Wednesday, July 2, 2008

July 1, 2008

So I measured my hair again yesterday. It was at 27.5. I gained almost an inch over the past month. Yay!!

Weeks 2, 3, and 4

Ok, so I'm slacking a bit. I recorded a few days of week 2, then I went out of town and got sick and then just started slacking. So I don't really have anything for the last few weeks. I figure my best bet will be to stop keeping up with styling and stuff and concentrate more on the things I am doing specifically for growth. So I will start trying to concentrate on that this week.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Week One

So each day I jotted down notes about what I did with my hair and how much water I had and the vitamins I took. So here is my first week trying to grow out my hair...


Week 1

Sunday-took all necessary vitamins. Scrubbed hair with warm water and followed with BioInfusion Naturals Rosemary Mint Conditioner. After shower, used Biotera Leave-In, Frizz-Ease hair serum, L.A. Looks Cashmere Curls, and La Bella Lots of Curls Gel. Followed with a small portion of Marc anthony Strictly Curls Curl defining lotion. Dried with diffuser. Did hot oil treatment using Hot Six Oil for one hour in the evening. After using the oil, I love how soft my hair is feeling. Scrubbed hair with water and followed with BioInfusion Eucalyptus and Lavender Conditioner. Afterwards, used Biotera Leave-In and used a thick hair clip to put in a bun for the rest of the evening. My hair is feeling quite clean despite going the day poo-less. I am very pleased with that and hopeful that this will help with the frizz problem I have been having the past few days. Drank 54 ounces of water. Tomorrow I hope to drink at least 70. I plan to wrap my hair in a t shirt to sleep in.

Monday-took all necessary vitamins. Washed hair with a very small amount of shampoo because my hair was left oily from the treatment and followed with BioInfusion Naturals Rosemary Mint Conditioner. I noticed that after doing the oil, it was very easy to get the shampoo through my hair. I was able to stretch a small bit a long way, which I can never do. Plus, upon waking my hair looked fantastic considerirng I had not put any products in or done anything to it. I was silky soft with very loose waves and was a wonderful look to have after having rolled out of bed. Since doing the oil, my hair has curled more and frizzed less. I absolutely love this stuff. After my shower I styled using Biotera Leave-In, Frizz-Ease Hair Serum, L.A. Looks Cashmere Curls, and La Bella Lots of Curls Gel. I did not want to use too many products, but I have noticed my hair will look better after using La Bella. Very impressive considering the gel is dirt cheap. It has definitely become a must-have for me. Tonight I have massaged my scalp with Softee Herbal Gro and wrapped it in a t shirt to keep the Herbal Gro in. I exceeded my goal of 70 ounces of water and drank a whopping 108. Go me!!

Tuesday-took all necessary vitamins. Added vitamin A and C. Rinsed hair under warm water and followed with rosemary mint conditioner. Used biotera leave-in, frizz ease hair serum, marc anthony strictly curls curl lotion, and la bella lots of curls. Later, did a deep treatment using, egg, honey, oats, and conditioner-accidentally left in for 3 hours. Rinsed, and put hair in turbie for about an hour before taking it down. Hair is not frizzing, but has not curled much since i did not scrunch. My bb growth oil came in today. I am very excited about that. I think i will wait until Thursday night, since i will shampoo on Friday. I drank 155 ounces of water today.

Wednesday-took all vitamins. Cowashed using bioinfusion rosemary mint conditioner. Styled as usual. Kind of slacked a bit on the water-74 ounces.

Thursday-water rinsed in shower and followed with bioinfusion eucalyptus and lavender conditioner. Styled as usual. Did a coconut pre-poo before bed and wrapped hair in t shirt. Took all necessary vitamins. Drank 85 ounces of water.

Friday-did modified co for waves since i am still kind of between 2c and 3a. used suave coconut shampoo and burt’s bees conditioner. Styled as usual. Took all necessay vitamins. Slacked on water-54 ounces, but i have another 27 by my bed i hope to drink through the night.

Saturday-took all vitamins. Actually, from now on i’ll just let it be assumed that i do that. Ok, so…water rinsed and followed with lavender and eucalyptus conditioner. Styled as usual. After my hair got wet in the ocean, i did another water rinse and then did a cholesterol cream treatment. I am embarassed at how little water i drank. L

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

So today is the first day of the grow out challenge. I am getting excited for the process and all the wonderful things I will be putting in my hair to make it wonderfully healthy any have it growing quickly. I cannot wait to see how long my hair has gotten a year from now.

My plan was to post pictures of my curls and the length and such once a month. Unfortunately, I left the USB that connects to my camera in Georgia and will not be able to get to it until the end of July. So for now, no pictures. I do have my camera so I will be taking pictures that I can go back and add once I get my USB in a couple months. So no immediate pictures for June and July, but they will be added later.

