Wash day!!! Everyone loves a wash day

So today is my wash day!!! Since I have been wearing my wig everyday I only wash my hair twice a month.......ewww I know but it is so much easier on me.



I started off by putting oil on my fingers and started taking out the 12 braids. After I took a braid out I saturated that section with Tresemme Naturals conditioner and used my wide tooth comb to detangle. I love this conditioner because it gives my hair great slip and makes detangling so easy. For not combing my hair in two weeks I did not shed too much so I am happy about that. Once each section was detangled I put four large twists in my hair, covered it with a plastic cap and went to the gym to workout. This was my pre-poo treatment I guess you can call it. Really I just wanted to get the gym out of the way so I could just focus on my hair for the rest of the day. I wasn't at the gym too long probably about an hour and a half.

 

Once I got home I hopped into the shower and started to shampoo my hair with the elasta  qp conditioning shampoo. I tried to keep my hair in the four twists but for some reason I can not get the shampooing in sections down so I just ending up washing my hair regular. I did a green tea treatment on my hair to help reduce the shedding..........even though I did not shed a lot its better to be safe then sorry. I left the green tea in my hair for about five to ten minutes while I washed the rest of my body. I rinsed the green tea out of my hair and followed up with the same conditioner I pre-pooed with which was the Tresemme Naturals. This conditioner also does a great job with softening up my hair. I left the conditioner on for about three minutes because it does not take long for this stuff to work its magic on my hair.

I t-shirt dried my hair to soak up some of the water and then I proceed on to deep conditioning my hair. I used the Nexxus Humectress Ultimate Moisture Conditioner mixed with a couple different oils. I used my heating cap because I was watching tv and did not feel like sitting under the hooded dryer. After I rinsed the deep conditioner out of my hair I t-shirt dried my hair for about 20 minutes then applied my leave-in conditioner, which is the Giovanna direct leave-in. After I put the leave-in on my hair I then put my moisturizer and a serum over that, then I detangled my hair. I also used Mane N Tail detangler and Tui from Carol's daughter to help with the couple of tangles that I get in the middle of my head. Detangling was pretty easy because I had already detangled before washing my hair.

I let my hair air dry and then went to bed. I was too tried to braid it up so I just did that the next morning. Here are a couple pictures of my hair. I think my ends are holding up good. I will be flating my iron by myself at home next week because July 28th marks my one year on this healthy hair journey!!!! I will have comparing pictures talk about what I have learned on this journey.

Quick stop by

So I was thinking about washing my hair today but then I got lazy so I just re-braided my hair. I took each braid out and lightly finger detangled my hair to remove some of the shed hair. After that I applied my moisturize and seal with grapeseed oil. My hair felt pretty soft which was a shock because I did not apply anything to it for like three days.......ok wait that's a lie I did spray some water onto it but that's all.

This is a short post. Just wanted to stop by and let you guys know what I have been doing to my hair, since this is a hair blog lol!!!

Next weekend I will be washing my hair so the post will be longer and I will have lots of pictures. I don't know about you guys but I love hair pictures!!!!

Hey I am Back

Hey guys!!! I know that I have been gone for some months now and I am so sorry! Life got in the way as always lol! But lets get back to the hair talk.

I have been wearing wigs a lot lately because during  my last stretch ( which was 16 weeks) I realized that my ends on the left side were thinning. So I had to trim my hair and lost almost all my growth from the stretch. I was sad at first but I got over it because after my trim my hair looked much better. I trimmed my hair myself because my original hairdresser does not work there anymore so I had to have someone new relax my hair. She did a good job but I still don't trust her yet with trimming my hair.

Under my wigs my hair is in about 12 braids. I part my hair into four sections. I put two braids in each of the front sections and four braids in each of the back sections.......that's 12 right? lol I was always a little slow at math. Hold on let me double check........ok I was right that does add up to 12 lol! I didn't cornrow my hair simply because I suck at cornrowing lol! I know that I need to just keep trying and I will get it one day but my head is too big and my arms get so tried. I will learn how to cornrow when I have a daughter which is no time soon so I have awhile to learn.

Since I have been wearing the wigs I find myself moisturizing and sealing my hair every other night instead of every night. I do the greenhouse effect(I will do a post later this week explaining what this is if you don't know) every night and this seem to be keeping my hair nice and soft.

I also only wash my hair every other week now. I washed my hair this past sunday and used a protein deep conditioner.

I will try to post at least once to twice a week from now on. I cant leave you guys hanging like that again lol it was just rude. Pics coming soon!!!

Also let me know if there is something else you would like me to post about!!!

