Relaxer Day

So I got a relaxer Thursday morning (my last relaxer for 2010) and I am proud to say I stuck to my guns--no trim. My hairdresser insisted it was necessary, but didn't push it--he knew better. I always find it interesting that before he even washes the relaxer out of my hair that he is already talking about cutting my hair! I mean really?! Why don't you look at my hair after it has dried to determine if in fact it needs a trim before recommending it? Geeze! Even if my hair did "need" a trim, I was determined not to get one by him. Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy going to my hairdresser. He is very professional, never keeps me waiting, and relaxes my hair beautifully. He is a gifted hairdresser. Unfortunately, when it comes to "trimming" hair I think he is a little off the mark. Why is this always an issue for black women? Next to breakage I think a scissor happy hairdresser is the biggest problem black women have when trying to achieve longer lengths. Anyway, with that settled I was happier then I have been in the last little while, however that was short lived...

My hair grew some (nice), appears to be looking thicker (also nice), but the sides and nape of my hairs is still a big problem. These areas are growing, however they seem to be stunted. I may just need to give these areas a little more TLC. This leads me to my mini hair goals:

As you already know I have been reflecting on my journey thus far and I have come to the conclusion that I have been too focused on gaining length and ignoring the fact that my hair is simply not as healthy as it should be to truly thrive. I've denied it up to this point, but I don't have any other explanation as to why certain areas of my hair are still breaking off. I mean some breakage can be expected because the hair bonds have been broken to achieve a "relaxed" look--it comes with the territory. However, the amount of breakage I am experiencing is so consistent that it feels like my hair hasn't budged in certain areas (e.g. sides, nape), but fine in others (e.g. front, back). So, it's time to regroup and put the horse right back in front of the cart where it belongs.

So this is the progress on my goals thus far:

1. Eliminate (or at least seriously reduce) dry/itchy scalp
2. Reduce breakage (better, but still an issue)
3. Obtain and maintain strength/moisture balance (pretty good)
4. Reduce shedding (better)
5. Increase thickness 
6. Increase growth potential and even out hair length
   
7.  Low manipulation style 95% of the time 
8. Daily 1 min scalp massages (need to be more consistent)

In addition, these are my overall health goals which should help me get to my hair goals:

1. Drink more H2O (minimum 2 litres/day)
   
2. Eat 6 small well balanced meals everyday (esp. breakfast!)
   
3. Take a good quality multivitamin (3x/day) as well as regular Iron, Calcium and B-vitamin complex (need to be more consistent)
4. Get adequate sleep
5. De-stress with regular exercise/fun activity 

Well I've still been sleeping on my overall health goals *deep sigh*, so I will need to put more effort there. Let see if I can turn things around.

Next check in March 4, 2011