pocahontas' hair secrets

water's relationship with our hair (hair art)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 19:35:00 +0000

MOISTURE

INSPIRATION

Water and hair that frizzes has an irregular relationship. Outside of our little online hair care niche, there's still many colored girls that believe that water is the enemy. Even for us that know otherwise, we might not want to jump head first for fret of messing up our preserved hairstyle or having to go through the task of washing out the sea salt residue later. This is a dilemma that relaxed heads, naturals, and everyone in between are eligible of facing. I'm not saying there's anything wrong in missing the occasional pool party or beach trip, it's when it gets to the point where it feels like you're being tied down by your own hair.

Hair shouldn't hold you back from enjoying life. I love swimming. Being able to float when completely enveloped in water just gives a sense of letting go, and for me, that feeling is worth having your hair turn wild afterwards. It's a mark that you enjoyed yourself.

BEACH WAVES

Summer is almost over, so if you haven't hit the water yet, this might be your last chance. Just don't forget to prep your hair first. Make sure it's already wet with fresh water, coat it with some conditioner and oil, and tie it up before diving in. That way it's harder for it to absorb the chlorine or sea salt. And if you have the choice between the pool and the beach, from experience I believe the beach is the healthier option. Salt, though usually in smaller amounts, actually aids in conditioning. When I coat my hair in conditioner before submerging in salt water, I hardly notice drying when coming out.

The number of days counting down goes for me, too. Yes, I"m one of the ones you hasn't gotten to hit the water yet, summer just went by so quick! So this is my last post for August, cause I'm going to Florida. See ya!

This art piece started in pencil, was scanned, then colored in and shaded on Gimp.
(If you haven't noticed, I've been having fun with gifs lately.)

henna gloss & tea rinse (wash day)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 21:43:00 +0000

I did quite a few things my last wash day.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I suddenly decided to try bangs.
It was protein wash day, so I continued my protein layering regimen.
And lastly, I did a tea rinse (with garlic) to decrease shedding.

With my current schedule my wash days have been on Thursday, so this'll be a recap. It's been about three weeks since the start of my Protein Layering challenge, and accordingly, I did a protein treatment on the bottom half of my hair last wash. The protein layering method I've been doing is applying protein by gradually working up the hair length every protein wash day (visit here for an illustration).

Aside from protein layering, I've also been focusing on reducing shedding my last few wash days. I've been having an increase in hair loss lately (nothing big, but noticeable) and from analyzing the loss strands I see the majority is shedding. Not sure if it's a seasonal thing or change in my diet, but I've been doing tea rinses to try and combat it (that and trying to remember to take garlic supplements).

Here is what I used on my wash day

Tea Rinse/ Prepoo - Created a tea rinse made of fennel tea, hibiscus tea, nettle tea, peppermint tea, and juiced garlic and poured it over my head, focusing on my scalp. That sat for about an hour.
Cleanse - Shampooed with Creme of Nature's Argan oil Shampoo
Oil Rinse - Poured some grape seed oil over my hair while still in the shower, wanting it to be damp and a little oily before applying my henna gloss.
Protein - Did a henna gloss and allowed it to sit for about an hour
Condition - Deep conditioned with Aubrey Organic's Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner for about two hours
Moist - Finished of with my diluted Kimmaytube leave-in and Vatika Frosting

BLACK HENNA GLOSS

If you follow the henna gloss link above, you'll see I use Aveda's Black Malva Conditioner in it in attempt to get darker undertones. I have never updated how this idea worked for me because, well, I still don't know if it works. I've been having a dilemma of trying to take before and after pictures of my hair's undertones. From what I can tell from the before and after pictures I attempted to take this wash, there isn't much of a difference. Maybe next time I attempt it I'll do it more like a two step henna treatment, using the black malva instead of indigo.

TEA RINSE

The hair care knowledgeable might have noticed I didn't use black tea in my mix, when it's the most known tea to help combat shedding. Black tea rinses have helped me in the past when I noticed an increase in shedding, but recently, not so much. When I first started doing tea rinses to combat this period of increase shedding, I was only using black tea. I wasn't noticing any improvement this time, not sure why. With the fennel, nettle, and garlic juice mixture I have now, however, I have noticed slight improvement. I plan on continuing to change it up though, until I find the tea rinse recipe that works best for me.

how to make a braid that protects your ends

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 09:20:00 +0000

MY MOTIVATION

This is a style that I came up with about a year or two ago, and it has become one of my most frequent go to styles. I love low manipulation styles, like a easy single braid or two Pocahontas braids, because my hair stays tangled free for long periods of time. The down side, however, was that I didn't like to braid all the way down, I liked the look of my ends out--but at the same time, having my ends exposed would bother me (especially when my ends were thin). After seeing the East Indian inspired paranda braids some girls make from yarn, I was inspired to use scarves (which is better for your hair than yarn) for a time. After wearing scarf braids for a while a light bulb turned on and I had the idea to use synthetic hair.

I've never worn a wig, weave, or any kind of fake hair, so I guess I was hesitant at first. I'm so glad I did follow through on my idea now. What makes this style so great is that it's low manipulation and a protective because it keeps your hair from tangling and your ends are tucked in. Plus it gives you a slight length booth, and for those with thin ends, make yours ends look fuller.

LOW MANIPULATION

& PROTECTIVE STYLE BRAID TUTORIAL

step one - Have your synthetic hair and a hair tie handy.

step two - Braid your hair until the point where you want to insert the synthetic hair, which should be where the ends of the synthetic hair ends a little further than your real ends when aligned.

step 3 - Insert the synthetic hair by holding it at the middle and placing it against two of the three strands being braided (I usually pick the thinner or shorter looking two strands).

step 4 - Continue to braid the hair like normal until you near the end.

step 5 - For the one strand of hair that doesn't have synthetic hair blended into it, borrow synthetic hair from one of the other two.

step 6 - Finish braid until there is only synthetic hair left out and then secure with the hair tie.

And that's it! Writing it makes it sound more complicated then it actually is, hopefully the animated gif helps. I bought my synthetic hair at a local beauty supply for $2-3. The label says 'Glance: Yaky Pony Braids,' and the color is 1B--natural, brown undertone black.

colored girls with japanese straightening

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:25:00 +0000

There aren't many of us colored girls with Japanese straightened hair, but over the years I have bumped into a handful. There are those who have made their presence known to me because of my blog, and then there are those I happen to come across--usually on YouTube.

Very recently I was just lurking around YouTube when I saw a familiar face and head of hair. If you follow Nadege from Relaxed Hair Health you might remember this face, too. Stunned by this girl's long and flawless hair, Nadege couldn't help but ask what the girl did to her hair to get it to be like that. This would be her first time hearing of the magical wonders of Japanese straightening. This is actually what led me into becoming a guest blogger on Relaxed Hair Health--to shed light on what Japanese Straightening really is.

