Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge - Fall 2011

[faithVA]

I have decided to stop trying to have my hair look nice and just focused on bumping up the volume in keeping my hair and ends moisturized especially since the weather is so cool. Trying to keep a nice style hasn't been working anyway

So I'm increasing my moisture regimen to 2x a day. It varies a little from day to day. This morning I misted my ends with SM mist and then sealed with a shea butter mix and put a little of my oil blend in my crown area.

I did something last night but I don't remember

I don't usually do long DCs but I joined the Delicious DC challenge. So this weekend I am going to do an oil rinse, steam and then do a long DC to see if I can increase the moisture.

 

[mstokes2008]

Just an update:

Last night I DCd, shampooed, did a protein treatment and a S&D on the front of my hair. These stupid SSK are driving me crazy but they aren't as bad as they were since I've been wearing my hair straight the past 2-3 wks. After I was done I put in some chunky twists which I am hating! But since I have nothing to do and nowhere to go, I guess they will do for now. While they're in I plan to moisturize 1-2x/day and oil my scalp as needed. I sure hope it helps

 

[SimJam]

mstokes2008 your hair is so nice and luscious-like


EbonyCPrincess hay Eb !!!

 

[Beany]

These ends will be the death of me. I am sure of it.

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc: Natural
2. Current Hair Length: IDK, just passed the TWA stage I think
3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends: dry and bushy
4. What you have tried to improve your ends: shea butter mix, JBCO, baggy
5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends: I want to get a steamer, but I can't justify that purchase with the holidays around the corner (I find doing it with the dryer to be very cumbersome and I HATE sitting under the dryer). I'll continue to baggy (low porosity hair).

 

[tiffjust2002]

I am doing this challenge for and on behalf of my daughter. She is 7 and her ends are extremely dry and brittle. My biggest challenge I think is taking care of her hair because our textures are so different and I am used to my hair which is 3b and she has 3c/4a hair and it's always dry so it's hard for me, I need help ya'll I learned a few things to help her but I am always looking for more tips and tricks to help. I had to cut about 2 and a half inches off back in April of this year cause they were just horrible but I think she regained that length back since then but they just always seems to be dry.

1. Natural
2. APL
3. breakage, dryness, brittleness lol (is that a word??)
4. I try to not use rubber bands and if I do I try to lather them or soap them in oil first. I try to moisture and then seal them as much as possible.
5. Whatever ya'll tell me what works LOL

 

[mstokes2008]

SimJam- Thanks!! I'm trying so hard to resist the scissors though. If these ends aren't any better by the new year I'm ready to chop em

 

[faithVA]

Welcome Beany and tiffjust2002

 

[EbonyCPrincess]

SimJam Hi there! Nice to be in another challenge with ya!

I co-washed and DC'd with Aussie 3 Minute Miracle and am airdrying with a variation of KimmayTube's leave-in mixture. Will be wearing a half wig for the rest of the week. Or I may do a phony pony...in any event my ends are DEFINITELY improving with the ceramide usage.

 

[silenttullip]

I love this challenge it's been so helpful already.
I prepooed my ends with evoo
shampooed, conditioned under plastic cap for 30 mins with watered down bear fruit hair shea coconut and aloe conditioner with rosewater and it was heavenly.
rinsed and added rosewater, infusium 23 li, and evoo to ends they felt all loved and what not lol.
Thanks so much for creating this one

 

[AryaStarr258]

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc
Relaxed, 4b

2. Current Hair Length
CBL

3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends
Dry ends, like Death Valley dry. And breakage.

4. What you have tried to improve your ends
Pre-pooing. It's helping but I think I still need more techniques.

5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends
Perhaps oil rinsing, or maybe increasing my moisturizing from once a week to once a day.

