My Hair Bible Pt 2

The Starting Road!

I have a medium amount of hairs per square inch on my head which can be deceiving to the eye. My individual hair strands are fine which makes retaining length difficult. When I started my HHJ hair bands would break my hair :o(

What was my solution? I had to learn from setbacks. Yes setbacks were my greatest teacher. Here are my biggest ones since I started my HHJ:

• My hair broke off from lazily leaving my hair in a bun for a month with no moisture. When I say left it, I mean I NEVER took it down. I didn't wash it, I didn't comb it, and most importantly I didn't MOISTURIZE it.

• My hair broke from not enough protein. When I started I dove head first into the moisturize and seal game not realizing my fine strands can only take so much before they turn into an old, wet rubber band. It was ten times worse on me because I was a relaxed, fine haired lady.

• Too much protein! Yup, I did it. I saw the strength it gave me and went overboard. I was using a "strong" protein treatment weekly instead of a "mild" one.

Each one of those setbacks taught me two things 1) Know thy hair 2) When in doubt do a strand test.

The Balancing Act

When I started out I literally threw out everything I was taught so that I could start fresh with zero bias. In many ways this was a good thing, but in one way this was bad. I threw out one piece of valuable knowledge I received when I attended cosmetology school.

When in doubt, do a strand test.

Let me say that again...

When in doubt, do a STRAND TEST.

Could have saved myself the aggrivation of the setbacks by doing this one simple thing. They say you have to learn to crawl before you walk, but I say tripping can be just as valuable a lesson.

There are many ways to do a strand test but mine is simply:

• Drop a clean, dry strand of hair into a glass of water. If it sinks then porous hair is a problem.

• Take a clean, dry strand of hair and hold it at each end with both hands. Gently tug with both hands like you would lightly tug on a rubber band. If it snaps no matter how gently you tug on it, more moisture is needed.

• Take a clean, damp (I prefer to do this when the hair is damp though it can be done on dry) strand of hair and hold it at each end with both hands. Gently tug with both hands like you would lightly tug on a rubber band. If the hair stretches and extremely slowly returns to it's original length, or barley does it at all like an old wet rubber band that doesn't bounce back then protein is needed. Note: Mushy feeling hair is an extreme example of needing protein ASAP.

Doing these simple tests once a month has helped me greatly. 

Correcting Issues That Can Turn Into Setbacks

As I stated in the beginning my biggest issue was protein because I have fine hair. However as my hair has changed due to me going from relaxed to texlaxed while stretching for 6-7 months at a time (often leaving me to battle 3 hair textures), my needs have changed but not drastically.

I started my hair journey 100% bone straight relaxed. I managed to retain all of that until June 2011 when I made the final cut fully transitioning by doing two things 1) locking in moisture 2) staying on top of my protein

How did I do it... get to the details! Well here it is:

• Water was my BFF - I let go of conventional wisedom that back hair should stay away from water as much as possible. Why? It made no sense at all. We are always saying that our hair is dry, so what is the opposite of dry? WET! I made sure my hair received some form of H20 2-3x a week be it me washing my hair or using a water based leave-in.
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• Lock in that moisture! - Now that I figured out how to quench my hair's thirst I needed to figure out how to prevent the moisture loss.
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   1. Plain old conditioner to the rescue!This is a biggie! I can't put into words how much this helps me retain length. Here is the deal, I use plain old conditioner as a leave-in :O Am I crazy? Crazy in love! Something about using conditioner as leave-in seems to prevent moisture loss, splitting, and environmental woes.I stressssssssssss this!!! It is the honest truth, THE TRUTH!In the words of Diddy, "I can't stop, won't stop."
   2.  Oil, oil, & did I mention oil? Oil locks in moisture point blank period! After I apply my conditioner leave-in I ALWAYS seal with oil.
   3.  Protect them. I protect my ends from the air. What, from the air? That's right air evaporates the water from my hair. I damp bun to prevent moisture loss. It's thetruth.com The water still evaporates from my hair but the process is slowed down to a crawl allowing my hair to maintain its balance better.

• Give Protein A Visit - Everyone is different, and hair changes but the rule for my hair remains pretty similar. Now that I am texlaxed with 6 months of new growth I could probably get away with doing a protein treatment ever 6 weeks, heck every 8 weeks, but every 4 weeks hasn't hurt me. When I was relaxed however I could not get away with doing one every 6 weeks. Once a month was a MUST but again, I have fine hair. Most people can do it every 6 weeks and be cool. I can also get away with a light protein every other week (I did this while relaxed and texlaxed). 

• Be Gentle With That Comb - I had to learn how to comb my hair, and when to comb my hair. Sounds crazy because you would think doesn't everyone know how to comb their hair? NO! They think they do but in reality it's the biggest reason why we turn to hair straighteners. So here was my solution. 

