Growing Mane

Merry Christmas! This year my Christmas gift to myself was being able to braid my own hair. I was definitely one of those people who thought people who braided their own hair were crazy, until I tried it for myself. Although I did my braids big, it took a lot of time and patience. It took me three days to do it all. I took lots of breaks of course. Realistically, I could have finished it in one day but I wasn't in any rush. I'm on vacation visiting my grandma and I couldn't get the brand of braiding hair I like and usually use, so I had to buy a different brand which was X-Pression. This brand is very smooth and doesn't hold each plait together at the ends so I had to knot it before I placed the hair in hot water. I usually use the Outre 100% kanekalon hair which is a bit rough, shown below.

Hello Ladies!

With the official start of winter fast approaching, protective styles are must. They ensure that your hair doesn't dry out due to change in climate. They also ensure that you don't get unnecessary breakage, like getting your hair caught in your favourite cotton scarf.

Conveniently, I have recently regained my love for buns. Before last week, I hadn't worn a bun for maybe 7 years (yeah, I know an extremely long time). I think my problem was that, to me, my hair was always too thin to put in a bun. There would always be those awkward spaces and sometimes I couldn't get my hair smooth enough for my liking. But I decided to try bunning my hair again and I love it!

These days I do messy buns. I wash my hair and when it is around 70% percent air dried, I put my hair up in a bun, allowing the ends of my hair to be textured. For me, this eliminates those awkward spaces. I also love to accessorize with headbands. I need to be more careful with my headband choices because the cotton ones that I love always break my hair. Because of this, I often try to wear my satin scarf as a headband (I don't think the material is actually satin, but I'm not sure what it is. A picture of it is below). These types of scarfs look cute, conceal new growth, keep my edges laid, and don't break my hair!

Here are some pictures and in these pictures I am about 2 months post relaxer:

Do you live the bun life? What other protective styles do you use?

Thanks for reading!

- Sarah

Hello Everyone!

This will be a short post on a protective style that I did last week. I decided that I didn't want to use any heat and I didn't want to do a twist out. I experimented with my hair for a bit and finally decided on a style that can be a protective style. A protective style basically hides the ends of your hair or "protects" them from drying out or breaking. Protective styles are perfect for the winter since the temperatures make our hair dry very easily. I did a cane row (braid) down the middle of my head and used a hair tie at the end to keep it from unraveling. To make this a true protective style, you can fold the ends of your hair into the hair tie. I found that this style was very easy to do and lasts effortlessly throughout the day. To add a little something to the look, I decided to wear a head band. Give it a try!

Relaxer Update Pictures

Nature's Bounty Biotin 2500 mcg 

Do you have any vitamins or oils that you incorporate in your hair journey that you find helps your hair to grow quickly? 

visit page

How it looks when taken out of packaging

Inside

Adjustable string

Part that attaches to your blow dryer

Attachment on my blow dryer

Length of the hooded dryer tube (It's about a meter long)

Me with rollers in before I went under the dryer

Hooded dryer attachment on my head (before turning my blow dryer on)

Hooded dryer attachment on my head, after I turned my blow dryer on. It's much bigger that it seems

Pros

• The price 
• A lot of the hot air was not escaping. With traditional dryers, there is a big opening and I find that a lot of the hot air gets wasted
• I can easily carry this with me when travelling
• It is easy to store and does not take up much space

Cons

If you have purchased this before, please let me know your experience with it! 

Hi Everyone!

After washing my hair, I sometimes like it to be straight. When I go to the hair dresser she would usually flat iron it or put some setters (rollers) in my hair and then stick me under the dryer.

Last year, I went on a no heat challenge but at that time I was wearing my hair curly so I didn't really need the heat. Now that I'm wearing my hair straight, I have been exploring different options to straightening my hair with no heat or with minimal heat.

I decided to simply wash my hair put some rollers in and air dry it. I'll show you what I did through pictures. If you have any questions please leave a comment!

