100th Post..Vent/Rant

I'm frustrated. It's my sixth month of being on a hair journey and I have seen no real progress. My hair looks the same. Same length. Same health. Yea, it's softer. But my goal isn't to have soft hair. I want long, thick, healthy hair. I've spent so much time researching new products, watching YouTube videos, trying to learn new things to incorporate into my regimen to grow my hair. Nothing has worked. What's the point of spending all this time, effort and MONEY if I'm not getting results?

In the last week, I've watched two people say how easy healthy hair is.
1. Ulovemegz.
Her video was about how it's impossible to fail a hair journey. She pretty much said all you need is knowledge and to be consistent. I HAVE! Don't get me wrong-I love her and her videos, but if that's true, why haven't I reached shoulder length yet? SHOULDER LENGTH!! When most people start their hair journey, the start around shoulder length. I, however, am not even close. I know a lot more about hair now than I did before. I take care of it a lot better. I wash it consistently, don't use heat, use enough moisture, but I am still  and forever will be at neck length. Ugh.

2. Shilinda1.
She said if you're washing it, conditioning it, and moisturizing it, then your taking care of it. I CAN'T TELL! I'm doing all of that twice a week or more, and can't tell the difference between my hair before compared to now. Why should I continue on my hair journey? Why should I spend so much money and waste so much time on something that's not doing anything? Pointless. I could have my hair straight right now but NO! I'm walking around with ugly ponytails for no reason. Heat/No heat. Mineral oil/ no mineral oil. Moisture/no moisture. My hair is going to do the same thing.

...mad.

Black Shatter Nail Polish!

Got my black shatter. :) I love trade secret!

*picture from Trade Secret's Facebook Page*
*Click here to find a Trade Secret near you*

Next Target: Dandruff

Okay, so now I've found a good shampoo and conditioner for me, now I have to tackle another issue: dandruff. I've been dealing with dandruff for a while, since before my hair journey in September 2010. I thought taking care of my hair would also fix my dandruff problem.  Well nope, it didn't. Ever since last salon visit, I've been thinking about dandruff. I co-washed on Thursday and since then my scalp has been soo itchy! I never had a problem with an itchy scalp before, only flakes.

I know the only way to have healthy hair is to start with a healthy scalp, and since my scalp is obviously not healthy, neither is my hair. Which, I think, is one reason why my hair hasn't been growing the way I think it should. (I stopped posting length check pictures, I don't see the point if it's not growing)

In order to make your scalp healthy, it has to be clean. Simply put, my scalp is not clean. I always put oil directly onto my scalp. When I didn't do that on Thursday's co-wash, my scalp has been itching ever since. Also, I've never clarified my hair. Yea, I know. Terrible. Tomorrow's wash I'll clarify my hair with the sample-size 1st lather shampoo that came with the Keracare kit. That'll completely strip my hair of all the oils and build up of products that I've been causing.
Not getting rid of all the oils and products can accumulate on your scalp making it dirty. AKA, in my case, causing dandruff.

so, I guess I'm on the hunt for a dandruff conditioner for co-washes.
(can't use keracare dry and itchy scalp, contains mineral oil)

Couldn't Pass it Up-KeraCare

Yesterday before work I was walking through the mall still clueless of what shampoo and conditioner I would want to try next. To continue my search, I went to the JC Penny Salon just to look around. I looked at a few brands then spotted Keracare. Keracare is a popular brand that I've been wanting to try for a while. Before, I didn't see why I should that much for shampoo and conditioner since Keracare is a more expensive brand. But it only has a few parabens, no silicones (I think), no sulfate, no mineral oil, and no petroleum. Most cheaper brands aren't like that.

Anyways, the keracare bottles were sitting there and I kept moving, I mean, I was only doing a price check. Then I saw a 50-70% off rack and there was a gold box that caught my eye. I picked it up and it had Keracare's sulfate free hydrating shampoo, conditioner and a wrap lotion. On the front it said '24.99' so I wasn't too impressed. I flipped to the back just to see if the ingredients were listed there and I saw a pink sticker saying it was only $9.99. WHATTT?? If you know anything about Keracare then you'll know its not cheap. According to sleekhair.com, all of this would have cost me $39.99 when not on sale!

I set it back on the counter because I wanted to go home and do more research. It took me less than 15 seconds to realize that it was the last one on the shelf and this was such a great deal that I would be absolutely stupid to pass it up. So of course I bought it. I think I'm going to use Herbal essences one more time then keep it in my cabinet for back up. Even if it does go to waste, it was only about six dollars.

