AfroKinks and the Anti Hair Slave

I won The Anti Hair Slave's giveaway with Afrokinks!

They mailed me a bunch of goodies!

I got:
-Sizta 2 Sizta Amazing Hair Oil
-Sizta 2 Sizta Ultra Lavish Cleansing Phoo
-Sizta 2 Sizta Daily Oil Moisturizer
-Sizta 2 Sizta Moisture Packed Conditioner
-Sizta 2 Sizta Gentle Loc Cleanser
Note: Sizta 2 Sizta is a natural product line, and the oil moisturizer smells delish! No sulfates, no chemicals, which was just in the nick of time because it just so happened that I'm on the search for a new shampoo AND a daily moisturizer.
-Jessicurl Shea Butter Body Mousse in Citrus Lavender.
-Hair Therapy Wrap which is a turban with gel backs in it, that I can heat up, and wrap around my head for up to 30 minutes, and it'll stay heated while I relax in the bath or something.

Great haul! Thanks guys!

Reviews coming soon.

School Days

The humidity is still kicking my butt.

So I've gone back to braidouts, and buns. At least until the end of September, with the exception of Picture Day on the 23rd.

I've worn it straight or curly the first 2 weeks, but it just frizzes up, so I've given up for now.

P.S. I dropped out of bootcamp. Next year.

August Updates

I know, I'm late; sue me.

10 and a half weeks post ..

See what I'm dealing with? I dread wash days; they're the debil.



.. on the other hand ..

I'm sad that my summer's ending in less than 10 days .. because I'm going to miss the braidouts, although I do miss my straight hair.



Summer = Braidouts = <3

LHCF Bootcamp 2008

I signed up for Sessions 3 & 4 of LHCF Bootcamp, ending December .. 12th? I think, somewhere like that.

The rules are:

DC with every shampoo wash.
No trimming; dusting is allowed.
Protective [buns, braids, weaves] or Low-Manipulation [twistouts, braidouts, rollersets] Styles only.
No direct heat; hooded dryers okay.


I was already planning on doing this, with the exception of wearing my hair straight with a rollerwrap, and just not combing it until the next wash day.
This'll help keep me in line.

I get 2 heat passes; my punishment for breaking the rules will be no new products for a month.

Let the games begin!

There's a post below, too.

No Curls + Still Stretching + Cowashing Challenge

I didn't get the spiral curls this week; partly because of fearing a possible setback at the hands of the Dominicans, and partly because I started ordering my school clothes this week and got them shipped to my Dad's house.

I'm still stretching, and it's definitely easier now that I cowash in 2 braids, then just pin back.

The Cowashing Challenge is coming to an end in about 2 weeks, but I'm keeping it up for an extra few days before I get my Dominican Blowout for school.

Coconut Oil + Braidouts + ORS Packs

Due to the shortest layer on the left side of my hair being thinner and shorter from a wrapping mishap last Winter Break, I've quit bunning until further notice. I still get good length retention as long as I keep my ends moisturized, and I've been wearing braidouts everyday. I still cowash everyday, and if I don't happen to leave the house, I don't even undo the braids or take off my scarf.

I'll probably wear buns a COUPLE times a week when school starts back up, and I'll most likely go back to bunning from December 08 through February 08. I've been doing the lo-mani thing, only combing once a week on wash day, because this new growth is still killing me, and I'm also debating about the curls this week, because every little centimeter counts. We'll see.

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On another note, my aunt gave me a jar of pure, organic, unrefined coconut oil, because she had an extra gar. I can't wait to really use it, I've been keeping it in the fridge, and I'm PRAYING that when I pack it up to go back home at the end of the Summer, it won't spill in my bag. :[

I used a bit on one side of my hair today, it has a nice [not great] smell, and seemed to give a good shine. I'll keep you posted.


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It was a turning point today when I used 2 ORS packs on my dry hair, and that was mixed with a TAD of some other cheapie condish and EVOO. :[

My hair DRANK IT UP. I used to stretch using one on wet hair, so if I keep up applying it dry like a relaxer, I suspect I'll run through it.

Stretching + Revamped Regi + My New Love

This stretch is killing me. I'm doing the low-mani thing only combing once a week, and fingercombing when necessary. I might try to go 2 weeks.

It's almost 8 weeks, and I'm trying to go for 12. Sigh.

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My regimen for the summer has made a change. It's gone from cowashing and buns daily to:

Cowash daily or every other day.
DC weekly.
Clarify .. about every 3 weeks.

On August 1st I'm getting my hair done. Spiral curls so I can't see the length. I'm kind of afraid so I might skip the Dominicans and get my cousins friend to do it.

