Some New Hair Toys

Bought a couple of banana clips today. I had one in mind, for $3. When I went to the cash to pay, they told me there was a minimum of $5 to use my debit card, so I had to go back and choose a second one because I had no cash on me. They were 2 for $5.

My Hair Today

I flat ironed my hair on Thursday after relaxing, and have been sleeping in 2-3 flexi rods/night since. Before bed, I would lightly spritz my hair with some Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer and seal with a dime-sized amount of One 'N Only Argan Oil. The pictures above are the results. I'm really feeling this look. It's so effortless! :) Addicted to flexi rods. I only have really small ones right now, but maybe one day I'll allow myself to get a bigger size (when I merit them).

First Wash after Texlaxing

I relaxed on Thursday, and washed today. I washed using Creme of Nature's Neutralizing Shampoo. I definitely won't be repurchasing this shampoo, if I choose to continue self-relaxing. It's supposed to have a colour indicator (supposed to be white when hair is back to a neutral pH), but it seems to wash out white from the get-go.

I then deep conditioned for 25 minutes under the hooded dryer with ORS Replenishing Olive Oil Deep Conditioner, coconut oil, and olive oil applied to my scalp using an applicator bottle.

I rinsed in and detangled in the shower.

Once out, I applied Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship leave-in conditioner and a tad of CHI Silk Infusion. I rolled my hair using gray rollers, and am now sitting until the dryer for about an hour and ten minutes. My hair most likely won't be dry once that time is up, but I have to be out from under the dryer to watch Gossip Girl ;)

I will probably roll my hair with 2-3 flexi rods before bed.

It felt so great not to have to battle with my hair after washing it. This means my relaxer was much more successful than it was the last time. I still have a lot of texture, which I am happy about. I really don't think I will ever feel 100% confident self-relaxing my hair because I am scared of having a setback. I guess practice makes perfect, but there isn't really that much room for error when using caustic chemicals..

Self-Texlaxing: Attempt #2

My original plan was to self-relax sometime this weekend, but my scalp was starting to itch, so last night, I decided I would do it right there and then.

I based my scalp with Hollywood Beauty Castor Oil (it's basically a mineral oil-free hair grease, IMO). I did the half-and-half method (relaxed half of my head of hair, rinsed it, then relaxed the second half). I pre-parted all of my sections, and applied the relaxer (ORS lye) using an applicator brush. I smoothed the sections with my gloved hands. The application + processing totaled 15 minutes per side. I did a quick protein treatment using Motions CPR in the shower, then neutralized with Cream of Nature. I followed up with a deep conditioning treatment under the hooded dryer for about 20 minutes, using ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner.

It was getting late, and I did not have time to rollerset, so I blowdried on cool till maybe 50% dry, then blowdried on warm until fully dry. I also flat ironed, put in two flexi rods then put on my satin bonnet. (As leave-ins prior to drying, I used Aphogee Green Tea + One 'N Only Argan oil. I applied a tad of CHI Silk Infusion before flat ironing).

I can't even tell you what percentage I texlaxed to. I'll have to see this next time I wet my hair. I think I'll deep condition by Monday or something.

My camera batteries are dead, so I took a picture just now with my webcam. It's pretty dark, but wtv. I did not do a length check. I've been doing them way too often, so I am going to try my best to hold out on that until at least early May ;)

All in all, it seems to be a success. On the other hand, I must admit that I don't enjoy relaxing my hair myself. My new growth is so hard to part, and I have a lot of hair, so it is a lot of work. I might end up going back to a salon next time.. my next dilemma will be trying to choose who to go to.. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Maybe the 2nd Time Will be a Charm?

It'll be 20 weeks this Friday since I last went to my hairdresser for a relaxer, and 7 weeks since my botched self-relaxer attempt. My hair is so underprocessed that it basically feels like I didn't relax at all. It's getting really hard to deal with the two textures, that I think I will be relaxing this weekend.

There are a couple of things that went wrong the last time that I surely will not repeat:

- did not leave the relaxer on to process. Don't ask LOL I was so nervous about overprocessing, that I basically rinsed the relaxer out a couple of minutes after it was applied. I did this even though I used a mild relaxer and added oil to it. The paranoia of having an overprocessing setback got the best of me.

- I didn't smooth the relaxer over my new growth once I had applied it to my whole head

My hair is really coarse and resistant. I don't think I'll be adding any oil to it this time, because I cannot risk being underprocessed again. My goal was to begin texlaxing, but I obviously not been able to achieve that happy medium yet. I'll see if using the mild relaxer without oil will be it.

-------------------------------------

I deep conditioned on dry hair today with ORS Replenishing Conditioner. Prior to adding the conditioner to my hair, I applied EVOO to my scalp using an applicator bottle. Once I added the conditioner, I applied coconut oil over my hair. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for about 25 minutes. I rinsed in the shower, did a protein treatment with Motions CPR Protein Reconstructor, and a quick condition with Aussie Moist.

Once out of the shower, I sprayed Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer on my hair, and applied One 'N Only Argan Oil. I sectioned my hair into 4, and blowdried on a warm setting (it was too late to rollerset, and too close to bedtime to airdry). Once dry, I rolled with 5 flexi rods, covered with my satin bonnet, and now I'm laying in bed ;)

Will post some pics tomorrow.

ETA:

A Couple of Purchases from Walmart Today

I went to Walmart today with the intention of buying a blowdryer and a round brush. As I've mentioned, I've been rollersetting more lately, but with the amount of new growth I have right now, I need a way to straighten my roots. I have been using a flat iron, but I wanted to try blowing my roots out instead, to see what kind of look I could achieve.

I've never had a blowdryer with a concentrator nozzle. Since I can't afford to splurge on something super fancy, so I bought the Vidal Sassoon Professional 1875W Ionic Blowdryer for $20. It comes with a brush (nothing fancy) as well as a diffuser attachment.

I wanted to get a boar bristle round brush, but they were $15 - which is way more than I want to spend. I'll check out the BSS sometime next week instead..

Anyway, on my way out, I couldn't help but resist checking out the new Live Clean hair products. I've been on the prowl for a creamy leave-in conditioner, so I decided to read the ingredients of their Exotic Nectar Argan Oil Smooth & Shine Cream.


Ingredients: Aqua (purified water), argania spinosa extract, argania spinosa kernal (argan) oil, vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, glycerin, glyceryl stearate, vegetable oil & hydrogenated vegetable oil & euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, cocoglycerides, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate, parfum, polyquaternium-7, xanthum gum, sodium stearoyl gluatamate, brown 1.

They also have an argan oil, but since I recently bought the One N Only version, I will have to wait until that's done before I can allow myself to buy it.

They have a few other products that I would love to try:

• Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Shampoo
• Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner
  

I plan on deep conditioning, washing and rollersetting tomorrow, so I will be trying the new appliance and products then.