So, in the month of March, I got a $30 conditioner (kenra) for $15, and a $40 shampoo/conditioner/wrap lotion set for $10. I'm doin good!

I would upload pics, but the computer is messing up right now! It came in a kit with shampoo, conditioner, wrap lotion and a free sample size of the 1st lather shampoo.

Written 3/13/2011, Uploaded 3/19/2011

Travel Hair Ramble

In about two weeks I'm going to Tennessee to visit my grandma for spring break. I'm so excited! I keep thinking about what I'm going to do to my hair though! I can't bring something big because I'm going to be flying by air and I can't take huge bottles with me. Since there's a Walgreens right up the street (thank GOD!) I'm going to go there for hair supplies. I'll only need to get small things since I'm only going to be there a week. Online, Walgreens carries Nexxus Humectress travel size shampoo and conditioner, and I would like to try that. The ingredients are full of silicones and things I can't pronounce, but I still want to try it. I mean, I'll only use it once or twice while I'm there.

Then again, do I even need to buy the Nexxus shampoo? Can't I just co-wash twice? Something to consider..

As far as moisturizers go I'm so confused! I'm not sure what to do! I can only bring 3 ounce bottles on the plane and everything I own is around 8. I know they sell small containers that you can pour your personal care items into, but what if the person checking my bag doesn't believe me? Okay, that's silly. But I guess I'm going to have to try to take some with me. Just because I'm on vacation doesn't mean I can slack on my hair care.


Oils? My grandma cooks a lot so I'm sure she'll have some extra virgin olive oil laying around. She'll look at me funny for putting it in my hair, but that's okay.


I hope Walgreens has some coconut milk. I was at the grocery store today and noticed coconut juice and milk sitting next to each other on the shelf. I looked up coconut milk and saw some people deep condition with it. I don't know..it just sounds interesting to try.


Tennessee Hair Regimen (may change):
Sunday:
deep condition with Nexxus conditioner for a looong time! (to make up for not pre-pooing)
wash with nexxus shampoo
use what ever moisturizer I take as a leave in.
air dry


Thursday:
deep condition with Nexxus conditioner
rinse
leave in
air dry


every night: moisturize (may not seal)

Best. Wash. Day. Ever.-Keracare

Today I washed my hair. (I normally wash it on Sunday, but I had to work an eight hour shift so I didn't want to)

I used Keracare's Sulfate Free Detangling shampoo and conditioner.(I'll tell you how I got that in a later post, It's not allowing me to upload pictures.) OMG I loved it! My hair is super soft!

Sequence of Events:

I came home and put Suave almond and Shea butter into my hair for a prepoo with out adding any oils. While I was waiting to get into the shower, I read the back of the Keracare bottle. It said to leave it in for 15-20 minutes. For a moment I was confused on what to do since I already DC with Kenra for at least 45. It wouldn't make since to prepoo, wash, put conditioner into my hair, get out the shower, wait 15-20 minutes, rinse that out, then add Kenra. So instead I rinsed the out the suave, then put the keracare conditioner into my hair for about 40 minutes. (LOVED IT!)

Since I just got a relaxer I think it's necessary to add some protein into my hair. I used Aphogee's 2 minute reconstructer. And I DID NOT KNOW that mineral oil is the fifth ingredient on that bottle! I guess at the time I bought it, I figured since everybody else used it, it didn't have mineral oil in it! #WRONG! Trust me, It's in the trash can now. I've learned my lesson.

Anyways, Then I used the Keracare shampoo. It was really good. My hair didn't feel super moisturized like it did with the herbal essences, but it was super soft, detangled, and didn't feel stripped at all. Also, it's really runny. Which can kind of be a good thing because I don't have to use a lot.

Then I deep conditioned with Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner. I only added rosemary and eucalyptus oil to it and it was the best DC I've had since being on my hair journey. Literally.

Do I love my new products? Absolutely.

NOTES:
-I thought I was going to either continue to use Herbal essences until I ran out, but then I thought about it and figured-"why should I continue to torture my hair with silicones and parabens when I have a good quality shampoo and conditioner right there? So I threw out the shampoo and will use the conditioner as a co-wash.

-Can't wait to see what my hair is like when I'm a few weeks post! Will the detangler in the shampoo/conditioner detangle my new growth too?

-I'm going on a trip in two weeks so I can't take my kera care or kenra on the plane. So I'm going to get these small Nexxus Humectress and Therappee for the plane ride. I've wanted to try it since Megan has been raving about it, and it's the perfect excuse to use it!

- I love Keracare. :)

Frustrated Ramble...