After I wear my hair curly for a week, I'll resume the cowashing challenge, which ends on August 13th.

After the cowashing challenge ends, I'll do gelled weave ponytails with a baggy underneath for the rest of the summer. My summer ends on the 22nd of August, since I'm leaving Philly the 23rd and going back to school on the 25th.

My next progress pics will be August 22nd, when I get my blowout.


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Fantasia IC gel is the best. It holds my thick 4b edges like no other, stands against humidity and sweat, doesn't flake, and has no alcohol.

I'm buying some more before I leave to take back.

The Importance of Silk and Satin Scarves

I recently [as of the past 2 weeks] started rubbing EVOO into my face, and not rinsing or wiping off, and going to sleep at night. I haven't had a new breakout since. But last night, I laid my cheek on my cotton sheets, then about 15 minutes later, got up to turn the AC on. I touched my cheek that was on the sheets, and it was bone-dry, but the rest of my face was still oily.

I thought to myself, if it dries out oily skin like this, in such a short time, imagine what it does to hair!

So, I let it serve as a reminder to tie my hair down, even for the shortest of naps.

My First Braidout <3

So after my usual co-wash, I used a little VO5 Vanilla Mint Tea Conditioner on my damp hair, parted in 6 sections, braided it up, and tied it down.

The next morning I made sure it was dry on top and took off my scarf to let the ends dry some more.

Personally, I think it looked way better in person, especially from the front. But I did get alot of positive feedback.

I took pictures, but don't feel like uploading so .. maybe later!

End of the Summer is Rapidly Approaching ..

I have a personal Better Me by September challenge going on, and I'm trying to see results before school starts.

My main objectives are:

-Smoother, Scar-Free [or close] Legs.

-No More Dark Underarms.

-More even, clearer skin.

-Smooth, Blemish Free back.

-And of course, longer, thicker, stronger nails and hair.

Steps I'm taking to achieve these goals:

Legs:

Gentle exfoliating daily with new shower spongey thing. :] Weekly exfoliation with EVOO and sugar. Lemon juice on scars. Lotioned and oiled immediately following bathing.


Underarms:

Rubbed with lemon juice.

Face:

Regular facials. [OCM, Steam, Honey Mask, EVOO before bed.] Weekly exfoliation. Lots and lots of water.

Back:

Neutrogena Clear Body Wash and a back brush after rinsing conditioner out.

Nails and Hair:

Nails- Rubbing EVOO on them and cuticles nightly. Paint with hardener.

Hair- Continue co-washing and bunning.

Regimen when school starts back up ..

This will be in effect from September through February 2009. Then Spring 2009 and on will be seasons of low-manipulation and less protective styling.

Self-relax hair every 3 months.

For the first 6 weeks of the stretch, I will shampoo, DC, and rollerset then wrap weekly. I may wear the hair down for a day or so, but will wear buns for the rest of the week, moisturizing the ends daily, and putting the hair in 5 pincurls at night.

For the second 6 weeks of the stretch, I will be cowashing daily or every other day, and bunning.

Current Regimen.

For the summer of 2008, I'm co-washing daily, I occasionally skip a day, and bunning.

My conditioners of choice are VO5 and Suave, basically any flavors.

It's the most boring thing ever, but I want some serious growth retention this summer, so I can get back to the fun stuff for school.


I got a dominican blowout when I first got to Philly on June 14th, and I'm getting spiral curls on August 2nd, [I don't want to see the real length yet] and another dom. blowout right before I leave around August 25th, when school starts.

Everytime I step outside anyway, I'm glad my hair is up, cuz it's too hot for all that extra ish.

Words to Remember.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

Hmm ..

I'm thinking of starting a blog. A different one. If not for the public just to keep my thoughts together. Whatever. We'll see.

Co-Washing .. KISS .. Product Reviews

So far I've tried ..

VO5 Kiwi Lime Squeeze
VO5 Champagne Kiss
VO5 Vanilla Mint Tea


Love em all. All. I can't even pick a favorite.

My leave-in of choice is Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-In.

Love it. My regimen has never been so simple. Co-wash with conditioner of choice, cold rinse, apply more of conditioner[small amount] and then leave-in.
Tie down. Wake up. Bun.

I'll probably use a protein conditioner weekly .. and maybe a moisturizing deep conditioner monthly. Who knows?

LHCF + Spring In the Air

Yay ! I paid the $6.50.. so glad I did.

Changing up my spring regimen ..


CVS had a sale .. bought 11 VO5 conditioners ..

