My Very First Length Check

Pretty good progress, I think. Hoping as I trim more over time my ends will be a little thicker. I'll do another check at my next relaxer touch-up.

Smiles :-)
~ Andrea

My 'Co-Wash' Attempt - 11/21/2012

I actually deep conditioned with KeraPro Restorative treatment, rinsed & applied my leave-ins. Also used Aphogee Green Tea Reconstructurizer and Silk Elements heat protectant creme.
Happy Thanksgiving all!
~Andrea

Pre-Pooing 101

So in the beginning of my hair journey I was doing a lot of research online, reading different articles and blogs.  I noticed that many of the HHJ bloggers had pre-pooing as the first step in their wash day regimen.  Pre-pooing simply means pre shampoo treatment.  I have decided to incorporate this into my regimen as well.  One question that I some how neglected to find the answer to is: 

 "Why Pre-poo?" 

I just thought hey it's working for these ladies I'm just going to jump on the band wagon.  But I never bothered to figure out why they are doing this? Why does it work? What is it's purpose?  I just assumed it was another way to add moisutre to the hair; extra conditioning. Often times conditioners and sometimes oils are used to pre-poo. But I started wondering, if we are pre-moisturizng our hair prior to shampooing, then why are we washing it right back out just to deep condition again right after?  On search for my answer I found this awesome article explaining pre-pooing and it's benefits.

The Benefits of Pre-pooing

Pre-pooing is basically done to protect the hair from the harsh process of shampooing which basically strips moisture from your hair.  The main purpose of shampooing is to cleanse the scalp.  Pre-pooing adds a barrier of protection as well as an added benefit of conditioning.

This is a great article, and it has even enlightened me to some mistakes I have been making . On my last wash day, I pre-pooed overnight with a conditioner.  (Actually I was DC-ing after my wash) This is a NO-NO! Thats why my hair felt too soft and kind of gummy the next day and I ended up correcting with a protein treatment.  You should also never prepoo overnight with a protein based conditioner as well.  Lesson learned!

Andrea :)

Wash Day - Nov 17 (Part 2)

I got up this morning and rinsed out the Mizani Moisture Fuze.  I think I mentioned before how thick it was and once I rinsed my hair felt kind of gummy and stretchy.  I started to think to myself, "self, is your hair on moisture overload."  I really didnt think that could be possible for some reason.  I thought I just had a relaxer last weekend and did a light protein treatment, surely I dont need more protein.  I did a strand test and my hair did seem to stretch and then snap which is a sign that my hair was in need of some protein.  So I decided to reshampoo my hair with PM Super Skinny and pulled out my jar of ORS Hair Mayonaise.  I sat under the hair dryer for about 15 minutes rinsed and attemtped my roller set.

As for my roller set, I was not happy with it.  I think my lack of patience has something to do with it.  I took forever it seemed and I hate sitting under the dryer so I'm going to have to figure something else out.  I also wish when I self relaxed that I'd let my hair get a little straighter.  I may end up correcting this on my next touch up.  I don't like my roots feeling so kinky.  I'm afraid to run my comb through it and I dont want to use my flat iron.  Anyway, I rapped my hair and tied it down to get a straighter look, hoping it turns out okay when I take it down.  Maybe I'll post a pic.

Oh I also shed alot after my rollerset which I wasnt happy about.  Well either it was shed hair or broken hair.  I didnt take the time to examine.  I keep wondering if I'm going to keep having the breakage because of previous damage or weak spots in my hair that have finally given in.  I dont know, but it's definitely frustrating.  Ugh!  When I went to super cuts the girl told me that my hair was healthy and it has been feeling so soft and fluffy lately, so it surprises me when I still have broken hair in the sink.  Hopefully I will figure it out soon.  Until next time.


