November 2013

My Relaxer Routine... :-)

Saturday 30 November 2013

You may have noticed that I didn't mention my relaxer routine in my regimen list. I did that on purpose. :-) Why? Because the relaxer process is a chemical process that is used to loosen the hair texture, and make it easier to style, but its not necessarily "good" for your hair really.

Chemically altering the hair automatically makes it a bit weaker, whether that be relaxing, texlaxing, texturizing, permanent hair colour application and bleaching. After any of these processes the hair needs extra love and care, hence the need for a rock solid hair regimen, to ensure that it remains as healthy as possible. At least, thats my take on it.

That being said, It follows that if your hair is weakened or breaking, its best to delay and relaxer until the hair is healthy and strong again so that it can withstand the chemical process.

I relax my hair every 9-13 weeks at a hairdresser (a trusted friend of a friend) in town that I TRUST to follow my list of instructions to a T! :-)
So far so good.

I'm still too scared to try to relax it myself, but I plan to take the plunge in 2014, eeps!!

My Relaxer Process is as follows:

In the beginning... :-)

Thursday 28 November 2013

Hey there!

So I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog to document my hair journey since July this year, and yay! I finally got around to it this morning. I practically jumped out of bed at 5am and said "Let's do this!" :-)

My hair journey began officially in January 2013, after months of online research about relaxed hair care. I was tired tired TIRED of being stuck at shoulder length hair thin hair. I was natural until I went to college at 19 years old. I begged for the relaxer because even though I loved my natural hair, I had no clue what to do with it except plaits, boring! I had no clue about deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing etc, if I knew then what I know now, maybe I would have stayed natural, hmmm...

Anyhow, I did love my relaxed hair in the beginning, but after hairdressers got a hold of it, it just became thinner, I would have good months of growth spurts out of no where, and bad months of, omgness, sigh.

During internship in Barbados, I learned about moisturizing and sealing, and low manipulation styles, and my hair took off. Then Rihanna went and got red hair, so yours truly had to do the same, hehehe. I loved it, and I don't regret it at all. But the 2 years of red rinsing took a toll, turns out the hairdresser was putting a permanent dye instead, without my permission! Arrrg!

And then it hit me,

My hair wasn't thriving because of hairdressers! It was time for me to learn to do my own hair myself!!!

In my research I saw ladies with my type of hair relaxed and natural at waist and hip length! All this time family and friends had convinced me that my type of hair (type 4) would never get past shoulder length, because black peoples hair doesn't grow, you have to be mixed etc etc etc what nonsense! And I've set out to prove to myself that I can do it, and maybe I'll help to set a positive example for other girlies with type 4 hair who have seemingly stunted hair growth, simply because we haven't been taught how to properly care for our hair.

Some of the hair experts that I found and helped me immensely on my journey are :

Long Hair Care Forum,
Traycee from keepitsimplesista.blogspot.com,
Jeni from justgrowalready.com,
Freshlengths.blogspot.com,
Laila from fusionofcultures on youtube,
www.hairlista.com,
Blackgirllonghair.com.

Okies, so this was a looong post, next up, my progress pics thus far!
Thanks for visiting!
And HHJ!

Xoxo,
Rachie :-)

The Ever-evolving Regimen... :-)

Wednesday 27 November 2013

So! if you have a hair journey blog, its pretty much a given that you have to post your regimen! :-)
Mine has changed here and there since the beginning of the year based on how my hair was responding, and on setbacks I encountered... Woi! I'll touch on THAT in more detail in another post! (Side-eye) Lol.

So in the beginning, I hadn't a clue where to start exactly. It was when I happened upon www.justgrowalready.com and saw Jeni's hair progress and how organized she was with her hair care, I was in awe to say the least, and so I decided that since we had a similar hair type maybe her regimen would work for me.

I think that was a good place to start. Following the basics of an established regimen, and most importantly understanding the reason for each step, helped me to pick what would most likely work for me.

The following are the key aspects of my regimen so far, I'm still open to hearing any tips and tricks from you guys, I'm still learning after all! :-)