Wash Day Sort Of & Reviews

I shouldn't say sort of.  I did wash my hair today.  I didn't take my hair down on Monday night as planned because I wasn't going to get my hair cut until tomorrow.  Plus there was no time to sort out what to do with my hair while I still got two workouts in before the holiday.  I took it down last night, well I started out right after I finished running around but because they were so small it took me almost six hours to wrap that process up, but was so tired that all I did was did a brief fluffing out and then went to bed.  I noted a few spots that were knotted but nothing that couldn't be addressed after some conditioning.

I woke up this morning and grabbed almost ever deep conditioning mask and treatment I had (Dr. Miracle's, Moroccan Oil, It's a 10 and an Organix blend) and took some time to fully cover my hair.  Then I did my first really good detangle and covered my hair with a plastic cap and the Hot Headz (I think that's the name, don't hold me to it) cloth cover and went about my day.  I cooked breakfast and the turkey for lunch/dinner, almost took a nap and then had my only two meals of the day thus far.  Then I figured I should wash this out because I wasn't sure how long this was going to take to wrap up.  My hair felt like it was okay but I detangled again just to be safe.  I washed it out and felt a little place where it could mat if I wasn't careful but fingered it loose and then went for the post poo deep conditioner which in this case was just Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque and a store freebie that I can't remember lol.  I only left it in for like an hour and washed it out in the sink to hopefully prevent any kind of post love matting.  I finger detangled until I put in my leave ins following the LOC method with an added bonus of an Aveda Smooth Infusion treatment to help the hair straighten.  And then I fired up my new hairdryer.

I will say I had massive reservations about how this dryer would hold up with all of the poof that was my almost five month and change post relaxer hair.  I knew it was more powerful than my other one which was supposed to mean it would dry faster but yeah life could super suck if the comb attachment and dryer didn't live up to its billing.  This was the only time ever that my hair felt like butter when a dryer hit it.  It worked quickly and really just made the entire process super easy.  I had to stop for a while because my other dryer I could hold like a big brush versus this one.  But the comb and dryer moved through all of the poofiness with not a bit of trouble.  I stopped short of flat ironing it since I'm going to have it trimmed tomorrow and her flat iron skills far exceed my own.  I'm going to tie it down at the gym tomorrow morning if I can wake up on time.  Hair appointment at 2 and then new photo when I'm not quite looking homeless.  I don't now just like dang have you EVER put a relaxer on your hair.  Now onto the reviews.

New Products: I have used Shea Moisture products before and my hair super duper did not like them.  I was hesitant to buy them as part of my transition but Carol's Daughter discontinued their transitioning line and Shea Moisture was recommended as a good alternative both online and by my old stylist (hey Keshia).  First it took a while for it to lather but when it did my hair felt clean and fresh and a few finger curls through stopped any major issues.  After I figured out how to open the conditioner it worked equally well and I probably could have stopped with the two of them but I added parts of my old staples just to keep it balanced with protein and moisture.  I will give a total thumbs up to the Raw Shea Butter and Argan Oil product line (I didn't purchase this kit because it's not available in the store but it shows you all the products I used except the finishing elixir which they didn't have in the store).  Maybe they aren't great for super straight hair but for hair in need of some love and moisture they were well appreciated.  For those of you that like numbers better 9/10, I do like more lather but it seems to do the job well so far.