So for now .. cowashing daily at night and doing ST's bun ..

Until June ..

Tried the Key Lime Squeeze tonight. Love it. Update next week.

Hardheaded.

So I have to wait til this weekend to wash and dc my hair. I'm going to treat my hair to a nice little pampering session.

Tried a braidout [awful.] Had to be brushed into a ponytail. [Hair increasing in length and thickness!] Looked so bad .. the hair was not sleek .. but whatever.

Trying Keishas baggying method tonight.

I'll probably do a scalp massage Friday night.
DC on Saturday.
Airdry and Flatiron Sunday.

Things We Learn ..

-There is no way in hell I can NOT moisturizing deep condition. Preferably weekly.

-I shouldn't comb my wet hair. Only damp. Or dry.

-Don't wash and flatiron midweekly. It messes up the schedule.

-Do hair every weekend. Period.

Mid-Week Washing ..

I guess I jinxed it with that last post, because that Monday my hair dried out, and got all dirty and yucky under my fingernails when I scratched it.

So today I sent my dad to get:

Motions CPR Conditioner
Paddle Brush
Aphogee Intensive Treatment[not in a bottle, in a little packet, idk ?]
And umm .. I think that's all ?

Whatever.

Anyways, I washed with my Garnier Fructis, conditioned with the Motions, and Quickie-Conditioned with the Garnier Fructis conditioner, but I think I definetely needed a moisturizing deep conditioner. Next time, I'll probably pre-poo with the Motions.

I applied a small amount of Biosilk, Garnier Fructis moisturizer, and Elasta QP Sheen, and mixed in my palm, on dripping wet hair.

Gonna let airdry now. Then blowdry on cool for 5 minutes or so. Then flatiron.

Weekly Update.

So it's officially been 7 days, and I don't know why my scalp isn't itching like crazy, because that usually starts around day 5, but my hairs okay. Not all bouncy, I'll probably wear it out once this week, then updos for the rest. I may try a twistout on Wednesday or Thursday night. Not sure yet, we'll see.

Garnier Fructis Leave-In

Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioning Cream [Sleek and Shine] is my new favorite moisturizer when heat styling. I've been using it daily and it's keep my hair moisturized and soft without weighing it down. I tried it before when airdrying and hated it. I was using Profectiv BreakFree Daily Leavein Strengthener [pink jar] but it starting breaking my ends off. I think it was too much protein for a daily basis. Maybe it can become a leave-in after washing.

Airdrying vs. Heat Styling.

Heat Styling-
Hair is so much softer, more manageable, no breakage, easier to handle, looks cuter.

Airdrying-
Hair is crunchy, dry, and thick at the roots.

Heat Styling is better for me which leads me to my next point .. [new post.]

BasicBrainstorming and Notes to Myself ...

Revised Regimen for February 2008

-Wash every 7 to 12 days. DC.
-Airdry and flatiron.
-Brush back, moisturize, tie up.

Details:

-After approximately 5-7 days, do twistouts, braidouts, or buns for the remaining 3-5 days.

Wash Day:
-Massage scalp with oil.
-Overnight Dry DC
-Wash hair. 5 minute rinse conditioner.
-Apply Biosilk while still soaking wet.
-Airdry hanging straight down.
-More Biosilk. Very little Profectiv.
-Flatiron. [Get at least one weeks wear.]

Twistouts:
-First attempt [moisturize and do about 5-7 flat twists overnight.]

Buns:
Moisturize and use the Vaseline method.

I Need:
-Porosity Control.
-More ORS Replenishing Packs.
-Aphogee 2 Minute Keratin Treatment.
-Motions CPR.

Hair Goals for February 2008-
Work on regimen.
Continue attempting crown and nape care.
See if regimen above's a keeper.

Hair Goals for 2008-
Make APL. [Approx. 1.5 to 2 inches.]
Should be there by June/July.
Full APL by December.
Crown and Nape Challenge.
Learn to cornrow [or at least improve.]
Thicken up hair.

Brainstorming ...

Also, make measuring growth shirt.

-Feb. 11
[blowdried, flatiron, washed, dc'ed]
-Weekend of 16.
[attempt twistout] if that doesn't go good, vaseline challenge for rest of weekend.
-Feb. 17
[wash, dc, airdry, flatiron]
-If can't master twistouts, use weekends to grease ends. Then continue with regimen on Sunday.
If time is short, or hair is not excessively dry or dirty, push back to Wednesday.

