MzSwift
Well-Known Member
I ended up texlaxing yesterday at 24.5 weeks and I'm happy I did! It felt great to shake my hair around and feel it move without being bound by braids!
I definitely couldn't keep it that way though bc I would have no hair left on my head. lol
I think I retained ok this year. My hair is finally starting to feel heavy again when I relaxed. And I can knot my hair again, eliminating the need for clips and ponytail holders. I will be sticking w rocking exposed cornrows and mini braids in the summer.
However, I am going to be making a few changes in order to really kick my retention up a notch.
1- I'll be incorporating more full PSs
My hair does better when I absolutely leave it alone. While cornrowed, I was applying scalp concoctions and rubbing in moisturizer daily. Even that was too much manipulation for my fine strands. I need to keep my hands out of my hair! So while the cornrows were great overall for retention, they presented issues for me by giving me opportunities to do too much HIH!! HIH is the enemy of my fine strands and I know this.
Honestly, I got the results I had in 2018-2019 (avi pic) bc I HAD to cover my hair. My baby was a hair puller and he did it to soothe himself so I had to protect my hair from that. Even though he's grown out of that, I'm gonna re-enter that mindset for 2024. I believe I will see more growth and retention gains from that one change than any growth aid I'll use.
So I'll be adding in sewing down wigs this year. Now that my hair is getting longer, I feel better about rocking wigs. Crazy, right?
Also, I might try to add in some crochet styles.
2- Incorporating more DCs
Rocking FULL PSing is gonna put me on a schedule to DC regularly. It's something I've skipped out on this year. When I look back at my goal hair years 2018-2019, I was switching up my full PSs every 3-4 weeks. And at each change up, I washed, DCd and blow dried my hair in order to braid it back up. I didn't touch it much while it was in the style. I just created my own braid spray using herbs and oils and I was set.
3- Losing the Fenugreek seeds and Clove buds
I tried them in my hair routine this year and my husband HATED the smell of them. But I was on a serious growth mission in 2023 and hoped that they would give me phenomenal growth, so that's what I told him. I used them together as a hair tea in my daily hair spray mix and in my scalp growth oil. But they didn't give me the boost I sought so they're not worth keeping.
2023 Summary-
I am NOT wow'd by my progress. I was terrified that I wouldn't be and I'm disappointed. I didn't have an NJoy growth year like I had hoped. I'm typically an optimist, I swim in positivity and I've successfully used visualizing to manifest a lot in my life, even before I knew what that was. But I knew realistically, I wasn't gonna have a year like NJoy's when I was only about BSB in my Oct check in and not MBL. lol. I knew I wouldn't make it by December, my hair just does not grow THAT fast. Also, I had to ditch the sulfur after only two months bc it tarnished my jewelry and sulfur was key to her scalp concoction. My hair is still in that in between stage now at the end of 2023, where it's not too short but it still isn't long.
And is anyone else like me where my hair feels longer IRL, as I'm doing day-to-day activities, than it looks in photos?!! It's always been that way but it's more apparent now that it's short and I'm more focused on getting it back to where I was.
So from 2024 on, I will remember to stay in MY lane, which is KISS and slow and steady progress. I was just so desperate, y'all, bc my hair was so short!! My hair goal is still my 2019 hair (avi pic) bc my goal overall is to pick back up where I left off in 2019. So the sooner I get there, the better I'll feel. lol
OK, on to the pix!
At 24.5 weeks post (last relaxer July 10, 2023), I prepped and relaxed.
And then I let it airdry. I still have a lot of texture that will loosen as the hair gets longer/heavier.
And then came the scary part. This is the part that would show me my real progress. The blow dry and flat iron.
I wasn't planning to do it last night bc it was already so late but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well. lol
I haven't flat ironed since 2019. I'm a bit rusty. I decided to use the flat iron to put curls in my hair and then try my hand at wrapping.
So this is blow dried and flat iron curled.
And, drum roll, my progress:
Not really fair bc I didn't flat iron last year due to disappointment. I almost didn't this year too.
Dec 2022
Dec 2023
Thanks for always being here for support, ladies!
Our little community rocks!
Have a safe and happy New Year!!
I definitely couldn't keep it that way though bc I would have no hair left on my head. lol
I think I retained ok this year. My hair is finally starting to feel heavy again when I relaxed. And I can knot my hair again, eliminating the need for clips and ponytail holders. I will be sticking w rocking exposed cornrows and mini braids in the summer.
