Relax Day!

No no, I do not mean that I have relaxed my hair today (this is not due for at least another 2 weeks).

Today is relax day because it is my birthday!!! Yes, I'm getting older :-(

Nothing special though as I am away from my family and working...I will probably do something with my other half over the weekend but to be honest, I am not more bothered than that this year lol

I know I did not post yesterday because the start of the week has been quite rough on me and I did not have time to prepare my post....I do apologise for this.

I will get back on schedule shortly, promise!

Protective style

This is one of the protective style I have been using this winter: my first lace front wig.

It is a synthetic one and it getting old now (although I've only used it over the last 2 months). I guess this is what you get for buying synthetic but the natural ones are out of my league...or my wallet lol

Anywho, this one was nice enough and I was very surprised with it. I mean, I have never really been comfortable wearing wigs due to the fact that I was scared it would look too fake, or someone wild pull on it. Or it would fly when too windy!

This one has enough combs (one on each side for the temples, and me at the back), and the lace part blends well with my forehead.

 

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I can't wear it very often and definitely not two days in a row because first, it gives me a headache, and second, I'm too scared the combs will damage my sides by pulling on them and breaking it.

But I try to wear it every now and then when the weather is very, very cold and dry.

What about you ladies? How often do you wear your wig?

Product Review - Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner

I have been on the search for a good deep conditioner for a while now. I have used HE Hello Hydration and Beautiful Ends masks or ORS Replenishing Deep Conditioner to name a few.

Despite being consistent with the one I have used (ORS for the last year or so), I still hadn't found that conditioner that gives you that "moisturised" feeling so many girls talk about on hair forums and YouTube. I started to feel jealous and left out lol

A few weeks ago, I finished my products and decided to try the next one on my list: Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner.

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First, the basics of course, the ingredients:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Polyquaternium-37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Cetearyl Alchohol, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Dimethicone PEG-8 Isostearate, Quaternium-80, Dimethicone, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Lamium Album Flower Extract, Pinus Sylvestris Cone Extract, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Nasturtium Officinale Extract, Allium Sativum (Garlic) Bulb Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Tilia Cordata Flower Extroct, Centourea Cyanus Flower Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Hypericum Perforatum Extract, Fragronce/ Parfum, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl, Methylpropional, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnomal, Glutaral.

 

Now, the second ingredient is Glycerin, which technically shouldn't be used in the winter, BUT as it is for deep conditioning...it doesn't matter, does it? The first five ingredients are good for my hair though (I will get back into what ingredient does what at a later time)

Well...I have been using it twice a week for the last three weeks and I have to say...WHY HAVEN'T I USED THIS BEFORE?! From the first try, I finally experienced that "moisturised" feeling I had heard about.

I used it on wash day first: this was to ensure I had no build up on my hair to get the full benefits of the product. I washed with Aphogee Deep Moisture Shampoo, then applied Two Minute Keratin Reconstructer followed by the Balancing Moisturizer. Once rinsed, I deep conditioned overnight.

The application was very quick and easy: the product has a creamy but light consistency to it. I thought it would be like all the previous ones (which normally make my hair lumpy and I can't run my fingers through it), but to my surprise, this creme turns sort of watery as soon as it gets in my hair. It was almost as if my hair turned to silk. I can even run the comb through to make sure the product is evenly distributed. Oh! And it smells really nice too!

The next morning when I rinsed, I was happily surprised, again. The product was still there, the silk effect too. And when the water ran through my hair, it felt like butter. I could run my fingers through the hair without problems.

Once towel dried, I put my leave-in and went on to detangle. A piece of cake!! Hardly any breakage.

Below are comparison pictures between before Keracare and after. I think they speak for themselves, no? In both, I had a mix of shedded and broken hair.
 

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So far it has been three weeks and I got the same effect each time. Think I might have ticked off the box for my staple deep conditioner.

 

Any Humecto users out there? What results have you had with it?

 

Cheat sheet

The weather has been pretty miserable lately (it started snowing again this week!)

It has turned so cold that I am considering going out with my duvet from now on.

Earlier this week, I was bored with wearing a hat so decided to wear my wig again. My hair was getting a bit dry from the freezing cold so I remembered one thing I saw on YouTube video one day (I do not have a clue as to who she was, it was a while ago). This girl mentioned that she went out with her hat on, but that she had put a plastic cap on her bun under the hat in order to use the Green House Effect (GHE) at the same time.

I thought....."I could try that?! I need to deep condition my hair anyway and I will not have time to keep it overnight so...."

So yes! The next morning, I got ready, applied my DC, a plastic cap, my wig cap and my wig. I just hoped that no one would have the usual idea of touching my head so that we wouldn't hear the horrible noise of the plastic against my hair lol

In all, it was practical as all I had to do was to rinse it off when I came home at night.

