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! :)

Co-Washing. :)

I've been co-washing my hair every Thursday and my hair loves it! It could be contributing to the extra softness I've been feeling and/or the added growth. All I've been doing is pre-pooing for 30 minutes, co-washing, deep conditioning, leave ins, styling. That's it! I thought I was going to give it a try until April (when the heat challenge is up), but I'm not quitting this, my hair has been thriving too much!

I've been using a lot of moisture in my hair lately and I think it's time for a small amount of protein. So I'm either going to co-wash with Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Conditioner, or DC with ORS replenishing pak.

Lovin my Hair!- Updates

I'm still using the Herbal Essences Reconditioning Shampoo and conditioner and still loving it! NOW that I bought it about three weeks ago, Target has it on sale 2 for $5 for the regular sizes and $5 for the bigger sizes. UGH! That sucks! lol. I'm not going to buy it because something I've learned on my HJ is not to buy things in bulk. I really enjoy trying new things but I can't if I have a full bottle of an old product laying around.

Bantu Knot
This picture is not me-
I know her curls were GORGEOUS after this

Example: I bought a Herbal Essence LTR leave-in a few months ago when I already had one at home (it was the same 2 for 5 sale at Target). Then I decided to stop using it regularly because I figured out it was protein, so now I have 1 1/2 bottles n my room collecting dust. Also, I have 1 1/2 tubs of Lustrasilk sitting in my cabinet and I can't stand that now! So I'm just going to continue to stick with buying my products 1 at a time. (even though I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be switching shampoo/conditioners any time soon)

I was thinking about doing a 'wet wrap' to get my hair straight- from what I understand it's just washing your hair, putting wrap lotion in it, wrapping your hair, and sitting under the dryer for a while. I decided against it because I said I would use NO form of heat (including indirect), I really like the way curly hair looks on me; but its been such a hit/miss. Bantu-knots look terrible after a few days and my braid outs are okay sometimes, but their always really cute when someone else braids it the night before. (I can't keep pestering my mom/sister to do my hair though) So that's the only reason why I want to straighten my hair other wise I would rock curly hair everyday!

My hair has been feeling super soft lately, I'm not sure if its the no heat or the products I've been using, but I'm loving it and noticing growth. If I don't reach shoulder length by April I don't know what I'm going to do. I've been babying my hair so much and never had any huge set backs, but gosh it's taking a long time to get to where I want to be!

NO HEAT 4EVA!

I don't want to be one of those people who decide not to use heat for X amount of months, and when those months are over, continue to use heat weekly. I always wonder what their purpose was for not using heat in the first place. Did they not notice a difference? Is curly hair that bad? When my heat challenge is over, I will use heat, but not as often. Only twice a month, not all the time like I was.

NO HEAT!

It's no secret that heat is bad for your hair. I learned how to do braid outs just so I won't 'have' to use heat anymore. It's not only that I don't want to use heat on my hair anymore, but I also am tired of wearing my hair straight.  I've been wearing my hair for the same exact way basically since 10th grade. (except those few months I had braids.) Now I'm bored with straight hair and I'm ready to experiment. I learned how to do braid outs better so I'll start wearing my hair like that for a while. Well, actually until April 1st since today I joined a no-heat challenge.
The rules are simple:
No heat. (unless DC).

Well, that sounds simple, but I have to alter the rules slightly for myself. The only time I can use heat is when I'm doing a roller-set saran wrap method. Which is okay because it's still not direct heat and I don't plan on wearing my hair straight that often anyways.

I have done braid outs before in the past, (when my sister braided my hair), so I know that they only last a few days. To keep up with my style I guess I'll have to start co-washing. And since I'm co-washing, I don't think I'll need to DC for as long as I was. Instead of DC for 2 hours once a week, I'll DC for 45 minutes-1 hour twice a week.

By the end of this challenge, I expect my ends to look better, hair to be longer and overall healthier.

Note:
When I get my next relaxer in March, instead of getting my usual wrap, I'll get 3-4 braids to the back so I won't cheat in my challenge.

Almost there!

Okay.. so I said I was going to continue to practice braiding my hair. I practiced last night and I'm going to practice again tonight. I hope by the end of the week I'll be wearing braid-outs regularly as a way to use less heat on my hair.
I know its not the best, but for just learning, i think it looks A M A Z I N G !  :)

*Sigh*...

just a quick follow-up from my last post: yes, Friday was another snow day. -_-

Anyways... I'm starting to feel discouraged about my hair. I don't think I can make it anywhere past neck length. I really thought that at this point in my hair journey I would be shoulder length. I was so wrong. Maybe my regimen is too simple?

Should I try co-washing? I want to, but then what? I'll have to flat iron it because I don't know how to do braids to achieve a braid out. Its one of my goals to learn how to cornrow my own hair to lessen the amount of heat I use on my hair, so until then I feel stuck with flat ironing. I've tried twists outs- they never really look 'right'. (more frizz than curl) I've tried bantu knot outs. (they only work well  when my hair is flat ironed and they only last a few days) Braid outs always look great, but I can't keep hassling my sister or mom to braid my hair every night. I moisturize and seal every night but sometimes it still feels a bit dry and never really looks 'shiny' like it did at the beginning of my journey. Lately I've even stopped wearing my hair down and put it in a lot more ponytails to protect my ends better.

Is it the products I use? I know during the winter months Aphogee isn't the best thing to use because of the protein content, but Silk Elements doesn't make my hair feel as soft and smooth as when I use Aphogee. Does it matter how my hair feels? Or does it matter more that my hair needs moisture instead of protein? I'm still confused weather I should use Elasta QP or Herbal Essences. EQP might have mineral oil in it, I'm not sure because I've never read the ingredients. Maybe I should give up on both brands and research a new one that is more common?

Every time I watch a 'hairspiration' video on YouTube, by the 3rd month they always have some extreme growth, I started my HJ 4 months ago and can barely tell a difference.

I really don't want this to be a phase I go through. My first few posts were about me trying to get in shape and stay fit-that didn't last a month. I stopped because I didn't see any results and stopped caring. I hope that the same thing doesn't happen with my hair as well. I've basically been trying to care for my hair well during my whole 11th grade year and nothing has changed. Maybe I was dumb for believing that I could actually have long hair. :(