Well apparently this mystery girl actually had a YouTube channel. She goes by the name Gabbie and seems to be a well established make-up/ beauty guru.

Now Megan Bowen, I've been subscribed to her channel for a while now. She is an English teacher in Korea and has her hair permed with Korean Magic Straight--which is essentially the same thing as a Japanese Straightening. The main difference is that Japanese straightening is better at straightening, giving you more of the pin straight look. Korean Magic Straight is beneficial if you're looking for more body. Megan introduces her straightened hair in the first video and gives a tour of the actual process in the second.

Lastly, we have Brittany from My Beauty Marc. She does a good job of properly explaining how Japanese straightening works and is one of the scarce Black girls with Japanese straightened hair I've come across that does her treatments at home. Brittany is always changing her hair up, however, so I am not sure if she is still a thio relaxed head.

protein layering challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 18:00:00 +0000

Hey guys, I started a Protein Layering challenge on Hairlista. If you're interested in trying out the method, or already doing it, please join us! The group will be active until the end of November. The only real rules is to create a starting posts explaining your protein layering strategy and to keep your protein and moisture balance stable. To help show examples of different ways protein layering can be done, I made the below animated gifs.

This one is my main method. It involves working up the hair every protein wash day. You start with solely protein deep conditioning your the first wash, then working up to two-fouths the hair length the next scheduled protein wash day, then three-fourths the next one, and then your whole head the final one. Then the cycle repeats.

This one is inspired by Nadege's method, and unlike the one above, one cycle is done on the same day. The protein treatment is first applied solely to your ends, then a diluted version is applied to the 'lower class' level of the hair. As you work your way up the diluting and letting it sit in your hair steps just repeat for the 'middle class' and 'protein rich' levels of the hair like shown.

some site updates (and a big reveal)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 03:40:00 +0000

You might have noticed the new widget on my blog's right column. Well, PHS is now on Instagram! Follow me to keep up with hair photos, PHS stuff, and shots of my life. It's to commemorate me finally gotting my hands on a descent camera (you might have also noticed the better quality in recent pics).

Next update, you know how I sensor my face a little with my meeko stamp? Well no more! From now on I'll be showing my face. Click on the image below for the reveal (starts drum roll).

Lastly, I plan on joining KLP's and Jeni's #washdayexperience to motivate myself into documenting my wash days more thoroughly and sharing it with everyone. Now that the majority of my hair is Japanese straightened, it seems to be needing a lot less.

protein layering (for even strength)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 02:18:00 +0000

HAIR HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Like my first legit infographic? Protein layering is a method, or rather a concept, still stapled to my hair regimen. It has helped my suffering ends with the transitioning from lye relaxers to Japanese straightening. Since sharing this idea, the method has been coined 'protein layering', but technically you don't have to layer protein product in your hair to do it. As shown in the illustration in the link above, I have mostly been doing it by protein deep conditioning my ends one week, then half my hair the next protein wash day, then my whole head the next protein wash day.

Because all heads of hair has this natural protein hierarchy, protein layering is something everyone can benefit from. Relaxed and fighting a line of demarcation. Natural and afraid of doing full on protein treatments too often. Lye relaxed transitioning to Japanese straightening. Or just wanting even strength throughout your hair length. Protein Layering is also beneficial to individuals that have dry ends who find methods like baggying doesn't work. Such a case would mean that even with the added moisture, the ends have nothing to retain it because of the protein loss.

Below are links to other bloggers that do protein layering. Visit their posts to see examples of the different ways protein layering can be done.

HOW IT'S DONE

Lesley from Fresh Lengths incorporates protein layering into her regimen by doing a protein deep conditioning solely to the bottom half of her hair between normal washes.

KLP from Saving Our Strands uses the concept of protein layering in her protein conditioning by applying a moisture conditioner only to her roots and then using a protein conditioner from the line of demarcation down.

Nadege from Relaxed Hair Health really follows the concept, applying a heavy protein conditioning mix to her ends and then leaving it in for about 15 mins. She then proceeds to dilute her mix and apply it to the rest of her hair.

Petra from Black Hair Information suggests a number of ways to incorporate protein layering into your regimen depending on what your hair needs.

length check (june 2015)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 00:50:00 +0000

Since I haven’t been really growing out my hair, my length checks have been going through the same pattern—I record about three inches of growth then trim it back to waist-hip length. So this time around, I wasn’t very concerned about measuring and taking digital proof before trimming. I will say that my ends keep gradually getting thicker though, and my current length is now at 27 inches.

I can’t believe how much time has passed, I’ve now had 6 Japanese straightening touch-ups, 4 from Hair IB Club. I don't have much to say about my recent visit there, everything went along fine. I am still contemplating whether to start bringing my own wide tooth comb though. And speaking of how many JHS touch-ups I've gotten now, the sodium hydroxide relaxed parts of my hair are also now at the ends, roughly making up about 1/4th of my length.

I've been asked how I measure my hair, so here I'm showing how I do it when I want to take digital proof of it's length. Because it's hard to hold the measuring tape and take a picture from my back I clip it like shown and sweep it to the side.

no internet no life

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 01:15:00 +0000

Finally! Internet, how I’ve missed you!

May 30^th I got my hair touch-uped because it had been more than 6 months since my last, and the day after I would be taking a trip to the Midwest where I’d be visiting the apartment where my boyfriend was staying. Unlucky me, I came right when they started having trouble with their internet signal. I’ve been internet-less for about 3 weeks. I’m not like most my age where I can’t survive without my phone or social media for a day or even a week--but having no internet at all? For 3 weeks?

I’m the type of person that looks up everything on the internet as soon as a question pops up in my head. That’s how I’ve become so hair care knowledgeable. Not being able to look up questions was horrible. I would constantly get a loose end feeling that'd just keep itching me! There were so many unfulfilled questions accumulated by the end of the week. But everything is okay now, I’m okay, I'm okay... I’m back on the other side of the digital divide, so I’m okay.

I'll be updating about my recent touch-up in the next couple days. I have a break from school now, so I should have more time to work on my blogging.

