Relaxed Hair Journey: A New Beginning

I'm going to be straight up honest about this. Maybe my trials & errors will help someone else.

I'm no longer natural. No longer tex-lax'd. I'm now fully committed to RELAXED hair. Why? I'll leave that for another entry if requested. Otherwise, welcome to my relaxed hair journey. I've had issues that NO ONE could help me with. I started out on Black Hair Media forum. They gave great tips that didn't work for me. Some of the users mocked me, even. I decided to say "Screw you" and read books on african hair care (I have several book reviews on this blog). With this wealth of knowledge at hand, I set foot off...

Relaxer of Choice... LYE vs. NO LYE

(Left to Right) Healthy hair, Lye relaxed
hair, No-lye relaxed hair EEEK!

For a while, I had this mentality that a relaxer is a relaxer and it didn't matter which you used. Boy, was I wrong. I do a lot of research and I actually have a few book reviews on this blog (I'll try to add a search feature so you can find them or you can check the side bar for the proper label). There's a difference between LYE and NO LYE. Lye relaxers end up leaving your hair strand cuticles smoother than no-lye. This explains why for years of relaxing with at-home kits (Yes, even ORS Olive Oil), my hair has suffered extreme breakage and dryness.

I decided to choose Mizani Butter Blends as my new lye relaxer because I've heard so many good things about it. I'm a believer. My hair feels smooth and buttery soft! ALL THE TIME! Certain products make my hair feel even more soft or a bit more dry, but in general, my extreme dryness is cured. I know it is the MBB because I've used Designer's Touch which was okay, but I still got dryness. I upgraded to normal Mizani and I was quite impressed. MBB blew my mind away. It doesn't relax my hair pin-straight which is totally fine with me.


Breakage Issue

I don't know if you can tell, but IRL you can
clearly see when I started using MBB

I think changing my relaxer has drastically improved the health of my hair. Even though I was "tex-lax"ing before, I was still getting an embarrassing amount of breakage. Now, I'm using MBB, breakage has DRASTICALLY reduced. I'm using Aphogee 2-step Protein just because I have it. It doesn't help very much with my breakage, surprisingly. I'm using it until its all gone, just for good measure.

I also bought Redken Extreme: Anti-snap from UltaBeauty because it contains proteins that are great for hair, silk amino acids, and ceramides.  I use it after every towel-dry and I also plan to use it to protect my ends before a retouch. So far, I don't think it actually helps much, either.

Finally, Divasmooth. This product is a holy grail product for me. This has always dramatically reduced breakage for me (even though anti-breakage is not its marketed use). I'm going to use it up later next week & join their frequent buyer program. Why is it so good? I think it has to do with the sugar. There's something special about sugar... updates on that later.

Growth Regime
My goal is to have long hair and regrow my temples. For those of you curious and/or desperate, yes. I have seen temple regrowth success! I'll make a new entry about it later. For the most part, here's what I'm using to increase my hair's growing rate.

Vitamins - From time time, Flaxseed oil. I'm using Hair Vite vitamins.  Primarily because its cheap, easier for me to swallow, and contains calcium. I take 2 daily with meals. For you nosey folk, here's the ingredients:

The tan one is the Hair Vite. See how thin
it is? Easy to swallow for me.

Vegetable Silica - 500mg
Calcium Carbonate - 300mg (30% dv)
Magnesium Oxide - 25 mg (6.3% dv)
Iron Gluconate - 10 mg (56% dv)
Vitamin A - 5000 iu (100% dv)
Vitamin D - 400 iu (100% dv)
Vitamin E - 30 iu (100% dv)
Zinc - 15 mg (100% dv)
Iodine - 150 mcg (100% dv)
Chromium - 25 mcg
Selenium - 50 mcg
Copper - 1 mg (50% dv)
Manganese - 6 mg

Topical - I use my growth aid mix that is essentially Kimmaytube's leave-in + essential oil + MSM. However, I am tempted to try "Grow-aut oil" in my mix. I use this to make sure my scalp & new growth are moisturized. I massage for 5 minutes a day and if I can, I lay on my bed with my head dangling to further increase circulation to the scalp.

Edges - Step 1. Scrub w/ sugar scrub Step 2. use growth moisturizer Step 3. Keep slicked (& split end free) with Kinky Curly gel (or flaxseed gel).

Pictures, of course. Later. I'm beat!
  

Protein Treatment Research & Relaxed Hair

I did some research on protein treatments. Check out my video and the links below!