Andrea :)

Wash Day - Nov. 16, 2012 (Part 1)

I am tryign to keep up with these wash days.  I need to be a little more consistent as I keep changing things like the products I'm using and the order in which I use them.  So today I started off by prepooing with ORS Deep Penetrating Conditioner with a little Roux Porosity control mixed in.  After rinsing I shampooed with two differnt Motions brand products.  For the first lather I used Marula Natural Therapy Strengthening Shampoo.  I've had this for a while and am trying to finish off the bottle.  I actually dont really have any complaints about this shampoo, I would buy it again definitely.  The second lather I used Motions Naturally You Mosturizing Cleanser. What I did not realize was that it does contain sulfates and so it made my hair feel kind of dry after I rinsed.  I assumed that I would get opposite results since it is a moisturizing cleanser supposedly.  oh well.  After rinsing I did a Black Tea rinse (said to reduce shedding) then after rinsing with water I used Paul Mitchel Supper Skinny Daily Treatment conditioner to smooth my hair because it was really dry and hard after the black tea.

Currently I am deep conditioning with a new conditioner that I decided to try.  I think I am switching up too much, which may not help me to figure out what works for me.  I am not being consistent.  I need to get that together.  Anyway I purchased Mizani's Moisture Fuze conditioner.  It says to leave in for 5 minutes, but I am going to leave it in overnight.  I dont like how thick it is and it was hard detangling with this in my hair.  Let's see if it gets my hair soft.   Part 2 should come tomorrow.  I am planning on attempting to roller set again as well.  I realized some things I've been doing wrong with that and I plan to get under my dryer this time. LOL!!! 

The next question is.....clear rinse...or no clear rinse???  I didnt like the results last time, but I will say I was doing TOO much to my hair that day.  Anywho....

to be continued....

Andrea :)

Relaxer Touch-up [Texlax attempt] - November 9, 2012

So I kinda caved.  I was only about 8 weeks post and decided to go ahead and self relax this passed Friday, for good reason I hope.  I might need my hair to look decent this week. LOL! So I decided to go ahead and get it out of the way.  AND this is my first attempt at texlaxing.  Well 8 weeks ago i bought a no-lye kids perm, trying to go for something easier on my tresses, but I let a stylist put it in.  I've decided though that I want to try a lye relaxer instead as I have read that it is easier on your hair.  I'll go into my steps below.

I decided to go with Elast QP No Base(Lye) Creme Relaxer in Mild.  I thought this would be best since I have very fine strands.{Wishing my hair was MUCH thicker, hoping texlaxing will change that}.  Anywho So I used this and purchased their Ultrahydration anti-breakage moisture-rich neutralzing shampoo as well (not so sure about the moisture rich part).  I used the half and half method done by the creator of one of my favorite blogs www.justgrowalready.com.  She is my "hair-ro".  Play on words, yep I'm corny.  Anywho, she's has done an amazing job and has given me a lot of motivation with my hair journey.

I won't say I was successful in replicating the process, and it was kind of difficult especially being my first time self-relaxing in a long time.  So, I first parted my hair into four sections.  Used Roux Porosity control conditioner on my previously relaxled hair to close pores and protect from relaxer run off.  Then I parted each section into 1 inch sections basing my scalp with vaseline between each.  I twisted each 1 inch section also to keep them separated so it would be easier to go back and apply the relaxer to my new growth.  I covered the front half of my head with a platic cap using duck-bill clips to hold in place.  Next I applied the relaxer to the back half using my Sprush that I won from the Just Grow Already Sprush Give Away.  I was so excited to use this (I NEVER win anything so I was shocked).  I started toward the center of my head and worked my way back doing my back edges last.  I went through and smoothed each section with my fingers unding the twists as I went.  Jumped in the shower and rinsed used Aphogee 2 Minute Recontructor for my protein treatment for 2 minutes. I rinsed that out and then shamppoed with the neutralizing shampoo (several times as I kept seeing pink; couldnt keep count).  I did the front half the same way. I then deep conditioned under my steamer for 30 minutes (turned backwards for 15 minutes to get my nape).

