6 Month Hair Growth Update!

Its been 6 months since I last had a trim. For those of you who follow me on Youtube, you probably already know that I was becoming frustrated with my hair being the same length for a whole year!! My hair was growing, but it wasn't retaining length because every time I would get a relaxer, my stylist would chop off my growth! Argh!! I never realized it until my November 2010 relaxer results, when I compared photos from all the times I relaxed that year. My hair was the same exact length all year round! I spent a lot of money from buying hair products, paying my stylist $70-$80 every 3-4 months to relax my hair, getting an expensive $150 sew-in (I'm a college student)....and for what? My hair remained the same length despite all the money I spent last year. So I decided to put my foot down and put a stop to this...madness! I got my last trim in November, and from then on I made the decision to not trim again until May 2011...6 months later. Here is a slide show video about me being the same length for 1 year...click here. I made a pact with my stylist to not trim my hair for 6 months, and she agreed...especially after viewing my video. She realized in fact she was trimming too much.

After November, I mainly wore my hair in cornrows and wore my wig over it as a protective style. I relaxed again 2 months later in January 2011. As promised, I did not get a trim in January and continued taking care of my hair as always. In March, I got a weave installed to give my hair a break. I took out the weave in May, and the following week I relaxed. I lost a lot of hair due to my new growth tangling up with my relaxed hair. I even had to cut a few of the knots out! I almost cried, but it wasn't that bad...just a small piece. My stylist relaxed my 4 month post relaxer hair and trimmed off only about 1/2 an inch to almost an inch of hair. Here is my 6 month "No Trim" progress video! I started out at #5 on my measurement shirt, and reached #8 in May! That's 3 inches! But now I'm between #7 and #8 because I got 1/2 an inch trimmed off.

Progress pic...
November 2010 relaxer (#5 on shirt)-May 2011 relaxer (between #7, #8 on shirt)

Milk of Magnesia...The Cure To Oily Skin!

My Oily Skin History:
Since puberty around age 11 till now (22), I've always suffered with oily skin. My skin is not a normal oily. Sometimes, people tend to ask me if I'm sweating..can you imagine how oily that can be? I never thought twice about wearing make-up because I knew that the oils would seep right through the products making me look like a oil painting...ugh!

My Make-Up History:
I actually started wearing make-up last year around my 22nd birthday. And when I say I wore make-up, I mean only eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara for going out with my friends or special occasions. My eyelids get oily too but the primer I use controls it. Overtime, a oily face with eyeshadow just wasn't quite working out for me. Thank goodness I have nice skin (I've been told by MUA's at Sephora and Bobbi Brown), with no problem areas or blemishes, so make-up isn't always needed daily.

My Frustration:
I started getting tired of how much a oily mess I would look at the end of the day. My skin actually looks darker when it's oily. But when I wash my face, I return back to my normal color. When I'm at work, I have to visit the bathroom and blot my face every 2 hours. Sometimes when I'm done blotting my face with a brown paper towel, it would resemble a brown paper bag that contained a greasy cheeseburger...ugh. The only thing I like about oily skin is that it slows down the aging process, that's about it.

My Discovery and Purchase:
It wasn't until March, a few months ago, I finally put my foot down to find a solution for people like me to wear make-up like everybody else. I did my research and found that Milk of Magnesia was highly acclaimed to control oil. At first, I didn't know what Milk of Magnesia was. But I quickly learned it is used as a laxative...interesting. I bought a generic bottle of the M.O.M at my job for $1.69. Its the Shoprite brand, which claims to be comparable to the Phillips brand. The Phillips brand cost $5...what if it didn't work? I would feel better spending $2 on something for it to not work than spend $5. Yea, I know...I'm cheap lol.


The Application:
Start out with a clean washed face. I shook up the bottle and poured a couple drops in the bottle cap. I took a cotton round and dipped it in the laxative. I applied a thin layer on my whole face. If you apply too much, it WILL make your make-up look cakey. For a natural look, apply a thin layer. After the application you will look a little pale, that's normal. After that process is over, just apply you're make-up as normal. For the first time in my life, I wore liquid foundation with no problem! I set the foundation with a pressed powder, and finished off by applying eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss, and filling in my eyebrows.

