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:

Hair Woes: Fairy Knots

Can you guys see that single strand of hair between my fingers? Yes? Great. Look a little closer, can you see that bit where the hair has knotted ON ITSELF right in the middle? Yes? That's the current bane of my natural hair existence. It's called a single strand knot (because a single strand literally ties itself into a knot) or a fairy knot (because it's believed that the knot is so small that only a fairy can tie it). I've been getting these for a while now and they are starting to cause serious breakage and length retention issues because I mostly just cut them off.

They are especially noticeable towards the ends of my hair and usually feel like a 'rough' section when I'm detangling. It wasn't until I pulled off the above hair strand in frustration that I saw that the cause for all my problems were these damn fairies! I even used to like Tinkerbell and her lot *sigh*

So after much online searching, I realised that this was a common problem for a lot of natural sisters but I didn't find very many solutions to the problem though! Apart from making sure that your hair is well moisturised, which I thought I was on top of but would definitely be reviewing, does anyone have any more suggestions for me on how to get rid of ssk's or fairy knots?

For now I've put my hair in a weave to stop me from yanking at my ends, first one this year actually and I'm sort of already regretting the decision but my money cannot waste! This weave will stay on my head!

Please help guys! I need y'all :(

29 Things That Make Me Happy: Curly Kinky Hair

Day 7...

Afro textured hair! (Particularly mine :D)

So some of you may know that a little over a year ago, I stopped doing all kinds of chemical treatments to my hair (relaxers, texturisers, curl loosening everything), it was a decision I made for various reasons but mostly because I just wanted to see. 

My hair has always been on the fine, thin side of life and I remember multiple times being told by stylists that I should stop relaxing my hair because it didn't need it. Literally I would have 3 months of unrelaxed hair and be able to comb through it quite normally like someone whose hair was only 2 weeks post. Well some time last year after going through different phases like relaxing only 3 times a year and then only twice, I decided to stop relaxing forever and I've loved every minute of it!

I LOVE the way my hair curls up when it's wet, when I was first transitioning I would stand in front of the mirror and just be amazed at how adorable my curls looked. Vain right? I know. But it honestly did and still makes me a very happy bunny, even through all the various ups, downs and roundabouts. I try everyday to take better care of my hair because I really want to see if it would ever get past shoulder length or if I'm just destined to have short hair forever.

Here's a few different hairstyles I've done both with my hair and with extensions...

Box braids, my favourite protective hairstyle!

Fluffy fro a couple of months ago.

This super quick twist-out fro came out so much better than I expected, think I left the twists in for like 20 minutes with no curling products.

Shrinkage! x_x

Bantu knot out while I was still transitioning to natural, I need to do a bantu knot out again actually! It's been a minute!

Faux dread locs, my current hairstyle. I was initially super skeptical about doing them but now I LOVE them. #IslandGyal

Hair Talk: Tresses by K Vera Cruz!

Hey my lovelies, please don't fret, I haven't disappeared again. Not yet. I sometimes find it so hard to blog during the week because after an exhausting 8 till 5 day and driving home in traffic the last thing I want to do is stare even more at a computer screen even though it's for the purpose of something I actually love doing.

One thing that I love doing is my hair though! So at some point I became borderline obsessed with my transitioning hair and every time I would twist it or try and style it, the thin texturised ends would drive me up the wall. So one day, out of sheer frustration as I twisted my hair I picked up the nail scissors laying harmlessly by my bathroom sink and started snipping at the ends of the twists. I was SICK and TIRED of them and something inside me must have snapped because afterwards I had a real "What have I done?!" horrified moment! I regretted it momentarily when I realised I had been a little too scissor happy on the front and cut it so short it could no longer pull back into a bun! 

Oh that was a fun fun fun day for me and it also marked the day I officially ended my transition. I wish I could find pictures but I have no idea what happened to them, I took off about 2 inches of annoying scraggly ends all around with my very sharp nail scissors. Since then I've been kind of taking it easy with my hair, not doing too much or worrying too much until I was fortunate enough to meet a tricologist (someone who studies the science of hair) by the name of Koyinsola Vera- Cruz. Koyin is starting a hair company called Tresses in Lagos hopefully by the end of the year and so I was very excited to have her come for a general consultation for my mum and I. At the end of it my mum walked away with a LOT of goodies for both me and her. She's starting a healthy hair journey too!

Carol's Daughter, Aubrey's Organics, Organix and even some Tresses branded essential and carrier oils! I was in hair heaven!

We talked about EVERYTHING! From moisturising to sealing to wash days to porosity, moisture- protein balances, you know, the whole shebang and I'd be sharing some info on some of the hot topics with you later. But it was very nice to be able to ask personal questions about my hair and get them answered immediately and Koyin is such a lovely person. I can't wait till she comes back with all her gear so she can assess my scalp and give a completely personalised regimen suggestion!