 

[Napp]

Im horrible about keeping up with challenges but i will try to post as often as i can

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc
Texlaxed
2. Current Hair Length
Slightly Past APL
3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends
Thinning,(especialy in the middle of the nape and on the sides),dryness, splitting
4. What you have tried to improve your ends
nothing except a recent trim
5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends
-no direct heat on the ends
-moisturizing and sealing daily or every other day
-dusting my ends regulalry
-new pair of scissors(my current ones are getting old)
-no tight styles
-dcing weekly w/heat for at least 30 mins

 

[faithVA]

Welcome AryaStarr258 and Napp

 

[faithVA]

Ladies, I appreciate your updates. Even though I called it a challenge its more like a personal challenge with a support group. Most of the things we are doing aren't new to the board and there are threads upon threads on the subjects of sealing, DCing, ACVing, etc. However, many of us have tried them and haven't quite gotten them to work or aren't working them.

So this is a good place for us to figure it out for ourselves and hopefully to feel free to ask questions from others as they are working things out.

So anything you share is important.

Motivational Speech of the Day is Over

 

[faithVA]

I applied my SM mist this last night and this morning. I didn't seal last night because my hair is so heavy with shea butter and oils I can't apply another oil to it This morning I did apply an argan oil serum to my ends before I tucked them under.

I was wondering if my hair would do better in larger twists versus smaller twists so less of my hair was actually exposed, if that makes sense. What do you ladies think?

 

[EbonyCPrincess]

I was wondering if my hair would do better in larger twists versus smaller twists so less of my hair was actually exposed, if that makes sense. What do you ladies think?

I'm not sure about the exposure part, that DOES make sense, but also large twists I would think are less manipulation which could help also.

 

[AryaStarr258]

Just did my monthly dusting. Next I plan on pre-pooing, clarifying, then DC for an hour or two. Hopefully this will keep my ends from getting so frazzled so quickly. Also, I'm gonna do my best to stay away from the flat iron!

 

[silenttullip]

I think you're right, your ends may be more comfy in larger twists. Personally, I always keep the old phrase "safety in numbers in mind" the more entangled strands in a section the better so maybe medium sized would be good ism.

Also as a result of the motivational speech I figured I'd share a few thing, clueless of their usefulness but here goes.
In the past few days I've learned moisturizing and sealing more than 2 times is okay if the ends feel like twigs I use to act so afraid of doing it frequently.
sleeping on my tummy keeps away friction from my covered hair at night.
Wrapping a silk or satin scarf around my shoulders can protect my ends wheuln visible. Taking pieces of a plastic cap around securing them around braids or twists with ouchless bands is a good way to baggy without involving the rest of your hair. That's all I have, oh and bear fruit hair shea almond dc is amazing for ends.

I applied my SM mist this last night and this morning. I didn't seal last night because my hair is so heavy with shea butter and oils I can't apply another oil to it This morning I did apply an argan oil serum to my ends before I tucked them under.

I was wondering if my hair would do better in larger twists versus smaller twists so less of my hair was actually exposed, if that makes sense. What do you ladies think?

 

[faithVA]

Thanks ladies. I will play with the size of my twist over the next few months. I wear smaller twist because at its current length, it makes my hair look fuller and more styled. But since I plan on wearing my twist in a bun for a while, I am going to try slightly larger twists. I'm not ready to go too big yet.

I've been doing them small for so long, I am going to have to force myself to make them bigger.

 

[MissTripleChoc]

Yay!!!! This is going to be my first challenge on this site! I need this challenge so bad to retain my length!

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning
Texlaxed 4b

2. Current Hair Length
APL

3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends dryness
Thinning, dry and brittle like shredded wheat (don't know if you have that ceareal in the US) lol! Splitting, thinning, uneveness, see through ends

4. What you have tried to improve your ends
Only trimming and moisturising and sealing

5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends
Tomorrow i'm going to get an inch trimmed off my hair with thermo heated scissors that seal the ends. Daily moisturising with a water based moisturiser, steering clear of protein (my hair hates it!), sealing with a mixture of castor oil, shea butter and glycerin, co washing twice a week after the gym, dc every week in the gym steam room, dusting my ends every six weeks, avoiding the use of direct heat on my hair, air drying

 

[Beany]

So I decided to get the steamer. It wasn't as expensive as I thought. I got the one from salons r us (or lclbeauty) and it ended up being $88 with free shipping.

