This poor neglected blog....

Man! I haven't did a hair update in like forever! I a relaxed on June 15 and I'm 6 weeks away from the next one.

My hair is a little fragile right now for some reason, but I'm enjoying the growth. I wore it down for 2 weeks but up it goes into my protective ponytail tomorrow. lol

I'm doing a protein treatment and a moisture conditioner. I'm actually looking forward to the break. I can just get up and go.

I think my hair vitamins and JBC are working. I'm still on track for mid back by December.

Relaxer Update- Spring

Oops... I forgot to post my last relaxer which was April 12 or 19, 2012 i think. I have to check my pics on my phone which I misplaced today *sigh*  I may be 4 or 5 weeks post with 3 or 4 weeks until my next relaxer.

The Hunger Games - Capitol Colours Collection

I still haven't seen The Hunger Games and it seems to me the fever surrounding the film is dying down, but I'm STILL obsessed with getting The Capitol Colours Collection by China Glaze. Although I'm late to the party I wanted to acknowledge this collection. I didn't want to jack All Lacquered Up's whole post so please check it out here to see each color swatched.  The colors are awesome! Chloe's Nails did and awesome artistic interpretation with Electrify  check it out here

My favorites are: Fast Track, Argo, and Electrify

Nail Polish Alert and things I think are pretty

Sometimes I'm late to the game when it comes to current beauty products, but once they're on my radar I can't get them out of my head until I get it.

My latest lusty is the blue by Essie called Mesmerize. Such an appropriate name! It's about 3 years old but it's new to me and once I'm rocking it it will be new to All. LOL! This color is SO Hawt! I can't wait to get a pedicure done with this color. I usually only like frosty shades but I'm loving the flats lately too.

Beyonce looked haute rocking it too!

Product review: Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment

I try to do this treatment one week after my relaxer to bring strength back to my hair and to coat my hair with protein to prevent and protect from breakage.

 The Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment is a serious deep protein treatment. If you don't know what you're doing then it should only be done by a professional.

It instantly stops shedding and strengthens hair. I notice the difference immediately.This is the ONLY deep protein I use.

It's a two step process. First you apply the protein treatment all over your head and then sit under a warm  dryer to allow the treatment to harden usually about 30 minutes.

During this process DO NOT manipulate hair. This can/will cause breakage because the hair gets hard and brittle.

The second step is the MOST important. Use the deep moisturizing conditioner that comes with it to bring your hair back to life. I sit under the dryer for 30 minutes to allow the moisturizer to set.

Because I like/want my hair silky and extra moisturized after this process I added a third step. I use Silk Elements Mega Moisturizer under the dryer for another 30 minutes. When done style as usual.

I tweeted that every time I do one I can't help but think of the two step song and...well...two step LOL!

Relaxer Day! 1-16-12 Let's Be honest!

Well... I finally relaxed my hair! Remember my new goal is to relax at 8 weeks. It grew a lot and 10 weeks is seemingly just TOO LONG! :(

My last relaxer was not great so I had course sections all over my head but mainly on the left side of my head.

I let it get to coarse and the two different textures tangled and I lost a LOT of hair :(
so its thinner, longer but thinner. I scratched my scalp a lot before so there were scalp issues. I did not have my Seabreeze so I have some scabbing but it's nothing I can't handle. By the way, slightly diluted Seabreeze is a great antiseptic to pour on your scalp after a burny relaxer. I'm not gonna lie  IT BURNS SO BADLY and you should have a cool fan ready to fan your scalp BUT it prevents scabbing in your scalp.

I used the same relaxer as in previous posts. I won't be jumping around to different relaxers this one does me just fine. I did a good job of relaxing this time. It is really straight! :)

Although my hair is thin for some odd reason I am extremely happy to have my length almost back to where I need it to be.  My hair length being tied to my self esteem is just... But I feel prettier with long hair.

I may not reach mid back by June, because some trimming will need to happen but I will be content with full thick bra strap length.  Dec 1 will be my new MBL goal.

I plan to regain my thickness by relaxing on time, taking my hair vitamins, sleeping on a silk/satin pillow case, tying my hair up and using castor oil. Let's hope I stay on course and begin to "treat my hair like silk" again.

It's relaxer time...and I don't want to do it.

WHY IS THIS WOMAN'S PICTURE ON THE INTERNET?

I need a relaxer so bad right now. Like today!! But I'm not in the mood to do my hair AT ALL.
Send good vibes and strength my way! I mean... Christmas is Sunday!! I can't be looking ratchet!!

Relaxer Day! 11-6-11

This post has been in the queue forever oops!