Blah Blah Hair talk

So I have been cutting back on taking so many pictures of my hair on wash and co wash days. When people look through my phone (even though no one should be going through my phone cause they don't pay the bill...) it looks like I have some weird crazy love of hair. I can take probably 15 pictures of hair in one day just getting different angles and lighting.

I wanted to see how my ends were looking because well detangling they felt a little thin and I know that I am due for a good trim in may if I end my stretch then.

These pictures were taken when my hair was 85% dry ( my roots were the only thing really wet still). I had already put my leave-in conditioner in (cantu-shea butter) I am almost done with this product so a review will be coming soon. I had also did a light protein deep condition on dry hair. After looking at the pictures I feel like I will need about an inch taken off which is not that bad because my last trim was about 6 months ago. Sorry about the lighting but when I transfer pictures from my iPhone to computer they mess up a little bit. The top picture on the left shows one half of the back portion of my hair. As you can see the ends are not as blunt as I would like they come to a point which is not too bad. In the picture on the right I am trying to show where my waist is and how far away I am. From just looking and not really measuring it I would say I am about 5 to 6 inches away. So if all goes well I can be WL in early 2014. But my goal for this year is to be at full MBL
with a blunt cut.

 

Pardon the naked back lol!!! But yall know when doing your hair it can get a little hot!!!! Let me know what you think of my hair and how your hair looking after detangling???

See ya next post!!!! HHJ



 

Different relaxers and different people

I was looking through my pictures that I took of my hair and I realized that some parts of my hair are telaxed(unprocessed) and some parts of my hair are relaxed bone straight. At first I did not realize why my hair had different textures, but then I realized it was because different people were relaxing my hair.

Two of the four people who relaxed my hair were at the same salon and used the same relaxer but the time that they let it sit on my hair was different. One lady did not let it sit long enough so I was left with some textures to my hair which I dont mind but it does get annoy when I am air drying my hair and the bottom half of my hair has waves the middle it bone straight and then toward the top I have some more textures because of my new growth. Smh and I have also realized that no matter who relaxes my hair the middle will never get bone straight and I am ok with that.

The point of this post is to stick with the same relax and method. Even though even relax can relax a person's hair bone straight you may have to use a different method.....such as a longer or short time to let it sit on your hair, or smooth it more.

Here are some pictures of my hair will it is air drying. How you can see what I am talking about?

Quick post

Follow me on KEEK if  you have the app. My name is _cloud9_

Hairstyles......

I just wanted to stop by and say hello to all 12 of my followers. To many people this is probably not alot of people. But I never thought anyone would care about my hair journey. So don't be scared to comment I love to talk you new people.

My hair journey has been going great. I have stopped taking length pictures every time I wash my hair because it was just making my crazy lol! Now I am just focused on the health of my hair. If my hair feel good and soft after I wash and deep condition then I am happy. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in seeing a length change that we get upset when we don't see length and want to give up.

I started my hair journey July 28th 2012 and for must of my hair journey I have worn my hair in buns. But one of my followers asked to see some of the hairstyles I have worn so have are some of the pictures. As you can see by the pictures I mostly wear buns: sock buns, high buns and low buns. I also wear ponytails but that is very rare because I dont like have my hair out. I wear U-part wigs and full wigs, which is the picture with the bangs. I also wear my straight for a week after I get a relaxer.

Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures.......dont judge my make-up lol I am new to make-up and still trying to get the hang of things. See ya next post!!!!

21 Hair Questions

1.Why did you start taking better care of your hair?
      I had always been be on hair care and thought I was taking great care of my hair by washing it     twice a month and wrapping it every night with a satin scarf. During my senior year I got my first sew-in weave and I loved the length. So seen then I have been trying to get my hair that long without weave.

2. What are your 2 favorite products?
      Elasta QP mango butter and olive oil moisturizer and Silk elements mega silk deep conditioner. But Honestly I have more than just two favorite products

3. Who's hair did you admire as a child?
      Tia and Tamera

4. What is your ultimate goal length?
       Between Midback and waist length

5. How are you going to celebrate when you reach it?
       I will probably wear my hair straight for about two weeks

6. Two styles you want to try at your goal length?
       Braidouts and twistouts and cute buns

7. Which do you prefer: Health or length?
        Health but I do love me some length lol

8. Which do you prefer: Hair ties with no metal parts, or butterfly clips?
         Hair ties with no metal parts

9. What products do you prefer: salon brands, organic brands, BSS brands or drugstore brands?
        I use all different types of brands

10. Which product/ technique do you think is underrated?
       Technique that is underrated is baggying and for product I would say underrated

11. Which product/technique do you think is overrated?
        Washing my hair in sections. It just did not work for me it was too much work for me. The product would be ORS hair lotion stuff

12. What is your favorite part of your hair regimen?
        Deep conditioning......I like to mix my deep conditioners, put it on my hair and sit under the dryer lol.