I measured my hair this morning after I got out of the shower. I squeezed excess water out, so it was not pin straight. It had just a bit of wave. This is the same state I will measure my hair in each month to keep consistency with my measurements. I measured by placing the tip of yarn in the middle of my forehead right at the hair line. Then i let some yarn fall behind my head down the back. I pulled my hair around front along with the yarn, then stretched the yarn and cut at the longest point of my hair. Then I measured the yarn, and it was 26.7 inches. Right now, my curls fall down my back a few inches past my shoulders, probably about three inches short of being at bust level, only in the back. When my hair is in front, it covers my shoulders and goes down another two or three inches. I will measure these in the morning to get a more precise measurement. But for tonight, this is what I have on my measurements.

The Products

So here is a list of the products I have gotten for the grow out challenge. I am grouping them into categories and including pictures of each product and an explanation of how and when I plan to use each. Some products overlap categories. I will point that out in the category I choose to talk about them in, but will not discuss a product in two separate categories. So here we go...

We'll start off simple. The shampoos:

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1. Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Shampoo-I adore this shampoo. It has coconut extract and vitamin E and is really dirt cheap despite the great ingredients. I am likely to use this one most times that I wash my hair.
2. Burt's Bees Pomegranate and Soy Very Volumizing Shampoo-Burt's Bees has some great products. Still, I do prefer the first shampoo. I don't want money to go to waste, so i may use this shampoo once every week or two.

I plan on washing my hair every other day. LAtely I have washed it every day, thinking my hair needed it because of its thickness and it is just so hard to style on a day I do not wash it because sleeping on it messes it up so much. However, it occurred to me that I could wet my hair with warm water and scrub as though I had shampoo without actually using shampoo, then following with conditioner. So that's my plan as far as washing my hair goes.

The Conditioners:

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1. Burt's Bees Pomegranate and Soy Very Volumizing Conditioner-Okay, so this is the only one that made the list as a conditioner. Not because it is the only one I have, but because the others made different categories. I'll use this conditioner on days that I use the Burt's Bees shampoo.

The Co-Washes:

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1. BioInfusion Organics Eucalyptus and Lavender Conditioner-So this category is where half of my conditioners went. I really like this conditioner. It is light, so it is easy to work through my hair. The smell is very nice but also a bit strong. I will use this or the other Co once a week, probably on Wednesday and it will also sometimes be used as a regular conditioner.
2. BioInfusion Naturals Rosemary Mint Conditioner-Don't hold me to this one. I need to check the ingredients again to make sure that this conditioner has everything a good Co needs. That includes proteins, humectants, emollients, and moisturizers. I know the other conditioner in this group has all of the above, and I know this one has at least three, but I will need to cross reference the ingredients with the list of each category to make sure all are present. If it turns out that this will not make a good Co, I will still use it as a regular conditioner. I love the smell, and it has rosemary, which is an essential oil that helps with growth. I do hope it will make a great Co since co-washing means no shampoo, and the smell of this is so fresh that it leaves me feeling like I just shampoo-ed even when I did not.

That takes care of the easy stuff. Time for vitamins, growth products, oils, deep treatments, and moisturizers.

The Vitamins:

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1. Fish, Flax Borage Oil-So I had a hard time finding pictures of the exact vitamins I am using, but I got as similar as I could. The vitamin E is the only one that is the same as I am using. These are my omega 3's. I take 2 at a time twice daily.
2. Hair, Skin, and Nails Multivitamin-Well, the name is pretty self explanatory. These are one at a time, three times daily.
3. Vitamin E-Once a day.

The Growth Products:

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1.BB Growth Oil with Ginkgo Biloba - Rosemary & Horsetail-I ordered this online and am still waiting on it to come in. I am not sure yet how often I will be using it. IT looks like it has some very good oils in it. Rosemary and horsetail are both supposed to be very good for hair growth. I was looking for a rosemary oil since I am supposed to use an essential oil and carrier oil at least every other day, and I found this. I am pretty excited about getting it.
2. Softee Herbal Gro-I have not used this yet, but love Softee Coconut Oil. I think I will try to use this once or twice per week. I will post more details on how I am using it once I figure out exactly what I want to do with it.

The Oils:

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1. Softee Hair Food-I actually just wasn't sure where this one would fit, but it says it has an oil formula, so it's an oil. It has vitamin E, and looked like it would be a very good way to keep my hair healthy so it will be growing as quickly as it can. I will use this as needed.
2. Hot Six Oil-This oil is awesome and can be used for more than just hair. I used it today and love it. I put it on my hair and put a plastic cap over it and wrapped it in a hot, moist towel. It has made my hair very soft and I think it may help with frizz. I am wanting to be sure to put plenty of oil in my hair to keep everything moisturized and have my hair happy and healthy, so for most of these products I do not have anything exact as a plan for it.
3. Optimum Oil-This seems to be best as after shower for frizz control and shine. Some of these oils are not specifically for the grow out process, but I did get them with the challenge in mind, which is why they are being included in this blog, and most of my other styling products are not.
4. Tea Tree Oil- This is my carrier oil. I am supposed to use a carrier oil and essential oil at least every other day.

