Relaxed Hair Tings

It's a new year! Hope you're all well and started the year on a good note. One of the things I do at the start of the year is look ahead at what's coming and make a plan. This plan is not set in stone and it helps reduce decision fatigue.  With respect to my hair after looking at how busy the year is going to be I decided to get back to braiding my hair as a protective style. As you can see from the picture I am a little bit out of practice.  With hats and scarves I am not too worried. I'm sure I'll  get into the swing of things. I am currently 8weeks post relaxer and at this stage next relaxer is scheduled for June. I will still be keeping my weekly wash day schedule and rebraid my hair every two weeks. Another reason I made this decision is to save me from breakage due to friction and too much manipulation. In my day to day when wearing my hair out there are more chances of getting it stuck somewhere or rubbing against things. I tried putting it up in a bun howeve...

The year is almost over and this will probably be my last update for the year. Forgive the dirty mirror reflection in the photo. I am currently one week post relaxer. The progress is great and I can't wait for next year! I was supposed to have my touch up earlier but ended up getting to 11weeks post. Life and things have just been a bit busy. This experience reminded me why I shouldn't be stretching too long. Managing the two textures can be a challenge.  Another thing I learnt and am still trying to fully observe is that my scalp does not like me blow drying every week. I have decided to do a monthly blow dry. Now as my hair grows longer on the weeks I am not blow drying I can just put it up in a bun. I also want to bring in doing a french or dutch braid. I will definitely experiment with a few styles too. Next year I will be able to get onto a trimming schedule. It can be quite awkward trying to trim short hair and making it all line up so I usually wait to get some lentgh. S...

Another month has gone by and progress is made.  I can easily put my hair into a ponytail now. Low or high which is good. That also means the bun is coming in nicely. I have been wearing my hair out mostly.  Still blow drying and not flat ironing and it's been working well for me. I have started working in four sections when blow drying to make the process easier. This has certainly helped as my hair has been growing longer. I had noticed a missed section in the back where the roots where not dry. My scalp on the other hand is still a work in progress.  I noticed after reaching the six week mark it sort of rebels. I have decided to add a midweek cowash to help. I have relaxer scheduled for next month which I might move a week or so to make sure my scalp is not irritated when I relax. If the cowash helps I'll also keep it as part of the regimen. How is your hair going? I hope it is healthy and flourishing!

Still making good progress and I've kept up with my blow drying routine. I relaxed early on in the month and that was successful.  One thing I have realised regarding the ORS relaxer I am using is there are different formula of it in the market. Especially it being an imported product you don't know what you will get in the store. I don't know if it's just me but I realised one formula works much slower than the other. The one that I like I haven't seen anywhere for ages. Both boxes say new look on them and they are both not on the US website for ORS so hard to tell. Another thing I noticed is some countries have products tailored to them. I have seen the relaxer in the form of sachets etc on instagram and YouTube too. So it could just be matter of where the shops can get their supply of the relaxer that's adding to the mix. Before using the relaxer I check the expiry date. All of them have been well before expiry so I can not blame expired product for how slow ...

It's been a minute. Life keeping me busy. Hope you are all well and keeping busy. Relaxer touch up went well in July. I did have challenges with lining up my dates and the longer I stretched the more irritated my scalp became. I hope to keep the schedule going forward. If it looks like there might be challenges it would be better to get it done earlier than to hope to get it done when things 'settle down'. Reader they did not settle hahaha.  Making great progress with my hair. I was even able to do a top bun! Small but still a top bun. I will keep my weekly wash and blow dry routine. I have decided to add in the two braids for the low maintenance and it makes it much easier for wearing head scarfs. I am a little out of practice but we will get there. How has your hair been going?

The month of June has gone by and I decided to flat iron my hair. It's been a while, my hair is longer and I need help with my hand eye coordination. Needless to say it was a bit of an arm work out. The flat ironing step alone took me just under an hour. I hadn't really thought through my game plan but it all worked out in the end. There's definitely progress. I think the next time I flat iron will either be end of year or in the new year with the first relaxer. Then I'll see if it will be worth doing it more regularly if not for practice.  Growing out the hair in layers is interesting. I can put my hair in a bun just not all of it regardless of the position. This calls  for some creativity in styling with clips, side combs etc. In the background I am continuing to work on deciding my staple products. A mix of allergies and wanting accessible products that work is the reason behind it. It's not as easy as I thought it would be but progress is being made. Once I have...

Not only am I not great at taking photos, I don't always remember to take any. I had my relaxer touch up and this went well. My hair is growing and thriving. I have been enjoying my blow dry wash routine. I need to properly time it and will report back. Wash routine including blow drying is about an hour. Adding in relaxer steps on relaxer day comes to just under two hours. This is so good! My current challenge is finding a shampoo that agrees with both my hair and scalp. The ors shampoo is the only one working for me at the moment.  I'd like to have a moisturising shampoo as well and potentially a back up. Next step would be to do the same for my conditioner and other staple products. Having a go to line up and back up mean when something gets discontinued I'm not completely left out to dry. Having a focused line up also means I can work on my technique, diet, exercise, rest etc because I know the products work. Hope your hair is thriving. Do you have back up products that...