Sorry for the delay in responding to your question, but I’ve been so busy and have not had time to get on my favorite website.
However, to answer your questions. It has taken me about two years to get to where I am. As you saw in the pictures, my hair was very damaged and this was all done by a hair stylist that I trusted and had been going to for over a year.
When my hair started to decline in October 2006, I started searching for a way to make my hair healthy again. That’s when I discovered LHCF. I began my journey with LHCF in December 2006. Like everyone else, I jumped on every band wagon there was and started taking every vitamin that was suggested. As you can imagine, I had a boat load of pills to take everyday and several cabinets of products, which I still have! If I had to pinpoint one thing that turned my hair around, I would say introducing the deep conditioning treatments and adding a moisture/protein balance to my hair turned it around greatly. For instance, I wash my hair twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday) and because I exercise every day, I co-wash in between each wash. On Tuesday, I use protein-based products and on Saturday, I use moisture-based products. This seems to keep my hair balanced.
Like I said, it took me two years to get my hair to where it is now, however, because of jumping on every band wagon there was, I encountered some problems with tangling and matting and lost some of my growth in 2007.
However, even with that, I’m happy with where I am today because I’ve come a long way and my hair continues to strive. I’ve finally found the products that my hair likes and that I really like and consider these my staples that I will not stray from.
With that said, this is my new regime:
Pre-treat with Queen Helens Cholesterol (every wash—love this stuff) – if I don’t have Queen Helens, I use Aubrey’s Organic GPB (I love this stuff too), both seem to work really well if you have tangles and mats. I normally put a bag on my head and sit under the dryer for 15 minutes.
Wash on Tuesday and Saturday rotating between protein and moisture-based products. The products that I like are Aveda DR (Tuesday) and Kenra’s Deep Moisturizing line (moisture). I sit under the dryer for 45 minutes.
I only relax every 16 weeks, I tried once to go for a year and even transition, but that’s where I encountered my problem and lost a bunch of hair in 2007. I will not do that again. I’ve learned that my hair does not like to stretch beyond a certain point and this is a happy medium for me.
After washing, I spray my hair with Hawaiian Silky Conditioner and seal with Jojoba oil. And that’s basically it. I bun 99.9% of the time and use no direct heat, unless it’s a special occasion. I also have been known to wear wigs and braid my hair under it but I have a thin spot on my left side which I think may have been caused by the wig. So, I only wear the wig when my hair is about 13 or 14 weeks post relaxer (trust me it needs it by then and there’s nothing the bun is going to do that will make my hair look good).
With that said, I hope your hair improves. Just take care of it and baby it like silk. Your hair may grow at a faster rate than mine, so if you take care of it, you should see great improvement within a month or so. Keep up with the deep conditioning treatments with heat.
This is a great motivator. 
