GHE Experience

I did the green house effect treatment on my hair the other night and it was a success! Here is what I did:

First I diluted my peppermint oil. I heard the oil straight up could irritate my scalp so I put 3 drops into 3 tsp of water.

I rubbed that mixture into my scalp. Then I put my Shea butter cream into the length of my hair and tied it up. I applied my plastic cap first. 

Then I put my silk scarf over that.

Finally, I put my wool hat to finish off my layers.

I kept all these on for 2 hours and then took off the wool hat before I went to bed. Then I woke up and removed all my layers. The steam definitely worked because the result was soft hair and long layers! I loved it. I compared it to a pic I took two and a half months ago and this was the difference.

Awesome, right? I definitely want to incorporate GHE into my weekly regimen cuz it was fantastic. I recommend doing it the day before a wash so you can cleanse your scalp the day after.

But definitely try this peeps!!!

New Products and Tools

This will be a short and quick update on some of the new products I bought recently. I am loving all of them so far. I purchased them after careful research on their effectiveness towards having healthy hair.

My new sulfate-free shampoo is fantastic! I unfortunately had a bad mishap with my Moroccan shampoo and it all spilled so I got this one to replace it. The smell is amazing.

Sharp hair cutting shears. I bought them at Walmart for a great deal. I'm using them to trim my bangs and quickly take out any tiny knots that won't come undone.

Finally,

This is my absolute new fave. I use it to seal in moisture in the morning or as a deep conditioner overnight. It smells amazing and leaves my hair unbelievably soft.

What products can you simply not live without?

Curl Pattern

When I first chopped my hair, my natural curl pattern at my ends returned. Since all the chemicals and heat damage were chopped off, I finally got my coils back. My bangs, however, were a different story.

I used to straighten my bangs all the time. They were short so I wanted them to look longer. Well, now my bangs are really long, but the heat damage is still there. The damage took out all the curl from my bangs. I noticed recently that my new growth is finally coming in. In this picture you can see the separation of the two:

Since I like how long bangs look, every month, I chop off an inch of the damaged hair instead of chopping it all at once. Soon it will be fully curly and look really pretty :) 

I love my coils!! 

GHE and Other Updates

Yay for updates! I read an article recently about the Green House Effect (GHE) for hair growth. To put it very (and I mean very) briefly, the method looks like this:

a) Take an oil (eg. peppermint or castor) and massage it into scalp
b) take a cream or butter to put on the length of your hair
c) wrap in a plastic cap and then tie a hair scarf over the cap
d) finally put a wool hat over that to really trap the heat

The key is to generate as much body heat as possible. You can take the hat off to sleep in just the cap and scarf. If you do this once or twice a week, it's supposed to yield great results.

I don't know about you all, but I'm dying to try this! I may incorporate it into my regimen twice a week but I will have to figure out good days to do it. Maybe the days before my wash days? We'll see!

In order to fully do this, my mom graciously purchased this new self-heating plastic cap for me!

I can't wait to use it for my hot oil treatments and deep conditioning. Now it can be used for GHE also. Hopefully all this hype will be worth it!











Recent Updates
I got back from my vacation in Florida and I was proud with how I treated my hair! Normally when I go, I blow dry, flat iron, curl, let it soak in chlorine or salt water, and absolutely damage it. When I started my HHJ, I knew my vacation would be a tough-ie but I survived! I wore my cute blue swim cap when I went swimming in the pool. At the ocean, I wore my hair in a bun and covered it in conditioner. I didn't go underwater that much but when the waves crashed over me, I was prepared!

Also, my goals so far are reallyyy hard. Okay, not completely, but mostly goal # 2. I'm not allowed to length check at all when I look in the mirror. I'm always itching to see how long my hair looks, but I know I have to do this. It will be worth it when I finally do it and actually see a difference!

Review of Goals and some new ones!

It's already been a month!! I can't believe how fast it flew. I'm happy to say that I achieved every single one of my goals literally to the day. Today, I did a coconut oil treatment which was the last one I needed! I will go through the old and then set up some new monthly goals.

Olive oil hair mask. Check!

Deep conditioning treatments with leave-in conditioner. Check!

Coconut oil hair mask. Check! 

Protective styles at least 3 days a week. Check! 

It feels so good to accomplish goals :) 

Since this past month I did not do a length check, I'm not entirely sure how all these treatments have affected my growth. But, my hair is softer and shinier than ever. This month coming up, I will also not be doing a length check so I will have some other goals to look forward to in order to pass the time.

1) Keep up with pre-poo oil treatments. (About 4 of them will be done) 

2) Do not look in the mirror to check for length.

3) Go 2 weeks with just finger detangling.

So this month will have some more experimentation. Number 2 and 3 will be some new things I'm trying. I'm beginning to get disappointed when I look in the mirror and don't see drastic changes. I'm going to try to go a whole month without looking in the mirror to see how long it got.

Finger detangling is something that I'm not a huge fan of but maybe I can incorporate it into my regimen bi-weekly or once in a while. I will see how it goes!

Let the monthly goals begin!! 

Night-time Regimen

It is important to include some sort of nightly regimen if you want to have less stress styling your hair the next day. I would always wake up with matted frizzy curls, Until I purchased my silk scarf. It really did change my life!

Every night I use a tiny amount of butter or conditioner to moisturize my hair after a long day of wear and tear. Then I seal with an oil and do a quick scalp massage to go along with it. Then, I braid my hair an wrap the scarf over it. After that I can sleep soundly knowing that my hair is healthy and happy. :) 

What does your nightly regimen look like? 

Swimming Hair Care Tips

I know I know, summer is almost over. Well, for me it's kind of just starting. Although I've been working all summer, tomorrow is officially my last day of work. I finally get some time off and you know what that means? Swimming!

taken 1 year ago. I miss that length

I love swimming. I could live in the water if it was possible. Once I started my healthy hair journey, however, I was a little wary about swimming. I didn't want the chemicals damaging my hair. So I looked up some hair care tips for when we go swimming. This is the routine I'm going to follow in order to protect my hair when I hit the beach or pool.

1) Do a co-wash the morning of. Finger detangle your hair; no need to comb because you will be doing that later.

2) Leave the conditioner in your hair and put your hair in a couple of braids (from 2 to 4) to prevent tangles.

3) Make sure you keep your hair damp and coated with conditioner before you swim.

4) For extra preventative measures, wear a swim cap when you are in the water.

5) Afterwards, shampoo and condition hair; comb through carefully.

6) Do a deep conditioning to regain moisture.

These steps should guarantee safe hair and a fun day of swimming!! Enjoy!

A Little Treat

Here's a little treat for my readers. When my hair was long, I combed through it dry occasionally before I would straighten it. The result always intrigued everyone who saw. My "big" hair was HUGE. Here it is!

Can't wait to get back to this length soon! By then, my afro will definitely be more impressive than these pics ;)