 

[faithVA]

Welcome MissTripleChoc. I have added you to the list.

 

[faithVA]

So I decided to get the steamer. It wasn't as expensive as I thought. I got the one from salons r us (or lclbeauty) and it ended up being $88 with free shipping.

Welcome to the world of steaming. It will be interesting to hear how it is working out for you.

 

[Beany]

Welcome to the world of steaming. It will be interesting to hear how it is working out for you.

Thanks, I steamed with the dryer when my hair was relaxed and my hair loved it. I really hope this helps my natural hair ESPECIALLY these ends.

 

[mstokes2008]

So I'm trying to do as much as possible to save my ends, I really really don't want to have to cut them. I colored my hair 3 or 4 months into my journey so I know that also isn't helping the dryness factor but on the plus side, I took the gross chunky twists and turned them in to smallish twists last night. I didn't use anything to twist them up with. My hair was still really moisturized and soft from earlier this week which is good. For once since I've cut my hair my twists actually seem to be holding up, none of them have unraveled as of yet and I'm not sure why but I'm happy about it

Anyways in attempt to keep my hair as moisturized as possible without adding excessive products I will also be applying the GHE process to my regimen. I've heard nothing but good things about it so hopefully I'm able to retain some length through the end of the year. I plan on doing it nightly and remoisturizing & sealing as needed. And for some reason my twists are EXTREMELY shruken (like not even touching the top of my shoulder) which is also odd since I haven't wet them yet but I guess thats helping protect my ends because they won't be brushing up against my clothes anymore, which actually makes for a pretty cute curly bob. So hopefully I can keep these in longer than a wk. The only thing that will be my weakness is that my Mud wash should be here Saturday and I will be dying to start using it erplexed

 

[LaidBak]

1. had healthy ends but damaged them in some way--I moved overseas to a country with horrible water. My beautiful, even, CBL hair went to a choppy ear length over the course of a year. I've been battling back from that over the last 9 months.

3. have ends that are thin, breaking or brittle- Thin and uneven because they were layered and I was forced to use more heat to style

1. I'm relaxed
2. between chin and shoulder (I have a long neck)
3. Recovering from a setback and forced layers
4. What you have tried to improve your ends-nightly sealing, and tying my hair up at night. Sometimes cross wrapping to keep them smooth
5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends-desperately trying to find a protective style that looks professional, involves a hair piece, satisfies my uniform requirements (Im military), and does not require me to expose my ends at all or use of heat

I used to fake bun, but my bun contraption was causing me breakage. *sigh*. So this weekend I'm going to try to rig something up with some weave hair to make a Gibson Roll or a Southern Tease bun.

 

[LaidBak]

OK so I'm checking in. Smoothed some JBCO onto my ends and crosswrapped them for bed.

 

[silenttullip]

ooo what's cross wrapping?

OK so I'm checking in. Smoothed some JBCO onto my ends and crosswrapped them for bed.

 

[AryaStarr258]

OK so I'm checking in. Smoothed some JBCO onto my ends and crosswrapped them for bed.

I've heard of this, and I know people swear by it, but I still would like to know the hype behind it. What's the difference between it and regular castor oil?

 

[Renewed1]

Taking pieces of a plastic cap around securing them around braids or twists with ouchless bands is a good way to baggy without involving the rest of your hair. That's all I have, oh and bear fruit hair shea almond dc is amazing for ends.

That is a great idea!! I have some saran wrap I don't use. Off to protect my ends.

 

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

I'm in. My issue is with thin ends. This issue has been plaguing me for years. I have to keep cutting around waistlength to have hair that looks remotely attractive, I cut up to mid back or so repeatedly . My ends are not rough, just THIN, they are actually silky because of all the heat damage, they've gone straight. I hate that too.