Inspiration corner with AJ

I came into contact with AJ through a facebook group in which both of us are members. She comes from Kenya but lives in Germany at the moment. I was amazed at how thick and long her hair was and just thought it would be great if she shared her hair journey with us. Thank God she agreed & here is what she had to say. to view her Gahl page Click here

1. Are you relaxed or Natural?

I have been transitioning from relaxed to natural since June 2010

4 something..., cant really accurately tell as the relaxed ends tend to stretch the natural hair. 

Started at a damaged shoulder length and am now at mid back length (I could be wrong though as I dont really length check).   

In 2009 I went for a relaxer touch-up at the only black salon in my town, the relaxer used by the stylist used was too strong for my hair and caused my hair to thin and it damaged my scalp.

I knew I had to start doing my own hair but except for the past 3 years, I had always worn my hair natural  and so I knew nothing about relaxed hair. I searched online, found Long Hair Care Forum (LHCF) and decided to try self relaxing. I only ever self -  relaxed once (in June 2010), but my hair was so underprocessed it looked like nothing had been done to it. Thats when I decided that relaxed hair wasnt for me as I also didnt like the process of relaxing myself. So I havent  relaxed my hair again since June 2010.Aj hasn´t had a relaxer since june 2010 she´s transitioning to natural look at all that new growth!!!

I dont really have a regimen as i am hair lazy. I just do as little to my hair as I can get away with lol. I use any and every product as long as the ingredients look good.  

I basically wash my hair any time I feel the need to but I never go more than 2 weeks without washing. I may pre poo overnight( depending on how lazy I am) using coconut oil and a conditioner, shampoo the following day using dilluted shampoo. Deep condition under my steamer for like 30-40 minutes, apply my leave - in and seal with my wipped shea butter. I either air dry in the warmer months or I sit under my hair dryer when its cold. 

When its warm outside I sometimes spritz my hair every other day if I remember but I just hate having damp hair in the colder months.

It doesn`t have to be, I am a firm believer in keeping it simple.

I really can`t say as my goal in the beginning was just to get my hair to its previous health and length but its only like in the past few months, when I straightened my hair after quite a while that it hit me for the first time that my hair had gotten long!

I will have to guess and say around 2 years plus a few months.

2010                                                                        sept 2011

It depends on the individual's hair. In my case, my hair used to hover just below arm pit length and that was without knowing anything about healthy hair care.

I truly believe that with proper hair care everyone can grow healthy long hair.

Nobody that I know of. The people who know me from childhood just think my family has long hair genes lol and the african ladies over here just dont seem to care about proper hair care but a few do ask if this is my real hair so who knows the few might be inspired. ( AJ lives in Germany)

Just take the plunge, start taking of your own hair and you will be guaranteed to see positive results in a few months.

Keep your regimen simple and stick to what is working for your hair. Dont expect your hair to look the same as someone else's and dont buy every new hair gadget or hair products being raved about on hair forums.

15. So are you hoping to grow your hair to ankle length? what are your short term and long term goals?

Short term goal is for my natural hair to form a nice puff (hopefully by next summer) and my long term goal is for my natural hair to reach waist length stretched.

Thank you so much for sharing your Journey with us AJ. I´m sure many of us will be inspired by your hair story.