Update

My 5 month old stretch ends by Friday and clearly, it’s been a learning experience. I never thought I could manage my new growth effectively with my relaxed ends but I did this successfully. I learnt the art of proper detangling, washing in sections, weekly tea rinse and using it as a daily leave-in.There were times when I thought to myself ‘what’s the whole point of this journey thingy anyway’? ‘what if I never reach my desired length or retain it’? The motivating point for me has been the number of hair inspirations I’ve read about online and the success I’ve achieved seeing those close to me achieving their hair length dreams and it’s kept me focused on my journey. Hope you’re inspired this morning with these quotes:

My scalp has been itchy of late and this is as a result of not clarifying last wash day. I finally got my hands on travel sized containers for my upcoming vacation and I’ve been setting aside what I’ll need on this trip bearing in mind that I’ll be purchasing more products. I’ll be going for a touch up at the salon on Friday.

If you’re currently stretching and need more tips on how to handle your new growth, I came across this video from Shimahair21 who’s got gorgeous hair by the way and you can learn one or two things.

Length Check for my sister

So my sister went to the salon for a touch up last week Friday. Before leaving for the salon, she coated her hair (from roots to the end) with Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Roux Porosity Control & a bit of Chi Silk Infusion to protect her hair from overlapping during the touch up process. You know how it is with our hair salon, they profess to know more than they actually do. I had told her to be watchful through out the entire process and if at anytime she felt they weren’t listening, she should get up and bolt for the car.

However the hair stylist seemed to listen and followed all her directions. She was on a 6 month stretch and prior to this touch up, her last length check was at shoulder length. Well she’s gone from shoulder length to arm pit length and her hair is simply amazing. The hair stylist kept asking what the secret was in terms of her healthy mane of hair. What aided this length retention was weekly deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing, proper handling when combing and detangling. This aided her in retaining previous length. When she was done, the hair stylist stated there was no pint in trimming her hair as it was even all through. These were the products she used:

Current length:

Don’t know where to start?

Got this amazing and insightful chart from Black Hair Information. If you’re clueless on how to start your hair journey, take time to study this chart. This was my go to chart when I commenced.

 

Got this for myself to incorporate deep conditioning with heat.

Image Source: Black Hair Information

Available Products

For ladies who’ve just sent in their orders requesting for available products. Check the pictures below to place your order.

Your orders have arrived

Ladies, the first batch of shipment arrived yesterday evening. Just picked them up and will be busy attending to deliveries.

Wash day for my niece

1. Co-washed her hair with a mix of Vitale Hair Mayonnaise & Grape-seed oil.
2. Covered her hair with a shower cap for an hour.
3. Rinsed out and left her hair to air dry.
4. Sealed with Grape-seed oil and Giovanni leave-in conditioner.
5. Divided her hair into 2 sections and used satin scrunchies.

Wash day diary

Wash day commenced on Friday night. I divided my hair into 5 sections and carefully detangled.

1. Prepoo my hair overnight with Grapeseed oil.
2. Rinsed each section with lukewarm water and shampooed with Ion Sulfate free shampoo.
3. Tea rinsed with green tea & left to dry.
4. Once my hair was 90% dry, I took each section and carefully detangled (green tea is a winner during this long stretch. See the minimal shedding below).

5. Mixed ORS Replenishing conditioner with Roux Porosity control and applied to each section making sure I was generous with my roots (I’ve exhausted my JBCO stash, eagerly awaiting my shipment).
6. Covered my hair with 2 shower caps for 3 hours.
7. Rinsed each section and wrapped my hair with a cotton towel.
8. Once my hair was dry, I sprayed each section with a bit of green tea and sealed with Grapeseed oil. Then I applied Elasta QP Moisturizing Butter and Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum.

To other matters, some of the products I ordered for myself during this import window are pictured below.

