New Years Resolutions

[pics tomorrow I promise]

-APL 08 ..
-Crown && Nape Challenge
-Weekly Scalp Massages
-Get a solid regimen down
-Relax no more than 5 times.
-Perfect my rollerset.

[LHCF BOOTCAMP O8 !]

[ALSO UN-RELATED BUT JUST SO I CAN REMEMBER]

Beauty/Fashion:

-Clearer skin
-Buy at least 10 pairs of shoes
-Ween yourself off sneakers so much
-Buy more quality bags
-Love me

ETA:

Update ! [Finally] January 1st, 2008 .. after blowout, flatiron and trim [around 8 weeks post]

Vent ..

Ugh. Long story short. My old hairdresser complained for days about my ends .. refused to NOT trim them .. told me I MUST get a relaxer .. blah.blah.blah.

She irks me. My mom just sat there agreeing.

I can't stand these people. I'll show them. Got an awful trim on Monday. Lost 2 inches.

On another note .. I'm almost definitely doing the LHCF Bootcamp 08 .. I'm gonna start off with one session .. then add more as I succeed .. And I might relax in January .. then relax at the end of every session.

Birthday

I'ma take a picture of my hair tomorrow with my mommy's camera. I got it done for my birthday [December 18th] and its twisties on one side with the rest curled ..

Tamesha's mom [Miss Deb] did it for me .. I'm about to break it down:

Washed - Tangled and lathered and put it all on top of my head
Conditioned- Let it sit for about 30 seconds.
Detangled- Medium spaced comb root to tip
Rollerset- Not too tight .. not loose.

I like it .. but still ..

Pics coming tomorrow.

Humidity ..

Here in N.C. it was like .. 81 degrees today .. so I slept in them damn rollers for nothing because the stupid fog messed me up. But whatever.

I'm starting an official, 365-Day .. Crown and Nape Challenge. Starting today: December 11th, 2007. I'm gonna get a picture of my nape probably in a week when I go to Philly.

And I'm still working on my new years resolutions.

After January, [actually December 31st, when I get my first Dominican Blowout] I'll start my official 1 year low-heat, lo-mani challenge. It'll start, January 1st, 2008 and end December 31st, 2008. I can't take any pictures for like .. 2 weeks, when I go to Philly so I can use my mom's camera.

But [so far] my hair goals for 2008 are [up for debate]

-APL by June ..[about 2.5-3 inches]
-BSL by December .. [about 1.5-2 inches]
-Thicken up nape and crown drastically .. [my layers make my hair look kinda short I think .. and it would help if I could grow the nape out]
-Weekly Scalp Massages
-Get a solid regimen down
-Relax NO MORE than 5 times .. [3 or 4 would be ideal]
-Try to stay away from extensions ..
-Lower Direct Heat Usage [2x a month max] once a month would be ideal ..
-Perfect My Rollerset [must get MacherieAmour's DVD]
-Lower manipulation ..


ETA:
Actually, I think I'll start it either on January 1st ..

Stretching

Wow ! I'm only 4 weeks post or 5 at the most .. and I'm getting more breakage .. but my last relaxer was slightly underprocessed .. so I'm thinking I'll relax in the beginning of January. But umm .. yeah .. I haven't deep conditioned in like a week and a half .. and tonight .. I'm airdrying my rollerset[as we speak] so I'll wake up at like, 5 tomorrow, and sit under the dryer for 40 minutes .. it's going to be so uncomfortable .

Mane&Chic

Is my favorite blog .. It's been so since July .. www.southerntease.net

I think I'll take a page out of her book, with the apple cider vinegar cocktails .. I'll drink 2 a day, until December 31st, and see how that works out for me. But I'll have to keep a log.

Tonight- One cup of ACV and water ;; 2 bottles of water..

Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. I'll try to drink one in the morning, one at night, and water in between. It supposedly betters your skin and hair, and I could use help in both departments.

ETA: THAT DIDN'T LAST LONG AT ALL .. I'M SICK .. AND THE TASTE MAKES MY THROAT FEEL NASTIER ..

Wrapping ..

