Long overdue update

So I quit lol...my natural journey became a texlaxed journey yesterday. I did 1/4 cup EVOO in 1 cup Motions relaxer. 6 months to the day.

This is why I did it:

1. I was rocking buns constantly because braid outs and twist outs took waaaay too much time and didn't last past 5-6 hours. My buns were cute but everyday made me feel BLAH

2. The length of time washing and detangling was taking. I definitely was not looking forward to battling my 4/5/6 month roots each week.

3. I just was not enjoying the transition process. Except the curious feel of my roots, that is. That was nice :) and the feeling that I did not need a darn relaxer...

...till it turned out that I did cause I don't wanna be bothered with the time consuming process.

Now it's texlaxed, I feel great! Hopefully I can still see the thickness when I have more texlaxed hair.

Result of my 6 month stretch? Damaged relaxed ends. I know 24/7 buns sound like a treat for my ends but no, in fact they look awful. So Friday, I'm going to get them trimmed - hope not too much. Then I shall share length check.

FYI - my bff did the opposite of me and did a BC :-D She looks FAB!! She is loving her hair and getting used to caring for it.

Wash day pictorial

Last Lap

Praise God! I cannot wait for Thurs morning.

Friday I pre-poo'd with NTM conditioner I had left over (done now) and some proclaim 7 oil. Then I clarified with CON Clarifying poo with Aloe, then did my 2-step protein and sat under dryer with that for about 30 mins, then DC with my Sedal SOS ceramides for about 40 mins (20 with heat). Not too much of my hair came out...regular amount. Roller setting was a trial...detangling after my protein is always hard.

Important notice: I'm looking for a heavy protein replacement. I'm just about tired of using this messy, complicated 2 step protein. I love the 2 minute reconstructor they make but the 2 step, I can't bother with. I'd appreciate suggestions.

Anyhoo, I wasn't the very best at protecting my ends this weekend. Sat night they escaped my bonnet so they looked awful Sunday - I had to give em some HE LTR leave in and sealant. Then this morning they seemed to escape again, so I sprayed with my Jane Carters (instead of aloe mix), HE LTR again, then sealed w grape seed oil.

I bought my relaxer for the year (huge container). I didn't get Mizani this time around - I bought the Motions...the professional one for regular hair. Click here to see it (oh, Ateeyah's video is on the site...big things for her: Congrats!)

11 weeks post relaxer pics...

Beginning of week: Quick wash on Sat morning...no DC. Had no time. Haven't washed since so no DC this week...what a thing. Good thing tomorrow my hair gets the full pre-relaxer treatment.

Tuesday. Bun. I bunned all week.

Thursday. Bun.

Friday (tomorrow) I'll be officially 11 weeks. Pre-poo all day, followed by clarifying poo (does it make sense to clarify after pre-pooing? click here to learn what other ladies think), then my 2-step protein, then DC - garlic cond mixed with honey I think. Roller set. Wait out the week. Thursday morning I relax. I have somewhere to be Fri so I hope I can steal some time to take my update pics before my hair gets brutalized by the great outdoors.

Stretch update: your girl's a JOKER

Now why on earth did I think I was 8 weeks yesterday when I'm in fact 10 weeks???! lol I swear I can be a blonde at times. I looked over at my ticker and realized I relaxed March 5th and not the 20th (then I checked my relaxer updates to be sure). Well that makes this stretch waaay easier for me. Woooooot!!! I only have 2 more weeks and I'll be done my first 12 week stretch. Last time I did 11 weeks and 5 days...almost there but not quite. The weirdest thing is my hair's been behaving so I didn't even notice. Even last weeks curly look, I thought was being done on 7 week hair but it was 9 week hair lol. I don't think I'll be pushing it past 12 weeks...4 relaxers a year is a great idea.

Pics are from Wed (2 on left) &Fri (bun)

Final wash

Sunday I clarified, did my 2 step protein, then DC with DPR-11, Proclaim daily conditioner, honey, proclaim 7 oil, and JBCO.

I then rollerset, went to bed. I used A LOT of HE LTR leave in to detangle. I don't think I have detangling down at all at this stage in my stretch. It wasn't dry the next morning so I did the dryer for a bit then sprayed the front with my Motions Nourish and tied it back into a ponytail. My hair is 12 weeks. There is no hope of a style right now. I just don't have it in me because I have midterms and I'm mid move. Plus I have never met this hair before. I'm a new convert (6 weeker turned 8/9 weeker) so 12 weeks is out of my range. Anyway, my hair felt much better than last week so I'm blaming the Mane n' Tail (which I didn't use this time around) BUT I should say although it made my hair strange, my hair did not shed exessively or break.

I don't know why the pics wont enlarge when you click today - strange. Anyway, I'm def sporting about an inch of NG.

Batteries for my camera and a relaxer should make for an excellent weekend.

Oh, my appointment is Fri the 5th of March, not 4th.

Good one, mother nature :)

The weather won folks. Due to the snowstorm in NY/NJ Thurs and Fri I was unable to get out and get my relaxer. And this is how I'll end up finally doing a 12 stretch haha. Today I pre-poo'd w my oil mix (proclaim and JBCO) while studying @ school. Heading home to clarify, do protein, and DC.

Relaxer day - Friday, March 4th. What a stretch!