1mits1's youtube protein video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3yhbfae_9s
TheNaturalHaven detailed research: http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/protein-conditioners-for-hair-part-2-of_03.html

WHEAT PROTEIN	These are too large to be useful.
ANIMAL PROTEIN	These are also too large. However, they can coat the hair to make it feel silky.
VEGETABLE PROTEIN	When hydrolyzed, this is the ideal protein to use!

TIPS
Coating the hair is great when you get a relaxer. It will help prevent overlap and I, personally, find my relaxer comes out softer, silkier and smoother!

Right after I wash out the relaxer, I apply a YOGURT mix. I haven't done much research on how yogurt works with the hair, but I get a lovely thickness with this technique. Afterwards, I PH balance the hair.

Keeping Hair Moisturized

I want to call my current hair stage... Doka's Hair version 3.0 lol. So, I'm going kind of start blogging about that. It is version 3.0 because version 1 was just doing what my mom wanted. Version 2 was experimenting. Version 3 is more like "Okay, now I know what to do and I'll do procedures I need to get what I want." Maybe Version 4 will be natural hair, but we'll see.

Here's the video that I am modeling my MOISTURE ROUTINE over.


It works! When I use a moisturizing product on its own, I'm not satisified, but doing it this way in this order seems to work pretty well.

	Water Based Moisturizer This is Juices and Berries by Oyinhandmade. I've heard amazing reviews for this and I want to use it. In the mean time, I am finishing my Aphogee Vitamin whatever spray.
	rOil Based Moisturizer This is an oil moisturizer by Essentious. It smells great and it is essentially just coconut oil. I like the pump bottle, so I'll probably re-fill it with oils or melted butters.
	Cream Moisturizer I want to use this Silky Souffle by Natural Lyfe. There are oils inside of this cream, so I wouldn't need to use much.

I Bought Maca

So, I've given up on my diligent hair adventure. After a summer of incredibly growth and satisfaction, things seem to be slowing down. It could be stress. Now that I am in school. Even though I have been trying to reduce stress, living with my parents is not easy. Every single day... I don't even have to have DONE anything. They find SOME reason to make me feel bad about myself. Its incredibly annoying and it is very stressful. To come home and have someone ask you questions about things that happened a month ago because they are wanting to berate you and psychologically beat you into being whatever it is they want you to be.

I am still going to put on my calendar when I do chemicals... ugh. Let's not even talk about chemicals. I /really/ want to do a 3 month stretch. The only thing in my way is my mother. I've been putting my foot down more and more and more. I've been releasing more and more of my ideas. Where as before, I'd hold back to make tension less, I have been slowly increasing tension whenever she asks me something that has to do with my desires or beliefs. Last time, we went a month and a half. Hoping to double that this time.

So yes, I will still calendar chemicals, hair braiding, and take photos of growth. But that's it. No more "challenges" or obsessing over taking something every single day. I have my list of things to do and I will take them and not feel bad for missing a day.

But I have a new pill to add to my regime. As if the 2 - 4 wasn't bad enough.

MACA!

It will supposedly enhance my womanly shape (rounder hips and breasts) and give me more energy! And a few other benefits, but those two are the main reasons I bought this. On top of the fact that I have high testosterone levels and I get hormonal acne.

Is my hair growing?

*sigh*

I spent the past two weeks working out. My body feels great, but my hair doesn't seem to have grown an inch...

It doesn't make sense. I am not the most consistent person in the world, but I've been trying. I've been working out to increase my circulation. What exactly is missing that my hair isn't growing?

Staple Products - Favourites pt. 1

Entitled part one because I cannot wait to start using my new natural products.

So far, I only really have two things on my "Always buy" list.

Product: Silky Souffle

Price: $11.95 (8oz)

Company: Naturally Yours (http://naturallyyours.ecrater.com/)

Why?: I tend to have a lot of brand-name loyalty. If you read my blog, then you should be able to tell. If I love one thing by your company and I like the way your company operates I tend to stick with it. So I signed up for the newsletter and got notified of this new wonderful product! This company is the company I would buy my african black soap and shea butter from, but since this product, I haven't used the prior 2 items. Unrefined shea butter in a quick-absorbing moisturizer is VERY hard to find. I use this on my face and in my hair. I messed mine up, though. I am lazy and leave things in my car, so it melted. Its not as light as it used to be, but still a much better alternative to just straight up shea butter and still absorbs well. I use it for whatever I would use shea butter for. It is as good and/or better than shea butter so far.

