Relaxed Hair Tings

Pain is not normal. It should not be a characteristic of how you style your hair. This is the biggest lesson I learned. When I was still trying to find a good hairdresser this was one of the red flags I looked for. Some would say to just bear with it for a while, beauty is painful... No, it does not have to be. If a stylist took me seriously when I said my scalp is tingling already and made efforts to wrap up and get me rinsed out they got points from me. Usually stylists who insisted I wait longer were also the ones who did not listen to requests like not using  a rat tail comb to smooth the relaxer or detangle. My hair needs a lot of patience a lot of the time. While it is thick and very coily and can handle extra strength relaxer, my scalp is not made of steel.  I have already accepted the fact that my hair will never be relaxed bone straight. When people see my hair air dried they ask if I am going to relax my hair! I just smile. Now I am doing it all myself. I am happy to be able ...

Still going. Back to my bun and moisturising my hair. Planning on wash day this Saturday. We are half way through the week and I am looking up hair styles that I may or may not try. I really want to keep this stretch simple and boring. This is usually what works the best for me. All the excitement and breakage get old pretty quick.

I tried putting my hair up differently. Still keeping my ends tucked away. Hope you had a great start to the week!

After I do all my prep and relaxer is mixed, I set my timer for 15 minutes. It's time to start. I put on my gloves and press start. It's now a race against time to apply the relaxer and smooth my hair. I don't add anything to my relaxer besides the activator. I alternate the side I start applying relaxer on each time. I found It's easier for me to start from the back and work my way to the front. Having my hair already sectioned makes the whole process so much faster. I apply to my edges and nape after applying everywhere else and then I smooth in the relaxer using my hands. It is at this point as well that I remove the twists in my hair. Once my timer goes off, I head on to the sink and wash it out. I apply the neutralising shampoo that comes in the box and let it sit for 5minutes then I rinse it out. I repeat this step and rinse it out to make sure there is no more relaxer left in my hair. Next step is the conditioner. I also use the one that comes in the box. After a...

I went and bought more relaxer kits for next time. I hope one day there will be enough supply and demand to see a beauty supply store that stocks relaxers etc have a sale happen. I also had to return the flat iron I bought. The advertising said it had a retractable comb and after contacting the seller they confirmed this was not the case. There were no instructions and I had tried everything to no avail. They offered me a full refund so will see when that comes through. In the meantime I'll be sticking to a normal flat iron. On my non eventful weekends at home, I love being able to go at my own pace as I get things done around the house. Next weekend is wash day. Hope you are keeping safe and well. 

This is 6months apart. November 2020 vs May 2021. It's been quite interesting being intentional about my hair. I am by no means on top of it all. Small things like remembering to take pictures to track progress and having a hair diary have been worth it. There's still a lot I am learning and working on like taking better photos or flat ironing my hair.  Slowly understanding what works for my hair, my time and circumstances has meant that I have to stop myself from certain things at times or push myself to do other things. Staying focused on the kind of hair and life I want to have keeps me grounded.  Have a great weekend!

It's been 7 days. I am now 1 week post relaxer.  It feels so short and so long at the same time. My hair has been easy to manage and I am looking forward to another week.  I must say I am tempted to try all kinds of styles now that my hair is a little longer. However I want to try and stick it out this stretch doing just a low bun. This time it was easy to do since I straightened my hair for my trim. I wonder if it will be the same after wash day. Hoping it will be easier to keep it somewhat stretched. When it's stretched there is less tangles and less matting which is what we want. It's almost the weekend counting down!

A quick update for today. Still keeping it simple. My hair is in a low bun and I moisturise it every night before putting it up.  Is it Friday yet? Hope you are all having  a better week!

Yesterday after a long day I moisturised my hair before putting it up for the night. I know some people like to wear their hair out especially after flat ironing it. I have decided to keep it up with my ends tucked away and so adding in some product doesn't bother me. Also it feels like winter is already here and when it's cold and windy my hair easily dries out. Today is my day to recover from the previous week and set myself up for the new one. I will mainly be around the house getting this and that organised at a leisurely pace. Once the work week starts it will be go go go. I am going to dig out some hair bands and see if I can use them to keep my hair out of the way.  I hope you are having a restful weekend. 

Day 2 hair is still feeling and looking great. I have been mostly at home and kept it under my scarf. It's still cold. I thought to share why I choose to relax my hair. All it comes down to is it's a lifestyle choice. My schedule is very hectic and having a whole day dedicated to washing my hair on a regular basis just doesn't work. Having my hair relaxed means that I can wash, style it and be out the door in an hour or less. My relaxer routine is roughly an hour and a half.  If need be I can breakdown the process into smaller chunks over 2days for example and not worry about my hair being a matted mess. Cowashing can also be a lifesaver for those times I need  to freshen up my hair without the full wash process.  I don't use heat a lot because of the amount of time needed on top of my wash or relaxer routine. Also I am no silk press queen. I am sure with more practice I will get better at it. Since deciding to go full diy I have decided to flat iron every 4 months when...

This is how I had my hair today. It's cold, windy, wet and can be quite gloomy as we get into winter. Rain is forecast for tomorrow too. Not sure yet how I will be wearing my hair tomorrow.  I am thinking of keeping my ends tucked and out of the way as much as possible. At the current length cornrows, a bun and headscarf are what I can play with. As it grows out I am hoping to mix it up with different updo styles. At night I am applying a small amount of my dark and lovely oil moisturiser to my hair.  Then I put it up for the night and call it a day, nice and simple. What are some of your favourite updos? Any tips for my current length?

 As my hair grows longer I am excited to try new styles and build up my go to low manipulation and protective styles. This past weekend on wash day I decided to try braiding my hair into 2 braids. I like the simplicity of this style and you can move the part around so as not to stress the same area. No extensions were used. I have to say it was a bit more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I persisted and got a pretty good outcome for the first try. With more practice it will get better. I only used my moisturiser and sealed with coconut oil to keep things simple. I am currently just over six weeks post relaxer and that new growth isn't playing. Once I start wearing my hair out more this will definitely be one of my go to that will help give both me and my hair a rest. What are your go to styles?

 I am currently 4week post relaxer and am planning to stretch to 10weeks this time around. What is relaxer stretching? Also commonly referred to just as stretching, relaxer stretching is when you wait to apply relaxer to your hair after the last application. How long to stretch is an individual decision, however there are a few things to consider. Generally people stretch from 8 to 12 weeks to 6 months or even a year. The main reason for stretching is to ensure there is enough new growth to apply relaxer without overlapping previously relaxed hair. Overlapping can lead to over processed, damaged thin hair. What to consider when stretching One of the things to consider is how quickly your hair grows. If your hair grows out pretty quickly you may have sufficient new growth to relax at 8 weeks for example compared to someone who might need to get to 14 weeks for the same amount of growth. This also links into another consideration of how manageable it is. If your new growth is super t...

With starting my hair journey I quickly realized I needed to make note of how things were going. This  included making note of what products I liked or disliked and why. That's how my hair diary started. Before I started my hair journey I would buy whatever products I could find at the shops and use them. Once they run out I would go back see what is available and buy that. I have realized that most products especially for relaxed hair are imported from overseas. If the store thinks a product is not popular or going slowly they may choose not to restock when it runs out. This is the kind of challenge I have on top of some products being discontinued. With starting my hair journey and trying to find products I like, I now have to make a conscious effort to find them. My current plan is to find a main staple product and a back up for each use. Hopefully they will be from different companies too. Recently trying to see what some highly recommended products cost left me a little down a...