61 weeks of new growth at the back

Top: braids, curled at the bottom with perm rods.  Bottom: Braid out and major shrinkage

My hair texture:  bunned air dried hair.

My hair texture air dried hair

1. I combed all the hair backwards and help it with a hair tie at the nape.
2. I added a second hair tie as a guide to how much I wanted to cut off and finally cut them off.

As most of you already know i am on a no heat challenge till september 2012, so i have been experimenting with different protective hair styles.
( protective styles are those that keep the ends of your hair from rubbing on clothes or simply keep your hair or ends of your hair hidden. these include: braids, weaves, wigs, buns, hats, scarves e.t.c).
Here is one i tried out and really liked, i applied flexi rods on my hair in a mohawk style in order to be able to sleep in peace and left them in overnight, i think i did the set on damp hair.
 This is what it looked like in the morning after removing the flexi rods and applying my banana clip.


Do you have any other tips on  heat free protective styles i could try out? I would really appreciate your ideas.
or do you want to join me on this challenge? then jump on i  could use some company just click here for the rules of the challenge. Even though i started on June 15th you can still join me and extend to october :-)

I deep conditioned my hair with my usual deep conditioner tea tree cholesterol mixed with ORS replenishing conditioner and my oil mix( safflower oil, olive oil, castor oil & coconut oil). after t shirt drying for 10 minutes i applied my  home made leave in conditioner and lastly i applied a serum.

 This makes detangling very easy for me and my hair is always very soft. I will be doing a review on that very soon. I am currently 13 weeks post but these pictures were taken at 12 weeks post, i have lots of new growth which is still easy to manage. i hope it stays like that since i am planning to texlax my hair again in September.I have also realised that my texlaxed hair and my new growth behave the same, these two textures love water( moisture) so i will be co washing at least once a week for extra moisture.



After applying my leave ins i detangled with my wide tooth comb and proceeded to apply my satin scarf to keep my edges tamed. this really works in getting my edges flat. and when my hair is dry i usualy just remove the scarf and bun my hair.

I am really loving my texlaxed hair, i have so much texture and since the natural hair and the texlaxed hair are almost the same texture i don´t have a problem with breakage at the line of demarcation where the two meet, however i do have to be careful with the line of demarcation between the relaxed and texlaxed hair. I will be so glad when i am fully texlaxed but that will take a couple a years.



Two days after air drying this is what my hair looked like. quite nice and soft but i do have major shrinkage of the texlaxed and natural hair.

To find out more about texlaxing & air drying please comment below.

Joanne

Hi ladies, i know that i have been gone for a long time but i´m glad to share with you my hair journey update. I relaxed my hair last week and i´m quite happy with the results. My ends have really improved after i declared war against split ends and gave myself a good trim a few months ago.
Since i got my relaxer done at a salon this time round, i asked my stylist to dust my ends for me and she did a good job :-) here is what my hair looks like now.
by the way i´m wearing my home made length shirt ;-)

please excuse me for sleeping lol!

As i have mentioned above i experienced a setback due to not trimming my ends regularly this led to my ends looking horrrible it was a disaster for me because i was so focused on retaining length. Now i know that both go hand in hand, after every relaxer i will be dusting my ends to maintain them. Here is a comparisson of what my ends looked like a few months ago and what they look like now.


My hair is just a little past APL but i´m ok with that, now that my ends are looking good i´m sure i will be retaining length.
All in all i am very pleased with my progress i remember starting my hair journey with barely shoulder length hair, since starting this journey i have seen a great difference in my hair not only in length but also in health. my hair is always soft, something i never thought would be possible because my hair is naturally very coarse. Daily moisturising and sealing have saved my hair! check out my hair care routine here evelyn´s hair care routine.


now i am more convinced than Ever that African hair can grow long, with a simple working regimen we can all achieve that great hair we have always wanted.

here you can see what an evolution my hair has made.

Ladies if you haven´t started a healthy hair journey yet please think about starting one, if you have been hiding your real hair underneath weaves, wigs and braids because it is simply damaged or you don´t know what to do with it, then a hair journey is definitely for you.

weaves and braids should be an option for our hair to change up styles if we feel like but our real crown of glory should always be healthy no matter what length it is. So give your hair a chance, give yourself sometime to get to know what your hair needs and likes and in no time you should be on your way to getting lovely healthy hair which you can protect with weaves and braids too.

Want to start a healthy hair journey and you don´t know where to start? here are a few links that will help you out:
Have any questions or hair issues post them on our newbie corner, Gahl facebook page or simply leave a comment here.
if you are not a member of our website simply sign in with your facebook details.

join us today and Let us grow some healthy long african hair together!