Product: Tea Tree Lemon Soap

Price: $5.00

Company: Dress Green (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034024)

Why?: Another "comany" (?) that I feel loyalty to. Her products are all pretty good that I have tried. Her soaps smell so good. But this is the one I love the most. The soaps LOOK delicious and appealing. At the same time, the soap does exactly everything I bought it for. I use it on my body, but you can use it on your face. It helps clean up bacteria on and under my skin and it doesn't leave my skin dry when I step out of the shower. In fact, I can go most of the day with no lotion without getting ashy. 

Product: Diva Smooth

I just did the review for it below. Now, the only thing I am thinking of is Castor Oil. I find castor oil is THE BEST oil EVER for my new growth (needless to say, it is also a staple of mine). It is EVEN MESSIER to apply to my hair. I wonder how wonderful it would be to add a bit of castor oil to this diva smooth? 

Diva Smooth & Texturizer (long post & review)

I finally used Diva Smooth Review!

Product: Diva Smooth

Price:$25.00 (8oz)

Company:Janelle Beauty (http://www.janellebeauty.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=68)

Claims: Helps stretch out relaxers, makes going natural easier.

Ingredients: Organic raw wild honey, Olea europaea (Organic olive) oil, Sucrose (Sugar) Extract, Zea mays Starch, Citrus medica limonum (organic lemon) extract, (Acetic acid) vinegar, tocopherol (vitamin E), blended essential oils

Opinion: Don't use this as a deep conditioner. Put this on dry hair, otherwise it won't do anything. Unless honey is great for your DC. For me, honey does nothing as a DC. When I use this on dry hair, ladiessss.... smooth, silky, omg. I can't say much for what it does to curls because that is not my concern. My concern is to have manageable new growth to last me until the next chemical treatment. It is messy. Next time, I might add a few oils to see if it makes it a little less sticky. And I'm sure heating it will only make it work better!

Verdict: Yes, I will buy this again. I have been pre-poo'ing with oils with my natural hair which is nightmare-ish. This makes my hair manageable and soft and oh my god. This is a staple in my regime now.  I only put it on my new growth to make the bottle last longer. Considering that I use this when I am taking down braids. I already have a conditioner on my relaxed hair. This goes the extra mile for my new growth and when some gets onto my relaxed hair - Oh, heaven! This is expensive so I gotta make it last. This works with or without aid of anything. I tried to use plain HONEY (organic) to see if it works as well as this. Nope. Hah. Not even close and WAY too sticky. Someone, create an alternative to this so I can save money! In the mean time, Janelle is getting mine. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I texturized my hair today!! Here is what I did/should have done/will do next time.

One-Week Preparation:

1.  EXCELLENT Pre-poo for new growth (Diva Smooth)

2. Cleansing wash (Mane n Tail, but looking for sulfate-free alternative)

3. Heavy Protein treatment (Aphogee 2 step)

4. Deep condition (still looking for a decent one...)

1/2 Hour Preparation:

1. Sectioned my hair into 6 parts (I bought cute NON-METAL clippies)

2. Grease scalp and shaft (ANYTHING with petroleum as main ingredient) 

3. Put conditioner into relaxer chemical (I put DOVE volumizer because I needed to hurry up and finish that product)

After Treatment:

1. Rinse chemical out

2. Apply yogurt to hair (A LOT! Pile it on, baby, otherwise it does nothing) and leave for 3 - 20 minutes

3. Neutralizing Shampoo

4. Conditioner (from the box)

5. Moisturize (Aphogee Greet-Tea Reconstructor for some extra protein)

6. Seal (Coconut oil and shea butter)

Results: Excellent! I was very scared and distraught earlier because I had quite a bit of new growth (thankyou MN, Sulfur, and Hairfinity!!) that I didn't know how to control and may have been causing me a lot of breakage. I couldn't find any product that was working for my hair. It was just a mess. I was going to wait until SEPTEMBER to texturize, but I couldn't take it anymore. I am extremely pleased. My hair hasn't completed dried yet, but its very soft. It is thicker than it was. Its longer. The texturizer came out very well, even though my mother insisted on making me wait a little longer (I think I was there for 25 minutes instead of 15) and she over-laps a lot. Let me tell you, a TEXTURIZER does not straighten your hair like a tex-lax or relaxer can. I don't know why people would suggest a beginner like me to texlax! First of all, how do I stay within the time limit? Second of all, how do I deal with over lapping? Ridiculous. I'm texturizing for a long time, people.

Deep Conditioners are a Shame

Okay, I think I am done. I have tried SO many deep conditioners. I am done. Why, you ask?

