It's been a year since I decided to start actively growing my hair. In that time, I've had three hair cuts but I'm still pretty happy with the length progress I've made!

Now that I'm weaning myself off the heat tools, I think next year will reap even better results for my length progress. 2016 here we come!

Sept 2014

Sept 2015 - Hemline is only uneven in pic, although I do need a trim!

Heat is the enemy for many when they're on a quest for healthy, longer or thicker hair. The excess use of heat tools depletes moisture, damages and ultimately thins or breaks your hair. Knowing this, I still regularly flat iron my hair. It's a bad habit I haven't yet busted.

However, lately I've been experimenting with pin curls, bantu knot-outs and braid-outs. I do the styles at night after moisturising and in the morning when I take them out, I look a mess, consequently turning to my straighteners. So in my attempts to get away from heat tools, I end up straightening my hair - a paradox I'd rather avoid.

Time consuming and frustrating, mastering a new style is not always easy. For those in a similar predicament, I've decided to share my inauspicious attempts to perfect these heatless styles. I'll document the good, bad and the ugly outcomes of my trials. If you're feeling anywhere as frustrated as I am, hopefully seeing someone else go through trial and error will keep you motivated.

I'm not giving up until I can master a style that works for me!


ABOVE: My first attempt at pincurls. Clearly, I hadn't quite mastered the technique of creating the curl! The result was just as disappointing - some areas turned out wavy while I had other random straight sections. In the end, I used the straighteners to curl the rest of my hair. Pretty contradictory considering I'm trying to stay away from heat!

ABOVE: Another attempt - not too bad this time, although it seems like only the ends curled.

ABOVE: My best outcome yet - I had soft curls / waves that lasted the entire day. It's taken me a good few weeks to perfect the technique of rolling the hair and pinning it down. I'd say the first two weeks were hit and miss, but I persevered and now I no longer wake up with the dread of wondering how my hair is going to look.

Update: A guide on how I achieve my perfect pincurl style!

It's been such a long time since I last posted. I've been so busy with my last year of university, going on holiday and then starting a new job. But now I'm back to blogging, so I thought I'd start with a post about the Brazilian Keratin Treatment (BKT) I received today.

I blogged about my first BKT here, but I didn't document the second one which I had on 22nd April. I wanted more of a blunt style at the time so my stylist cut off quite a bit, leaving me back at square one in terms of length progress:

22 April 2015

My hair has been doing well since and I can now feel it touching the bottom of my neck - a welcomed indicator that it's gaining length! I don't plan on cutting my hair again unless it's absolutely necessary.

11 July 2015

3rd Keratin Treatment - 11 July 2015

As usual after every treatment, my hair was swinging, shiny and smooth. Now, I'm sure we've been here before (I recognise that tree*), but I'm definitely going to focus on retaining my length. Every three months I'll be taking length pictures to compare my progress.

*For all you Gilmore Girls fans, here's a reference for ya

I transitioned the unorthodox way (by using heat regularly), so I think my transition may have been a lot easier than usual. Nevertheless, I share with you the top 5 things that helped me transition:

1. Getting my hair cut regularly. 

Getting regular trims kept my transition feeling exciting as I knew I was getting closer to my goal with each chop. The less relaxed hair there was on my head, the less tangles I encountered - so regular cutting helped a lot with manageability

The mug shots for hair:I've had quite a few hair cuts over the year to maintain my short bob!  (Not chronologically ordered)

2. Deep conditioning 1-2 times a week.

Up until my 6th month of transitioning, my new growth felt really rough, matted or dry. Deep conditioning regularly using an applicator brush enabled my roots to get full conditioner coverage. I was (and still am) using heat often, and so deep conditioning injected some much needed moisture into my regime. I experienced some bad crown breakage at the line of demarcation due to a different, much dryer texture in the middle of my head. For some reason, transitioning shocked my hair's moisture levels into chaos but all seems well now.

See my other relevant posts: Matted New Growth and Line of Demarcation Breakage

3. Working in sections with patience

Long gone were the days I could jump out of the shower, slap on some product and go. The more new growth, the more tangled the hair will become. At around my 6 month-post mark, I started doing everything in sections (conditioning, washing, detangling, moisturising, straightening). I probably should have stated doing this earlier, but I was still learning my hair. Hair can be infuriating whether you're transitioning or not - so if you get too frustrated, just take a break. Divide and conquer, people! Divide. And. Conquer.

As of 7th February 2015, my hair is now keratin treated!

My hairdresser uses the K Fusion Smoothing Treatment, which is formaldehyde-free.

