Controlling hair breakage

This is my hair after I took my hair out of wearing cornrows for 3 months. I lost a lot of hair, I cried. Maybe it's all the dead hair from not combing my hair in 3 months + breakage. 

 August 31, 2012 as you can see the amount of breakage covers my entire palm!

                                       I use pennies to get a better idea of how much hair it is. 

Hair breakage Sep 21, 2012. 

So this is my hair breakage after I wash, deep conditioned and styled it. (Oct 6, 2012) I started using Joico products, aloe vera juice and hairfinity for the past 3 weeks. I am so happy that my breakage is becoming lesser and lesser.  I don't think it is the hairfinity, but I think it is the Joico and the aloe vera juice that is decreasing my breakage. 

Long hair under wig

I am currently wearing wigs as a protective style. This is how I keep my hair under my wig. I paid $30 to get my hair cornrowed. I had my hair cornrowed since May 21, 2012. I use braid spray and castor oil every day or every other day depending on how I feel. I wash and deep conditioned my cornrows once a month because I want to keep them in for 3 months. I plan on taking them out the end of August. I am crossing my fingers that my hair won't get matted and dried out. 

No lye relaxers (Relaxer reviews)

This is a list of no lye relaxers that I have tried. They were okay at the time except for ORS olive oil. I will never use these products again because I felt like no relaxers made my hair dryer. I now use lye relaxers.


ORS no lye did not process my hair at all. 

Mizani butter blend Relaxer review

I HAAAAAAAAATE this relaxer. I used it back in 2010. I used it in regular and it left my hair

UNDER PROCESSED. The first time I used it I was like 12 weeks post and it left my hair under processed. I left it on past the intended time because I still saw the curls in my new growth not getting straight (keep in mind I have fine hair). I was getting scared because I had it on passed the allotted time so I  had to rinsed it out. I was so mad, it was like I did not get a relaxer. I waited 1 month later to give the relaxer another try and it was same result. I got so frustrated so I decided to try the silk element relaxer a few weeks later. I ended up giving the relaxer away. 

CHI deep brilliance relaxer (Relaxer review)

For those of you who don't know that CHI does make a relaxer, they do and they also have a line that is catered to ethnic hair called deep brilliance. This line is a bit on the moderate to expensive side ranging from $10 to $50 for small amount of products, but they are good quality products. I used this relaxer twice in no base mild. This relaxer would have been great, but I feel it is too strong even for mild. I base my scalp heavily and I still got burned. I have one more application of this relaxer left, but I put it in the trash because my hair is breaking and it is not acting right so I want to hold off on doing a relaxer and do a 6 months stretch. (I put it in the trash because I am in the process of moving from overseas back to the states and I do not know anyone who would want the rest of it.) 

This relaxer is really creamy and does moisturize the hair during the relaxer process. My hair was still silky after the 3rd wash using the relaxer, which is a good thing. It cost $9.99 for 1lb tub which could give 3 to 4 applications for bsl length hair. I want to find another lye relaxer that is not so harsh on the scalp. (I do not have sensitive scalp) I want to try the Hawaiian silky no base in mild because I heard good reviews about it not being harsh on the scalp and plus I used to use their no lye back in 2005 and I loved it.  If I can't find a better relaxer, I would always come back to this and add oil to the relaxer to cut down on the burning, but for now I will not be repurchasing. 

Hair Frustrations

Right now I am completely frustrated with my hair. I feel like my hair is so fragile and is constantly breaking no matter what I put in my hair. My hair has grown and I always get compliments on it whenever I wear it out, but I am having too much breakage.  I think my hair is on over load from all my products. This is why I am getting rid of most of my hair products and I plan on only repurchasing a handful of items that I already have. I was even contemplating on going natural, but I thought that I tried that 4 years ago and it didn't work out so I got a relaxer again. I am just completely frustrated with my hair all around with the breakage, one side being thicker and longer than the other, horrible ends! I can't really tell if it is moisture or protein is the problem!
My game plan is to start wearing wigs when I get back to the states next month and leave my hair alone. I am currently 3 months post relaxer and I plan on wearing wigs to get to 6 months post and decide if I want to go natural or what. I highly doubt that I will go natural though. I just need to give my hair a break.

