Determining my growth rate and retention

I have always been curious as to exactly what rate my hair grows. Is it a half an inch a month? A quarter? I really don't know. So this month I have decided to measure it. I was supposed to start on the 1st but I'm a little behind. Today is the 3rd. I gave myself a trim last night and my hair (with the exception of my "bangs") was between 13 and 14 inches long in every place that I measured. So at the end of the month I'm going to measure my hair again and see what kind of length I was able to grow and retain. I'm really hoping for an inch!!

One of the things that kind of prompted this was I got an email from naturallycurly.com that talked about hair supplements that are supposed to help with hair growth. Now I already take a hair vitamin, but there were a few in there that I had never heard of. So onto Amazon I went and I purchased two of the items from the list: Saw Palmetto berry and Viviscal. I honestly don't know if adding these two will have any affect what so ever, but I figure they can't hurt, right? I'm taking one of my old faithful vitamins and one Viviscal along with 2 Saw Palmetto capsules in the morning, and then I take them again in the evening, only with just 1 saw palmetto. In addition to that I've been doing scalp massages and trying REALLY hard to keep my ends from drying out so my hair doesn't break off. This week I'll be wearing

my hair in a bun, and possibly next week too and I am trying to do over night deep conditioners. Of course as my last post stated, all of this will be completely pointless if I can't keep it up. With that in mind, I really don't want to try and do TOO much and set myself up for some insane routine that I can't possibly hope to maintain. I do want to find something that not only works, but also fits my lifestyle. I mean I already know what works. I've been there, I've done it  before. I reached 18 inches (which still didn't seem long enough) so I know I can do it. But now that I don't work from home any more, I've noticed other things besides my hair are becoming a lot harder to maintain (my weight being one)

So I will post some before and after pics when the 30 days is up... hopefully I remember to take pics tonight. I had wanted to do a video, but I have just been too lazy. Blogging about it is so much easier!

Til next time.

The magic product... I FINALLY found it!

I know I can't be the only one that has searched far and wide, read review after review, watched results vid after vid trying to find the miracle hair product that will transform their hair. Well I am here to tell you that it does NOT exist!

Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of GREAT products out there. But that's just it, there are are a lot of them. More than one hair product or combination of products will potentially work wonders for your hair. Once that product is found, the search can end. I remember when I first learned that there was this whole natural hair community out there and I got caught up in this whole whirl wind of product junkyism trying to figure out which product was THE best. Come to find out there are a lot of them that I like...and sadly most of them I can't afford to purchase on a consistent basis unless they are on sale =(. So this blog post isn't a review or some product promotion it's more of a reality check. Because I know sometimes I STILL need one when I find myself getting caught up in thinking of trying new products.

On my hair journey back in 2010 and 2011 I learned that there are a multitude of things you can put in your hair from conditioners, to pre-poos and different moisturizers. There are tons of techniques and styling methods to be used to preserve length and encourage growth. But it if you don't (or in my case can't) do them on a regular basis then there is no point! As soon as you stop or break dramatically from the routine you hair eventually goes back to the way it was. Think about it. Your hair is kind of like your body. It is a reflection of your lifestyle. You can't expect to be super athletic and lean, turning cartwheels and doing hand stands if you sit on the couch all day eating potato chips. Right? The same way you can't really expect your hair to be healthy and strong if it is always parched dry, never conditioned or taken care of day to day. One deep conditioner is not going to change your hair retention just like one trip to the gym isn't going to shrink your thighs. And even your hair does change, it's more like a crash diet. You may lose a few pounds, but if nothing about your daily habits have changed, don't worry those pounds will be coming  back. And your hair will go right back too.

You have to be CONSISTENT in whatever it is that you do to your hair. And that, my friends is the magic product - consistency! Find a hair care regimen, products and styles that fit you. If you can't afford to always pay $40 a bottle for 8 oz of conditioner or moisturizer, please don't try and make that a staple product. If it takes you 3 hrs to do a style that only lasts for 2 days that might not be a good "go-to" style for you. So get to know your hair. Learn it well. Find your foundation for consistency and then go from there.

Old Dog Needs New Tricks

First I would like to say hey to my new and very first follower! Thank you for taking an interest in little ol' me. I really appreciate the support. Ok, now onto what this is really about...