Has caused 3 stress breakage areas: A barely one-inch section in the crown .. the nape .. and the left side bangs .. All either breaking .. or thinning.

No More Wrapping ! [Well, I'm curving it .. not everyday ..]

When I get my fresh wrap I will .. but other than that .. I just brush the hair straight back. But the ends in one large pincurl, and tie it up ..

I'll see how that affects anything by the end of December.

Regimen [?]

So today, it occured to me, that I don't even have a regimen! So I guess I'll try this until the end of the year and see how that works out for me.

Once a Week:
Prepoo- Dr. Miracles Stimulating Grow Oil and Conditioner of choice
Shampoo- Shampoo of choice [usually Garnier Fructis]
Deep Condition 30 minutes with heat- ORS Replenishing Pack
Rollerset and wrap for rest of week.

I will be using direct heat occasionally, for instance, around the 15th .. the weekend before my birthday .. around the 23rd the weekend before Christmas and around the 2nd of January .. right before I go back to school so I can show them what a Philly wrap looks like.

I'm considering not participating in the HYH challenge next year .. I guess we'll see.

Because someone on the forum [I think it was HoneyDew] said that we should get used to taking care of our own hair instead of adding extensions and this is a problem for me.

So, like I said, I guess we'll see.

Frizz ..

Ugghhhh this morning .. when I went to leave for school, it was INCREDIBLY foggy .. but when my old hairdresser used to do my wraps, it wouldn't really be affected by humidity. Well, this was soooo not the case. The whole left side puffed up and I had to flatiron when I got home. I will def. have a scarf tomorrow.

Rollerwrapsz <333

Okay, so because I'm a freak .. I washed my hair .. [rollerset and all] and redid .. sat under that uncomfortable ass dryed .. actually, kneeled on the bathroom floor because that was the only available reset plug [dad .. :/] and umm .. took the rollers out too soon .. so cowashed .. and all that jazz .. and reset again .. but sat there for about 1h40min .. and took down .. wrapped .. and am about to take the wrap down so Be right back.

ETA: So luscious .. so bouncy .. so full .. I love how it feathers on its own .. Definitely going to be a weekly thing for me.

I Love Rollersetting

I'll post pics as soon as I can .. my brothers not here so I can't use his sidekick.

But um, last night I ended up blowdrying.

Today, I cowashed with VO5 Strawberries and Cream ..squeezed some of the excess water out .. then put in a little Profectiv BreakFree [pink cream] Leave-In Strengthener .. and a dab of Biosilk Silk Therapy .. rollerset .. MacherieAmour style [as of her written tutorial] and dried .. for about an 1.30mins .. took down, finger combed, brushed the bangs straight .. then pincurled for the night.

I loved how soft, shiny and bouncy it was .. and the way the bangs looked, I'll probably wrap it later in the week.

But for now its a low-manipulation, protective [tight curls don't reach my shoulder yet] style ..

Love it though. Definitely will be a weekly thing.

Post pics soon.

Update ..

DeepConditiong with an ORS pack as we speak .. I might try my hand at roller-setting again. Last time I didn't finish, and before that I didn't let it fully dry.

I did 3 sets of pincurls myself, they get better every time ! I just don't know how to do them without having to run a warm flatiron over before rolling and pinning.

Well, I'm about to go rinse this out. I'll post back later if not tomorrow with the results of my rollerset.

Wearing My Hair Out ..

2 days .. and already got in a fight at school over it. Not to mention, girls running their fingers along my scalp checking for tracks ?! I don't think its long .. [not even APL ..] but even so .. its not an unbelievable length ?

Girls grabbing the ends, combing it, playing in it all in addition to it rubbing against my clothes, has already .. made a noticable difference to my ends .. :[

Its in a bun for now, but yesterday I washed, wetwrapped[didnt let it COMPLETELY DRY] flatironed, and saranwrapped .. it just wasn't looking fantastic.

I don't wanna put anymore heat on it until I have to [next Monday when I go back to school] but .. I kinda have a date with someone .. Saturday :[

So .. choices ..

And oh yeah, I got some magnetic rollers .. BUT NO CLIPS ! [to hold them in place]

Boo .. :[

Not sure what I'm doing yet ..