The following is how much hair I lost from flat ironing. I cowashed the day before air dried and the flat iron the next day and this is what is happening. This does not include the hair that's in my brush and that I lost when I did the cowash. 

Silk Elements relaxer (Relaxer review)

I had dry and dull hair even after deep conditioning weekly and doing frequent cowashes per week. I was using no-lye relaxer at the time and I discovered everywhere that no-lye leaves mineral deposit on the hair and cause it to be dry and brittle. I even purchased Keracare chelating shampoo and used Ors aloe rid shampoo to try to remove the minerals but my hair was still dry and brittle. 

So I decide to purchase the silk element relaxer in regular because I've read so many good reviews about this relaxers. I used this relaxer for about a year and a half.  I used it for this long because I tried to make the relaxer work and plus I was relaxing every 4-6 months. This relaxer burned the crap out of my scalp every time I used it even after basing my scalp with vaseline and mixing the relaxer with oil. Mixing the relaxer caused some parts of my hair to be under processed. I decide to switch because I felt that I would damage my scalp with this relaxer. I had a 15 oz full jar in my stash and I gave it away to someone else that like the relaxer. 

I WILL NEVER REPURCHASE AGAIN. 

Deep Condition Alternative

This is for those who do not have a hooded dryer or a heating cap and want an alternate way to deep condition. I do have a hooded dryer, but I am in the process of moving so it is not accessible right now and I feel like deep conditioning with a blow dryer is time consuming and tiring. So here is what I did.
1. Saturate my dry hair with a conditioner.
2. Cover my hair with a shower cap or saran wrap.
3. Place a knit cap over the shower cap my head.
4. Go for a 30 to 40 min run.

Voila you have the heat that is produced from your body gets trapped on your head and moisturize and condition your hair. Doing this method you'll be killing two birds with one stone by deep conditioning your head and staying fit at the same time.
 WARNING. Make sure you are well hydrated before your run and if you feel dizzy or anything of that sort stop running and ease your knit cap/ shower cap up to allow some air to get to your head to cool you off. Haha don't embarrass yourself now by allowing everyone to see the gunk on top of your head if you must allow air to get to your head. 

HAPPY DEEP CONDITIONING!

NuNAAT

I have these two products in my hair product stash. My hair goal for now is to use up all my products and to cure my product junkie problem. 

For a good deep conditioner I mix these two products together and apply it to my dry hair  for a deep condition treatment. I go under the dryer for 30 minutes, then wash and condition and then air dry. Both products have a thick consistency and when applied to my hair make it feel soft. I notice that the first time I used both of them I have extremely less hair breakage. These both leave my hair extremely soft and I would definitely repurchase these products again once I cure my product junkism. 

*Just documenting what works for me so in the future I can always repurchase if my hair starts acting up. 

Hair Growth update

This is my hair growth update. These pictures are from November 2011 after a relaxer with the CHI lye relaxer. My hair has grown a lot since 2009. In the second picture I need a trim.

Megatek

This is my review on the Megatek.
Megatek cost about $24 and it smells almost like regular conditioner. It is product for grooming horse hair, but it is safe for human use. Megatek did nothing for my hair. I put it on my scalp and it made my scalp itch. I tried it as a regular conditioner but my hair breaks off. I was very disappointed with the product because a lot of people use it and got extraordinary growth from it. I do not like the product at all I have about a quarter of it left and I'm just going to throw it away. I guess I will just leave this product with the horses.

I MADE ARM PIT LENGHT !!!! YES!!!

These pictures were taken on August 16, 2009. I am currently 11 weeks post relaxer. I just washed my hair blow dried it, then flat iron and wrap. The results were amazing. I am amazed to see that the back of my hair is at armpit length. My hair has never been this long before. My next relaxer is October 19, 2009. Stay tune for more updates.

Hair goals

Hello ladies these are some photos that I found of the beautiful actress, Jada Pinkett Smith. Her hair is absolutely gorgeous and healthy. I don't know if her hair is real or a weave because I know that a lot of Hollywood actresses love to wear weaves. Well, she claimed that her hair is real in an Essence issue of the magazine. I am just using her pics as a guide to motivate me to grow healthy and long hair.

June 24, 2009 UPDATE

Okay, these are my updates on June 24, 2009. My hair is coming along very great. I can see a lot of improvements in the length and thickness. In these pics I am one month post relaxer.