Over the past few months, I’ve been using light protein deep conditioners to strengthen my hair strands and I’ve achieved that. Now it’s time to incorporate moisturizing conditioners as well. Strong protein treatments like Aphogee aren’t good for my fine strands as I experience breakage. So I’ve learnt to steer clear of such products and any keratin treatments as well. Some of the changes I’ll be incorporating this week will be the use of green tea as a daily leave-in.
I also added the popular hair trigger elixir as well to my pre poo regimen. Lets see how it goes.

How was your wash day?

What not to do on a long stretch

Yesterday, I decided to go through my hair calendar to count the number of weeks I’ve been on this stretch and I made it to the 19th week. Next week will make it a 5month stretch. I have learnt a lot and these are some of the things that have contributed to a successful stretch.

• Do not comb your new growth when it’s dry: only comb your new growth after deep conditioning. From experience, combing my new growth when it’s wet results in breakage. To avoid this, I have learnt to wait until I’ve completed air drying before combing. Deep conditioning stretches the new growth and makes manipulation easier.
• Always apply leave-in conditioner to the new growth to prevent dryness: learn to divide your hair into 6 sections and carefully apply leave-in conditioner to the new growth up to the line of demarcation.  This helps to prevent breakage.
• Keep manipulation of your hair to the barest minimum.
• Before combing your new growth, cultivate the habit of using a detangler such as ‘Mane N’ Tail Detangler’ and comb in sections.

To other news ladies, your orders will be arriving next week and we will be sending out your individual orders. I have been busy attending to orders. I always say, start small and you’ll learn what works for your hair.

If you have read one of my wash day post, I had spoken about my cousin who had snorted when I commenced my hair journey. However when she saw my hair, she embarked on a journey in March and ordered all the products she required.

Well this is 3months later and this is what her hair looks like now. She grew her hair from arm-pit length to bra strap length. She sent me the picture yesterday & you needed to have seen me jumping up and down. The hub was looking at me like I was kinda loosing it but he couldn’t understand my excitement.

Readers Question

Q: Is it healthy to stretch your hair for longer periods before going for a touch up? Yes it is healthy to stretch your hair for longer periods before going for a touch up. Depending on your previous regimen, you might want to increase your stretching period gradually.For instance if you usually touch up every 4 weeks, you might want to extend it to 8weeks and gradually move up to 12 weeks e.t.c.

 

Q: I’ve got a lot of new growth and its’ frizzy. Why is that? Frizz is a part of our hair structure and its’ due to our curly texture. So embrace it but if you’re desirous of taming the frizz, consider using smoothing serums such as KeraPro Anti Frizz Elixir or Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum.

 

Q: Can black tea be used in a spray bottle as a daily moisturizer? I’m not an expert but from the research I’ve conducted online, it’s better to use a mix of teas. For instance instead of using black tea alone, why not consider mixing black and green tea or green and chamomile tea together. You get better results that way. When you pour the tea mix into a spray bottle, remember to divide your hair into 4 or 5 sections and use the spray bottle sparingly. You don’t want tea dripping on all over you. Use it in minute quantities.

 

Preventing breakage at demarcation line

Preventing breakage during a long stretch is a delicate process. From the diagram above, you can see the line of demarcation where the texlaxed texture meets bone straight strands. While I’ve been able to manage the new growth and texlaxed hair, the tricky part has been the straight hair strands. Washing & deep conditioning in sections has helped but once my hair is 90% air dry, I usually am more careful by using my fingers to detangle instead of a comb. This helps to prevent tangles due to my bone straight ends. Slathering deep conditioner on my roots and entire length has ensured that my lengths are retained. Before I commenced my hair journey, I usually went to the salon three times a year for touch up. I remember how difficult it was to comb through my new growth since deep conditioning was not a familiar term.

Applying liquid leave-in conditioner such as Komaza Care Califia Moisturizing or Mane N’ Tail Detangler spray to my roots and up to the line of demarcation has ensured minimal loss of hair.

Often times, I’d be wincing when the hair stylist is tugging at my hair with a tail comb and its not surprising I never retained length. Now I’m wiser and more adept. Wash day went well.
How was yours?

Came across this protective style last week and this is how I’ll be wearing my hair this week.