Growing My Mane

Combing can be a contributing factor to hair breakage if not done gently and correctly. A seamless comb can help reduce breakage because it does not have a seam on the teeth of the comb. The seams catch on to the hair hence the breakage. Combs are usually made in molds. According to the Hercules Sagemann website, their combs are made in quality molds in a single production step and are free from uneven edges that damage the hair. Molding tools and the synthetic materials are the determinants of a comb's quality and properties. These combs are hand-swan, hand-cut and hand-polished.
I got these combs with the help of my husband (he paid for them) and my cousin who brought them down from the US. I totally love them. I have no complains at all about them. The combs are solid. The only downside is that they are so so so so so expensive! But I believe they are good investments though because I do not plan to buy any comb in the next 20 years. I'm handling them like new born babies.

5660

5610

5580. My favourite for detangling

1975.  Styling Comb

703W Small teeth styling comb

6450 Tail Comb

Thanks for reading!
Be hairbulous as always.
Nitty xxx
                                        Have you tried any seamless combs? Your thoughts?

  Hi Lovelies!

  Happy New Year to you all. May this year bring us goodness, health, wealth and long healthy hair.


Now to how my hair has been faring. I have had so many challenges with my hair ever since I started my journey back in 2013. It was always a back and forth issue with my hair. When I make progress, I always end up with a set back that take me back to square one. Last year in March or April I had to cut my hair to neck length due to severe breakage and shedding. By the end of December I made it to full shoulder length again. My hair feels fuller and healthier. I'm hoping my hair keeps progressing henceforth.

My 2016 Hair Goals

1. For 2016, It's my fervent prayer that I do not experience any setback. My hope is to retain a minimum of 4 inches of my hair and also maintain the health of my hair.

2. Do more deep conditioning treatments with my steamer or thermal cap.

3 Stretch my relaxers for a minimum of 12 weeks and a maximum of 20 weeks. I realise long stretches at this stage are not working for me.

4. It is going to be a year of protective styling. I will be hiding my hair for the most part and do a big reveal in December. So help me God.

5.Consistently take my hair vitamins. I struggled with this because o f the headaches I was getting from taking the full dosage. My plan is to take one pill a day.

6. Avoid unnecessary purchase of hair products. You can call me the queen of product junkies. I believe I have enough products to last me throughout the year. Still in search for a good moisturiser though.

7. Massage my scalp at least 3 times a week.

8. Be a full participant in hair challenges.

9. Maintain my edges.

10. Drink more water at least two litres a day.

My Starting Length for 2016

Thanks for reading!
Stay Hairbulous
Nitty xoxo
                                What are your hair goals for the year?

Hello friends,
I missed you all. I finally relaxed my hair at 29 weeks post relaxer. And oh boy, it was a rough relaxer day. My hair got wet when it started raining and I was picking laundry from the line. I totally forgot to cover my hair. I dried my with a blow dryer prior to visiting the salon and applied silk amino acids to my already relaxed ends.

At the salon, the hairdresser realised my hair was still wet at the roots and asked me to sit under the hooded dryer for a few minutes. That when I knew I was in trouble. She parted my hair into four sections and based my scalp with Scalp Protective Gel. I used the Amla Legend Relaxer. I wanted this relaxer because it processes fast and it will be able to tame my new growth.




















The application process took less the 10 minutes because the relaxer begun to burn so badly. I quickly asked the hairdresser to wash the relaxer out. She then neutralised with the shampoo that came with in the box.

Conditioned by hair using the Amla Legend Hair Mask. Rinsed out and towel dried the hair and applied Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer and Paul Mitchell Serum.
Roller set with brush rollers. And dried using the hooded dryer.

I noticed after my hair had dried that one part of hair had more texture (almost natural) than the other. I was not amused. Two days after the relaxer my hair felt so dry and was breaking. I have used other no lye relaxers before and did not have breakage. Neither was my hair extremely dry like this. I think the breakage is also due to the fact that I did not deep condition on relaxer day. But this is the last time I will use the Amla Legend Relaxer. The first time I used it it turned out well but this time it's a no no.
My subsequent was wash days consisted of extreme prepooing, chelating/clarifying/neutralizing and deep conditioning with my steamer.