(Pssst! Look at my new Pocahontas necklace, my boyfriend gave it to me <3)

liquefied (ayurvedic) shampoo bars

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Tue, 26 May 2015 21:57:00 +0000

SHAMPOOING & MOISTURIZING

I haven't talked much about what shampoo and hair cleansing products I use, and it's because I've never been satisfied with any. It's always either too stripping and alkaline or too moisturizing and like a 2 in 1 shampoo-conditioner. Many hair care journey girls use moisturizing shampoos to wash their hair, Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo being a popular one. I've tried it, and personally felt it was a little too moisturizing -not for my hair, but for my scalp. When I wash, I want my scalp to be thoroughly cleaned and my hair to be subtly cleaned. The key to healthy hair is a cleaned scalp and moisturized tresses. Naturally kinky hair is usually paired with natural dryness, so the focus is in increasing moisture. But sometimes, I think that many of us forget about the clean scalp part -cowashing and oiling our scalps too much for example. I mentioned this in my How to start a hair care journey post. Nadege from Relaxed Hair Health also recently made a post about being weary of using cleansing conditioners and the like.

I've tried various ways of shampooing my hair without finding that winner. Many moisturizing shampoos does not clean my scalp as thoroughly as I want it. Indian cleansing powers are very drying, can be time consuming, and the amount of usage needs to be monitored as they strengthen the hair like protein. A heavily diluted castile soap shampoo recipe is still rather alkaline. Cowashing does not properly clean your scalp and is not meant to completely substitute shampooing. Then there are shampoo bars.

AYURVEDIC SHAMPOO BARS

Shampoo bars seem to be the only things I've tried that gently cleanses my hair the way I want. I use ayurvedic shampoo bars from Hairveda, right now I have their Cocasta Shikakai Bar and Red Tea Shampoo Bar in my possession. In my experience, Hairveda is the best hair product line for girls with naturally kinky textured hair, it doesn't matter if you're natural or relaxed. The only downside for me is that I have to buy online and they're products are a little expensive, so I usually wait for their sales because they have quite a few of them. I've been using Cocasta Shikakai since the first time I bought from them and it's been a keeper.

Shampoo bars are what have been working for me so far, the only problem is that they're a bit of a nuisance to use since they're in bar form instead of familiar liquid form. So I googled whether there's a way to liquefy them, and the process is extremely simple.

HOW TO LIQUEFY SHAMPOO BARS

RECIPE
1 CUP water
1 TSP glycerin
1 TSP oil of choice
And your shampoo bar.

DIRECTIONS: Grate the shampoo bar with a cheese grater until your soap flakes measure 1 cup. Bring the 1 cup of water to a boil and then pour the shampoo bar flakes into the water. Add the glycerin and your oil of choice into the mixture, I usually use jojoba oil. Stir the mixture and adjust the heat until blended. And lastly, pour your now liquid shampoo into a shampoo bottle. It's that simple.

This round has been my third time doing this, but my first time using Hairveda's newer Red Tea Shampoo bar to do it. I used an old Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera container, it's the appropriate size and I find the nuzzle easier to use than the usual shampoo nuzzle.

the 4 types of relaxers

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 03:13:00 +0000

Mentioned in my last post, there are 4 types of relaxers, and today I'll be breaking them all down. Before I dive into a chemistry lesson, let's recap on what I have explained before. In my Hair Patterns post I explained how perming allows us to permanently alter the wave pattern of our hair -because the chemical processes break and reform the disulfide bonds in the cortex. There are three essential bonds within our hair cuticle, and the disulfide bonds are the most important. They are the strongest of the 3 and account for 1/3 of the hairs' overall strength. Keep this in mind as I breakdown the different relaxer options. It can help aid your choice if you plan on relaxing in the near future.

It was only recently I found out there was a fourth, individual type of relaxer -ammonium besulfite. I knew of it before, but thought it was another form of ammonium thioglycolate (the active ingredient in Japanese straightening). I wouldn't have looked more into it if it wasn't for the Hair IB incident, and am glad I learned the difference -another healthier solution for those that want to straighten their hair permanently. Take note that there are a few other solutions that can be used to rearrange hair wave patterns, like monothioglycolate, but those are only in curly perms. In relaxing, which means removing curl in cosmetology, there are 4 main types of reducing agents. I can confidently say that after doing quite a bit of research.

Now, let's go to my handy dandy notebook!

COSMETIC CHEMISTRY NOTEBOOK

Overview

Hydroxide

pH 9 - 14
exothermic
high pH relaxer
goes through process of lanthionization and weakens hair
can relax coarse, thick, and resistant hair

Ammonium Thioglycolate

pH 8 - 10
exothermic
neutral pH relaxer
less damaging to hair
can relax coarse, thick, and resistant hair
compatible with soft curl perms

Ammonium Bisulfite

pH 6.5 - 8.5
enthothermic
low pH relaxer
less damaging to hair, a better option for very unhealthy and porous hair
does not sufficiently relax extremely curly hair ( weak on afro hair )
is also weak at curling hair

✂

Perms

soften & swell the hair - meaning they raise the cuticle, which allows the solution to penetrate into the cortex and rinse out of the cortex easier
go through a chemical reaction called reduction - when in the cortex the solution breaks the disulfide bonds with either the addition of hydrogen or the removal of oxygen. Once the disulfide bond is broken, the polypeptide chains are able to slip into their new curled or straightened shape.
can be categorized as exothermic (cold/ alkaline perm) or endothermic (warm/ acid perm)

Exothermic perms

produce heat
create an exothermic chemical reaction that heats up the solution & speeds up the processing
strength is determined by the concentration of the reducing agent and degree of alkalinity

Reducing agent - stronger perms have a higher concentration, impacting the reduction process, and therefore more disulfide bonds are broken
Alkalinity - second factor in overall strength of perm solution, pH ( alkalinity ) of the perm solution should correspond to the resistance, strength, and porosity of the cuticle layer

example of reducing agents: Ammonium Thioglycolate, Hydroxide

Endothermic perms

absorb heat from its surroundings
are activated by an outside heat source, will not process properly at room temperature
example of a reducing agent: Ammonium Bisulfide

✂

Reducing/ Relaxing

Hydroxide

Commonly referred to as lye
The reduction reaction is undergone through a process called lanthionization

-where the hydroxide solution breaks the disulfide bonds by removing one atom of sulfur from the disulfide bond, thereby converting it into a lanthionine bond.
When a hydroxide relaxer breaks a disulfide bond the bond is permanently broken and can never be reformed ( -weakening 1/3 of the hairs' overall strength ).

Has a high pH, therefore hydroxide is able to swell the hair and penetrate the cortex without the addition of an alkalizing agent

Thioglycolic acid

Commonly referred to as thio
Provides the hydrogen that causes the reduction reaction in perm solutions

Thioglycolic acid alone does not swell the hair or penetrate into the cortex

-so manufacturers add an alkalizing agent
Ammonia is added and produces a new chemical called ammonium thioglycolate ( the active ingredient in Japanese straightening )

Ammonium Bisulfide

Better known as an acid perm/ relaxer
There is minimal swelling and few bonds broken during the reduction process
Endothermic perms rely on heat to open up the cuticle so that they can penetrate the cortex

✂

Neutralizing/ Oxidating

For Thioglycolate & Acid relaxers

neutralization has three functions:

to lower the pH of the hair
to shrink the swollen hair shaft
and to restores the disulfide bonds

the chemical process that removes the hydrogen atoms and reforms the disulfide bonds is called oxidation. Oxidation can result in the lightening of the hair color especially if a strong thio compound was used – and this is why the hair should be rinsed carefully and blotted thoroughly before applying the neutralizer.

