12 inches in 12 months - 2014

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

So I have Iliotibial Syndrome in my right leg says the Doc. It's very painful, takes many weeks to heal and why did it happen you ask? That damned "bend down touch my toes" for that one week I did my inversion differently. I failed to stretch and warm up my muscles. Big mistake and now I'm paying for it :/ not sure when I'll be comfortable enough to do inversions again. My leg really hurts

I am so sorry. Yes if you are not stretched it can cause some problems. Hopefully you will get better soon. There are other positions you can do that are healthy when you do inversion. Google it and you will find a Youtuber who demonstrates some of the positions and some that are not so healthy. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

Wow. I'm so sorry to hear that. I stopped because it was making me feel choked and I couldn't really breathe. It's really not something to just "jump up and do" you do have to take precautions with this, I just didn't know my side effects would be so serious.

Geez, I hope you heal up soon!

The things we do for long, beautiful hair...

I echo your sentiments... the things we do for long, beautiful hair!

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I'm just slacking.

No checklist needed for Wednesday or Thursday. I took my vitamins, drank my water, brought my lunch or ate a healthy lunch and had my smoothie. I spritzed my hair and that's it.

I didn't do any exercise and I devoured an entire box of girl scout cookies. I still managed to lose 1/2 pound.

Warmer weather is coming next week. Next week will be better.

No worries, because in my opinion you still are motivating to us all. You did what you could and that's good. I have slacked too just because I have been so busy. Anyhow, we will put ourselves back on track, next week for sure.

 

[caliscurls]

Hello ladies, this is check in for me. I hope everyone is doing well. By all the posts and responses it seems like everyone is doing well and sticking to therir regimes.

My hair is acting a little funky and I don't know why. I can't really tell when I need a protein treatment but I'm going to give myself one in a few days. I'm also going to pull out that Splitender and give myself a needed trim.

I have been faithfully doing my oil massages and it seems like I have all this newgrowth that seems excessive, but I'm not sure. I try to measure the new growth but then it seems to blend into my other hair. My hair feels so thick at the top and so thin at the bottom. I am seriously thinking about giving myself a touchup. I was going to wait until July, but I don't think I can. Perhaps I will do it before the end of this challenge.

I tweaked some thing in my regime. I stopped during Rhassoul clay/butter treatments for awhile. Maybe once a month. I also will start using infusium 23 leave in with oils and water as my leave in. I love Mizani coconut soufflé hairdressing and will continue to use it. I will use a clarifying shampoo on Wednesday and then followup with ORS hair mayo mixed with egg. I will substitute my clay treatment with henna shampoo powder mixed with conditioner for my wash day on Saturday and follow up with butter treatment. I'm hoping this will improve my hair and get it out of this funk.

I went back to combing my hair. But what I've noticed is that there is very little hair in my comb. Even when I fingercomb, there is very little hair that comes out. What's up with this. Is this good or not.

I'm still working on some things, but I will be so busy this week, I will try to make adjustments inbetween. I will give updates, and keep everyone posted. The basic things I'm focus like exercising, oiling scalp, massaging scalp, taking supplement etc., but this healthy eating, inversion I have to work on. I'm trying and will not give up and you ladies continue to do the same. Stay consistent and focus and we will all get there with healthy long increased inches.

@fanypants007 very little in the comb equals minimal shedding and breakage, well done! Whatever you're doing keep doing it.

 

[caliscurls]

Well, I damaged my hair again, trying to get out the indigo. Can't do bleach, esp. twice. LOL. Anyhoo, while it's cut short, I don't mind cutting again just to get rid of the fried stuff. I've got about 4 inches or so of natural hair and I just wanna see the curls again. Won't rule out the BKT for when I want it pin straight. But I need to push it out fast and got biotin, my first time. After 2 doses of 5,000 mcg, I feel a warmth on my scalp. 12 inches a year just seems so little, I want more and I bet I'll get it. Will return to my regular of some sort of legume eaten daily. It helped in the past. MSM combined also helped. I want that 3/mo. again. Diff. weather up here, but I'm pushing for it. Just hope I don't break out. This is my year to revamp what I want vs. what I do to achieve it. All things have changed.

ETA: Oh, gotta get the lecithin too.