A) Most of them have Petroleum, mineral oil, or lanolin
B) OR they have -cones

No, no, no! I don't want something that will coat my hair and make it "feel" soft. I want something that will actually GET TO WORK! I have come to the conclusion that all these deep conditioners... Cholesterol, Mayo-treatments, Placenta, yada, yada are just glorified conditioners. I'm sure... yes, I am actually quite positive you can get just as good results using your REGULAR conditioner for 1o minutes with a cap on and maybe some heat. So I am done. I am never buying a product labeled "deep conditioner" ever again.

I am going to try to use up as much of the products I have as I can and I am going to buy all natural hair products with good reviews from now on. In the future, I look forward to:
Low-Poo by Deva Curl
HoneySuckle Rose by Aubrey Organics
I'll pre-poo with whatever oils I have and use my coconut oil right after a wash, as usual. I have my shea butter to moisturize my hair and use the leave-in when I have braids or something. Of course, my ACV will be my daily scalp cleanser when I have braids, as well.

That's it. I may not even buy Aphogee Protein treatment anymore (don't get me wrong, ladies... it is a good treatment!). I may just go ahead and just add an egg to my conditioner (I haven't tried it yet, but I will ASAP to see if it can replace Aphogee). I'm tired of spending money on things that are not necessary.

There is ONE last product I will try before I lose all hope
And that is Diva Smooth. Its all organic and made out of honey. Its supposed to make your hair silky smooth so that you can use a flat iron. And it probably works. Its mainly honey, but it works much better than honey. There's also sugar in there. Anyway... I can't wait to use this.

Organic Moisture, Cholesterol, ORS Serum

As you should know, I LOVE natural cures and supporting small businesses. Well, I came across this link:

http://www.highonhealth.org/the-best-moisturizer-for-acne-prone-skin-bee-yummy-skinfood™/


Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? I cannot wait to get my hands on this stuff! However, 2 oz is $30! Yikes!

I used a Cholesterol treatment for the first time. It is pretty good. It left my hair feeling naturally soft! Works much better than ORS Mayo did for me. However, I am concerned about the ingredients:
The one I am using in particular contains mineral oil, petroleum, AND lanolin. And various alcohols.

*sigh* However, Cholesterol does have great affects on me. Hopefully I can find an all natural version of this. Note: Lekair's cholesterol only has Mineral Oil. Lesser of the two evils?

Ow, ow, ow! I just used ORS Fertilizing Serum for the first time. OWW! I put it on area that aren't exactly balding. This stuff ITCHES!!! I am never putting it anywhere else on my head again. I didn't realize how much more potent the serum would be versus the temple balm. I'm excited. I hope this means fantastic growth on my temples.



>_< Oh crap! It burns, man. Ow, ow...! Big mistake!

Laser treatment #2

Yowzah!

I did my second hair removal treatment!

Ow! They really do STING! Its just the strangest sensation. This time, the nurse practitioner used a machine called Laserscope. Its like a continuous... thing. She puts a very cool aloe gel on my skin. Then that laser runs along and you can HEAR it ZAPPING hair follicles. The thicker the hair I have there, the more it hurts. And it gets warm and hot! Its just strange! First cool then hot then stingy... ow! Except for on my neck where it tickled just because I am a very ticklish person.

I didn't allow her to do anything around my lips because it felt like the laser was zapping all the way to my gums and teeth! Plus it was just an odd odd odd sensation, even if it didn't hurt.

The one we used before was Gentle Yag. I /heard/ it is the best, but that source is very... not reliable. It doesn't hurt as much as the Laserscope. The gentle yag feels like a big burst of air. Sometimes it does sting a lot! But sometimes it doesn't hurt at all. I would rather have that than the laserscope. :/

Anyway, so after my first treatment, as you know, hair grew back but then it broke. Until finally there was normal hair growth that didn't break. I'd say 25 - 50% less hair growth than before and only 1 - 3 ingrown hairs (this is an AMAZING thing for me, people). So, I'm really excited to see what the results will be after today! :)

Slacking - Hair Finity and Growth Aids w/ Sulfur

*sigh* I have been slacking again. This has been a rough month with doctor appointments and such. But when I had this blog, I was more on top of my hair care.

Well, firstly, let me post results I got with vitamins called Hair Finity


Before Hair finity, my hair grew 1/4 of an inch every month or less. But now...



That's a bit more. I think that's half an inch.

Here are some more results.



