Shea Growth And Retention Regimen 2018

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

Okay so here are my end of the yr photos. It's a comparison from apr 2018 to dec 2018. I did a huge chop in Apr of this yr to get rid of ALL of my damaged ends and started using shea butter and protective styling in twists majority of the time. In this time my hair has done something it's NEVER done before !!!!! I've retained 1/2 in a month since then. Here are my comparison pics.
Apr 2018


Dec 2018


Apr 2018

Dec 2018


Apr 2018


Dec 2018

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Looking pretty! Can you walk us through the timeline and the differences of these two posted photos, please? How long had you been using Shea butter in each one? What is the style steps done on each hairstyle: air dry, Shea butter placed on it wet, etc... I think your photos are a great example and capture the difference that Shea butter makes on natural, afro-textured hair. Can you give us a detail by detail breakdown, please?



This is what I was saying about how Shea butter grown hair looks "otherworldly". It changes the way the hair looks. It's usually much thicker, fuller AND longer. If I see before and after pictures, I can literally see when someone employed Shea butter at some point in their hair journey.

Timeline of first picture....it was early this year. I dont have the specifics on the months...but it had to be in the spring as I only wear my hair out in the spring and fall. Usually summer & winter (harshest weather months)....my hair is protected in a bun. Sadly, I don't remember much about the steps taken...style etc. But I do remember that during this stage of my Shea butter journey, I was very light handed for fear of greasy hair. I also have been using Shea butter off & on since summer 2017. However, my use of it was very sporadic & not consistent enough (I feel) to see a huge difference. I was always hopping around trying different products/ or trying to use up different products from my stash....until I just did a clean sweep at the end of 2017 & got rid of everything....thus the time of the consistent Shea Butter use journey.

2nd pic was taken a few days ago. (December 21st I believe) My hair had been in a bun & I took it down to take the pic. First let me say that I no longer fear greasy hair so whenever I use Shea Butter, I go to town & slather it in my hair. It's usually greasy for the first day or 2 but my hair soaks it right on up & I am left with shiny, black hair that doesn't need another dosage of Shea Medicine for at least 3/4 days.

My process with Shea Butter for the 2nd pic was:
1) Wash & Condition in shower
2) Deep condition with Shea Nut oil & a small amount of conditioner on top (basically for added slip)
3) Rinse DC out...while I'm rinsing my DC, I use the water from the shower stream to help put my hair in 2 twisted ponytails & airdry with no product. I usually wear this style for up to 3 days. Even though I airdry with no product, my hair does not feel dry when I take it down. Shea Butter makes a great conditioner because it will leave behind a protective coating.
4) Take twisted ponytails down. Use Oyin Hair Dew as a leave-in on dry hair & seal with whipped Shea Butter. This process does cause my hair to get wet again from the leave in so I proceed to....
5) Stretch hair with Rollers.
6) For this particular picture style, I flat ironed on low heat (320) with my FHI flat iron & put my hair in a low bun.

This is my normal wash day routine using Shea Butter. The only difference is I alternate between stopping at 5 or 6.
**Sometimes I will only roller set. I wear my roller set hair for up to 3 weeks. The next wash day, I will roller set & flat iron. I wear my flat ironed hair for 4 weeks plus. However, for both styles...I moisturize (as needed) with a light mist of water & seal it in with Whipped Shea Butter. Summer, I skip them both and stop at airdrying in the twisted ponytails.

I hope this was detailed enough. I tried to capture my entire year with Shea Butter. It has been a fun Shea filled journey.

 

[Chicoro]

Okay so here are my end of the yr photos. It's a comparison from apr 2018 to dec 2018. I did a huge chop in Apr of this yr to get rid of ALL of my damaged ends and started using shea butter and protective styling in twists majority of the time. In this time my hair has done something it's NEVER done before !!!!! I've retained 1/2 in a month since then. Here are my comparison pics.
Apr 2018
View attachment 440097

Dec 2018
View attachment 440099

Apr 2018
View attachment 440101
Dec 2018
View attachment 440103

Apr 2018
View attachment 440105

Dec 2018
View attachment 440107

1/2 an inch per month? Or 1/2 inch since April?

Look at how that bun doubled in length!


