Hair Haul and Relaxer Prep

I was planning to relax my hair in next weeks, but something came up that pushed me to relax this week. I went back in forth debating on if I would stay with the no-lye relaxer or change back to a lye relaxer. I decided to go back to the lye relaxer, but changed to the Organic Root Salon Professional relaxer in normal. I am currently 14 weeks post. I usually relax at 16 weeks post.

To prepare for my relaxer I went out and purchased Aphogee 2 Step Protein Treatment. It was my first time trying it out and I will be using it again. It left my hair strong, yet hard. So I decided to do a deep condition with CON Argon Oil Conditioner (official name can be found under my regimen tab). After I DCed my hair felt soft, but strong.

To prepare for my relaxer and restock on my hair products I purchased

1.  Organic Root Salon Professional relaxer in normal
2. Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter Moisturizer (I LOVE this stuff!)
3. Eco Style Gel in white bottle
4. ORS Olive Oil Hair Masque sample pack
5. ORS Neutralizing Shampoo
6. Tweezerman Stainless 2000 5 1/2 Shear

I will be posting soon with my relaxer update!

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.

Wash Day

Saturday was a much needed wash day. I had done the bare minimal to my hair since I last posted of my wash day. Truthfully I'd been in a bit of a funk since I graduated and I'm in what I call "limbo" or between stages of my life. I'm studying for my boards(NCLEX) which I plan to take next month and looking for a job and things were not happening fast enough for me. I was reminded GOD is always on time and that things will fall in place the way HE wants. I have it bad trying to plan my life and getting disappointed when it doesn't work out my way. I'm slowly doing better with that. To top off my funky mood I have been having some medical issues. I'm not sure what is going on, but I hope to have some answers soon. Just keep me in your prayers!

On to my wash day. I decided to deep condition on dry hair for a couple of reasons. One, my hair loves it more than on wet hair. Two, I wanted to see if the Argon Oil Intense Conditioning treatment worked better on dry hair because so far the product was not on my list to repurchase. I mixed about 1 tsp each of honey, hemp oil, and EVOO with my conditioner. I mixed them together and applied to my hair with an applicator brush. I will definitely be making application of conditioner a part of my regimen. It's a little time consuming, but every strand was covered and moisturized. I left the conditioner on for about an hour with a plastic cap and a hat. This is one of my versions of DCing with heat until I get my dryer. When I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair it felt amazing!!! My hair was soft as butter and I finally realized what slip was! I washed with L'oreal EverStrong Hydrating shampoo. I love this stuff. For a sulfate-free shampoo it sure does lather up and clean the scalp very well. I think I'll do an official review sometime this week.

I detangled in the shower under running water and I think I like this method better than doing it after I get out the shower. My hair detangled with ease! I t-shirt dried for about 15 mins then I applied my leave in: CON Argon Oil Leave in and sealed with One N' Only Argon Oil. I airdried and wore a low pony tail.

Over all I can say this was a successful wash day. After my hair air dried it still felt super soft! Sorry I have no pictures.