The Verdict:
I will tell the truth, and the WHOLE truth..After about 8 or 9 hours of wearing this stuff, my make-up still looked like I just applied it! No oils seeped through at all! This product leaves me matte! I find that my nose gets really oily, so I need to apply a little more M.O.M to it. I also found myself powdering my nose because it was getting shiny from time to time. But shine is better than oil! This product is amazing! I cant believe a laxative can control my oil with ease the way it does..oh-em-gee! The only problem I have with it is that it's hard to wash off and leaves a gummy residue to my face. But no worries, by the morning time after I wash my face again, there's no residue left. I give this product 4.9 stars! I deducted a point for the gummy residue. Amazing product and great price! Any readers out there with oily skin, please give this a try. You don't know what you're missing!

FreeTress Amerie Lace Wig Full Review

After doing months of research to find a wig that would hide my hair as a protective style while I wait to get a relaxer, I finally landed on the Freetress Amerie wig. I saw many good reviews on this wig on Youtube and fell in love. I also had 3 other runner-ups, but Amerie beat them and won my heart.

After all she was just what I wanted....

- Long (about 18-20 inches)

- Straight

- Futura fibers, which gives me the option to curl it (Y'all know I love my long sultry curls)

I finally placed the order last Sunday and received her 2 days later. I still had my sew-in, so I couldn't try her on. I finally took my weave down on Friday night. Saturday night, I washed my hair, detangled and braided into 6 fat cornrows. I have way too much new growth to braid my hair into the skinny cornrows...which are also too time consuming. I cut the lace off the wig and tried it on and...Omg...

I was expecting a certain look...This is the look of Amerie on the model..gorgeous!!

but I got Morticia Addams instead...I don't know if it was because my hair underneath the wig is too thick or what? I guess this wig is perfect for those who just got a fresh relaxer, or for those who don't have thick hair as I do. When I wear this wig, there's an obvious "hill" on the top my head, just like Morticia. I guess the braids need to be laid flat which is impossible with my new growth.

Also, this wig is very SHINY! Oh-em-gee..those ladies on Youtube who reviewed this wig and said it looked very natural are not telling the whole truth..but then again, maybe they're being paid to review the product and give it a good review *shakes head*. This wig is so shiny, people can actually tell that you're wearing a wig or fake hair. It also tangles very easily. I find myself brushing it every 5 minutes. The shedding is not too bad though.

Lets talk about the hairline. The hairline is pretty good...at a distance! If somebody is having a conversation with you face to face, they WILL know that you're wearing a lace wig, trust me. The lace is not invisible. The parting in this wig is so annoying. They only give you like a 1/4 inch of parting space which is not enough. This wig also has some layers cut in the front. The hair can get pretty annoying because of the length, so most of the time I like to wear it in a side ponytail. When I do, the layers on one side cant even go into the ponytail, and sticks out..ugh I hate that.

This wig claims to be made of futura fibers, which means that it's curling iron safe. I really hated how stick straight the hair was, so I tried to curl it with both my curling iron and flat iron. I used the curling iron first and set it to 400 degrees. I took a piece of hair and curled it for 2 minutes. When i unraveled the iron from the hair, the curl was very limp and quickly reverted back to straight....huh? So I tried it again, and it did the same thing. I took out my Sedu flat iron, and set it to 410 degrees. I tried curling the hair and it didn't budge -_- at ALL! I gave up and left it straight.

I went out with this wig to the mall today. I felt that my confidence was a lot lower when I wore this out. It felt like people were staring at my hair and automatically assuming it was a wig. Maybe they weren't but I felt like they were. Normally, I make eye contact with people when I speak to them, but with this wig, I caught myself staring at the floor a lot or avoiding eye contact. This wig makes me appreciate being on a healthy journey and growing my hair out so that I wont have to wear wigs ever again. Yes wigs are there as a way to switch up your style and also protect and grow your hair. But some wigs just take your confidence levels down because of the way they turn out other than what you expected of them. I think that's what happened between me and this wig. Thankfully, I wont have to leave my house all week since I have this whole week off from work. I'll be getting a relaxer on Thursday so that i can rock my real hair once again. I think I'll only rock this wig to church lol.

Forgot to mention the color. I ordered this wig in a 1B (off black), but it came out like the color 1 (jet black). It is way too dark to be a 1b..smh.