I, Chicoro hereby nominate and induct @VictoriousBrownFlower into the Shea Made Hair Hall of Fame this 25th day of December , 2019. Outted by her post #5221.

@caribeandiva , do your thing !

 

[Chicoro]

Timeline of first picture....it was early this year. I dont have the specifics on the months...but it had to be in the spring as I only wear my hair out in the spring and fall. Usually summer & winter (harshest weather months)....my hair is protected in a bun. Sadly, I don't remember much about the steps taken...style etc. But I do remember that during this stage of my Shea butter journey, I was very light handed for fear of greasy hair. I also have been using Shea butter off & on since summer 2017. However, my use of it was very sporadic & not consistent enough (I feel) to see a huge difference. I was always hopping around trying different products/ or trying to use up different products from my stash....until I just did a clean sweep at the end of 2017 & got rid of everything....thus the time of the consistent Shea Butter use journey.

2nd pic was taken a few days ago. (December 21st I believe) My hair had been in a bun & I took it down to take the pic. First let me say that I no longer fear greasy hair so whenever I use Shea Butter, I go to town & slather it in my hair. It's usually greasy for the first day or 2 but my hair soaks it right on up & I am left with shiny, black hair that doesn't need another dosage of Shea Medicine for at least 3/4 days.

My process with Shea Butter for the 2nd pic was:
1) Wash & Condition in shower
2) Deep condition with Shea Nut oil & a small amount of conditioner on top (basically for added slip)
3) Rinse DC out...while I'm rinsing my DC, I use the water from the shower stream to help put my hair in 2 twisted ponytails & airdry with no product. I usually wear this style for up to 3 days. Even though I airdry with no product, my hair does not feel dry when I take it down. Shea Butter makes a great conditioner because it will leave behind a protective coating.
4) Take twisted ponytails down. Use Oyin Hair Dew as a leave-in on dry hair & seal with whipped Shea Butter. This process does cause my hair to get wet again from the leave in so I proceed to....
5) Stretch hair with Rollers.
6) For this particular picture style, I flat ironed on low heat (320) with my FHI flat iron & put my hair in a low bun.

This is my normal wash day routine using Shea Butter. The only difference is I alternate between stopping at 5 or 6.
**Sometimes I will only roller set. I wear my roller set hair for up to 3 weeks. The next wash day, I will roller set & flat iron. I wear my flat ironed hair for 4 weeks plus. However, for both styles...I moisturize (as needed) with a light mist of water & seal it in with Whipped Shea Butter. Summer, I skip them both and stop at airdrying in the twisted ponytails.

I hope this was detailed enough. I tried to capture my entire year with Shea Butter. It has been a fun Shea filled journey.

The straighter hair is picture 1 or 2? Is the curly hair the most recent? The hair in both pictures is lovely so I'm not sure which one is which! Thank you for the detailed response, too.

 

[blazingbeauty]

"I remember reading this Afro sci-fi novel by Nnedi Okorafur where shea butter had special powers. Such a cute idea."

Excuse me? What book...that mentions...the power of Shea butter? What chapter, verse and page?

I think it was called The Book of Phoenix, but the main character used it on her skin.
Shoot, as long as it has everybody’s hair looking like , I will gladly anoint my hair with the Shea Butter (yes capital S B shea butter).

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

1/2 an inch per month? Or 1/2 inch since April?

Look at how that bun doubled in length!


I, Chicoro hereby nominate and induct @VictoriousBrownFlower into the Shea Made Hair Hall of Fame this 25th day of December , 2019. Outted by her post #5221.

@caribeandiva , do your thing !

I've gained exactly 3 inches since april which shocked me cuz i usually grow around 4 inches a YR!!!! I already gained 3 in 6 MONTHS!!!! QUEEN SHEA IS BAE FOR LIFE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CREATING THIS THREAD!!!! I never would have thought to use shea butter again for my hair after my unsuccessful first go around. Thanks also to the member that inspired this thread because without you we wouldn't be becoming the unicorns we are. I'm honored to be even somewhat in the same arena as the beautiful heads in that group!!! I made 2018 the beg of it all and 2019 is gonna be when I branch out to better longer stronger hair and (slimmer body might I add 60lbs down for the yr of 2018!!!!)