After she left I immediately went to straighten my hair so I could do a length check and see how far I had come. The answer? I'm STILL neck to shoulder length! Lol. 

I've pulled the shirt up in this picture so you can see where my hair ends a little better. I know the right side looks really straight and a lot longer but it's not. That's just the side I straightened first and I freaked out that the iron was too hot and my hair would never curl again! Lol. That's also why the rest of it is so frizzy!! Lol

 Look how ridiculously far away I am from the "1" mark! Lol. I drew a line in between the collar and "1' and called it "0.5" and that's my hair length goal for the rest of this year. It's a little far off but hopefully with best practice and perhaps an emergency inversion method I can make it! 

And this picture is really just here 'because' I guess it shows a nice front view of my hair too.

Silly faces with my twin cousin! Lol.

I would definitely be putting up more information on Tresses as soon as I get any. Oh and let me say Koyin is NOT natural so relaxed girls don't feel like there's nothing you can gain from this! If you're interested in long, healthy hair there's a lot to be gained. And even if you're not... Hey, no knowledge lost!

Hair Talk: Embracing the Afro Puff

Hey hey guys,

So it's been a couple of months since I did a hair post and that's mainly because after noticing the nasty "W" I had in my hair, I've more or less kept it wrapped up in braids and weaves since then.  If you didn't see the "W" then go to "Hair Talk: Going Natural" to find it. The sight of my hair was driving me up the wall and I really just wanted to chop it all off, in theory. So anyways, I thought I'd drop a little update about how things have been going since then.

Ever since I decided to go natural sometime last year, I've been less focused on the length of my hair and more focused on the health, especially since I've been trying to combat my problem areas. As a result, I've been trimming/cutting my hair A LOT more frequently. Let me just say, I used to be that girl that would trim literally once a year, if that. But in the last 6 months I've trimmed my hair twice already, which is a lot for me. It does however mean that my hair looks like it hasn't grown at all, am i destined to be stuck with 'almost' shoulder length hair for the rest of my life? I hope not.

No more W!

And very non-see-through!

My hair is doing A LOT better now though, just look at it! The "W" is more or less gone and the "see-throughness" is disappearing slowly but surely. I really think this has to do with my decision to go natural, honestly I do. And also the low manipulation of my protective styles meant there was no unnecessary playing with my hair every day. I just seem to be unable to resist trying out this style or that! If you look closely to my February picture, you'd notice that it does look a little scraggly in some places with some really long strands, the stylist really should have suggested a trim to get rid of those but  honestly, he seemed pretty incompetent on basic hair care. For instance, you've just taken out my braids and my hair has only been lightly finger detangles, what part of "You need to detangle my hair before you wash it." is so hard to understand? It was partly my fault for allowing him to go ahead with it and then he spent half an hour complaining about how my hair was tangled... I was so mad at him that I just wanted to be out of there fast, I didn't even assess my hair till I got home. I would definitely be trimming those ends soon.

So after my stint with hating my hair and wanting to hide it away, I started missing it because oddly enough, I do really like having my hair out. I feel more in control, lol. When I washed it I must say the natural roots now far outweigh the permed ends and I think I'm literally one or two more trims away from being fully natural. So much for my 18 month transition! Haha. It's been out all of about 4 days and I've been practising a few hairstyles already, a lot of them have turned out to be huge fails. Lol. But I did really like this flat twist headband, it was only my second attempt so there's definitely still room for improvement.

And also my "Bisi, daughter of the River" style, as my mum called it after she finished braiding it. Don't ask.

And of course, my afro puffs! Which was taken off of my snapchat. Lol

Can you tell I was feeling myself? Lol

I'm quite interested to see what the rest of this journey has in store for me. Who's with me?

Also if you have any blogs/ Youtube channels or whatever that you go to for style inspiration then please let me know in the comments section!

Reni xx

Hair Talk: Going Natural

So there's this huge disaster going on on my head at the mo', my hair at the back of my head seems to be breaking constantly and consistently and I feel at a massive loss for what to do! I will eventually post a picture of the shocking mess that is the back of my head but for now I'm too distressed just looking at it to even want to put it up in this post.

I don't understand what went wrong with that part of my head during my regimen and I've been racking my brain for ages trying to figure out what is causing such crazy amounts of breakage. It's the biggest "W" I can recall ever having my whole life! When I showed my mum and cousins they all said I was exaggerating and it looked worse in the picture but I don't even ever wear my hair down because of that. Maybe I'm pulling my bun too tight? Or maybe that awful relaxer I had years ago just destroyed my hair follicles in that area forever? You're probably wondering what the awful relaxer story is about...

Before I tell you about that mess look at THIS mess! I'm so distraught!