For Hydroxide relaxers

neutralization does not involve oxidation or rebuilding disulfide bonds
The pH remains extremely high even after a thorough rinsing
the function of neutralization is to normalize any remaining hydroxide ions to lower the pH of the hair and scalp

hair ib club (the language barrier)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 21:42:00 +0000

November 29, I made my third visit to Hair IB to get a Japanese straightening touch-up. Again, the experience had its pros and cons, but the biggest con that stood out this time was the communication problems. This actually happened before the salon visit, not during. The salon’s site has a forum called freeboard as an option for clients to make appointments and ask questions. It’s well used and questions are responded to in a decent amount of time. I used the freeboard to make my recent appointment and, as a blogger that tries to document my experience as vividly as possible, this feature really benefited me. It was unplanned, I didn’t realize until after, but I was able to capture the full conversation between me and the salon. Instead of writing down what happened from memory, here’s the actual dialogue -just click.

Free Board

Response
Can I make an appointment for a JHS touch-up this Saturday at 12pm?
The bottom half of my hair is sodium hydroxide relaxed, so I also wanted to know if I could bring in a protection cream that is to be applied to the previously chemically treated hair before rinsing out the JHS. It’s purpose is to hinder the JHS from penetrating the ends during the rinse. I will pay extra.

Response to Khaya
We only do JHS touch up, so we would have to see your hair in order for us to know if we can process or not. We do not know what sodium hydroxide is or what it does. So we cannot exactly tell you if it will damage your hair a lot or not.
Eventually we would need to take a look at your hair and see. and yes, we will make the appointment at 12 pm on this Saturday the 29th for JHS touch up.
For any other question, don't worry we do have another consultation time before we get to your hair.

Response
This is my third time getting a touch up at this Salon. A sodium hydroxide relaxer is a lye relaxer.

Response to Khaya
Even if you do say it is a lye relaxer, we do not know how it affects your hair nor we do not know anything about it so that is why we are telling you that we would have to see your hair condition.
And if this is your third time, then you should know we only do touch ups only.

Response
But... a JHS touch-up is what I’m asking for, it’s what I said in the first post.
It’s okay if you want to check my hair condition again. I have been to the salon before though, you can see that I made an appointment on this free board June 16, 2014.
I thought you had not recognized the term sodium hydroxide, so I used the more common term, lye relaxer. Saying that you do not know anything about lye relaxers is confusing me, because I’ve been there before and told you guys I was relaxed, and there wasn’t this problem. And on this site, you talk about relaxers, in the JHS service and beauty tip page.
Oh, I realize that the problem is that maybe you don’t recognize the word lye in front of relaxer? Sometimes JHS can be called thio relaxer, so I was trying to be specific by saying hydroxide/ lye relaxer...

Response to Khaya
There are thousands and different kinds of "relaxers" and also, since it is just touch up there should be no problem. We only do touch up, we do not touch the bottom part unless you want us to.

Response
I’ll just bring the protection cream with me and visually explain what I mean when I come in Sat. Thanks for trying, but I think we’re having communication problems here.

I don’t think I showed it, purposely trying to conceal it, but this conversation was kinda frustrating. Those of you have been following all my visits to the salon know about the past communication problems we have had. Example, miscommunication on how JBS works and using protection cream. Now you guys can concretely see what I’m talking about.

Turning on my critical mind (aka mild, intellectual, ranting)-

In the beginning I explained the type of protection cream I wanted to bring in and how it would be used because the last time, it turned out the protection cream they said they had was something completely different -a cream they put in the Japanese hair straightening solution to hinder damaging effects. When describing protection cream the first time I might not have been as detailed, but I know I said I wanted it so my already sodium hydroxide relaxed hair would be protected. Someone who spoke fluent English would have caught that and knew I was talking about a different type of protection cream. I would have gotten exactly what I asked for my first and second salon visit, a Japanese straightening with protection on my lye relaxed length.
I don’t know why the salon receptionist kept saying “we only do JHS touch up” when that was exactly what I was asking for in my first post. I never said I wanted my previously treated hair to be reprocessed, I said the exact opposite. I guess it was the “It’s purpose is to hinder the JHS from penetrating the ends during the rinse” that they didn’t understand. The salon knows full well though that when they rinse the JHS solution off the roots during a touch up that it inevitably penetrates the ends (since they don’t use protection cream). I know, because they are careful to tell their clients that before they get a JHS service. So I blame them not understanding what I mean on the language barrier.
I had used the term sodium hydroxide relaxed to describe my hair the other two visits, and never was told the salon had no idea what that was. I don’t think the salon is used to having customers that are hair knowledgeable. There are not ‘thousands of different kinds of relaxers,’ that's a complete exaggeration. I’m not even sure if there are thousands of brands of relaxers. There are 4 main types of relaxers. So those of you who are sodium hydroxide relaxed and want to take the risk of transitioning to Japanese straightening, this is not the salon to do it.

So now you guys have a vivid example to see for yourselves. I still plan on going to the salon, because like I said in the third review, the salon tries their best to answer all questions and actively listens, doing all the extra things I want done on my hair. And now, I believe the language barrier has been penetrated and they now know how I want my hair done. Communication also felt like it went better when I went to the salon, so though they have freeboard, I recommend going into the details of what you want in person. If you're the type that believes you shouldn't go to a salon if the workers' first language isn't English, or if you're the type that easily gets frustrated and project it, this might not be the best salon for you.

length check (28 1/2 inches)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 04:44:00 +0000

LENGTH CHECK

Here comes another belated, coveted post! The last time I gave a length check, it was July and my hair was 25 1/2 inches long after getting my roots touched and giving myself a trim at home. Five months later, November 2014, I went to Hair IB to get my hair touched up again. The first thing I noticed was that my ends were much fuller than the stringy spikes that were there before the time my hair got straightened.

When I got home and measured, I was 28 1/2 inches! In five months I'd usually grow 2 inches, I got an extra inch because I was leisurely doing the GHE method the last month. The picture below is my hair right after coming home from my Japanese straightening touch-up, no trimming. Now it's completely official and I'm claiming it, my ends have recovered from the hydroxide relaxed to Japanese straightening transitioning.

