EVCO Challenge: Week Three

Day 15 (Jan 17, 2010)

So it's the day after my relaxer and my hair still looks okay despite re-washing with a neutralizing shampoo. As you know I like to be super cautious--seen too many horror stories of women losing their hair permanently due to relaxer residue. It air dried smooth, which has been a change because it was a completely different story pre-relaxer. I also notice that my hair dries incredible fast. I think too fast (e.g. by the time I get down stairs my end are already dried out). I read an article once that suggest that the length of time it takes to dry ones hair is an indication of hair health. In other words, when your hair take a bit longer to dry it is a good indication of health and perhaps my cuticles are not closing causing me to lose moisture, which may also speak to the frizzy hair. The article recommended using an ACV rinse, which includes 1/4 cup of ACV per 2 cups of water. I will give it a try for my final rinse after my next shampoo and see if it helps. As well, no more washing upside down. Even if it means getting in and out of the shower, which I hate especially in the winter !

Anyway, back to the challenge. I oiled my scalp and it was still a bit itchy, but I think that has more to do with the relaxer than anything else. Despite basing my scalp both with EVCO and whatever my hairdresser used, my scalp was mad dry and flaky. It may take a while to bring it back to some form of health. I am determined to use this oil blend consistently though. I added a bit more JBCO (6 tsp vs. 5 tsp). As it stand now I will be oiling my scalp as needed (e.g. right now it seems to need it everyday) but no less than 3 times a week. Well see where that takes me. 

Day 16 (Jan 18, 2010)

Woke up with a slightly itch scalp. Again, I think it make some time to normalize my scalp again. Until then I'll just have to grin and bear it....

Day 17 (Jan 19, 2010)

Scalp was itchy a good deal and I didn't oil it---I was absolutely exhausted. I did the next morning though. Much better!

Day 18-19 (Jan 20-21, 2010)

My scalp seems to be holding up. The itchiness seems to be under control and my hair still feels moist despite not moisturizing and sealing daily (hair are currently in twist). We'll see the results on wash day.


Day 20-21 (Jan 22-23, 2010)
The itchiness still seems to be under control and my hair still feels soft and moist.

Relaxer Day

So today was my relaxer day. I will say I am neither pleased or totally disappointed with my progress because there was some growth . I have included pic below. I am not very happy with my sides though (they are currently at my jaw). Why won't they grow ?!!!! Over the next few months I am going to have to give my sides some serious TLC if I hope to reach my goal by July. 

My new growth was a bit thicker, so perhaps the JBCO was more helpful than I thought, not sure. I was a little peeved at my hairdresser though. Please tell me on what planet the word "just a touch" mean cut 1/2 an inch of hair?! I mean really, you just cut off one month of growth! I was not too pleased . Whatever, not going to make excuses for the lack of significant growth...my hair is my hair; love it or leave it. I just won't "trim" it for the next two relaxers, but I will see how my ends hold up. I don't want raggedy ends in an effort to reach my goal.


I will say my hair felt stronger prior to my relaxer. I think the EVCO has been helpful with that. I also coated my hair and based my scalp with some EVCO, which I think has helped with the silkiness I am feeling right now. I think I will definitely continue with EVCO after the challenge. My hairdresser did comment on the health of my hair-- nothing too positive. LOL! Well back to the drawing board.  He convinced me to up my treatment game by using a specialized treatment that I can use at home (he knows better than to insist that I come in more often--funds are tight). Apparently, you need a license to purchase it, so I will need to buy it from him. I doubt it will be a natural product, so I will have to give it some serious thought before I use it. We'll see how that goes!

ETA: I never did get that magical treatment from my hairdresser....

I know it seems like my hair is thicker in the left pic, but it's just the way it was curled. I will admit the lower pic also looks a little deceiving because the hair isn't curled under as tightly, so I measured it (don't want to cheat myself by saying I have growth that I don't). I achieved about 1 1/2 inches of new growth (not including what was cut of course!). There was also a definite difference after my relaxer in terms of texture as well. It is much shiner and silkier and is it my imagination or does it even seem darker? (I know the lighting is off in the pic, but on the real, my hair is darker). If I could just get my sides to catch up with the back it would be all good.

P.S. the little bump in my hair is because I wear a hat from the hairdresser--Canada is too cold!

Castor Oil Challenge: Week Twelve (Final Week!)

Day 77-83 (Jan 10-16, 2010) 

Well I'm going for the home stretch now. I already gave my review a few weeks ago so there isnt much more I will add here regarding JBCO. 


Making a few tweaks here and there has helped out some in terms of my scalp condition. Ultimately I had to create a JBCO/jojoba/EVCO concoction to alleviate my itchy scalp (ingredients below). I will say that I did add JBCO (nothing added) to my scalp before DCing this week and my new growth still felt amazing 3 days later. So it's not all that bad. Actually, let me correct that. I never thought JBCO was bad, it just didn't produce the results I was told it would produce (minus the thicker hair--I know that will take time). Over the course of the 12 weeks I had mad itching, scabs on my scalp,  shedding, so needless to say JBCO was too strong for me. Please use with caution! You know your scalp and should be able to detect when something isn't right, listen to that and make adjustments accordingly, or just discontinue your use of the oil. There are other natural oils/balms out there that help with growth

Now I did this challenge for as a long as I did because it takes at least 12 weeks to see any real results in terms of length and texture of your hair when trying something new. Despite this, it just didn't do what it was suppose to do--at least not for me. I will continue to use it though, esp now that I have mixed it with EVCO and jojoba oil. My new growth was nice and soft, esp with this last wash.


For anyone hoping to try this out, don't let my results discourage you. Give it a try. My hair may just need more to kick it into shape (in terms of growth). I will post pics after my next relaxer next weekend to show my final results. Will I eat my words?




HHG!

Castor Oil Challenge: Week Eleven

Day 70-76 (Jan 3-9, 2010)

Not too much to report. My scalp continues to itch, so I decided to up the number of scalp massages I do a week to every other day, which seems to be helping. I washed my hair Sunday (Day 70) and I was pleasantly surprised how much new growth I had. It's like it just crept up on me one day! There isn't tons of new growth, so again not sure if I will say the JBCO is to credit for what I am seeing.