New Dryer:  Hot Tools Professional Tourmaline Tools 2000 Turbo Ionic Dryer.  I played with about 6 dryers of varying price points before I went with this one and I'll admit a large portion of what I made my final decision on was that was red lol.  I was worried because when I have purchased dryers like this in the past the comb attachments weren't sturdy enough to handle the thickness of my hair.  They frequently broke and just left me irritated about finding a replacement.  My Gold N Hot was a god send when I found it but really after almost abandoning heat altogether over the last few years I hadn't noticed how ineffective it had become in working through my hair.  So yes it was time but no I wasn't confident.  As I mentioned earlier though it was amazing.  Watching the heat shift smoothly along with the fan speed was new.  On full blast though it would fry my hair so medium to high heat and no more than medium speed and I had dry soft poofy hair in a fraction of the time it would take with my old dryer.  I'd say really like half the time and that was with my old dryer being on bake your skull heat.  I highly recommend it especially if it keeps holding up with the wash days as the hair gets less and less relaxed.  Plus it's on sale right now and if you get it at Ulta (the link directs you there) then you can get a free styling tool with it and not the cheap stuff they are trying to get rid of either.  I got a 1 inch barrel curling iron (in purple no less lol) that was normally 52.99 for free.  So yeah it was 70 bucks but I got both products for 35 at that point plus the random coupons that Ulta gives out lol.  Thumbs up here as well.  For those of you that like numbers better 9.5/10--there's a knock on comfortability in the hold but it's good.  I'm pretty sure the Ulta model is missing the focused blow attachment but I wouldn't use that one on my hair so it wasn't a major loss that it wasn't in the box.  EDIT my box has all the attachments--I still won't be using the focused blower lol.

UPDATE: So I went in and got my trim today and the flat iron is so randomly foreign to me now that the smell of my hair is slightly maddening.  Regardless it wasn't as traumatic to do as I thought it might be so I'm going to just let the hair grow out slowly under a series of twists, braids, weaves and what not.  Here are updates of my barely neck length hair that will be hidden again in a few days.  Made it to the gym before the trim too--yippee!

The Weekend Just Won't End & Other Jokes

So this has been one of those standard there is no down time to be had.  Friday night I just needed to let my brain decompress but since then I've been on the go.  Let me just start this by saying I didn't even get closed to the gym before yesterday.  But as I had planned I got up a little earlier and climbed four flights of stairs to go to yoga before swimming.  The twisting wasn't as bad as thinking about my breathing.  I tend to always breath the exact opposite way people tell me to do when I am learning something the first time.  Turns out I started out that way again.  But I caught on soon enough and started to enjoy the stretching and the new challenges my body was trying to respond to.  I was glad there were fans in the room (and that the woman next to me turned the on) cause it felt like I was out in the Texas sun for a bit based on the amount of sweat that came off of my forehead.  Got a makeshift massage towards the end of class which was nice and was told I had done a great job for my first class.  I took her at her word because really I had to scoot on down to the pool.  It was a good lesson.  We spent most of the time in the deep end and trying to swim around without feeling like I was going to drown.  I enjoyed myself and did a few laps in the shallow end before coming home to start on my hair and promptly falling asleep.



As I alluded to before my brain was tired as hell.  My body joined the tired ranks after my workout.  I did manage to coat the length of my hair with conditioner and my scalp with Strong Roots before covering up my hair in a plastic bag and bonnet.  My intention was to wash it out quickly and then get to the other stuff I had to do.  No such luck.  I woke up a few hours later and just got to work on my grading after I grabbed a bit to eat.  Seven hours later I was done reading two classes worth of painful reading and giving feedback.  I nodded off a few hours later after debating washing my hair at 2 in the morning.  I woke up around ten, washed my hair including my chlorine stripping combo before letting my hair deep condition for about 90 minutes with the Dr. Miracle's.  I rinsed my hair out and t-shirt dried from about noon to 5 when I finally finished grading all tests, another class's writings and given them feedback along with doing early alerts for school.  5 is way too late to do anything with my hair except let it air dry so I got up, LOC'd, detangled with my 4 combs lol, took a few photos and am now relaxing.  My dinner is marinating now and sooner or later I'll get up to cook it lol.  Depending on how my hair dries I may blow it out slightly and then flat iron it before work.

 The hair loss for this week.  Seeing a lot of gray in there lol.

This is me with freshly dentagled hair

Flexirod Set + No Rain = Winning!