But, now, I want a topical growth aid. Looking into

Claudie's @ $17 for 8 oz.(she offered to put extra ingredient in there for free for me)
Bee Mine @ $13 for 8 oz.
Patience @ $13 for 4 oz.

They are all natural and organic and contain sulfur. No more petroleum for me! Sulfur 8 didn't work as well for me because my pores were getting clogged. Nu Gro didn't work as well because it clogged my pores. They worked, but they probably could have been better. The only thing that has worked is MN because the nitrate opens pores.

P.S. I'm not getting a root canal. These dentists are just trying to fucking wring money out of me with their ignorance.

Just an Update

Hey, guys.

I just wanted to give an update. First of all, I just checked out A BUNCH of more books at the library. I think after this batch of books, I'm done. I need to pimp out my blog and advertise it so somebody will read it and I can share my knowledge a little bit.


I'll put some photos of my skin later, but I have photos of my hair progress. One month using Hairfinity, Sulfur 8 + peppermint oil. That's all I did. I didn't even wash my hair for the 7 weeks it was in weave. Keep in mind that the lower left image was stretched to appear longer and my mom trimmed my hair a little in the top photos.

About to TexLax for the First Time

So, I removed my weave. And I know, I look like an ugly, big nosed, cross-eyed iguana. I'm willing to sacrifice my supposed sexy looks for the documentation of my "Hairstory". lol

This time, I didn't wash my hair. Yes, I didn't wash my hair for the whole 4 to 6 weeks I had that weave in. I was putting Sulfur 8 on my scalp. The result was my hair felt very greased. It wasn't dry, though. I got a bit of matte which is to be expected. My weave didn't seem to ever get to looking ratty. Oh, and for the first time in my life, when I was combing out the matte (with a large tooth comb), the strands were quite long. It looks thick and the end isn't split (yet)! But next time, I'll do A.C.V. rinses because I can't take an itchy scalp. Maybe that will help.

My mom wants to texlax it tomorrow and I said okay. I later realized that I only said okay because I was tired of arguing with her.
What I really wanted was to wash and deep condition tonight. Where a wig or do a roller-set for the rest of the week. Then texlax next Sunday.

Before this, I did a texturizer. Why we're changing to relaxer? Uhm... not sure. I guess once again, I was just tired of fighting with my mom about this. There is also a lot less people and a lot less information on texturizing while there is a lot of info and people doing texlax. But either way, I have been wanting to try out Just For Me(tm) Texture Softener(tm) really bad.

I'm really mad with myself. Even though I've done all this research and education about my hair, I can't seem to shake whatever inconfidence I have (and trust me... this inconfidence appears all over my life, causing me to not reach my full potentials) that allows me to still follow my mother's whims when I know she is wrong.

Oh, BTW, my temples are slowly getting better, I think? They haven't seen any chemical for 5 months and you know, I'm just never going to put a chemical on them until I can look in the mirror without my glasses and not think I'm going bald. My mom said "if you just relaxed them, they'd look good," however, I prefer health to good looks.


The "instructional" video. ;)

Let's Talk Hair Review

Now, I'm reading a book by Pamela Ferrell. Unlike the Akbari book that was easy to skim and find information quickly, this book is quite wordy. Its full of history and information that I'm excited to read later when I have more time. There are a lot of photos in this book which I quite like. The picture of the woman with over processed hair is striking because that is quite exactly what MY hair looks like. It is the reason I told my mother I "HATE, absolutely HATE, relaxing my hair". Because I thought if you relax MY hair, that is the result you get (when it could just be that I've been doing it totally wrong for all these years... which is another story).

Anyway, a LOT of information here. I will update this post when I finish, but right now, I am skimming at the pictures and diagrams. Also, this book is pressing that you need to have NATURAL hair while Akbari's book pressed that no matter what you decide, you need to learn how to take care of your hair. Ferrell hates relaxers (she describes multiple types of perms) and claims you cannot do it more than three times a year.

Wow! This book is SO detailed. Explaining exactly the chemicals, structure of hair, etc, etc.

This book looks excellent for anyone who is transitioning, natural, or a geek like me who wants to know EXACTLY what is going on with her hair.

Black Woman's Guide to Beautiful Hair Review

I'm reading this book by Lisa Akbari. I'll be updating this post as I read along. So far, I am impressed by her. She even has a youtube channel and apparently, has become a doctor. I am impressed with her experience (conducting studies, her salon, her clients, etc) and her detail of why you should do such and such method. Sorry if my notes aren't clear. This is mainly for me to remember what I read.