I am done

Relaxing next Friday. I don't care that I haven't done my protein and clarifying (I was gonna do it next week) because my hair gave me a scare today. It felt like hay (don't blame Mane n' Tail, don't blame Mane n' Tail), seriously. Plus it was so detangled it took me forever to detangle it and all of this came out:

Not good.

Did I mention my hair felt like trash? I am still trying to figure out if I'm just overreacting (very likely). But in any case I just feel way out of my league. So yea, I give up. 10 weeks is the most I've ever done and now 11 will be it. All this shedding (probably breakage though I don't see any) and tangled mess is too much for me. I'll leave it to the pros. So there's my monster stretch, 11 weeks lol.

Mane n' Tail experience: So I DC'ed with some DPR-11 I didn't know I had with honey, JBCO, and a little Mane n'Tail (MT). Now, w/o the Mane n' Tail, this is a staple DC of mine that always works well for me. Then I co-washed with HE LTR, another staple of mine yet my hair felt crazy rough. The 2 weeks I've used MT in my DC mixes, my hair has just felt awful - like straw. The week before I used it my hair was still being great. For this reason I'm giving it away. It just doesn't seem to work for me. I should try it again after I relax to see if it is really the problem but since I wasn't on a hunt for a new product and I already have conditioners I love, I won't. I'll stick with what works. Sometimes experimenting helps me find something great, sometimes not. Next time I'm at 10 and 11 weeks I'll see if this is typical behavior for my hair. That will absolve the blame I've given MT.

Here's my dry DC:

*my camera died so these are from the BB*


UPDATE 2/22/2010:
So my hair dried and it actually felt fine. It also wasn't shedding or breaking. I really want to relax this Friday but I'll see if my pocket will allow it...it doesn't seem that way but a girl can hope. So, although I am quite over my NG, I may be stretching one more week. Since I have to make lemonade out of lemons, at least I get to do my protein.

Good Hair - I finally watched it

It was a bummer for me.

I mean, it had some funny parts, yes, but all in all it was kind of pointless and boring. Let me tell you the parts I liked: I enjoyed the barber/beauty shop talk parts, and the parts when he went to vendors making relaxers, those making weaves in India, and the BSS and did interviews. The worst parts were the Bronner Brothers show in ATL. Now, I admit, I don't know much abt southern black hair culture but what on earth was that stage show?! The exhibits looked interesting but he didn't focus on that, only the foolywang competitors of this stage show. They got too much play (did you see the marcel irons sizzling the ladies' hair? wow)

One big thing that stood out to me was the $1000 weaves. My goodness! On layaway too? I'm sorry, it just isn't worth it to me. Unless the $1000 includes installation and upkeep. I really didn't care about the parts with the men who had a problem w touching hair. I mean, my husband has a black mother. He ought to know that a fresh relaxer does not get wet unless I'm on vacation lol but this HJJ is helping him out some. With satin sheets, there is no need to cover my hair as much, and I'm not so scared of my hair getting wet. When I used to wash once every other week I'd be, but since I wash weekly, it's no biggie. Besides, regardless of race I don't know a woman fresh out of the salon that is trying to ruin the style.

So here are my curls. I won't judge the mane n' tail just yet. I'll use it a bit more before I review. Anyhow, below I used the red flexi rods and separated the curls. Quite a feat with my hair at 9 weeks and the detangling that had to be done but it looked okay I think.

Post whore

This week I've been posting like crazy!

Anyhoo, went to cheaply update my stash at Sally's last night. I have to get my favs another time but I needed something to tide me over. I got Mane n Tail moisturizer texturizer conditioner, Silk Elements megasilk olive conditioner, a color applicator bottle for my oil mix, and a mixing bowl for my conditioner concoctions.

After reading up on Mane n Tail I decided it wouldn't be the best all day dry deep conditioner product (protein rich) so I mixed abt 2 tablespoons of it into abt a cup (or little less) of the Silk Elements, 2 tablespoons of honey. I put it on my hair and roots this morning and covered w shower cap, scarf, and hat. I had already applied my oil mix (proclaim nat7 and JBCO) to my roots last night. I'll co wash w the Mane n Tail.

Tomorrow morning I'm going curly...gonna use my spiral rods. I rarely do this because it takes like an hour to put them all in and my arms hurt so much. But because my hair is 9 weeks on Monday, and my roots aren't the best for a straight style, and a blow out or relaxer aren't happening tonight, I gotta do it. My godson get's Christened tomorrow.

Have an enjoyable weekend all!

If I wanna roll with the big girls...

I gotta step my game up.

My hair is on its ninth week and I am set to stretch some more. If this is going to work, I think I need to step my game up. Def moisturizing and sealing in sections at night with a little finger detangling, and maybe more consistent baggying. I am definitely going to dry DC with some good stuff (garlic cond mix with JBCO and honey probably) from tomorrow morning into Sat morning before I co-wash. I will have to keep it up every week until relaxer week because my hair is getting DRY. I am also considering a protein treatment -the hard one- next weekend (the 19th) even though I won't relax until 2 weeks later.

For today, I sprayed lots of my motions nourish leave in to soften the hair, moisturized, and sealed then pinned it up, tied with my scarf and covered with hat. It is gonna stay that way until the gym tonight.

Need to make a BSS stop tonight.