Grand Revealing!! Okay Ladies - HERE THEY ARE!! My 1st hair pics!

[ibeleevenme]

Alright ladies, I've never done this before. EVER!!! So I'm EXTREMELY nervous, but at the same time hope that LHCF can help me restore some length and health in my hair. So I finally got the courage to take some photos and I tried to attach some pics here (though I could only do 5) I also added all to my fokti address in case you cant see them in this post. (hope this works) but maybe now I can figure some things out including my hair type. Please note, I haven't had a relaxer or chemical of any type in a few years now.

**Warning, Not for the faint at heart!***​

http://public.fotki.com/ibeleevenme/first-hair-pics-jan/


Last night I went out and could NOT get to the store to get the Aussie, so I stuck with the Pantene relaxed and natural intense moisture conditioner.

1. So first I washed it with the Afogee deep moisture shampoo,
2. followed by the afogee 2 min conditioner (reconstructor) they the bottle said leave on for 5 min for more extreme cases... I chose 5 min and put a shower cap on.
3. Then I rinsed it out and followed up with the pantene intense moisture conditioner under a cap for another 10 min with a hot towel. (My blow dryer broke and my hair dryer is in storage. )
4. I rinshed this out with some herbal tea rinse that I had steeping and OMG no breakage!!!!!!!!
5. Then I applied Elasta QP oil moisturizer (which is more like a creamy oil)- Soooo sucked! Wont be using this again, but maybe it was cause my hair was wet. I let it air dry as much as possible. Braided it up and slept with a scarf.
6. This morning, my hair was not breaking but it didn't feel the way I liked, but my ends don't look so crazy either. I added some more oil moisturizer in case it didn't work because my hair was wet and it came back a little...... Still dumping it for something else.

Things I liked:

• As always the pantene is great, I'm not so sure about the afogee shampoo though...
• Loved the tea rinse, first time no breakage after a wash.
• Actually enjoyed taking photos for the first time, though I'm sooooooooooo embarressed!
• The reconstructer was alright... not sure if it helped or not though.

Things I didn't like:

• The aphogee shampoo
• That dayum elasta qp

Things I'm nervous or not sure of:

• How the heck am I gonna cowash if I can't seem to restore the moisture in just one wash.. I'm worried I will have a mess. Wet hair one min, dry ashy (for lack of a better term) hair the next.
• What to put in it when it's wet
• What to put in it once it dries.

Sorry for the long post, but I welcome all criticism

 

[Irresistible]

:welcome3:

aww I love Recovery, its one of my old favorites

Try adding some oil somewhere in your regimen and see how your hair likes that

 

[favorc]

First I would like to say thank you for posting your pics for us! I know it can be nerve racking.
FIrst if you use a relaxer put vasaline over the already relaxed hair and base the scalp. I do this so that my hair doesn't get overprocessed.
I come to realize that shampoo is not a friend of mine so now i just co washe with my homemade conditioners and vinagar rinses.
I haven't done a tea rinse yet, but i will.
olive oil is also good making the hair elastic. i would try mixing a little in your conditioner. Avacodos,o.oil, eggs, and honey have become my friend.
message the scalp twice a day for 2-min. you will get hair growth with this.
sleep with satin or silk scarf.
pepermint and rosemary invigorat the scalp to help with growth. use them with a carrier oil like jojoba or grapeseed.
giovannie direct leave in is the only leave i use.
everyday i moisturize with water and oil.
sorry it is all over the place. am at work so am trying to sneak i couple of post in just hit me up if you need to know anything else.
What works for me may not work for you! I know my sister can use pantene and her hair seems to just floruish with it. I can't use what she uses because my hair will break I just notice that natural products work better with my hair.

 

[fuchsiastar]

Welcome! I agree that you may need some natural oils and more moisture. Good luck on your hair journey.

 

[Whimsy]

WELCOME!!!! Thanks for posting your pix. Moisture Moisture Moisture is all i can say.

You'll to tons of experimenting with products and techniques and you'll find something that works well for your hair.