I started reading this book the other day called "The Science of Black Hair." I saw a review on it on youtube by a youtuber named kimmaytube. So I decided to go purchase it and see what it had to say. So far, it is very informative. It has me even rethinking my own hair care practices

As some people may know I have been natural all of my life. My mother never allowed me to put a perm in my hair no matter how many times I begged her. I am grateful for that to this day, even though back then I hated the fact that all my friends had perms and I didn't. Clearly she knew something that I didn't. My hair has pretty much always been somewhere around bra strap length. Maybe a little longer or shorter depending on how often I got trims, or let my split ends linger. Thinking back now, though, for as long as I can remember my hair has, for the most part, always been pretty damaged at the ends.

While the past couple of years I was partly focused on healthier hair and partly on getting it to be longer, I think that now that I've shown that I can retain longer lengths, it is time for me to really focus solely on the health of my hair. With just the little bit of the book that I have read, I realize that there is definitely room for improvement in my regimen. I haven't decided what exactly I'm going to change yet, but I definitely want to make sure I come up with a process that is maintainable. That basically means it can't take for ever. Back in '09 and '10 I would spend a LOT of time on my hair. I don't really have that luxury anymore though. That could be why my hair has been suffering. I have pretty much mastered the maintenance type of regimen which basically maintains length and doesn't cause my hair to break off faster or slower than it grows. That's about what I have been doing the majority of my life. But I still get plenty of split ends. Not as many as I used to back when I straightened my hair all the time, but they are still there.

So I've decided to do a little mini chop. Nothing too drastic. I mainly want to get rid of the split ends and damaged parts of my hair. This will likely leave me once again right around bra strap length. And to be honest, I don't really care how long my hair is.cause whether it is down to my waist or half way up my back, if it isn't straight, you can't tell the difference. Kinda sucks in a way though because it is almost like all my work for the past two years is about to be for nothing. maybe not totally for nothing though since that hair is still on my head. If I think about it I'll actually be cutting off the last of the 'bad' hair from when I wasn't taking as good of care of my hair. Reminds me of my friend (whose blog you can find here) who just cut off the last of her permed hair. I hope she continues to blog about her experience. I'm sure there is someone out there who can benefit from it. Next week may be the first time she actually has to tame a full head of 100% all natural hair all on her own. WHEW! I can't even imagine doing that for the first time, especially not now. I'mma pray for her.

Well that's about it for now, I think I've rambled on enough. I'll update with a book review once I finish The Science of Black Hair.

A taste of things to come...

I've pretty much neglected this blog and my youtube channel for a long time now, but I'm thinking I might get back into it. I've been natural probably a lot longer than most people (all my life) so if there is something that I've learned that may help someone else out, who am I to be stingy and not share? Today I posted a youtube video asking people for suggestions on what they would like to see and hear about and I have already gotten a comment with some suggestions in the 30 minutes the vid has been posted.

One of the suggestions was to do product reviews. In the past I have stayed away from these for 2 reasons. 1. there are a million reviews out there already. I'm probably not going to say anything anyone else hasn't. 2. Everyone's hair is different and what woks for one person may not work for another. This is why I am more a promoter of the process than the product, which I believe I have said before.

That being said, I am considering doing a couple of product reviews, possibly on my favorite products. I also am considering doing something about getting the most bang for your buck since I have a bit of an issue with how much some of these companies that sell natural hair products like to charge.

At any rate, that's just a preview of what I would like to do. Hopefully some of my youtube subscribers will find their way here and that will be my motivation to continue writing in this blog.

Til next time!

Consistency, gotta get some

Sometimes I feel like I just spend way too much time on my hair. Ok, that's a lie, cause I been really lazy lately. BUT! back when I first started and was really into all the healthy hair care I was spending hours on my hair. Most of the time was spent conditioning it or setting, but either way I was stuck in the house until it was done. I just wish there was a way to do all of the steps that I would like to do on my hair in a fraction of the time so that I could have some more consistency in my regiment.

A few months ago I was on this whole 'do my hair on Wednesday night' kick. That didn't last long and I can honestly say I can't remember the last time I did my hair on a Wednesday. Part of it is because I know if I don't, I can still do it Thursday or Friday. The other part is that I started going to Bible study that night and by the time I get home I don't feel like doing it. I really need to get back on track because I'm so close to my goal and I would hate to not reach it for something stupid. I'm supposed to be deep conditioning every single week. Currently that isn't happening and I really don't have a good reason as to why.

