Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2023

[Chicoro]

Anybody got some incredible length gains from January to February?

 

[Chicoro]

The biggest difference I have discovered is that with the clay wash, my hair is less wiry. I could NEVER keep my hair laid with ECO Styling gel. Now, my hair just lays down like a baby kitten with this gel. My hair strands are no longer stressed because shampoo just was not working for me. I'm hoping I can continue and get through the year successfully with my clay mix that @snoop gave me.

 

[GettingKinky]

Nothing new for me. I just finished my weekly hair routine this morning. The only thing I did differently was to try and style my hair without a part.

 

[Chicoro]

Nothing new for me. I just finished my weekly hair routine this morning. The only thing I did differently was to try and style my hair without a part.

Did it come out/turn out cute without a part?

 

[GettingKinky]

Did it come out/turn out cute without a part?

It’s not bad, but my crown is a bit short. I need to grow my hair out more to make it work. My goal is something like this.

 

[Chicoro]

It’s not bad, but my crown is a bit short. I need to grow my hair out more to make it work. My goal is something like this. View attachment 487521

This style is really cute!

 

[Napp]

I am going to straighten my hair for an event I’m going to. So I’m going to do a length check to see where my ends are at. I might also do a micro trim depending on what I see. I hope I didn’t get too much breakage.

 

[Chicoro]

I am going to straighten my hair for an event I’m going to. So I’m going to do a length check to see where my ends are at. I might also do a micro trim depending on what I see. I hope I didn’t get too much breakage.

Good luck! I hope you take photos and you share one photo!

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

Anybody got some incredible length gains from January to February?

i got great gains over the past few months i've been protective styling. I've been pretty hair lazy for a lil while and would wash dc apply leave in and seal with shea butter. Then i would put in two braids like this


i would take out and redo as needed using leave in con to moisturize... my hair got so much longer and thicker doing this... now i'm going to do it intentionally to grow my hair out further so i'm joining (if i can).

My wash and go went from here

to here
in 4 months.... i can't wait to see where its at come summer.

 

[yamilee21]

I was in Florida for a few days… took advantage of the warm, humid weather and washed my hair 5 out of 6 days. My hair is so smooth, soft and moisturized now. It becomes easier to wash/co-wash when I do it frequently. Too bad consistently warm weather is still a good 3 months away in NYC.

 

[Chicoro]

i got great gains over the past few months i've been protective styling. I've been pretty hair lazy for a lil while and would wash dc apply leave in and seal with shea butter. Then i would put in two braids like this
View attachment 487677

i would take out and redo as needed using leave in con to moisturize... my hair got so much longer and thicker doing this... now i'm going to do it intentionally to grow my hair out further so i'm joining (if i can).

My wash and go went from here
View attachment 487679
to here View attachment 487681
in 4 months.... i can't wait to see where its at come summer.

Congratulations on your growth gains!

Of course you can join us! Welcome!

Your complexion is so pretty, too!

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

Congratulations on your growth gains!

Of course you can join us! Welcome!

Your complexion is so pretty, too!

awww thank u @Chicoro ... funny enough i use shea butter on my face now as well as all over my body since that thread a few yrs ago... we were all shea sliding in that thread!!!!

 

[snoop]

I took a bus ride to go to a health food store that is about five (5) minutes by bus from my house. It's a health food or 'bio' store. I picked up a giant bag of xylitol for my teeth and then I came upon the motherlode:

A whole section of clays!!!!!! I don't have to go into town to Aromazone for clay anymore. They have white, green, rose, red and rhassoul clay. They also have pre-made clay mixes in the tubes on the upper shelves. I couldn't believe it! I was so excited!


View attachment 487505

I'm here drooling over this! Are the pre-made clays for face or hair?

 

[snoop]

Then, I came across this:

View attachment 487507View attachment 487509View attachment 487511

This is a clay bar made with silica. It is slightly abrasive so I don't plan to use it on my hair. I got it because I am into clay ever since @snoop gave me her Super Clay Mix.

Someone's going to have super soft skin this summer! I'm going to keep my eye out for something like this. I want to try clay on my body, but figure that mixing it myself would definitely lead to clogged pipes. This bar looks like it could last forever!

 

[snoop]

End of the month check-in: My ends look like garbage, but I'm pretty sure that these are just shed hairs since my hair likes to do this. My hair needs so real detangling, so I'm going to start tonight and hopefully will be done by Wednesday.