It's going to be great watching your progress! Can you post pix every few months? I want to watch your hair grow!

 

[TrendySocialite]

I think you're well on your way, I would just add moisture as the others have stated. Add an oil to your DC mix and consider moisture and sealing every other night or so for a while.

One co-wash or DC won't correct all hair damage. I didn't notice significant change for several weeks, but had to trust the process and the fact that after a few weeks I would see results. With consistent use, you will definitely be able to tell a difference.

Good luck and I hope you continue to post pics. The women here are helpful, not critical. They will be honest, but their hearts are in the right places and I think your hair will thrive because of it.

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

Girl your doing fine. Your a brave soul to post pictures. I am to chicken to put up my really bad one.

 

[ibeleevenme]

Whewwww I was NERVOUSSSS!!! But I thank everyone for their honesty and never thought of adding oil to the dc. Should I add this everytime I cowash as well? I'm thinking of doing the every other day cowash because I am too scared to do it everyday. I'm just also not certain how to dry it but I will keep at it!!!

BTW I think I may have confused you a bit FAVORC, but I don't have a relaxer (I'm doing it natural now without cause my hair and relaxer were arch enemies.

I will most certainly keep posting pictures and updates, I have learned from all of you that it is essential to do so or it will be hard to track your progress. Plus I think I may become discouraged if I didn't, now I have something to look forward to. In addition, it's hard for me to ask all of you for advice when you cant even see what the heck I'm dealing with over here lol...

Any thoughts on what the heck my hair type is so I can stop feeling dumb as heck when you all know yours?

Thanks again everyone!!! and sooo sorry for the long post, I too am rambling between people walking by while I'm at work. hehehehe

 

[gissellr78]

Alright ladies, I've never done this before. EVER!!! So I'm EXTREMELY nervous, but at the same time hope that LHCF can help me restore some length and health in my hair. So I finally got the courage to take some photos and I tried to attach some pics here (though I could only do 5) I also added all to my fokti address in case you cant see them in this post. (hope this works) but maybe now I can figure some things out including my hair type. Please note, I haven't had a relaxer or chemical of any type in a few years now.

**Warning, Not for the faint at heart!***​

http://public.fotki.com/ibeleevenme/first-hair-pics-jan/


Last night I went out and could NOT get to the store to get the Aussie, so I stuck with the Pantene relaxed and natural intense moisture conditioner.

1. So first I washed it with the Afogee deep moisture shampoo,
2. followed by the afogee 2 min conditioner (reconstructor) they the bottle said leave on for 5 min for more extreme cases... I chose 5 min and put a shower cap on.
3. Then I rinsed it out and followed up with the pantene intense moisture conditioner under a cap for another 10 min with a hot towel. (My blow dryer broke and my hair dryer is in storage. )
4. I rinshed this out with some herbal tea rinse that I had steeping and OMG no breakage!!!!!!!!
5. Then I applied Elasta QP oil moisturizer (which is more like a creamy oil)- Soooo sucked! Wont be using this again, but maybe it was cause my hair was wet. I let it air dry as much as possible. Braided it up and slept with a scarf.
6. This morning, my hair was not breaking but it didn't feel the way I liked, but my ends don't look so crazy either. I added some more oil moisturizer in case it didn't work because my hair was wet and it came back a little...... Still dumping it for something else.

Things I liked:

• As always the pantene is great, I'm not so sure about the afogee shampoo though...
• Loved the tea rinse, first time no breakage after a wash.
• Actually enjoyed taking photos for the first time, though I'm sooooooooooo embarressed!
• The reconstructer was alright... not sure if it helped or not though.

Things I didn't like:

• The aphogee shampoo
• That dayum elasta qp

Things I'm nervous or not sure of:

• How the heck am I gonna cowash if I can't seem to restore the moisture in just one wash.. I'm worried I will have a mess. Wet hair one min, dry ashy (for lack of a better term) hair the next.
• What to put in it when it's wet
• What to put in it once it dries.