Notes: [February 13th, 2008]
Hair tips currently reach the very tip of gray stripe. [About 1.5 inches to go.] <~ til end of stripe [almost APL]
Almost Full APL would be the middle or bottom of next white stripe. [About 2 inches.] <~ til end of stripe. [basically full APL.]
Hair does not respond well to any stretches exceeding 13 weeks.
Profectiv BreakFree[pink jar] may be too much protein to use to moisturize with daily. Consider using as leave-in.
Find protein-less moisturizer. Slow down on it for next 2 weeks, and see.
Low-Manipulation !

Shopping List

-Chi Silk Infusion
-Aphogee Hardcore Protein Treatment
-Protein Conditioner [Motions CPR]
-Silk Scarves.
-More elastics.
-Headbands and Clips.
-Another wide-toothed comb.
-Paddle Brush.

Sorry Bootcamp. Maybe Session 4.

I'm going to testrun this for the month of February, and if I see any adverse effects or no positive ones, then I'll figure something else out because this current "regimen" isn't working. It is for length, but not for health.

Because of constant wrapping for 3 weeks, my left side in the front is pretty broken off. It doesn't look too bad, but when all hair is down you can see a difference.

The bunning doesn't seem to be helping this because the broken side really doesn't reach, if has to be brushed to death, as does the front and nape and the crown is still broken because that's always been a bad spot, yet I continue to put my ponytails right there.

In o6 and o7, my hairdresser at the time had my hair pretty healthy. Could've been better, but, no real complaints. Her main flaw was just that she was extremely scissor happy. I used to get either wet wraps, or blowout and flatiron every other week. I never moisturized EVER except with Biosilk or grease [yikes.] to preserve the swang. I usually only washed on visit days [double yikes.] yet, I still retained length. Granted, not too much because of her scissor happy ways, but length, nevertheless.

While I wouldn't do this today, my hair does well with low-manipulation and heat, so I'm pretty confident that an airdry and flatiron weekly wouldn't do any harm ESPECIALLY paired with prepoo's, DC's and moisturizing my ends daily. I am still skeptical to doing it every week, but my hair must be washed after about 6 days.

I will continue to wear my hair down without wrapping. I have recently adapted and tweaked Sylver 2's method of brushing straight back, tying down, folding scarf under slightly for a bump, and putting a bonnet on. I will be faithful about low-manipulation, probably will stop putting a comb in my bag. And will moisturize ends daily.

As I said, I will continue to wear it down through February, to test it and not to mess with the broken areas and edges that get brushed to death with buns.

Also, I have recently adopted Mook's Nape Grow Out method. She moisturizes the nape, the cornrows it and secures it with a hairpin. I can't cornrow very well, but it won't be seen so I will take down once a week. Wish me luck. I'll try to update weekly. Big post at the end of February.

Rickelle's Bomb Blowout

I'm not suggesting anyone copy my method-- I just need to remember this for future references.

For about 3 or 4 days leading up to the blowout, I greased the ends of my hair. Then, at night, I rewet them, and greased again and continued with the bunning.

On wash day, I massaged with my Dr. Miracles Oil, then washed with a clarifying shampoo. I deep condition with plastic cap for about 3 or 4 hours. [Note: Tub was extremely grimy from grease and oil, took 30 minutes worth of scrubbing.] When I rinsed, ends were like butter. Soft, but not mushy.

Then, while still soaking wet, I applied Biosilk Silk Therapy to hair. And towel dried a bit. Separated into sections and blowdried with soft boar bristle brush. [Note: Didn't have much affect, but it was already midnight and I have school] I didn't really get the roots straight. Applied the smallest drop of Profectiv BreakFree [pink jar] to ends, and more Biosilk. Then separated into the smallest sections and flatironed. I went over hair, then combed with a rattail comb and then usually went over again for a couple of seconds. Brushed straight back, tied scarf on and the next morning voila.

Which shall lead me to my next point [see next post.]

Low-Mani

Okay, so I'm cheating on the Bootcamp Rules ..

I've been wearing my hair down .. but not wrapping it just tying it up and combing in the morning. But I swear, next week .. even lower mani. Buns. Til at least V-Day.

Self-Relaxing.

Wasn't perfect. Made mistakes. Rinsed too early. Left it on for the maximum time but still came out underprocessed. [Maybe should do super instead of normal] Oh well. Next time must work on parting and smoothing more.

Pretty proud of myself. Rollerset then flatironed.

Used only pass for the LHCF Bootcamp 08 Session One ..

Next relaxer [March 31st or after]

Stretching ..

I will never stretch this long again. My hair is a tangled knotty mess. Relaxing tomorrow if not tonight. It's been since November 1st. [almost 13 weeks]