Hair Talk: Length Checks and Updated Regimen

So for those who don't know, I've been natural now for about a year and a half. Some time in July 2013, I decided to stop texturising my hair and start gradually getting rid of the relaxed ends. My initial plan was to transition to natural for 18 months which would have meant I would only just be chopping off the final straight ends this month. However, somewhere along the line I gave up and after about a year of transitioning I picked up some scissors and hacked away at the last straight bits.

Anyways, that was all a long time ago now and I've been actively and inactively trying to grow my hair since then. I have a couple of progress pictures to show my growth. I guess it's also a good way for me to keep track of my hair journey, by sharing it with you guys on the blog occasionally. I'd never forget when I learnt that I was doing more harm than good to my hair in this post by adding tea rinses and just having too much protein, the advice in the form of a comment from a blog reader and I couldn't be more grateful!

Currently my regimen is pretty simple, I was every 7 to 10 days, and the reason for the range is because sometimes on a Sunday, my official wash day, I'm just too darn lazy to start the process and so I postpone till Wednesday at the very latest. Wash days consist of:

Let's Talk Hair: Inversion Method and Going Natural

Wow, I can't believe it's been like actual months since I did a hair related post. Like 3 and a half months at that.. That's crazy! Well a lot and a little has changed ever since my last hair post here's a quick run through.

1. Inversion Method

I'm trying out the inversion method! After seeing loads of my favourite hair bloggers try it out and get results, I decided to give it a shot! I started on the 18th of November and so should have results by the 25th, let's see if I get that promised 1 inch of growth! For those who don't know the inversion method involves massaging warm oil into your scalp and then slightly inverting your head every day for 7 days. No need for headstands here! Read more on it on Naija Hair Can Grow where blogger Dabs results  really inspired me to try it. Here are my starting length pictures, sorry they aren't the best, it was a real last minute decision to actually measure

Top Left: Bottom left, 8 inches. Top Right: Bottom right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 6-7 inches. Bottom Right: Side, 5 inches.

2. My Regimen has changed A LOT!

I realised that I was trying to do too much and copy all my favourite hair bloggers and incorporating what they ALL do, instead of finding out what's good for me and my hair and sticking with it. I was essentially missing the point of this whole hair journey, I'm glad I realised it before the year ran out though.

So here's my new regimen; I should say though that this has only been for this month of November mostly. August was filled with experimenting and my hair was in braids for most of September and all of October!

Wash days are on Thursdays, I:

Shampoo with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo

Swapping to ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo at least once a month to clarify.

Deep condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner

This is definitely my favourite deep conditioner, it's one of the few things that I'm absolutely certain that my hair loves!

Air dry

I use the t-shirt method to air-dry were I wrap my hair in a cotton t-shirt for at least half an hour to soak up the moisture.

Apply leave-ins and detangle

I'm still struggling with this, I was originally going to use the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in which my friend brought me from America but I read the ingredients and it's packed with protein! I'm trying to tip my hair back in the moisture rich range after I had a massive fail with protein treatments. So right now I'm using Dark and Lovely, Corrective Leave-In Conditioning Therapy, which is alright so far I suppose, it's a bit early to tell.

Moisturise

After applying my leave in, I moisturise with Elasta QP Olive oil and Mango Butter Moisturiser and seal with sweet almond oil.

Co-wash on Mondays

I started co-washing with Tresseme Luxurious Moisture Conditioner to really kick my moisture levels up and help me moisturise my new growth I'm currently 19 weeks post with the intention of stretching till the end of the year, more on the "why" later.

And there you have it! My current regimen :)

3. Naturalista time!

So don't scream or anything, I'm not sure yet! It's not 100% but I have been seriously considering going natural. Part of the reason I'm not texturising till the end of the year is because I want to see what my natural texture is like and decide if I love my ziggly, coily tresses enough to full embrace it! I might big chop in the new year... Or maybe I'd decide to be a long term transitioner... Or maybe I'd just texturise! Lol. But no decisions are going to be made till 2014 that's for sure!

Well that's all for now on hair folks! As usual please drop comments, especially advice about my regimen! I found the last ones so very helpful! My biggest question right now is...