JaneBond007 this happened to me too with indigo. When I used it several years ago it wasn't a problem but last year it definitely contributed to one of my setbacks. Won't use it again ever! Anyhow hope the biotin works for you. I recently switched from using the straight 5000 mcg biotin to the natures bounty extra strength which also has 5000 mcg and noticed the occasional skin breakouts stopped. But with biotin and msm as long as I'm drinking half my body weight in water consistently the breakouts are minimal.....the trick is getting that much water consistently.

 

[caliscurls]

Please let me know what you find. I want to get something. I just haven't researched enough. Fitbit may still be the best out there.

faithVA ended up getting the fitbit flex. I've only had it a day but I like it. I'll report back at the end of next week with a full review.

 

[caliscurls]

Just updating you ladies with some pics I took today. I didn't realize that I am APL.

Gr8ness83 that is great congrats! What are you using on the perimeter?

 

[caliscurls]

I stopped the inversion thing on day 4 and most likely won't be trying it again for awhile. I was starting to get a shortness of breath and constantly feeling choked. I'm thinking it's because I let my iron get too low again so I'm back on the iron tablets. I may try it again next month, maybe. I haven't noticed any specific increase in my hair anyway, maybe the scalp massages are enough...

I'm thinking about protective styling for the rest of the year again. I just don't feel like my hair is budging. Like it got to MBL and....that's where it's gonna stay. Since my hair flourishes more with protective styling I figure I'll do that but I'm just gonna PS in my own hair which means twists and braids for DAYS! I don't wanna get too reliant on my yarn braids again this year.

I'm SO CLOSE. Waist length is like right -------->THERE. At least I think it is. I just want it to be waist length so I can flat iron it already! I just always wanted to wait to flat iron my hair at a really long length I've never seen on myself before. C'MOOOOON TWO INCHES! lol

So back into the twists ladies. Time to get boring again.

Mskraizy maybe your hair is just "resting" and thickening right now....I've heard people mention this before and I do think my hair goes through a similar cycle at least once a year. I noticed that during the winter especially it aways seems like the growth has stopped of a minute. Can't wait to see your WL pics come this summer!

 

[caliscurls]

So I have Iliotibial Syndrome in my right leg says the Doc. It's very painful, takes many weeks to heal and why did it happen you ask? That damned "bend down touch my toes" for that one week I did my inversion differently. I failed to stretch and warm up my muscles. Big mistake and now I'm paying for it :/ not sure when I'll be comfortable enough to do inversions again. My leg really hurts

PinkSunshine77 what in the world?! Wow, hope your leg heals quickly!

 

[caliscurls]

I'm just slacking.

No checklist needed for Wednesday or Thursday. I took my vitamins, drank my water, brought my lunch or ate a healthy lunch and had my smoothie. I spritzed my hair and that's it.

I didn't do any exercise and I devoured an entire box of girl scout cookies. I still managed to lose 1/2 pound.

Warmer weather is coming next week. Next week will be better.

faithVA I laughed at this post, it's funny how the body works sometimes. All in all you're doing something right because you're making progress! Maybe it's the muscle you've built or your metabolism has sped up, either way pat yourself on the back for the 1/2 pound.

 

[faithVA]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

fancypants007 and caliscurls are tag teaming the thread today. Oh La La!

 

[caliscurls]

Things are going well but I'm suffering from "hand in hair" syndrome, lol! I need to put myself on a no touch / no pull for two weeks challenge. The interesting thing that has happened over the last 30 days is that I've proven that one side of my hair grows faster than the other.

My perimeter has a lot of grays (I started graying in my late 20s). On February 4th I permanently colored my hair black and did inversion for a week. This week I noticed I've got an inch worth of gray hair on the right side and only a half inch on the left it actually made me laugh, it's a bit comical the way the patches look.....another explanation could be that the sides of my hair follow different cycles...but the left has aways been a little shorter. Either way, I'm covering those bad boys up this weekend.

 

[faithVA]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

caliscurls[/USER];19755259]Things are going well but I'm suffering from "hand in hair" syndrome, lol! I need to put myself on a no touch / no pull for two weeks challenge. The interesting thing that has happened over the last 30 days is that I've proven that one side of my hair grows faster than the other.

My perimeter has a lot of grays (I started graying in my late 20s). On February 4th I permanently colored my hair black and did inversion for a week. This week I noticed I've got an inch worth of gray hair on the right side and only a half inch on the left it actually made me laugh, it's a bit comical the way the patches look.....another explanation could be that the sides of my hair follow different cycles...but the left has aways been a little shorter. Either way, I'm covering those bad boys up this weekend.

