Hair Update: Got Braids, Inversion Challenge Begins.

It's been a week since I self-texlaxed. I decided to wait at least a week to determine whether my hair really texlaxed because it looked straighter than I wanted. But after my mid week wash, I felt curls as I run my hands through my hair and realised that indeed, I had texlaxed roots!! I was more convinced after I airdried.

I am transitioning to texlaxed because I'd love to have more volume and thickness. I do have thick relaxed hair, but y'all know Oliver Twist always wants more. I was really glad my self-texlax went well and I may continue to texlax at home using the same method. 

Your question: " Will you go natural after that"?

My answer: No, I won't go natural; not because I don't want to, but because I am too lazy with styling and I love to show length, if it is there. Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, but if I reach my waist length goal and get bored, just maybe I may cut it off and start again......(*wide-eyed*). 

I did my best to measure my hair in different sides of my hair before I installed the braids. It's 11.5'' in front, 10'' front bang, 7.5'' and 8'' at the sides, and 9.5'' in the back. This is for the inversion challenge starting today and ending on 1st December, 2013. You won't believe how many of us are gonna try this!! If it works, great...if not; at least we tried....lol!!

Since inversion can be done regardless of hairstyle once oil can be applied to the scalp and massaged, I am really keen on seeing if I will get new growth and loosened roots of these braids by the end of the week. I will be too happy to get 1/2'' in a week, not to talk of 1''. In order not to stress, I won't do a check-in till the week has ended. I will complete some other posts I have in my drafts folder till the week is up. Besides, I'm returning to work tomorrow after being on sick leave for 6 days. I'm happy to be in good health now. Oh, and I love these braids....."I feeeeeeeeeeeeeel good"!

Thanks to you all for reading my blog, and to all those who sent requests to join the whatsapp hair journey chat (+233201979795)!! Woooooow.....the groups are growing so quickly ....and I'm meeting more ladies and gents(yeah, guys too) from all over the world!! Even a country called Suriname in South America I never knew existed!! Thank you all for being such great sport!

If inversion grew my hair 1'' in one week, what would you say? 

Cheers,
Star.

Inversion Challenge: Grow an Inch In a Week?

Sounds extremely miraculous!! Even unbelievable!! But hey, what's the harm in trying? 

Been using this method; kinda, once in a while especially when I apply my prepoo oils before my wash. Even though I have read a lot and seen a lot of results with this method, I haven't tried it a full week before. I have been yearning to do a full week just to see but never really got to it. Yeah, too lazy to do it a whole week...lol! Having met a lot of ladies all over the world with great hair stories, I have just come to realise I need to put in a lot more effort. Boot camp style!! 

There are 4 proposed challenges in our whatsapp group; Water, Inversion, Biotin and T444Z Hair Food Challenges. All 4 challenges can be done concurrently and that's the beauty about it. It's really a hair growth boot camp! 

Water Challenge: We all know water is very important for overall health and wellness of the body; and is very essential for transporting nutrients all over the body. Your hair, skin and nails need essential nutrients too and remember an indication of overall health is healthy hair, skin and nails!! So, the challenge is to drink at least 2 litres of water per day and increase gradually to 2.5 litres which is okay for the average adult. Do not drink more than 3 litres unless you want to loose weight drastically. Even so, please seek medical advise before doing so but under no circumstance should you drink more than 4 litres of water in a single day.

Inversion Challenge: This challenge will be to test the truth of this method, by several ladies at once and must be done consistently for the full 7 days. 

1. Take measurements of your hair in the front, back and side on day 1. You should use a ruler or tape measure and not a length check shirt for this check. 

2. Massage scalp for 4 minutes with oil of choice. Olive oil is usually recommended and can be warmed a few minutes. Warming the oil is optional. 

3. Invert head for 4 minutes and rise up slowly. Do this all 7 days without fail. Wash hair if it is too oily after inversion. This challenge will run from 24th November -  1st December.

(Photo Credit: Various sources via Google Images)

NB: There are several poses for inversion but use a method that is comfortable for you. Any yoga pose that affords your head to be turned upside down is allowed. Do not do this for the first time when completely alone. Do not invert your head for more than 4 minutes!! You should also totally avoid doing this method if  you have any of the following conditions: pregnancy, low or high blood pressure, heart or circulatory problems, glaucoma, hernia, conjunctivitis, spinal injury, fractures, osteoporosis, ear infections, obesity or any other serious health conditions. Seek medical advice where in doubt. 

I will do a post on the 24th of November and show my starting lengths. Fingers-crossed; I hope I am in the best of health by then. Details of other 2 challenges coming up tomorrow. 

Do you believe the inversion method really works? Join us and let's find out!!

Cheers, 

Star.

Relaxer Day #3: My Attempt at DIY Texlax!

