Stretching a Relaxer (Hair update #7) | Beauty

Hey all! As many of you know I’ve had relaxed hair for probably a year by now and I have my ups and downs with it. Relaxed hair takes constant attention as you have to get the roots touched up every 6-8 weeks as some hairdressers or boxed kits suggest.  Sometimes it can be a bit pricey to keep up with, especially being a student. Just recently, I stretched my relaxer for 6 months. Yes, a loooong time! So today I’m going to be sharing my experience with you.

First off, why in heaven’s name would I want to stretch my relaxer? For reasons other than money, some ladies stretch their relaxers to prevent overlapping of the processed ends when the new growth gets re-touched. Others use it to take a break from the harsh chemicals in relaxers, while some use the time to strengthen and treat their hair while it grows out. Relaxed hair is no easy task, as it’s prone to breakage once it’s dry.  

Anyway, how I stretched my relaxer. It was not intentional at first, but like most things I do with my hair, it just seems to happen and I ride along with the waves. It was easy the first month or 2, just continuing to keep my hair flat ironed and stretched out. I was actually going to a hairdresser who would curl and style my hair for me during the semester, so that made it a bit easy at first.

Like here where I’ve just come from the hairdresser. Don’t mind the wind has my new do blowing away…

 But after the 4th month, it started getting tougher to maintain and I found myself just letting my hair revert to it’s curly state and wearing it open or in a pony tail. It was starting to tangle up very easily and it was around the time of exams, so hair was definitely not a priority for me. However, I knew I needed to make my hair tidy again as I was getting a job, plus I had always wanted to try extensions. I was going to go with box-braids at first, but settled for the weave from this post. That was a good way to stretch a relaxer, my only issue was not being able to completely moisturise and care for my hair as normal. But I tell you, I loved the break, and I got so many compliments on my long mane!

Missing the length!

After taking the weave out of my hair in June, it was about 5 months post and lots of crazy, so I ended up doing twists on my hair to tame it. No extensions just plain old twists. You may have seen them peeking through in some posts. I would wear them down or in a ponytail, even in a bun depending on the occasion. I also was able to wash my hair like this and re-twist sections if necessary. Twists were very convenient and allowed me to moisturise both my natural and processed hair and care for them properly. Easier than the weave which just covered them both!

I mostly hid the twists in pics but putting my hair in a ponytail.

In about a month and a few weeks, I decided it was time to take out the twists and get my hair professionally done. Which brings me to this weekend when I finally got my hair relaxed, about 6 months post my last relaxer in January. I’m so glad to have finally gotten my relaxer as my hair looks way neater and I don’t have to deal with two textures. One very unruly and another just lying there rolling with the punches. I’m sure I experienced some breakage during this time because at some points I really was not paying close enough attention to my hair, but on the bright side, it was my damaged, split ends with broke off.  

Would I do it again? Yes and no. I would do it to take a break from the harsh chemicals as I really do not like burns, not that it burns all the time… but still. While at the same time I would do it, definitely not for 6 months, that was negligence on my part and is a bit of a set back on my unofficial hair journey. I’m back to shoulder length hair after some breakage and a trim..MEH! 

Anyway I’m looking forward to growing out my hair and possibly doing THIS to it, hahaha, in the near future. If I do end up stretching again, I will definitely be doing some research into retaining length.

Hair and Stress | Beauty

Lately I’ve been too busy to do a lot of things, and though I shouldn’t make it an excuse it’s a BIG reason as to why I haven’t done so many things that I’ve started. For example, my hair regimen. At the beginning of the college semester, I tried to keep up with my habit of cowashing weekly and deep conditioning every 2 weeks and washing with shampoo at least 2 twice a month.

Source

After about week 6, shampooing went out the door as did deep conditioning every 2 weeks. I’d be lucky if I remembered conditioner at all! Funny enough I had acquired a number of samples and bought those one-use conditioners just to see how my hair would react to them, but then I lost track of time and haven’t been very good to my hair. The plight of a busy student I say.

When I went to the hairdresser this week and she saw just what I had been up to with my hair (cowashing and wearing wash-and-go styles way too often), she told me I needed to put a stop to this nonsense or my hair will suffer. How many of you out there are way too stressed and/or too busy to even take care of your own hair?

I know I am especially with so much going on lately. But we can’t just throw in the towel on our hair. I’ve always wanted long luscious locks of hair and seeing the damage I’ve done to mine by not putting in the effort to shampoo at least twice monthly, deep condition often AND not wear it in a ponytail everyday in order to be out the door as quickly as possible, I feel quite ashamed.

Source 

 So for anyone else out there who is feeling the same way as me, tired of breakage, dryness and  lifeless hair, let’s take a pledge to take at least 2 hours a week to at least tend to our hair.