First Wash After Relaxer.
1. Prepooed with Roux Porosity Control and Paul Mitchell Moisturising Conditioner for several hours.
2. Shampooed with ORS Aloe Creamy Shampoo. Patted hair dry with a towel.
3. Applied Aphogee two minutes keratin conditioner to my hair for 3 hours.
4.Deep conditioned for 20 minutes under my steamer with the ORS Hairepair Conditioner. Rinsed out conditioner and dried my hair with my turbie twist.
5. Applied Keracare Leave-In and Paul Mitchell Serum
6. Roller set with magnetic rollers.  My hair came out soft and the breakage reduced drastically.

Second Wash 
 1. Prepooed again with Roux Porosity Control Conditioner and Paul Mitchell Moisturising Conditioner overnight.
 2. Shampooed with ORS Aloe Creamy Shampoo.
 3. Deep conditioned under the steamer with Silicon Mix conditioner ( Will share my thoughts about this conditioner later) for 20 minutes. Rinsed out conditioner and dried hair with a towel.
4. Applied Aussie Luscious Leave-in, Keracare Leave-In and Chi Silk Infusion. (this serum is the bomb.com!) better than Paul Mitchell Serum.
5. Roller set my hair with brush rollers and dried under a hooded dryer. My hair was feeling good. Soft and smooth.






 This is how my hair looks now. I will be getting a protective style soon for the yuletide.

Thanks for reading!

Stay hairbulous.

Nitty xxx

Hello dearies,
I'm back with a hair update. I must be sincere things did not go as planned. I started undoing my hair Friday evening around 4:30 pm. And before I could say Jack, the power went off. I took me about two hours to remove all the braids. I did not use my usual detangler because I was not at home at the time I was taking off the braids. When I eventually made it home I applied coconut oil to my hair to soften it a bit.
The detangling process was tiring. My arms were tired and my hair matted in some places because I had kept the braids in too long. Lesson learnt! I'm sticking to 6 weeks maximum for braids next time.

Fallen Soldiers! Keep braids in for almost 10 weeks

Finally, I finished detangling around midnight. Everyone was asleep and I was up doing hair. The extent we go for our hair. I'm over 20 weeks post relaxer and I felt my shedding was too much. Then again, the length of time I kept the braids in tells it all.

Before going to bed, I apply a mixture of coconut oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) and essential oils to my hair. Wrapped with a cling film. Covered it with a Turbie Twist and went to bed.



Washed my hair in the morning, using Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo with my Scalp Massaging Shampoo Brush . I really like this brush. Cleans the scalp as well as massages it. The shampoo however is ok. It lathers well and cleans your hair well but it's not moisturising at all. It actually stiffens the hair a bit. To prevent any further breakage/shedding I detangled my hair under running water. The shower was on full blast.


I bloated the water out off my hair and applied Silk Amino Acids (SAA) to my hair and topped it up with Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratin Intensive Treatment. The SAA immediately loosened my new growth. It was easier to finger detangle. I kept both in my hair for about 30 mins. I covered my hair with a shower cap.
I rinsed it out and deep conditioned with Paul Mitchell Lemon Sage thickening conditioner with my hair therapy wrap.
I rinsed the conditioner out and applied Paul Mitchell Smoothing Super Skinny Daily Treatment for a few minutes and wrapped my hair in a towel.

By this time my hair dresser had arrived, she put in Keracare Leave-In (not in thee pic) in my hair and  Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer on my ends. Applied the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to my hair and then did a roller set.




I decided to put my hair in cornrows because I was not ready and did have the time to deal with both textures.


This is how my hair looks now...

Thanks for reading!

Stay Hairbulous.

Nitty xxx

                                                 Share your wash day experience!

Size: 100ml
Availability : Easily found in cosmetic shops and supermarkets etc
Price:  15 - 20 cedis
Description : A generation of fortifying serum enriched with rejuvenating Indian Amla Oil. It's formula intensely refills the scalp in moisture to promote healthier growing hair. Coating actives strengthen your hair for a fuller, thicker texture.


Directions: On dry hair, apply directly onto scalp with the nozzle and massage gently, especially where hair is  weaker. Apply a small quantity on lengths. Do not rinse. Style as usual. Use daily until you achieve desired results. To maintain improvement, continue using three times a week.
Top 5 ingredients: Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Arginine, PPG-5-Ceteth-20 and Citric Acid.



