Mixed Girl with Curls!

Friday, September 25, 2015

This vs. That

Round 2

(Pre- Big Chop) May 2013

July 2015

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June 2013

September 2015

Straight Hair Photos

Sometimes, I would walk past a mirror and not recognize myself...

Curly Hair Photos

Here is a collection of all of my awesome growth in the past year. Even though it is longer, my hair stayed thick and healthy!

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

May 2015

August 2015

September 2015 3 strand twist

September 2015

Thursday, September 24, 2015

New Stats

I started my last post with my old stats. Here are my current stats:

Reaches mid-back length when curly
Just past hip length when straight
Used direct heat 5 times since chop
Trimmed 2x since chop

Lots o' hair. May 2015

Okay, so I know.

It's been over a year! Time went faster than a speeding bullet. But lucky for everyone, what took me a whole year to experience, you will get in just one post. The last time I updated my blog, here were my stats:

I was bra-strapped length curly and mid-back length straight.
I had only used direct heat one time
I was up to the number 7 on my length check t-shirt.

Now a year later, my hair has gotten much longer! I will start by posting some pics.

This was from my length check back in October 2014.

Just passed the 9!!

I was now officially waist length and I remember getting worried that I was reaching my peak growth.

When my birthday came around in December, I straightened my hair for a 2nd time since I chopped it.

The results were amazing! This was the longest my hair ever looked even before I cut it back in May 2013. Alot of people did not realize how long it had gotten until I straightened it.

While it was straight, I did another length check to compare to October.

December 2014- Just past line number 10!

I was creeping my way towards hip length. My hair was still growing and I couldn't believe it. I continued to do braid outs, two strand twists, and other heatless styles. That was a huge factor to my growth. And then finally in February 2015...

HIP LENGTH!

I was finally and officially hip length!! In less than two years, I went from armpit length to hip length! Mathematically I knew that it was maybe slightly possible. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I could achieve it in that time, let alone at all! I straightened it a total of 5 times since my cut in 2013. 5 in 2 years is the major reason my hair grew so fast and continues to grow!

May 2015 braid-out

June 2015 wash-n-go

To this day, I still use heatless styles to keep my hair safe. On the left is what my hair looks like from a braid-out. On the right is my hair after a wash and go. Even super shrunk, my hair still looks longer than ever.

The last time I straightened my hair was 3 months ago (going on 4) and these were the results:

As you can see, my hair is just past hip length. I'm heading towards tailbone length now. It was fun seeing the length, but after straightening it multiple times this year, I trimmed it on two seperate occasions. My last trim was in July 2015. It was a good move because my hair looked much healthier afterwards and it grew back extra quick. I am astounded by the constant growth I'm seeing. How damaged was my hair before that it was the same length for almost 3 or 4 years?? In just 2 in grew back way longer than it took to grow in 7 years prior. Guys, the numbers don't lie. Chemicals and heat are damaging so many natural curlies out there.

I seriously challenge everyone to go 6 months to a year with no heat. Trust me you will see a difference!! At the start of my journey, my hair was coming out in clumps. I mindlessly went to a hairdresser, cut it to my shoulders, and the rest was history...

May 2013

June 2013

September 2015

Monday, August 25, 2014

Health

Sometimes people say that I was over dramatic about my hair before my cut and that it was perfectly fine before. To them I say this:

May '13 before cut August '14

You be the judge.

The Summer of Growth!

Last year when I started my healthy hair journey, I thought I had it all figured out. I read that it would take a while to solidify a regimen that works, but I was determined to get it right from the start. Time after time, I was realizing that some parts of my regimen were just not working no matter how much I wanted them to work. Here are some of them:

Sulfate Free-All the Time--- My hair got so much build up after a while that I practically ran to the store for Head and Shoulders Sulfate Shampoo. A year later, I learned that I can use it 2x a month to clarify and my hair is happy for it!

Trimming my bangs slowly--- my plan was to transition my bangs but in October, I wanted the straight ends gone. It was like I was allergic to them or something lol. They were only about 4 inches when I cut them, give or take. But it's 10 months later and they are doing just fine:

Washing my hair once a week or twice???--- This was a quandary I faced until literally a few weeks ago. If I washed it twice a week, I could wear it down more often. But it took forever and I didn't want to spend 2 days tediously combing through my hair. So I resolved to once a week but then after 3 or 4 days, it frizzed up. Also the shed hairs would form rats nests in the back of my head so I would usually just bun it. After watching some YouTube vids to see how other curlies handled this, I found my solution. Three days after I wash my hair, I "refresh it" by wetting the ends and finger combing with conditioner. I put some oil, bun it and then when it dries, I have 3 more days of nice curls! I love that I can wear it down more often and don't have to waste so much time washing it. Plus my ends are happy with the added moisture :)

I have learned to work with my hair and feel it out as they say. I can especially tell that my methods are working because it is thriving with pretty curls and nice length! Here are the recent growth pictures from my summer. I'm guessing since June, it has grown a good inch or inch and a half. See for yourself!