Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2018

[faithVA]

I think a heavy pomade on my soaking wet ends is working. Unfortunately I'm almost out. I will try the same thing with the My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Cream and see if that works. I forgot to do it last week but I need to make this a standard step in my regimen no matter how I wear my hair.

 

[CurlyWhoCrux]

I think a heavy pomade on my soaking wet ends is working. Unfortunately I'm almost out. I will try the same thing with the My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Cream and see if that works. I forgot to do it last week but I need to make this a standard step in my regimen no matter how I wear my hair.

Do you apply a moisturizer and then the pomade?

 

[faithVA]

Do you apply a moisturizer and then the pomade?

I apply the pomade on my ends first and then I do my regular steps of leave-in, oil and gel. If I try to do the moisturizer or leave-in first I lose too much water from my ends and it doesn't seem to work as well.

 

[faithVA]

I tried the My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Cream on my ends. I now see why it won't work. When my hands are wet and I take the product and rub it between my thumb and forefinger the product slides versus spreads. It does the same thing on my hair. When my hair is wet, the product slips and slides around my strands instead of spreading and coating my strands.

I tried the same experiment with a thicker pomade and it spread. I tried it with crisco and it spread as well. Now I know what to look for when I'm looking for a sealant for my ends.

 

[Chicoro]

I tried the My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Cream on my ends. I now see why it won't work. When my hands are wet and I take the product and rub it between my thumb and forefinger the product slides versus spreads. It does the same thing on my hair. When my hair is wet, the product slips and slides around my strands instead of spreading and coating my strands.

I tried the same experiment with a thicker pomade and it spread. I tried it with crisco and it spread as well. Now I know what to look for when I'm looking for a sealant for my ends.

That's some good information. Congratulations on making that observation! It's the little things that can make a huge difference over time.

 

[Chicoro]

I had an AHA! regarding my ends.

I had to leave my beloved baggie process alone because my longer hair was literally forming knots. I am not talking little fairy knots on the ends of my hair. I mean my WHOLE braid curled up on itself one day and knotted! I lost about 2 to 3 inches that day, on the back right side of my head.

But, it turns out that I need to secure my ends so they don't move. So, I've been revisiting the baggie method and it's been working splendidly.

What I do differently:

• I keep my hair braided and pull all 8 braids back into a ponytail.
• I oil my ends with castor oil from tip to about 1/2 way up each braid.
• Then I put the ends of my pony up like a chignon, near the point where I first secured my ponytail. I tie them there gently so they don't move. I use a nylon knee-hi which does not catch or break my hair.
• I put on my spray bottle concoction on the folded up ponytail.
• I cover over with a baggie and 2 knee -hi's.

Realization:
I cannot let my ends curl. I have to keep my ends STRETCHED. Keeping the very, very ends stretched constantly, without stress or breakage, is no small feat or easy task. It took me some thought to figure it out.

It's working! My ends are smooth and knot free.

I'd love to stay in this baggie method until the beginning of August 2019. We will see.

 

[faithVA]

I had an AHA! regarding my ends.

I had to leave my beloved baggie process alone because my longer hair was literally forming knots. I am not talking little fairy knots on the ends of my hair. I mean my WHOLE braid curled up on itself one day and knotted! I lost about 2 to 3 inches that day, on the back right side of my head.

But, it turns out that I need to secure my ends so they don't move. So, I've been revisiting the baggie method and it's been working splendidly.

What I do differently:

• I keep my hair braided and pull all 8 braids back into a ponytail.
• I oil my ends with castor oil from tip to about 1/2 way up each braid.
• Then I put the ends of my pony up like a chignon, near the point where I first secured my ponytail. I tie them there gently so they don't move. I use a nylon knee-hi which does not catch or break my hair.
• I put on my spray bottle concoction on the folded up ponytail.
• I cover over with a baggie and 2 knee -hi's.

Realization:
I cannot let my ends curl. I have to keep my ends STRETCHED. Keeping the very, very ends stretched constantly, without stress or breakage, is no small feat or easy task. It took me some thought to figure it out.

It's working! My ends are smooth and knot free.

I'd love to stay in this baggie method until the beginning of August 2019. We will see.

If you have time willyou take a picture of your new method of keeping your ends stretched?

 

[Chicoro]

If you have time willyou take a picture of your new method of keeping your ends stretched?

I sure can!