So my wash day got delayed by sheer laziness this week.  I didn't have to do anything yesterday so I didn't bother to do my hair on Sunday.  I lounged around and did as much of nothing as I could and then about 10 o'clock that night I started in on my hair.  I let the Strong Roots warm up longer than normal and my hair clearly loved that the next morning.  I covered the length of my hair with Organix Argon Oil treatment along with my Moroccan Oil intensive moisture deep conditioner and went to bed.  I actually slept in yesterday and by that I mean made it past 8 AM without waking up like I had some place to go.  I washed my hair about 12 hours after I applied the prepoo and it felt flipping awesome.  It was straight with very few tangles in it through the wash and most of the conditioning.  I followed up the wash with Dr. Miracle's deep conditioner for longer than normal cause really I had a meeting this morning that I didn't have to look my best for but wasn't pressed for time to get to either.  About 90 minutes after I put it on I washed it out and t-shirt dried for an hour.

I always three comb detangle and opted to use my new jumbo rake which was freaking awesome.  I actually made it through all three combs with very little shed before it dawned on me that in all my excitement I hadn't put in my leave ins or anything else.  I got up and LOC'd with It's a 10 (freaking amazing I love this), grape seed oil, and As I Am leave in conditioner.  I combed through again with the medium sized comb and still didn't have much in the way of shed hair.  I collected all of it and took a photo for you to see of what came out.  At 9 weeks post, this is nothing short of a miracle for me.

And this morning I actually did manage to take two photos before I got up and running for the day.  Photo one is right after the flexirods came out.  I look confused so yeah just let me make it on that one.

And the second photo is after I did a quick finger detangle enough to make it look like a hair style but not enough to encourage the curls to fall too much.

Either way, for once there wasn't an immediate hair fall when I left the house cause it wasn't humid or ready to rain or anything else so my hair pretty much looks like that still.  I need to update my regimen on the bar up top but it's somewhat readjusting as I go so maybe I should include an in flux notation. 

How was your wash day?

Wash Day: Two Strand Twist Adventures

My wash day did not start as planned.  I was so tired last night I didn't even try to prepoo.  And when I woke up this morning I was in pain so I was debating putting it off and calling a stylist to wash me up later this week.  My hair was a poof ball and a bit dry so I said screw and it got my lazy gear out of the way and got to work on my hair.  So here is how the day went and observations I want to share about each.

1. I covered the length of my hair mostly with the Organix DC and mixed in a bit of the Moroccan Oil DC while waiting for the Strong Roots to warm up a bit before adding it to my scalp.
2. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and my bonnet and waited about 3 hours before getting to the next phase.
3. I rinsed my hair with warm/hot water and was amazed at how well my hair had taken in some moisture in my shortened prepoo.  If I could have stopped here and my hair felt clean and ready to go I probably would have.
4. I washed my hair first with my Moroccan Oil moisturizing shampoo and then the Organix Macadamia Oil shampoo. My hair felt great actually.  Just not tangle free.
5. I three stepped the conditioner as normal.  Moroccan Oil gave my hair good slip and felt tangle free.  Aphogee 2 Minute gave my hair some strength but not super soft.  Mizani gave me back the slip and softness and the feeling that my hair was buttery in a good way lol.
6. I towel dried and then added my Dr. Miracle's DC for about 30 minutes before rinsing out at the sink.
7. I t-shirt dried for a little over an hour and my hair really was loving all the attention.  It was strong and healthy looking and felt very moisturized.
8. I opted for just It's a 10 as my liquid for the LOC method.  I only used the TIL oil treatment for my oil and just the As I Am leave in for the rest of that step and then used my three combs to detangle, moderate hair loss but that's from two days of lazy.
9. And because I wasn't feeling like doing a full roller set I went for two strand twists.  I ended up with seven of them I think about medium sized and then set the ends on flexirods.
10. I tied down my edges and then covered the whole thing in a bonnet and have been that way since about 3 this afternoon--which hopefully means my hair is dry before I need to head to work in 10 hours.