The Moisturizers:

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1. Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner- So this also qualifies as a conditioner, but I figured I would put it here since it is a very rich conditioner that I only use when I am in need of a lot of moisture.
2. Since I am getting lazy, I will sum the next three up in one. Softee Coconut Oil, Queen Duchess Coconut Oil Infused With Kiwi, and Cantu Shea Butter-I am including all of these in one since they serve pretty much the same purpose. I will use them as a pre-poo for days I shampoo or in small portions to fight frizz.

And Finally, the Treatments:

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1. Ion Effective Reconstructive Treatment-This is a protein treatment that I will use at the end of every month. I put this in my hair after showering and leave in for an hour before I rinse. Since protein can dry hair, I follow with Aubrey Organics.
2. Queen Helene Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Cream-This is what I will use for the once a week deep treatment. I will probably use this on Saturday. I am supposed to leave this in my hair for an hour after showering.


So those are the products I plan to use for the challenge.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Grow Out Challenge-Starts June 1, 2008

So this is where I will document my progress with the grow out challenge. Just as some info going in:

I got this idea from naturallycurly.com. Curly hair tends to curl more as it gets longer, hence the growing out process. The grow out challenge consists of methods to keep the hair healthy and growing quickly. My goal is to have as much growth over the next year as possible. This is a group effort on naturallycurly.com. A list of loose guidelines has been posted. They are as follows:
Preliminary GrowOut Guidelines
1. No Flat ironing.
2. Eat healthy including lean protein and vegetables/ fruits.
3. Deep condition hair for an hour at least every two weeks/ do a protein treatment as needed to maintain a moisture/ protein balance.
4. Cowash at least once a week.
5.Stimulate scalp with an mixture of rosemary ( or any other essential oil) and grapeseed oil( or any other carrier oil) everyday or every other day.
6. Take vitamins and fish oil pills (pharmacuetical grade and Molecularly distilled).
7. Take MSM ( this is not a requirement).
8. Wear protective/ low manipulation hair styles whenever possible.
9. No checking length (or try not to be obssesive).
10. No trimming, dusting is allowed. (Dusting has been described to me as cutting apprx 1/8 inch off)
11. Combing hair once a week, limited only to finger combing( not a requirement).
12. Drinking loads of water so that the new growth can be moisturized. (Also if you plan on taking MSM, it is a must!)13. Moisturize hair everyday/ every other day.

Since these guidelines are loose, I am free to tweak them as I see fit for me. So here are my thoughts on the rules:
1. I have no intentions of flat ironing my hair. I have been going natural for a month now and will not turn back on that. However, the length of my bangs requires straightening. They are long enough that the ends curl, but short enough that the curls poke out in a weird way. Until my bangs have grown out longer, I will continue to straighten them.
2. Sounds great. I should be doing this anyway. I do need the occasional sweets, but I will be as healthy as I can without restricting myself too much.
3. I am waiting to find out what should be used as a deep condition. I use aubrey organics sometimes, but I don't think I can leave that in my hair for an hour. I have asked what should be used and am waiting to hear back. I plan to do an ion protein treatment once per month, on the last day of each month.
4. I don't enjoy cowashing, but I can handle once a week. Perhaps this might even get me more used to cowashing so I will feel better about it.
5. I ordered a rosemary and horsetail growth oil today. I hope to have it by June 1st, but I don't think it is likely. Maybe I will have it a few days later and I plan to start immediately.
6. Done. I bought vitamins specifically for hair and nail growth that are to be taken 3 times daily as well as fish oil pills to be taken two to three times daily. I plan to wait until June 1st to begin taking these since they are not currently part of my routine and the challenge does not start until June 1st.
7. I do not plan on taking MSM.
8. I plan on wearing my hair down mostly. I may put it up in a clip occassionally. No pony tail holders.
9. I plan to check the length of my hair on the first of every month in order to keep up with the growth.
10. I hope not to do any trimming or dusting. However, if the ends get nasty I may have to do a bit of dusting.
11. I will comb my hair in the shower while it is soaked in conditioner.
12. I am going to keep water with me constantly so that I will be sure to drink a ton of it.

So how will the blog work? I will post weekly updates with my routine for hair care each day during the week as well as progress. On the first of each month I will post pictures of my hair as well as measurements on length. I will measure the length by placing yarn from my hairline curving down to the back of my head down to the end of my hair while my hair is soaking wet and will measure the length of the yarn.

So I think that is it for now. Considering the nature of this blog, it will probably be boring as hell to everyone but me...or anyone else who is interested in growing out. After all, we are watching my hair grow. :P

Anyway, to anyone who might still be interested in tuning in, my next entry should be on June 1st with my starting length and pictures.

Have a great day and happy hair!!