Nothing comes easy.....and stretching your relaxer in order to prevent overlapping and gain length is one of the not-so-easy things one can do when on a relaxed hair journey. Yeah, I got kinda tired this time of handling my hair like a cookie; too afraid it will crumble. Don't blame me cos it's really hard juggling marriage, work, kids, studies (pretty non-existent) and almighty DIY Haircare aka Waist Length journey....lol!!

Honestly, I got pretty frustrated because I want to get braids real bad but the only person I can trust to handle my hair, both relaxed and new growth with utmost care to reduce breakage had travelled and I can't wait for her anymore. The yearning had become more like a pregnancy craving. You just have to get it!!

So I looked back at my last stretch and then I realised why I suffered so much breakage. It was the braid sessions I had with 2 different hairdressers who were just not into working with so much new growth. I remember I had to keep telling them to comb carefully and they kept telling me to get a relaxer. I'm sure they must have done me in.....hair envy!! So to avoid any such setback again, I decided to tame my new growth their way....lol! But this time, with the hairdresser who knows how to work with my hair gone, I decided to self-relax/texlax.

Texlaxing had been on my mind for a long while though I have thick relaxed hair. So it's just an Oliver Twist decision to gain more thickness. I have coarse hair so I usually process my hair for 18 minutes. I decided to process for 15 minutes which is the time for normal hair.....including application time. I didn't mix the relaxer with any oils but I left the smoothing process out totally. I didn't massage at all either. So here is my picture story of my DIY first texlax day........

My relaxer day "cant-do-withouts" . I used ORS Replenishing conditioner when I felt my hair was too hard when I was done with the above products. My leave-ins were Infusium 23, Hawaiian Silky herbal leave-in and IC polisher.

Sectioned my hair into four parts after thoroughly detangling again and held it in place with clips. Realise then I had no pretroleum jelly! I looked through my stash and found a moisturiser I bought for my daughter and don't use anymore because it had petroleum jelly, lanolin, mineral oil as the top ingredients. I used it to base my entire scalp, ears and forehead. I then applied hemp oil all over my relaxed hair.

I applied the relaxer quickly starting from the back as it grows faster and thicker there. I didn't smooth it in at all with a comb. It took about 10 minutes to complete my whole head. I rinsed out after exactly 15 minutes.
1. Applied Vitale Revive Conditioner. Left it in for 5 minutes.
2. Applied ORS Aloe Shampoo, worked into a lather, left it in for 5 minutes then rinsed. Shampooed 2 more times and rinsed.
3. Applied Vitale Positive Conditioner, left it in for 5 minutes and rinsed.
4. Applied Roux Porosity Condtioner, left it in for 2 inutes and rinsed.

My hair is usually soft after using Roux, but not today. On relaxer days, my hair gets really stiff so I know not to blame the products.

5. I applied ORS Replenishing Conditioner and covered with a shower cap and went about my baby business. Rinsed out after a long while and rollerset.

6. Sat under the dryer for 30 minutes, then 15 minutes as it was not totally dry.

 7. I gave up and decided to airdry. Sitting under the dryer for long gives me the creeps.

Is APL where my blog address is written?!

100% dry and I'm loving my results. My ever-active whatsapp hairlista group friends say I'm APL already!! That is really coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!

Am I really Armpit Length? 

Cheers,

Star.

Spot the Difference: Trimmed twice

I have been asked several times in the past weeks why I kept trimming my hair. I'm always in ponytails so my tail got shorter and shorter......over the past month. "Why grow it and cut it away?". "You cut away all the T444Z Hair Food investment?" Hhahahahhahahahaha.....Let me show you why if you are new to this blog.

Honestly, I barely comb my hair all back now so it is hard to see the serious breakage I had in the last 6 months of my relaxer stretch. I decided to trim myself as often as I rollerset which is once in a while because I am hooked to airdrying. So after 2 self trims,I went from line skinny 8 to 6.........that's 2 inches off. I only trimmed what needed to be trimmed. 

 

Then a visit to a stylist to get a trim got me a bang at the first snip and I asked her to trim up to an inch from then onwards. I guess she didn't trim as much either. And then I went to a salon last week and requested for a trim. Like I wrote on my facebook page, this hairdresser seemed to cut only what needed to be cut. She inspected each section of hair ends before she cut, just like I do so I think what she cut was very negligible... maybe a centimetre in a lot of sections because it was hard to see a difference when she was done.

So, I'm at line 6 now. Not as full as I would like but much, much better than before. My hubby, mum and sister, my greatest fans; made me promise to leave the scissors alone till March 2014. Their wish is my command. 

I'm planning to braid by Saturday as I prepare for our T444Z Hair Food Challenge as proposed by members of our coooooooooolest but hair obssessed whatsapp chat group. In fact, it's about time!!

 

I'm the last person in the world to catch in a really cool hairstyle. Below is my boring signature hairstyle. But I have noticed with great pleasure I don't have as much flyaways as before. My hair is more obedient than ever before and the shine is incredible. I'm at a point where I LOVE MY HAIR .....gaining more length will just be icing on the cake.