I'm not sure i would do this again though as it does not DC the whole head: the sides stay uncovered due to the wig's combs. So basically, my baby hair, edges and back did not benefit from that: the product got removed by the wig.

Still something to keep in mind for those times when you can't DC properly :-)

How about you ladies? Are you all brave enough to go out while DC? I wonder now what I would find if I decided to pull on the wigs and hats of the ladies in the streets. Ha ha ha!

Length/ends check - February 2013

I have not done a proper length check for a looong time. Even when I cut my hair last January (it was already just over a month ago), I did not take a proper picture of my back. So allow me to rectify that today.

Two weeks ago on my wash day, I blew dried and flat ironed my hair (I was just over 4 weeks post on the day I took those pictures).

And here is the result of the length/ends check:

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I am very happy with the overall state of my hair really. Since I did that big cut, my ends seem to still be fine: I have not found any split ends neither so far. Fingers crossed!!

My head does look like a Playmobil's one from the back but I do have some new growth and I did not straightened them completely lol

My hair has never been that nice, so I am going to stick to this regimen. I think (and hope!) I have found the right balance for now :-)

Don't you think?

Every little helps...

I guess only the British people reading this will understand today's blog title lol

 

I have promised myself to be more disciplined with my hair regimen this time in order not to ruin the sacrifice of the 15cm (...or 6 inches). I am happy to say that I have been consistent for exactly 30 days in a row. Yeaaah! And that includes daily scalp massages, moisturising and sealing every night, the satin scarf and everything else that you can read on my regimen page.

 

As I have sort of started fresh again with my new hair cut, I also wanted to put all the chances on my side in order to retain some length. But in order to retain some length, I need the hair to grow too!

 

I have started to take vitamins again on a daily basis to help my new growth to come out stronger...and a bit quicker if possible.

 

I am taking the following:
 

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Now you are asking me: "OK...you take those stuff, but what do they do?"

 

Biotin is also known under the name of vitamin B-7 and can be found in a lot of various foods such as eggs, avocado, cauliflower or yeast for example. Biotin helps our body to assimilate proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Studies have shown that Biotin helps in getting stronger nails and healthier skin. However, one of the great effect that biotin has on our body is that it increases the growth of our hair when taken on a daily basis.

 

MSM is a form of sulfur. It is known in the hair community to reduce the shedding of the hair. How? It increases the growing phase of your hair. Basically, it makes your hair stay longer on your head before it sheds, which gives it a chance to grow longer. I have taken MSM before but was not very consistent with it so I hope to see some effects this time. Apparently, it also gives you a nice skin :-)

 

The B-complex is just for my overall health really lol

 

One thing I find absolutely ridiculous though is the waste when it comes to packaging. I mean, look at the bottle for 100 tablets of Biotin! Couldn't they just put this in a tiny bottle?! It would be more practical to carry and store and better for the environment surely.

 

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I know Biotin has helped me in the past and I did see an increase in my new growth when I tried it a year ago so I thought: why not? I will see the progress at my next relaxer in March.

 

And you ladies? What supplements and vitamins do you take to help with your growth?

PS: I have, via my research, realised that probably my dosage of Biotin is lower than the one they normally advise on taking to see good results: I use the 300mcg ones and the dosage "recommended" is 1000mcg. I experienced more growth last time with the 300mcg and I was taking 4 pills a day. I will probably switch to the 1000mcg ones to make it easier to take though.

Some progress :-)

For those of you who are part of the K.I.S.S community, you might have seen on my page that I had a little problem last month and ended up with a bold spot in the middle of my head.

I have, since then, used Castor Oil every day to massage my scalp and I can say that I am making some progress and it is encouraging.

See for yourself! What do you think ladies?

 

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It will take a little while for it to be full again but I think it is pretty good in 3 and 1/2 weeks!

My sides

Back in October, after having given it a good thought, I decided to change my relaxer: go from a No Lye, to a Lye one (I shall explain the reasons in another post, as this is not the point here).

 

Anyway, I relaxed my hair with this Lye relaxer and until today, I am not sure if it is due to that or not, but I noticed a few days later (don't ask me why I didn't notice it on the day!) that my edges were broken. Like PROPERLY broken!

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Like I said, I am not sure if it is due to the relaxer or if my hair was damaged and simply not ready for a relaxer. Or if it broke afterwards, which could explain why I didn't notice it straight away.

 

I am not hugely upset about it now as I view it as a set back and my sides are fuller than they were at the beginning (I had those "clear" temples due to the years spent braiding my hair with extensions). I have to thank Castor Oil for that!

 

This is another goal for this year: grow my sides back.

 

This list is getting long! :-)

 

Anyone had their sides broken before? How did you grow them back?