What are you using to color? I am looking at getting the Touchback Hair Color for those in between times. Only my front needs some assistance. I can let the rest go for a while. I'm surprised we don't have a permanent color hair support group. hmmm.

 

[caliscurls]

What are you using to color? I am looking at getting the Touchback Hair Color for those in between times. Only my front needs some assistance. I can let the rest go for a while. I'm surprised we don't have a permanent color hair support group. hmmm.

That's not a bad idea. I have to color my edges monthly now or it just looks a mess. My edges appear to grow fast. It actually makes my hair look thin because the hair is white...like white white. After the color the edges look full again.

I've been using the Garnier Olia for several months now. It's the only one I can find consistently that doesn't dry my hair out. I tried the wash outs but I feel like what's the point...I'm not feeling the white hair at all.

 

[faithVA]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

caliscurls[/USER];19755563]That's not a bad idea. I have to color my edges monthly now or it's just looks a mess. My edges appear to grow fast. It actually makes my hair look thin because the hair is white...like white white. After the color the edges look full again.

I've been using the Garnier Olia for several months now. It's the only one I can find consistently that doesn't dry my hair out. I tried the wash outs but I feel like what's the point...I'm not feeling the white hair at all.

I'm adopting you as my hair coloring sistah I'm not feeling the white either. Mostly the location, in my face. I've not tried the Garnier. I have a box of the Shea Moisture in my cabinet. I was using Naturatint but I think I like the Shea Moisture better.

I will pick the TouchBack up next week. Not sure I will have time over the weekend. I will let you know how it works. I like that you can just put it on and don't have to rinse, etc. Hair coloring for me is a pain.

 

[caliscurls]

I'm adopting you as my hair coloring sistah I'm not feeling the white either. Mostly the location, in my face. I've not tried the Garnier. I have a box of the Shea Moisture in my cabinet. I was using Naturatint but I think I like the Shea Moisture better.

I will pick the TouchBack up next week. Not sure I will have time over the weekend. I will let you know how it works. I like that you can just put it on and don't have to rinse, etc. Hair coloring for me is a pain.

Lol, hair coloring sistahs we are! Yeah let me know because I do feel like the coloring is messing up my hot oil treatment pre-poo routine.

 

[Mskraizy]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I'm just slacking.

No checklist needed for Wednesday or Thursday. I took my vitamins, drank my water, brought my lunch or ate a healthy lunch and had my smoothie. I spritzed my hair and that's it.

I didn't do any exercise and I devoured an entire box of girl scout cookies. I still managed to lose 1/2 pound.

Warmer weather is coming next week. Next week will be better.

I admire your honesty in this post! You always keep me motivated to change something up everyday and it's working! Like fancypants007 said, you gotta be doing SOMETHING right to be making some progress. I'm pretty sure all your progress won't diminish because of one box of girl scout cookies (my weakness is hershey's chocolate bar with the almonds UGH!!! ). You got this faithVA!!!

Start to the finish, I'm hoping that I will see some progress.

My hair is doing better. I'm thinking perhaps the ph was off on some of the products I was using and made my hair a little funky. I stopped using my homemade moisturizing spray and elected to use Kimmeytube leave in recipe and all seems well. I'm going to clarify my hair this weekend and then give it a protein treatment. Do you know a good clarifying shampoo?

Do you use the kinky curly conditioner too? Or do you have a different one?

Um, I never really pay attention to clarifiers or ph scales or cones or any of that, but I've always been a fan of VO5's Kiwi Lime Squeeze clarifying shampoo. I use it every now and then but I haven't really clarified in a minute. I'm not even sure if they still sell it anymore... Other than that, probably Dr. Bronner's peppermint shampoo? But I don't think it's a clarifier but it does clean really well. Those are my two.

Girl, you just do you! We love your hair and you will get those 2 inches. Just don't give up! Just like everything else, we plateau, but then we shake things up again to get things moving. The twists are a good protective style and no doubt will lead to increased growth. Cheering you on!

Thanks fancypants007!!! I'm hoping that my hair will stop acting up now that we've gotten so close to our second major landmark!! Thanks for the support, girl, you're right. [George Lopez Voice]WE GOT THIIIIIISSSSS!!!!![/exit]

Mskraizy maybe your hair is just "resting" and thickening right now....I've heard people mention this before and I do think my hair goes through a similar cycle at least once a year. I noticed that during the winter especially it aways seems like the growth has stopped of a minute. Can't wait to see your WL pics come this summer!