Sorry for the long post, but I welcome all criticism

Welcome i am sure you will a sucess story very soon....

 

[Solitude]

Welcome!!!! Yeah, I was quick to jump on that Aphogee bandwagon, but I have since given all those products away except the Keratin & Green tea spray.

Those products are strong. Good luck with tweaking your regimen. Your texture is pretty!

 

[Liberianmami26]

welcome to the board

 

[ibeleevenme]

Thank you mizzdebbi and everyone.- I'm still not sure what to do with my hair texture though. I know some with this texture find a way to wear it that way, me... could never be done . Yeh Aphogee was great by me over the years though I only used the major treatment, but the only thing that was diff. was trying to balance things out.

I am truly hoping to learn something from all this and I wish I had found LHCF a long time ago... or that it was here prior to internet lol.. in a book or something! I need yall!!!!

 

[Country gal]

Welcome to the board. What are your hair goals?

 

[BostonMaria]

Welcome!!!!!!

Pantene conditioners don't do it for me, I'm not sure what's in them that just makes my hair not behave. I buy a bottle of Suave coconut conditioner (99 cents if you go to the right store) and I add all types of oils (coconut, jojoba, grapeseed, sweet almond), mix it up and use that to co-wash and/or do a deep treatments (I add aloe vera gel for that).

Just keep reading the boards and sometimes its hit or miss, but you will find what works for you. You'll be waist length in no time!

 

[ibeleevenme]

My goals first and foremost length aside, is to get healthy. I was looking at my ends earlier after my little hair day yesterday and they aren't looking so bad.... so I'm like hey, maybe it did work a little. But I'd like to:

• eliminate dryness. It seems like the front is never dry, but the middle and back always are.
• limit this darn breakage
• bring back that childhood shine (do yall remember what that was like? We didn't appreciate it when we had it though)
• and finally (though I wish it was more like # 2) GROWTH. I'd like to see my hair at a nice full shoulder length. If my hair is so kind to grow past that then I'd be grateful. It was to bra strap length last March and it always grows there but keeps falling and snapping off.

So now, I'm soooooooo excited/nervous, and eager to do this again, THE RIGHT WAY!

 

[ibeleevenme]

I'm still waiting on help with my hair type though

 

[ibeleevenme]

Welcome!!!!!!

Pantene conditioners don't do it for me, I'm not sure what's in them that just makes my hair not behave. I buy a bottle of Suave coconut conditioner (99 cents if you go to the right store) and I add all types of oils (coconut, jojoba, grapeseed, sweet almond), mix it up and use that to co-wash and/or do a deep treatments (I add aloe vera gel for that).

Just keep reading the boards and sometimes its hit or miss, but you will find what works for you. You'll be waist length in no time!

BostonMaria,

Do you have to go far to find your oils and if you don't mind me asking, how much do you usually add to your conditioner? My hair and scalp is like desert territory so I keep hearing people saying they add oil to conditioner and I think this might help since my hair is soooooo thin it seems like a great way to add oil to my hair without doing too much directly and having an oily mess.

 

[sqzbly1908]

Girl that is why we are here - the goal is to have healthy hair and we are helping each other while helping ourselves....We Family, Baby!!

I am pretty sure the natural chicks will be more than helpful with styles and maintaining...and it doesn't hurt that we have our own LHCF Library (stickies)

 

[Patricia]

Oh I know how you feel. You will be fine. Your natural texture is very pretty

 

[ibeleevenme]

Thank you Patricia, I just can't figure out how to make my texture work for me. I had a relaxer when i was real young and never remembered what my natural texture was. Then when my son was born he had some long curly hair and I'm like huh?? before we cut it, it was down to his butt and in sprialy curls.. but none the less, I dont' know if it's "wearable" like that cause it doesn't look right no matter what.

 

[Patricia]

Thank you Patricia, I just can't figure out how to make my texture work for me. I had a relaxer when i was real young and never remembered what my natural texture was. Then when my son was born he had some long curly hair and I'm like huh?? before we cut it, it was down to his butt and in sprialy curls.. but none the less, I dont' know if it's "wearable" like that cause it doesn't look right no matter what.