Update ! November 07 ..

Comparison Pics .. they kinda suck though :/ Itsz like .. March, April Mayish .. vs. November

But umm .. anyways, I used ORS Olive Oil Normal Relaxer No-Lye ..
And Crystal rollerset, then flatironed, saran wrapped, and then sat me back up under the dryer. It turned out very nice, although, she did overlap [It didn't kill me I guess since my last perm was underprocesssed anyway] so I think the next time I relax it'll probably be in March and I might try my hand at self-relaxing.

Oh yeah, she gave me her dryer .. it's not a sit down one, you have to set it on something but I love it ! Now I have to learn how to rollerset ...

Personal Challenge 08 [BOOTCAMP]

Hardly. It'll probably be something like this ..

November[Beg.]-Relax, silk wrap .. wear down for a week or so ..
Next Week - .. wear down or in a ponytail
Nov[Mid]-Bunning
Thanksgiving-Probably .. down

December- Heat only on Birthday, and Christmas ..

08 -

TO B3 CONTINU3D ..

HideYourHairChallenge [failed ..]

So the hair show was basically cancelled .. and the mohawk is gone .. So Friday, Crys is gonna come over and relax, then silk wrap [rollerset,flatiron] and hopefully it'll have more volume than a regular wrap ..

But unfortunately, I have failed the HYH Challenge if I do this .. and where my hair down.

Luckily, I haven't been scratching[much] and been spraying my hair with conditioner and water to get rid of the itchies .. it only itches in the front so .. shouldn't really burn too much.

I'm excited to do a length check though.

6 month challenges are not my thing ..

I think next year I'll do a series of 3-month challenges ..

Hoorah ..

Finally got some braids ..

My cousin did some waist-length box braids for me .. a little thicker than a pencil.
She want's me to be her model for a hair-show November 7th, and shes wants to do a 27 piece .. multi-colored mohawk.
I'll let her of course, but, it'll be awfully early to take out my braids. She did them kind of loose though so in about 3 weeks I'll probably be ready to take them out.

Got some Hollywood Beauty Olive Oil Cream Moisturizer- worked pretty decent. Still want a better moisturizer though.

Well, that's pretty much all I wanted to say ..

Sunsilk

Hydra TLC 24/7 Creme Moisturizer is the worst ! It left my hair soft when wet .. but once its dried its been hard and crunchy. I wish I would've seen the poor reviews on LHCF before buying it. It sucks ! And I ran out of Profectiv and can't find it anywhere down here ..

on the search for a new moderately priced moisturizer.

Breakage ..

UGHHH ! I have got to stop manipulating my hair ! I'm about to do this one last cowash .. then bun it .. and leave it alone ! Until .. Friday, then I'll shampoo, dc and get it braided up.

Because the breakage is just too much and I know it's because I keep freakin messin with it everyday ..

Suave Tropical Coconut

Love the smell. But my hair doesn't seem to like it.

:[

It's feels, stripped and dry ..

About to DC with Lustrasilk Shea Butter Plus.

SmoothNShine

.. Polishing Repair Xtreme .. Leave-In Treatment

SUCKSZ ! I hate it it made my hair break off .. HATE IT. Will never use again.

Did a much needed clarifying shampoo ..

DeepConditioning with UMM .. [whats it called] ORS Replenishing Pack ..

I want to do an egg&&mayo treatment ..

So I might do that tomorrow or something .. then cowash ..

PJ .. [ i have a problem]

I know people who are ten times worse .. but still ..

So I needed a clarifying shampoo .. so I ask my dad to take me to the store .. and said I'd pay for it myself ..

And end up making him pay for:
More ORS Replenishing Packs
Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo
Family Size Suave Tropical Coconut Condition
SleekandSmooth[vial] of .. idk what it is .. sounds like a light protein leave-in
10 pack of plastic caps
White Rain Island Citrus[something like that] conditioner ..

And that's ONLY because they had a sucky selection of conditioners ..


So earlier I clarified .. and now I'm sitting here with VO5 Strawberries and Cream Conditioner on my head with a plastic bag ..

