It has been a little over three months since the Gahl length retention challenge started. According to the rules of the challenge, each participant is allowed only one heat pass every three months. This challenge has really helped me stick to my regimen and to stay away from heat, we still have three months to go before the challenge ends. Do feel free to join in :)

So on Sunday 5^th of May I applied a mixture of sunflower oil, olive oil and tea tree oil as a pre shampoo treatment onto my hair and left it on for about one hour. I went on to clarify my hair with the herbal essences clarifying shampoo since I wanted my hair completely build up free.

 After rinsing the shampoo off with warm water it was time for a protein treatment. At the moment I am using the nivea long hair repair 1 Min express treatment as a protein treatment and I am absolutely loving it. I followed with the Aussie moist conditioner which is my moisture conditioner for about 5 minutes and rinsed this off with cool water under the shower while detangling with my wide toothed comb. ( rinsing with cool to cold water leaves my hair soft and smooth). To dry my hair I simply used an old but clean cotton T-shirt.

To keep my hair from having to much build up I did not apply any moisturiser at all, I just applied the chi silk infusion serum which I use as a heat protectant and let my hair air dry. I then blow dried my hair on the cool setting and finished up by flat ironing. This was so much work! 

                                                         

You probably remember that I suffered a major setback back in April of 2012, if you are new to our blog you can read all about it here. It has been one year and a month since then and here is a comparison of what my hair looked like then and what it looks like now. 

I am quite happy with the results even though I did not retain any length in 2012. My hair is much healthier and thicker too.

 In April 2012 my hair was very damaged, but after a major trim and lots of time, it finaly looks healthy :) Thanks to all of you who encouraged and supported me to carry on when this setback occurred, I really appreciated your support.

Food for thought:

Don´t let a setback keep you from pursuing your hair goals, with the right care your hair will definitely grow back healthy again. To find out how I dealt with mine check out this post on my major setback. It will take a while but you will get there so please stay motivated and encouraged to carry on with your hair journey.