Natural hair is just so beautiful. Just have fun with it!

 

[ibeleevenme]

Whoo, I'm trying to, just haven't figured out how yet. I am going to try to track down this oil to throw in my conditioner. I am scared to cowash tonight, but will prob try every other night for now... Ya know what?? Forget that, I'm gonna do it tonight and try it every night for a few weeks..... (pray for me)

 

[favorc]

Am sorry about getting it mixed up about u being natural. that's what I get for sneaking and reading stuff when am suppose to have been working! I just wanted to apologize.

 

[Duff]

First I would like to say thank you for posting your pics for us! I know it can be nerve racking.
FIrst if you use a relaxer put vasaline over the already relaxed hair and base the scalp. I do this so that my hair doesn't get overprocessed.
I come to realize that shampoo is not a friend of mine so now i just co washe with my homemade conditioners and vinagar rinses.
I haven't done a tea rinse yet, but i will.
olive oil is also good making the hair elastic. i would try mixing a little in your conditioner. Avacodos,o.oil, eggs, and honey have become my friend.
message the scalp twice a day for 2-min. you will get hair growth with this.
sleep with satin or silk scarf.
pepermint and rosemary invigorat the scalp to help with growth. use them with a carrier oil like jojoba or grapeseed.
giovannie direct leave in is the only leave i use.
everyday i moisturize with water and oil.
sorry it is all over the place. am at work so am trying to sneak i couple of post in just hit me up if you need to know anything else.
What works for me may not work for you! I know my sister can use pantene and her hair seems to just floruish with it. I can't use what she uses because my hair will break I just notice that natural products work better with my hair.

still.......great pointers!

 

[likewtr4chklit]

HEY THERE!! Welcome. From the Fotki pics your hair type looks like a 4a with some 3c. Like everyone said MOISTURE, but you do have to properly balance moisture and protein. What I would suggest is laying off the shampoo or purchase sulfate free shampoos, or even using baking soda. Sulfates are known to dry out the hair b/c they strip hair of it's natural oils. I also suggest some moisture rich conditioners. The two I've stuck with for the past six months are Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose and GPB (Glycogen Protein Balancing) Conditioners. They are all natural and organic and LOTS of ladies here love them. As a daily moisturizer I just use some Honey Suckle ROse condish mixed with olive or coconut oil. Coconut oil is lighter on the hair. I wish you the best, and suggest you do an "advanced search" for "natural" you should come up with a wealth of info. Hey, it took me more than six months to hammer out a regimen and i still dont have it down pat, I have so many products. So enjoy the ride, we're here for you.

ETA: I get all my natural hair products from Vitacost.com, best prices I've seen and $5 flat shipping

 

[Stella B.]

Welcome! You're a brave soul to post your pics as soon as you did! I admire you for that. I know how stressful it can be just putting yourself out there while asking for help. Looks like you're serious about getting the help you need. You've come to the right place, the ladies here at LHCF are so encouraging, and extremely informed. We hope to see you around for a while!!

 

[ibeleevenme]

Thank you likewtr4chklit and Stella_B! You are both very kind!! likewtr4chklit, I'm happy that you have helped me pinpoint my hair type... thought I don't understand it, now maybe I can read up on what you told me and I'm definately going to have to check out the site! I'd love a nice one stop shop but we will see. And guess what yall, I had some organic oil in my closet all this time that I forgot about. Called:

Organics by Africa's Best.
Carrot Tea-tree oil therapy : for body hair and scalp.

It contains soy bean oil, carrot oil, tea tree oil, walnut oil, kiwi oil, olive oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, tocopherol, safflower oil, calendula estract, carrageena extract, marricaria extract, thyme extract, ginseng extract, sage extract, comfrey extract, and aloe extract

(Feel like I can make a dish out of this)

Tomorrow is going to be my first true cowash (only cause I had no time today) and I'm going to mix in some of this and see how it goes!!!!!!!