I relaxed today at 9.5 weeks! I used my usual Soft and Beautiful  relaxer (regular strength) I used creamy Vaseline around my hairline for protection and it helped a lot! I tend to get relaxer all over my neck and ears.

I used the Motions conditioner to cover my previous relaxed hair to prevent over processing. That conditioner is super thick!

I started the relaxer and applied it to my new growth and smoothed it in the allotted 20 minute time frame using the stop watch timer on my phone.

It took me 5 neutralizer washes to rinse out all the relaxer. The shampoo kept being pink. It was weird. After my final rinse I applied my VO5 moisturizing for about 5 minutes because my poor hair felt stripped.

I then used semi permanent color Beautiful Browns in midnight black under the dryer for 45min. It seemed as if the formula for this has changed too. It was really inky black. Me no likey. I think I'll use dark brown next time.

After the color, I conditioned with my Silk Elements Mega Moisture conditioner under the dryer for 30 min. rinsed and t-towel dried and applied my Infusium leave in. I air dried, detangled and protective styled with twists.

So that's it 3 weeks late. 5 weeks until touch-up time.

Product Review No. 8 and....

Motions Moisture Plus Conditioner

Avocado oil and honey infuse each strand with ultra-moisturizing conditioners to detangle, hydrate and add silky shine.Silk protein helps fortify. Panthenol, silicone and glycerin saturate the cuticle to help repair and renew.

I told you all in an earlier post that I was taking it back old school. By that I mean I’m using all the old products that helped my hair grow long in the first place. From 2003 through  summer 2008 I had the best hair of my life lengthwise. It was long, healthy and thick. Life was good and stress was low. Fast forward and all hell broke loose. I was laid off from my high paying job, my lifestyle changed and adjustments had to be made.

One thing that suffered was my hair. I use to go to the stylist every week and left the care of my hair in her hands. So after my job loss, one thing that had to change was my hair appointments. I started getting my hair braided by a family friend and the styles were cute. The one thing that I "forgot" is that I don't wear braids well. My hair hates it. No matter how much I care for it in braids it still results in hair loss. I thought since it had been 10 years maybe that had changed, sadly it had not. During that time, in and effort to get to know my own hair I also decided to go natural. This ended up being a major FAIL! When I removed the braids my hair was a total disaster. I made an appointment and my stylist was like WHOA! What the heck have you done? My ends were raggedy. My hairline was near ratchedness, and the line of demarcation between relaxed hair and natural hair was a disaster! I ended up getting another relaxer and after it was blown out you could really see the damage.

My stylist said it had to be cut and I was crushed. Then my hair was subsequently cut to my neck. I was devastated!! I had not had short hair in forever. Anywhoo, after my cut it has been trial and error trying to find what products work for my hair to get my health and length back.

...Wait this is supposed to be a product review.

I started this post to talk about this Motions conditioner that I worked into my hair journey. There is so much information on the nets about silicone being bad for your hair. Well before I knew this, my hair grew with "cone" products and trying to be silicone free was not working for my hair. I took it back old school and bought this conditioner and my hair has been doing fine since I worked it in. I started using it for my mid-week cowash and condition. So if you don't have a fear of silicone give it a try! It has enough good stuff in it to cancel out the supposedly bad.

If at first you dont succeed...

Keep trying!

I started using the Infusium and Queen Helene cholesterol conditioner in August and saw immediate results. Both products combined did great things for my hair.  I washed my hair, and deep conditioned with the QH for about 30 minutes under a hood dryer.  After that I moisturized with Silk Elements MM for an additional 30 minutes.  After my conditioning treatments I then used the Infusium as a leave in and styled. I highly recommend these products!! Get you some son!

My hair was softer, more manageable and easy to detangle and grew so much from August to September. It was thick, healthy and felt so strong I was VERY pleased with the results.

You would think with all this progress I would continue my weekly regime to continue to reap the benefits of the products but I did not. Sadly I slacked off after my relaxer September 4^th and my hair immediately showed the difference! My hair tangles easily when I don’t constantly care for it. With a relaxer one of the key components is maintaining moisture in the hair. Without moisture the hair gets dry, brittle, sheds more and will break off.  Because of my laziness I did seemingly shed more than usual resulting in thinner hair.

I keep learning the same lesson which is achieving long healthy hair is truly a journey. There are no shorts cut. It is a maintenance system that must be sustained if you want to see results. Any deviation from your plans can result in hair loss.

 I am currently on a castor oil challenge to thicken my hair and try to recover the thickness that my hair was finally starting to show.