Well basically, a few years ago, I went to a salon to get my roots retouched, the stylist did her job and I went home all happy with my new straight hair. Not too long after, chunks of hair started falling off my head, like whole strands, but all in the area around my nape. It continued like this, just falling out and creating a growing bald batch from my nape towards the centre of my head until after a few weeks I had to cut all my hair off to keep it looking even and not like I had some disease! I was so distraught that I swore off relaxers, which is how I came to start texturising my hair for the last 8 years or so. Thinking about it now I should have just gone natural then! But I truly never saw the beauty in natural hair. Well now, about 8 years on, I'm not sure if my hair is falling out of my nape again or how bad it's going to get this time but I've made a decision now. I'm going natural! For real this time.

Me after attempting a bantu knot out a few months ago!

So I'm no longer 28 weeks post relaxer/texturiser, I'm now 7 months into my transition! I'm planning on transitioning for 12 to 18 months, I think. I could change my mind later but that's the plan for me right now. My hair is in braids at the moment but as soon as I take it out it's going to be back to taking care of it and learning to work with my two textures. Business as usual.

Is anyone else transitioning to natural? Drop me a comment, let's be transitioning sisters!

Reni xx

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

Length Check, Progress Pictures

Decided to d a little post which I will update whenever I do a length check to track the growth of my hair.

December 2012, before my cut/trim:

January 2013, the start of the journey!

March 2013, length check numero uno

July 2013: Length check 2

 

June Review and July Goals

Oh my darling faithful cherie's! What will I do without you all? I don't know why I left you for quite so long but the days got so busy and the nights got so blurry that I really don't know where all the time went! I can't believe it's been two weeks and you see I hate leaving you so much because I hate playing catch up! But catch up we shall, because you my beauties deserve it! There is so much to tell you, so many new places I've been and people I've seen andI can't wait to churn it all out till I'm tired of rambling on about my life to you lovely people who stop by my blog! But before I get into the people I've seen and the places I've been let me first assess my June goals and set some new ones for July, I am quite behind you see! Let's start with the wins shall we?

Complete 16 week stretch

This one is a big fat win and infact the stretch is still stretching! I'm exactly 16 weeks post today and trying to decide between relaxing ASAP or carrying on and transitioning to natural... I always have this debate in my head whenever relaxer due date comes close but I also always end up relaxing! Who knows? Maybe this time will be different

Wash hair every 2 weeks

I should have stated that this was meant for while I stayed in braids, when my hair is out I usually wash every week! Wash day is currently on Mondays :)

Moisturise every other day

Yipee! Although if this was a July challenge I would have failed already!

Pole

I thought I'd finally treat you to a picture of what I've been getting up to in pole dancing, this one was taken a few months ago in March or April and I have progressed immensely since then! I now do cool upside-downy moves! :D

Try a new recipe or two

Well you read about my Skinny Shrimp Curry with Coconut Rice so yay to trying something new! There are a couple more recipes to share since I startted Mankofit's 30 day eat clean, train dirty challenge!

I did infact also become a 'yes' girl! Life is so much more fun when you let go, I used my proper camera loads while I was on holiday last week (oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that as well? Goodness I'm awful!) AND I wrote a story to go on THAHW, It's a series actually! I just need to get further along in the plot before I start posting it, so keep your peepers peeled!

And now for the sad part, womp womp!

• I didn't run 5k twice a week, it was simply too stressful I really don't enjoy running all that much!
• I failed the squat challenge because I kepy missing out days but I'm sure my backside still benefited greatly!
• I still cannot plank for 90 seconds! Sadly
• Failing to drink 1.5 litres of water a day really hurt because I did always drink at least a litre! Adding on that extra 500ml is much harder than I previously though!
• Blog more after exams, I'm not sure if I should count this as a fail or not yet but seeing as I only managed 5 posts in June and my highest was 9 in March I'm thinking it will have to count as a fail :( Sad times!

As for July I don't have too many goals you see, I mostly plan on finishing my dissertation or at least getting halfway through the beast! The main thing in July is to complete Mankofit's Eat Clean, Train Dirty 30 day challenge. There was a grocery list at the start and she posts up an exercise for us to do every day, it's been difficult but fun at the same time because I'm doing it with one of my besties and friends really do make everything better! This challenge is intense enough in itself to cover my food and fitness goals for the month! If you're curious about the challenge her instagram and twitter handles are @mankofit, it's never too late to join in on the fun!

Her grocery list is a pretty hard one to stick by so I allowed myself three small changes! I'm eating red meat because I need all the iron I can get and I added carrots to my veggies because I hate cauliflower and asparagus which were both on the list! More to come on the challenge soon.

Hair wise I think I need to just keep doing what I'm doing! I'd post an updated hair care regimen soon as it's changed quite a bit and I also need to decide if I will relax or not! I think I will... Or maybe I wont!

