Protein Sensitive

As you may know, I've been experiencing some dryness and breakage. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, feeling defeated and frankly fed up. After reviewing my blog entries (I was giving it a bit of a facelift) I began to realize that I may be using too much protein. I haven't been using strong proteins, but I believe any amount of protein may be too much. In other words, I am protein sensitive. When I was relaxed this was harder for me to notice, be cause I have very fine hair and didn't couldn't really determine if the breakage I experienced back then was a result of the relaxer. Now, it's a lot easier to figure out.

To confirm my suspicions I avoided all protein based products for a few weeks. That meant shampoo, conditioner, leave in and moisturizer. Oh yes, I was using protein based shampoo. Smh. I guess I thought my curly hair could handle it. To boost my moisture level, I applied my old tested and true Banana/Coconut Milk Masque to see if I could revive my very dry tresses. It helped and I noticed the difference almost immediately. My hair felt soft and moisturized and I was able to maintain a decent amount of moisture until my next wash day. In the past, no matter how much product I put on my hair, it continued to feel quite dry. So it was confirmed. My fine locs can not handle too much protein.

I didn't want to swing too far into the opposite direction, so I completed a mild protein treatment today utilizing my Avocado Masque  (modified), which I think will keep me on the right path to healthy balanced hair. To recap, I blended the avocado and oils well in a blender until smooth then add the egg and the honey. In addition to modifying the recipe a bit, I applied freshly washed hair, from root to tip, applied 2 plastic caps and let it sit for 3 hours. My goal was only 1 hour, but I was a little distracted. I rinsed it out and lightly finger detangles and then applied AO Honeysuckle Rose and allowed that to sit while I cleansed my body. I then finger detangled again while doing my final rinse. Finally I applied homemade moisture balance spritz, sealed with my shea butter mix and air dried. That's it. Here is the modified recipe I used:

1 small hass avocado

1 egg

1 tsp each of EVCO, EVOO, JBCO

1 tsp honey

Overall, I am very pleased with the results. My hair feel soft, yet strong. I'm going to stick with moisturizing products and plan to do a protein treatment in 4-6 weeks. I will have to wait to see what my hair needs. As much as I would like to use certain products that seem to be loaded with protein, I simply can't. In this rare occassion, my hair calls the shots.

                                 

Hair Faux Pas: How to Get That Hair Growing...Finally

For the last little while I have been a little less motivated to continue with my journey. I think its something we all go through, but I think a lot of my frustration has been more about the fact that I have seen less than desirable results. The fact that I suffered a small set back hasn't helped the situation at all.

In an effort to keep myself motivated I have been doing my usual round on the internet. Reading this and that, which I enjoy doing because I can often find women that have similar hair textures and/or hair issues as my own. Hearing their story is always inspiring and it helps me push on. Seeing their progress gives me hope, but leads me to ask: why am I not seeing progress? I know the basic stuff I should be doing--or do I? Am I causing the issues with my hair?

Ladies, it goes without saying that hair grows, no matter what you do; it will grow. It also goes without saying that 99% of the upkeep and maintenance of my hair fall solely on my shoulders (pardon the pun). I only go to the salon once every 9-10 weeks for my relaxer touch up (self-relaxing was a disaster), and I have no plans to alter that relationship. So if these two things-- continued hair growth and personal maintenance--are indisputable, then I can only conclude that any hair breakage or damage I experience is the result of something I am doing or not doing to my hair, right?

Now I am not saying any of this to be hard on myself. I believe I have come a loooong way since the beginning of my hair journey in terms of knowledge and the general care of my hair. However, I am not seeing the results that I would like to see, plain and simple. Again, I am not being hard on myself or even unrealistic; I am not expecting to go from SL to APL in two months or anything like that. However, I am expecting to at least see a few inches of progress from one relaxer touch up to the next. Instead, I am seeing breakage on a consistent basis, that is not normal. My hair has also been hovering at SL for the last 4-5 months (taking setback into account), and that is not normal either. So clearly there are things I can be doing better, I just need to figure it out, which brings me to a beautiful hair diva's channel on YouTube.

