Quaterly Hair Plans: (October 2010 to December 2010)

October 1st to December 31st

Week 1 Flat-Ironed

• I flat-ironed my hair on the 5th of October and wor it straight for the whole week until Friday when I washed and conditioned to prepare for my braid extensions

Weeks 2-12 Braid Extensions

• I began putting in my braid extenstion on the 10th and finished on the 11th. It took a total of 10-11 hours. My mother did them for me (Thanks Mom!!!). I planto keep them in for 10 weeks.

Week 13 Flat-Ironed

• After I take my braid extensions out I plan on wearing my hair flatt-ironed for 2 weeks.

Hair Syling: The HerStyler Forever Flat Iron pt1

Yes, I just ordered one of these today courtesy of my mom. ("Thanks mommy!!!") She paid less than $30 shipping included. I thought why not. It's worth a try at such a great price. The flat iron I have now is a conair I got for $14. It did an ok job, but I wanted a little upgrade for my transition. When I am fully natural I will treat myself with a FHI!!! Right now my plan is to wear cornrows for three weeks at a time and then flat iron and wear it straight for a week or two. Then I will do braid outs or half wigs until the 6th week is done then I'm back to braids. So that's 3 weeks with braids 3 weeks loose. More details on my transitioning plans later. I will post a review on the HerStyler as soon as I get it and straighten my hair for my cousins baby shower next weekend.1

100 Day Challenge: Day 30 of 100

Today's Date: 7/12/10 (Day 30)

New Growth Measurement: 1.25 inches

Day's Since Last Relaxer: 74

Next Update: 7/22/10 (Day 40)

Final Day: 9/20/10

Vitamins and Supplements

• Bumped my Vitamin C dosage to 4 grams per day (I will eventually settle at 5 g or more)
• I now take Jarrow Formulas MSM; 2 grams per day
• I added Kyolic Garlic Extract supplement to my regimen; two 300mg capsules daily

Hair Care

• I am using a Castor Oil (mixed with lavender and tea tree oil) 2x a week on my scalp only; I use it on my temples everyday.
• I seal my ends every other day with Grape seed Oil and sometimes oil my scalp with it on days that I don't use the Castor Oil mix
• I have not washed my hair since I got my cornrows in. I plan on keeping them in for 11+ days
• I think I will rise my braids with diluted shampoo in a day or two

Exercise and Nutrition

• Boo at me for not exercising. Boo!!!
  

Pics

• Sorry no pics :-(
• I did take out on of my corn rows to measure my NG; braids looking a little fuzzy but still decent.

Vitamins/Supplements: MSM Quality Vita Cost NSI vs. Puratin's Pride

So I decided to actually test the purity of my NSI (Vita Cost) MSM capsules. I had an old bottle of Puritan's Pride MSM Powder to compare it to.

Pure MSM should first sink to the bottom of the glass of water and then dissolve completely within a few minutes.

My Puritan's Pride MSM passed the test with flying colors. It sank to the bottom and then dissolved completely.

As for the NSI capsules... all I have to say is that I will never order a Vita Cost brand product from Vita Cost again. All contents of the capsule floated on the top of the water and did not dissolve at all as you can see.

As far as the Puritan's Pride MSM I just have one question about it... Why doesn't it have that sulfur smell? It has no sent to it really at all and I think that is why I got skeptical and stopped taking it. What do you guys think. Are there any brands that have a proven quality that anyone can recommend to me. Please and thank you. 1

Hair Styling: Cornrows

My mom did these cornrows for me last night. I plan to keep them in for at least 3 weeks, but we'll see how that goes. What ya think?

100 Day Challenge: Day 20 of 100

Today's Date: 7/2/10 (Day 20)

New Growth Measurement: 1.05-1.10 inches

Days Since Last Relaxer: 64

Next Update: 7/12/10 (Day 30)

Final Day: 9/20/10

Vitamins and Supplements:

• I now take one 25,000IU tablet of Beta-Carotene every other day.

Exersice and Nutrition:

• Seriously slacking here as fair as excerise but I am eating very healthy and drinking plenty of water.

Hair Care

• I might get my mom to do crown rows for me either this weekend or sometime soon.
  

Hair Thoughts: Longhairdontcare2010

I'm sure you guys have already heard of this lovely lady with her gorgeous waist length natural hair (If not look her up on YT). She is definitely my number one inspiration. I stopped relaxing my hair around the same time she did, and It kinda burns because I would probably be where she is if I had not relaxed.

I really like her methods and I will definitely be adopting some of them once I am natural. And maybe even during my transition.

I love her braids and I love braids period (on natural hair w/o extensions even better). So those will definitely be a staple for me when I am natural. Also I like the idea of using the blow dryer once a month to make the hair easier to handle and to stretch out for braiding.

My hair held up very well with blow drying when I wore my hair out as a natural. I did it about 2x a month and followed with my maxi glide. And by end of three months all I really had to trim was 1/4 of an inch which is not bad at all.

Also I remember that when I wore braid extensions (for about half of my natural journey) I only washed my hair (in the braids) about once every 3-4 weeks. And my hair still grew healthy and strong, also there were NO problems with dryness or breakage after I removed the braids... which I kept in for three months at a time. I did moisturize daily though... with a braid spritz and/or water, and I also had an oil spray.

2 and 1/2 years of growth from my last relaxer and I retained about 14 inches of growth (crown area). The shortest area was about 10 inches, and this was at the back of my head which had been purposely trimmed to slowly get rid of layers.

So yes I am already contemplating my regimen for when my hair is completely natural.

Grow Hair! GROW!!!