers*

While I've been protective styling for a while, this particular blog post was inspired by Kimmaytube's video: "AFRO - Why I won't wear my hair in one!" WATCH it - its very informative.

Be beautiful :)

xoxo

Estelle. so unique and fly!

Henna Experimentation Part 2

Hey Lovelies!

So, above is my part two vid. It's already been a month since I dyed my hair using Henna! In all honestly, I don't think it was worth all the hype. The color change was barely noticeable and while I was scared to dye my hair, I did intend for the change to be noticeable. The redness is pretty in the sunlight and all, but that's about as much as it does in terms of color difference. I plan to dye my hair a fun color for the spring, hopefully in March, using an actual boxed dye. (I'll definitely let you know how that goes lol.)

As for the conditioning....

Its nothing to go crazy about. There was a lot of residue which was very annoying. I don't know if that's because the brand of Henna I used was not powdered out well, or if it was because I'm bad at rinsing out my hair, but either way, there was too much residue for my liking. The MOST annoying part has been the SMELL. Days after, whether I was co-washing, shampooing, or styling, I could still smell it.... Finally, my hair was no softer than it would be if I had just used a regular conditioner. All in all, Henna doesn't seem to be a big deal. Experimenting was fun though.

Would I suggest Henna?

Yes, if you want a slight change in color you should try it. Henna has a different impact on everyone's hair, it mostly depends on the porosity of your hair follicle. However, if you just want to condition, I would say to go with your routine deep conditioner or just shea butter & olive oil.

And that's that!

I hope this gave you a little insight on my Henna experience :)

BEFORE HENNA-ing:

AFTER HENNA-ing:

Much love to you!!!!

Marsha Ambrosius!

Henna Experimentation Part 1

Hey Everyone!

This is a video from my youtube channel about Indian Henna as a natural Hair Dye.

I wanted to try some new color on my hair, but I was scared to do a box dye. (However, I will rack up some courage and do it in the spring!) I decided to look for something natural, and Henna was the first thing that came up in my search.

For information on what Henna is and dying naturally curly hair click here >> http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/kinky-hair-type-4a/coloring-type-4-hair

If you decided not to click, its a grounded up plant from India and parts of Africa, that when combined with liquid can be used as either body art or as a hair conditioner/natural highlighter. For more info watch my video/click the link!

In my part 2 video/blog post I will talk in detail about my results and how my hair looked/felt in the days after I dyed it!


Stay tuned!

Be Big & Beautiful

Solange Knowles!

Dealing with Hair Drama

Hey Everyone!

So today I just wanted to talk about the hair drama I've been having. I went natural in December 2010, and I haven't had dandruff since.... and now its back. Its crazy. I don't know what started it really. I experimented with hair weaving last month. I had kinky twists in for about a week, and thats when I notices the dandruff. So I guess I'd say thats what it was. I'm trying to find a solution, and for now I'm going to try improving my moisturizing regimen. I wash my hair (at night)

Then...

1. I put 2 pumps of "Mixed Silk Leave-In Conditioning Creme" from roots to ends

2. I put 2 pumps of "Herbal Essences Leave-In Protector" (for split ends)

3. I did two-strand twists using "Shea Moisture Curling Souffle"

In the morning
4. I conditioned my scalp with Olive Oil and Castor Oil

I'm hoping this method works. If my dandruff decides not to leave I'm going to buy tea-tree oil (suggested for dandruff) to see how that works.

The other issue I'm having is with knots. KNOTS KNOTS KNOTS!!! I hate it. Everyday. All the time. The worst is when I've just detangled my wet hair, then it starts to shrink on itself and knot up.

My solution to this one is going to be protective styling. My go-to style is two-strand twists. With this style, my hair is entirely combed out, and plaited in some way. I find that I play with my hair less when its twisted, so this helps too.

Third and last problem. Uneven growth. the front center portion of my hair grows sooo much faster than the rest. It makes my afro look awkward. My solution to this is basically the same - more olive oils and more protective styling. I'm also trying to drink more water.

If you're having the same problems, comment with any solutions you have, or tell me if my regimen works for you!

Hope this helps :)

Be big and beautiful!
xoxo

Bob Marley's hair is classic!