This has been all wrong!

I've come to the realization that my whole regimen is WRONG. I have been putting nothing but proteins, proteins and more proteins in my hair. I'm suffering from an extreme protein overload. So for the rest of the month I will not apply a single protein to my hair. I will co-wash with a non-protien conditioner, hot oil treatment with honey and evoo and moisturize with a non- protein moisturizer and seal with grape-seed oil. I'm very discouraged bc I just really thought I was doing so good when it came to my hair, but I was obviously mistaken, So I will be trying my best to reverse my damage. I will make a new blog about what takes place on this particular wash day on the day of.....

I've decided to stretch this next relaxer till 16weeks Part 2:

For the next wash day, I finally purchased the greek yogurt to complete my "concoction"
 and added it to my previous ingredients ( greek yogurt, coconut milk, avacado, honey, olive oil and I also have now added my oil mix to it as well. this oil mix consist of every oil I own, this makes the the concoction less dense)...

This was purchased from Whole Foods 

My results produced looser curls, shiny and soft hair. I love this method and its perfect for ladies who are stretching their relaxers. This "concoction has become my STAPLE, as I am stretching this relaxer to 16 weeks. I love it I love it I love it! Ok here are the PICS...

I've decided to stretch this next relaxer till 16weeks Part 1:

I had originally intended on stretching this next relaxer from 1-12-12 till 3-29-12.. But I've come to the conclusion that I would like to relax every four months.. My new growth is definitely in the building! So I began to research so methods on controlling and loosing up my curl pattern, because my hair doesn't get the typical kinky that most get once it's time for a relaxer. It get extremely CURLY... So through my research I found that coconut milk and greek yogurt help to loosen the curl pattern. The first time I tried this, I only used coconut milk (I hadn't purchased the greek yogurt just yet), honey and evoo. The initial results were great...


Before:

As you can see the hair is laying down on my scalp after I added the coconut milk, honey and evvo. I let this sit on my hair for 2hours, 1 under the dryer and the other hour just under a plastic cap.

After:

My curls were softer and more loose, the results were great. I'm excited to see how the greek Yogurt will enhance my results.

My first attempt at a roller set 2-16-12

Each style I am interested in I learn how to do, so this particular week it was a Roller Set... This was actually a lot easier to do than the cold wave roller set. The results were cute the only issue was I should have just worn it curly instead of wrapping it and the rollers could have been tighter because I really need a relaxer!! But all in all I was happy with the results....

Feb 2-8-12

I was feeling very ill, it seemed as if I was coming down with the flu or something. But my 25th Bday was on 2-9-12 so I had to get up and do something to my hair. I decided to apply heat ( I dreaded to do it, but I hadn't done a full length check since I relaxed). I absolutely love to wear my hair straight what better day to wear it that way than my BDAY!

Process: 

• I co-washed with VO5 Clarifying Conditioner
• Black tea rinsed
• Deep conditioned for 2 hours with Silk Elements Luxury Moisturizing Conditioner ( One of my staple products LOVE LOVE :))
• Sprayed Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Reconstucturizer ( A new staple)
• Applied Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner
• I placed a drop of Proclaim Argon Oil Hair Treatment ( Another new staple, gives great shine and and softness)
• Placed a drop of Chi silk infusion ( I'm going to have to try this again to see how much I loved it, it was hard to tell)
• I sat under the dryer for about 15 mins
• I blow-dried  the rest
• And I flat iron with the Her-Styler the very best flat iron EVER

Products Used

The Best Flat ( In My Book)

Process from beginning to end I was happy with my results and SWANGING my hair on my BDAY :)

Feb. 5, 2012 Wash Day

Hi, Boo's! I have been QUEEN of procrastination for the last two weeks, I will give myself a pass because school is back in and in effect. It's my last semester as an undergrad so I must finish strong. I decided to just  do about 3 or so different blogs detailing my most "memorable" washdays since the last time I blogged and today... I specifically set aside the time today to do this. So lets get to it! On my last blog I stated that I wanted to try the coldwave roller set, I was getting so discouraged because I kept getting the wrong size roller and the beauty supply store workers were so rude.. I was just beside myself. So I decided that although Sally's are expensive they are the better way to go. You don't have to worry about asinine policies (as far as returning and exchanging) and you can even try out there products, if you don't like you can return. So I came to the conclusion that you get what you pay for. So the rollers that worked for me are the short white rollers ( I will post a pic).. It probably took about 10 bags or more for my whole head. I really should have counted specifically... But I did however take a picture of ALL of the roller once I had taken them out... 