Here are my regular braids.


Next, I pull them back into a ponytail.


You can see the curls at the end of my hair.


Those curls may be cute, but they are DEADLY when it comes
to avoiding tangles and bad for retaining length.


I grease up the ends with castor oil from tip
to halfway up the length of my hair and
ensure that as many braids as possible are joined
together.


I do not braid the hair ends. I do not do a two strand twist the hair.
I just twist the braids all around and let my ends
do a controlled curling.


Then I double the hair and secure the ends into a chignon, bun-like
style.


The ends are secured and they don't really move.
They are not being choked by the nylon. They are
gently cradled and do not catch on the nylon either.


Then I put on a baggie over top.


Then I put on two more knee-hi's to cover the baggie.


This is the general idea. It works for me!

In the past I would roll the ends in a rubber band. The ends started to slip out and formed
knots. I don't know if it is because my hair texture changed or because my hair got longer. Or what. I just knew after my entire braid knotted and I couldn't do the old style baggie method like I used to.

It's just a small tweak but has made a tremendous difference in my hair ends.

With this 'wet bunning', I must be vigilant and do my 2 Step Aphogee Process on a monthly or every 6 week basis. The Aphogee 2 Step will help keep the hair fortified.

 

[Chicoro]

If you have time willyou take a picture of your new method of keeping your ends stretched?

This is how it looks when I am out and about.

 

[faithVA]

I sure can!

Here are my regular braids.
View attachment 436685

Next, I pull them back into a ponytail.
View attachment 436687

You can see the curls at the end of my hair.
View attachment 436689

Those curls may be cute, but they are DEADLY when it comes
to avoiding tangles and bad for retaining length.
View attachment 436691

I grease up the ends with castor oil from tip
to halfway up the length of my hair and
ensure that as many braids as possible are joined
together.
View attachment 436693

I do not braid the hair ends. I do not do a two strand twist the hair.
I just twist the braids all around and let my ends
do a controlled curling.
View attachment 436699

Then I double the hair and secure the ends into a chignon, bun-like
style.
View attachment 436701

The ends are secured and they don't really move.
They are not being choked by the nylon. They are
gently cradled and do not catch on the nylon either.
View attachment 436705

Then I put on a baggie over top.
View attachment 436707

Then I put on two more knee-hi's to cover the baggie.
View attachment 436709

This is the general idea. It works for me!

In the past I would roll the ends in a rubber band. The ends started to slip out and formed
knots. I don't know if it is because my hair texture changed or because my hair got longer. Or what. I just knew after my entire braid knotted and I couldn't do the old style baggie method like I used to.

It's just a small tweak but has made a tremendous difference in my hair ends.

With this 'wet bunning', I must be vigilant and do my 2 Step Aphogee Process on a monthly or every 6 week basis. The Aphogee 2 Step will help keep the hair fortified.

Thank you and thank you for your patience. You are so detail oriented. And taking a picture for each step would have had me talking to myself

Your ends are really curly.

 

[Dominga11]

Thank you @dominga. Flat twists are my go to style but I have gotten lazy in my styling

Is your hair shorter in the middle? Do you twist each section before flat twisting the sections together? I find that helps to keep them tighter? Are you twisting on wet, damp, stretched or straight hair?

Yes, my hair is shorter in the middle. I have tried flat twisting on wet and damp hair. Damp hair or misted hair seems to work the best.

Honestly, I haven't tried to flat twist at all in the last month because I changed my regimen. I have been using my diy shea butter mix and it has been a total game changer! TGIN daily moisturizer was great but water, oil and shea butter is like heaven!

I plan on trying to flat twist again soon. I will post pics when I do.

 

[faithVA]

I did a quick search and destroy tonight. I thought about the last time I did a search and destroy before I shampooed my hair and I think I haven't done one since I dusted my hair in August. I am very pleased with that. That's a lot of progress for me.

I'm trying out 2 different cleansers and letting my hair air dry. So I put petroleum free jelly on the ends and will put in a few twists.

 

[Chicoro]

I did a quick search and destroy tonight. I thought about the last time I did a search and destroy before I shampooed my hair and I think I haven't done one since I dusted my hair in August. I am very pleased with that. That's a lot of progress for me.

I'm trying out 2 different cleansers and letting my hair air dry. So I put petroleum free jelly on the ends and will put in a few twists.

