Growing Mane

Hello Ladies!

So a few weeks ago I did kinky twists for the first time. I really like them and I'm gonna compare kinky twists to box braids in this post. Keep in mind that I braid my hair myself so some of my pros and cons are more beneficial for someone who braids their own hair.

Kinky Twists

Pros
Cons

Box Braids

Overall

Do you prefer box braids or kinky twists?

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!

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?

I think both pictures above highlight the prime of hair. It was healthy, shiny and barely broke off. At that time I rarely washed my hair myself, if ever, the hair dresser would just do everything. I would get my hair relaxed every 6 weeks and get it washed probably every 2 weeks. Shortly after the second picture was taken, I got my hair braided and had to cut my hair after I took the braids out.




This is what my hair looks like now. I mainly wear twist outs and style the twist out in different ways for the week. Each time I do a twist out it looks a bit different but I find twist outs so easy to maintain during the week.


That's about it for my hair journey so far. Thank you for reading!

Do you have any tips for transitioning from relaxed to texturized/ texlaxed hair? I would love to hear them!

- Sarah

Okay let's start off with my hair history. I decided to have my hair relaxed when at 11 years old and was starting high school. My hair was probably a bit passed shoulder length at that time. For the next four years my hair started to flourish without me really noticing because I wasn't really paying much attention to my hair. I would religiously go to the hairdresser every week and just let her take care of it. I would also relax my hair every 4 weeks (as soon as I saw any trace of new growth). I never really washed my hair myself and at the time I though that was normal lol.

Fast forward to 2008, I decided that over the summer I would braid my hair for the first time when I went to visit my grandmother in England. That was probably the beginning of bad decisions that I have made concerning my hair. I didn't keep the braids in for long, maybe 2 weeks. Then I decided to take it out. I really liked the wavy look so I left it like that for maybe 3 days without combing it out. I went to my grandmother's hairdresser (who I wasn't used to) and she told me that I should have combed my hair out to prevent tangles and then proceeded to comb out my hair with a small tooth comb.

I didn't know any better so I let her continue. By the time she was done there was a lot of hair on the floor and I thought I was just going to cry then and there. After she washed my hair she said she needed to cut it because of all the hair that "came out" it was uneven. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself. That was the moment I decided I would never braid my hair again (lol I ended up braiding my hair again a few years after).

Fast forward to 2011, I was beginning my first year of university and decided that I wanted a change. I decided to dye my hair myself and told myself that there was a high chance that my hair would break a bit. So I decided to go the hairdresser and cut my hair neck length a few weeks after dying it. My hair started to get so dry. I went away for university and the hairdresser in that town was not very close to where I lived so I was forced to attempt to wash and style my hair myself.

Each week I would wash my hair, blow dry it and flat iron it. Because of the dryness of my hair from dying it my hair would just break off in the flat iron while I was straightening it. I went home for the summer (2012) and my hair started to grow back after receiving proper care from the hairdresser I was used to, but my hair was very uneven so I had to cut it again.

Fast forward to 2013, while at a friend's house I noticed them watching "natural hair journey" videos on youtube. I started to watch a few as well and then searched "relaxed hair journey". I was very encouraged by the videos I saw and so, I decided would embark on a relaxed hair journey of my own in June in order to receive the healthy hair I once had.

Sorry for such a long post and thanks for reading!

Do you have a hair history you would like to share?

- Sarah

Hello Everyone,