Evelyn.

I was just looking at old pictures on my computer and i came across one picture, which i just had to share you. a picture of what my ponytail looked like in 2010. my hair was much shorter then, but my ponytail was really full and thick. i am working towards getting that thickness back.

I also noticed that back then i held my hair with a rubber band, something i would never think of doing today because they can be very damaging. This is just one of the many things i have learnt during this journey.





Are you on a hair journey or are you starting one then please make pictures of your hair as you go on, pictures will show you where you have come from and help you get to where you want to be.

Joanne

A few months ago i straightened my hair and to my surprise i had lost a good ammount of hair at the back of my head, honestly i was mad about it for a while and then it hit me that even though i had suffered this setback my hair had really come a long way and i should be proud of that. i realised that a hair journey is really a journey, sometimes we get to our destination on time, sometimes there´s too much traffic and it takes longer to get there and sometimes we take the wrong turn, but all in all it is possible to get to our destination. All we need is a lot of patience and consistency.
Here is a summary of my hair journey to help you understand better where i am coming from.

So after a failed hair journey (I retained no length for about 5months due to protein overload which led to dry, brittle, breaking hair) this was in august 2009. So i officially started another one in feb 2010

The progress was amazing, my hair was not only thicker but it had gotten a lot longer. 2011 was no different i noticed a increase in length with every relaxer. my ends looked great and i loved how the back looked.

And then 2012! i decided to stop relaxing my hair bone straight, this is called texlaxing unfortunately i didn´t do enough research on how to transition to texlaxing and this was a big mistake. As a result my hair was breaking off where the relaxed hair and texlaxed hair were meeting, unfortunately i realised what was happening too late! the damage was already done. I think it is so annoying how hair takes such a long time to grow but it takes only a few days to damage. so here is what it looked like in April.
The problem area is very visible :-(

Here is what i´m doing till my hair gets back on track, i will make sure that my hair is moisturised at all times especially the back to keep it from breaking even more and i am trimming my hair every four weeks until the middle catches up with the rest of the hair, so this means i will keep my hair at this length until the problem has been solved, this is my new goal.

 I hope this encourages you too not to give up on your hair even when you face a setback. And one last thing if your regimen is successful and you finaly reach your goal don´t stop doing the things you did to get you where you are. For example if you feel moisturising and sealing daily helped you reach your goal, don´t stop doing it even after reaching your goal, otherwise you might learn the hard way.

Joanne.

I am currently reading the science of black hair and i must say the book is very informative. I´ll be sharing everything i feel important with your ladies and here is the first blog in this series.

Your hair should be in very good shape before putting on braids, weaves or any other kind of extensions, always make sure that your hair does not have any issues such as breakage or thinning e.t.c when you get your hair done.(simply because once it´s done you will not have the opportunity to access your hair and treat it) and these issues left un attended to will still be there when your undo your weave or braids.



What to do before getting your hair braided.

1. Shampoo and deep condition your hair.
2. make sure your hair is properly detangled with a wide toothed comb.
3. Be sure to moisturise and seal your hair with oil.
4. If you have natural hair or if you have some new growth make sure to blow the roots out with a blow drier on a cool setting. make sure that you have no tangles to avoid breakage since some braiders comb our precious hair roughly with a small toothed comb and to make matters worse they comb from root to tip!( i´ve experienced this first hand :-() this can cause major breakage if your hair is tangled.
5. while at the braiders always be involved, don´t be afarid to speak up if you feel that the braider is doing something wrong or you don´t like. for example speak up if you feel that the braids are being done too tight.
6. support the beginning of each braid initially by placing an index finger at the start of the row or braid this will keep your delicate edges from being pulled out.as you anchor your braid with your finger introduce a counterforce towards your forehead(in the braiders opposite direction)This will reduce braiding tension along the hairline.
7. When getting braids make sure that the hair being portioned is proportional too the size of braid. Never allow the braider to put a large braid on a very small portion of hair, this will be too heavy for your hair and cause breakage.

Now that your braids/ weave have been installed you can know if they have been done too tight if:

1. small red or white bumps form along partings, hairline & edges.
2. an extra-shiny look to partings and exposed areas of your scalp.
3. white-tipped hairs sticking up from your braid where it starts at the hairline.
4. excessively dry, flaking skin along parts, particularly at the frontal hairline.