I hadn't really thought about it till just now but my hair could have been getting more love because I have been upping my water intake dramatically.  Most days I am at least drinking about 72 ounces of water if not 96 ounces depending on what I am up to.  Because I have let my weight keep climbing that's not half my body weight yet but it's way more than I have had on a regular basis in the last year.  I still have my V8 Fusion but it's not my go to option anymore.  I have only had a bottle in the last week and that was because none of my water was ice cold--it has to be ice cold or I kinda hate it lol.  Thanks to the Minute Maid fruit punch drops and now the Mio fruit punch drops I've been doing great.  I made it back to the gym twice last week and plan on getting back there tomorrow after work.  What's up with you ladies?

Wash Day Delayed--sort of

So I washed my hair as scheduled but I got distracted on Sunday and sick yesterday so no post.  Wash day went off without a hitch.  I started my prepoo midday Saturday after running to the grocery store.  I let the Strong Roots warm up a bit before I put it on my scalp.  I put on my plastic cap and bonnet and then went about the rest of the day doing a bunch of nothing.  I did have to say goodbye to old bottles of Moisturefuse and 2 Minute treatment from Aphogee but that was during the wash not before.  I woke up earlier than I planned on it again on Sunday and stayed with the routine from last week

1. Washed my hair with Macadamia Oil Shampoo followed by Moroccan Oil Shampoo.  Noticed that there was no massive lathering on the first wash since I hadn't stripped it clean the day before with post pool wash.
2. Did my three step conditioner each for about two minutes: 
1. Moroccan Oil
2. Aphogee 2 Minute
3. Mizani Moisturefuse
3. Rinsed everything out and then t-shirt dried for about 10 minutes 
4. Deep conditioned with Dr. Miracle's deep conditioner for about an hour
5. Rinsed it out and t-shirt dried for about two hours
6. LOC'd my hair, 3 comb detangled (there was more hair loss this week but to be expected as I am getting closer to the two month mark post relaxer) & and then set it on flexi rods like last week--except this week I spent a bit more time trying to keep the parts straight and balancing out the flexi rods.
1. Spraid on a moisture mist
2. Added jojoba oil and an oil treatment from Tropic Isle
3. Added As I Am and TW Deep conditioners like normal
7. Covered it all up with a bonnet and have been chilling since about 1 

I also went on a short Wal-mart trip earlier in the week that ended up with an unexpected perk.  Everything in the photo below was a buck.  I spent about 20 bucks and got lots of new product to try, two toothbrushes but I donated one to mom for her trip, and a ton of head scarves.  It pays to be in a town without a huge Black population sometimes as I will see this happen every six months or so.  They just finally had stuff  I wanted to try for a change.  And I will never be able to say I don't have a scarf.  I may put a few together as a giveaway but haven't decided yet.  And I did take photos for the reviews.  I'll be putting those up in a day or two.  How was your wash day?

Co-Wash Day & Good Food

So I started the co-wash yesterday after I grabbed mom from the airport and fed her.  That part actually went smoothly surprisingly and was actually ready to take her to the store if need be and nothing came up so I did a modified prepoo.  I just did the length of my hair with one deep conditioners and before too long I went to bed.  Well it was the middle of the night but I still went to bed.  I woke up this morning feeling crappy but went ahead and did my hair.  No shampoo just hit my conditioner line up save the Shiny Silver or Rusk since I didn't need to strip any chlorine and my gray is actually turning a nice silver.  After I rinsed it all out I towel tried it so that it wasn't dripping and then just let it air dry for a while.  A while around here normally means a few hours.  The top of my hair was damp but the rest was pretty dry.  I did finger detangle first and was surprised by how much hair I didn't shed.  Was very happy about that.  I got up to LOC my hair and properly detangle with full intention of grabbing the giant rollers again before my brain said umm no.  Since I had an extra pair of hands in the house now I opted for medium sized plaits for my hair.  The roots and edges will be pretty straight but the rest will be a nice wavy mass of hair when I take it down tomorrow.  I'm looking like a brown Pippi Longstocking so I'm hiding out for a while lol.  I need to get back to grading but I have a funky headache that I need to work through first.  I will say as co-washes go this was pretty smooth.  My hair loved all the extra conditioning and with the Aphogee 2 minute conditioner it got a nice dose of protein without it being too much.  And better still it's managing not to fall out even with all this swimming even though I can say my new growth is MUCH more noticeable than it usually is at this point post relaxer.  Ah well, the swimming is worth puffy hair lol. 

