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Me at Collar Bone Length, I have been at this level most of my Adult life and believed my hair just was not growing. I had struggled with my growth most of my life. As a Child I had Lap Length Hair, but I rarely took care of it, I hated combing and brushing it too, I would give my Mom such a hard time, on Shampoo days. Mom did not use a lot of oil on our scalp but we did keep our hair braided all day but loose over night, we never slept with our hair tied up as a child. In the morning we were supposed to brush, comb it and braid it, but since Mom rarely checked I never did either I would just wet it and slick it back into a pony tail and braid it. I might post a picture of me after my cut started to grow back one day.
Then one wash day my Mom had enough of my poor hair care she felt I was old enough to be doing my hair and combing and brushing it out, so she punished me by shaving it off at age of 12, a very tramatic experience for me, that whole Summer I looked like my Brother. But Mom had 5 daughters and all of us had long hair, she just did not have the time. I believed my lap length hair was gone forever. Then one day in March 2009 I discovered the Truth about Hair and Growth...
Our hair is always growing 24/7 everyones hair is growing, if not Perms would not be for sale and you could get a Perm and it would last your life time, but the fact is our hair is braking off just as fast as its growing out due to harsh treatments by us. Once you find out the harsh treatments your hair is going through you can stop them and start retaining your growth just like me. |
When I started my hair was a mess! wow I look back now and cant believe how dry and brittle it actually was back then. I did not know how to care for it, I used heat daily and shampoo daily all Summer long.
I began my Hair Journey...
at Collar Bone Length, that was March 2009, back then I, shampooed daily, clipped my ends every Month, believed my Hair Dresser was an expert and did as I was told me. They said your hair will never grow back to lap the length you had as a child and if you want it to grow you have to keep cutting your ends, they had all kinds of excuses for why... Oh its because your Mom should have never shaved your head with clippers when you were 12, Oh its because your in your 40s Woman in their 40s lose their hair just like Men. I colored it too much and blow dried it too much. I mean I just about heard everything.
The results were severely damaging, I remained at Collar Bone Length with split ends and losing my hair by the brush load daily. I should have actually been bald for all the Hair that fell out of my head in a single shampoo. So as the part in my head got larger and larger I realized I needed to do something. After searching online I found a Girl who was telling Woman how to grow their hair using Protective Styling and Hair Oils, something my Mom would never use on our hair was Oil. I thought that was a joke how can oil grow your hair right? but what did I have to lose, I felt I could at least give it a try. To my Shock my Hair actually changed started feeling less dry and brittle. After two weeks I went in for my usual hair appointment and blow out, I was actually due to have my ends clipped again but to my surprise she said hey your ends are looking good no need to clip them this time good job. Good Job hmm was it the oil was it the fact that I stopped washing my hair daily, or combing and brushing it over the pass two weeks?
This sent me on a Journey that still to this day I barely believe... That was only after 2 weeks of what I call Proper Treatment of my Hair, I began to imagine what I could do with a few Months and my search continued and I continued to find more info. I have not had my ends clipped in almost 10 Months, my hair is no longer falling out and I dont even use Shampoo anymore.
Since that Day I was hooked on Healthy Hair!
I read and searched every Black Hair Care Site on the Web I could find. I found the necessary application that worked for my hair. I learned its not the Products its the Treatment, how you treat your hair is the key to Healthy Hair!
I stopped using harsh shampoos, washing daily, hair gel, and even stopped Coloring my Hair for a long time, I learned the right type of Treatment for my hair. I began using Deep Conditioner, Moisturizer, Henna
Oils and Leave in Conditioners and Anti breakage treatments, Protein Treatments and more.
I learned why my hair was falling out and how to protect my ends from damage and breakage. I found many Ladies who shared info just like I am doing here.
My youtube channel is Arlenienj
My Hair as of my last updated picture, April 2010
this is now...
that was then...
my hair in progress
As you can see my hair is much thicker and fuller now in these pictures...
April 09
Oct 2009, my last blow out...
my curly afro- style... its the best because with this style I can go comb and brush free for like 2 weeks at a time.
find more of my Hair updates on my youtube page under member name Arlenienj
My Secret Tips are actually not really Secrets at all, but they came to me as a Secret because I just never knew they existed or could be used. I have learned a lot and will post when I get the time.
Secret Hair Tip #1
Stop those Ends from Splitting dead in their tracks!
The Baggie Method ie... rap your ends in Plastic each night and save your ends from splitting.
read it in her own words here: http://public.fotki.com/Chicoro123/hair-care/hair-2009/length-check/ends2009.html
I learned this Method from her the Author of GrowIt, you can buy her book on Amazon. Although she does not take credit for inventing the Method she does use it and I learned if from her.
Just look at her Hip Length Hair, the link to her Blogspot... I met her about 2 Months into my Hair Journey, and I have been hooked on the Baggie Method ever since. I do tend to go a bit crazy with it though because I will leave it rapped 24/7 some times LOL. After meeting her I actually realized its not about the products, its all about the "Treatment" your giving your hair to maintain your growth.
Look at my results:
But I love the Bun Style too under here my tips are in yep... Plastic and Protected YAY!
Back view of my Curly Afro Style
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| My Braided Bun |
My French Twisty Bun
I do love rockin the Buns! and yes my ends are in Plastic...
I cover my plastic with a Nylon (usually the end tip an old knee high then top that with a scrunchy... of a this is a Black Nylon over the plastic Bun I did this one on Sunday and usually take it out on Thursday.
