Detangling Transitioning Hair/My New Weave/Weave Regimen/

Detangling Transitioning Hair
Ok so after the previous post, my hair was freshly shampooed. I divided my hair into four sections and applied my leave-in conditioner (Herbal Essences LTR) to each section and tied them with a hairbands. I braided the hair that was left out, tied it up and put on my satin bonnet. My hair airdryed overnight in these braids. I wanted my new growth to be nicely stretched and detangled in preparation for my weave install today. It worked like a charm, no tangles and minimal shed hair :)

My New Weave Install
I used 100% Human Hair and it is about armpit length (I bought one pack of 10 inch hair and 1 pack of 12 inch hair). I won't name the salon where I got it done, because it was really cheap and not the best experience.

Basically it's a side fringe with layers in the front. I am hoping this weave will last 6-8 weeks so when I take it out I will be 5 months post relaxer :O!! The last weave I had was a year ago and I did nothing to it except to flat iron it and maybe shampoo it twice. Wow what a difference a year can make. Here is my weave regimen I am going to follow for the next 8 weeks in order to look after my real hair and the weave:

Moisturise and seal at least 3x week using a spray bottle filled with Elasta QP mango butter & carrot oil, this will be sprayed on my braids underneath

Moisturise my weave at least 3x week using Elasta QP mango butter

Wash my weave bi-weekly using a bottle filled with water, Elasta QP creme conditioning shampoo & Tresemme Naturals conditioner

Flat iron my weave bi-weekly and use heat protectant beforehand

Add my leave-in conditioner to my braids underneath after each wash

Wear low maintenance styles such as buns/ponytails during the week for work

Sleep with a satin bonnet nightly

Wrap my hair the night beforehand if I wish to wear my weave straight the following day

:)

Baggying...Moisture

Boy oh boy one thing I have learnt about my natural hair is that it just looooves moisture. I was preparing to do a shampoo wash but my hair was really dry :(. I decided to do something I haven't done before and deep condition overnight, in fact I deep conditioned for almost 24 hours. Coincidentally Sunshyne from Hairlista has just posted a blog post of how she DCs overnight http://www.hairliciousinc.com/.
This is what I did:
1. Divided my hair into about four sections without combing (I can't comb my new growth when it's dry) and applied my moisturising DC (Elasta QP-DPR 11) from root to tip
2. Then I detangled my hair because it was coated in this DC using a wide tooth comb
3. I bunned my hair and covered it with a plastic bag which I tied and put a satin bonnet on top
4. Woke up in the morning, left my bonnet on for a while
5. About 18 hours after putting the DC in (the next afternoon) I applied carrot oil to my hair and covered again with a towel
6. I then proceeded to shampoo my hair in the shower about two hours later
My hair was sooo easy to detangle! I would definitely do this again if my hair gets this dry again. Such a time saver and low fuss.
So I have 5 Tips for Transitioners (or even Relaxed heads with New Growth):
1. If you have thick, coarse 4A hair like mine don't even think about combing it when dry. I already have some breakage at my crown from doing this :(. After 9 weeks post I could only detangle with a wide tooth comb on wash days when my hair is wet
2. Moisture, moisture and more moisture (unless you are protein sensitive). I use a moisture DC 2x week and also had to moisturise and seal my new growth daily after about 9 weeks post otherwise it was just too dry
3. Lay off the heat, try not to flat iron your new growth too much because it can lead to heat damage/loss of curl. If you must use direct heat try and use it not more then 1x month and even then remember the heat protectant.
4. Do attempt styles such as flexi rod sets, bantu knots and braidouts to blend the new growth with relaxed ends. I tried this but my new growth does not blend it stands out like a sore thumb :/
5. Patience is key, whether it is when you are combing or styling. Gentle handling of your hair prevents breakage!

Damn...maybe I shouldn't have taken these length check pics...

Ok I am subbed to youlovemegz channel and she reminded everyone to take pictures to document their hair journeys. I last took a picture in January 2011 after my relaxer, my relaxer touch up was due last Friday so I thought I might as well take a length check picture especially feeling a bit bleh about transitioning. So here my hair is the end of January 2011:
And here is today 17th April, 11 and a half weeks later, yes I only flat ironed and took a picture of the bottom half of my hair, I thought the less heat the better. Of course I sprayed my Tresemme heat protectant spray on beforehand.

My puffy new growth, notice hair is past the third stripe 

NG is about an inch stretched

Texture of flat ironed hair

Hair has actually grown :O

I clearly need to use my digital camera rather than just my BB but I feel quite shocked by my progress, there's more than once inches of new growth between relaxers. Ends are a little wispy/thin could be due to the fact I am transitioning or that I only flat ironed a small section of hair. Definitely need a trim in the next couple of months. Sometimes I feel I don't do enough to my hair because I bun 5x week but then protective styling is the best way I guess. Eurgh I shouldn't have taken these pics because I am going to have chop off those relaxed ends :(.  Definitely thankful for Hairlista without that site I wouldn't have made this progress! Welll I've got a bit of time before deciding I am going to enter into a protective style watch out for a blog post soon...

Okay so I'm back!

I am still transitioning, just had a bit of a "whatamigonnadowithmyhair" moment!
After visiting blogs such as:
the natural haven
hairinspiration (naturalbelle)
urbanbushbabes
And the ever so wonderful Hairlista
I was back on my transitioning journey, I'm 11 weeks post so only got 11.5 months left. I saw this little curl yesterday in my hair and was definitely back on my journey to natural hair!

I am going to installmicro braids when I am not wearing my braids these will be my transitioning styles:

    Flexi Rod Braid Out Updo:

Caruso Roller Set/Saran Wrap:

Flexi Rod Braid Out:



I am trying to minimise heat on my hair, but I couldn't resist blow drying it this week, I was fed up of air drying:

(Side View)- looks healthy to me of course I used my heat protectant beforehand, not much breakage so far, detangling my hair when wet 2x week after washing is definitely working for me!

10 weeks post new growth, suprisingly manageable:

My weekend plans for my hair are to wear clip-ins in a protective style like so, 3 easy steps:

1) Section off the front of the hair as my leave-out hair, flat iron or Caruso roller set. French braid the bottom half of the hair

2) Apply your clip-ins over the bottom section

 3) Brush clip-ins and leave out hair to blend, style as desired:

HHJ guys!

Transitioning Blues aka Random Hair Babble

So I am over 2 and a half months post and I've self-installed some kinky twists and I am not a happy bunny
:(  The hair is massive and I think it's because I am not used to fake hair being on my head. Apart from clip-in extensions I have not had any braid or extension on my head in almost a year! So does this mean I am better transitioning without any braids/weaves/wigs? How am I going to do that? Won't my hair look ugly? How am I going to do this without using heat? Is it worth doing a long-term transition versus a big chop? Honestly these are all the questions going through my head, this journey is really hard and I'm not even 3 months in :( . I am definitely transitioning to more natural products but I feel I am not mentally ready to transition to natural hair, yet. Honestly I am so tempted to get a relaxer next week and continue on my relaxed hair journey to BSL. I guess the end seems so far I can't even see the end to justify the means. If you know what I mean anyway this is a random hair babble, a result will be posted here soon- either relaxed or transitioning....