Sigh...
I've been having a hard time trying to find a new shampoo/conditioner. I've been feeling super picky lately about what ingredients can be in there. (I don't want parabens or silicone's). The more I educate myself about hair and the ingredients found in hair products, its hard for me to act like I don't know. Like, it's hard for me not to care that Herbal essences is full of parabens and silicone's. It makes since why my hair hasn't been growing at the rate I expected it too.

So far I've looked at KeraCare, but some of their products have mineral oil in them. If they don't have mineral oil in them then it's hard for me to research the products. I don't know, maybe their just not as popular as the products with mineral oil?

I also looked at Paul Mitchell, but their products 'tingle'. I don't like 'tingly' products because they never feel good in my opinion.

I was thinking about using Aphogee's deep moisture shampoo, but it doesn't have a lot of reviews. Also, it has keratin and a few parabens.

I've looked at matrix, elasta qp, organic root stimulator,cream of nature, Burt's bees, nexxus humectress, cat walk, bed head, biolage, kenra, mizani, joico, redken...all of them have something wrong with them. Either it's the reviews, ingredients, price or availability. Ugh, this is so frustrating.

I'm beginning to become a believer of 'you get what you paid for'. The cheaper products seem to have tons of parabens in them, but the more expensive and exclusive ones don't. I have about half a bottle of Herbal essences left, so that's a while to find a new shampoo/conditioner combo. But GOSH!! Why does it have to be soo d i f f i c u l t???????

Oh Wait...There's more!

Continuing from my last post, The stylist also said I have dandruff! WHAT! I thought I got rid of that problem a long time ago! I've been mixing eucalyptus and rosemary oil into my DC's for months now so I thought I would be over that. Earlier this week I mixed castor oil and sweet almond oil together, I'm now going to mix some eucalyptus and rosemary oil into it also to get rid of this darn dandruff! UGHH!

Relaxer Update 1

what's done is done, there's no turning back...

Got my relaxer today.

The stylist used Mizani. She based around my head and the tips of my ears, as usual. Then she started putting in the relaxer. I noticed she was very sloppy when doing it. She would slap the relaxer into my hair then run her fingers through my hair. Yes, there was relaxer on her hands. So part of my already relaxed hair got relaxer on it. I didn't want to be rude and tell her how to do her job, so I continued to silently watch in terror of the damages she was doing. It started to burn quickly so she rinsed it out sooner than planned. I was worried my hair wouldn't be bone straight like I like it to be. However, it relaxed nicely.

So then it was time to style it. For whatever reason I chickened out and didn't ask for the four braids to the back. Why you might ask? Who does that? Who goes to the salon just to get four braids? I knew she would have looked at me funny and asked why in the world I would have wanted that. What would I have said? "Oh, I'm on a hair journey and I'm currently in a challenge to not use heat for two months for health reasons so my hair will grow." She wouldn't have taken me seriously. Probably wouldn't have braided it anyways. Sigh.

So then they sat me under the dryer (which I was fine with) and put me with a magazine of hair styles. Nothing really caught my eye until this girl was on the page with half her hair twisted and the other half curly. Not really a style I like, but this was the first style that my hair seemed long enough for and I was ready to leave.

Apparently that style would have cost me an additional $55 to the $45 I was already paying because of the curls. A roller set would have been expensive too. And flexi rods. So, the only thing I could get done was a darn wrap. Yup. She flat ironed it. No, she didn't just flat iron it. She sat me under the dryer, blow dried it, then flat ironed it. No heat protection. Not what I wanted. All I could afford.

So I'm done with the heat challenge. I don't see a point in continuing to do it since I already broke the #1 rule. This does NOT mean I will start using heat on my hair regularly though. This just means I can use direct heat on my hair once or twice a month if I choose to. I will use indirect heat for roller-set saran wrap methods though as often as I want to. (Ulovemegz-youtube-does the same thing)

I'll post pics later. I'm too upset to do so now.

Relaxer Tomarrow!!!

YAY! I'm getting a relaxer tomorrow (finally!). 13 weeks post...I think. I've gotten to know my natural texture a lot better on this stretch. My hair is a lot curlier than I thought it was. I always thought was just a 'fro, but it actually has a nice curl to it. A super tight curl. If I went natural then I would just need curl activators and my hair would do fine. Not sayin I'm going natural anytime soon, but when I do I'm glad it won't be just a fro. 