Let me tell you, this woman Shlinda is funny, sassy, but more importantly, she points out the many hair faux pas that women are doing to their hair that leads to ongoing hair issues, information that may not be new, but helpful none the less. She points out the simple things that make me just shake my head thinking--"Really, how simple is that?! Why haven't I been doing that?" The following tips are some things that Shlinda has suggested on her channel and a few of the things are my own tips that are sure to get that hair growing.

1. Re-evaluate how you HANDLE your hair.

I personally can be VERY rough with my hair. When I M & S, when I detangle and when I style, I AM rough, plain and simple. I never really stopped to think about how hard I was being on my hair, but I have always been quick to tell my hairdresser or my BF, "oh no, you need to be careful" whenever they handled it too roughly. Well, as the saying goes "what is good for the goose, is good for the gander"--I need to start doing what I am instructing other people to do.

2. Maintaining a DAILY journal.

I typically don't do this. I make note of what I have tried/use whenever I wash my hair or use a new product. I also update my blog with any new discoveries, but a daily log is a different thing entirely. For many women this won't be necessary, but for newbies (I consider myself a sophomore) this is a good idea. Record what you are doing to your hair everyday.  How does it feel after using each product? How does it feel at the end of the day? At the end of the week? This will tell you if the product is a keeper or should be trashed. You will also recognize when something isn't going well with you hair sooner than later because you are forcing yourself to be more aware on a daily basis vs. weekly or monthly basis.

3. THROW AWAY products that simply don't work for your hair.

I've already said this and follow this practice, but I've slipped a few times. Now this is a tricky "rule" as some products need adjusting to work effectively on your hair. Not to mention no one is made of money and I know I don't have the luxury of buying and simply throwing out products because they don't work the first time around. But don't feel you must commit to a product simply because "everyone" else swears by it. Products do not work the same way on every person. You know when something is working for your hair or not. My rule of thumb is to let my hair be the true judge. If my hair is generally soft, supple, etc and I use a product that makes it feel like straw, I will not play around with that product to see if I can "make it work". It's simple not for me. Now if a product makes my hair feel "okay" then I will play with oils or combine it with other products to see if it works better. Over the last year or so I have learned more about my hair and I can make these decisions a lot quicker than in the past. Unfortunately, when I've waited too long to throw away a product this has been disastrous for my hair.

4. MAKE TIME for your hair

Now this is not what you think it means. As you know I take time out to do my hair on a weekly basis. What I am talking about is giving yourself the time required to do your hair with the least amount of damage as possible. These are two different things. Sure, I would deep condition my hair every week, M&S everyday, co-wash weekly (sometimes ), but I use to whip through this process. Sometime I did this because I did not have enough time to do these things, so I would rush through it. However, there were times when I just didn't want to do the things I had to do to maintain my hair, so I would just do a quick job to "get it over with".  I would quickly M&S for example just ripping through my hair so I could get to bed or out the door (which highlights tip #1), yet be confused when I saw broken pieces in my hand. I think taking the time to slowly do these things will make a huge difference in your hair. Small changes like waking up earlier, M&Sing as soon as you get home before you get too tired, washing or co-washing on days when you have more time to slow the process down can all be helpful in this area.

See these are all such simple things, but I've been sleeping on it I tell you. It's so simple and doesn't require any effort at all. Rather, it requires you relax on how much "effort" you're putting into your hair.

HHG!

Protecting your Hair During the Winter

As you know I have been under some stress because my hair has been breaking. I am happy to say that I have manage to get it under control and all is right with the world once again . Since I've been using the AOWC my hair has improved a great deal, so it will definitely become a staple in my regimen. However, I still need to figure out what went wrong with my hair; why did my hair take such a horrible turn.

When I first noticed my hair "trauma" I immediately went into recovery mode. I also took a peek at my previous blog entries to help me determine where I went wrong. True, I had been neglecting my hair big time over the last month or so, but my hair issues were more than simple neglect. I kid you not when I say my hair felt like brittle straw. It was crumpling and snapping at the slightest touch and it had nothing to do with protein overload because I hadn't touched protein in three weeks.

So what was it? Well after reviewing my blog I realized that last winter (oddly enough when I had the best progress on my journey) I had been super protective with my hair. For months I completely covered my ends, conditioned my hair like nobody's business and followed my regimen religiously. More importantly, I used products that were more appropriate for the colder months (e.g heavier oils, conditioners and creams).