Her first suggestion is to get a hair kit. With everything you need for your hair (after evaluating the effectiveness of the products you own).

Shampooing
- detangle
- pre-rinse to remove dirt. 1 to 3 minutes.
- shampoo in the shower for better results.
- Shampoo with PH 5.5 is not drying.

Conditioning
- towel dry first
- don't comb through hair. Let it sit
- When deep conditioning, heat for 15 minutes, re apply, 10 minutes, re apply

Styling. Rollersetting is the safest style and from now on, I am personally going to roller set my hair any time my hair is not in braids or weave. Last time, I made the mistake of telling them to style my hair with heat... A chi flat iron that allowed me to see how much my hair was breaking and a hot comb that was very painful. God, how I abuse my hair!

Rule for heat. Air dry hair for 5 minutes before blow drying. Don't use heat on hair that has not been washed. Never go over 150 degrees.

The second part of the book is about hair mentality. Stop thinking negative thoughts and an explanation of negative habits. I'm kind of skimming this section. I like this quote though... "stop the insanity". Its also a Susan Powter quote, one of my favourite fitness gurus. Stop the insanity. Stop doing things out of habit that are NOT working and THINK. I really want to read this section because unlike some other books, Lisa really takes time to describe and explain things and how to reconstruct your thinking, but this is a library book and I just want to get through some good information.

However, I am considering BUYING this book for keeps.

She has a section on the scalp. Which I am also kind of skimming for time's sake. But something caught my eye.
- Greases like Sulfur 8 or Glover's Mane seem to work to help with itchy scalp, but then they make the problem worse. They tend to clog the surface of the scalp (I know Sulfur 8 is made with Petroleum, but I've been using it any how) which keeps in bacteria (maybe I need to start using apple cider vinegar rinse every other day to prevent the mal-effects of the Petro?). Oils assist in healing. Grease does not.

Next section is about your hair (the first section was just an intro starter kit). Again, skimming this section.
Good information and insight about chemically treated hair. Among her advices, she says
- we should never go more than 7 days without washing our hair.
- We cannot ever scratch our scalp (she talks about scalp damage a lot and how its even worse if we use chemicals on a damaged scalp).
- sit under a cold dryer to close pores before putting chemicals
- PH is very important. Chemicals have a PH of 11 to 13. Rinse with water, and it goes down to 7. Your hair is 5.5, so you need a shampoo of PH 5.5.
- Pretreatment is necessary because of inevitable overlap of chemicals. This can be done 48 hours prior to chemicals.

She later talks about new growth management. Which is basically the same things you should be doing, but you act like you are doing them twice. Once specifically to your new growth and then to the rest of your hair.

Phew! I've reached the Conclusion of the book. This was a very good book. I want to spend more time with it. I might go out and buy my own copy, but I'll wait until I read more of these type of books. I've only read 3, and this is by far the best one for me. Let's see how the other will measure up.

Plaited Glory Review

I'm reading Plaited GLory by Lonnice Bonner.

So far, its nothing I've never seen before, but I wanted to document her advice for how to prepare your hair for braids.

1. Shampoo
2. Hot Oil treatment - to make the hair supple
3. Conditioner

Shedding and Breaking are different. Shedding is when the hair completed its growth cycle and falls out. Breaking is when damaged hair breaks off from the shaft.

This book talks about salons, extensions, and braiding styles. Good if you are starting up on braiding your own hair.

Laser Hair Removal

I got my first treatment of laser hair removal. Here are some things you should know if you are considering it.

1. Make sure you're going to a place that has a machine that works for black skin. The laser detects dark shades of pigment, hence, a machine for white people will only mess up a black person's skin.
2. The laser does not permanently remove hair, but it permanently reduces it. I think it hits the follicle, making it smaller. When a hair follicle gets smaller, the hair that grows from it is thinner, shorter, and takes a longer time to grow.
3. You must shave before you get the treatment done. You want to do this at home where you have a nice razor and shaving cream. I did it at the office with a SINGLE blade razor and no shaving cream. :(
4. Don't use any chemical topical creams 3 days before your appointment.

The procedure was quite uncomfortable. I think the bad shaving job I did and having done it just a few minutes before may have something to do with it. At worst, you will feel a stinging sensation. If there is no actual pain, you will feel a surprise. The doctor/nurse practioner will move the laser to different spots and it will feel like a cold, hard blast of air.

Now, I have to use some special cream for 2 days before I go back to my normal skin regimen.

So, I got my neck, chin, cheeks and upper lip done. I'm excited for smooth, even toned skin!