12 Inches In 12 Months - 2016

[Aggie]

Overnight last night I Deep Conditioned on dry hair with 4 Bella Naturale' Cocoavonana mixed with Terrene Fusions Ultra Rich Mango Deep Conditioner.

Today I :

Added a pre poo oil on top of my DC and allow it to sit for 20 minutes before detangling and washing it out
Shampooed with Jason Naturals Thin to Thick Shampoo
Quick rinse out with the remainder of the TF URM Deep Conditioner
Leave-in with Bel Nouvo Avocado & Shea Hair Milk.

I also did a demi color on my hair as well, followed with a quick oil rinse to soften, leave-in and bun for the day.

 

[Aggie]

I just completed the first day of my inversions for the month of October using Netwurks 21 on my scalp with a 2 minute massage before inverting.

 

[Guinan]

Twisted my hair today, on blow dried hair. I haven't decided if I want to keep the twist in or wear a twistout. I bobby-pinned my trouble area and plan on keeping that twisted.

I plan on inverting today.

 

[Guinan]

Washed my hair today. I didn't feel like doing the full MHM. It wasn't too bad, had about two knots but the ACV helped to remove them. My shedding has been slowly decreasing.

Pre-poo: Water and Oliver oil, 5mins
Cleanse: ACV (sat on my hair for about 25mins) and then Deva Curl cleansing conditioner in the shower.
DC: Diluted tressume. I applied the DC and now I'm just letting it air dry.

Style: I currently have my hair in about 13 twists. I will probably be wearing a hat tomorrow.

 

[Guinan]

I'm going on vacay for 1wk in 2wks. I've been debating on whether I want to pay and get box braids or put in my own Senegalese twists. I'm just afraid that the braider will braid too tight. I decided to postpone my color until jan, so that I can work ob my shedding.

 

[Rastafarai]

Bumping the thread. Can't believe its almost 12 months since we started the challenge, ladies. Looking forward to our final reveals!

 

[Aggie]

Prepooing this morning with a mixture of HQS The Slip Conditioner mixed with Banyan Botanicals Healthy Hair Oil and AVJ
Shampooing with Redken Color Extend Manetics Shampoo
Protein Treating with a mixture of some leftover Keracare Super Reconstructor and Neutral Protein Filler
Moisture DCing with my small jar APB Ultra Conditioning Souffle...finally
Moisturizing with Bel Nouvo Avo & Shea Hair Milk
Plaiting my hair down for my wig. I will be wigging it out for a couple weeks.

 

[Kells]

Holy crap, okay I've been offline all summer up until about a week ago and then my hairdryer broke, so I couldn't do any blowouts and flatironing, but the reveal is coming up and I definitely want to try this again; I don't know about anybody else.

I have to go back and catch up on what's been going on and in the meantime, I'm going to buy a new hair dryer to do the blow out and see where I've gotten.

 

[happycakes]

I can't wait to your progress ladies.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Prettymetty]

I just stocked up on Xcel21 revitalizer. I started using it a couple weeks ago and I think it's making my hair grow twice as fast as normal. My growth rate before was 1/4 inch per month... I can't wait to do length checks next month!

 

[Guinan]

I'm excited just to be able to straighten my hair when we do our final LC. I'm trying to decide if I want to get it professionally done. I plan on taking out my braids next week. I was hoping to keep them in longer, but I miss my hair and these braids are just too darn bulky.

 

[bluenvy]

I was lazy and washed my whole head without sections
My hair was a matted mess, like I grew dreads in 10 minutes.
Took all day to detangle it out.
Cant get away with freely washing anymore, not at this length with my hair type.

Anywho I believe I saved most my hair and will post results next month.

 

[Kells]

In 2 days, I'll start the 12 in 12-2017 thread as a placeholder.
And the challenge will begin 12-1-2016

There were 1 mistake I made a little before this challenge that kind of thwarted my success going forward.
Either way, I've definitely grown out 6 inches over the last year and a little more than that, just not quite 12, but I'm up for the challenge to do it again.

So anyone else who wants to join me, feel free to sign up again in 2 days.

 

[Kells]

Today, I bought a blow dryer and curling wand at Sally's for $38!

It didn't have a comb attachment and I didn't want to buy a universal attachment; I just figured it's better for the health of my hair just to do a tension blowout for length checks or tension blowout with using my own pick lightly so it's not just ripping through my hair, so I'll be ready for my reveal on probably on the 30th of this month and use it as a starting pic in the 12 in 12-2017 thread on December 1st.

 

[Kells]

Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge and the day of the big reveal ladies.

I'll be back tomorrow with my final measurements and final pic.
Did anyone else get close to 12 inches?
We'll see tomorrow!

If you want to join the challenge for next year, it begins tomorrow as well.
Join here >> https://longhaircareforum.com/threads/12-inches-in-12-months-2017.804951/#post-23324101

 

[Guinan]

^^^Oh No!!! I don't plan on washing/flat ironing my hair until the end of the month Maybe I'll do it when my hair dryer has been delivered from Amazon. I have been longing for straight hair.

I definitely did not get 12inches. I think I'm measuring wrong or something, cause I measured my NG from my color in April, and I have about 3-4inches of growth. When I measure the length of my hair it is relatively the same when I initially started this challenge; so that tells me that I'm def trimming too often and I am not retaining my growth, once I hit 13inches.