 So in a quest to impress a few hhj ladies I had to meet last weekend, I tried these styles...lol. The first was totally cool except I found only 2 bobby pins in my house!! Imagine!! Had to settle for the second which is just a new version of my signature hairstyle. I need some serious hairstyle inspiration.

 

Send a request to join our group to +233201979795....we would love to be joined by fellow hhj ladies from all over the world. 

What hairstyle do you rock most with your real hair?

Cheers,

Star.

I Got Bangs Me Trying to Love

I know I have said it several times on my facebook page that I won't get a trim from a stylist again. But I went again last weekend....well, thought I should get my hair all nice and neat for the hair meetup. 

I had washed my hair that morning and after running a few errands and with the knowledge that there was power rationing, I decided to go to the salon an hour earlier than planned. I knew they had a generator so I was sure I was going to have a great hair day. I got to the salon which was not far from the event venue about 2 hours to the meetup and met stylists I had never seen before. Hadn't been there in over a year. I was pressed for time so I decided to stay. 

I told the stylists to get my hair done as quickly as possible so I could go to the venue 30 minutes before time. She insisted my hair needed a wash because it smelt like "food" but y'all know where the food scent is from.....lol. I declined politely and asked her to continue. She applied a heat protectant and began to blow dry my hair which was 30% wet. Suddenly, the blow dryer and lights went off!! "Sweet Lord, not today"!! Then I remembered they had a generator so I relaxed and waited. After some minutes, a young lady came asking for money to go buy power. It was then I was told upon enquiry that the generator had broken down and the meter was out of credits so they were going to purchase some more.

So there I was, sitting in the chair with my hair in chaos with no idea when it will be all done. After a good 30 minutes, the young lady returned and power was restored. A look at the clock and I had 45 minutes to go. The stylist promised to complete it in time. She dried my hair completely with the blow dryer and asked if I wanted a trim. I wasted no time in responding, "YES!! Trim the ends a little".

Honestly, I was very distracted....was whatsapping and facebooking alongside so though I saw her section the front and hold it up, I thought she was deliberating on how much to cut. SNIP SNIP...I looked up and I was amazed and shocked she cut right where her fingers were.....a good 4 inches from the end of my hair ends!! She must have seen how wide my eyes went for she asked "Is it okay?". You've got to be kidding me!!

Too bad the dirty had been done again!! No room for remorse, no room for tears. I just told her to trim only 1 inch from then on. She kept insisting she needed to trim more so I promised her I'd come right back to get it done.

I just thank my lucky stars she started from the front so the short part could as well be thought to be a deliberate cut.

Yeah, like bangs.

Once flat ironed, it really looked nice so I've decided to find ways to rock bangs. What choice do I have anyway...lol!! 

When I got home, I took pixs of the ends and they were not straight at all. Maybe her scissors were blunt. What good is it if my ends are cut and they look uncut? A careful look at the pixs above and you can see the last 3 inches that have to go again in future.

 

Yes, I have 2 relaxed textures....the old hair (abt 10 inches at the beginning of my hair journey, now 6 inches) and the new hair (abt 7 inches); and they look very different. I have been trimming the old hair off bit by bit over the past year as I didn't want to big chop my not-so-healthy hair from the start.

So, having been put to the measuring tape by a few of my fellow "Ghanalistas" my bangs are now 10 inches long.
The rest of my head has about 12-13 inches of hair. Got an inch trimmed off all through. 

So, there! I can't make up my mind about chopping the old hair all off at once because as I'll say, it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it once it is wet, dry, rollerset or flatironed. 

How do you feel about trimming more than 1 inch at a time?  

Cheers,

Star.

Hair Event Success: Refused to Have a Bad Hair Day!

Hurraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay....!! Yes, our first meetup was such an awesome one. Though we were few in number...9 ladies in all, we surely had a great time. We shared our hair stories and swapped products as well! It was a day well spent and we will surely do this again!

Here are some pictures ..............enjoy and do join us next time.

We knew we were in the right place.....

Locs..............someday!

Yes..the very book "The Science of Black Hair"

More relaxed.............

Kinks!!

  

Coils!

Show and tell.............

Listening and learning..........

Relaxed!

  

Cute twist out.......

Very informative........

Making new friends.........

More friends.........

Hair stories..............

It was our day!

You gals were awesome!!

Very satisfied......so glad we came.

Ghlonghair and Ghanaianemprezz!! Thanks so much for joining us...in body, soul and spirit!!

Our thanks goes to Ghana Soap School for supporting us!!

Refused to have a bad hair day? Yes....if you are a fan of my facebook page, you will surely have seen I got bangs now... Y'all know I'll never cut 4 inches of hair off just like that....lol!!

Next post: I Got Bangs Me Trying To Love............stay tuned!


Have you ever been to a hair meetup? Why not?

Cheers,
Star.