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   1. Became a Shower Stylist! That's right my first comb out I do under running water. I repeat, my first comb out I do UNDER RUNNING WATER. This prevents snagging, ripping, pulling, knotting and tangling because the water is my aide.
   2. Set The Hair For A Proper Comb Out! My 2nd comb out is on damp hair that has been set. When I say set most people think of rollers. That is one kind of set but there are others. I usually do 2-4 two strand twists while in the shower I put the hair in ponytails and twist the hair. This allows my hair to air dry without massive shrinkage that can cause coils and curls to wrap around themselves and knot up. It can also be a nice waves style on relaxed hair.
   3. Again, don't forget the conditioner! I always apply my conditioner leave-in to my twists to air dry, and again on my hair BEFORE combing it out the 2nd time. I repeat no comb touches my hair until I apply conditioner first. This allows for the comb to slide through the hair without snagging it. Note: I have a few watered down conditioner recipes in my other blog. 

• Deep Conditioning Is a Spa Day For My Hair - I deep condition with moisturizing conditioner once a week. Sometimes on wet hair, but if a want a super conditioning effect I do it on dry hair then sit under the dryer (or cover in plastic wrap or a plastic cap and leave it on 45 min.).

Found The Products I Love!

Product junkie no more! I found what works now I need to stick to then. First up is my shampoo. My love! It feels almost like conditioner, AND it's PH balanced, something you don't hear everyday but is necessary. Note: notice it's the deep moisture one NOT the protein one :o)

I love pairing this with Aussie Conditioner. Aussie can serve 2 purposes for me. It can be a conditioner or a leave-in conditioner.

Can't forget the co-rinse (see part one). Sometimes I use Aussie, but I get a gloss from using Vo5 as both a co-rinse and a leave-in. Oh yeah, and I get HEATED if my favorite strawberries and cream is not on store shelfs :o(

I have 2 favorite deep conditioners right now. When I'm in a hurry I love to use Aussie Deep 3 Min. Miracle on wet hair. If I'm chill'n on a Sunday I will plaster my hair while bone dry with Motions. Do two strand twists, put on plastic wrap or a plastic cap followed by a scarf and either sit under a dryer or leave it in for 45 mins.

Last but not least I get it in two ways. First is my mild protein. Sometimes I add a few teaspoons of conditioner to a spray bottle full of a mild liquid protein like Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin, or my favorite Infusium 23 leave-in.

Now for my deep protein conditioner. When I'm in no hurry it's Aphogee 2 step all day. When I don't feel like spending the time but I really need a protein treatment I use the generic brand Joico K-Pak sold at Sally Beauty Supply.

And of course I love oils! All kinds of oils. My favorite would have to be a mix of 40% Jojoba, 40% coconut, and 20% castor oil. If I don't have my mix I can live the rest of my days with coconut oil. Oooooooh coconut oil! I'd be willing to take olive oil or avocado oil as a replacement though because they both actually penetrate the hair strand just like my beloved coconut oil ;o)

Step Away From The Scissors!

I'll admit that I am an addict. I'm addicted to snipping away for a look of the blunt hemline. The problem is my hair doesn't grow that way. I learned that my hair does not even grow at the same pace.

It took me a long time to understand that it is also a family trait. What looks like shaggy ends tend to be actually quite strong (instead of weak and brittle) in my family. The hair never grows even. Most of my family grows what on white hair boards they so lovingly refer to as fairy tale ends.

What are these? Well they are what writer Chicoro (author of Grow It) so wonderfully explains as lead hairs. This is when a portion of your hair takes off, growing faster than the rest. Eventually all of the hair will ketch up with time.

Understand that there is a difference between this and damaged ends but often people mix up the two. These ends tend to be longer than the rest of the hair yet show no signs of splitting or breakage. The last 3 inches or so of hair just appears wispy as appose to thick like the bulk.

This is natural yet society tells us it should be frowned upon so we go through this constant cycle of grow six inches cut 3-4 in a quest for thick blunt ends. I'm so guilty of this simply because I disliked that my lead hair would lead me right into a "V" shape.

No more! From this day forward when my "V" emerges, which I think it is again, I'm not going to touch it. I'm on a 1 year scissor diet. My hair is not damaged and I know how to baby my ends. I'm over it! All hail the "V"!!!

UPDATE: Just had to add....

drum roll...

I made it one year with no cut and retained around 8 inches of hair! When I went to trim on July 2nd it was hard because 95% of my hair was fine. So I mostly took off a few mm just for the feel of it (yup addiction kicked in). I went almost up to a 1/2 inch in the front on my edges which means I'm probably a little too rough on that part of my head. But over all I proved that hair can been preserved without the constant snipping. Next pictures up in October 2012.