Still, about a month later I decided to trim. When I said I wasn't trying to grow out my hair until my relaxed hair grows out, I meant it. I trimmed back to about 26 inches, forgot to measure and record after so I'm honestly unsure. Right now, I think the majority of my JHS hair is about 15 inches down.

some site updates!

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 02:12:00 +0000

Hey guys, PHS is now on Pinterest! Check it out to see hair pictures I don't have up here. Pictures I plan on featuring in upcoming posts will also probably be posted there first. Hint, hint. And if you didn't see from my recent last blog post, I'll also be using Pinterest's widget to serve as the site's gallery.

✂

Some of you have mentioned that you have a hard time using the site's comment box. It doesn't work for you unless you change browsers or you can't use it at all. I'm not sure how to fix it, but I've added a Facebook comment box plugin along side it. Hopefully this helps.

✂

Lastly, to my Facebook followers, I have linked my blog posting to PHS's Facebook page. So now, with every new post here there will be an automatic linked post on Facebook. No more having to wait for slow poke me to also update Facebook. And speaking of which, PHS now has 99 likes! Whoo! Was surprised since I've been neglecting the site. Who wants to be the awesome person to make it one hundred? ((looks around for takers))

hair gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 01:11:00 +0000

LOOSE HAIR

Follow PHS's board Loose Hair on Pinterest.

TIED UP HAIR

Follow PHS's board Tied up hair on Pinterest.

HAIR ART

Follow PHS's board Hair Art on Pinterest.

hair ib touch-up (third visit)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 05:16:00 +0000

I know a number of you have been waiting for this post, sorry! On top of my part time job, I'm currently attempting 18 credits. Trying to juggle everything the best I can.

Almost two months ago, November 29, I made my third visit to Hair IB to get a Japanese straightening touch-up. Again, the experience had its pros and cons. The biggest con being the language barrier, which I will talk more extensively on with a following post. But all in all, my hair came out in one piece. It was the first time going to the salon and getting everything I planned on getting, a Japanese straightening touch-up with protection cream protecting my sodium hydroxide relaxed ends.

An overview of my salon visit:

I paid the extra $20 for them to put their form of protective cream in the Japanese straightening solution. I also brought my container of Milbon Straight Liscio Protection 30 Cream and they agreed to apply it the way I described.
First my hair got washed, then my hair was detangled, rather badly. They were trying different tools, raking the combs from top to bottom. There was breakage, but luckily not as much as I thought there would have been. It was only when they eventually used the tangle teezer-like brush that detangling sessions got somewhat easier. Now that I have them protecting my ends the way I want, maybe detangling will be the next thing.
It took about an hour ( of sitting with an astro egg aroma on my head ) for my hair to process like last time. Not sure how to feel about that, but the girl was constantly checking my hair, playing with a strand to see how far in the process my hair was.
Before my hair was fully processed, the Milbon protection cream was heavily and thoroughly applied to the bottom half of my hair. I had also mixed the cream with Roux Porosity Control and grape seed oil, so that my hair cuticles were closed when the JHS solution was rinsed out. The salon workers even went the extra mile and agreed to lift the bottom half of my hair when first rinsing out the touched-up roots, and doing this by having one worker hold my hair up while another did the rinsing. They really try to follow the customer's wants and directions.
Unlike the other times, they blow dried then flat-ironed my hair instead of starting the flat-ironing on semi-damp hair. I was a little afraid my hair could revert, but my end results still came out nicely, and drying the hair fully before flat-ironing is less damaging.
After the last blow drying and flat-ironing session, for the first time, they used some product and serum in my hair. Instead of having naked, dull-looking hair until I got home and applied some grape seed oil like the other times, I walked out of the salon with shine.

Conclusion, though the salon has the ability to do afro textured hair, they are not kinky textured hair experts. They do not have proper detangling technique, lack understanding of the common relaxer ( will talk about this in follow up post ), and sometimes, I feel a little like an alien. When the girl finished blow drying my relaxed ends without product, she curiously asked if I flat ironed or what I usually do to my ends to tame the dryness and frizziness. Most of the other clients are Caucasian, white and east Indian. Unlike all the other clients, my hair seems to take big dramatic transforms. I think I get some curious eyes sometimes, which gives me... on the spot, mixed feelings. ( Aaw, they're curious. Wait, are they negatively judging me? Wow, the relaxed bottom half of my hair is so frizzy when blow dried and without any product, even I don't recognize it. If this is my reaction, what's theirs? )

The salon isn't perfection, but the most important part to me is that the salon knows how to apply Japanese straighteners with minimal damage to my hair, is friendly, cheap, and tries to do all the extra things I ask them to. This was also the best my hair looked coming out of the salon. It had shine, it wasn't stick straight because they blow dried this time, and my ends were even. I plan on going again for my next touch-up.

A salon review means a length check is coming up~

my black friday (2014) goodies

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 05:11:00 +0000

HAIRVEDA

Red Tea Bar
Deluxe Whipped Creme
Vatika Frosting
Cocasta Shikakai Bar

HOT HEADS

Brown Berry Swirl Heat Cap

Click on the images to see the items.

( It's been a while since I bought from Hairveda! ^ ^ )

how to start a healthy hair care journey

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 02:04:00 +0000

I've been working on this post little by little for months, I'm so glad to finally be able to put it up! The point of me creating this blog was my desire to help girls with my hair conditions take better care of their hair. But I realized most of the stuff I talk about is more for those that already have an idea of what they're doing. Every now and then I'd get messages from girls that wanted to start a hair care journey but had no idea where to start. Instead of rewriting the basics to them again and again, I decided to just publicly write it all here. I probably should have done this a long time ago.

The basic components of a hair care regimen.

BASIC PRODUCTS

gentle shampoo or cleanser

oil

moisture conditioner

protein conditioner

leave-in

wide tooth comb

✂

BASIC REGIMEN

prepoo (optional, but highly recommended)

Short for pre-shampoo. This is where you coat your hair in heated oil, like a hot oil treatment, for at least a half hour before washing. Sometimes people use conditioner or an oil-conditioner mix instead. This protects your hair from sulfates and the harsh effects of shampooing. It also helps hinder the tangling that occurs during washing and gives the hair more shine after the wash.

✂

wash

Shampoo should be done no more than once a week for us afro textured and relaxed girls, because using shampoo or any other cleansing product more than that could dry out our hair. A proper wash should start with thoroughly rinsing your hair and scalp. Then when shampooing, it's important to focus on the scalp and only let the suds rinse throughout the length of the hair, not applying the shampoo directly on the ends of the hair. Again, that would cause unnecessary dryness. The key to healthy hair is a clean scalp and a moisturized mane, not the other way around. For this reason, I would also recommend going no longer than two weeks between washes, because you don't want build up on your scalp either. The only time shampoo should be applied on the entire hair is when clarifying (deep cleansing) or when washing something (like chlorine) out.

