New Protective Style: Cornrows!

I know, I know ....I said no more braids but this time, I really had to get braids. I will be away from home for a month and do not want to carry my hair troubles along so I decided to install cornrows so my wash days will be easier. Will be more like wash-and-gos...I'll just wash, put in my products and then go.

I was so glad I decided to trust this hairdresser. I went to her shop last Saturday to get cornrows. Initially we had discussed using my hair only but I decided at the last minute to add extensions as per reasons given above. We used half pack of extensions. I am just too pleased with my cornrows. Very simple, pretty and neat. Totally painless; no headaches and sleepless nights. There was no need for neatening with scissors, fire or hot water as is usually done here in the salons. Within 2 hours she was done. And believe me, we had a lot of breaks as her salon was quite busy that day. The cost of the installation was only 10ghs. That's less than 5 dollars. The extension was 5ghs a pack. 

Braids after 2 washes.

As usual, I washed my hair just as always. I have done 2 washes already. I prepooed with Coconut oil and Wonder 8 oil. I used my onion-infused Creme of Nature conditioning shampoo first and then followed with Aphogee Shampoo and Aphogee 2 min reconstructor. I then let it dry 80%, applied T444Z Hair food to my scalp and then Creme of Nature Argan oil leave in. I then moisturised with ORS Moisturiser and then sealed with a mix of Wonder 8 oil, coconut oil and gbco. I did this on both wash days.

On the other days I didn't wash, I applied a mix I made of t444z, gbco, chapter 2000, virgin hair fertilizer, coconut and peppermint oil. I've had the chapter 2000 and virgin fertilizer for a long while now and decided to just mix it up and use instead of throwing it away as I initially intended. I was expecting the "concoction"to be super hot and tingly, but to my surprise I only felt a mild tingling the first day and nothing at all consequently. I will continue using it till it's used up. I also have African Pride braid spray and I spray this on my hair in the evenings, wear my shower cap and go to bed. I have been doing the green house effect each night since Saturday. 

My braids are just 6 days old but I do feel new growth already. I will continue to use the above regimen for a month and see how it goes. I may however cut ghe down....will do it 2 days in a row and skip the 3rd day in that order. My new growth feels super soft!! 

I hope to keep writing while away ..........and I am thinking of embarking on a weight loss and skin care journey too. 

How often do you wash your hair in braids? 

Cheers,

Star.

Hairstyles of the Week

I have simply been enjoying my hair and had such a huge rush of creativity the whole week. I must say though some of the styles look a bit difficult to achieve, they were easy once I got to doing them. I used between 5 - 10 minutes to achieve these styles. I also used only wide tooth combs to comb. 

Sectioned into 3. Braided the front down, put the middle in a ponytail and sectioned into 3 and pinned then into bows.
Combed the back down, braided the very end and tied with a small ribbon to keep it from being loose.

Braided up the ponytail into a twist and just pinned it up.

Braided rope twist to keep the ends tucked in. 

Braided the hair into rope twists all round. 

Parted hair into 2 and plaited small twists in the front and held it up. 

Twisted the front by itself and pinned them up. 

Big rope twist at the side and back. 

I just love how moisturised and much healthier my ends look. What I have been doing apart from washing 2 times is to ghe with cantu sheabutter. I did this all week and my hair simply loves it!! I will continue to apply  cantu sheabutter to my ends overnight at least 3 times a week.

Updates of my hairstyles each day are given daily on my facebook page. 

Which is your favourite hairstyle?

Cheers,

Star. 

I Just Had To Texlax Again

Yes, you read right and oh my goodness!! She just broke a rule...............*wide-eyed*. Yes I did. My bad.

I was very happy on texlax day last week and a few days after...but later, I realised my hair had reverted. It just reverted more each day and by the end of the week, I was back to square one. I could hardly get a comb through and I had to spend loads of time moisturising in tiny sections to get my moisturiser and oils on my hair. No no no....I was no more going to endure the struggle for another week. My mind was made up so on Saturday evening, off I went to the hairdresser's...where I got my braids done last year exactly how I wanted it. I just remembered how she relaxed another client's hair. She applied to new growth only so I decided to trust her with my hair.

I explained before we begun that she had only 15-18 minutes from start to finish and by 18 minutes, she was done with application and smoothing. At first, I didn't want to smooth but after 12 minutes, upon inspecting the back, it seemed not to have straightened one bit so I allowed her to smooth though twice with the rat tail comb. As soon as 18 minutes were up, she washed it out and continued with the mid step protein treatment and neutralising. Leave ins were applied, rollerset and dryer and so on till I was done. I spent some time afterwards to chit chat about hair care.....you know....lol!

