Confused Newbie....seeking help and encouragement (LONG and lots of pics!!)

[belletropjolie]

Hello Ladies! Semi Newbie here! This is my first post but have thoroughly enjoyed the site and all the great advice and tips.

Quick Synopsis of my hair:
I am a relaxed 4b(z?), prior to my HHJ I could have cared less about the health of my hair and was mostly weaved. Despite my poor habits I've typically hovered right around shoulder length though I think I may have been APL at some points.

I began my HHJ last December and began hiding my hair in wigs/buns. I also began self relaxing and stretching my relaxers to about 3 months. Unfortunately I experienced massive breakage at the line of demarcation, which was also compounded by under processing. I now have multiple patches of broken off hair all over head...setback 1 I reduced my stretches to about 8-10 weeks max and also used the half and half method which helped with the underprocessing.

I've also had breakage due to over moisturized hair which I've been dealing with by adding protein once a week. Took me forever and a month to realize that I needed to incorporate more protein but since doing so my breakage has definitely reduced a lot ...setback 2

Just when I think I've figured it all out, I recently noticed massive shedding . I began noticing that my fallen hairs have the white bulbs which clued me in that this was shedding. I've been reading up on this and I got some cheapo orange pekoe and cut black tea. Hopefully this will stop the shedding. Anyone had success with tea rinses??

Current Regimen
- Shampoo wash 2ce times a week (organix sulfate free or Old CON)
- Protein (egg recipe or aphoghee) once a week
- Co-wash once a week (VO5 moisture milks)
- DC once a week (aussie moist 3 min with honey or ORS pak)
- Apply castor oil to scalp every other day
- Apply sulfur to scalp and take biotin when I remember too


Ok so I'm thoroughly confused because while I've experienced these setbacks I've also seen progress. I THOUGHT I was close to APL but now I'm not so sure. When my hair is wet it looks almost APL but when dry it looks shoulder lengtherplexed. Soooo, is it possible to still make it to my goal of full APL by this December? Do I need to trim my hair back to the length of these broken off patches? I guess my larger question is, am I even on the right track despite these setbacks?

Thanks in advance ladies!! Your help is much appreciated!

p.s: sorry for the poor quality pics :-( digial camera broke

Pics

 

[lolascurls]

You're on the right track, hon!
The healthy hair journey is all about trial and error. Also your wet length as a relaxed lady is more an indication of your true length. Air drying hair poofs up and looks shorter and as you go longer in your stretch the roots shrink up and make it look even shorter.

I would say, keep doing what you're doing if it's working.
Any changes should be step-wise. Only one change at a time.
Give changes a week or more to see an effect before sticking to it.
Take lots of pictures and enjoy the journey!

*Lola*

 

[tiffal1922]

My guess would be the sulfur. It could be causing the shedding and I would also recommend that you clarify your hair. because you have been using products with some cones(aussie moist) and heavy products(castor oil), your hair probably needs to be clarified. Neither cream of nature and organix shampoo are clarifying so they may give you some buildup.

Hope this Helps!

 

[tenderheaded]

Welcome!

Adding - also be aware that maybe a product or combo of products may cause shedding. For me, Hair One O/O and Trader Joe's Refresh caused shedding and tangling.
Try eliminating one product at a time to find the culprit.

 

[belletropjolie]

Thanks for the responses!!!

tiffal1922 I never thought to look at my clarifying schedule but now that you mention I realize that I only clarify when I relax which is every 8-10 weeks. Hmmm, I will up my clarifying and see if this helps. Thanks for the tip!

lolascurls I did a pull test in front and realized that I may be closer to APL than I think. Lol, I'm not obsessing with length but the more progress I see the more encouraged I am to stay consistent with my regimen.

 

[SEMO]

I'm not relaxed, so I don't really have advice on that front. But I wanted to say, welcome to the forum "newbie!"

 

[hairmaster]

Welcome I would also like to see you flat iron to see the length and strength. not all hair grows at the same rate. You maybe on the right program.

 

[Platinum]

 

[southerncitygirl]

i would clarify every 2 wks and consider when you are done with your cone based condishes to change to some ones that are cone-free for co-washing and dcs.
giovanni smooth as silk , mill creek ( keratin, biotin),and aubreys ( gbp, j.a.y, hsr) are popular ones here on the board. these can be purchased cheaply on vitacost.com, massagewarehouse.com ( giovanni) or vitaminshoppe.com. welcome girlie we are happy to have ya!

 

[ms.blue]

Welcome to the board!

Your reggie looks fine but maybe you are manipulated your hair too much by washing twice a week and not including the co-washing. Maybe you can reduce the shampooing once a week or every other week and co-wash interim.

 

[Esthi777]

Supposedly, garlic will help with shedding. Pills, shampoos, conditioners etc... I'm dealing with shedding too and I think the culprit is my co-washes. My hair hates proteins but I think that I NEED to at least use protein once a week if I'm doing daily wash n gos. I'm also going to up my garlic pills to 2 a day. I've noticed when I wear my hair straight (roller sets) I don't have as much hair loss. So, maybe try the garlic and see if that helps

 

[belletropjolie]

Thank you all so much for your help and suggestions. I brewed some black tea overnight and I will be using it tonight. I will definitely report back on the results. If it doesn't work then its on to the garlic. esthi1977, I was actually in the BSS today and saw some garlic shampoo. I think I will definitely give it a try if the tea rinse doesn't work.

Quick question - should I be treating the broken off pieces/patches any different than my normal strands? Or maybe even trimming then? I'm hoping they can just grow normally and eventually catch up with the normal strands

 

[gn1g]

Welcome Simosky!

I use nettle tea to rinse my hair with and really does help with the shedding. I also poo with Nizoral over the counter shampoo and that helps as well. HTH

I also found out the leaving conditioner in your hair is not a good idea.

I will be watching this thread please let us know what works for you.

 

[kittenz]

I think you're off to a great start. It seems like you've learned a lot already and are tweaking you regimen based on what you hair is telling you, which is always good. It's best to experience setbacks and do the trial and error in the beginning of your journey instead of months/years down the road. My only suggestion is to avoid bandwagons and don't do too much. HHG and welcome!!!

Looks like you'll be APL before you know it.

 

[lolascurls]

simosky: Well done! I haven't done a heat stretched length check in over a year now! I find drying it in a stretched style (braids, curlformers) helps and then just pulling with damp or wet hair shows the true length.

Welcome to the forum!