I've never thought of that...maybe it is. Maybe it was in hibernation or something.... I hope it does get back on a growth spurt this month since it's getting warm-ER never really been that COLD down here. lol Crossing fingers and hoping for the best!


Thanks ladies I really appreciate all the encouragement! We sooooo got this! I can't wait til my hair reaches WL this year. And I mean it BETTER!

 

[JaneBond007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

@JaneBond007 this happened to me too with indigo. When I used it several years ago it wasn't a problem but last year it definitely contributed to one of my setbacks. Won't use it again ever! Anyhow hope the biotin works for you. I recently switched from using the straight 5000 mcg biotin to the natures bounty extra strength which also has 5000 mcg and noticed the occasional skin breakouts stopped. But with biotin and msm as long as I'm drinking half my body weight in water consistently the breakouts are minimal.....the trick is getting that much water consistently.

Thanks, I've seen two small pimples but I use sandalwood soap and can usually tell when I have deep eruptions coming. So far, so good. It's under control. I have the CVS brand.

Indigo I bleached twice and that was the killer. Damned stuff! Maybe they are skimping on it and mixing it with something? Maybe my hormones etc. have changed me? Dunno. Oh well, this is setback no. 4? Hey, it's just hair. I'm going to give myself 4 years, G-d willing. At least I know how to moisturize cuz henna...whew! So drying to my hair. I use demi-permanent now.

Now yesterday, I cut back to 2.5 inches in the back, less in the front. I feel my curls coming in. Got a load of gels yesterday at Sally's and the yt lady there said, "it's a shame that so many people are going natural and trying to be healthier and these companies are charging them so much money." I got a laugh out of that. Couldn't find that Sally's knock-off Mixed Chicks, which I like much better than the brand because it's less hard. I was standing there like a lost puppy.

 

[JaneBond007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

That's not a bad idea. I have to color my edges monthly now or it just looks a mess. My edges appear to grow fast. It actually makes my hair look thin because the hair is white...like white white. After the color the edges look full again.

I've been using the Garnier Olia for several months now. It's the only one I can find consistently that doesn't dry my hair out. I tried the wash outs but I feel like what's the point...I'm not feeling the white hair at all.

One of my setbacks for my older bigchop was boxed dye. I went to Sally's and read up from actual stylists and they recommend demi-permanent to above for healthier results. L'oreal Feria, y'all please don't try it. Horrible product. I was so surprised the demi-permanent dyes were so gentle. There was a yt lady, older woman with substantial grey at Sally's, asking about demi. She was so confused, she came back in after her purchase to ask if it used peroxide. LOL. But it's so low a level. Next time I want highlights or lighter, it's cinnamon/lemon and sun.

 

[faithVA]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I admire your honesty in this post! You always keep me motivated to change something up everyday and it's working! Like fancypants007 said, you gotta be doing SOMETHING right to be making some progress. I'm pretty sure all your progress won't diminish because of one box of girl scout cookies (my weakness is hershey's chocolate bar with the almonds UGH!!! ). You got this

Dang, you hit me with the honesty word. Dang!

Ok, Honestly, I ate two boxes of girl scout cookies in 1 week I devoured one box last Friday and Saturday. And then I devoured the other box between Tuesday and Thursday : But I only had 1 box THIS week

Whew I feel better that is off my chest I only bought two boxes so I'm back on track now.

 

[Mskraizy]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

Dang, you hit me with the honesty word. Dang!

Ok, Honestly, I ate two boxes of girl scout cookies in 1 week I devoured one box last Friday and Saturday. And then I devoured the other box between Tuesday and Thursday : But I only had 1 box THIS week

Whew I feel better that is off my chest I only bought two boxes so I'm back on track now.

:hardslap:







Girl don't even feel bad. This was awhile back, but one time I had two of the giant sized hershey's almond chocolate bars, a pint of ice cream, AND half a tin of cookies so girl don't EVEN!

We all been there, you know we're always rootin for ya!

 

[Gr8ness83]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

Gr8ness83 that is great congrats! What are you using on the perimeter?