Step 1:

Wash and condition my hair with the Cantu Shea Butter Shampoo and Cantu Shea Butter Rinse Out Conditioner. When I'm done washing my hair, I add the following things to it:

• Cantu Shea Butter Leave in Repair Cream
• ORS Incredibly Rich Olive Moisturizing Hair Lotion
• Coconut Oil 

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Do you have any special techniques for getting your hair straight without heat?

Thanks for reading!

- Sarah

Hi Everyone!

I finally got my hair relaxed on August 8, 2013 after a three and a half month stretch. I have to say that I am very happy with the results. I don't do official length checks with length check t-shirts but I can tell that my hair has grown and it is healthier than before.

I used the new Creme of Nature Straight from Eden relaxer system for the second time and once more I liked the results. It left my hair feeling soft and silky. I went to the hairdresser to get my relaxer done rather than doing it myself because I think I would mess it up.

Here are some pictures of my hair, to see previous pictures of my hair you can check out my "Hair Journey So Far" post.

BEFORE

AFTER

Thank you for reading this mini hair update! If you have any questions, comments or tips please don't be shy to post a comment!

Hello Everyone!

Here are 10 things that I found have helped me a lot on my hair journey so far (most recent picture below).

1. Vitamins

I usually take 1000 mcg of Biotin, as well as, One a Day Multivitamins for women. I found that these have helped my hair to grow stronger and healthier. They also help with overall wellness! Biotin is said to have lots of benefits, with one being promoting faster hair growth. These can be found in your local drugstore.

2. Fruits and Vegetables

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables have made a great impact on my hair journey. For the past two months, I have noticed that my hair has been growing faster than normal and the only thing that has changed is incorporating lots of fruits and veggies in my diet. Try it, it really works!

3. Going heatless

Going heatless has changed how my hair feels. My hair no longer feels dry and brittle. I used to be very bad and would flat iron my hair every morning before leaving for class ( DO NOT do this!). My hair would just feel very stiff and lifeless, plus it took a lot of time out of my mornings.

4. Moisture, Moisture, Moisture!

I know many people moisturize and seal every night before bed, but I find this is too much for my hair. It would simply weigh it down and make it very oily. Instead, I would moisturize and seal directly after washing my hair, and then again during the week whenever my hair started to feel dry.

Deep conditioning is also something I incorporate in my regime in order to put added moisture in my hair. This makes my hair feel very soft and makes it a lot easier to comb through.

5. Detangle

I have a love-hate relationship with detangling. It takes a ridiculously long time to do buuut it is so amazing in getting rid of knots before washing my hair. It is definitely worth the time but I usually have to mentally prepare myself before doing it. I usually finger detangle and that is probably why it takes so long for me.

6. The Inversion Method

7. Twist Outs

8. Patience

Last but not least, patience! Taking care of your hair takes time. Sometimes I feel tempted to just flat iron it, skip deep conditioning it or stop stretching my relaxers, but I have to just take a step back and keep my eyes on the healthy hair prize! If you are ever feeling discouraged you should do that too! Just take a deep breath and continue taking great care of your hair, because it is worth it!


Thank you for reading!
- Sarah

Do you have any tips to share that help your hair to flourish? I would love to hear them!

Hello Everyone!

I'll be sharing a bit about my hair regimen in this post. I'll list all of the products I use and try to post pictures of everything.

Here are all the activities I incorporate in my regimen:

- Deep condition- once a week before my wash
- Wash- once a week
- Inversion- once a month for 7 days straight (the inversion method is basically hanging your head upside down allowing oxygen /blood to flow to your head)
- Twist out- once a week
- Moisturize and seal- once a week and when needed
- Multivitamins and biotin- everyday
- Treatment- once or twice a month
- Texturize- every 3 months

Deep Conditioner

Conditioner 

Leave-In Conditioner

Oils

Moisturizer

Treatment

Texturizer

Other

That's more or less all the products I use! Thanks for reading!

- Sarah

Are there any products you recommend I use on my hair journey?