After rinsing my deep conditioner, I applied Darcy's Botanicals daily leave-in conditioner (Sweet Cream fragrance) love the smell of it.  Then I used Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to seal.  I wrapped my hair and let it air dry overnight.  I wasnt sure if this was a succesful tex-lax (I should have timed it by the way) not sure how much texture i want to leave or should have left, but I'll work it out eventually.  I ended up flat ironing my roots because I wanted to get a trim.  I hadnt had one since August (Shame on me!!!).  I hate those scissors.  LOL!  My hair looks a bit thin in the middle from what I believe is due to damage from poorly neutralizing my nape when I was going to a stylist.  I kept thinking it was something I was doing, but I'm pretty sure now that I really look at it and think about it and after all my research that it wasn't all me.  Makes me sad everytiime I look but hopefully it'll get better soon.  I'm so impatient!  I got my trim done at Super Cuts.  She did a great job,  Wish I could do it myself, but let's just do one thing at a time. I guess I could put some pics {I'm embarassed :( }.



this was before my trim.  My hair is so thin toward
the center.  I try my best to hide it. :(



This is after my Super Cuts trim; I felt like
my hair appeared thicker.  Still tryin to hide how
thin it looks. This will change soon I hope.

 I never did post my wash day from last week.  I got a little lazy, but will try to stay on top of this.  I need to document everything(the good and the bad including pics) I am doing so I can learn and make progress.   Still getting used to this blog thing.  Well, I need to get busy so until next time.

Andrea :)

Wash Day Oct. 26

Soooo my wash day did not go too well and neither did my roller set.  I think I may have gone overboard with my products.  So I started off prepooing (warm) coconut oil on my scalp and I did a mild protein treatment(ORS Hair Mayonaise) on the rest of my hair.  I did also do a protein treatment the week before, but I thought another mild treatment might be helpful because i had some breakage (I believe) a few days after that last wash.  I'm not sure how to completely stop that or what I am doing wrong.  Anyway, my hair did feel soft after rinsing out the prepoo. Oh I forgot to mention that I steamed for 15 minutes before rinsing.

Next I shampooed with Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Shampoo (I think this is a clarifying shampoo).  I decided to try it out after reading how great it is on the blog justgrowalready.com.  I think I used Roux Porosity Control Next then Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Treatment.  Next I deep conditioned with the second half of my Argan Oil from last week under my steamer for 15 minutes.  My hair again felt really really soft.  I loved it.  Then I decided to do a clear rinse because I read how great it was.  How it adds shine and also adds slip to prevent breakage making it easier to detangle your hair.  Well this was not the case for me.  This is where everything went wrong.  My hair felt kind of hard.  I started to wonder if I had used too many products....  I proceeded to put in my leave in conditioner (Darcy's Botanicals Leave-In) and I used Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to seal.

I attempted to do my roller set.  Unfortunately not only did I roll my hard hair, but when it was time to get ready for the wedding my hair was still wet! :(  I wanted it to air dry.  I tried to tame it as best I could.  It wasn't too bad, but it wasnt what i was hoping for.

On Sunday I rewashed my hair with Paul Mitchell again to get out all the product I had put into my hair.  Then I used Roux Porosity Control and PM Super Skinny Treatment.  After that I deep conditioned using KeraPro restorative treatment under my hair dryer for about 15 minutes.  After rinsing I did my leave-in and used Organix Coconut Oil Anti-Breakage Serum (I used this the week before also and my hair felt amazing).  I wrapped and let my hair air dry (I had nowhere to go this time).  It felt much better and much softer.

I have learned my lesson.  Never go overboard on the products.  All of that was not necessary.  And I need to really be careful because i think I have about an inch of new growth now (6 wks post relaxler). Woo! I'm trying to moisutize I seal everynight now (but I'm not caring for that too much because i dont like when my hair looks oily).  But I've got to do what I've got to do to protect my locks.  Protective styling is something I will have to adopt. And weaves are definitely not my thing.  I like to wear my own hair so I will have to start getting creative.  Maybe more so when I get a little more length.  Next wash day is coming up soon.  Let's see how this turns out.  I have a lot to learn still.

Andrea :)