Thank you. I've been using Vatika oil and NJoy sulfur recipe. I do 7 days of inversion a month (I'm on day 3 now). I think the biggest contributor is that I wash my scalp at least once a week so I prevent the buildup that often causes breakage. I just redid the braid at the nape area of my head. I had some build up but it was soft and I could break up almost all of it with my fingers and slide it out of the section of hair easily. I only had very few shed hairs that I slid out with my fingers. Then I applied my leave in mixture, massagesd in some Vatika oil on my scalp and sealed it with castor oil then rebraided it. During the week I apply the sulfur oil mix and massage my scalp. I am excited about how long my hair is but then I realize that my perimeter is between 4-5" and that's nothing to be happy about. I'm supposed to leave these in until mid-May but thy seems to be coming up so fast that I feel like extending it until July. I don't want to see my hair until it's got some serious length, I feel I might do something stupid like color it or something.

 

[caliscurls]

Thank you. I've been using Vatika oil and NJoy sulfur recipe. I do 7 days of inversion a month (I'm on day 3 now). I think the biggest contributor is that I wash my scalp at least once a week so I prevent the buildup that often causes breakage. I just redid the braid at the nape area of my head. I had some build up but it was soft and I could break up almost all of it with my fingers and slide it out of the section of hair easily. I only had very few shed hairs that I slid out with my fingers. Then I applied my leave in mixture, massagesd in some Vatika oil on my scalp and sealed it with castor oil then rebraided it. During the week I apply the sulfur oil mix and massage my scalp. I am excited about how long my hair is but then I realize that my perimeter is between 4-5" and that's nothing to be happy about. I'm supposed to leave these in until mid-May but thy seems to be coming up so fast that I feel like extending it until July. I don't want to see my hair until it's got some serious length, I feel I might do something stupid like color it or something.

Hmmm you have me thinking I need to get serious about my perimeter. I've been trying to moisturize it twice a day but haven't been consistent, I also think I need to lay off the buns periodically. When my edges are "free" they fair much better.

 

[Mskraizy]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I'm on a mini braid madness mission (say that three times fast...). From a set of twists that I did like....2 days ago I am now morphing that into a set of small braids...well, I guess they're downright mini. To me anyway.

I haven't done them in a few years now and they are thee most awesome protective style to do without extensions for me anyway, because I can literally still do my same routine (weekly wash day, deep condition, style, etc) in them and not have to have my look suffer. And another plus is I only have to detangle once a month. The most painful (and pretty obvious) side of this is the install and the takedown but I figured, since my hair is covered up in a hat majority of the time anyway, why would it matter? I could stretch the install AND the takedown over the course of a WEEK if I have to.

It's definitely easier installing these from a previous set of twists. For some reason it seems like less of a hassle, I guess because I'm not looking at unfinished hair. No matter how much or how little I do, it looks presentable if I pull it back into a ponytail or bun. Will definitely keep this method in mind when it comes to doing mini braids and mini twists. Put in a smedium set of twists FIRST and style from there. That's the way I gotta do it.

 

[faithVA]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

Going to skip updating on the weekends but will update Monday through Friday.

 

[Mskraizy]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I am going on five months of changing myself over. I'm gonna call this my "cocooning period" of 2014. I am already committing to five straight months of non stop protective styling to hopefully get my hair to freaking waist length already.

And along with that I'm gonna commit to getting in shape. Five months from today (the 9th) I will be the double two's! And I just don't want to enter another year of life being the same way.

And also, I want to dress like a pin up girl from the 40's!!! but seriously, if you've ever seen Christina Aguilara's "candy man" video, that look is just what I LOVE. The tight dresses, the sweetheart necklines, all the polka dots So that's my goal.

I'm gonna write down the specifics and all my measurements tomorrow and what my specific goal it is I'm going to work towards. I'm not going back to counting calories again. I know what I need to eat and what works, I just want to make that apart of my lifestyle and it is. I'm loving it and the way I've been feeling lately (way more energetic) it's just the exercising that's gonna be a bit more of a motivation. Haaa, but lets get it!

Five months of mini braids, healthy eating, and exercise. Lets see where this gets me....I am going to last through this. I've GOT to!

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

@fanypants007 very little in the comb equals minimal shedding and breakage, well done! Whatever you're doing keep doing it.

Thank you for that. I was doing fingercombing but I stopped. When I combed my hair after not combing it for about a month, there was very little hair in the comb. I comb my hair everyday and it's the same, very little hair in the comb. I do want this to continue.

To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. I was using CD's Monoi oil shampoo and conditioner and I was also using Neutrogena Triple Repair shampoo and conditioner but I haven't used them for about 2 weeks. Even when I was fingercombing my hair, there was very little hair that was coming out. I think I will use either Monoi oil shampoo/conditioner and/or Neutrogena at least once a week because if this is the reason, then I do want to continue to see less hair in my comb. Thanks for the breakdown.