 

[Kells]

^^^Oh No!!! I don't plan on washing/flat ironing my hair until the end of the month Maybe I'll do it when my hair dryer has been delivered from Amazon. I have been longing for straight hair.

I definitely did not get 12inches. I think I'm measuring wrong or something, cause I measured my NG from my color in April, and I have about 3-4inches of growth. When I measure the length of my hair it is relatively the same when I initially started this challenge; so that tells me that I'm def trimming too often and I am not retaining my growth, once I hit 13inches.

I didn't get 12 either Pelo, but I feel like this was almost like a test run to see what works and what works against us.

And looking back over the year, I can see 1 place for sure where I went wrong so I'll be adjusting my regimen, but I'll post about my screwup tomorrow .

I think maybe for other ladies who are still in the runnings, they were probably thinking like you, to check in at the end of the year, since many challenges end on Dec. 31st.
Which is fine, you likely won't be the only person checking in at that time.

 

[bluenvy]

I flat ironed for thanksgiving. I'm still getting away with decent straight hair.

I retained a little over and inch this year .
Starting to take better care of my ends moving forward.

 

[Kells]

IN TERMS OF INCHES EARNED OVER THE YEAR, WITH THE COMB MEASUREMENTS
I'm scraping right at 7 inches from where my hair was cut last year and that doesn't count the inch or 1-1/2 inches I trimmed over the year, so all in all I got an estimated 8 inches, but a huge hit in my density.
Below explains why
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Ok, my hair gave me hell this year.

I bought a steamer for my birthday last year and before I started using it, I stumbled on this video


I scoffed, because "my new steamer will be my holy grail and can't nobody tell me nuthin' bad bout hair steaming."

Well,..................I OD'd my hair on that steamer and my hair has Suf.Fered.!
I've had breakage and shedding like crazy and I've only recently gotten a hold of stopping the damage.
I contemplated even just shaving my whole head and starting all the way the hell over, but *sigh* idk, I guess I'll just grow & cut the damage off gradually *shrugs*
At this point, I don't give a damn about seeing benefits with proper use of a steamer, I'm just over it.
So this year going forward, I'm keeping my regimen simple.
These are my resultpic.

Beginning and Ending front.

Comb comparisons
It doesn't help that you can't see the end of the comb in the first picture, but my bob was cut right below my ears, so I was trying to hold it there in the second pic

...............my hair took a MAJOR hit this year, all because I steamed the living daylights out of my hair.
You can see that my hair isn't as thick now as it was last year, but that's okay. I'll come back from it.

On to 12 in 12-'17..

 

[Rastafarai]

Oh no @Kells , I didn't know a steamer can cause such damage to the hair. How many times were you steaming to cause such result?

I agree with simple and low manipulation routine. Just leave the hair alone unless its for pampering days or special occasions. Here's to hoping you have a full recovery in next year's challenge!

 

[Kells]

Oh no @Kells , I didn't know a steamer can cause such damage to the hair. How many times were you steaming to cause such result?

I agree with simple and low manipulation routine. Just leave the hair alone unless its for pampering days or special occasions. Here's to hoping you have a full recovery in next year's challenge!

Like 30-45 minutes, 5 days a week for about 2 weeks, then 30- 45 minutes once or twice a week for 2 months after that.
Super overdose smh.

Thank you, yes I think I'll stop being the queen of extra now lol

 

[Aggie]

Day 1 inverting for December, no oil, 3 minute massage. Moisturized my ends with HQS Greaseless Moisture.

 

[Aggie]

Inversion - Day 2 complete, no oil and 1 minute scalp massage.

 

[Rastafarai]

Final reveal....blowdried hair done on my own. I'll try and update when its professionally done, but for now:








Some observations I've made this year, that I hope to remember for next:

1. Leaving my hair alone is all I need to retain length. Daily manipulation is just a no. I was in school for most of the year, and had the option to not look cute, lol, so I would just braid or twist me hair up for weeks at a time. I think I'll look into getting twists done professionally. Unfortunately, weave doesn't work for me in retaining strands. I need access to my scalp at all times.

2. Less was truly more for me. I tried a lot of different products this year, and it took $$$$ to find what work/what didn't. Found out that my hair loves oil, specifically from Anita Grants as she has some of the most penetrating oils that lock in moisture when my hair is designed to repel it (low porosity). I just need an oil, some type of water-base leave-in/butter and more water and I'm good. I'll finish my inventory and just re-up with what works for me. My goal is to buy significantly less next year.

3. Chelating shampoo made a key difference in my hair's response to conditioning and retaining moisture. I used and found great success with Redken's Hair Cleansing Clean Shampoo.

4. Castor oil. It thickened my ends for sure. A keeper.

5. So I lost about 3 inches due to refusing to trim my hair. Yeah, not doing that again. Next year I'll be interested to see how adding a trim every 3-4 months into my hair routine will change how much I retained.

Happy hair growing, ladies! See you in 2017!!!

 

[Aggie]

Just sprayed my hair with NW Excel 21, massage for a minute or two, and did a 5 minute inversion. Today was Day 6 of my inversions - one more to go.