Let’s:

• Deep condition with a moisturising or protein conditioner (especially good for relaxed hair)
• Cowash weekly or more often if necessary
• Shampoo often but not excessively (remember cowashing will not clarify everything)
• Try a different hair style (I need to step out of my ponytail-comfort zone)

And daily don’t forget to :

• Apply heat protectant when styling with blow dryers, curling irons or flat irons 
• Remember to moisturise your hair and scalp
• Remember less product is more (I definitely need to make this my mantra)
• Use a satin scarf or bonnet to tie your hair up when going to bed, or use satin pillow cases

Here’s my hair from late last week, after I had it washed and curled, been a long time since it had full pampering

I want long, strong hair like those shampoo/conditioner commercials, who’s with me?

Hair Care Routine (Hair update #6) | Beauty

Hey all! It’s been ages since I did a hair update. I’ve been quite lazy about taking pictures of it, though I should really be more mindful and document the progress. People keep telling me it’s getting very long quickly, but to me, it still seems short and slowly growing. I guess the pictures will tell. If you hadn’t seen my previous hair update, then please click here. I promise I’ll post some actual hair pictures in my next hair post.

I’ve developed a general routine when it comes to my hair care, although I’ve been slacking lately as I’ve gotten quite busy. Usually I cowash every week or weekend with a VO5 conditioner (I love the Tea therapy ones) which my boyfriend always calls me cheap for but hey, it works! Last college semester I would do this every Saturday evening, and every Friday during vacation.



Image is not my own

I wash with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo every 2 weeks, then deep condition with the African Pride Hair Mayonnaise treatment. I am currently out of this deep condish and can’t find it anywhere, but I do have a ton of samples to try out, so I may end up buying a different deep conditioner in the long run,  but I loved the smell as well as the benefits of that one. The Elasta QP shampoo was raved about in my 2012 favourites video, and I am still in love with it, but I want to try a couple new shampoos as well, may be I can find something even better, although I love the way that makes my hair feel.



Image is not my own

As for leave-ins, I was using my Shea butter mixture, until I realised it was too thick for my hair, as I have fine textured hair. I have been trying to find the perfect leave-in moisturiser for my hair. Light-weight but moisturising, a good amount a product and yet affordable, I’m still looking, but I have used coconut oil as well as Cantu shea butter repair cream (with some coconut oil mixed in, as it wasn’t retaining enough moisture), and a few samples I received from GFE.

Image is not my own

As for heat, I tend to use heat 2 weeks post relaxer, however I don’t use my flat iron everyday, just occasionally when my ends are a bit frizzy and my hair needs sculpting. I use the Tresemme Heat protectant and love how it smells and feels in my hair, plus it doesn’t leave any residue on my flat iron like my previous heat protectant. If I want curls, I would sleep with curlers in, but I am going to invest in a really nice curling wand. I already have one on my wishlist hehe. My hair tends not to hold curls as well as I’d like though, even if I use my Garnier Fructis hairspray. If I use too much I get that annoying crunch and sticking, but the curls last a bit longer.

Image is not my own



That’s basically it for my hair routine. When I realise I’m getting a lot of build up, I use less product and wash as soon as possible. Currently I’m on the hunt for new favourite products. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. I’d really appreciate that. Or if you share your hair care routine.

Relax, it’s still me! :D HAIR UPDATE #5

As you may have guessed from my last hair update, I was going to do something drastically different with my hair. I had said that the change might take place the following Wednesday, but it actually happened Wednesday, 13th June. First off , I am very pleased with the results so far! Can you guess what I did?

I relaxed my hair! Yes I know, chemicals are bad especially for my hair type (kinky hair), but as I had been stating in my previous updates, my hair is very thick and takes a lot of time, effort and product to be tamed. Even though I enjoyed seeing my natural texture (cute ringlet curls and even the odd zig zag strands), it was not enough to make me want to maintain the current state of my hair.

I also wanted some more versatility with my hair. Twist-outs, braid-outs, twists and even just wearing it in a puff got very boring for me. It’d take hours to prepare my hair, which included washing, detangling , moisturising and twisting, or what ever else I planned to do for the next day. With my schedule, the only time I put in the most effort to my hair was when I felt like or had something special coming up, because it just took too long to do that weekly.



Just after I had finished at the hair dresser. Excuse the quality please, it’s a cell phone picture.

My hair has grown healthy and strong, and I’m sure it will continue to do so relaxed. Anyway here’s some eye-candy for those of you into healthy hair .

How I choose to style my hair a few days after. I really like this part here. May be my new look 🙂

I was trying to get some waves, so I did some cornrows

I kept these in for 2 days

Results of the braidout. I really liked the waves. This is actually 2 days after I undid them.

Close up of the waves

So I washed my hair and it came out cute and curly!! Pretty cool if you ask me. (wash and go)

Close up of the curls. I just added some spray gel so they didnt frizz as they dried.