And thank you @VinDieselsWifey for the Morocco method video! I finally watched it. I think that I'm going to try it this year. I've been on this board for so long and have seen people reference this method, but didn't realize that Anthony has a whole catalogue of videos on his method and products. I'm going to be adding the appropriate dates to my capillary schedule.

My first scheduled trim for this year is in March, but I'm going to add some micro trims in between so that I can test out this method. If I can do this properly, I should have (at the very least) healthy ends throughout 2023.

 

[Chicoro]

I'm here drooling over this! Are the pre-made clays for face or hair?

I think they were for the face!

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

just fin shampooing with chagrin valley herb garden shampoo bar and now am sitting here with honeys handmade honey & hibiscus dc. I'ma let it stay in with a hot head on for an hr and then i'm going to apply my leave in (in sections of course) and seal with shea butter. Styling will be my same ole two braids.

 

[keranikki]

Have you tweaked your regimen for the better or for the worse?

I tweaked my regimen for the better. This regimen is only for March. I will reassess at the end of the month.
I now shampoo once a month, on Week 4, using Olaplex #4. It pairs well with my protein treatments. Week 4 is all about protein.
For week 1-3, I use a version of @Chicoro clay mix from @snoop. My ends are no longer chewed up. Even my hairs are thickening. I’m still working on the density in the front.
Overall, I’m very happy with the progress I’m making.

 

[Chicoro]

I tweaked my regimen for the better. This regimen is only for March. I will reassess at the end of the month.
I now shampoo once a month, on Week 4, using Olaplex #4. It pairs well with my protein treatments. Week 4 is all about protein.
For week 1-3, I use a version of @Chicoro clay mix from @snoop. My ends are no longer chewed up. Even my hairs are thickening. I’m still working on the density in the front.
Overall, I’m very happy with the progress I’m making.

Congratulations on your wonderful progress!

 

[Chicoro]

End of the month check-in: My ends look like garbage, but I'm pretty sure that these are just shed hairs since my hair likes to do this. My hair needs so real detangling, so I'm going to start tonight and hopefully will be done by Wednesday.

View attachment 487755

And thank you @VinDieselsWifey for the Morocco method video! I finally watched it. I think that I'm going to try it this year. I've been on this board for so long and have seen people reference this method, but didn't realize that Anthony has a whole catalogue of videos on his method and products. I'm going to be adding the appropriate dates to my capillary schedule.

My first scheduled trim for this year is in March, but I'm going to add some micro trims in between so that I can test out this method. If I can do this properly, I should have (at the very least) healthy ends throughout 2023.

Did you complete your detangling process? How did it go? Were they shed hairs as you thought?

 

[Napp]

ok so i retu

I’m starting over and my goal is to retain at least 5 inches this year. These last two months so much stuff has went on and I neglected my hair. I lost so much hair. So I tweaked my regimen to address the breakage I had.

Styles:
Head wraps
Ponytails
Ocassional wash and goes
Wigs

Weekly
Rinse hair thoroughly
Protein prepoo for 5 mins
Shampoo 1x and gently finger detangle in sections
Deep condition for 10 minutes ( use w/ heat every other week)
Detangle with Unbrush
Apply Leave in
Smooth hair with Felicia Leatherwood brush
Apply curl activator for moisture
Apply styler Gel for Hold
Apply Moisturizer on ends
Apply Selant on ends
Braid hair into one single braid and tuck under
Put phony pony on top
Tie down with durag
Air dry overnight

Daily (if wearing ponytails)
Remove synthetic ponytail
Put hair on satin covered bun maker
Apply human hair ponytail on top
Slick edges with edge control

Nightly
Gently Unbraid
Moisturize hair with curl activator or moisturizer
Apply styler gel for hold
Apply sealant on the ends
Gently rebraid
Apply synthetic phony pony on top
Tie down with durag
Air dry overnight

Things I’m stopping:
Baggying: my hair stayed wet for too long and made my hair weak
Sleeping with a bun maker in the hair: I think this cases breakage because it’s so rough
Not deep conditioning with heat. I don’t think I’ll use heat every wash day but my hair thrived when I used heat with my dc.

