Length Check and Trim

I straightened my hair to get a sense of my length and by my surprise I reached BSL already! I didn't plan on hitting BSL until October! However, I didn't want to rejoice for too long because I knew I needed a trim. There were just too many scraggly end for my taste... so I snipped.

Here is my length before the trim

And here is my length after the trim 

I did a self trim so it wasn't exactly the most precise nor was it the prettiest thing in the world, but it served its purpose. At first I snipped off about and inch and a half to two inches of hair.

Then I did a search and destroy until my ends looked better. It was hard to measure the hair that I snipped off from searching and destroying but here's what my sink looked like lol.

All in all my ends look much better, but definitely not their best. I really need to kick the straightener to the curb for good. But it's just so hard...

Texlax Update

I texlaxed this past Thursday (at 13 weeks post) because I was having trouble dealing with my new growth. In a effort to avoid any excessive breakage I texlaxed earlier than usual. I used the half and half method with ORS Lye relaxer and only left the relaxer in for 11 minutes this time around. The last time I texlaxed the results (pictured below) were too straight.

Previous relaxer (August 2011)

So this time around I made an effort to leave a lot of texture in. Here were the results I got this time around.

There is just the right amount of texture left. I can comb through it much easier now without it being completely straight. I am trying really hard not to worry about length right now so after neutralizing, deep conditioning, and leave ins I decided not to straighten my hair. Instead, I air-dried in a bun over night and tied my hair down with a silk scarf.  

 Air dried bun in the morning. It was only about 60% dry.

I'm satisfied with the results. I might not stretch too long anymore because I enjoy getting through my hair with ease. I may take my stretched from 4 months down to three. 

I am trying not to length check until the end of December. At that point I am thinking of cutting off an inch of hair. The goal is to get as much relaxed ends gone as possible by graduation (May 2013).. 

I Am APL!! Texlaxed at 16 Weeks Post and Hair Update

I relaxed my hair on Saturday just in time for my summer challenge. Around April I had challenged myself (and my boyfriend challenged me) to reach APL by August 12th. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of what my length was in April but I was between full SL and APL. I was hoping to reach APL by August 12th so that when i get to my hair journiversary date (October 26th) I would be full APL. So, did I do it.? Here's how the day went...

1. Sectioned my hair into four sections and based my scalp with vaseline.

2. Applied castor oil onto my already processed hair and then roux porosity control conditioner on top. 

3. Parted and clipped 1 inch sections within those four parts. (My mom was helping me out with this texlax. She was going to work on the back two sections while i did the front two... so the clips were placed right where she was to stop applying relaxer...a little below the demarcation line. The part of my hair that was already processed was already protected with castor oil and roux porosity control so if she got relaxer on the processed hair I wouldn't have to have a heart attack. She didn't mess up, thankfully!)

4. Set my timer for 12 minutes

5. Applied the relaxer (ORS lye relaxer in normal strength) to my new growth for about 8 minutes and smoothed for about 4 minutes. 

6. Rinsed out the relaxer for about 5 minutes

7. Applied Keratin 2 minute protein treatment for 5 minutes then rinsed.

8. Neutralized with ORS Creamy Shampoo 3 times and rinsed

9. T-shirt dried for about 5 minutes

10. Applied ORS Replenishing Conditioner for 30 minutes with heat and rinsed.

11. Applied Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea and Aphogee Pro Vitamin Leave In Conditioner. 

12. Air dried for 30 minutes, blow dried, and straightened with one pass only. 

whew.. that was alot..

Throughout the whole process I was so anxious to see how my hair was doing! I hadn't straightened my hair all summer and I wanted to know if i made APL. And I did! I was so excited. I knew from the time I was washing the relaxer out that my hair was noticeably longer. As I straightened my hair nothing could take a huge cheesy smile off of my face. I could not believe it. I actually surpassed my goal for August; I found that I was about an inch passed APL! I must have done the happy dance in my bathroom for a good 10 minutes straight. I screamed for my brother to come see, I called my boyfriend, I jumped around with my mom, I celebrated with all of my biggest supporters. LOL! You would've thought i just won the lotto. Lol. But seriously.. I was very excited for my little milestone.

August 2012 Length Check (APL)

Although I met my goal, there were still some concerns. My ends were acting weird. They were a little more dry than the rest of my hair. They almost felt as if they had heat damage which didn't make sense to me because I had not been putting heat on my ends. I also noticed that I needed a serious trim...So I trimmed off about 1/2 an inch but it didn't make a difference..I wasn't ready to cut off any more inches right now though...I'll save that for October. I am going to need to make a serious game plan for my ends and I want to start by roller setting more often but it is just so hard for me :-(

I also noticed that my hair processed a little more straight than I wished for it to. I didn't leave the relaxer in for any longer than usual but I think I did spend more time smoothing than usual. I am thinking it appears so straight because the relaxer is so fresh? Maybe i'll see some more of texture for my next wash? I hope so. 

Wet Texture Shot

All in all i'm happy! I met my goals and I see my progress! As you can see in my wet shot, I do have a good amount of relaxed ends left over from before I started texlaxing. I will hopefully be able to trim off a good amount of my bone straight ends in October and still be Full APL. Right on schedule!

Length Check Comparison (Feb '12/Feb'12)

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from my April relaxer. I had relaxed early at 8 weeks because my new growth was out of control. My back half had not processed much because I had to wash it out after about 3 minutes because my scalp was burning a little. I didnt even straighten for that relaxer. I just air dried and bunned. Anyways...moving on...

Comparison Wet Shots (Dec. '11/Aug '12)

I am so happy that I found this wet shot in my picture folder on my computer. I forgot I even had it! This reminds me to always remember to take pictures!

All smiles :-)