I big chopped when I went home for the break, Jan 3rd. I was productless after the chop, except for the readily accessible shea butter, which for some reason my hair was doing shakara for, it just wasn't accepting it. So I put in some braids on Jan 7th, to avoid harmful manipulation and to serve as a protective style from the harsh weather on my return to England.

Last perm: July 2007
Big Chop: Jan 3rd 2008

Took my braids out: Feb 12th 2008
Officially wore my own hair out (resulting braid out/slight baggying): Feb 13th

Was curious to see how my full head of hair was going to respond to products. One thing is for sure, I haven't found the right moisture mix for my hair. Any suggestions are welcome!

Here's what I did with my hair through March 2008.

I have no clue where the inspiration came from, I just went for it. It came out decent. It can only get better!!!

What I've learned so far:

Me and protective styling can hang...I've had my twists in for THREE+ weeks yup!!!

My hair loves water. I haven't had that much of an issue with moisture anymore. I cowashed my twists/ plain water rinsed them.

Thanks to Guapa, castor oil is my best bud. I moisturize and seal with castor oil, and my hair loves it.

Shea butter and coconut oil are staples as well!!!

I wore the twists from April right into the beginning of May. I had an "interview" to attend and for once I wondered about my hair and what to do to it. I ended up with a puff and it turned out that the interview was very informal, there were others up in there in beach shorts and summer dresses..lol! i was stressing for nothing!

Anyhoo...how's what went down in May.

So right now I'm on auto-pilot, twists then twist outs, twists then twist outs and the cycle continues. It may be pretty boring but that's what works for me so far. I go through these stages where i feel my hair isn't growing but I'm not even trying to chase length and that's why I don't have nay comparison pics, but if you notice growth and are kind enough to make me one just to encourage ceecy, then I'd be more than grateful. I might start taking a vit B50 supplement, but that's only after I measure to see how fast or slow my hair grows. :-)

More twist-outs..well July isn't over, lol..so let's see what else I'll get up to.

Oh I'm thinking of C&G ing it but I don't like the ingredients in Infusium and BRX, so if any mixologists have any recipes for braid sprays and a strengthner, please help a sister out! Also if you haven't made one yet but have suggestions as to what kind of ingredients should be in a braid spray and strengthner, then we can talk.

Also, I might be moving to a country with warm weather...I'm thinking major growth spurt? :-D...will keep y'all posted

Even though I started to take out my braids August 19th, I am still not done!!! I plan on finishing tonight tho! I know it seems like I am being slow but the thing is, as I take each out, I put in two strand twists.

My regimen while in braids:

As soon as I was done putting the braids in July 19th, it began to itch real bad. I used Kanekalon hair and didn't soak in vinegar. This is not the first time I have had a bad "reaction" to extensions. I didn't have any ACV or vinegar at the time, so I just washed with Dessert Essence Tea tree oil poo and the itching was relieved a bit, but as soon as I got some ACV, I did a thorough rinse and there was no more itching.
-I washed almost daily using baking soda most times or a VO5 con.
-I used on of the African braidsprays...the one with peppermint and tea tree oil...see pic# 1 in album.
-I deep conditioned twice with lekair cholesterol. The second time I mixed the cholesterol with some Vatika oil and my hair was so soft both times.
-Whenever I washed, I took the time to massage, most times to help the baking soda do its thing.
-Sometimes I used some s-curl for moisture, but I am finding my scalp may not like scurl cos whenever I use it even on freshly washed hair, my scalp gets irritated and starts to itch badly.

Please note that the names of my albums are not meant to make sense, haha!!!

Sept has just started (can you tell I was unsure whether to use begun or began? I hate bad grammar so I'd rather substitute a word than be wrong) and I finally took out my braids last night, phew! Seeing as shrinkage is amazing, I decided sometime in July to measure and track my progress, so I took a picture in mid-june, pulling hair in front down and yesterday I took hair from the same spot and pulled down and I was surprised how much it grew while in braids. I listed my braid regimen in my August 2008 album. So I don't even think any growth aid can sway me far away from this regimen. I was going to try the Moe gro recipe as it's the most natural to me,I got the horsetail herb but couldn't get jojoba oil before leaving the states so that went on the back burner.

Here's what I attribute my growth to ( please note I have never measured to see what my normal growth rate is and I don't have numerical values):

-Daily washing
-The braidspray I used...it actually had nettle and some yummy ingredients similar to moe gro's recipe. It's by African pride.
-Massaging my scalp while washing, since I used baking soda, I took the opportunity to massage and work it in to help it clean. If you use baking soda, you will know that sometimes it takes 2 to 3 changes of solution to thoroughly lift dirt and build up, so I massaged then and whenever I remembered outside of the shower. Didn't use oils cos I didn't want it to attract dirt.
-For an extended period of time in July, I ate 2 boiled eggs a day. That may have helped my hair but my face broke out badly that even urine therapy wouldn't help, but my nails were and still are long strong and WHITE, peep my nails in both August and Sept. albums. My nails have no problem growing but when they get to the length they are now, they break off on the sides and start getting caught in my hair and clothes, I hate that, so I end up cutting them off. This time, I haven't cut them off cos they aren't breaking, I just file to keep them from looking unruly. Long and short of this is I stuck with eating eggs cos I could see a difference in my nails, and I know hair and nails have the same constituent protein, keratin, so I believed that if it was working for nails, it was doing something for my hair, whether it was strengthening or lengthening, Iunno! As for my face, I didn't even put two and two together until I thought about how my face reacted to the FUTUREBIOTICS hair, skin and nails multi. I guess I can't handle biotin, even with drinking my daily required amount of water.
-Using Scurl for moisture occasionally.

PS: Again this might not be huge growth to you, but to me it is inspiring and I hope it inspires someone out there, after all, that's really what this journey is about for me. I am looking at keeping my hair braided till December. I want my bang to hit my CHIN by DEC 2008 ( uh oh! look at ceecy setting goals!!!)

HHG y'all and thanks for stopping by.

I was really saving up for a big update in December (because school got hectic) only for all my pics to be wiped off my computer. Sigh! Here are a few pics I could find thanks to facebook hehe!!!

Happy new year y'all and no I didn't abandon my fotki fam, I was just too heartbroken to show my face.

My hair is doing well. Enjoy!

hehe!

Little twists