Things I’m changing:
Satin covered bun makers: less friction, moisture loss and tension
Moisturizing with curl activator: to prevent styler gel from getting too hard and causing breakage
Putting my hair in one braid instead of a bun: less tension and tangling of ends
Using a synthetic ponytail at night: keeps ends protected while preventing durag and pillow case from becoming greasy and provides some adoration to the ends
i am also planning on switching from petroleum greases to whipped Shea butter once I finish my stash of greases. Shea works better imo.
I think this new regimen will work out for me. I will be mainly wearing turbans while I work from home and save my short ponytails for every days errands and my long ponytails for going out. I plan on doing one trim this year at the end of the year when I do my reveal. I am very confident this new regimen will bring me to success.

it looks like it’s a lot of work but if I can get close to WL on this regimen it will be worth it.

ok I made a few edits. I bought some satin covered donut buns and i prefer them over putting my hair in a braid. it dries more completely as my braid was wet for several days which made me uncomfortable. I also returned to baggying at night. mainly to prevent my hair butters and greases from messing up my pillow. I am currently trying out putting it on the outside of my durag vs the inside and using less hair butter/grease to see if that helps with it being damp for days. Also experimenting with washing every two weeks again but I need more durags for this to work because it gets gunky every few days.

 

[snoop]

Did you complete your detangling process? How did it go? Were they shed hairs as you thought?

Detangling is done, BUT I won't know for a few days. Let me explain: I can't tell how well my ends ares doing until I install twists. I washed my hair today, but I plan on washing my hair again on the weekend, so I guess my hair is going to be holding in what Naturally High would call "in between twists". Around this time next week, I'm going to do my first trim according to the Morrocco method and this will be the first trim for the year (3 month trim). If my ends end up looking better than I expect, then I'll try trimming half of the amount that I normally would or maybe I'll try trimming on loose hair instead of twists.

In April and May I'll do micro trims using Morrocco's calendar. I'm looking forward to this.

*Today I learned that he has 2 "r's" in his name. I obviously glossed over this when I visited his sight earlier this week.

 

[Chicoro]

Detangling is done, BUT I won't know for a few days. Let me explain: I can't tell how well my ends ares doing until I install twists. I washed my hair today, but I plan on washing my hair again on the weekend, so I guess my hair is going to be holding in what Naturally High would call "in between twists". Around this time next week, I'm going to do my first trim according to the Morrocco method and this will be the first trim for the year (3 month trim). If my ends end up looking better than I expect, then I'll try trimming half of the amount that I normally would or maybe I'll try trimming on loose hair instead of twists.

In April and May I'll do micro trims using Morrocco's calendar. I'm looking forward to this.

*Today I learned that he has 2 "r's" in his name. I obviously glossed over this when I visited his sight earlier this week.

Your hair is lucky that you are so attentive and give it such great care. @snoop, I'm a little tired. If I can get to Canada, can you take care of me, too, for aabout two weeks?

 

[snoop]

Your hair is lucky that you are so attentive and give it such great care. @snoop, I'm a little tired. If I can get to Canada, can you take care of me, too, for aabout two weeks?

I can't style hair, but I can wash and oil it for you...

 

[Chicoro]

Uh oh, ya’ll… My hair is puffy! I think it is becoming slightly thicker. At least, that is how it looks and feels. I no longer have the wiry hairs popping up since I stopped with shampooing. In addition to this, my hair is starting to look and feel like mink. The new thing now is my hair feels FULLER and puffier. It reminds of the hair I had at 18 years old.

My ends are safely greased, rolled up and secured with a coated rubber band, inside a baggie.

I do my hair every two weeks. I am scheduled to wash my hair next week.

Still have yet to do a hard, protein treatment.

 

[GettingKinky]

I did my weekly routine today. Washing my hair was a bit more time consuming than normal because my stylist dyed my grays yesterday and then it dried with no product so it was more tangly than typically.
Alos I forgot to do my olaplex today but I did use my protein conditioner on my ends.

 

[Napp]

Here are my 5 month results. I had severe breakage due to transitioning but I was able to keep my length which is ok for me right now. i didnt trim because i dont have my proper at home cutting tools right now. I will push it off until my June length check. i decided not to go so long between straightening so i can monitor my progress better. I will straighten quarterly and trim 2x a year. I think my ends look pretty good and i just about reached APL.

 

[Lylddlebit]

@Napp FANTASTIC PROGRESS!

 

[Napp]

@Napp FANTASTIC PROGRESS!

Thank you. I just want my hair to be thicker though but that will come with time

 

[GettingKinky]

Great progress @Napp