Simple shop, simple tools, but totally willing to learn all she could. She did my hair just the way I wanted and actually asked her apprentice to write the relaxer steps down and promised to treat her other clients the same way provided they were prepared to pay for the mid step protein product. Her relaxer service was so cheap too......5ghs.......that's just 2 dollars. I was 500% satisfied. She is a keeper. I was honestly so happy and will get my braids done at the weekend by this same hairdresser. I hope it goes well again. 

Lots of Texture. 

Results? My roots texlaxed! I still have a lot of texture. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeehn, this new growth really came in fierce and strong. That's a total plus.

Hair not bone straight. No heat regimen. 

Airdried and bunned ...2 days post relaxer. 

Next day, yesterday, I washed my hair again. I just felt like washing it again. I prepooed with coconut oil overnight. I used my neautralising shampoo, lathered twice and then deep conditioned with Vitale Mayonnaise. I followed with VO5 Moisture Milks.

I didn't do a proper length check before I relaxed but the left was a pix I took the morning of relaxer day and the right was immediately I got back from the salon. For me, the length is not of primary importance but the health of my hair ends. My ends are filling in nicely and thickly too. And I dunno where bra strap length should be but if it should be at the bottom of the bra, I still have a chance to make it to that length by December if I don't get any setbacks. 3-4 inches are all I need Lord. I intend to continue protective styling...with or without braids for as long as I can. I'm babying those ends till July when I will trim for beauty and evenness. 3-4 inches are all I need Lord.

How many inches more to reach your next goal length? 

Cheers,
Star.

Just Love Henna!

I remembered how my hair loved henna the 2 times I applied it after my relaxers and decided to do another application. I honestly think I need to henna every month or 2 because my hair really loves it and feels stronger when I henna my hair. 

I almost didn't do it as planned on Sunday because we had no water flowing in our taps for a long while due to repair works by the water company and I had little water left in storage by the weekend.

Thankfully, my hair buddy Ruby had loads of water and offered to help out so I went to her house and got a real good treat! It really felt nice to sit back and relax, and have your hair done with utmost care...........more tlc than ever imagined!! Ruby did the application from start to finish. After the application, I whiled away the time by installing some braids for Ruby's sister. I left the henna in for 4 hours.

I then washed it out with my onion infused shampoo and the followed with VO5 Moisture milks conditioner. I was mighty tired and it was past 10 pm so I didn't leave the conditioner in for more than 5 minutes and I didn't cover with a shower cap. I then T-shirt dried and then airdried the rest of the time, about 15 minutes with a standing fan after washing the henna out.

Each time I apply henna, my hair feels and looks awesome afterwards! I really should henna more often!! It's a keeper.

Have you tried henna?

Cheers,

Star. 

Post Texlax Update

Hello lovelies!!

Thank you all for supporting me on this hair journey of mine. You gave me the zeal to stay on this journey though there were times I felt like giving up. Your visits to this page mean a lot to me. God richly bless you. 

I should have washed my hair 3 days after relaxer day but shame on me, I got too busy to do it so I will wash tonight after work. I just can't wait to share my post texlax results with you. Been itching to for days now. I posted updates on my Facebook Page though. I just looooooove how much texture I have in my hair. It's extremely amazing how loose the coils got but without making my hair bone straight!! Feels like I used a texuriser or a kiddie perm. So that's it. It looks almost like new growth.

I found my hair needs just about 12 mins of the relaxer cream to loosen up but not get anywhere near bone straight. So from now on, my texlaxing process is going to be 10-12 minutes from start to finish!

I have about 4 inches of texlaxed hair now but I find it very easy to comb. Somehow, the knots and tangles simply disappeared. My hair was just screaming for a relaxer....lol! I'm so happy my texlax results were great and I feel really awesome about it.

I feel so good that somehow, some creativity in me sudden surfaced and I am really digging the protective styles I seem to come up with everyday. I massage T444Z onto my scalp at most 2 times a week. I moisturise and seal twice a day using ORS moisturiser on my ends and Hawaiian Silky on my roots. I seal with Wonder 8 oil and Ghanaian black castor oil. I use Cantu sheabutter or CON Argan oil leave-in when my hair feels dry before applying the moisturisers. 