 

[Chicoro]

I think it was called The Book of Phoenix, but the main character used it on her skin.
Shoot, as long as it has everybody’s hair looking like , I will gladly anoint my hair with the Shea Butter (yes capital S B shea butter).

Come on in and be anointed. Thank you for the book reference, too!

 

[Chicoro]

I've gained exactly 3 inches since april which shocked me cuz i usually grow around 4 inches a YR!!!! I already gained 3 in 6 MONTHS!!!! QUEEN SHEA IS BAE FOR LIFE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CREATING THIS THREAD!!!! I never would have thought to use shea butter again for my hair after my unsuccessful first go around. Thanks also to the member that inspired this thread because without you we wouldn't be becoming the unicorns we are. I'm honored to be even somewhat in the same arena as the beautiful heads in that group!!! I made 2018 the beg of it all and 2019 is gonna be when I branch out to better longer stronger hair and (slimmer body might I add 60lbs down for the yr of 2018!!!!)

3 inches since April!!!!! WHAT???!!! AND 60 pound down for 2018?
We need to record this for prosperity: Get your camera and your paint set! Congratulations!!!

 

[Chicoro]

Just when I thought I had learned all I could about Queen Shea...

Sometimes when I plan to rebraid my hair, I take down my old braids the night before and put my hair into bantu knots. I put my hair up 'dry', meaning I don't add any SCURL or anything. I may wet the hair to be able to unbraid it without breakage. But, the next day, my bantus are stretched and dried out like this:




Before I braid, I separate the clumps, wet the hair with water and Scurl, put some oil on it and then put on some Shea butter.

The end of my braid (the end of the unraveled bantu knot) had all these knots. NOT! It was clumps of product build up. So when i finally removed the little balls of build up from the ends of my hair, I could NOT believe that I had so very few knots and splits!

My hair ends are my biggest challenge. Although my hair ends are not 'gorgeous', they are ALMOST free of knots and splits! That is definitely the result and handy work of Queen Shea.

These photos are the ends of the one 'dried out' bantu, pictured above, that I am extending and pulling with my left hand.







Queen Shea strikes again! I know @ElevatedEnergy had pretty ends that she had trimmed off. So, I've seen that it is possible. I just didn't think it would ever be possible for MY hair! I'm so pleasantly surprised.

I have not trimmed or dusted my ends for about 6 months. I keep my hair braided and protected and hidden so it is not important for me to trim right now or to have perfectly, even, full ends.

Lastly, my hair is so soft. Even my shedded hair feels softer than the highest quality cotton.

PS: I guess my overall Ends Routine, Baggie Method 3.0 and no Combing have all helped, too.

 

[Chicoro]

It was @ThatJerseyGirl who inspired the creation of this thread. Maybe she will drop in and say hello before the end of 2018. IF, we are lucky!

 

[caribeandiva]

@VictoriousBrownFlower welcome to the Shea made unicorn hall of fame!!

 

[Prettyeyes]

Did a DC with my Shea butter DC. Hair was so dry so leaving it in overnight!

 

[caribeandiva]

I straightened my hair today! Merry Christmas everyone! Joyeux noël!

 

[sunflora]

@caribeandiva I think this is the first pic I've seen of your face and goodness gracious you are beautiful!

Hair is looking nice and thick!

 

[sunflora]

Here's my check-in for the year! This is only 9 months and I joined this challenge late, but if I post my other progress pics it's very clear that I've retained more in these past few months (heck, this past month!) than I was retaining before. My regimen is still changing, but this is what I'm DEFINITELY without a doubt carrying into 2019 with me.

1x week:
Hot Oil Treatment - I use warm coconut oil, mustard oil, or really any nutrient rich oil and massage my scalp. Then I apply it to my hair after warming it, using a wide-tooth comb and remove my shed hair. I braid up the hair and then put on a plastic cap, leave it on for as long as I can as I lounge around I mean be a productive citizen.
Shampoo - really nothing special here, I shampoo after doing this.
DC - I *always* DC with heat, which I realized was a game-changer early on. I use my hot-head with a plastic cap under it, and DC for maybe 30 minutes to an hour. Usually just watch YouTube videos in my bath robe and then hope back in the shower.
I do a rinse-out while I'm washing out my DC with extra light EVOO. Then I following with a regular conditioner so that my hair is not too oily.

