Groupon Deal - Carol's Daughter Hair Care Set

Just thought I'd share. This looks like a pretty good deal, because Carol's Daughter products are pretty pricey.  The set includes the Sulfate Free shampoo, Smoothing Conditioner, and Blow Dry Cream.  Click on the image below and it'll take you right to the Groupon website to take advantage of this awesome deal.




Groupon.com

I'm not too familiar with Carol's Daughter products so I can't really provide an opinion, but I thought I'd share for all you Carol's Daughter lovers out there!

Go and check it out!


P.S. I seriously need to stay off the groupon website! LOL!

HHG!

   Andrea

Recent Wash and Length Check (Am I at APL?)

So I finished up my two part wash day last night. I started it Friday by prepooing with Wen Sweet Almond Mint overnight. I shampooed Saturday using It's A 10 Miracle Moisture Sulfate Free shampoo (just finished off the bottle and will be reviewing it soon). I then DC'd with Silk Dreams Chocolate Bliss Conditioner which I also emptied and plan to review soon.  Yay for emptied products! LOL!

I DC'd under my heating cap for a couple of hours before finally rinsing. After applying my leave-ins (Darcy's Daily Leave-In and Matrix Biolage Thermal-Active Repair Cream) I decided to blow dry my hair on cool. I then did a couple of length check shots just to see where my hair is.  To me, I almost want to claim APL but I probably have another inch or so to go maybe.







Back half after blow drying on cool

Fully blow dried hair



The gap in the middle in the first pic bugs me to no end. That is why I keep wanting to do a major cut which would put me back at shoulder length.  Overtime this weak area of mine has become even more visible to me especially as I'm transitioning to texlaxed. I guess it's not too awful. I just keep PS-ing to hide this area and protect my ends.  I want to keep with slowly trimming until it's all even, but man oh man do I want to just cut it right now. Ah the woes of HHJs.

 

I just realized that I'm about one year into my hair journey. Well I officially started blogging in October, but I kind of started trying to practice healthier hair techniques after my last professional relaxer in Sept. I can't quite pin point the date, so I will plan it for the anniversary of the date of my first blog post which was Oct. 25. Wow! Time sure does fly when you are having fun.

 

So what do you all think? Can I officially claim APL?

 

 

Thanks for reading!

   Andrea

Hair Growth Gadget

Of all things that promise to increase hair growth, I come across this here gadget while browsing the Groupon website.

iGrow Hair Therapy Helmet (via Groupon.com)

It looks like some sort of space helmet or something. LOL! It is geared toward men and women who suffer from hair loss, thinning, or damaged hair.  It has 30 LED lights and 21 lasers that stimulate hair growth, thicken your strands, and repair damage caused by chemical products. The headphones are there so that you can listen to music via your iPod or other mp3 player during your 25 minute treatment.

You know I'm wondering if it really works....but I'm not willing to shell out $500 to find out.  I will just stick to other, cheaper methods.  I personally have never seen anything like this.

Well I jut found this pretty interesting and thought I'd share.

Thanks for reading!

   Andrea

Pre-pooing with Wen Sweet Almond Mint

Ingredients:  Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol,
Chamomilla Recutia Flower Extract, Wild Cherry Bark Exract,
Rosemary Leaf ExtractSweet Almond Oil, Aloe Vera Juice,
Hydrolyzed Wheat ProteinPanthenol, Butylene Glycol, BTMS,
Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polysorbate 60, PEG-60
Almond Glycerides, Amodimethicone, Citric Acid, Menthol,
Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinene,
Fragrance, Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal.

Some time ago I ordered the Wen Sweet Almond Mint cleansing conditioner for my mom.  She had been anxious to try it out.  I had an opportunity to purchase the kit for $9.95 so I ordered it for her. Well, let's just say she did not like it.  She did not like how it made her hair feel, she thought that her hair was not being cleaned, so I took it off her hands. Why not give it a try? Maybe it would work for me.

It turns out

Relaxer Update (Very Overdue)

Hey ladies! It has been a looooong while since my last post it seems.  Like many of you all, life has been happening and so I haven't been making the time to post any updates on my hair, although I have continued to stalk you all's blogs.  I get excited to see you ladies' progress. I feel like we are all in this together, supporting and rooting each other on.  It's amazing!



Length check before trim

So what's been happening with my hair since my last post?  Well, I ended my 12 week relaxer stretch back on August 9.  This stretch seemed so easy.  I've been incorporating a lot of the techniques I've learned from many of you ladies and it has made life so much easier. Seriously!

For my relaxer, I did the half and half method as I usually do.  I was worried that I ended up with bone straight results; especially on the left back side which is the side I started on, so it had a bit longer processing time than the right side.  The rest of my hair seems to have reverted a bit since my last wash, but the left back still feels a bit straight.  I'm hoping this will not cause any issues at my next relaxer. My plan is to coat my new growth with my Silk Remedy (Sally's comparison to Chi Silk Infusion).  I usually only try to coat my previously relaxed hair, but next time I will try to coat the new growth as well.  I also plan to begin relaxing on the right side instead of the left.

Other than the "over-processing" scare (well not really), my relaxer touch up turned out to be successful.  I did a regular roller set and tried out the saran wrap method again. I've tried this before unsuccessfully, but never posted on it.  This time was definitely a success.  It was like I had flat ironed my hair without a flat iron. Perfect!