13. What is the most annoying part of your hair regimen?
         Detangling and the last rinse on cool lol ugh I hate going from a nice warm shower to cold

14.Oils or Butters?
         Oils never really tried butters

15. Bun or ponytails?
         Buns all day every day lol

16. Wig or weave?
         Both but I will probably never wear weave again cause it broke my edges and nape so bad smh but it helped the rest of my hair.

17 What is your opinion on growth aids?
           Idk yet I am still taking some but Idk if they are really helping.

18.What length do you consider long?
            Between APL and BSL

19. When is the last time you've been to a salon?
             The Feb. 23th for a relaxer

20. What do you like to surf the most: YouTube channels, personal blogs or hair forums?
            I love them all

21. What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out their hair journey?
           Don't let no one talk you out of taking care of your hair.

Post Relaxer Wash Day

Since this is the first wash day after my relaxer I want to add the protein back into my hair that the relaxer took away. :(

I started my wash day by doing a hot oil treatment. I used castor oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I sat under the hooded dryer for 30 minutes. I let the oil sit on my hair a little bit longer because I got hungry so I got a bit to eat.

I clarified my hair using the ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo and the ORS Uplifting Shampoo. I lathered twice with the Creamy Aloe Shampoo then one lather with the Uplifting Shampoo. I like both of these shampoo and I have used them separate but most of the time I use them together. I dont know why just something I do. Yall know how you have that one thing you do on your hair journey that you cant explain why but you keep on doing it lol!!!

Now that my hair is clean I needed to add some protein. So I choose to use The Giovanni Hair Recontructor instead of the ORS Hair Mayo conditioner. This is the second time I have used this product so I cant do a true product review but I do like this product. It adds just the right amount of protein to my hair that I need. After I cover my hair in the conditioner I sat under the hooded dryer for 20 minutes. It makes some parts of my hair hard like my edges and ends, but that is probaby because I add extra product to those parts of my hair. But after you run some water on your hair it will soften up.



After my protein treatments I followed up with my favorite moisturizing deep conditioner, which was the Silk Elemets Megasilk deep conditioner. I also mixed the conditioner with my normal oils. I sat under the hooded dryer for 30 minutes then left it on for another hour while I did my at home workout session. I am trying to get my butt and leg in shape before the summer lol!!!!





I did add some Herbal Essence Body Envy to my hair because it is suppose to add some volume to the hair so I am still trying it out. So far I dont see a difference but I do love the smell and it does soften up the hair. But I will use it some more before I give a product review. Before my final rinse with cool/cold water I applied Roux conditioner. I have been using this conditioner and I do love it alot. It keeps my hair balanced after adding all these different products to my hair.





For my leave-in I used the Cantu Shea butter leave-in repair conditioner. I choose this leave-in because it has protein in it and like I start before I was trying to add the protein that the relaxer removed from my hair. Even those I know I cant add all the protein back but that cant stop me from trying. I placed the leave-in on my hair then I detangled and sealed with grapeseed oil. Then I air dryed.





That was my wash day. Hope you enojyed the post. Let me know what you guys post relaxer wash days look like, I would love to know.

Relaxer #2

So I got my relaxer on the 23rd. I went to the same hairdresser that did my last relaxer because I loved the results and I hate changing hairdressers.

So the Sunday before I got my relaxer, which was the 17th I think, I did my pre-relaxer wash day. I used my ORS Aloe shampoo to remove all the product buildup then I did a a protein treatment with my ORS Hair mayo conditioner. I like to clarify and do my protein treatment on the same wash day, no real reason. My hair felt strong but not too hard after the protein treatment so I was pleased with that. I then followed up with Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Deep conditioner to add the moisture back into my hair. Then tshirt dry for about 10 minute then add used my cantu shea butter leave-in and sealed with grapeseed oil. My hair felt ready for the relaxer.

I did not get a trim this relaxer because I felt my ends looked fine but I did dust a little. The picture on the left is my hair on Nov. 9th 2012 and the picture on the right is my hair on Feb. 23th 2013. My stretch was about 16 weeks.  I think I retained a good amount of length. Want to claim BSL but idk know yet. My next relaxer will be in May around the 24th because that is my Bday and of course I want to look fly for my bday lmao!!! See yall next post!!!! HHJ

Product Review: Color Me Happy Conditioner From Herbal Essence

Ok so I am very late with this post and I dont know why cause I am not really that busy. But I am sorry. So first I want to start with a short product review about Herbal Essence Color Me Happy. I picked up this conditioner from walmart as you guys saw in one of my past Hair Hauls. I love the Hello Hydration conditioner so I wanted to try some other Herbal Essence conditioners.