I'm also giving myself weekly oil massages, don't know if this is what it is as well.

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

Things are going well but I'm suffering from "hand in hair" syndrome, lol! I need to put myself on a no touch / no pull for two weeks challenge. The interesting thing that has happened over the last 30 days is that I've proven that one side of my hair grows faster than the other.

My perimeter has a lot of grays (I started graying in my late 20s). On February 4th I permanently colored my hair black and did inversion for a week. This week I noticed I've got an inch worth of gray hair on the right side and only a half inch on the left it actually made me laugh, it's a bit comical the way the patches look.....another explanation could be that the sides of my hair follow different cycles...but the left has aways been a little shorter. Either way, I'm covering those bad boys up this weekend.

That's the same here. My left side is shorter than my right side. I'm hoping it balances it out because I really don't like it.

Girl, I cover my gray last weekend with henna and indigo. It was nice to see the gray hair because I was gauging how much my hair was growing based on my gray hair. My hair stayed this way for about 2-3 weeks but that was enough. Last weekend I colored those grays and now I'm good to go.

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I admire your honesty in this post! You always keep me motivated to change something up everyday and it's working! Like fancypants007 said, you gotta be doing SOMETHING right to be making some progress. I'm pretty sure all your progress won't diminish because of one box of girl scout cookies (my weakness is hershey's chocolate bar with the almonds UGH!!! ). You got this faithVA!!!




Do you use the kinky curly conditioner too? Or do you have a different one?

Um, I never really pay attention to clarifiers or ph scales or cones or any of that, but I've always been a fan of VO5's Kiwi Lime Squeeze clarifying shampoo. I use it every now and then but I haven't really clarified in a minute. I'm not even sure if they still sell it anymore... Other than that, probably Dr. Bronner's peppermint shampoo? But I don't think it's a clarifier but it does clean really well. Those are my two.





Thanks fancypants007!!! I'm hoping that my hair will stop acting up now that we've gotten so close to our second major landmark!! Thanks for the support, girl, you're right. [George Lopez Voice]WE GOT THIIIIIISSSSS!!!!![/exit]




I've never thought of that...maybe it is. Maybe it was in hibernation or something.... I hope it does get back on a growth spurt this month since it's getting warm-ER never really been that COLD down here. lol Crossing fingers and hoping for the best!


Thanks ladies I really appreciate all the encouragement! We sooooo got this! I can't wait til my hair reaches WL this year. And I mean it BETTER!

Thanks for the suggestion on clarifying shampoos. I decided to use ORS aloe creamy shampoo and it worked fine. I pay attention to acid balance because it is so important. I don't use kinky curly knot conditioner but I use infusium 23 color defender leave in, water and oil. Hopefully it will work for me. My hair does seem different like it is responding to it.
We are all here for the same purpose so we all need encouragement. We are supporting and assisting and helping each other to stay focus, consistent and positive. Your hair will reach WL, no question about it!

 

[fancypants007]

Re: 12 inches in 12 months - 2013

I'm on a mini braid madness mission (say that three times fast...). From a set of twists that I did like....2 days ago I am now morphing that into a set of small braids...well, I guess they're downright mini. To me anyway.

I haven't done them in a few years now and they are thee most awesome protective style to do without extensions for me anyway, because I can literally still do my same routine (weekly wash day, deep condition, style, etc) in them and not have to have my look suffer. And another plus is I only have to detangle once a month. The most painful (and pretty obvious) side of this is the install and the takedown but I figured, since my hair is covered up in a hat majority of the time anyway, why would it matter? I could stretch the install AND the takedown over the course of a WEEK if I have to.

It's definitely easier installing these from a previous set of twists. For some reason it seems like less of a hassle, I guess because I'm not looking at unfinished hair. No matter how much or how little I do, it looks presentable if I pull it back into a ponytail or bun. Will definitely keep this method in mind when it comes to doing mini braids and mini twists. Put in a smedium set of twists FIRST and style from there. That's the way I gotta do it.

Oh, they probably look so pretty. I think of the 120 twists that Ciprana puts in her hair. They are gorgeous and I'm sure yours looks the same way. Girl you have it going on with protective styles and you're right. With your hair in twists and wearing your hat, you can pace yourself when you're ready to take them down. And with low manipulation, I told you, you are going to achieve WL sooner than you think. Keep up the good work!