Tomorrow I'll get a relaxer at the salon and four braids to the back. Therefore, I'll just wear a braid out Thursday and Friday to school. (no heat) I hope the stylist doesn't look at me crazy when I ask for it. If she convinces me not to get that, then I'll get flexi rods. I've always wanted to try them but I'm scared of looking crazy if they go wrong. The stylist will surely do them the correct way and I'll get to see how to do it. Yes, I will have to sit under the dryer to allow them to dry, but that's not a terrible thing because I allowed myself to use indirect heat during the second month of my no-heat challenge. Excited! :)

Herbal essences Ingrdients... :(

So..after I told you about the Herbal essences (apparently they prefer to spell it with a upper case 'H' and lowercase 'e') shampoo and conditioner and how much I LOVED them, I read the ingredients. I wrote a blog about it a while back..long story short-- THE INGREDIENTS ARE TERRIBLE! Ughh.. I thought I got over that but nowthe idea of silicone's and parabens in my hair bother me so much. Honestly I'm not completely sure what they are but I know they're bad and should be avoided. (I'll look it up later). What bothers me is that theres pretty much hundreds of them in that one small bottle! (exxageration, I know.) I was thinking of getting the Kenra Moisturizing Shampoo, but the reviews for that were so mixed I'm scared to use it. What I really want to use is Shea Moistures Moisture Retention Shampoo. BUTTTT my local Target is out of it so I'll have to wait. BUTTTT...Target has been out of it for a while so I'm not sure if they'll be getting it back. HOWEVVVEEERRRR...its inventory time at Target so I'm sure they'll be getting some more soon. If not, I'm going to have to find something else. My rule of thumb is going to be if it has more than 4 parabens and/or silicones then I'm not going to use it.

Yesterdays Wash Day

Yesterday was an interesting wash day for me for two reasons:

• it was the first time I had to wash my hair before going to work
• I didn't mix anything into my DC (as requested)

On saturday, I put a lot of Africa's Best Herbal Oil into my hair before going to bed. Then in the morning I pre-pooed with ORS replinishing pak and it went great. (click here for more details) After I rinsed my hair out, I washed with HE Reconditioning Shampoo/Conditioner- it went well as usual. Then I tried something different. I was requested to use the Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner with out any added oils into it just to see how it went. It was good! I liked it! My hair was soft after using it. A lot softer compared to the first time, but not as soft as last time. (which was expected because I didn't add any oils)

Then I used Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk. I think I'm going to stop using that. My hair feels less soft after using it, on top of that I don't think my hair is that frizzy with out it, so it's not adding any benefits to my hair. If I notice an increase in frizz, I'll continue to use it. Until then, its OUT the regimen. I also added Fantasia frizz buster and aphogee green tea and keratin mist. I think I'm going to get a relaxer this week so I keep using small doses of protein.

Oranic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak

Today was a shampoo-wash day so, as always, I did a pre poo. I plan on getting a relaxer sometime this week so I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak because it's a light protein. I really liked it. The night before I soaked my hair in Africa's Best Herbal Oil, and this morning I woke up and mixed this pak with eucalyptus oil and rosemary oil. While I was rinsing it out in the shower about an hour later, I noticed how soft my hair felt. I was afraid to use it at first because I thought it would be too much protein in my hair, but it felt just fine. I actually think it's too good to be used as a pre-poo, I might use it as a DC from now on when ever I think my hair needs extra protein.
Besides that, it smells amazing. It has a citrus-y smell to it that I love. I'm going to have to get some more paks.
 I know they sell it in a bottle, but it's easier for me to get the pak because they sell it at my job.

Shhhh...It's a Secret!

Ever since the Secret Rewards at Victoria's Secret has been in stores, I've been wanting to get my hands on one a few of those cards! So far I've collected two and I plan on getting plenty more. Since I work in the mall, I decided that every time I go to work I'll spend at least $10 at VS to get one of their secret rewards card. So far I've collected 1 perfume, 4 hand sanitizers and 1 lotion. I'm pretty sure I'm done collecting fragrant things for a while. Now I'm going to have to keep looking for something around $10. Last time they had this promotion, I won $50. Now they're saying that there are THOUSANDS worth over $100. If last time I won $50, then I know this time I'll get something worth more. I'm hoping at least.

What's a Secret Reward?

From now until the end of March 2011, VS is giving away gift cards to their store that are worth at least $10 each time you spend $10 at their store. Nobody knows how much each card is worth until you check it at the register form April 1-30 and they'll tell you how much your card is worth. After April 30th, the card expires.

ME=EXCITED

lotion I bought- Originally $12,
I got it half off for $6

I have four of these lil sanitizers! yay!



Wasn't Expecting This...