Color Me Happy conditioner is thick just like the Hello Hydration Conditioner. I love thick products because I feel they moisturize and penetrate my hair better than runny conditioners. The color of this conditioner is red and the smell is WONDERFUL. I think that is one of the best things about this conditioner. I am bad at comparing smelling but just know that it smells good lol!!!!

Must of the time I used this conditioner as a "smoothing" conditioner after I do my tea rinses. Tea rinses make my hair feel stiff so I would put some of the Color Me Happy conditioner in my hair for a couple minutes and it would help to soften up my hair. This conditioner is a surface conditioner which means that works mainly on the suface of the hair shaft, so it does not penetrate the hair shaft as well as a deep conditioner would.

Other than using this conditioner as a "smoothing" conditioner I also used it as a pre-poo. I would mix it with a couple different oils of my choice and place it all over my hair. I usually let the pre-poo mixture sit on my hair for about an hour. This conditioner worked great as a pre-poo.

All in all I really did like this conditioner but when compared to the Hello Hydration it is not as moisturizing so I would have to say that the Hello Hydration is a better conditioner. The only thing better is the smell, I liked the smell of Color Me Happy better than Hello Hydration. So if you guys like the Hello Hydration and would like to try another surface conditioner I would say this is a good pick. I am now trying the Body Envy conditioner.

See you guys in my next post!!!

Just a quickie!!!

So I have been away for a while and I am sorry. But I have not be doing anything new with my hair. I have been using the same products on my hair because I want to use up the old products before buying new ones.

But I will be getting a relaxer toward the end of the month so I can not wait to see if I have retained any length. Hopefully I am fully BSL by then!!!!

Wash Day

So I usually wash my hair on Sundays but I had no hot water on Sunday........ugh I hate apartment living sometimes. So I had to move my wash day till Monday. The only problem with that was that I had already started my hot oil treatment before I noticed that I had no hot water. So I had to leave the oil on my hair over night.

1. Hot Oil Treatment-Washed the hot oil treatment out of my hair. Leaving the hot oil in my hair over night was actually a good thing because it soften up my hair.

2. Clarify Shampoo- I shampooed my hair with the ORS Aloe Shampoo and their Uplifting shampoo. My hair did feel clean after I lathered with each shampoo once so that equals a total of two lathers. This is just what my hair and scalp needed.

3. Tea Rinse- I did a Black/Green tea rinse. I used two black tea bags and one green tea bag. I made this mixture the night before and added Aloe vera juice because I have recently learned that my hair likes Aloe vera juice and gel. I put this mixture in a spray bottle and focused on my scalp. I left the mixture on my hair for about 10 minutes then washed it out.

4.Smoothing- I softened up my hair by placing Herbal Essence Color Me Happy all over my hair and left it on for about another 10 minutes.

5. Protein Treament- I don't remember the last time I did a heavy to medium protein treatment. I usually just deep condition with the ORS Replenishing Conditioner before my co-washes to get some protein in my hair. I used the Giovanni Hair Reconstructor Conditioner. This was the first time I have used this product. I sat under the hooded dryer for about 20 minutes. It made my hair hard like a protein treatment, but once I washed it out of my hair felt stronger.

6. Deep Conditioning- I then deep conditioned my hair with Silk Elements Megasilk deep conditioner. I LOVE this deep conditioner.

7. Leave-in/Detangling-T-shirt dried my hair for about 10 minutes then used my fav. leave-in, which is the Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner.

8. Air Dried my hair

The picture below is my hair about 80% dry and I am about 13 weeks post......I think lol I am so bad at keeping up with the weeks.

Review: Carol's Daughter Moni Repairing Collection

On black Friday I brought the Moni Repairing Collection. It has been sitting in my bathroom since then because I had other products that I wanted try out first. This past Sunday I felt that my hair was in good shape and time to give this kit a try. The kit comes with a sulfate-free shampoo, conditioner and hair mask.

Ok lets start with the shampoo:

             This is the first sulfate free shampoo I have used since I started my hair journey and I was very excited to use it. The shampoo contains Moni oil that is suppose to condition the hair. Hibiscus Extract that is suppose to detangle the hair. Coconut Surfactant that cleanses the hair.