Many healthy hair journey girls try to find shampoo without sulfates, sometimes completely discontinuing the use of shampoo for healthier alternatives. This is because shampoo often contains sulfates, a synthetic cleaning ingredient that is too harsh on the hair. It washes out not only dirt and excess oil, but also strips away our natural oils and moisture. Prepooing can combat this to a degree, but it's better to try to avoid sulfates or use them to a minimal degree. Also, when using other types of hair cleansing alternatives, the proper 'shampooing' techniques explained before should still be kept in mind.

cowash (optional between washes)

Between normal washes, you can try cowashing. Cowashing is short for conditioner washing, and like the name says, it’s where you use conditioner to clean your hair instead of shampoo. Rinsing your hair with water alone cleans it to a degree, and on top of that, conditioner has a gentle cleansing effect. Don't believe me? A while back JC from The Natural Haven conducted a little experiment to see how well cowashing really cleansed hair. Her findings showed that about 90 percent of excess oil is removed.

Cowashing, however, should not be used as a total substitute for shampoo or alternative hair cleansing products. Though it gently cleans the hair, whether it cleans the scalp is questionable. When cowashing, some girls will massage the conditioner into their scalp like shampoo. I would think that would not work on the scalp as it does the hair and would instead create buildup. Even Gina Rivera from Hairs Talent had cautioned me when I first told her I cowashed. She told me she had to do scalp only cleansing treatments to many of her natural clients, because many of them cowashed, going a month between normal washing. Though their hair was fine, these clients had scalp buildup. Click here to view a video where she talks a little on this subject. In conclusion, cowashing gently cleanses your hair, moisturizes it, and makes wash days easier, but it should not be overused.

✂

protein conditioner

Protein treatments strengthen and bring structure back into the hair strand. They are more optional for natural girls, but are important for relaxed girls, or girls who do any kind of chemical treatment or heat styling. Hair is made up of about 90 percent protein. Doing a protein treatment ‘patches up’ the damage from chemical processes to daily wear and tear. One should be cautious, however, with the amount of protein they use in their regimen. Protein has gotten a bad rep because girls sometimes use too much and end up getting protein overload. I was one of them. One of the most important keys to healthy hair, if not the most important, is the hair’s moisture and protein balance. A MizzSlick from BHM shared an extensive explanation on this balance and other essential information on the forum. (I think she mistakenly said "Hair is about 70% keratin protein by nature" when she meant 90 percent. And rather then wet assessment, I recommend an elasticity test for more accuracy.) How often you should do protein treatments and the strength of it depend on this balance. Lastly, when doing protein treatments, it’s also important to know that you have to follow up with a moisturizing conditioner that matches its strength. If it’s a heavy protein deep conditioner you have to follow with a heavy moisture deep conditioner, or your hair can become hard.

moisture deep conditioner

For us girls with hair on the dry side, moisture conditioning is your best friend. Unless you’re cowashing, moisture deep conditioning should be done every time you wash. Something to watch out for, moisture conditioners will often contain a little protein ingredient or two in them. It’s kind of hard to find a conditioner that is completely protein free. This is fine, but it is something you shouldn't forget to calculate in when considering the amount of protein in your regimen and keeping your hair’s moisture-protein balance stable.

✂

moisturize & seal

A good leave-in is one that moisturizes your hair without making it greasy or too weighed down. After washing, rinsing out your deep conditioner, and drying your hair a little, a leave-in is best applied while your hair is still on the damp side. This is the best time because the still damp strands creates a more even application. At the same time, the strands are not still too wet for the leave-in to penetrate. Moisturizing should light-handedly be followed by an oil to ‘seal’ in the moisture. Oils do not moisturize, they seal the moisture already in the hair. I like to think of it like a cup with water and oil on top. Sealing makes it harder for moisture to leave the hair. One should re-moisturize & seal throughout the week, whenever your hair starts feeling dry again.

✂

drying

The best way to dry your hair after washing is to first, dry it with a giant t-shirt instead of a towel. A towel if rigid and rough and was really made for our body, not our hair. When towel-shirt drying you also shouldn’t ruffle up your hair in the towel, simply squeeze and pat. Second, when drying it is healthiest to air dry your hair with oil, or to blow dry it with cool air. Air drying is the option most healthy hair journey girls go for, it creates little to no damage and the hair strands do not lose as much water. Plus it’s the lazier option. If your hair is wet for too long, however, it can cause your hair strands to swell, disturbing its structure. So if you know your hair takes a long time to dry, you should either use oil on wash day or blow dry on cool when your hair is about 70 percent dry. Using oil is something you should already be doing on wash day, when you prepoo and seal. Coconut oil in specific is known to be good at preventing hygral fatigue (swelling and contracting of the hair strand).

Direct heat like normal blow-drying and flat ironing isn’t something you want to keep in your routine when you start a healthy hair journey. Direct heat usage should be a maximum of at least two weeks apart, and a minimum of never. Too much blow drying on a hot setting can cause the water in wet hair strands to boil, which is worse for your strands’ structure than swelling. Flat-ironing can burn your hair, and takes away moisture and protein. If you can’t see yourself living without heat, opt for healthier options like roller setting and going under a hooded dryer.

combing

Combing should start from the ends on your hair to the root. Starting from the roots you're trying to pull through tangles which causes breakage. Hair is its easiest to comb in the shower, but at the time hair is weakest when wet. So if you're relaxed, combing in the shower is something you might want to avoid. If you're natural, combing in the shower is something you should probably practice. Opt for a seamless wide tooth comb, as both technique and the tools involved are important.

Another thing that it good to practice is finger detangling instead of taking out the comb every time. And that goes with more emphasis to girls stretching their touch-ups and have blooming new growth. Your line of demarcation will thank you.

absence (& introducing hair art)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 04:43:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I know some of you have been wondering where I've been. Now that I'm in my junior year of college, working part time, and have other things in my life I have to pay attention to, I just have not had the time to blog. So I just wanted to officially announce my absence so you guys don't think that PHS is over or anything. Right now, the site is just taking a break. I might manage to post every now and then, but it's not going to be on a schedule or frequent.

You might have also noticed the site is going through a little change. I'm still working on it, but again, been too busy to finish it up.

Another change I intend to make is to post hair themed artwork every now and then. I'm just getting use to creating artwork on the computer. This is actually only my second-third time. I drew the image below first by drawing an outline in pencil, scanning it, then coloring and shading it on Gimp.