&& I'll edit .. later .. to see if the clarifiying worked because lately my conditioners haven't been taking and my hair felt dry and brittle so I figured that was the problem. [hopefully]

LustraSilk Cholesterol ++ Airdry ++ Bootcamp

Lustrasilk-

Not gonna post a formal review until I clarify ..

Scarf Method-

Last night after rinsing out my deep conditioner, I combed into a loose ponytail, gently and briefly brushed my edges, moisturized, and tied a headband around my edges and a silkscarf around my hair [because even if my scarf slid off I wanted my edges to be okay] and today .. with no gel, barely any combing and brushing .. my ponytail looks better than it did with a tub full of gel and a hard brush. Love it. Definitely a Keeper.

Bootcamp-

Next year, I'm thinking about stocking up on weave ponytails, and stuff .. And doing the LHCF Bootcamp.

Maybe .. Ponytails for January and February ..
Braids for March, April and May
Fun Styles in June ..
Back in Braids for July and August ..
Fun Styles in September for School ..
Ponytails again in October ..
November - braids
and December before the reveal .. maybe a sew-in.

ETA:
Actually ..
January-[since I'll relax in December 07]WeavePonytails and Bunning
February- BoxBraids
March- BoxBraids
April- Sew-In [?]
May- Relaxer .. fun styles
June- Bunning and weave ponytails
July- Box Braids
August- Box Braids
September- Relaxer .. fun styles
October- Weave Ponytails and bunning
November- Box Braids
December- Cornrows or something before the reveal ..

Co-Washing .. and VO5 Strawberries and Cream

So far .. I've done this twice .. and I like the whole idea of cowashing .. and I like the conditioners feel and smell .. but afterwards .. I'm back to wear I was .. dry .. and I need a new moisturizer badly .. because hair feels kinda hard right now ..

So, I'm gonna experiment with different conditioners .. and then just shampoo wash and DC on the weekends I guess..

But I didn't get all the conditioner of out my new growth ..
So I'm gonna shampoo tonight .. and DC with the umm .. LustraSilk Cholesterol Plus .. and post a review on that tomorrow.

Product Reviews

Sunsilk Hydra TLC Shampoo-

Very drying. Very stripping. Didn't smell all that great. And lathered alot !
Scale- 4.

Sunsilk Hydra TLC Conditioner-

Put a bit of the moisture back in my hair. But not like the Garnier Fructis does. Smelled decent. But not that much slip.
Scale- 5.5

Sunsilk Hydra TLC Leave-in-

Pretty decent. Smelled okay. Pretty moisturizing.
Scale- 6.5

ORS Replenishing Pack-
I left it in with a plastic bag over my head [no heat] for about an hour.
GREAT SLIP. [smelled yucky .. like oranges] Very moisturizing. Love it. Will be considered a staple.
Scale-9.5



So .. I'm not too crazy for Sunsilk .. might use it every now and then .. will probably dilute it though .. [the shampoo]

Garnier Fructis was better.

Taking It Out [so soon ?]

Yes, I took it out yesterday ..

The curls were getting so matted that I had brought a spray bottle to school with water just so I could keep it wet so it wouldn't get dry and get all bushy and crazy.

So I learned my lesson last time and combed out all the shed hair before washing with:

[NEWBIES]
Sunsilk Hydra TLC Hairapy Shampoo
ORS Replenishing Pack Deep Conditioner
Sunsilk Hydra TLC Leave-In

[Will post product reviews in a separate post]

And then I [yikes] blowdried and [double yikes] flatiron ..

Brushed and Gelled [I KNOW] into a ponytail ..

and didn't like it.

So I washed it out this morning ..

conditioned with Sunsilk Hydra TLC Hairapy Conditioner ..

put in VERY LITTLE Leave-In .. and Straightening Cream .. wetwrapped .. tied down .. put a bonnet over it.

My wet wraps always turn out like crap .. but .. I didn't want to blowdry it.

I broke about .. 4 or 5 Hair Laws .. but at least [in my defense] I haven't used heat [before yesterday] since like, July.