I set my hair in 8 braids using LCO, followed by shea butter on the ends. This method clumps my hair and prevents ssks. It is an extra step that takes almost a day to try, but it is absolutely worth is as I cannot simply do a style like dutch braids on my wet hair. My hair wants to be dry when I manipulate it, or I get knots, tangles and irreparable breakage.

I've been wearing two dutch braids throughout the week. I re-do them as needed to keep them presentable, adding shea butter to the ends, as well as oil and a cream as neccessary. I gently remove shed hairs as I'm going, but never touch my hair with a comb or brush for the remaining of the week. This is why the HOT is so important! There's a lot of shed hair that would cause tangles and knots if I wet my hair after this, or went straight to shampooing. So gently removing the shed hair with a comb while my hair is heavily oiled prevents all of this from happening.

And here's my pic!



Previous progress pics:





See that difference in retention?? I do!!!



I'm rather happy at this years gains, I was pessimistic at first.

Merry Christmas!!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

The straighter hair is picture 1 or 2? Is the curly hair the most recent? The hair in both pictures is lovely so I'm not sure which one is which! Thank you for the detailed response, too.

Thank you for the kind compliments!
Curly hair on left (pic 1) is early 2018
Straight hair on right (pic 2) is most recent (Dec 2018)

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Merry Christmas Shea Family!

 

[Chicoro]

A friend of mine has gone home to Mali, in Africa, to see her family. Here village is outside of the capital city of Bamako, Mali.

She grew up around homemade Shea butter. Her mother and grandmother make it. Interestingly, they never used it on their hair.

When we are together, she does a 'sniff' test on my various Shea butters from different sources. I have no idea WHAT she is sniffing for. I never passed her a funky batch to smell because even I knew it was bad, hence I called referred to it as 'funky'.

So, when I think I have passed her a beautiful new container of golden raw Shea, she will say, "Nope. That is not good." Thank goodness some of my batches have passed her sniff test. She is not being rude. I invited her to choose whichever Shea butter in my stash she wanted me to use to make her some whipped butter. Her way of choosing is by sniffing!

I asked her to bring me some Shea butter. She said, "Yes!" I'm so excited!!! My point: Any Shea brings will be MAGNIFICENT.

 

[Chicoro]

I straightened my hair today! Merry Christmas everyone! Joyeux noël!
View attachment 440167 View attachment 440169

Your hair is at armpit length. Is this the first time in your life as an adult that you have reached this length? And, it looks like you have about 1 inch or 2 of still curly hair at the roots, that could be added to your length. Bravo!!!!!

Them little hair feets have been on a long hike. They left your collarbone and have travelled down to your armpits. They've gotten wild and loose and have gone rogue!

From collarbone to armpit in 2018 !!!!!!!!!​

 

[Chicoro]

@caribeandiva I think this is the first pic I've seen of your face and goodness gracious you are beautiful!

Hair is looking nice and thick!

And she is about 6 Feet tall. Can you imagine all that gorgeousness walking in the door?

Me Caught off guard by her beauty.


Me Trying to swallow my jealousy.

Me Watching her walk in, tower over me and go past me.


Me Giving her a fake smile cause she caught me staring.

Me Disappointed 'cause not as cute.




Me Overcoming my petty jealousy, going for my higher self and just enjoying her beauty.



How I feel after she walks back by me and gives
me a genuine compliant I feel in my Soul.


Because it's her ever present inner beauty that's always lifting and soothing me [and you].

@caribeandiva

EDIT: Fixed my grammar!

 

[Chicoro]

Here's my check-in for the year! This is only 9 months and I joined this challenge late, but if I post my other progress pics it's very clear that I've retained more in these past few months (heck, this past month!) than I was retaining before. My regimen is still changing, but this is what I'm DEFINITELY without a doubt carrying into 2019 with me.

1x week:
Hot Oil Treatment - I use warm coconut oil, mustard oil, or really any nutrient rich oil and massage my scalp. Then I apply it to my hair after warming it, using a wide-tooth comb and remove my shed hair. I braid up the hair and then put on a plastic cap, leave it on for as long as I can as I lounge around I mean be a productive citizen.
Shampoo - really nothing special here, I shampoo after doing this.
DC - I *always* DC with heat, which I realized was a game-changer early on. I use my hot-head with a plastic cap under it, and DC for maybe 30 minutes to an hour. Usually just watch YouTube videos in my bath robe and then hope back in the shower.
I do a rinse-out while I'm washing out my DC with extra light EVOO. Then I following with a regular conditioner so that my hair is not too oily.