Over the last six months I have tried several products in an effort to find the best products for my hair texture and needs. In the summer/fall I had finally found some great all natural products that made my hair feel amazing. Unfortunately, in all my excitement I failed to recognize that these products weren't the best options for the winter months. To make matters worse I have been wearing my hair "out" more often than I have in the past, exposing it to the harsh elements. None of this information should be a surprise to me. I mean we wear different clothes,change our skin care routines and products to manage the harsh elements, so why wouldn't I do the same for my hair? It is unfortunate that I had to learn the hard way that I was unintentionally undoing my progress, but I am learning, as I should be, and have since made changes to my daily routine and my product list. These changes over the colder months (November-March) include:

1. Increasing moisture and sealing routine to 2x/day using heavier creams and oils

2. Air dry, with no heat passes

3. Wear protective styles 99% of the time

4. Stretch relaxers to 10+ weeks

I' m hoping this will help.

Breakage: I'm in Trouble Y'all!

Once again I am experiencing a serious issue with my hair. I'm not just talking about a little bit of breakage here; I am talking about severe breakage. The whole right side of my hair in the back has broken off at least 2-2½ inches!!!!! It feels like it almost crept up on me, but if I am being completely honest I saw the indications that my hair was in peril weeks ago. I just thought I was responding to the issue. I should explain a little:

It has been really cold here in Toronto, so I thought I would give my hair a bit of a break from the cold and regular manipulation, so I put it in a quick weave. It was a cute little layered bob, which I really liked. It has been a minute since I wore a weave (2003 to be exact) and I forgot how much damage it can cause if you do not care for you hair appropriately before, during and after wearing the weave. I thought I was caring for my hair while it was in the weave: washing, conditioning appropriately. When I took it down it was a little dry, but nothing too horrible and I M&S once a day, wore it up off my shoulders, washed once a week and deep conditioned as usual. But day, by day I have been loosing more and more hair. Since they were fairly long pieces I thought it was normal shedding, but gradually I noticed the back of my hair was looking distressed. Today after washing and drying my hair I was horrified by what I saw. Where did all the hair on the left side of my head go? How is it I didn't notice this earlier?After crying (not literally) for 10 minutes and I snapped out of it and decided to go back to work reading over past blog entries, researching the blogs of my hair idols, all in an effort to get me back on track. I've been here before, so I can recover as long as I don't panic and make things worse. As much as it pains me, I am going to have to get my hair cut in the back to even my hair out. Oh well.....

What is Going On with My Hair?!

OMG! What the hell is going on with my hair? I washed it, did my usual routine: pre-poo overnight, shampoo, DC, leave ins--it was a friggin' tangled mess from start to finish! I noticed that it did not feel very soft after I washed out my pre-poo, but didn't think anything of it simply because I pre-pooed with a protein conditioner. I know, I am a week early, but I just felt it needed it. As an aside, I didn't clarify simply because I was soooo lazy last week and didn't put anything on my hair, so there wasn't an issue with build-up, but now I am wondering if I should have clarified anyway. Anyhoo, like I said didn't think anything about it because protein tends to leave my hair hard and a bit tangled. Okay, so I shampooed with my trusty Aveda DR, and there wasn't any real moisture. It was "okay", but not the softness I am use to--and the shedding---OMG! I look like a damn wilder beast there was so much hair all over me. Okay, so I am feeling my hair  and I think hmmm maybe it needs more moisture, so I whip out good old CON Ultra Moist Shampoo (I am trying to work my way through the remaining bottles I have before I say farewell to that product forever). Nada. My hair felt stripped, a little tangled--WTH? This never happens.

So I am off to condition. I used the BB Avocado Butter Treatment mix because I wanted to use up the last of the BB and my Aveda DR, and it worked out pretty well the last time I used it. I let that sit for an hour w/ heat and rinsed . Again, my hair was a stripped, tangled mess. Absolutely no slip. It didn't even feel moisturized. I then co-washed with a instant conditioner just to add some moisture and to help remove the tangles. It felt a tad better, but no where near where it should have been. I finally got out and just added my leave ins. Still, my hair is a damn mess. It took me one hour to detangle my hair. One hour! I lost way too much hair--not a lot, but more than I want to see--and it felt "weird". I'll ask the question again, what is going on with my hair?!