So take it from me... try it out and see if it works for you, I am not saying it will work, your hair maybe different or need different treatment, but I will say if you do wanna try it out here is what you will need.
Here is how I do it...
Magnifying Mirror you know the ones that are at least 10x
Plastic Rap any will do your only doing it over night
Scarf to tie your hair up over night
Leavin Conditioner should be clear if not dont use it
Moisturizer use just a bit on your ends
Hair Oil apply to your ends
Now your ready to begin...
Apply a small amount of the Leavin Conditioner to your ends not enough to wet it, just mist it one or two sprays on your ends. Then apply a tiny bit of Moisturizer to your ends then seal it with the Hair Oil.
Now your ready to begin Plastic Rapping, if your hair is long enough to put in a ponytail like mine do so, be sure the ends are smooth I usually brush mine out a bit and braid them, if your hair is too short do a few little braids. Now rap those ends in the Plastic and tuck them away I use a small piece of nylon it keeps my hair still. I am soo addicted to this method I will go for 4 or 5 days at a time leaving it on in that style. But if you cant do that just do it nightly.
Now for the use of your Mirror... Prior to doing this either take a close up picture or take a good look at your ends, clip them if they need clipping before you begin. Study them very well because if you continue you will notice they will stop splitting. They are the oldest part of your hair and need the best treatment you can give them. Wearing them down on your clothing is how this damage takes place, and dont just believe its Black Woman with this issue I have many White Friends who can not grow their hair either.
Do this for about 7 to 10 days and I promise you will notice a difference in your Hair and Ends. To get a really good look examine those ends and see how good they look under that Magnifying Mirror.
Your Hair will tell you the TRUTH!
If something is not working your hair will let you know, my hair was letting me know for years I was doing the wrong thing, heaving heat from blow drying sometimes daily, harsh shampoos, too much cutting.
If your hair does not respond to the Treatment you try keep on going, sooner or later you will learn what your hair likes, my hair hates Shampoo so I had to stop it, it made my scalp itch and flake I believed I had dandruff started using even harsher shampoos and drying out my scalp even more. Finally I just got used to a severely dry scalp and flakes because my scalp was screaming for help.
Once I learned my problems were shampoo and dryness which was due to my scalp being soo sensitive to the harsh chemicals in shampoos. I stopped using them and started using a Conditioner Wash, now I only Clarify once every three Months or 4 times per year. I have not had dandruff ever since I stopped shampooing my hair.
this is my curly fro updated...
my Twist about a Year ago...
My length today as of July 2010
My Twist today as of September 2010, and this is with cutting about 2 inches of hair... wow when I look at this one I can only think of my Hair Dresser telling me that my hair cant grow, and how I believed her I thought if I kept cutting it off it would soon start to grow because she kept telling me we had to stop the damage by cutting it off. In reality she was cutting off my growth right along with it. I have not had to clip my ends in over a year.
Secret Hair Tip #2
Stop Itchy Scalp in Seconds...
This is an all natural anti bacterial anti fungal oil, I love Tea Tree Oil. Just apply a small bit to the itchy area of your scalp and it will be gone in seconds. Its all Natural which is the best, back when I was using shampoo I used it a lot. It does have a strong smell if your not used to it, but it works I usually mix it with some Vitamin E Oil but I only use the Vitamin E from the Capsule it mixes well. I rarely need to use it now.
Secret Hair Tip #3
No Comb No Brush Method...
Of course I just love this one... because I hate to comb or brush my hair, so whenever I can just leave it and wet my hands and slick it back Im ready to go.
So I finger comb my wet hair and apply my usual treatment,
Leavin Conditioner = Moisturizer = Oil = Plastic Rap
I usually Braid or just Bun Style for this treatment, since its rapped in plastic the whole time it really does have a lasting effect. I may get a few tangles from leaving it in for 2 weeks so after 5 days I sometimes take it down and finger comb through and reapply Moisture and Oil. My hair does very well with Moisture and Oil so it really does not tangle much once its dry. I like using this method for Summer because when I shower each day its all good letting my hair get wet a bit.
So try it for a while and see how you do I think your gonna be amazed! I recently saw a Girl do a whole Plastic Rap Method nightly and I am thinking about trying it to see how that works for me.
Secret Hair Tip #4
Skip a Shampoo or Two LOL...
This was how I actually found out that Shampoo was causing all my dryness and itchiness, it was drying the heck outta my scalp. I had run out of shampoo and did not have time to run to the beauty supply store, so I did my usual deep condition and rinsed then did a re-condition treatment and left it on for about 5 mins like I usually did with conditioner but only this time I rubbed it in more as if it was shampoo. I rinsed as usual and a day or two later I notice my scalp was not flaky and itchy as it normally was. I did not know at the time what was going on I though maybe I had applied too much moisturizer and it got on my scalp. But then days later I still notice no more scalp problems, and I suffered with all kinds of dryness to my scalp and since I don't use grease on my scalp it usually takes a few days to go away after a hair washing.
This time I noticed my scalp was in good condition, so for my next few Shampoos I did not use any Shampoo I only used Conditioner on my hair. I was healed, I have never gone back to using Shampoo again, now I only use a Clarifying shampoo 4 times a year.
So test this out Shampoo is harsh and can be causing your breakage at the root of your hair shaft, test it out and see if this not only works for you but saves your new growth from falling out.
Secret Hair Tip #5
coming soon ;o)