You guys didn't know I was an artist, did you?

length check ( & setback comeback)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 21:16:00 +0000

LENGTH CHECK

To the right is my current length after trimming those straggly ends, this picture was just taken a day ago. As I said in my last post, "at first I self-trimmed an inch off by banding, but wasn't satisfied, and trimmed another inch and a half in the shower. (I only recommend trimming in the shower if your hair is straight or has just been permanently straightened.)" When I trimmed using that banding self-trim method, I trimmed my ends in a U/V-shape since that's how my ends have been growing lately. Also about a week ago, I dusted and did the search and destroy method on my ends outside. The weather was nice and I thought trimming outside would give me good enough lighting. But holding up my ends to the computer screen's lightening, I see I missed spots, so I plan on doing the search and destroy method again soon. I just measured, and currently I'm a little pass 25 1/2 inches.

SETBACK COMEBACK

I think it's safe to say I've made a comeback from my setback, but I think I'm going to wait until next touch-up to say whether I fully concurred my thinning ends. My ends obviously aren't thinning anymore, but their health still isn't where I want them to be. They are still noticeable unhealthier compared to the rest of my hair. And whose to say if I stop my stronger ends regimen that they will start thinning again. Below I have done my best to align pictures so you can see the improvement in my ends. The second picture I added lines so the differences are more noticeable.

I'm very pleased with the improvement. I feel the biggest contributors in my comeback have been combing only on wash day, protein layering, protective styling, and doing the search and destroy method. I've also now passed my goal of blunt full ends at waist length, which is now at 23 1/2 inches on me.

hair updates

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 22:54:00 +0000

GROWTH EXAMS

My life being busy the last couple months, I unfortunately discontinued the growth exams, sorry guys... plus, I kinda already had a bad start with it. I’m also going to take a break, and won’t be doing a season 3 right away. I might still use growth aids or practices now and then, but it probably won't be with proper recording.

STRONGER ENDS REGIMEN

I've been keeping up with my protein layering and stronger ends regimen, but adjusted it slightly to be more on the safe side. Instead of using protein every other week, like the protein laying pic shown above, I was doing it more every two washes. sometimes three. I feel my hair has benefited with it and will continue to use this regimen for more even strength throughout the hair strand. To protect and baby my transitioning relaxed ends, I had also incorporated other things in my regimen, which can be find listed at the bottom of this post. Despite my hair laziness the past couple months, I successfully added most of these practices, all but the ghe method, leave-in steaming, and continuing to test growth aids. My ends still need tlc as they grow out, but my efforts so far are showing.

TOUCH UP AT HAIR IB

Two weeks ago, June 18, I went to Hair IB Club to get a touch-up. This was my second time going to this salon. This time, instead of getting the japanese brazilian straightening , I got the normal japanese straightening. I decided not to do the JBS because I didn't feel like the extra cash was worth it. And though I had no noticeable adverse effects, I'm also still not perfectly sure how I feel about the absence of neutralizer lotion in the process. It seems like a good idea, but I like to fully understand the science behind what's happening on my head, and there's holes in my understanding of JBS.

With my second Hair IB experience, I have updated pros and cons about the salon. One, is that the salon apparently does not use protection cream. The first time I interviewed them and asked they said they did, but apparently we had a misunderstanding. The protection cream they were talking about was an extra solution they mix into the Japanese straightener for $10-20 more. This caught me off guard when I was at the salon for my touch-up, as I've been very cautious of my ends. Was all the tlc I was giving them going to be ruined in one day? I asked them if they could put conditioner on my already treated hair to create a barrier, and if they could lift it up my hair and wash the roots out exclusively first to keep the JHS from rinsing into my ends. They did, but my ends still took a toll. nothing significant like disintegrating, but noticeable damage I would have to trim (I would have to trim off my thin ends anyway) and work back to health. This makes the salon lose a few points, next time I'm going to see if I can bring in my jar of protection cream.

On another note, in addition to adding their 'protection cream' into the Japanese straightener, they used a weaker JHS formula on my roots. I'm not sure whether to consider this a positive or negative however, since this made my processing time double. The stylist said this was fine, but unless I'm given a good explanation to back things up, I'm hesitant to wholeheartedly believe. The last thing that was different this second visit, was that my hair didn't end up stick- pin- dead straight like last time, and actually had some volume. This was likely from only doing a Japanese straightening touch-up, and not getting the JBS. I liked how my hair tuned out more this time. If I'm recalling properly, my hair also didn't feel as dry as last time.

LENGTH MEASUREMENT

Above is a picture of my hair, right after my touch-up and before I trimmed at home. As you can see the ends are stringy, but the hair that's growing out is thickening nicely. At first I self-trimmed an inch off by banding, but wasn't satisfied, and trimmed another inch and a half in the shower. I only recommend trimming in the shower if your hair is straight or has just been straightened. I haven't taken an after trim picture yet, but I measured after, and if memory is right I'm currently 25 inches. Remember, I'm currently not growing my hair out, and plan to keep my ends in the same area until my relaxer fully grows out.

trader joe's (nourish spa) new & old formula

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 21:17:00 +0000

Hello everyone! It feels like it's been forever since I've posted, my life has been quite busy. That will hopefully change now that I'm finally on summer break. I've gotten very lazy with my hair, too. Not so much neglectful, but I've really been doing 24/7 protective styling and been doing a lot of short wash days. I know I have a lot of things I have to update on, but today I wanted to talk about my favorite conditioner: trader joe's nourish spa!

NEW FORMULA

(or rather, 'changed' formula)

The company has changed the conditioner's formula. I'm probably late on this subject, I think they changed the formula two months ago. When I first saw they changed it I was a little worried, I was thinking 'first herbal essence's hello hydration, now this'. Researching the topic online, I saw a lot of girls were also worried, so worried that they were protesting to have the conditioner changed back without even trying the new one. I was worried, but I wasn't that upset, and picked up a bottle of the new conditioner last week. Here's a comparison of the old and new ingredients:

old formula - purified water, rosemary oil, orange citrus, mango, lemongrass, ginkgo biloba, Echinacea, willow bark, sea kelp, chamomile flower, textured soy protein, lavender, grapefruit citrus, vitamin e, acetamide mea, cetyl alcohol, cirtic acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, fragrance

new formula - purified water, cetyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, citric acid, vitamin e, dimethicone, argan oil, rosemary leaf extract, orange citrus, mango, lemongrass, ginkgo biloba, Echinacea Angustifolia, willow bark, sea kelp, chamomile flower, soybean seed, lavender, grapefruit citrus, acetamide mea, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, fragrance

Now here are some things to note...