I Can't Do It!

I took down my sew-in last night with the help of my stylist. My plan was to get a blow out, trim and flat iron next week in time for my birthday. I'm currently 4 months post relaxer and my new growth is getting all tangled up with my relaxed hair! Its so annoying! Even after i spent hours in the bathroom detangling, I'm still finding new tangles. Last night, I detangled and put my hair into 6 braids so that I can have a easy wash day in the morning. I washed, did a light protein treatment and deep conditioned my hair while it was still in the braids. After washing, I took the braids down and detangled once more with my head under the shower head, just to make sure everything was all detangled. I couldn't air dry, because I know how my shrinkage gets. When I get shrinkage, its almost impossible for me to do anything with my hair because it always somehow finds a way to get tangled. So I opted to blow dry on cool air so that I can do some cornrows with my hair in order to wear my new wig. I started washing my hair this morning at 11:30AM...tell me why is it 1:48AM and I'm still doing my hair?? This is crazy! While I was blow drying my hair, I found 3 big dreadlocks in the back of my head. This area is the most kinkiest. I spent hours finger detangling my hair and I'm still not done!

I'm changing my plans. Originally, I said I would relax in October at 9 months post. I cant even handle my hair while its 4 months post so I cant even imagine detangling it at 9 months. I work 6 days a week so that leaves me with 1 off day, Saturdays. That's the only day I have available in the week to really sit down and put all my focus on my hair. I'm young..I'm about to be 23. I dont want to spend my whole weekend detangling my hair and miss out on having fun with my friends. I was invited to two parties today, but I turned them both down for my hair. Life is a lot better and easier when my hair is relaxed. If I decided to go natural, I don't think I would be able to transition..I would have to big chop right away :( This is crazy...my hair has a mind of its own. My new growth is so strong , thick and resistant. And I'm done fighting this long battle with it. I'm throwing in the towel and relaxing for my birthday...*sigh*

My Current Hair Agenda: May 2011

I am currently 4 months post relaxer. My last relaxer was on January 14, 2011. I had a weave installed on March 6th and I still have it in my hair. I am expected to remove it on May 13th. The following week, I will be getting my hair washed, blow dried, and flat ironed professionally for my birthday. I will also be getting my first trim for 2011. My last trim was with my November 2010 relaxer. I'm trying to trim my hair twice a year because it seems like my hair is stuck at the same length and I'm tired of it. For the rest of May and for the whole month of June, I will be deep conditioning my hair weekly to prepare it for the sew-in I will be getting at the end of June. I will be leaving that weave on until the end of August. The whole month of September I will be deep conditioning my hair weekly to prepare for my October relaxer hopefully. I will be 9 months post...OMG! I will also be trimming with my October relaxer too. So far those are my plans!

My new growth under my sew-in (4 months post)

My First Lace Front Wig: Freetress Equal Amerie

I am currently 4 months post relaxer and I still have my sew-in installed. I will be taking down my sew-in in a few days and letting my hair breathe for a month before getting my summer sew-in. I decided to hide my hair with a wig because my new growth is so coarse, and I don't want to look "un-kept" lol. Seriously I have no idea what I'm gonna do with my hair with all the new growth I have. Buns are out of the question and so are roller sets. I want my hair to be completely hidden away. I've been watching some videos about wigs on Youtube and finally fell upon some reviews for a wig by Freetress Equal called Amerie. It seems like a popular wig, based on the amount of reviews I've found about it. I wanted something long, and straight, that also gives me a chance to curl it when I feel like rocking some curls. Amerie seems like it fits the bill. I ordered her on Sunday night (May 8, 2011), and received her today (May 10, 2011). The shipping was so fast! I ordered her from Beautyofnewyork.com. I guess since I live in NY that's the reason behind why it shipped out so quickly. But I will come back with another post about what I think about the Amerie wig. Stay tuned.

This is how she looks on the model...pretty right?

I made sure to pick out a no glue or tape lace front.

Curling iron safe of up to 400 degrees.
I got it in my natural hair color to match!
The shipping was crazy. I dont know why it was so high, especially since the company who delievered it (Beautyofnewyork.com) is located in my state. But they were the only company with the color 1B, so I had no choice... *sigh*