Almost forgot to tell you about the good food.  I found smaller steaks and marinated them longer than planned in some rice wine vinegar, lime juice, a dash of soy sauce, garlic powder and seasoned salt. They were the bomb with a large salad on the side.  Yummmmy.

Saturday Missions

This may get updated over the course of the day.  Today is swim lesson day and it was so much fun.  I am by no means ready to compete but each week we build a little more and a little more and if you want me to swim for a bit I can as long as I can take a breath.  Eventually I'll get to the breathing mid stroke but it feels better and like a good workout when I'm there.  Plus I heart my instructor she's funny and encouraging without it sounding fake.  So I decided that since this is a hair blog I should share more about the random stuff I do to it.  Since it's swim day I always prep my hair with leave in conditioner before I get to the pool.  This is my hair with enough conditioner to coat it but not make it sopping wet.

This is my hair after I get in from the pool.  It's not as dry as it was before I left but it wasn't dripping wet either.  The double cap isn't making it dry but it's stopping me from having to fight to repair it so much.

This is right after the shower I took to stop smelling like the pool and pull the chlorine off my hair too.  It does that semi part up front on its own now.  But it wasn't super tangled and seemed to enjoy being good and clean before I added my prepoo conditioners to sit for a bit.

And this is what I'm going to look like for the rest of the day more than likely lol.  There's a plastic bag under the bonnet letting my hair get a little extra love post swim lesson.  I will be looking into better swim caps soon.  I don't think any will keep my hair completely dry but we can get closer.

Ok whenever Wash Day fully gets under way I'll update you and what is going on with all of this hair.

Wash Day: Yes I know It's the Middle of the Night

So Saturday was swim class as normal.  I loved it.  Learning new kicks and working on swimming longer.  Floated around in the deep end again and I didn't wet myself--well that would be interesting in water anyway but I didn't panic.  Classes end on mom's birthday I think or the weekend of her birthday so I'll see where I am in three weeks and either sign up again or give it a break for a few weeks.  Turns out my instructor also does private lessons--may have to look into that.  It's good less body stressful exercise and it makes sure I tend to my hair well.  After a longer than expected trip to Wal-mart I came home and ate before washing my hair.  I normally wouldn't wait that long but I was hungry and sick (still am that's why I'm up--well sick that is) and wanted to eat before I got super involved with my hair.

Phase One is applying because of the swimming otherwise at some point during the weekend I'd just prepoo and wash my hair.  I washed my hair and conditioned it briefly with the RUSK shampoo and conditioner that I got from Ulta after I got my hair done last time.  I toweled it off and relaxed a bit before I started my prepoo.

Phase Two: I forgot to bring the Strong Roots with me when I went to the living room to sit down and add my deep conditioners to my hair.  I also forgot the conditioning cap so I walked back to my bedroom and slicked those on and still skipped the Strong Roots.  I put on my satin bonnet and chatted with a few friends before passing out for a few hours.  The joy of swim class, good workout, makes me tired.  After I woke up, I washed out my hair and went through the normal wash routine.  I added the Dr. Miracles deep conditioner post wash and killed about an hour watching tennis.  When I washed that out I put my hair up in a t-shirt and let it dry with the plan to take it down in half an hour.  Several hours later I finally took it down and took a few photos.  While my edges have grown in nicely I have been neglecting them so I added some of the oils I used to grow them out in the first place when I went to detangle and put it up for the night.

A few minutes later I had LOC'd and was detangled, yeah for only being 2 weeks post, and took a few more pictures.  I did notice that because I had waited so long to take the towel down that more of my hair was dry, and mostly straight, than I intended.  I was too tired to roller set it so it is wrapped again and I will check it tomorrow to make sure it's as straight as I want it to be before I have to head out to work on Monday.  I need to work on my ends as well especially as I am swimming each week.  You know all I'm seeing right now as I look at these photos again is there's a crap ton of gray hair on my head.  Oh and that wrap was quite pitiful lol.  I have yet to master that.  Oh well.  If I recover enough tomorrow to take photos of the finished product I'll update this post.  Have a good "lost an hour of your day" day.