What is a keratin treatment?

Hair is made up of a protein called keratin. Heat, harsh chemicals and daily manipulation breaks down the protein bonds in the hair, weakening the strand and making it prone to breakage. A keratin treatment works to infuse the protein back into the hair, temporarily filling in weak spots and working to condition, strengthen and smooth the strands.

With this particular treatment, the results last 3-4 months and wash out over time.

How to do a keratin treatment:

1. My hair was washed and blowdried 90% dry. 
2. The keratin treatment was applied in small sections and left to air dry for about 45 minutes
3. The treatment was rinsed out (no shampoo used) and blowdried again. 
4. Hair was straightened with the flat iron to seal in the treatment 
5. Avoid getting hair wet, tying it up or using clips for 48 hours
6. Wash treatment out and style as usual

Does the keratin treatment damage hair? That's a lot of heat!

I had this conversation with my stylist. She explained that the product acts as a protector against heat providing it is applied correctly. You may have also heard the horror stories about using up to 10 passes with the straighteners to seal in the treatment. My hair dresser uses two passes on my hair - she's very concerned with the health of a client's hair and does not use more heat than necessary.

Keratin treatment results

• My hair was swinging and blinging, it was so shiny and had movement that I've never experienced before
• It felt really soft and smooth. 
• It also (temporarily) loosened my curl pattern - noticeable when wet
• Straightening my hair doesn't take as long 
• My hair doesn't revert if I get caught in the rain or humid weather.

First day of getting the treatment

Last words:

I'm very happy with this treatment. I'm currently experimenting with wash & gos as my texture is much looser now. Talking with my hairdresser's other clients, many of them raved about their hair never being as long as it is now due to regular keratin treatments. I think I'm going to stick with getting it done every 3 - 4 months. I'm ready to attempt to grow my hair longer as I've been wearing this bob for a couple of years now.

Towel dried hair before the treatment

Towel dried hair after treatment

I remember viewing other transitioners' pictures and blogs on Hairlista and feeling envious that they were so many months ahead of me in their transition. I couldn't comprehend going without a relaxer for a year but I knew that's what I wanted to do. The hair bloggers used to write about 'how time flies' and I used to think 'yeh, right. It's going to drag on for me'. Honestly though, time has really flown by and as you can probably see from my recent lack of blogging activity, my hair has not been on my mind the whole time. At the start, I was constantly checking my progress or researching how much 'X' amount of new growth should look like etc. Now I realise that a watched pot never boils and I should just enjoy the journey. I'm only a year post. My natural journey is only just beginning.

I haven't felt a craving to go back to getting a relaxer - probably because I transitioned the naughty way and used the straighteners to help me. Nevertheless, I am proud of myself for getting this far. Click here to read my milestone blog posts so far.

I had my hair cut on 14th January. It was beginning to look like a mullet as the layers on top were much shorter than the bottom. My (new) hairdresser cut about an inch off the bottom hemline and explained that she wouldn't cut so much from the top. This would mean I've now got more of a blunt bob which will avoid the awkward mullet stage as it grows out.

Before and after my hair cut

So, did I make my goal of being fully natural by Jan 2015?
Well, apart from a tiny section in the front, yes. I'm counting myself as natural either way!

Sectioning my hair after washing

Some things I have learned about my hair:

Avoiding heat damage: Hair is best protected from heat when it is freshly washed and conditioned. Applying heat to unwashed hair bakes in the product and dirt already in there, causing damage that could have been avoided. For my hair, I get the best protection and results when I use a serum heat protectant on damp hair, followed by a non-water based spray heat protectant just before straightening.

Satin scarf vs satin pillow:  Recently, I've been experimenting with different ways to preserve my hair overnight. I've realised that the moisture is much better retained when I wrap my hair in a silky scarf as opposed to just lying on a silky pillowcase.

I have three different textures on my head: The bottom half of my hair is silky with a loser curl pattern. The top part is much tighter in curl pattern or has no pattern at all. The crown of my head is dry, wiry and brittle. If I treat each area of my hair the same, some part will be lacking in care. Thus, I have to pay extra attention to my crown, giving it more moisture than anywhere else.

I've had problems with breakage in the crown of my head.  I check regularly for signs of breakage but it seems to be doing well for now. Click to see my crown breakage post

Single strand knots AKA fairy knots: These have appeared all of a sudden at the ends of my hair. They're tiny little knots that form (usually near the end) of a single strand. I had loads of them and I thought it might be to do with the fact I use so much heat and needed a hair cut. Apparently they come with natural territory but I'm not sure if it has anything to do with damage - or if any healthy head of hair can get them.