This process was quite a tedious one, it took me a whole 2 HOURS to complete, I didn't quite get a rhythm down so I was just kind of all of the place with the direction of the way I was applying the roller to my hair. The curls came out beautifully however I didn't quite let them get as dry as they could have and I also didn't master how to get the rollers secured in my head really tight, so its obviously going to take some practice. But I made it through nevertheless.

Products I used:

• I co-washed with VO5 clarifying shampoo my absolute fave thing in the whole world
• Oil-rinsed for 2 hours with grapeseed oil
• Acv- rinsed for 3 minutes
• Sprayed Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer ( new to the stash and another new love of mine, it leaves the hair so shiny, strong and healthy looking and feeling)
• Applied a squirt of Creme of Nature Argon Oil wrapping lotion
• Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner
• I sealed and moisturized with- Elasta QP Mango Butter Moisturizer and avocado oil ( I chose avocado oil because it's really light and doesn't weigh the hair down. It is an excellent oil to seal with when you actually have your hair in a style)

As you can see from the picture on the far right the curls didn't really hold up, but it turned out very cute, and I was pleased with the results overall.

First Wash Day of Feb. My Bday Month!!

HAPPY FEBRUARY! Such a Great month it's my late Grandfather's Bday month as well as mine and this Bday is somewhat of a milestone, it's my 25th birthday kind of bittersweet. But nevertheless I'm blessed to have reached this age (well to have almost reached this age my bday is Thurs.) Ok on to HAIR, my only passion these days ( I know it's sad) lol but it's true....
 My wash day was Sunday 2-1-12, I would love to update on the actual days, but it never works out that way, I'm working on it! As I stated in my latest post I've had a major set back in my opinion on my last wash day. So I decided to revert back to my original regimen: only using shampoo on my hair once a month, and seeing that I am using MT I will monitor that to make sure that's enough, the reason I'm saying this is because I don't want to have a build up issue. So as of now shampoo once a month (clarifying shampoo), cowash bi-weekly, tea rinse weekly, acv rinse weekly, apply Neutrogena Triple mask weekly, shea butter weekly, honey treatment weekly, prepooing weekly. The whole month of Feb. I want to stay away from bunning because of the shedding issue, I really dont want to manipulate my hair every day. So on on my next wash day I'm going to attempt the cold wave rollers once again, I'm going to actually get the RIGHT SIZE rollers this time. I'm excited abt Feb! I decided to do a hard protein bc my hair was feeling lifeless and doing a lot of shedding. I want to work on posting pics of my wash days the day of, I plan on having this issue corrected by my next wash day. So here are the pics and a layout of what I did from my last wash day:

2-1-12


Wash day

• Prepooed with coconut oil under the dryer for 30 minutes
• Shampooed with Aphogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair
• Applied Aphogee 2 step Protien
• Applied Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer 
• Deep Conditioned with Silk Elements Moisturizing Conditioner for 2 hours with a hooded dryer

Styling

• Twist-outs
• Moisturized using Wave Nouveau Moisturizing Finishing Lotion
• Sealed with JBCO (Jamaican Black Castor Oil *absolutely love this makes hair feel like silk*)

Wash Day 1-29-12

I'm having a bad hair day in my opinion.... Today was washday and I have implemented 3 new things into my wash day because the MT is such a strong protein. I use shea butter shampoo, prepoo every wash day with a mixture of oils and I do a hot evoo and honey treatment under the dryer for 30 mins. I then tried to apply the cold wave roller to my hair to get me shirley temple curls... But I'm almost positive I got the wrong size, bc the rollers absolutely wouldn't fit they kept sliding out. So I'm going to return them and get a smaller size and hope they work out,  I will be updating on Sunday. So once that failed I decided to use my satin roller.. Long story short it was an EPIC FAIL, I later found out that I used to much foam lotion it left my hair hard. I tried to come through it and lost so much hair.. I'm so discouraged about it, in my opinion it was a major setback... But you live and you learn. Here is a pic of the outcome once I sealed and moisturized and slept in a satin bonnet:

Alter Regimen

Now that I am doing the MT challenge, I have to alter my regimen a bit. I have now implemented pre-pooing, honey treatments into my regimen and shampooing with a clarifying shampoo (monthly) and shea butter shampoo weekly, along with co-washing weekly. I pre-poo (prior to shampoo and co-washing) with a plethora of oils: safflower oil, castor oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil and grape seed oil. I apply this oil mixture to my scalp and my hair sleep place a plastic bag and a bonnet on my head and leave on over night. I then do a honey treatment, where I mix organic honey and extra virgin olive oil into an applicator bottle and apply to scalp and hair put plastic bag on head and sit under the dry for 30 mins. I then either shampoo or co-wash and continue my normal regimen. I will keep this going for 6 weeks while I am doing MY MT challenge.... Happy Hair Growth :))

1st Relaxer of the year!