So how do people stay consistent? I think I need some tips and also some motivation. Let's see if I can come up with some on my own. Then maybe if anyone ever reads this I can get some comments with more tips to try.
In terms of consistency I can try to schedule my hair care treatments and style setting time reqired and WRITE IT DOWN. If I know I need to do a 2 hr DC and want to do a roller set then I shouldn't try to squeeze in a hair night on a weeknight that I have other plans. It's just not feasible for one. If I do try to do that I know I'll probably end up short cutting something. Unfortunately the only thing that I can think of to motivate me to do my hair is trying new products. This is a problem because I have decided to use up the stuff I have first before I go off and spend any more money on new or refill products.

Ok, til next time!

It's that time again!

It's been 6 months since the last time I flat ironed my hair, so I'm going to try and do it today or sometime this weekend so I can go get a good trim. I always get kind of excited about flat ironing my hair just because I like the change of style. Then as soon as I get into the bathroom right before I start to flat iron, I look at my hair in the mirror and instantly get tired... whew! It's like I just don't know if I have the strength and endurance to tackle it all.

Maybe if I blog about my process it will seem more manageable. So I start off with washing and deep conditioning my hair. Idk what I'mma use today tho. Either Hair One or Giovanni to wash and then probably Karen's Body Beautiful Hair mask or Jessi Curl for a deep conditioner. Then I'll sit with my hair therapy wrap on for at least an hour.. maybe 3 or 4 depending on what I'm doing.  After rinsing that out I'll put some Aphogee Keratin reconstructer and KBB hair milk in it and tie it up in braids or knots to air dry. I may use the blow dryer on cool depending on how I feel. Once it's dry it's flat iron time.

I use a FHI Heat platform. I got it from Ulta a few years ago. Can't say it's had much use, but I have dropped quite a few times. Still works tho. Before I flat iron my hair i put some Chi Iron Guard and some silk infusion in it to help protect it from heat. Then I get out my Con Air Tension brush and a comb and maybe my paddle brush and get to work.

I'll start with the back and do thin wide sections. Comb or brush each piece out and then brush it with the tension brush a couple of times to be sure I can get it through. Then I'll clamp the tension brush down at the roots and pull it enough to fit the flat iron between my scalp and the brush and pull both down the length of my hair slowly til I get to the end or my arms can't go any further. I'm usually able to get each piece of hair totally straight in one pass so that I don't have use more heat going over it multiple times.

That's about it for the process... Doesn't sound that bad right?

Take your vitamins!

I measured my hair today and I am like 2 inches away from my goal!!! I think that the main reason that I have made it this far is due to taking vitamins. Now my hair isn't as healthy as I would like it to be because the split ends are running rampant, but the length is definitely there. I don't think my hair has ever been this long. It definitely has not been this long since I moved from back east. I used to believe that my hair just couldn't get any longer since it is so dry out here. My hair used to be SUPER dry and at times it still is. It would just constantly split and break off at such an alarming rate that I couldn't get any length. I had pretty much given up on getting my hair any longer for as long as I continued to live out here and figured I'd just have to move someplace more humid to get my hair to start growing and sticking around.

For the past 6 months or so I have been taking vitamins pretty regularly. I have taken them before, back when I first started my hair journey, but never as consistently as I have this time around. I buy them from HSN when they are on sale. They are the Healthy Hair Skin and Nail vitamins by Andrew Lessman. I definitely see that my hair is getting longer but I will say that it took a while. I started keeping track back at the end of 2008 so it's been about 20 months. I haven't taken the vitamins every day over the past 20 months but I probably had a few periods where I would be consistent for a month or two and the fall off and get back on. This is by far my most consistent yet though. Now that I'm actually seeing some results though, it just makes me want to stay consistent.
So needless to say I LOVE these vitamins and what they are doing to help my hair. They aren't  the cheapest, but I think they are worth the money. These vitamins are a powder filled gel cap and VERY easy to swallow, especially compared to the ones they sell at GNC which is one of the other reasons I like them. The GNC ones I had a hard time taking. they were just way too big and hard to swallow. With these, I just take 2 in the morning and that's it. I say this just to let people know about the product, but I have always been more of a promoter of the process as opposed to specific products. So process wise, if you take anything from this would be to TAKE YOUR VITAMINS! Whichever vitamins you decide to take. Whether they be a different brand or prenatal or whatever else works for you. Just take them and be PATIENT and CONSISTENT. You may be surprised in a few months with your results!