For Easter this year, I plan on rocking my first flexi-rod set! I'm gonna use the orange rods because I want skinny curls so that when I separate them, I'll have a head full of bouncy curls. I never did a flexi-rod set before, and of course I learned from watching videos on Youtube. So Saturday night, I will be putting what I learned to work and hopefully my hair will turn out cute for Sunday. Stay tuned! Hopefully it turns out something like this picture.
5 weeks post relaxer. I have not yet applied any growth aids to my scalp. I usually start applying them at 6 weeks post. I have 7 weeks to go before I relax. Right now I'm just moisturizing and sealing twice a day, baggying at night (whenever I can remember), and bun it up in the morning. Speaking of bunning, I need to make a video of how I do my buns since it's requested a lot. Here are a few new growth shots!
Ever since last year, I've been looking at the Marc Jacobs Stam bag. There's something about that bag that always captures me. The gold chain, the quilted pattern, the size of the bag, everything! It's beautiful! But for $1,350 that's way too much for a bag especially being a college student lol. Maybe when I finally get my Nursing degree I'll reward myself, but as for now....uh no. Last Christmas, I worked hard and bought my first Louis Vuitton speedy bag. It was a lot less than the Marc Jacobs though. Aside from being in college, I also work part time. I'm sure if i saved up for it, I would have it, but I cant see myself spending that much on a purse right now when I should be saving money for more important things. Anyways, tonight, a little before I uploaded a new video to Youtube, I decided to check my subscriptions to see if there were any new videos from anybody I was subscribed to. Dulcecandy87 had a new "What's in my bag" video, and as funny as it sounds, I love those types of videos for some strange reason. So i clicked on it. Now, this girl shops a lot! Of course, I was expecting her to have a designer bag. And soon enough, she lifted up her bag to show everybody how it looked, and at first glance I thought it was the Marc Jacobs Stam bag! I had to keep rewinding the video to make sure. Then I looked over to the side bar, and she wrote that she ordered the purse for only $54 bucks on Handbagheaven.com! Seriously, I'm usually very good at telling whether a bag is real or fake, and her bag looked authentic! I think I'm gonna order it! Thanks Dulce! I know the economy is bad, so this bag is a great buy if you love the MJ Stam bag like I do and you're on a budget.
Hey ladies! I was recently interviewed by Rochelle from myhairdivine.net! I was so excited when I got the email about how she wanted to interview me and hear my hair story. My very first hair interview! Yay! I enjoyed doing the interview, thanks Rochelle! If you want to read my interview, please click here and also visit her blog! It's very interesting. Enjoy!
Back in September 2009, was my last visit to a Dominican hair salon. I only let them relax my hair, and roller set it. I didn't even let them blow it out or even wrap it, in fear of them damaging my hair. After taking out the rollers, I just paid them their $43 dollars, and walked out with curls in my hair. Once I got home, I wrapped my hair myself. Two days later, I called my cousin and asked her to trim my ends for me. I don't trust the Dominicans when it comes to trimming, which is why I have to make my cousin do it. After she trimmed my ends for me, I was impressed. It was a nice clean cut, and I didn't even lose that much length.
My next relaxer was due in November. When November came, I called my cousin up a week before my relaxer and asked her if she could trim my ends for me after I get my hair relaxed at the Dominicans. She agreed, but on top of that, she asked me if she could relax my hair for me. I was caught off guard by her question because she hasn't done my hair in years. The last time she did my hair was years ago when she braided the front of my hair for my 15th birthday. Then I remembered that she currently graduated from a good Hair school from Manhattan, and also she posts pics of her hair models on her Facebook page. I agreed, and let her do my hair.
The day I went to the salon where she worked at, I was her only client. She took her time and relaxed my hair for me. Then she treated it with treatment, blow dried, trimmed and then flat ironed for the finished look. OMG! My hair was beautiful! It felt so soft, it was swinging from left to right, and after the trim, I virtually had NO splits in my hair. My fingers glided through effortlessly. I paid her and on top of that gave her a tip! I was a VERY satisfied customer! She was also very gentle, and is also on her own healthy hair journey, so she knows how to handle Black hair.
From that day, I decided that the Dominicans are not all they're hyped up to be. First of all, they cant speak English right (no offense), but if I want something right done on my hair, the least you can do is understand what I'm saying. They're too rough when they're combing your hair, especially when it's wet. They don't give good trims (they dont catch all the splits). What's the point of sticking around? The worst reality is that most of them don't even have a Cosmetology license! They're just helping their fellow Dominicans by giving them a job. Why risk years of progress at the hands of an inexperienced, non English speaking lady who just wants to get paid, and doesn't really care about your hair and how hard you worked at growing and maintaining it? Till this day, I'll never forget last year April 2009 when I visited the Dominicans for a touch-up with 6 months worth of new growth. That was like the worst thing I could do! The lady used a wide tooth comb and yanked away at my hair! She was fighting with it so much, the comb broke in 2 pieces. Everybody at the salon was staring at me. Then she started cursing in Spanish. Till this day, I still dont like that lady, whenever I see her I feel disgusted. And on top of that, her dry brittle hair was ear length...ugh! Make sure the person doing your hair has great hair too, because at least you know they know about healthy hair.
(Click pic to view larger size)
After taking the "June 2009" picture, I realized how important trimming was. I know my hair reached APL in the pic, but i couldn't stand the idea of having thin see through hair. I was shocked! I used to get a trim once a year prior to the "June 2009" picture being taken, because somebody on Fotki told me trims are really not necessary.... Trims really ARE necessary for healthy hair by the way. But I read too many horror stories about trims gone wrong and didn't want anyone to carelessly trim away months and months of progress. So i stayed away from them. My ends were mad at me, and they showed their anger by being thin, lifeless and see through. From then on, I cut down my stretching periods from 6 months [24 weeks] to 3 months [12 weeks]. And I also got a trim with every relaxer, starting from the June 2009 pic. To maintain my trim, I stayed away from direct heat, air dried, moisturized and sealed my hair every morning and night, balanced my protein and moisture, and bunned it up. For months, my hair stayed at the same length because I was constantly trimming away the thinness with every relaxer. I'm willing to sacrifice length for health ANY day. I am now proud to say that I'm ready to move on to greater lengths, now that the thin ends are gone. Ladies, please stop holding on to those thin, lifeless ends. When you get rid of them, they'll thank you for it. The truth is in the pic above! Good luck and Happy Hair Growing!
How I know when "I" need a trim (Can be applied to anybody) :
- When I run my fingers through my hair, my fingers dont glide through effortlessly. They stop at knots and tangles.
- My ends look jagged and not all in one length.
- When i can see my shirt through my hair [that means the ends are thin].
- My ends dont respond to product well or hold curls very long.
