I'm trying to reach a first-time length, so I'm joining to help me focus.
Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural
Current Length: BSL-ish at longest layer
Goal Length: WSL
Plan to reach goal length:
- Continue:
- Keeping the scissors out of my hair
- Current wash day regimen
- Hair vitamins (Sugarbear Hair gummies)
- Stop:
- Sleeping on cotton pillowcase
- Going to bed with hair every which way
- Start:
- New cute updos - protect ends
- Silk pillowcases and hair scrunchies
- Maybe a growth aid (will explore)
- Tracking hair growth monthly
Regimen:
- I've been wearing my hair straightened 90% of the time because I find it simpler to deal with on a daily basis
- I wash 2-3 times a month with roughly these steps:
- Clarify
- Treat
- Shampoo
- Deep condition
- Blow dry
- Flat iron
- I put a jet black or blue black rinse in it every blue moon when the mood strikes.
- Moisturize ends every couple days or so if needed.
Protective Styles:
- Standard bun or folded under pony - I want to learn some new ways to make it look like I put in some effort.
Staple Products:
These are my "Holy Grail" products that I'm stocking up on and won't be changing this year:
- Shampoo
- Redken Clean Maniac Cleansing Cream -- Clarifying/chelating shampoo. Saved my hair when it was crunchy no matter what I did (turns out we had ridiculous amounts of chlorine in our water!). We have a filtering system for the whole house now, but I still use this shampoo with almost every wash because it cuts through product buildup so well.
- Conditioner
- Redken Extreme Lengths Primer -- This is my main conditioner whether for quick conditioning or deep conditioning with heat, and I love it with my whole heart. Great mix of strength and moisture.
- Treatment
- Olaplex #3 - I just started using this last year and it has become a regular step in my wash day routine. I really like how it keeps my ends smooth. I'm considering testing out the #1/#2 to see if I benefit from more of the active ingredient.
- Moisturizers/Daily maintenance
- Kerastase Nutritive Creme Magistral -- Smells divine and moisturizes like nobody's business. I use this as my hair starts to get "old" before my next wash and I don't plan on wearing it down (can cause some reversion if you use too much)
- Frederic Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream -- This is sort of my secret weapon for maintaining straightened hair and I've been using it for years. Works magic for making your hair polished and glossy (just like it promises).
- Both of these need to be used very sparingly but they work great.
- Straightening products
- Redken Anti-Snap - Classic strengthening leave-in used before blow drying
- Kerastase Oleo Relax serum - I've tried a number of their serums and this one is definitely the best for my hair. Used before blow drying (after anti-snap) and a bit more on ends before flat ironing.
Other products in rotation:
- Redken Extreme Shampoo
- Redken All Soft Conditioner
- Kerastase Initialiste and Extensioniste scalp serums
- Kerastase 8H Magic Night Hair serum
- Kerastase Discipline Fluidissime
Starting Pic:
Over Christmas my family all commented on how long my hair is getting
My mom sent me some pictures she had snapped during the week showing my hair and I was surprised to see that I actually think my hair is looking long now. Also, I was patting myself on the back over my flat ironing job that looks about as straight as my sister's relaxed hair (I'm in the red sweater).
My hair is dirty and gross now and I'll be washing it in the next couple days to take real pictures and measurements. But for now here's what it looks like. By the end of the year I want my hair to be hanging around where the bottom of this sports bra is (which is just above my waist), so it will need to be at least full WSL when I'm pulling on it.
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I'm also hoping that as I work on my diet and exercise and drink lots of water this year for my health and body goals, this will benefit my hair as well!
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Your hair is beautiful! I appreciate you sharing how you use your products and how they work. I haven't heard of the majority of them so its nice to see what's out there.
My next TRUE length check wont be until around July 24th, with my birthday being on the 25th; I'll treat myself to a relaxer & wash and set. So I'll post 2 updates that month since July 1st is our second check in. My last relaxer was in October, and I'm going to make my next one stretch to July which isn't a problem for me since my hair will remain in protective styles for the remainder of my stretch. I personally like stretching my perms because I like the surprise of how much it grows. Do you have any recommendations on a good relaxer aside from ORS. I currently use ORS, but I want to try a different one that might make my hair a bit more silky!
