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!

Taken Exactly 1 year apart! June '13 to June '14!

June '14 wet hair length check

October '13 and August '14 comparison!

April '14 and Aug '14: Almost waist length!

June '14 stretched curls

Great Curl Definition!

My August '14 Curl Pics. Amazing Length and Great Health!

 Can't wait to see what this next year has in store! Happy HHJ xoxo

1 year Comparisons

June 2013->October 2013->June 2014

1 year Length Check!!

Pictures say a 1000 words so here you go!

It is at 7 and a half inches of growth with just passes Mid back length!! Yay! I am only an inch and a half away from waist length!! This is so exciting; in 12 months my hair grew more than 7 inches. Before my healthy hair journey, I grew 1 to 2 inches in a year. Now I'm at 7 and a 1/2. Craziness. My next goal is to be waist length. Hopefully I can get there in 3 months. We'll see!! 

Straight hair!!!

On May 22, I finally straightened my hair! It had been 1 whole year since I last straightened it, so I was anxious to see the end product! Here is how I ensured healthy hair while applying direct heat:

I still avoided blow drying my hair. Instead, I clarified, detangled and banded my hair 3 days prior to straightening. For the next 3 days I let my hair air dry while being completely stretched. Then I applied heat protectant and straightened my hair with medium heat. Finally I applied Moroccan oil to the finished product. This is what it looked like!!

The ends look incredible and I am thrilled with how soft and thick it came out! My hair has never looked this good and I know it's because I stayed away from heat during the year.

The experience was a little traumatic for me because I had some breakage while I was straightening and I didn't want to fry my hair. While I was super pleased with the result, I won't be straightening my hair again anytime soon. It shows my length but I really do love my curls.

This year, I fell back in love with my curls and this experience proved that to me. I'm happy with how far I have come from just a year ago thinking that I only looked good with straight hair.

Here is a side by side comparison

To me, both look great. I <3 my hair

1 year post!!!!!!

A whole year has passed! I have been a little MIA becuz of finals and stuff but I will catch up with everything in these next few posts. I will start off with my yearly goals! 

No direct heat ✔️

No hair dye ✔️

No chemicals ✔️

No harsh brushing with dry hair✔️

No tight hairstyles✔️ 

I accomplished all my goals!! I am seriously so proud that I got through everything for 12 months. Going into this new year, it's time for new goals. I think I will keep the same ones from this past year as guidelines but I'm adding these:

1) Protective Styles

2) Protect my ends

3) Be patient

My hair is mid back length now (as you will see in another post) so I'm going to have to be really careful with my ends since I don't want to be trimming them too much. 

This time next year I want to be hip length with straight hair, so I will have to keep my ends tucked and make sure my hair stays moisturized. It is healthy and thick right now so I know it is definitely possible. Can't wait to see what's in store! 

October 2013 ---- May 2014!!!

Happy Healthy hair Journey! Here is to another year!

Goal Review of month 11!!

Wow, in one month, it will be a year since my hair cut!!! Unbelievable! Let's go through my monthly goals

So I had one goal:

1) don't touch hair. Check!

While it's hard to put this on a scale, I can definitely say for the most part I avoided touching my hair too much. It is looking so nice and thick and healthy, I can't handle it! For Easter last year, I straightened my hair, and it was bleached, and my ends were thinning.

 

It looked cool, but I was drying out my ends in record time. This year, I loved how my hair turned out.

I did a braid out and left it in for a couple days to dry completely.

My ends were coily and happy. Here is a shrinkage pic:

For this month my goals are going to be simple again.

1)keep doing what I'm doing!

2) try a new heat-less hairstyle

I've gone 11 months with no heat, and my hair is thanking me for it! Can't wait to complete that yearly goal and see how it turns out when I finally do blow it out. 

Good hair day

I got caught in rain yesterday so I wrapped my hair into a low bun and slept with it like that. I woke up to a great hair day! 

Also, after I washed my hair the other day, I put it into a single braid and man, was it thick!! 

Healthy hair for me is thick hair. Gotta love it! 

It's been over 10 months since my hair cut, and the hair is looking fab :) how are your hair journeys going? 

Fierce

When I have a good hair day, I do a selfie photo shoot lol. 

Finally starting to see a difference in length. It's harder to tell if my hair is growing now that it's not short anymore. But is surely is!! 

Shrinkage!!!

So much shrinkage!!!

Less than 2 more months til straight hair!

Amazing wash day

I don't normally get very excited about wash days but this past one went extremely well. So I'm gonna share some pics!

I pre-poo'd with coconut oil for a couple of hours. Then I used my Head and Shoulders clarifying shampoo for two washes. Then I put my 3 Minute Miracle deep conditioner from Aussie and left it in for about 5 minutes. Finally I rinsed it out and then added Treseeme conditioner to comb through and leave in my hair. 

I first finger detangled and then finished up by combing with my denman. I only do this once a month because normally I just finger detangle. The denman made my curls so pretty and coily!!!

I was in awe how pretty my hair came out. I rope braided my bangs and then put the rest of my hair in a high ponytail to dry. 

The next day, I gathered the nice curls into a bun and it was a simple yet beautiful protective style! 

2 days later, and my curls are still looking great!

Sometimes my HHJ gets tough but it's wash days like these that show me how fun healthy hair can be and how pretty it can look! Length is coming-- I can feel it! 

Two strand twists!

I tried out two strand twists and they came out lovely!

Finished product!

I started out by washing my hair and then twisting two strands at a time together. The result was this:

Clipped up twists

The next day they were mostly dry. They shrunk up a lot:

After I took out the twists, the result was very pretty. The curls were soft and defined! Loved it :) 

Success!!