               Pros: I loved how the shampoo lathers up. I love when I shampoo lathers up I feel like it is working. It smells good nothing too strong. It cleanses the hair and scalp.

Cons: This did not detangle my hair at all. I felt like it put more tangles in my hair. My hair has never felt like this with a shampoo before. This shampoo acted like a protein treatment to my hair. It made feel strong not conditioned at all.

Summary: I do not hate this shampoo it was just not what I thought. I will use this shampoo when I feel like my hair needs some protein but not a protein treatment.  

 

 

 

Now conditioner time:

                The conditioner contains moni oil to condition the hair just like the shampoo. Bamboo water to strengthen the hair. Pro-vitamin B5 that fortifies the hair.

Pros: It strengthens the hair. It works as a great mild protein treatment

Cons: Everything about this conditioner. It did not condition my hair at all.

Summary: I am not feeling this product and will never use again........

 

 

Because the shampoo and conditioner made my hair feel so hard I was scared to use the hair mask so I just use my good old Silk Element deep conditioner and it softened up my hair and it felt great. The shampoo and conditioner did make my hair feel stronger like the box said they would and they did reduce my breakage by a lot....but I wont say it was 96% like the box promises. I do not think that these products are bad, I just think that it was too much protein for my hair at the time. I feel like if your hair is damaged and needs a good amount of protein this collection would be great for you. But if your hair is in good shape and balanced I would not recommend this collection.

 

 

I will be trying this line again with the deep conditioner when I do not have some much new growth. I think I am about 12 weeks post. 

HHJ!!!! See ya next Post

Simple co-wash day

Last Thursday I Deep Conditioned and co-washed my hair. I used my ORS Replenishing conditioner like I always do to add some protein to my hair. But I did something new with my deep conditioner and add a little bit of Queen Helene Cholesterol Hair conditioning cream. I did not care too much for the stuff when I used it alone so I thought to mix it. And to my shock my hair loved this mix. It made my hair feel soft but it gave my hair just enough protein to keep my hair in balance.

So I thought I would share my new DC mix with you guys. The picture below is my hair about 85% air dried. I have also been using a new leave-in, the Direct leave in by Giovanni and I love it so far. Sorry about the picture in my bra lol I just usually do my hair in it because I get hot and stuff.

 

Next Sunday I will be trying out the shampoo, conditioner and deep conditioner from the moni collection from Carol daughter. I only got the sample size of each because the regular size was too much and I don't even know if I will like it. So watch out for a post about the Moni collection.

 

 

As always HHJ!!! See ya next post!!! 

Mini Hair Haul

I got some walmart gift cards for chirstmas from some family members. I do not really shop at walmart because there is no walmart that is close to me. I did not want the gift cards to go to waste so I took a trip to walmart. I realized that I go through conditioners a lot faster than shampoo because I co wash. I love the Hello Hydration conditioner by Hebal essence so I want to try some different conditioners from the Hebal Essence Line. I picked Body Envy, Color Me Happy and Tousle Me Softly. Hopefully they will be just as good or better than Hello Hydration, but just incase they dont I also got another bottle of Hello Hydration. I just like to keep my staples in stock.

 

 

I also got some TRESemme Naturals conditioners because I heard they make your hair feel very soft and give great slip. I am not natural but I do stretch my relaxers so I was looking for a conditioner that can detangle my new growth. I know alot naturals use it and they love it. I got the Radiant Volume and Nourishing Mositure conditioner.

 

 

I also got Scurl No drip activator moisturizer.....finally. I have heard mostly good things about it. I have been using it on my new growth for the past week and I love how it makes my new growth feels. But I think I could get the same results by just mixing water and a cheap conditioner with some oils. I will keep using the Scurl and give you guys my review once I am done with the bottle.

 

The last thing I got was the Aussie Split end protector because I cant find the Herbal essence split end protector in any store in my area. smh. Right now I am using the Carol's Daughter spilt end protector but the bottle is too small and cost too much. So I am looking for something cheaper.  

 

 

Happy Hair Journey!!!!! See ya next post!!!

 

Goals for 2013

I started my hair journey kind of towards the end of 2012. So I am excited about having a whole year to focus on the health of my hair and retain length.

1. Maintain thick and healthy looking ends. I love the blunt look.
2. Retain as much length as possible. My goal is to be full MBL by the end of the year.
3. Grow out my nape and edges which were broken off because of weaves and not taking care of them
4. Find a staple leave in and shampoo.
5. Eat better by cooking more meals at home
6. Finding a decent job and man lol
7. Enjoy life and stop over thinking stuff
8. Make my blog bigger and better

See you guys next post!!!! HHJ