2016 Hair Update #3

Hello everyone! On August 9, 2016, I hit the two years natural mark. I'm really surprised at how fast I reached my goal of going completely natural. I spent the entire two years cutting (trimming) my relaxed ends off. I'm very happy and pleased with my hair and how healthy it looks and feels.

Did I really think I would make it? I wasn't 100% sure simply because I was so used to having my hair relaxed and wasn't sure I would be able to handle it being au naturel. There were many days that I considered relaxing, but then I thought about how much time I would've wasted.  So, I continued on and actually reached my goal. I've learned so many things about my hair and myself.....I can do anything I set my mind to!!! I absolutely love my hair in it's natural state and can't wait to see how it continues to thrive.

The shrinkage is real, but my curls are poppin!

Til next time....

Blessed Tresses

Announcement!!!

It's my Two Year Natural Hair Anniversary!!!! Updates coming soon!!!!

             

2016 Hair Update #2

Hello everyone! I just wanted to update on the progress of my hair. At this time, I am 21 months post and my hair is the healthiest it has been in years. I only have about a 1/2 inch of relaxed ends left, and will trim them off in a few days. I can't believe I have made it this far and how healthy my hair looks and feels. I'm about 2 inches from MBL and can't wait to reach my targeted goal.

left-hair removed from bun; top right-thick ponytail; bottom right-bumped on the ends

My hair has definitely thickened up and I'm enjoying this journey. There are no plans to return to relaxers anytime soon. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe it's been almost 2 years since I had a relaxer, but I made it!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all are doing well. Until next time.....

*Blessed Tresses*

2016 Hair Update #1

Happy New Year everyone!!!! I pray that you all have a blessed and prosperous new year, whether it be spiritually, financially, physically, etc.  Whatever it is...go for it!!!

Just to recap...if you remember last year I decided to stretch my relaxer for longer than my usual 6 months. Well, my stretch just kept going and going, until I found myself at.......DRUM ROLL please.....17 months post relaxer. I never really thought about going back to my natural hair, but it just happened and my hair is thriving so much.  I will not lie and say I have not been tempted so many times to relax instead of deal with my hair.  The crazy part is my hair is not that difficult to deal with in its natural state, but being a creature of habit made me want to cave in to temptation.

Now, I am in no way against relaxers, but I am all for doing what makes "you" happy with "your" hair.  So, for me right now I am very happy with my hair!!! I made this decision based on the state of my hair and issues that I was dealing with such as breakage, shedding, and overall health of my hair. I think this is the best decision I could've made for myself at this time. I continued my mini-trims and have basically cut off all relaxed ends.  I will keep you all updated from time to time during this year.

Here is my last update:  July 20, 2015

Here is my hair now (excuse my falling curls)

See you in the next update! Be blessed my friends :-)

Blessed Tresses

Hair Update #2

This is part two of my previous hair update.....just to recap, I am 50 weeks post relaxer/texlaxer.  I have not decided what my plans are.

Here are some additional pics:

New growth

Blow dried hair

Flat ironed and curled

Have a blessed night....

~Blessed Tresses~

Hair Update #1

Hello everyone!!!! I know it's been a while, but I finally completed graduate school and now have my MS in Social Gerontology.  I thank the good Lord for leading me the entire time during this journey.

Now to my hair.....well believe it or not, I am actually 50 weeks post relaxer/texlax.  When I first started stretching, it was going to be my usual 6 months stretch and then texlax my hair.  However, this time I decided to see how long I could actually go without wanting to pull my hair out.  So, 9 months looked real good and I was having no issues.  Then I thought, can I do this for an entire year?  So, I decided to test myself, and I must say it was not as hard as I thought it would be.  My new growth has kicked in something fierce, especially when I was taking hair vitamins.  Now that I'm at this 50 week mark, I am loving my natural texture and how healthy my hair feels to me.  The only issue that I'm dealing with is keeping these edges under subjection lol.  I'm good for a few days, but when the humidity kicks in, it's all over.

Here are some pics of my texture with no product:

So, what's next for me.....I'm not sure if I'm going to hit that one year mark and keep it moving or texlax my hair.  I definitely won't do anything immediately because I want to see how my hair works out after I've hit my goal.  I'll definitely keep you all posted.

Until next time,

~Blessed Tresses~

2015 Hair Goals

Hello everyone! I've decided that the best way to keep myself accountable through my hair journey is to create some goals. At this time, I've been texlaxing every 6 months or so, however, I'm currently at 30 weeks now and as long as my stretch is causing no harm to my hair it will continue. Here's a picture of my current texture and what I'm dealing with:

Here are my goals:

• Prepoo 30 minutes or overnight with oil mix (castor, coconut, sunflower, grapeseed oil).
• Wash hair weekly.
• Deep condition 30-60 minutes each wash with hear or a heat conditioning cap.
• Air dry when possible and flat iron with heat protectant (not often-maybe once a month).
• Focus on healthy ends over length by making sure I am moisturizing and sealing my ends as needed.  At this point my ends have definitely recovered from a set back and I want them to stay in good shape.
• Continue with mini-trims every 3-6 months and length checks will be on the same type of schedule. I've discovered that the more I pay attention to my length by measuring perhaps too often, I start feeling as if I'm making no progress. 
• I'm going to try my best to continue wearing protective styles such as updos (french rolls, braided buns, and pin curled updos). It's very rare that I wear my hair down, but when I do it's either bumped on the ends or a pin curled style.
• Last but not least, listen to what my hair needs. I refuse to jump on any new bandwagons. I'm sticking to what works for me. So, I'll continue with simple wash days, taking my multi-vitamins, eating healthy, and exercising. 

I hope that you all are reaching your hair goals and making progress.  Sometimes our hair journeys seem in vain, but if we stick with what works we will definitely see progress!

Until next time,

~Blessed Tresses~