Congratulations to December 2007 Feature of the Month - Sleek and Bouncy

What is your hair care regimen?

Relax every 8-10 weeks. I used to go to a Dominican salon every weekend, but now that I can get the same results at home, I pretreat with a cheap conditioner mixed with olive or vatika oil andwash and set once a week. To keep my roots straight I blow dry them with a round brush. I deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner and do a protein treatment once a month and always follow with a leave in. I use a protectant (Tigi Ego boost) on my ends every few days or just before my leave in on wash days, as a result I do not get split ends.

Thanks to the tip from Macherieamour, after my hair is dried and my roots blown outI wrap (doobie) my hair andcover with saran wrap and sit under the dryer for 10 min. The result is shiny, bouncy, super straight hair. I do a twist out some times and on those days I conditioner wash and apply KemiOyl after my leave in. I wrap my hair in alternating directions each night and to prevent thinning I try not to wrap too consistently. Some nights I will do pin curls, other nights I part my hair in two sections and twist each into a bun. In the morning I have waves. I moisturize the last few inches of my hair every 2-3 days. Maintaining bounce and shine is very important to me. My hair gets weighed down easily and I don’t like the feel of heavy hair. With a good deep conditioner I dont need to moisturize everyday.

I try to keep things simple. I wear my hair down 90% of the time, but I do hide it in cold weather. I try to wear my hair up 2x a week. When I’m alone I put it up, I carry pins at all times in order to quickly go from down to up in seconds. That’s got to account for like a week of protective styling? :D

I do not like to see my ends thin or uneven so I am very quick to trim or dust my ends.

My holy grails are: Salerm 21 leave in, Elucence Moisture Balance conditioner (amazing), Tigi’s Ego boost, Pantene Relaxed and Natural Anti Breakage conditioner, and Aphogee protein treatment.

Do you take any supplements? If so, what are they?

Honestly, not regularly other than a liquid multi vitamin, but I will be starting soon because I think extrasupplements maximize growth potential.

Currently, how long is your hair and what is your hair type?

I recently cut a few inches off due to a bad salon visit, so right now it’s about bra strap. My hair type is 4a/b (think Angela Davis fro). My hair does not grow at an unusually fast pace.

What are the things that you feel have helped you the most in achieving and maintaining your hair length?

First, LHCF! To jump from APL to brastrap I stretched for 4 months and changed stylists because I was loosing too much hair when she would comb my hair for a rollerset.

I saved a lot of length by curbing my severe breakage (finding the right balance of moisture/protein, avoiding direct heat) and lessening the tangles (moisturizing shampoo and detangling in the shower). For a long time I was not paying attention to the little details, how throughly I applied conditioner, how consistent I was with products (don’t switch around too much), how my hair felt in between washes, whether it needed moisture vs. protein, how I combed, what I was eating, etc. I think that our hair tells us what it needs, its just a matter of listening.

I got the most growth when I ate lunch every day at a nearby Mexican restaurant. It was the protein. It was the only difference in my diet, lots of beans, rice (beans+rice=complete amino acid),chicken,fish,avocado. I also find my hair grows faster when I drink lemon and water on a regular basis. It cleanses my liver/kidneys and I think that allowed my body to put maximize thenutrientsfrommydiet.I get less breakage, more softness and shine since adding healthy oils to my diet (olive,coconut,flax,etc.) and therefore I try to use the min cooking whenever I can.

Lastly, when I started my hair journey I would set small hairgoals for myself. My first hair goal was collar bone.As I would fall asleep I would visualize myself doing my normal daily activities, but with my fantasy hair. After I reached one goal, I’d go for another and so on. It sounds cheesy, but it worked for me.