Been gone for a minute but I’m still going strong with this long transition to natural hair. I’ve straightened my hair three times since the Straight Hair, Fresh Cut post in January. But now I’m ready to get back to less heat until September. I’m probably going to cornrow it up for a few weeks and wear wigs and twists until I find something else to do with it. One thing that I can say is that straightening my hair more often has significantly reduced detangling and single strand knots. I’m back on the hunt for an anti-humidity serum and might actually give the new version of Sabino Moisture Block (Sabino Lok and Blok) another chance in a few months.
One experiment that went wrong was airdrying my hair in braids and then straightening with a flat iron. I airdryed overnight in about 15 braids and my hair seemed to be very moisturized before flat ironing (I did a lot of research beforehand on the method). Then, I went through my normal routine of applying Chi Silk Infusion and proceeding to flat iron with my trusty Sedu Flat Iron, but when I finished my hair was beyond DRY and snapping everywhere. I went ahead and washed it out just three days later and treated my hair to a serious deep condition. I don’t think I’ll be trying the “airdry to straighten” method again anytime soon!
I don’t know how to curl my hair with my Sedu so I usually place flexirods on dry hair for a few hours. And the first picture is a before and after of my hair from the start (freshly shampooed and deep conditioned wet hair, no extra products added yet) to the finished product (straight hair curled with flexi rods). Don’t let the Before picture fool you… I still have 6 (crown) to 10-12 inches (sides, back, and front) of relaxed hair throughout. Its just hiding very well between my shrinkage on top, lol. I’m even thinking about cutting before the 3 year mark *gasp*. And my texture is so random. The crown area is very coarse and the thickest part of my hair. The sides, back, and front have a looser curl and has natural shine. I have to pay special attention when handling my crown because it breaks easily and just soaks up moisture. I’ll post some larger texture shots soon.
Last, I finally reached BSL!!! After many cuts, trims, and setbacks… I’m almost back to my pre-relaxer length. It’s one of the main reasons I plan on cutting back on the heat. How is your transition going?
Note: I’ll be catching up on comments and emails over the next few days, and I’ll post my other flexi rod pictures tomorrow or Wednesday. Happy Hair Growing!
Johnny Wright, Michelle Obama’s hairstylist, offered his best healthy hair care tips and answered Kmart customers questions about all things hair. Wright’s appearance was part of Kmart’s Share the Word Beauty and Wellness program to celebrate the individual and unique beauty of African Americans and encourage women to nurture their beauty, inside and out.
Below is a short video of what was presented. He’s a huge advocate of trimming hair and mentions that for some Black women our hair will only reach a certain hair length and “to get over it” because it’s simply a part of genetics. According to Wright, you should just add a few pieces of track if you want longer hair. And that’s where I disagree… simply because many Black women CAN and DO grow their hair to longer lengths. The key to reaching your maximum hair growth potential is learning about healthy hair care. I don’t believe that anyone’s maximum hair growth is shoulder length hair!
On another note, the video was funny and I really love his personality. Shedding and how often you should shampoo your hair was also mentioned. Check it out and let me know what you think about Johnny Wright’s hair care tips.
I’ve been stuck in the house for the last week because Mother Nature decided to dump over 60 inches of snow in front of my house. I promise I’m buying one of those “I survived Blizzard 2010″ which I know the stores will be selling when this mess is over! Since I was bored out of my mind… I did my first attempt at two strand twists on blown out hair last week. It took me a little over eight hours because I made them pretty small. I like the result and hope to keep them in for at least three weeks. The only hair product I used was Elasta QP’s Mango Butter and some coconut oil.
Don’t really have much to update. I successfully passed the 16 month of my transition. Wish I could say time flew, but it doesn’t really feel like it, lol. And I’m still holding on to my ultimate goal of three years. Shouts to all my long transitioners to natural hair out there!!!
I’ve been having a hard time dusting the crown area of my hair lately. I found this product, the Split-Ender, and I’m seriously considering purchasing it. The Split-Ender is supposed to trim the ends of your hair 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. After doing a lot of research, the only problems I have is with the price (59.99) and the blades. A few reviews said you have to replace the blades often because they can become dull and leave your hair in worse shape. The product description and a YouTube video review is below. Has anyone tried it out? Let me know what you think!
Product Description:
“New Surgy-Trim SystemTM (STSTM) technology safely trims the ends of the hair where damaged hair ends and split ends starts while preserving the beautiful, long, healthy hair, insuring that all the ends (good & bad) are trimmed and healthy.
The Split-Ender unique patented Hair Plate is specially designed to guide the “hair strands” to uniformly flow in and out throughout the Strand Guards and safely into the “Blades” guiding each and every hair in a straight motion, forcing them to stand straight up… when reaching the “Center of the Hair Plate” by delivering only the ends into the blades to snip the tips by 1/8″ to 1/4″, trimming the ends where burned, dry, damaged ends and split ends are more likely to be found. All this! While preserving and leaving the long, beautiful and healthy hair strands untouched.”
Been gone for a minute but I’m still going strong with this long transition to natural hair. I’ve straightened my hair three times since the Straight Hair, Fresh Cut post in January. But now I’m ready to get back to less heat until September. I’m probably going to cornrow it up for a few weeks and wear wigs and twists until I find something else to do with it. One thing that I can say is that straightening my hair more often has significantly reduced detangling and single strand knots. I’m back on the hunt for an anti-humidity serum and might actually give the new version of Sabino Moisture Block (Sabino Lok and Blok) another chance in a few months. 