And I will continue to stay away until December.

But .. I was EXTREMELY tempted to attempt at self-relaxing yesterday.

New Sew-In

Gosh .. I told my dad to get WetandWavy 12in. #2 .. and he comes back with DeepWave 14inch .. but got the right color .. its not his fault he just asks the people and they give it to him .. [they dont listen !]

But um .. Crystal did it .. so it can be put up .. or worn down .. without being able to see tracksz [I LOVE IT]

Its like .. waves/ringlets .. and the hair is really good too .. no shedding because my last one shed like crazy !

I'm thinking I may get one more sew-in .. if I pick out the hair .. MAYBE .. then box braidsz .. I dont know ..

Takin It Out ..

So I took my weave out earlier today ..

I got about an inch .. of new growth ..

And .. My dumb self didn't comb out the shed hair .. so when I washed it .. it got tangled with the new growth and it took me about 15 minutes to detangle :[

and it normally only takes about 1 minute ..

but umm .. my cousins bout to put my other one in tomorrow ..

but umm .. [I am so distracted]

yeah I can tell I will probably be able to make it to APL by at the very most Jan.08 with no more setbacksz ..

so I'm excited .

I'll post tomorrow when shes done.

Sew-Ins

So my cousin came over here yesterday to put in my sew-in for me. Unfortunately, I let my dad pick out the hair because I couldn't come I just described it. Its just yaki, not silky, so she deep-pressed its more silky. My stupid ASS cut it last night, in the front, like, on one side just a chinlength bang, but the whole cut section is wide. Luckily, I've figured out how to hide it. Yesterday I liked it but today I loved it! Its all wavy at the ends because I slept with it in a bun. Tomorrow for school I'm probably going to wear it down with the ends bumped. Or something. I didn't know she was going to leave some hair out but even though I got #4, it still blends nicely in the front with my #2 hair. It looks like I just have brown highlights. And I have enough hair left over to add in for a weave ponytail. But anyways, when she takes it out for me, I'm probably going to do a wetandwavy one. Not sure how, but I might do it so I can have a ponytail. But I'm not sure. I would take pictures .. but I'm having camera issues. My othercousin will probably bring hers to school tomorrow though.

I'm finally figuring out my hair ..

I'm about .. 2 weeks into this Healthy Hair Challenge ..

&& thanks to the water pumping moisture back into my strands, they're thicker.

[YAY]

I washed my hair today. I pre-pooed with Dr. Miracles Medicated Damage Conditioner .. or something like that. And I rinsed it out .. then shampooed with Dr. Miracles Moisturizing Shampoo .. then [I dont like the Dr. Miracles smell] washed with the Garnier Fructis [but by then I had gotten out the shower and washed into the sink .. I gotta stop doing that ..] and then went to the mirror and separated into 4 sections and conditioned .. waited about 10 minutes .. then rinsed. Airdryed into ponytail. But the front was kinda hard. So I put some Profectiv BreakFree on it, brushed through. And some more HealthyEnds on the end. And now its all nice and soft. New growth and all.

But I've realized .. less is more for me.

When I only used the 2 products the hairdresser gave me when I lived in Philly, it grew. So now that I've discovered a few products I really like, I'll stick with them. Because the prepooing actually made it worse.

But hey, [I have no split ends] Some of them are just going in different dirrections from the way I do my buns.

I just need to take extra good care of my ends [because whenever I have braids people tell me how fast my new growth came in] and KEEP MY HANDS OUT OF MY HAIR. No combing. Until wash day.

Macherieamour says to break your goals down one-by-one. So right now, my current healthy hair goal is healthy ends and no breakage. [My length goal is gaining on APL by Dec.07]

[new staple]

Garnier Fructis - OMGOSH I LOVE IT ..

I bought it, because it was on sale, for like $2.88 .. I got the Fortifying Shampoo and the Conditioner for Colored or Permed Hair .. [they didn't have the deep conditioner :[ ] WOW. I shampooed, conditioned for about 10 minutes .. and airdried into a ponytail .. My hair was silky, smooth, soft, moisturized. I LOVE IT.