I've been noticing that there have been a lot of issues with my hair lately, but today was the last straw. My hair is not responding well to any of the products that I am using--products that I use to use for months without issue mind you and as of late it looks and feel like a hot frizzy mess every time I wash it...I want to cut it off. Whew, needed to get that out. No I don't want to cut it off, but this is just so frustrating. I feel as though I am the only one going through all this drama with my hair, but I realize that I can't be the only one. I think other women just don't talk about their failures as much as they tot around their successes, so it appears as though everyone but me has bouncy, full, beautiful hair. I'm not hating at all, it would just be nice to know I am not the only one experiencing set backs. I currently have my hair in rollers, which I have not done since 2007. I just felt I needed to go back to basics, and my hair was tangling so much I thought the rollers would smooth out the ends--even that process was a chore. I just need to take a deep breath. The nice thing about keeping a blog is I can go back and review some of the things I've written and see where I just got it wrong. I think it started with my Pjism.....

the one plus is I didn't have any breakage--that was until I tried to detangle my hair

I'll keep you posted.

ETA: (sigh). I took the rollers out and can I just say, my head was a hot, greazzzy ass mess...LOL all I can I do is laugh because I know I used way too much product and my technique left something to be desired, but I planned on tying my hair back anyway. Unfortunately, it was so bad I had to rinse all that product out of my hair. I just did a few bantu knots and I'm gonna call it a day. I think I'm going to have practice roller setting. Truth be told I never really likes doing it because I felt it was causing breakage. I have now come to realize that breakage with relaxed hair is inevitable, how much you experience is the issue. As well, if I am going to stay committed to minimizing the amount of heat I use, then I will have to figure out something. I will say I much liked the fullness it gave me (despite the greasy look), so I think I want to practice some more until I get this thing going. Aw well...

Burt's Bee Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Treatment

Burt's Bee Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Treatment ($11.69 CDN)
As you know I picked this product up about three weeks ago mainly because I have been experiencing some serious breakage and had a big issue with dry, brittle hair. So I was--well still have been on a mission to up the moisture levels of my hair, really reducing the protein I am currently applying protein once a month (or as needed). Having my hair out of the twist I am coming to really see how moisture deprived my hair. It seems to be drinking up whatever I put on it like water.

Anyway, the first time around I added it to my conditioner mix (AO HR and RM) and left it on my usual time with heat and it was just okay. This time around I decided to do an overnight treatment. My hair was a little dry and I haven't had the opportunity to M & S everyday as planned. There was absolutely no difference in the condition in my hair. Now when I say this, I don't mean my hair was bad at all, but it just felt "okay". There was okay slip, and my hair was a little softer. I am just use to getting "buttery" (oh yeah I said "buttery") soft hair when I rinse out my conditioner, and this is no longer the case. Now either these products have changed in some way, or it is my hair that is changing. Now I believe the latter may be the culprit, because as we all know, that is the nature of hair. Since I first began using all natural products I have changed the relaxer I use (Affirm Fiberguard) and my diet. Age may also play a factor as well. As we age the moisture and protein levels in our hair changes, which affects sheen, texture, feel and moisture/protein retention. With these things considered, my hair appears to no longer responding to some natural products the way that it did before. Does that mean I will stop using natural products--hell no! I just need to figure out what else will work. Anyway, I digress.

The BB Avocado Butter Treatment just doesn't do it for me. I have yet to use it on it's own, so I will do that next, but I figure if I have used it with so called moisturizing conditioners and it hasn't had an impact with those additives, then why would it be more effective on its own? I may be totally wrong, but from my experience most things are only enhanced when you add it to something else. I think to be fair I will complete a final experiment though. I will split my hair into four sections (which I do anyway), but I will apply different concoctions to each section to see what happens. One section will definitely have just the BB Avocado Butter on it's own to give it a fair chance, and I will play around with the other sections (honey, oils, conditioners--don't know yet). As it stands now, I will have to give this product a because it is too expensive for the limited results I've received. Some women have had good results with this product, so you may also want to check out their reviews (use google). I've only had okay results, so I just don't think it's worth it. Maybe I should lower my expectations...

ETA: I completed my final review after experimenting with a few things. Here are my thoughts of this product after it was all said and done

- = not worth the money, don't waste your time.

- = neither hit or miss; just okay

- = good product; really worth trying.