More on my lovely short vacay to Antalya, Turkey  soon and also my experience at the Diamonds World Tour! I think I've gotten over my writer's block now!

Speak soon lovelies!

Reni x

Hair and Fitness Catch-Up Session and June Goals

So at the end of March, I wrote a post called April Goals and Bloglovin Love where I wrote a list of things I would like to have achieved by the end of April, then in typical me fashion, I completely forgot to come back with an update as to how things went, I just realised I never even gave a final Insanity update! Shocking behaviour really, thanks for not calling me out guys!

So let's start with the goals from April which carried all the way through till right now because honestly, life was a bit too hectic in May to think about setting any new goals! Begin with the successes shall we?

Drink at least one litre of water a day.

Yay to this one! It's weird, i now find myself actually wanting to drink water over many other things. You might not understand the severity of this because I didn't document the time i actively tried to convince one of my best friends that I was allergic to drinking water, oh dear, the silly things I've said! Overall though I find it so much easier to think of drinking 500ml two bottles of rather than half a 2 litre bottle. Weird huh?

I mean just look at how gigantic that bottle is! The 500ml is so miniature and cute in comparison!

I know I'm nowhere near the recommended daily intake but this is a massive achievement for me :)

Try a Tea Rinse/ Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Ouuu this was such fun, I must admit it felt extremely weird to pour tea over my hair and I was having one of those "You know you don't have to try everything you read" moments, but I'm glad I tried it because after dousing my hair in Twinnings Green Tea and doing my regular deep condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner, my hair felt so nice and soft, yet strong and I hardly had any shedding at all! I was amazed actually, seeing as I was at least 7 weeks post by then!

Do Two Protein Treatments

This one I did and overdid and found myself face to face with the monster that is protein overload! Lord I could have cried, I'm even a bit too embarrassed to share what I did but I would anyways. So.. here goes... don't laugh! Basically, the long and short is that after I took my weave out, I washed my hair as normal then thought to go heavy on the protein because of breakage/shedding. So I mixed two types of protein treatments. Motions Protein Reconstructor and ORS Hair Mayonnaise and then deep condition. I then spray my usual leave-in by Motions as well which contains silk amino acids, read protein. By the time my hair was dry I was almost in tears from how hard/dry/crunchy it felt. After a couple of deep conditions later that week it was back to normal-ish but I'm never doing that again! Lesson learnt.

And now the not-so-fun parts, trust me I have an excuse for each one of them but I will just take them as fails for now and try harder next time!

Apply JCBO to my edges nightly and scalp every other day

I was clearly feeling extremely optimistic when I wrote this! But the real reason it didn't happen was because I got a weave.

Have a side of veggies with lunch every day

Even more optimism! Ha!

Finish Insanity by the 7th of April

Not completing this one really hurt me but my knee was starting to act up again! I got to day 57 and could never be bothered to do the last three days after I felt better :( Here's my update on how I was doing before the setback though Insanity Month 2: It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle.

Start a new workout regime including Hip Hop Abs and Swimming

This only counts as a fail because I dont actually have a regime but I have been working out loads and training for Race for Life! (more on that soon). I started the Hip Hop abs and can I just say that as an avid Shaun T fan, it sucks! Ugh, it's so boring and you do the same video everyday for 6 days or something crazy! As soon as I saw the schedule I was bored, I think I made it to day 5 or so. Some very good information about engaging your core on there though with the "Tilt, Tuck, Tighten" method, if you like relatively low impact exercise (because everything after insanity is low impact!) and want to work your abs definitely look into it though!

Random view of the pool at my gym, taken from my favourite stretch spot. There's just something so calming about water.

Whoosh! That was a pretty long review, but I guess a lot has happened since I last posted any thing mainly hair/fitness related.

Now that all this catching up is done and there's only a teeny bit left to do, I thought it'd be a good idea to make some new goals for June.

Hair

Nothing fancy here really as I'm currently 11 weeks post but my hair has been in braids for about 2 weeks now.

• Complete 16 week stretch.
• Wash hair at least once every 2 weeks.
• Moisturise every other day.

Food/Fitness

• Run 5k at least twice a week in preparation for Race for Life on the 14th of July.
• Complete the 30 Day Squat Challenge (Day 12 today, whoop!)
• Be able to plank for 90 seconds (I'm currently on a measly average of about 45).
• Pole!
• Try a new recipe or two.
• Drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day

Others

It's summer time and bar my dissertation I intend to have as much fun as possible!

• Become a 'yes' girl! Life is nothing but the experiences we make out of it!
• Use my proper camera more, it's so much better than the iPhone 5.
• Write a story or two to go on THAHW.
• Blog more after exams are over

What are some of your goals for the next 30 days?

P.S. My donation link for Race for Life is here, I'd do a separate post to give the details properly but just incase anyone already knows what is and all that and wants to donate :)

Reni x