My hair looks really lovely and feels good to touch. I've been asked 4 times this week "Is that your real hair"?. Hhhehhehehhhehhehehe..........you should see my face light up and feel my joy when I say a proud "YES"! I'm loving the compliments I get......and loving my colleagues and friends getting more and more curious about what I am doing to grow my hair. I'm honestly happy with my length and thickness now. 

Though my hair is not that long, it is the longest MY hair has ever been so to me, it is AWESOME. I'm just going to enjoy my journey to bra strap length as I intend to make it as stress-free and fret-free as possible. No more extremely long stretches..........12-16 weeks maximum. I will do a henna treatment this weekend. Dunno how I will squeeze it into my schedule but we'll see. Wish me luck.

What are your thoughts on texlaxing?

Cheers,

Star.

Relaxer Update #4

I ended my relaxer stretch on Saturday at 14 weeks post. I decided to texlax my roots myself again and I was determined to leave a lot more texture in this time. My relaxer day...or texlaxer day went just the way I wanted it. I used my good old relaxer day arsenal. I trust these products to give me just the results I want.

I detangled thoroughly and parted my hair into 3 sections. 2 in front and 1 at the back.

I applied petroleum jelly all over my scalp, ears and edges thickly. I then applied Hemp oil and Roux Porosity Control Conditioner on my hair, avoiding the new growth.

I applied the Vitale lye relaxer quickly. I decided to process the new growth less in order to have more texture. I combed through a few times with my wide tooth comb to ensure the relaxer cream was evenly distributed. I worked really fast and parted with my fingers so it was hard to get the relaxer well distributed. I rinsed it out as 2 minutes after I combed it through. The process took a total of 11 minutes; application and processing time.

I then applied the Vitale mid step protein treatment and then neutralised with ORS Aloe shampoo afterwards.

I applied Roux conditioner for 2 minutes and rinsed. 

I applied the Vitale corrective conditioner and left it in for 10 minutes. 

I T-shirt dried and applied my leave-ins. I used Infusium 23 and Creme of Nature Argan oil leave in. I airdried about 50% and then set my hair in rollers. I used about 8 rollers in all....was tired and not really up to the task of making small parts. I sat under the dryer for a 15 minutes but my hair still felt damp so I decided to just allow the air to dry it up.

Once dry, I realised that my hair was processed just a tiny bit....hehehhehehhehehhe...but it is loosely curled so at least I can comb through easily. So like I suspected, there was not much change in the overall length of hair also considering that I didn't blowdry or flatiron to get my hair straight. For me, I love the freedom from struggling with the coils and knots. Now I can go to the salon and get braids whenever I want and be sure half my hair won't be yanked out by the time I'm done. My overall objective for ending my stretch was totally met. 

I'm happy that despite the extreme breakage and shedding I am experiencing, my ends are pretty cool. I will therefore not trim though I had planned to. I am working seriously on thickening my hair and will do a henna treatment at the weekend. I have also decided to do only 2 official length checks this year; in July and in December. Until then, no direct heat on my hair for any reason whatsoever. 

Health first, the length will follow....that's my mantra for 2014.

Have you considered texlaxing? 

Cheers,

Star.

Wash Day: 13 Weeks Post

I decided to make my wash day as simple as possible as I was pretty tired. I had kept my hair in 3 large braids under my wig all week so I knew I would deal with tangles.

1. I detangled all sections carefully with my fingers. I then combed gently with my wide tooth comb.

2. I applied Wonder 8 Oil and coconut oil to my hair from roots to tips, covered with a shower cap and sat under the dryer for 30 minutes.

3. Shampooed with my onion infused Creme of Nature Detangling and Conditioning shampoo.

4. T-shirt dried hair and applied Vitale Mayonnaise, covered and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes.

5. Rinsed out and did a black tea rinse. Left in hair for 3 minutes and washed out with VO5 Moisture Milks.

6. Wrapped hair with T-shirt to soak up water.

7. Airdried hair, sectioned and detangled with my fingers after spraying in Creme of Nature Argan Oil moisture and shine leave in treatment.

8. Combed and threaded up into 4 sections as my style for the week.

                                      

Though I am enjoying my stretch,which has been quite easy, I have a great longing to enjoy my hair just a little bit. I am quite pleased with having a 13 week stretch and I will texlax on either Saturday or Sunday. I will self-texlax and I will make sure I protect my ends and apply on new growth only. For this reason, I really do not see the need to stretch further as I have between 1.5-2 inches of new growth. 

Wish me luck....and keep tuned to my next relaxer update. 

At how many weeks post do you feel like giving up on your stretch? 

Cheers,

Star.