Finger combed hair into bun

After my relaxer I decided to go for a trim at Super Cuts.  My ends were in pretty good shape as far as health, but I've mentioned before that my ends are much thinner than I like, so I've decided to gradually snip away until I'm happy with the thickness.  I snapped a length check pick before the trim but never got around to taking a post-trim pic.  The day I went for my trim it was raining and humid. My hair turned into a puffy mess so I didn't bother.  As far as length, it looks like I reached around line 6-ish again which was the length I was at before my last trim back in April. I think she took about an inch off for this most recent trim. Not too drastic.

Since relaxer day I have been in bun city and loving it! I've barely been manipulating my hair other than to moisturize or massage castor oil into my scalp.  I'm hoping this is good enough for my M&S-ing though it doesn't seem to be too thorough  I've been trying to get the moisturizer into most of my hair as much as possible without having to part or manipulate it into sections.  It seems to be working so far.




Back view

I'm hoping to do an update on my nape soon. It's not where I want it to be but definitely making progress.  I've definitely gained some length and thickness there.  I can even get some small rollers back there.  This was not possible before starting my journey.

So far so good on this journey of mine. I may be starting my wash day tonight. I have not washed in two weeks. I have been so busy studying I couldn't even take the time for my weekly wash and my hair is screaming for a cleanse.




I hope all is continuing to go well with everyone's journey!

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea

Just a Brief Update

So this is kind of just a random update I guess.  Still can't believe we're already into the second half of the year. Wow time is flying quick.  I believe October will be my 1 year hair anniversary. Well September was my last bone straight relaxer AND the last time I decided to let a stylist work on my hair. DIY from then on out except for my trims which I'm hoping to start handling myself at some point. I can't wait to see where I am after a year.

I've been trying so hard to be patient, especially with my transition to texlaxed.  I still feel like I'm seeing more shedding and breakage than I like.  Not quite sure what's considered normal, but it's not in clumps so I guess that's a good thing. Still battling with the whole moisture/protein balance. I'm also still struggling with my nape still. It just seems to be growing so slow. I think this is the area of my hair that grows the slooooowest.  I have been babying it as much as possible, moisturizing, and massaging with JBCO.  I always relax this area last so it is just barely processed.  I noticed that the texture back there is very tiny coils and I mean they are tiny, so I've been trying my best to handle with care.  Because it is still very textured and coily that may be why it seems like there's barely any growth, but I know it's growing. 

On my washday last weekend, I was doing my green tea rinse and just happened to really notice how much tex-laxed hair I have.  I cannot stress how ready I am to be completely texlaxed (though I've had some thoughts creep up on me about going back to bone straight)....But my texlaxed hair is SOOO much thicker. I love that!

 



Texture shot after green tea rinse (bone straight ends are clumping together)

I am currently about 8 weeks post. I think I have about an inch of new growth more or less in some areas.  I had planned to try to install box braids (DIY) but I have in no way prepared for this  Plus I'm afraid I might get a little overwhelmed.  I know it will take a whole day if not more.  I'd prefer to do it myself because I know how gentle I need to be, and I just can't find it in me to allow someone else to touch my hair again.  Too many bad experiences.  I haven't ruled it out yet, just have to mentally prepare myself for all that braiding. YIKES!

 

 

An update on my goals for this month. I am just not off to the best start.  I was really hoping I would be able to hit it hard this time around.  So sad that I'm already admitting defeat so early in the game. lol. I'll elaborate on that more on my July Goals recap at the end of the month.

 

Well that's it for now. I hope you all are hitting your short term/long term goals and making great progress on your hair goals as well. Until next post...

 

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea 

July Goals

Wow! Another month has flown by! My how time flies when you're having fun.  Well with the new month comes new goals (some recurring) of course.  Before I get into my July goals, let me first recap my goals for June.

June Goals Recap

1.  Heat free styling - FAIL ... Well I was doing very well not to have used any form of direct or even indirect heat since April.  Well....Friday June 28 I did a ponytail rollerset and allowed it to air dry overnight.  Saturday afternoon I decided to break my no heat rule and flat iron my roots.  I was getting ready for a get together with some friends and really wanted my hair to look cute so...that was a FAIL.  However that was the ONLY time I used my flatiron so I think I still did pretty good.

Results of my ponytail roller set after flat ironing roots

2.  Deep Condition With Steam Once A Week - SUCCESS- I successfully DC'd using steam every wash.  Proud of me on this one!

3.  No new hair purchases for the month - I also claim this as a SUCCESS - I was not including accessories just hair products i.e. shampoo, conditioners, oils, etc.  It was very hard, and believe me I walked down the hair product aisle every chance I got, but I did not buy anything.  I even held out on the Wal-Mart salon's Buy 1 Get 2 Free sale (I was really eyeing that PMSS Daily Treatment).  It so happens that my awesome sis purchased a bottle for me as she bought some items for herself. Woot!

4. Workout three times per week - FAIL - I started off really well, but it started to fall apart toward the end of week two.  This was the one that I knew I would have the hardest time with.  My summer class kind of held me up on that end. Summer courses are so much more demanding because you're cramming a whole semesters worth of material in just a few weeks.  Work, class, studying, and hair took up most of my time. Lol

My Goals for July

1. Exercise at least 3 times a week
2. Continue to steam once a week
3. Tea rinse once a week
4. Drink 1 cup of bamboo leaf tea nightly
5. No more than 1 new product purchase this month (I better pick something good)
6. Up my water intake (64 oz per day including my cup of bamboo leaf tea)


I'm hoping I can hold up this month. I should definitely be able to get my workouts in since I have a little more time.  We shall see.

Were your able to report success with your June goals? What are your goals for this month?

Thanks for reading,

   Andrea