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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.

Wish List

It has been a while, if ever, that I have shared my wishlist of hair care products with you all. My list use to be super long at the beginning of my hair journey, but now not so much. A big part of that is because I'm starting to see what my hair does and doesn't like I'm trying I stick to the products that agree with my hair and get rid of those that my hair doesn't love. So here is my wishlist.

1. Hooded Dryer!!!! I need this for DCing in the worst way. I kept putting it off because I had other expenses but I must get one by the end of July.
2. Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Reconstructor
3. More magnetic rollers
4. Seamless Comb
5.  ORS Hair Masque
6. Jojoba Oil
7. Sweet Almond Oil
8. Roux Porosity Control conditioner (Not sure of the official name)
9. Hair Shears
10. KeraCare1st lather and Hydrating and detangling shampoo
11. Steamer- Ebony from Longing4length has peaked my interest.
12. QP Elasta Mango Butter Moisturizer
13. Castor Oil (almost forgot this!!)

What are some things that are on your wishlist?

Battling My Breakage

Found on google

I know you are thinking that is seems I'm always going to war with my hair. First it was shedding, then detangling, and now breakage. Well these are just minor obstacles one may face when on a hair journey. As I've stated in several previous post I have been experiencing some breakage. Between my last wash day and today I have noticed a significant decrease. Believe it or no I can not take the credit. I have not washed my hair in over a week (I'm currently pre-pooing) and I stopped M&S a few days ago besides when I "do" my hair for the day. I have been walking around the house looking very unattractive. I decided it was past due for a wash day.

As for my breakage, I have been doing tons of research on a fix. I know that my breakage is probably due to several things and I have a plan for solving them all.

1. The first is improper detangling. I have come up with a plan and I'm currently implementing this plan. So for now this is not an issue I will stress about. 
2. The second reason in texlax hair=DRY!!!! After texlaxing for the first time I noticed my hair is much more dry. To solve this issue I plan to M&S nightly! I can not afford to slack on this as I have done in the past. I will be investing in a couple of new products: Aphoghee Keratin and Green Tea Reconstucturizer and Organix Coconut Milk Anti-breakage serum. 
3. Mishandling my new texture- I will make sure I will not manipulate my new texture too much. This means no combing unless it's wash day. This also means only combing my hair when it is saturated with product.

With this plan I feel as if I can overcome this breakage issue. I will keep you updated on my progress. You all continue to stay blutiful and blessed!