I set my hair in 8 braids using LCO, followed by shea butter on the ends. This method clumps my hair and prevents ssks. It is an extra step that takes almost a day to try, but it is absolutely worth is as I cannot simply do a style like dutch braids on my wet hair. My hair wants to be dry when I manipulate it, or I get knots, tangles and irreparable breakage.

I've been wearing two dutch braids throughout the week. I re-do them as needed to keep them presentable, adding shea butter to the ends, as well as oil and a cream as neccessary. I gently remove shed hairs as I'm going, but never touch my hair with a comb or brush for the remaining of the week. This is why the HOT is so important! There's a lot of shed hair that would cause tangles and knots if I wet my hair after this, or went straight to shampooing. So gently removing the shed hair with a comb while my hair is heavily oiled prevents all of this from happening.

And here's my pic!

View attachment 440175

Previous progress pics:

View attachment 440177

View attachment 440179

See that difference in retention?? I do!!!

View attachment 440181

I'm rather happy at this years gains, I was pessimistic at first.

Merry Christmas!!

"I'm rather happy at this years gains, I was pessimistic at first."

What a wonderful gift Queen Shea has helped you get this year in 2018!

Thank you so much for gifting us all with your detailed regimen. It looks like you have retained a minimum of 5 inches in this photo. Amazing!!!!!

 

[Chicoro]

I straightened my hair today! Merry Christmas everyone! Joyeux noël!
View attachment 440167 View attachment 440169

What is the distance in inches from your collarbone to your armpits? Because that's how many inches you retained this year. You probably grew even MORE!

@caribeandiva

 

[Chicoro]

To All My Shea Sisters,
This gif says it all:

"When the Praises Go Up, the Blessings Come Down!"

When we support one another and wish good things for each other, it raises us all. It's not the purpose for the praise, but you get it back 10x10.

Congratulations on your stellar, spectacular accomplishments in 2018!
​

 

[Chicoro]

Shea Made Hair Unicorns and those In Training,
You are poised for an incredible 2019.

 

[Chicoro]

Information about our Shea Sister Benefactors,
those sisters who make Shea available to us, who live and work in Ghana
collecting Shea nuts and making Shea butter for us to use and enjoy for our beauty.​

(Somebody can check my math, please!)
Can be GHc or GHS for currency type in Ghana [I think.]
https://www.xe.com/fr/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=73&From=GHS&To=USD

In Tamale, Ghana in 2015

Women worker gains per week:

• The average woman processes: 3 bags, 90 kg per bag (90x3), of Shea nuts per week (595 pounds of Shea nuts per week)
• This yields 3 units @25 kg of Shea butter (165 pounds of butter per week)
• This yields GHc 73 = 15 US DOLLARS (ROBBERY for all that hard work!!!!)
• 15 US Dollars for 165 pounds of Shea butter or LESS THAN 10 cents per pound. (.09 cents per pound is what the ladies earn, to be EXACT!)

Processor Costs per year:

• Total Annual Costs: GHc8609 ($1,772 US dollars/per year)
• Average Annual Revenue Yielded: GHc10,512 ($2,163 US dollars/per year)
• Annual Profit Yielded: GHc1622.8 ($334 US dollars/per year)

"Benefit cost analysis of producing Shea butter Paperback – February 15, 2015"


"Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, University for Development studies, course: Bsc Agribusiness management and finance, language: English, abstract: This study aimed at analyzing the benefits, cost and constraints of production of quality Shea butter in relation to production methods amongst processors in Tamale Metropolis. Specifically, it was to assess cost-benefits of production of quality butter. Secondly, to determine the factors that influences marketable quality butter. Lastly, to analyze the constraints to the production of quality marketable Shea butter. The study was conducted in 4 communities in Tamale Metropolis because these are the communities with abundant shea butter processors. A total of 80 respondents were interviewed with 20 respondents being selected from each of the communities using snowball sampling. The average costs, average revenues and profits were calculated on yearly basis. The study revealed that averagely individual processes 3 bags (90kg each) of Shea nuts in a week and this yield 3 units of shea butter which weighs 25kg each. This yields an average of 75kgs of Shea butter selling at an average price of GHc73. A processor has an average total cost of GHc8609 per year, average total revenue of GGHc10512 per year and the profit yielded is GH1622.8 per year. This gave a benefit cost ratio of 1.2:1 which implied that producing quality butter was profitable. Probit model was used analyze the factors influencing the quality of Shea butter. Out of the seven (7) estimated coefficients number of years in processing, improvement in technology and orderly processing procedures significantly explains the likelihood that a respondent produces quality Shea butter. The study also revealed that the major problems encountered by processors were; lack of capital to purchase enough nuts and expand production, unstable markets, high prices of nuts, dangers associated with picking nuts fro..."

 

[caribeandiva]

@caribeandiva I think this is the first pic I've seen of your face and goodness gracious you are beautiful!

Hair is looking nice and thick!

Thank you!

 

[caribeandiva]

Your hair is at armpit length. Is this the first time in your life as an adult that you have reached this length? And, it looks like you have about 1 inch or 2 of still curly hair at the roots, that could be added to your length. Bravo!!!!!

Them little hair feets have been on a long hike. They left your collarbone and have travelled down to your armpits. They've gotten wild and loose and have gone rogue!

From collarbone to armpit in 2018 !!!!!!!!!​

Thank you!! Yes ma’am it’s the first time I’ve ever been APL in my life!! My roots are still puffy so I do have more length than what’s showing. My flatironing skills aren’t the best since I rarely do it. Once I go to a salon I’ll see what I’m really working with. I’m looking for a new stylist since mine decided to dump me, after years of going to her, because my hair is too thick for her (her words). She said it hurts her hands. She’s Latina by the way. Ummm... oh Kay... oh well. No hard feelings. When one door closes, a better one opens.

 

[caribeandiva]

And she is about 6 Feet tall. Can you imagine all that gorgeousness walking in the door?

Me Caught off guard by her beauty.
View attachment 440195

Me Trying to swallow your jealousy.

Me Watching her walk in, tower over you and go past you.
View attachment 440199

Me Give her a fake smile cause she caught me staring.

Me Disappointed 'cause not as cute.
View attachment 440197



Me Overcoming my petty jealousy, going for my higher self and just enjoying her beauty.
View attachment 440201


How I feel after she walks back by me and gives
me a genuine compliant I feel in your Soul.
View attachment 440203

Because it's her ever present inner beauty that always lifting and soothing me [and you].

@caribeandiva

Merci beaucoup mademoiselle!! I feel the same way about you! Gorgeousness all around! A lot of beautiful ladies on this board.

 

[fluffyforever]

Yesterday was the first day I whipped up my own shea butter! I've had a box of 3cayg sitting in my house for months unused.

I mixed yellow shea with a bit of mango butter, safflower oil, and olive oil. I whipped it into a firm and thick frosting like consistency. The resulting mix is kind of tacky, but not sticky. It doesn't melt on my finger unless sitting a while.

I used it on my hair, but it didn't spread on easily like the Jakeala Alma Shea Parfait. I had to really work it it in. This morning though my hair feels nice and moisturized and I didn't even use AVG.

Is there a certain oil I can add that can give it more slip? Should I add more oil next time to make it more spreadable?

I should have measured, but I didn't. I just added enough oils to whip.

 

[Chicoro]

Yesterday was the first day I whipped up my own shea butter! I've had a box of 3cayg sitting in my house for months unused.

I mixed yellow shea with a bit of mango butter, safflower oil, and olive oil. I whipped it into a firm and thick frosting like consistency. The resulting mix is kind of tacky, but not sticky. It doesn't melt on my finger unless sitting a while.

I used it on my hair, but it didn't spread on easily like the Jakeala Alma Shea Parfait. I had to really work it it in. This morning though my hair feels nice and moisturized and I didn't even use AVG.

Is there a certain oil I can add that can give it more slip? Should I add more oil next time to make it more spreadable?

I should have measured, but I didn't. I just added enough oils to whip.

It may be the mango butter that is impacting the consistency of your blend.