What are my next steps? 

I'm going to focus on growing my hair longer now. For this, I will need to:

• Find a better way to wrap my hair. I use heat frequently to bump the ends of my bob inwards. I think the secret to putting down the straighteners is in how I wrap my hair at night. It's too short to cross wrap (a successful method when my hair was longer), so I'm trying other techniques.

• Try heatless styles like braidouts. Braidouts are something I really want to do and feel comfortable with. I guess when I've worn my hair straight like this for such a long time, it can be daunting to change up my style. 

• Get trims less often. It was recommended that to maintain my bob, I get trims every 6-8 weeks, but to grow it, I should get them every 10-12 weeks. If I want to go longer without getting cuts, I need to take better care of my ends.

How is your journey going? What is your next milestone? Let me know! 

View my transitioning pictures
Feeling nostalgic? Click here to see my first ever post 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In three weeks I'll be one year post. I can't believe it! As I'll be posting a full update in about three weeks, I'll keep this one short.

It's been longer than usual (1 week short of 4 months) since I got my last hair cut. I'm hoping to get another cut before my 1 year date on 22 Jan. That way, I can do the big reveal as to whether all the relaxed hair has been chopped off. I'm changing stylists so it's about whether I can get hold of my hairdresser in time or not.

Anyway, here's a picture of my hair now:

Jan 2015

I washed my hair today and wanted to share a few texture shots of my wet hair with you:

Crazy mix of coils and frizz

You can still see some relaxed hair at the front of my head... We'll see how much is left after my next cut

It's been a long time since I last posted. I am now 10.5 months post, and I know I did not write an update at 10 months, but really there was nothing to report.

As I've acquired some heat damage in one section and my ends need a cut, I decided to finally wean myself off the straighteners. I've tried braid-outs before but as I didn't have a product to aid definition, my styles never really worked out.

Last night, I used Soft 'n' Free GroHealthy Shea Butter Treatment on my hair for definition and then plaited it in three sections. I did this on flat ironed hair and this was the result:


It's different to my usual style so I'm feeling a bit conscious of my hair, but I'm going to keep trying braid-outs and hope that I can get to a point where I'm happy with wearing them

OK so it's not actually an ode. I just wanted to write a post about the benefits of documenting my hair journey and encourage others to do so also. Now and again I will visit my blog and click through the posts as if I were a reader. I've come to realise how useful my documentation has been for me in my journey and have listed a few reasons why:

1. It keeps me motivated. Having to frequently update my blog means that my hair journey is always fresh in my mind. Even when I get discouraged, I know that I can write about it here instead of just giving up.

See also: 9 Ways to Keep Motivated During Your Hair Journey

2. It reminds me that I'm making progress. Since I can't physically feel my hair growing and I see it everyday, it can sometimes feel like my progress is slow. Being able to see photographs of my hair (both on my blog and in my personal photos), I can see the changes in thickness. As I've been taking photos of my new growth, I can also see the differences in how much new growth I'm getting. When putting my pictures in chronological order, I can see how my texture is changing as the relaxed hair gets cut off.

3. I can refresh myself on forgotten products and techniques. Sometimes we like a change so we switch up our routine or products. My blog allows me to scroll back through time and revisit things I'd forgotten about that worked for me. It also means I can collect information about what didn't work for my hair so I don't make the same mistakes.

I never thought I'd go natural - at least not any time soon. Time has flown by, and while I know I still have a long way to go, my blog has allowed me the realisation that I've come a long way in the last 9 months. If you don't already, I highly recommend you begin documenting your hair journey too!

So it's been a while since I've posted but there hasn't been much to report. I've continued to wash and deep condition my hair weekly. I still moisturise daily and am still struggling to stop flat ironing so frequently 

One thing I have noticed however, is my breakage has decreased. While I still do have broken areas in the middle of my head, I have found that the existing hair strands are hardly snapping off and most of the hairs that come out are shed hair. I can't say why or when this started happening but I am definitely not complaining!

When I'm detangling my wet hair, I still continue to be surprised at the hair I find in the comb. For some reason I still expect it to be straight as if it were relaxed. I now get little coils that I'm fascinated with (I'm always stretching the strand to see how long it actually is).

Each day I am coming more and more to terms with the fact that my hair is about 90% natural. I'm hoping to get my next hair cut around Christmas, and am eager to see how much relaxed hair gets cut off when I do.

Wet hair