Not too much has changed, the ingredients in italicized are the same and in the same order. There are also same ingredients that have just changed position in the ingredients list, for example, cetyl alcohol, vitamin e, and cirtic acid.
I think the main reason the company decided to change the formula was to add argan oil, which has been very popular lately. They even changed the front label to mention argan oil is an ingredient.
Some of the new first ingredients, like behentrimonium chloride, might not look too attractive to some. But despite it's scientific, chemical-looking name, it's plant-based. according to the blog honesty, it "conditions, detangles, fights static, softens, restores, and rebuilds damaged hair. since it’s plant-based and not petrochemical-based, it doesn’t coat but penetrates the hair shaft for potent conditioning effects. (In some applications, it also acts as a preservative)." The site also mentions that there is misinformation about behentrimonium chloride, people mistaking it as unnatural.

MY EXPERIENCE

So really, there hasn't been much of a change to the product. I've only tried the formula once, and so far my hair hasn't been able to tell the difference. I worry a little bit about the dimethicone, (which some healthy hair girls have a problem with because it can accumulate on the hair is not washed out properly) but it isn't that big a deal to me. I understand what some girls went crazy and got worried but the conditioner's sudden change, but I would advice at least trying it first before complaining to the company to change. It might even be better then the old formula.

roots-only applicator review

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:22:00 +0000

I’ve been using the roots-only applicator a lot recently and it’s really been helping me out on my stretch. What is it? Instead of the typical applicator with one nozzle, the roots-only applicator has many nozzles in the shape of a comb like in the image shown. This makes applying product to the scalp much easier. You just press the tips of the nozzles against your scalp and gently squeeze the bottle as you comb your roots. I often use it while my hair is in a bun or ponytail.

As you can see from the pic, the bottle size is rather small. The applicator, however, can unscrew and fit on other, bigger sized bottles. I have several bottles that the roots-only nozzle fits, so the thing is always getting traded around. I use the roots-only applicator for applying growth aids, shampoo, and tea directly to my scalp.

growth aids - When applying things like sulfur oil with a normal applicator nozzle, you usually have to part your hair before applying for even distribution. This process can takes about a half an hour, but with the roots-only nozzle, it only takes five minutes!
shampoo – The key to healthy hair and growth is a clean scalp and moisturized hair. For us dry haired girls, shampooing our hair too often can dry it out, but we also shouldn’t neglect our scalps. This is why when shampooing the proper technique is to focus on massaging the shampoo in your scalp and then using the suds to gently cleanse the rest of your hair. The roots-only applicator takes this another step further. It makes cleansing your scalp more precise, allowing less product to be used. Also, there’s less shampoo suds to rinse through your hair, making it like a cowash. This is a good way to keep your new growth from drying out and tangling.
tea – I’ve been using black tea more often to combat shedding. Most girls use it by doing rinses, but since shedding takes place in the scalp I’ve been using the roots-only applicator to coat my scalp more effectively. When I want to use my indian powders, and want to minimize their strengthening or drying effects, I’ll also make them into a tea and apply them with the roots-only nozzle.

Bottom line, this applicator is very useful and makes life easier.

growth aid exam (2nd session) update

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 02:37:00 +0000

EXAM UPDATE

I meant to update on this a month ago, sorry for the wait.

And not only am I late, but I didn't do all the things I should have this round. For example, I didn't take pictures along with my measurement recordings this time, so I have no real evidence for my skeptical audience. When I realized I've been forgetting to take pictures, in the back of my mind I thought "Well, it's okay, since I'm not going to trim my hair until exam season is over."

... ...I also broke my promise and trimmed my hair. I've been a bad girl. Bad Yahya.

I trimmed because I measured badly and panicked. Usually when I measure, I measure about 3 times for accuracy. Having new growth and uneven ends can make measuring tricky. Well, I measured once and I was getting a result saying I lost two inch. I panicked, wasn't thinking measuring again more carefully to confirm, and did a nice thorough trim. I measured again... and it was an inch longer then what I had just measured...

Yeah, I messed up. But I'm kinda glad that I trimmed because my ends feel a lot thicker.

4/12/14, New growth after scarf method. Varies from 2-4 inches,
which implies that the growth methods I've used don't affect my entire scalp.

GRADINGS

january 15 to 21 - Did the inversion method for 1 week, this time doing the hot oil and washing parts to see if there would be a difference in growth. Last time I measured, which was around the end of December, my hair was measuring 24 inches. After trying the inversion method with the hot oil and washing parts, I was measuring 25 inches. Excluding my normal growth rate, that's an extra 1-2 cm of growth. So I didn't see any dramatic change compared to doing the inversion alone.
january 22 to 28 - Did the inversion method again for 1 week, this time without the hot oil and washing parts. There are girls out there who can do the inversion method without experiencing degrading results. I was testing to see if I was one of these lucky girls. Sadly, I'm not. I saw no growth.
january 31 to february 28 - Applied a sulfur mix to my scalp and did the green house effect method every other day. I measured 27 inches, 2 inches in 5 weeks (4 weeks of application). The growth also appeared to come out thicker.
march 1 to 7 - Did the inversion method, ghe method, and sulfur mix for 1 week. I didn't see the results of this because this is when I measured badly and trimmed my hair. I mis-measured to 25 inches, trimmed, and then measured 26 inches.

I didn't do anything after, because I was entering mid term period. Currently, I just started applying sulfur mixes alone. My recipe and results will be continued another time.

short vs. long transitioning hair (relaxed to JHS)

noreply@blogger.com (Yahya) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:15:00 +0000

SHORTER SEEMS EASIER

Does short hair transition from relaxers to japanese straightening easier? In my sorta recent setback post I mentioned the idea, and here's the quote.

"So for those of you relaxed heads out there, be careful if you're planning on transitioning. I've seen other girls transition more gracefully, but now that I think about it they had shorter hair. The ends of their hair not being as old as mine may have something to do with it."

I was thinking out loud as I wrote this, but now I've come across some evidence that supports my theory. Since my last touch-up I've been saying to myself that my bangs (or are they too long to be called bangs? I'm not sure what to call them) are too long and that I have to cut them, but have been constantly putting it on delay. So I can't believe it took me so long to realize this. The long bangs I keep is an example of short hair transitioning to jhs from relaxers.

(If you haven't noticed from many of my pictures,
at home I'm always wearing robes.
usually in conjunction with pajamas.)

The first picture was taken after my second, home attempt, jhs touch-up. The second picture was after my most recent third touch-up. You can see the difference in length and the better retention. The point is, my short front hair gains length like normal while my long hair struggles with retention.

OTHER TRANSITIONING TIPS

I've said this many times, but I can never say it enough. Unless you want to be risky, when transitioning from relaxers, it's very important to find a hair stylist that knows what they're doing (that could be you if you know what you're doing) and make sure they use a strong protection cream. Make sure they use a protection cream! (my hair didn't disintegrate or anything after, but I'm still not happy how hair ib just rinsed out the jhs on my naked hair. I think its got more of a brown undertone now from that. If I wasn't so on top of my hair it could have disintergrated.)