However, I am going to be making a few changes in order to really kick my retention up a notch.
1- I'll be incorporating more full PSs
My hair does better when I absolutely leave it alone. While cornrowed, I was applying scalp concoctions and rubbing in moisturizer daily. Even that was too much manipulation for my fine strands. I need to keep my hands out of my hair! So while the cornrows were great overall for retention, they presented issues for me by giving me opportunities to do too much HIH!! HIH is the enemy of my fine strands and I know this.
Honestly, I got the results I had in 2018-2019 (avi pic) bc I HAD to cover my hair. My baby was a hair puller and he did it to soothe himself so I had to protect my hair from that. Even though he's grown out of that, I'm gonna re-enter that mindset for 2024. I believe I will see more growth and retention gains from that one change than any growth aid I'll use.
So I'll be adding in sewing down wigs this year. Now that my hair is getting longer, I feel better about rocking wigs. Crazy, right?
Also, I might try to add in some crochet styles.
2- Incorporating more DCs
Rocking FULL PSing is gonna put me on a schedule to DC regularly. It's something I've skipped out on this year. When I look back at my goal hair years 2018-2019, I was switching up my full PSs every 3-4 weeks. And at each change up, I washed, DCd and blow dried my hair in order to braid it back up. I didn't touch it much while it was in the style. I just created my own braid spray using herbs and oils and I was set.
3- Losing the Fenugreek seeds and Clove buds
I tried them in my hair routine this year and my husband HATED the smell of them. But I was on a serious growth mission in 2023 and hoped that they would give me phenomenal growth, so that's what I told him. I used them together as a hair tea in my daily hair spray mix and in my scalp growth oil. But they didn't give me the boost I sought so they're not worth keeping.
2023 Summary-
I am NOT wow'd by my progress. I was terrified that I wouldn't be and I'm disappointed. I didn't have an NJoy growth year like I had hoped. I'm typically an optimist, I swim in positivity and I've successfully used visualizing to manifest a lot in my life, even before I knew what that was. But I knew realistically, I wasn't gonna have a year like NJoy's when I was only about BSB in my Oct check in and not MBL. lol. I knew I wouldn't make it by December, my hair just does not grow THAT fast. Also, I had to ditch the sulfur after only two months bc it tarnished my jewelry and sulfur was key to her scalp concoction. My hair is still in that in between stage now at the end of 2023, where it's not too short but it still isn't long.
And is anyone else like me where my hair feels longer IRL, as I'm doing day-to-day activities, than it looks in photos?!! It's always been that way but it's more apparent now that it's short and I'm more focused on getting it back to where I was.
So from 2024 on, I will remember to stay in MY lane, which is KISS and slow and steady progress. I was just so desperate, y'all, bc my hair was so short!! My hair goal is still my 2019 hair (avi pic) bc my goal overall is to pick back up where I left off in 2019. So the sooner I get there, the better I'll feel. lol
OK, on to the pix!
At 24.5 weeks post (last relaxer July 10, 2023), I prepped and relaxed.
And then I let it airdry. I still have a lot of texture that will loosen as the hair gets longer/heavier.
And then came the scary part. This is the part that would show me my real progress. The blow dry and flat iron.
I wasn't planning to do it last night bc it was already so late but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well. lol
I haven't flat ironed since 2019. I'm a bit rusty. I decided to use the flat iron to put curls in my hair and then try my hand at wrapping.
So this is blow dried and flat iron curled.
And, drum roll, my progress:
Not really fair bc I didn't flat iron last year due to disappointment. I almost didn't this year too.
Dec 2022
Dec 2023
Thanks for always being here for support, ladies!
Our little community rocks!Have a safe and happy New Year!!
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The only real concern I have about this is the band possibly causing breakage around my hairline. I'm gonna apply oil extra heavy around my hairline to help prevent breakage.
I'll be relaxing in April, August and December -- the 4th, 8th and 12th months of the year.
I washed with Dr. Woods black soap and DC'd with heat for 30 mins using Vatika egg+honey. And then I applied a little of my Ayurvedic hair oil mix and some Infusium 23 (original formula) and blow dried using my off brand paddle brush blow dryer. My hair was so happy though! lol My hair always feels so good after I blow dry. It was nice to feel hair on my shoulder blades again. I actually trimmed, accidentally cut, my hair at the beginning of the year before installing the cornrows so I was nervous about how much progress I took away. It's why I usually stick to just annual dusting. lol