Seriously. It smells sooooo good. :]

GET SOME !

Still In BootCamp .. && HYH Challenge [++Twistout]

I'm still in Rickelle's Bootcamp until the end of August ..

Then I'm gonna have my cousin [shes a hairdresser && she doesnt charge me that much] put a sew-in for me.

I'm gonna be in the Hide Your Hair Challenge until December 18th [my birthday] then I'll get a touchup and a wrap, and it'll be the first time anyone at my new school sees my hair. Besides my brother and other cousin.

So here's the schedule:

End of August- Sew in Straight [most likely]
End of Sept/Beg of October - Sew in Curly [most likely]
Beg/Mid November- Individual Box Braids
Beg/Mid December - [if the box braids cant make it] cornrows for a week or so until I get my touchup.

My hair THRIVES in braids .. thats how I got from basically chin length [may] to shoulder length [mid july]

Anywho ..

the other day .. [yesterday] I did a cowash with Pantene .. [too much olive oil I put in there] and then put some Profectiv Break Free Strengthener in my hair .. and did a twist out. I did it kind of sloppy and didnt get close enough to the roots [I have some new growth yay] so it was kinda krinkly so I just brushed it into a ponytail .. and put some Dr. Miracles Oil in [my hair loves his oil] .. which I'm running out of .. && I don't have any money right now to feed my product junkie habit :[ so I'll have to use it sparingly ..

Well, I'm out !

LHCF BootCamp ..

I'm only doing [my version] until .. August 26, because school starts the 27th.

Protective styles only.
Daily scalp massages.
NO HEAT AT ALL.
Co-washing 2-3 times a week. [mon,wed,fri]
Weekly deep conditioning.[saturday]
Trying new protective styles so I can see what I like before school.
5 bottles of water daily.

And um .. what else.

Ohyeah, little to none manipulation.

And daily moisturizing.

Lets hope it goes well!

EVOO .. ACV

So I know I was supposed to wait until Friday .. but I had nothing to do I couldn't help it ..

So I did my hair right, and here's what I did :

Prepoo- Extra virgin olive oil

Washed- Dr.Miracles Moisturizing and Conditioning Shampoo
2nd-Softsheen Carsons Optimum Oil Therapy [SCOOT]

Conditioned-SC OOT Conditioner [but I heated it and added some extra virgin olive oil] I waited about 15 minutes then rinsed.

Then I poured some Apple Cidar Vinegar through my hair .. waited about 5 minutes and rinsed again.

Put some Profectiv Daily Strengthener in .. and blowdryed [low setting]

Then added some more Profectiv . and some Biosilk Silk Therapy .. flatiron then wrapped.

All in all, the texture of my hair didn't feel or look that different. It was still kinda dry. Perhaps next time I'll skip the ACV .. because it didn't seem to affect it. I'll skip the prepoo too.

It didn't make a difference at all ..

Next Day Edit-
Okay, so I could fingercomb my hair .. and it was pretty soft. But still lacked moisture. Then again, my hair ALWAYS is dry .. Still on the lookout for supermoisturizers with no buildup.

August 07 .. the beginning of my hair journey ..

I'm starting a new hair care regimen.

My Goals-
Healthy, stronger hair by Dec.07
3'' past shoulder length by Dec.07
APL by August 07

Current Length is just hitting shoulders. A little breakage coming on, due to a crappy hairdresser in North Carolina [just moved here] who overproccessed my hair .. and underprocessed my new growth. Working on it, before it gets worse.

Went to the hairdresser yesterday. I didnt like the way she did my flat wrap before, so I wanted to see if her doobie was any better .. It was cute .. but I could've done that .. It was [again] entirely too greasy ! IF I decide to go back .. I'll have to tell her to lay off the grease and oil sheen .. and if I go back .. I'll either tell her to use a flatiron on my wrap [ceramic] .. or blowout and pull out [ceramic] and if she can't do that then I'm gone.

I already brushed my hair back into a ponytail .. I'll wash it and do it myself on Friday. So I guess that'll be my next update !

STARTING POINT .. NOT RECENT .. BUT THIS IS THE GENERAL IDEA