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 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!

One Inch In One Week: Inversion Method Results!

So I promised myself that I would never have to play catch up on this blog again but looks where we are... Catch up time! This time I'm not as behind as I have been but it's still bad enough, blame it on the laziness that came upon me one day and quite simply refused to be shaken off. Not that I was trying very hard, laziness would do that to you. Lol.

On to today's post, the first thing we should catch up on is my last hair post! As you might remember I mentioned that I'd be trying the Inversion Method and I was supposed to post my results up like a week ago... *awkward*. Well you'd be happy to know that I still did all the measurements I was supposed to like a good little blogger but then yeah... Procrastination happened. Anyways, a few mentions before I show you the before pictures of the inversion method. First, you're supposed to do it for 7 days in a row, Reni J did it for just 5! Lol. I completely forgot on day 2 and then on day 6 there was just too much going on, I literally had no time, nope, not even four minutes to hang my head upside down. Lol. Also, my method of inverting was by sitting leaning forward like I was painting my toes for most of the days. On the other days I just hung my head off the edge of the bed. Lol.

As you can tell there was a lot of inconsistency in my one week living life on the flipside! However! There were still some decent results! Here's the before pictures just to remind you.

Top Left: Back left, 8 inches. Top Right: Back Right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 7 inches. Bottom Right: Edges, 5 inches.

And now, for the moment you've allll been waiting for *drumroll please*.... 

(is this enough suspense??)

(okay surely this does it!)

The After Pictures!

Top Left: Back left, 9 inches. Top Right: Back Right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 8 inches. Bottom Right: Edges, 6 inches.

So there you have it! My hair did actually grow an inch everywhere and I only did it for 5 of the recommended 7 days! That's pretty impressive considering the fact it would usually take up to two months to grow an inch! For some weird reason though, the right side of my nape didn't seem to grow.... Tres strange. I always used to blame the hairdresser for not trimming in a straight line but perhaps it was never really their fault... I shall be investigating this more soon.

Well, what do you guys think? Would you be trying the inversion method? Or have you already tried it and got results? Let me know in the comments box :)

Reni xx

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