My Verdict: Prior to me receiving this potion from Dark and Lovely, I had purchased one and used it. I told myself I was never going to buy it again. This was because I was expecting some wild growth of hair which never happened. And I also thought all serums were oil based so when this was watery I was like aaaahhhhh.Wharris dis? Lol.
Well, I am totally viewing this product from a  different angle now. I decided to do a little research on the first five ingredients. I believe we all know the first two. Now to Arginine which is one of the most common amino acids. This will strengthen your hair. PPG-5-Ceteth-20 is a type of emollient that is a softening ingredient and citric acid is used as a chelating ingredient. After reading about the ingredient I said to myself, this is not bad after all. It also comes in an applicator bottle which makes it very easy to put on your scalp and hair. It smells just like the other Amla Legend product. A sweet smell which can be overpowering sometimes.
The only disappointment I had was that amla oil was not part of the first five ingredient.  Because anyone who sees the name Amla Legend Billion Hair Potion is expecting some high dose of amla in the product.
I would say it did soften and moisturise my new growth that is peeping from my 7 weeks braids obviously because it's water-based. I like it.
I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Would I repurchase? Maybe. That's because I do have other moisturisers and scalp products already in my stash.

Thanks for Reading!

Stay Hairbulous...

Nitty. xxx

                                          Have you tried this product? Your thoughts?

Hello Doves,
It's been long. Please forgive me. My life has gotten busier and this is affecting my blog. But anyways, I will try and post twice a month.
Now to my hair. I am currently 22 weeks and 5 days post relaxer. My last relaxer was on May 9th 2015.
I left my hair alone for about four weeks and then started protective styling(PS). My first protective style was twists. I believe I kept them for about 4 weeks. I took them down and did a protein treatment and routine washing and deep conditioning. While in the my twists, I used Dark and Lovely Hair Refresher on my hair, oiled and massaged my scalp and edges with Jamaican Black Castor Oil mixed with essential oils. I also took Good N Natural Skin, Hair and Nails Vitamins. Sorry, I have no pics of the twists.

My second protective style was jumbo braids.
I used the same procedure to maintain these style as well. Moisturising with the hair refresher, oiling scalp etc. I also washed my braids whenever I felt there was a build up. This style lasted for three weeks.

I gave my hair a one week break after I uninstalled the braids and got another protective style. My intention was actually to relax my hair in September just in time for my wedding anniversary but I was so busy that I had no choice than to do another PS.

And I have been rocking my Afro Kinky Twists since August 25. Sorry, I did not take initial photos and currently, the braids are sevens old. I want to push it till the end of the month. I started this relaxer stretch by accident but it's been good so far. For this 'new' protective style I am using Wild Growth Oil on my scalp and edges. I started taking Nature's Bounty Hair Nails and Skin Vitamins too. 3 capsules a day. But I had to stop for two reasons. a) I was getting headaches even though I took 2.5 litres of water a day. b) I wanted to see if the Wild Growth Hair Oil alone would work. I would go back to it starting November. But will start a pill a day and then increase the dosage as time goes on. Below are pics of how my hair looks currently at 7 weeks of braids installation.


For this PS, I am using Dark and Lovely Hair Refresher and Amla Legend Billion Potion and Wild Growth Hair Oil.
I hardly do any fanciful hairstyles with the braids. It's either loose or held up in a pony especially when I am busy. I have also washed it twice. So that's it. Waiting to hear about your hair and progress. Leave your comments below.

And as usual,

Stay Hairbulous xxx

Size: 250ml

Price : 10-20 cedis

Availability: Found in any beauty supply or cosmetic shops

Description: A Replenishing oil moisturiser lotion
to defy hair damage( dryness, breakage and dullness) everyday. Nourished, your hair look rejuvenated sleeker, glossier and healthier-looking.

Directions: Pour a small amount into your palm and apply throughout your hair. Style as usual.

Top 5 ingredients: Aqua/Water, Paraffinum Liquidum/Mineral Oil,Glycerin, Cera Microcristallina/ Microcrystalline Wax, Cetearyl Alcohol.

Thick and Creamy

My Verdict : This product is thick and creamy  and has a pale yellow colour. It smells nice too. I am quite disappointed that they put mineral oil in this product. And it is the second on the list! A natural oil such as coconut oil or olive oil could have been used. This oil moisturiser did nothing for my hair. I used it both as a leave-in and as a moisturiser. On both occasions I was not impressed at all. I could feel my hair did not rally absorb the product and it gave my hair a dry crunchy feel.. I also did check out the ingredient 'Cera Microcristallina'. This is a by product of petrolatum meaning in this product alone we have two hair destructive agents among its top 5 ingredients! This is just too much!
This product is part of the Amla Legend goodies that was given to me. Question is, will I buy this product? No.
I give it 1 star out of 5. 1 star because it smells really nice. Thanks for reading!

 Be Hairbulous!

Nitty
                                   Have you tried this product? Leave your thoughts.