What's your favourite leave-in conditioner?

Reni x

Research is Key!: Length Check Number 2

Would you believe me if I told you I've been trying to post this since Monday? My laptop has had soo many tabs open and so many e-books due to all the dissertation research that it just refused to upload any pictures on to blogger but I couldn't shut it down and have to open all those tabs again and I couldn't do any blog posts without pictures either... *sigh* I was between a rock and a hard place until now, finally I closed everything and gave the lappie a much needed reboot and it's working perfectly again, well nearly. Lol. So I was going through my blog the other day and realised it has been a while since I did a hair related post and I've been harping on about how I will write my regimen down as well, which to be fair is probably more for my benefit than yours (I can be so forgetful!) But I did a length check the other day, the second one of the year and thought this would be a perfect time to share with you again.

I think my current regimen would be a good place to start otherwise I might forget to write it down all over again! Haha. So here goes... Actually I'm realising that this is kind of a boring post to write! Especially considering the fact that I have three yummy food posts in the works! Haha. I love blogging about food, there's just something so satisfying about reliving those moments where I bit into an amazing burger! Okay, back to hair.

I think the reason I don't really feel like writing this post is because I'm disappointed with the menial length of hair I retained this quarter of the year. I know I should be more focused on health and not length but sometimes it's so hard not to grow impatient, just the other day I was thinking of chopping it all off again and going natural, but I'm trying to be patient and give it till the end of the year at least! I've only been on this journey for 7 months you see, but hair envy is real! Lol. I just want my locks to flow already, or at least look thicker! Here's what I've been doing to my hair:

Monday's are wash days and I:
Shampoo with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo. (I clarify once a month with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo).
Do a green tea rinse to combat shedding.
Apply ORS Hair Mayonnaise for 20 minutes because my hair loves the stuff!
Condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner for 45mins to an hour.
Air dry my hair in a cotton t-shirt for 60 minutes
Apply my leave-in; I recently switched from Motions Nourish Leave in Conditioner to Dr Miracles Leave in Conditioner, I've been searching everywhere for Cantu Shea Butter leave-in but all the stores near me are permanently put of stock! I'm in need of a really awesome leave in.
Allow my hair to finish drying without the t-shirt.
And then depending on what time it is as I usually wash in the evenings, I either moisturise with ORS Carrot Oil and seal with Sweet Almond oil or I just tie my hair up and moisturise and seal the next morning.

This has been my regimen from the beginning of the year, the only addition being green tea rinses and also switching from ORS Carrot Oil to Kids Organics Shea Butter Detangling Moisturising Hair Lotion (goodness that name is such a mouth full!) at about 12 weeks post when my new growth needs some TLC to stop it from drying out so easily! So on to some pictures:

I'm definitely claiming proper shoulder length now! Next stop is collar bone length which looks about an inch or two away, sadly! OMG can I just stress the importance of reading up on stuff before you try it right now? So I was looking at my regimen as I wrote it down and trying to see what differences I've made between January and March where my hair grew quite a bit and March and now where it hasn't really grown at all and the only major difference was doing tea rinses. So I went to my best friend, google, for help to see the negative impacts of tea rinses and the very first thing that came up was an article from curlynikki.com, here saying that tea rinses can STUNT growth! Now I was like hold up, say what?! But as I read more I realised I had been doing some fundamental things wrong, for instance I never took the tea bags out of the bowl until I was ready to use it, which was hours sometimes, when really you're only meant to leave in the tea bag for a minute or two to get a weak brew! Lack of knowledge is no excuse as my hair showed me these last three months, but now that I've identified the problem (I think) at least I can try and correct it and see how I do in the third quarter of the year.

Hmmm, hair posts aren't that bad! I'm washing my hair right now and going to try a roller set tonight, I'd do a post on the outcome later on if it turns out nice, or even fairly acceptable. :)

Ciao ladies!
Reni x

P.S. I really need to do something about the middle of my hair, the breakage is disastrous! Look how much shorter it is! Any tips? Also I made a length check post so you can see all of my progress pictures from the beginning of the year here: Length Check Progress Pictures