Wash Day and Updates (damn snow)

It's been a good wash day even though absolutely nothing went as planned.  To start with my weekend plans got totally derailed by more snow.  The random weather changes had me sick as I don't know what but I was planning on seeing a coworker in a play.  By the time we got off and I was ready to go that home for a minute the roads had gotten so bad that everyone canceled.  Great I said I could sleep and get ready for swimming yesterday.  I got up, saw no cancellation for swim classes and was getting ready to get up and shower.  I called the Y to be sure and started trying to assemble my swim kit in my head.  30 minutes later I was made very sad cause they canceled the class because the snow had left the roads super crappy.  You'd think I'd go fine I can get some work done but how about no again cause it messed up my day.  I wanted to go swimming and then come back and work on my hair.  Since there was no chlorine to take care of I just did nothing the rest of the day.  I was waiting for the men's tennis final and fell asleep somewhere in the middle of the mixed doubles.  I woe up like five times between 4 and 6 am so I finally started checking for the score and was slightly dumbfounded that Stanislas Wawrinka was up two sets and on serve in the third.  But I couldn't let myself watch it live at that point because I was pretty sure Rafael Nadal would make a come back while I was watching and I'd have to pull out my non prepooed hair.  I got up and prepped my hair and then lay back down.  I dozed off slightly and then checked the score again and the final was over.  Stan WON!!!!!  I watched the trophy ceremony and then passed out till about 11 almost.

I had to get up and do my hair because if it's not set by 1 then I will probably be wet by 7 the next more.  At least in places and wet curls in the snow seems like a REALLY bad idea.  Since I didn't have to do the chlorine processing and my gray is pretty white now I decided to pare down the shampoo and conditioners.  I did detangle before and after the wash and kept my LOC routine the same this week.  I found the right super thin but really absorbent t-shirt again this time so the t-shirt drying worked much better.  I had to use a different deep conditioner because the As I Am jar under my sink was not my deep conditoner, nope it was the coconut cowash which I really didn't need today.  So I used my last sample pack of Optimum Care Deep Conditioning Masque and enjoyed the tingly.  I went for flexirods but I really do need to find a braider for this hair.  Here are the photos and woot new Swiss guy I really like (nothing wrong with Federer he just bores me silly).

 Last week's twist out

Hair loss after wash

Hair loss before wash

Wash Day Products

This wash I used my Organix and Moroccan Oil Shampoos and then opted for an Organix Keratin repair conditioner and the Mizani MoistureFuse.  My hair felt flipping amazing.  Strong and moisturized but most of all tangle free.

LOC Products

Kept everything the same from last week.  Had planned on moisturizing my scalp before I roller set it but I will do that in the morning I guess.

Slow and Easy Wash Day

Moving the start of wash day to Saturday has actually worked out better than I thought.  One day I may actually finish it on Saturday but I have been so tired the last few Saturdays that isn't even on my agenda.  And today I must have been extra tired because I didn't get out of bed until 11.  It could be the knowledge that we're not working tomorrow that helped.  I would have been in a panic otherwise because my hair is taking so long to air dry these days.  It also gave me time to think about the fact that I haven't done a detailed wash day post in a while.  So here goes the products I'm using right now and as many photos as I can add.  I will apologize now because some are fuzzy but I took them with my phone and not my camera as I was doing my wash day.

Here are the products I used to prepoo yesterday after I got in from my swim class.  I just covered them up with a plastic cap and then my bonnet so I could hold in as much body heat as possible and to not make a mess if I did pass out like last week.  I apply the Strong Roots directly to my scalp and the other to over the length of my hair.

1. Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask
2. Organix Argan Oil of Morocco Intense Moisturizing Treatment
3. Tropic Isle Living Strong Roots Red Pimento Oil

When I finally stumbled out of bed I got in the shower and washed my hair in the shower.  I will say I was borderline amazed at how nice my hair felt post conditioners considering I skipped the Moroccan Oil conditioner this wash.  I had started using the Shiny Silver shampoo to get rid of some yellowing months ago but it tends to work relatively well with stripping the chlorine from my hair as well.  I could probably skip the Organix but I have like the combination of it and the Moroccan Oil a lot.

1. Shiny Silver Shampoo
2. Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo
3. Moroccan Oil Moisture Repair Shampoo

As for conditioners I have a ton to choose from but opted for three without using one of my mainstays.  I went instead for the Moisture Fuse to wrap up the conditioning day and my hair felt amazing.

4. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle
5. Aphogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor
6. Mizani Moisture Fuse

I used my regular deep conditioner after t-shirt drying for about an hour and after I washed it out t-shirt dried for about an hour again.

And I decided to go ahead and try to LOC in the write order.  I can't say how well it will work at this point but it has been done and my hair smells good lol.  Here are the products I opted for today.

1. Taliah Walid Protective Mist Bodifier was my liquid--just a few spray
2. Tropic Isle Living Black Castor Oil Serum was step one of the oil
3. NOW Jojoba Oil step two of the oil
4. Taliah Walid The Great Dentagler phase one of cream
5 As I Am Leave In Conditioner was phase two of cream

I am sure I look like a beauty supply store at this point but it works to keep my hair healthy and growing.  Since there doesn't have to be a trip outside tomorrow I went looking for a new protective style.  I am going to attempt a twist out.  Well I should I'm twisted as I type this.  I checked a few videos out on youtube to feel a little less anxious about it and then curled up the ends on flexirods.  That was tied down under a scarf and now my bonnet is securing the whole enterprise.  I may stay home the whole day tomorrow to give them time to really set since I rolled them wet.  I can do some exercises with my videos or bands.  Oh and I have to add a few more photos plus add some more detail.  I detangled before I washed and after I deep conditioned with my 3 combs (mini rake, oil infused seamless comb, and what I have been using as my fine comb).  Hair loss wasn't nil but it was pretty good for six weeks post.  That was pre wash.  There was really only a few strands post wash.  Anyway there you have it, my wash day.

Saturday Updates

Not sure how long this will be but figured I should say something since I haven't actually shared any news since Sunday lol.  I have been in the gym kinda religiously.  I skipped Thursday because I was exhausted but otherwise was in the gym the rest of the week and hit the pool this morning again for swimming lesson number two.  My body is tired now.  I'm not sure if it's from the actually floating and kicking I did today (that was cool) or a combo of the full body workout on the weights I did in addition to the 30 minute express station and 12 minute abs from yesterday.  Either way I haven't allowed myself to doze off because I'm sure I will be up at 5 in the morning if I do.  I still love my swimsuit as well and ordered a new one along with a pair of boy shorts to replace the ones I have now.  Not because there is anything wrong with them but when I get out of the pool it feels like I've gained 10 pounds of water.  I also ordered two new swim caps.  The silicone one I bought isn't bad but I have a HUGE head so things don't fit it easily.  Well not hats anyway.  And maybe it's not huge but it's still bigger than my swim cap is ready to accommodate.  Unless I'm part fish at the end of these classes I think I'll sign up for phase two in a few weeks.  It's good exercise, I run into everyone in town and it's cute watching the kids master skills faster than me.

I think I'm going to need a trainer for my workouts though.  I do enjoy being in there and getting up a good sweat but I'm not sure I'm doing the right things to get me slimmed down the way I want.  My weight keeps going up and down even though all of my clothes are starting to fit differently.  I am doing pretty good upping my water intake as well and remembering to take all of my vitamins.  Overall I'm feeling better even if the scale doesn't love me yet.  And I may be able to attend a conference on someone's dime if things go well.  Back to my prepoo.  God my week was boring lol.  What is going on with you?