Is your damaged and you just don´t have a clue where to start in order to get it back in shape. Here is a regimen that will not only ensure that your sclap and hair are cleansed but you will also improve the moisture & protein balance in your strands.

you will need:

1. A sulfate shampoo to clarify your hair
2. Wash your hair with warm water before applying your shampoo
3. Apply shampoo while gently massaging your scalp
4. Rinse very well with warm water
5. To save time you can mix your mild protein deep treatment/ conditioner and your moisturizing deep conditioner/ treatment together and apply to your hair making sure all hairs are covered. let it sit for at least 10 minutes with or without heat and then rinse off.
6. Rinse with cool water. ( if you used heat let your hair cool down first)
7. Use a soft towel or an old Tshirt to blot water from your hair. DO NOT RUB!
8. Apply a leave in conditioner. if you don´t have one a moitsurizer will also do
9. Detangle then add an oil to seal in moisture in your hair.
10. Always use a wide tooth comb.

After this step you can either let your hair air dry, roller set or style it as you wish, but remember healthy hair care requires very little to no heat at all. this means you have to avoid direct heat sources such as blow driers & flat irons.  

Note:
Do not use the sulfate shampoo on your next wash. You can use it again after 4-6 weeks when you need to clarify your hair again. For the rest of the time either use a sulfate shampoo or do a co-wash.

Ladies with natural hair might need less protein treatments(once a month) unless they are applying too much heat or chemically coloring their hair.

It has been two years since i started my healthy hair journey. And i have to say my hair has never been as long or as healthy as it is now in my entire life and i never even thought it would ever grow this long.

Like most african women i believed that african hair could not grow beyond shoulder length. And if it did grow longer then one had to be mixed or from some parts of East africa like Ethiopia or African american.

But thank God for the internet which gave me the opportunity to find hair care forums for women with african hair. I learnt that black women from all over the world with afro textured hair had the same challenges with their hair and  Many of them managed to grow their hair long just by taking better care for it and it worked. I decided to do the same and i have to say that  taking better care of my hair has made all the difference.

Here are a few tips that have really made a difference in the overall health of my hair.

1. Washing and deep conditioning weekly
2. Use sulfate free shampoos
3. Using only a wide toothed comb ( I never use a small toothed comb on my hair not even after blow drying or flat ironing)
4. Use heat only once or twice in three months ( blow dry/ Flat iron)
5. Moiturise and seal hair daily or if need be.
6. Cover hair with a satin scarf at night
7. Use protective styles. I bun 90% of the time.
8. Avoid mineral oil based products.
9. Air dry 90% of the time after washes.
10. If you relax then stretch the relaxers at least every three months and do not relax already relaxed hair!!!
11.  Be patient growing hair takes time.
12. Get to know your own hair because no one can care for it better than you! not even your hair stylist.

I really recommend starting a healthy hair care regimen to anyone who wants to have healthier  longer hair.

xoxo Joanne.

 This was my 2011 Regimen that took me from Neck Length to Arm pit length in a year.Wish you success in finding a routine that wil work for you!HHJ ya'll.

Daily Routine
1.Moisturize my hair with Either Africa´s best kids organics shea butter moisturising hair lotion or my new favourite Organics Olive oil Moisturizing Growth lotion
2. I then seal the moisturizer with Pure coconut oil.I always Moisturize and seal my hair in medium size sections.


I always do this at night so I just finger comb my hair hold it up and tie my satin scarf over it before bed.
Weekly Routine
1. I normally mix my Cholesterol Tea tree Oil Moisturizing Conditioner with my ORS replenishing protein Conditioner together with a tablespoon of whatever oil i get my hands on.I the apply the mixture to damp hair, wrap my hair with a cling foil/shower cap, cover with a cloth and Go to bed.
2. The morning after I wash off the conditioners and then use a cheapie conditioner (often V05)to finish off with lovely smelling hair.
3.I blot my hair of the excess water with a microfibre towel, spray in my Luster's PCJ wet-n-ez detangling spray/leave-in conditioner and then put my hair in two braids to air dry.( I always air dry)
4.Once my hair is about 90-100% dry i repeat my daily routine as indicated above!

Bi-weekly routine
1. I shampoo my hair on 2nd and last thursdays of the month with a sulphate free baby shampoo from local store.Before the shampooing I always pre-poo with a hot-oil treatment (a mixture of any oils especially olive oil) the night before.
2. After washing I just dry as described above.I normally do not Moisturize and seal on this day because I would be sleeping with my conditioners treatment through the night as described in the weekly routine.
3.After washing off the conditioner I then follow through with my after conditioning steps as described in the weekly routine.
Monthly Routine
1. I  Clarify My hair with V05 luminous shine shampoo for damaged hair!I always prepoo as described above before this shampoo too.
2. After the wash I repeat step 1,2,3 & 4 in the weekly routine.
This has worked for me so far