I DC'd again today with the Kenra moisturizing Conditioner. I noticed such a big difference from the first time I used it compared to now. My hair feels so soft and is manageable. My New growth is softer than it was before and I'm loving it! I hope it keeps improving this way! This time I mixed it with Castor oil, eucalyptus oil and rosemary oil. Next time (Sunday) I'll use it by it self and see how it does with out any added oil.

Is Herbal Essences really that bad?

I don't think Herbal Essences is that bad. Some of the people with the longest hair use it for co-washes. Also, some of the people with the longest hair used to use Herbal Essences until they found something better for their hair. Most people will use it only for co-washes and don't use the shampoo, but I love both of them. I'm going to keep using my Herbal Essences because I think it's good for my hair.


RANDOM:
OMG I'm still excited about the VS cards! I hope I get at least a few $50 or maybe a couple $100 ones! But I really want the $500 card, man, I'm gonna get SO much stuff. Until April, I'm going to be getting things that are around $10 then in April I'm going to get EVERYTHING else! Can you say, excited? And on April 1st I'm going to be in Tennessee for spring break. So I'm going to hit the mall and get some PINK hoodies, sweats, and yoga pants from the collegiate. click here to read for more details.

Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner First Impression

On Sunday for the first time I used the Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner as a DC. It was fine. Made my hair soft. What I wanted. Not AMAZING. I'm not jumping out of my seat or anything. But it was fine. Its a lot better than the other random mixtures that I concocted before. I guess because it's more expensive than the products I was using before, I expected it to work extremely different compared to a cheaper brand. It's now Tuesday and my hair still feels soft, but it always feels super soft after I wash it with herbal essences. I do have a huge liter bottle of it so I'll keep using it and have an official review of it later.

I mixed it with sweet almond oil, eucalyptus oil and rosemary oil.

Color: the packaging is grey and the conditioner is yellow

Smell: Smells like ordinary conditioner. It doesn't smell like coconuts like a few other people said, not in my opinion at least.

Cost: 10.1 ounce- $9-$14, Liter- $30

Consistency: Not really thick, not runny. Average

Where to buy: Only available in salons. Not sold in drug stores or online (according to the website. However I did see it on folica.com)

Bottom Line: It's pretty good. Defiantly not the 'Holy Grail' Product I was looking for, but with time I think I'll progress to like it. Not sure if I'll be repurchasing again.

New DC and pre-poo mixture

Thus far in my HJ, I've been mixing a bunch of random things into my deep conditioners. Sometimes it's a hit. Other times it's a miss. To prevent this problem I'm going to come up with a special recipe in order for it to work consistently.
DC Recipe:
6 cap fuls of Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner (or what ever one I use at the time)
about 10 drops of two different essential oils (right now I have eucalyptus and rosemary)
about 5-7 drops of a carrier oil (whatever I choose to use)


It's not exact, but it's better than mixing a lot of random things into a bowl and not knowing what works best or needs to be avoided next time. Also, I used to use a lot of oil in my DC's and they would always be runny. With much less oil used, it won't be so runny.


Pre-poo:
about 6 scoops of a pre poo (lustra silk or sauve)
10 drops of essential oils
few drops of a carrier oil
a few scoops of what ever conditioner/moisturizer I'm trying to get rid of

New *Crackle* Nail Polish

Example of Black Shatter

Since the beginning of this year, my sister and I have been interested in doing our own nails. We normally went to the salon, then our pay checks started to decline so we got the idea of doing them ourselves. Around the same time, OPI came out with a nail polish called 'black shatter'. Basically, you apply a base coat of your choice, no matter what color you want it to be. Then you put shatter on top of it. It gives a, well, shatter effect on top. We have been looking for this polish for a long time and never found it because every where we go it's sold out. :(

Recently, China Glaze came out with a line of polishes with a similar concept, except it's called 'Crackle'. Today my sister told me she wanted to do her nails when we got home from school, I told her about this line and that it's similar to shatter except it has different colors available. Long story short, we went to Sally's after school and bought two colors: cracked concrete and fault line.I'm SO upset that we didn't get the black one (black mesh), but I do like the ones we did got. I would order them online, but their only available in stores.

Purple: Fault Line
Gray: Cracked Concrete

Random: OMG I really hope I get a $500 VS gift card! I at least hope I get a few $50 or $100 ones! I'm so excited and anxious to know how much money I'll get. With whatever money I get, I'm getting so many sweat pants, yoga pants, shirts, perfumes, lotions, make up, AHHH! I'm so excited! (read last blog for more details!)