Today had been such a good day

I haven't talked about George Zimmerman or Trayvon Martin on this blog at all I think.  I've mentioned elsewhere that I think what he did, Mr Zimmerman that is, was beyond the pale and could have been easily avoided.  However, given what was known of the crime, and no matter what the jury said tonight a crime was committed, I was pretty sure that he would have to face the music for what he did.  I was wrong in one sense.  There will be no jail term, no long days spent wishing he had made a different decision in a tiny cell amongst the other murderers and felons.  And I can't comment to how he feels about what he's done but what his family has shared on their own about the case makes me doubtful remorse of any kind will be publicly forthcoming.  That thought alone has kept me somewhat paralyzed for the last few hours.  Not just because of what happened to Trayvon, the grief the must be feeling as there will be no punishment for their son's death, or yet another shattering of the trust I place in the justice system.

Approaching 2 Year Hair Anniversary

I just realized this weekend as I was prepping to wash my hair that next month I will have been on my hair journey for the last two years.  While I still have some areas that need improvement, my hair has grown a lot and is MUCH thicker overall than it used to be.  It feels like the ends are getting a little thin but that could be because I'm not doing the best job finding protective styles.  I hope to get a relaxer on Friday or Saturday and see how much hair is retained because I'm probably in need of a trim.  I did take photos today though, surprise lol.  My edges look much better and I have a composite shot of what has happened since they broke off in March.  And I took a few shots of my new growth even though the gray hair seems to be obscuring the wave pattern.  I did prepoo but today I wasn't feeling a post wash conditioner so I skipped that.  Shed more hair in the shower than I would like but not too much during the detangling and NO matting this week so I don't have to go back through it tomorrow comb through again and reach for any knots.  There were no knots this week really at all so that's a win.  Just gotta get in and let the creamy crack do it's job again.  After this relaxer I'll be able to see where I'm really at growth wise and be able to set better goals for the next year of my hair journey.  And what I want to do with the hair color situation.  Anyway here ya go.  Photos.

 Hair loss from detangling

Edges Update

New Growth, just look bushy to me

Wash Day & Updates

So I didn't take any photos cause I was being lazy but let's start with the run down and I will share more if you ask.  I have been lazy prepooing since I don't have to be anywhere most days and that means I've been doing it MUCH longer than normal.  Remember before when I said my hair hates overnight prepoos?  Yeah apparently I forgot and while my hair soaked up the moisture like a sponge the back of my hair tangled like no body's business.  I know some of the hair loss was just natural shed hair since I wasn't manipulating my hair very much over the course of the week but there more knots than I like to see in my hair.  In what can only be counter intuitive for my hair I am going to have to keep my hair straighter and pin it up the further along in my stretch.  Either that or do what I saw on another blog recently and start investing in good wigs while my hair stays braided and protected underneath.  I've been thinking about that more with the impending move but I really have no idea how to pick a good wig so I'm going to have to ask for help and suggestions with that one the next time I see my stylist.  Anyhoo, after I detangled--made sure I sat down so I wouldn't just get impatient and tug until my hair fell out, I put some more conditioner on my ends and then just rolled it up on flexirods after I tied down my edges.  I think I can do a small or low bun for the next week or two but that means some youtube tutorials are in my future cause really I am totally not good at the styling part of taking care of my hair.  I can do simple things, and yes I know a bun is simple, but you're talking to someone whose hair hasn't been this long since like elementary school before the tragedy--don't ask, it wasn't that bad but my mother thinks it was.

This will probably be the shortest Mother's Day blurb EVER but have a great day to all the moms that stop by the blog, or moms in training or moms of the future.  Whenever I think of joining your ranks my own mother makes me go why on EARTH would you want to do that.  Today was no exception let's just be glad I bought all the gifts for her and my SIL earlier.

Thanks to the Blue Grumpster I'm going to make sure I update the pages that are along the top of the page.  Some things have happened that require updates to at least one of the pages--two or more I think but I can't be sure lol.  I'll also update the hair and weight loss sections too cause I've been slipping on those as well.  Have a good one everyone.  If you have any suggestions for tutorials or questions you want to ask, or wig stores I should check out just let me know.  Back to basketball and Shooter.