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)

blue magic?

I was browsing YouTube (as usual) and I came across a woman talking about weight loss. I thought she was interesting and had a good weave. I watched a couple of her other videos and found out that she also talked about hair and makeup as well, like the other people I like to watch on YT. Then I came across a video and she was talking about her hair. I found out a couple of things:
1) that wasn't a good weave, it was her actual hair!
2) Her hair didn't start to grow until she started using blue magic. AKA grease. AKA petroleum. AKA exactly what I've been trying to avoid the whole entire span of my hair journey!

Once she said that I felt an emotion. I'm not sure what emotion it was.
Maybe I was feeling confusion. How did her hair grow that long when there is so much science saying how bad grease is for your hair? What about it blocking moisture from your hair?
Maybe I felt jealous. I used blue magic a few years ago faithfully. Why didn't my hair grow like hers did? How come I never made it past neck length and she appears to be at bra strap length?

Whatever emotion I was feeling was most likely a combination of the two, but either way I figured out the answers to my questions. It's not something I didn't already know.
What works for one person doesn't work for everybody.
A lot of people LOVE Wave Nouveau finishing lotion as a moisturizer. I hate it.
Some people think jojoba oil is the best thing known to man. For me, it was just..eh.
Every body's hair is unique to that person. She has found the key to her hair growth, just like I need to figure out mine. And I will. It obviously wasn't Silk Elements. Or Aphogee. But it is something else. I just need the patience and drive to grow my hair and it will happen. Trust me.

(another thing she said was that she used absolutely NO heat at all. That is one of my goals so I've been practicing braiding my hair..I'm definantly getting better!)

3 month length check, haul, reviews



hair as of 10/08/2010



hair growth as of 11/08/10
about to take a shower to wash my hair

 this is my 'new' hair growth. honestly, my hair doesn't look any longer than it did last month. but i will say that my ends look a lot better and I haven't even cut them yet.

HAUL:

this week i got anxious and got the aphogee stuff any ways with out waiting to run out of the SE stuff. I got:

-Aphogee Shampoo for damaged hair
-Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor
 (already had the Aphogee green tea and keratin reconstructorizer)
*and the non-aphogee stuff
-lustrasilk Shea butter mango cholesterol plus
(all costing $16.42 at my local beauty supply store)

REVIEWS:

A. Shampoo:
LOVE IT! its the first shampoo that made my hair feel this soft at home. I only did one wash because that's what the bottle says to do b/c it has so much protein in it. Next time i might do 1 1/2 wash. (just using a small amount of shampoo for the second wash) I like this shampoo because my hair feels clean afterwards, but doesn't feel stripped of moisture or super dry.
A. 2 minute:
I love this too! it made my hair feel softer! I wasn't sure what a 'reconsturctor' was, but its basically the conditioner that goes along with the shampoo. I put a lot of it in my hair, massaged it in then put my plastic cap on for 2 minutes. When it was rinsed out it felt super soft!
Lustrasilk Mango:
eh.. extremely disappointing. I used this as a DC (with out any oils added to it), and it took away all the softness the aphogee products gave me. I got this because I heard a lot of people using it and loving it. Also, its featured on hairlista's top 10 must have beauty products. I got it but it wasn't as wonderful as i hoped. I didn't use any oils or conditioners mixed into it but i will the next time and hope for the best.

I'm loving aphogee so much, I'm thinkin about getting the aphogee  pro-vitamin leave in conditioner too!
I also want to try ORS replenishing pak. (i already tried this before- before i started my hair journey- and i think i liked it but I'm not sure)

Next Friday i'll be the 8 weeks post and I'm excited to get my relaxer! my NG is out of control and it needs to be tamed. lol. If i could find a way to make my NG lay down flatter, then i would stretch for longer but since i can't i won't. I'm supposed to get a relaxer next Friday, but since I have to work I'll get it done on that Saturday after I get off.  :)

Problem with Aphogee:

The future problems I see with aphogee are:
Aphogee is high protein:
A lot of people had to eventually stop using aphogee because it has such a high protein content. Protein will dry out your hair and make it hard if you don't use a good enough moisture-protein balance. (to be explained in a later post) I do a lot of things to my hair that adds moisture (DC, M&S, leave ins, etc). But still fear that it will be too much protein. But if it is, I can use a moisturizing shampoo/ conditioner every now and then to make sure it doesn't happen. (aphogee already makes one just for this occasion.)
Aphogee is for 'damaged hair':
Aphogee is specifically for 'damaged hair'. what happens when my hair isn't damaged any more? What products will i switch too after that? I don't want to rely on aphogee to always make my hair great because one day it won't be necessary. Everybody I watch on YouTube eventually switched off of aphogee to different products. (Ateyaaa switched to NuGro, omgitsvictoriaxd switched to Garnier Fructis then to Aussie, etc.) Does it matter if its for damaged hair or healthy hair?

Short term hair goal:
by the end of the year I hope to be full shoulder length. At the latest, by 1/31/2011 to be full SL.
Long term hair goal:
bra strap length by December 2011.