My very 1st Relaxer of 2012 was 1-12-12

My last relaxer of 2011 (Oct) and My current relaxer of 2012 (Jan).. Present Progress as of 1-25-12

3-29-12 is the next date for my next RELAXER

Weekly MT Update

I'm noticing ALOT of shedding!!! I cannot afford a set back of any kind... Sooo I've decided to cut the MT down to every other day oppose to everyday. I will see if this helps.... But it does appear that my edges are becoming thicker, so that is a POSITIVE!

One week of using Mega Tek edges appear thicker

My own personal MegaTeK Challenge 1-17-12

*This Challenge was actually started a week a ago, I just wasn't able to post

I was reading many hair growth forums and I had been hearing a lot about a product called MegaTek. This product is essentially used for horses, if they are missing a patch or their hoofs are not growing MegaTek is applied to serve as a growth aid. This product has in fact been approved for humans. I suffer from week spots on my edges in the front and just overall thinnest of my hair since I am relaxed now. So I entered into my own challenge, I found a recipe online for the MegaTek. A recipe is needed so the MegaTek can be diluted it is a very strong protein.  




The Recipe

• 6 tsps of Mega Tek
• 3 tsps of Jamaican Black Castor Oil
• 2 tspns Glycerin

I mix this solution into an applicator bottle and apply to my scalp once a day, along with sealing and moisturizing everyday. I have also included garlic pills (1000mg) into my regemine to combat the shedding. The Meag Tek is said to cause shedding and garlic prevents shedding. I plan on doing this challenge for six weeks. I will be posting a starting pic and an ending pic once the sixth week is here. I'm excited!! Happy Growing!!

    

My Hair Story

Hello Again, I was finally able to set my page up the way that I wanted.. I am totally new to this so I was like a baby learning to walk, but I'm there. So I can get on with the who, what, when, and why of my blog. I'm Alexia McCrary and I decided to do a blog so I could document my new Healthy Hair Care Journey that I have embarked upon.. A fellow classmate of mine started hers almost a year ago and she would post various things on her face book page, I would borrow here and there not totally following the plan. However I decided about a month ago to fully get on board with a healthy hair care regimen. And so far so good, I'm not even close to where I want to be but I am trucking on along lol... Here is break down of the past until now (as far as my hair goes).

In the beginning  (birth-'07)

• Relaxer every 4 weeks
• Grandmother was a beautician
• Didn't focus on hair care whatsoever
• Hair was the longest it has ever been my entire life

The start of the problems  ('07-'09)

• Decided to get hair cut into a bob
• Bleached hair almost white blond
• Moved away no longer had my Grandmother as my stylist
• Hair begin to severely break off

My Solution  ('09-11)

• Decided to go natural
• Colored hair the day I cut it off ( not a good idea)
• Bleached hair again while it was natural (even worse idea)

My next "Solution" ('11-now)

• Back to a relaxer
• Bleached hair began to severely break off again

My Final solution (Dec 2011-FOREVER :)

• Start my HEALTHY HAIR CARE JOURNEY

In this blog I will be documenting my progress due to my new found regimen, I will also be trying new thing, entering challenges and just the whole nine yards to ultimately achieve my goal.

My Goal

• Achieve even length

I'm excited to take you on this journey with me, I will be posting pics, videos and etc to help me track my progress along the way to reaching my goal... And the reason why I am not saying my goal is SL, APL, BL (shoulder length, armpit length and back length) etc. is because my hair is so uneven I can't realistically at this point set my sites on such goals.. Once I can get an even length I will definitively make a decision on what my true goal is as far as length.. I'm all about texture, evenness and thickness at this moment.... Well that concludes my introductory statement..... Hope you enjoy following my progress....

My First Day of blogging....

Hello! I decided today to create a blog. I'm trying to get the layout of my blog to be the way that I want it, still not quite sure how to do that but I will figure it out, just the way that I am figuring out how to achieve healthy hair that is all one length. I want to track my journey starting from the past to to where I am currently, I have ways to go to reach my goal but I am well on my way.... Bear with me once I figure out the preliminaries I will be ready to blog away, using pictures and videos to track my journey.....