= amazing product!

Wash Day

Hmmmm....so I washed my hair today and a three things occurred to me. One, I had yet to stop (or at least significantly stop) my breakage.; two, just how damaged my hair really is; and three, I need to find a decent moisturizing conditioner. My ends were snapping off with the slightest touch, and my hair felt very dry. So I decided to DC on dry hair following my regular regimen (EVCO overnight on dry/damp hair; DC on dry hair w/ conditioner and oil in the morning, etc...) using up some of the conditioners I have (e.g. Lustrasilk Shea Butter, Rosa Mosquete, AOHR) with some oils. At least two of these conditioners are  not doing anything for my hair, but I needed to use them up (see review for more information). Well after sitting with my "DC mix" in my hair for one and a half hours there was no impact. I mean my hair took this DC mix and spit it back out! No slip, no real moisture, as it dried slightly it felt okay, but no real impact. So I rinsed, shampooed lightly and DC again with another mix (e.g. Aveda Dry Remedy and Mizani Hydrafuse and oils). Let that sit for an hour and rinsed. Much better. Had slip, felt moisturized and better yet---no breakage! Okay, so maybe I am back on track... I sprayed my hair with a rose-aloe-glycerin mix that I got from Tracyee and then put in some leave in, sealed with oil  (new) on wet hair and twisted my hair (as an aside twisting looks better on me than braid outs). My hair is now dry (two and a half hours later) and it feels good. It is soft, feels moisturized, new growth is really soft and defined so I am satisfied. Moisture is definitely what it needed. Removing my twist though reveal just how uneven and broken my hair looks. I have a longer way to go than I thought.....

ETA: the next day my hair was butttttter soft. OMG It has never felt this soft before. It was moisturized and new growth was all good. The problem is I don't know what exactly did it. I really don't want to use 4 conditioners just to get the same results....this hair game drives me crazy sometimes, but I'm up for the ride. No guts, no glory right?!

Hair Breakage...Have I Found a Possible Solution?

So if you've been following my blog this far you will know that I've had a minor setback. Truthfully, my hair is still recovering from tons of breakage, but it has gotten better. Well you will also know that I figured out one of the reasons my hair was breaking at the root, but I was also noticing that I seem to have this pattern of breakage and shedding around 5 or 6 weeks post relaxer. Well I think I've figured it out (or at least have narrowed it down to three main issues).

Whoa...Big Sigh of Relief

So I seemed to have significantly reduce the breakage I was experiencing. Thanks god! I was freaking out last week. I pretty much stopped using that scalp growth conditioner because it just had too much protein and I wasn't able to balance it out. I did use it on my scalp last night and pre-pooed with EVCO as usual. I need to use this thing up somehow and I figure this would be the safest bet because I can wash it out and follow up with a  moisturizing DC. I had a significant amount of shedding too, but nothing too crazy.

Here's what I did:

Breakage...Back to Square One?

So my hair was shedding and breaking like crazy when I washed it today despite pre-conditioning prior to washing it. I decided to do a henna treatment and that seems to minimize it pretty well, but not stop it completely. I also noticed my hair was drying out much quicker after my final rinse . I feel like I have taken a huge step backwards and I don't have a clue as to what the hell I've stepped in because it's obviously some serious *ish . Okay not too serious, not life or death it's just hair, but I would be lying if I said I am not totally bummed out about this especially because I have a big event coming up and planned to show off my progress...When I retrace my steps I know what it was that I did to derail my progress, but more than that I have noticed that my hair seems to do a downward dog around the 6 or 7 post week mark. Add those two things together and I am not looking too pretty. I've figured out the severe breakage I am currently experiencing, but I really need to figure out how I can remedy this post relaxer breakage issue going forward because I refuse to relax any sooner than 8 weeks post (I would much prefer 12 weeks, but I know my hair limits)....what am I gonna do?!

ETA (March 14/2010): It has occurred to me that henna is really drying despite its benefits so I will simply need to up the DC with a richer/thicker moisturizing conditioner, because it seems the HR and Aveda Dry Remedy isn't going to cut it as a follow up DC. I realized that even though I don't love the Mizani Hydrafuse it was the only DC that made my hair feel real moisturized and strong after I hennaed when I used it once. Something I will have to think about.