Great News, Co-Wash, & Nail Haul

First off I will would like to share my great news! Last Friday on July 20th I took the NCLEX, which is the exam to become licensed as a registered nurse. I'm very proud and excited to announce that I passed!!! It took 110 questions and 2.5 hours for me to officially add BSN, RN behind my name! This a dream come true and I'm ready to start my career as a professional! 

Monday night my Sweeties (SO and Son) took me out to celebrate. It was somewhat last minute so I had to do a quick co-wash and blow dry. I co-washed with V05 Passion Fruit Moisture Milks Conditioner. I detangled in the shower. I towel-dried for about 7 minutes and add my leave-in and Serum/heat protectant. I used CON Argon Oil Strength and Shine Leave-in and GVP's Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum. I started off blow drying on high heat, but became a little apprehensive of heat damage and turned it down to medium heat. I used a little tension to straighten my hair a little. After blow drying, I added a little argon oil for shine and out my hair into a low bun. I was very pleased with the results. My hair was very smooth, soft, and shiny!  Sorry I didn't take any pictures. I was rushing to get out of the house. 

Lastly, I have a nail polish haul to share with you. Sally's had a 50% off all clearance items so I decided this was the perfect time to invest in some quality nail polishes. I have been the only who always went to a salon to get my pedicures. But as of lately, I've been on a DIY kick so I decided to learn how to polish my own nails. This would also save me a ton of money. Besides I've been noticing my polish chips within a day or two of me getting them done at a salon. It's almost becoming a waste of money. 

A few weeks ago I went ahead in invested in my first Essie nail polish. I purchased Play Date, which is a light purple color. I had in on for 2 weeks before it chipped. Yes, I said 2 weeks. I was living and breathing my NCLEX study material. What made me go out and purchase the polishes at Sally's BSS is my BF's kind of serious joke. He said that I would have purple polish on for a month. I had to prove him wrong. So without further rambling here is a list of the polishes and pics.

ORLY: Mysterious Curse and Grave Mistake

Finger Paints: Picasso's Puce, Beach Bound, Bauhaus Burgundy, Go Van Goghi

Essie: Play Date 

Social Media!

I'm now back on social media. You can follow me on Twitter at @blutifulblaq and Instagram @2kizmet!!

Wash Day (Tuesday)

I went on a much needed mini-vacation to Atlanta this past weekend with my family so I didn't have the time or means to wash my hair. I decided to wash my hair yesterday and try out Aphogee's 2 Minute Reconstructor. I d/c on dry hair with NTM Daily Conditioner and a plastic cap. I put on a winter hat to add heat. I d/c for about 6 or so hours. Due to laziness I didn't apply this conditioner with my application brush. I ended up going outside to play with my son with both the cap and hat on. I live in the Southeast so as you can imagine, my head became toasty in no time. I ditched the hat, but kept on the plastic cap. 

I washed my hair with L'Oreal's EverStrong Hydrating Shampoo. I squeezed the excess water out of my hair and applied the 2 Minute Reconstructor for 5 minutes with a plastic cap. After I rinsed my hair I immediately felt how strong my hair was. I lost VERY little hair when detangling in the shower. I was very impressed. I will definitely be adding this into my regimen. I dried my hair with a t-shirt for about 15 minutes and applied Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in. I actually forgot I had this product. I put my hair into two loose twist and let my hair air dry. Last night I M&S with Hawaiian Silky 14-n-1 and EVCO and put my hair into 2 bantu knots. 

Today I wore my hair in a puffy pony tail. I wanted to do a braidout, but became lazy after a day of housework. 

Health Over Length.....Trimming

I have been hearing the phrase "health over length" a lot since I have been on my hair journey. Although I hear many people say it, I  had not given it much thought until recently. I started experiencing breakage and I just became extremely unsatisfied with my ends that. Lately I've been fighting the urge to give myself a good trim. I have not found a stylist who I trust to put shears to my head, so I decided to self-trim. What I can't really finalize is when this trim will occur. I'm currently 2 days shy of 11 weeks post relaxer. I'm waiting on a job interview to come through before I end my stretch (I know it's coming soon). I will either flat iron my hair and trim next month or wait until I relax to trim.

Most people dread getting trims whether it is self-trims or trims from a stylist. They are afraid of loosing their progress or not reaching their length goal by the planned date. For me neither are that important. Don't get me wrong. I want to reach my length goals. Just not at the expense of my hair's health. Truthfully, since I have been on my hair journey my main focus has been on the health of my hair. This is why I don't own a length check t-shirt yet and I don't do frequent length checks. My hair is pretty healthy now, but I still have a ways to go. So the thought of trimming 2 or 3 inches off does not scare me. I know that my hair will grow back and my ends will look amazing.

Now that I think of it, I have always been unsatisfied with my ends. I have been prone to splits, which I now know was the result of improper use of heating tools (my flat irons). I had NEVER used a heat protectant and I don't remember any stylist using one on my hair either. Shocker, I know. My dissatisfaction with my ends has caused me to always bump my hair when getting it straightened and to not flinch at frequent trims from my now ex-stylist (about every 4-6 weeks). I'm not talking about dusting either. This was full out trims.

I'm looking forward to wearing my hair straight and my hair looking full and healthy from root to tip! I hope that you ladies realize that health is way more important than length. I'm a strong believer that if you hair is healthy, length will follow.

HHG!

HOTD (Mobile Post)

I'm pretty excited to share my hair of the day. I finally got my first successful two-twist bantu knot. To achieve this look I moisturized my hair with Hawaiian Silk 14-n-1 and sealed with EVOO. I then two strand twisted my hair and wrapped it as seen in numerous YT videos. I let it sit in overnight (about 12 hours) and took it down with EVCO. I love the way it came out. This will be a frequent style of mine for the summer because it blends my three textures well.