Congratulations to you, @faithVA !

 

[Prettymetty]

I've been spoiling my ends rotten. Currently I'm doing an overnight coconut oil/rosemary treatment. I'll wash it out in a few hours and put some leave in conditioner on as well. If it's a trim day, I'll trim 1/2 inch.

My plan is to never let my hair get dry again. My porosity has changed, my cuticles have been lifted and I have to make sure I get the protein, moisture and smooth my cuticles as much as possible.

 

[CoilyArielBrowe]

I've been dealing with little broken pieces from my ends. I used aphogee step 1 two weeks ago but I still saw small pieces. I realized last week I had stopped moisturizing and sealing my ends during the week between wash day. I sealed more this week and saw fewer small pieces during today's wash. I also realized I hadn't done a trim since January. I trimmed my ends .. I've been growing out some heat damage and went ahead a cut some of the stringer pieces off. I'm hoping that paying more attention to the ends doing the week will continue to decrease the small broken pieces.

 

[Dominga11]

I've been dealing with little broken pieces from my ends. I used aphogee step 1 two weeks ago but I still saw small pieces. I realized last week I had stopped moisturizing and sealing my ends during the week between wash day. I sealed more this week and saw fewer small pieces during today's wash. I also realized I hadn't done a trim since January. I trimmed my ends .. I've been growing out some heat damage and went ahead a cut some of the stringer pieces off. I'm hoping that paying more attention to the ends doing the week will continue to decrease the small broken pieces.

Do you deep condition weekly or on your wash day? That should help balance out the mositure/protein imbalance that it sounds like you have.

Greenhousing is also a great option. I try to do it twice a week. Since your hair is longer than mine, you should be able to get away with the baggy method and have great results. After I started greenhousing on a regular basis my little stringy pieces got stronger and became less prone to breaking.

 

[CoilyArielBrowe]

Do you deep condition weekly or on your wash day? That should help balance out the mositure/protein imbalance that it sounds like you have.

Greenhousing is also a great option. I try to do it twice a week. Since your hair is longer than mine, you should be able to get away with the baggy method and have great results. After I started greenhousing on a regular basis my little stringy pieces got stronger and became less prone to breaking.

Thank you for your suggestions. Currently I do wash once a week and I try to deep condition. I lean toward using balancing conditioners because to much moisture tends to have my hair feeling mushy. I was traveling last week so I missed my weekly wash before. I do baggy my ends for about 15-30 mins occasionally, when I moisturize to help my hair absorb creams faster. I don't leave the baggy on for long periods of time because I try to avoid leaving my hair damp. You're results have me convinced to return to really paying attention to my ends again.

 

[MarieB]

I think a heavy pomade on my soaking wet ends is working. Unfortunately I'm almost out. I will try the same thing with the My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Cream and see if that works. I forgot to do it last week but I need to make this a standard step in my regimen no matter how I wear my hair.

I have to ask, what was your process to get to the picture in your avatar? Sorry if this has been asked and answered already, but those curls look so hydrated and luscious.

 

[faithVA]

I have to ask, what was your process to get to the picture in your avatar? Sorry if this has been asked and answered already, but those curls look so hydrated and luscious.

I dont remember the exact steps since it seems like that must have been early 2017. I sure it was simple though. Shampoo and deep condition at that time it was probably Creme of Nature shampoo and TGIN deep conditioner. After that I use a leave in still probably TGIN. I installed curlformers because it really loses my hair smooth. I sat under the dryer for about 1.5 hours and then let my hair cool off for 20 minutes before taking for out.

I probably applied a light oil. I'm not sure how I got the curls semi separated but I know I didn't separate the ends because my ends were busted.

Thanks for the compliment and for the reminder that I need a new avatar.

 

[Aggie]

My ends have been tucked away and hidden under my wigs since the last week of August and I don't think I will be exposing them anytime soon. I am trying to keep them heavily moisturized and sealed however.

 

[Chicoro]

My ends have been tucked away and hidden under my wigs since the last week of August and I don't think I will be exposing them anytime soon. I am trying to keep them heavily moisturized and sealed however.

Have you seen any length gains in the last two months.

 

[Aggie]

Have you seen any length gains in the last two months.

Well let's just say I was neck length and now my hair has reached my shoulders/collar bone. I am not really watching it like that to be quite honest. When I do it always feels like the watched pot that never boils, , so I just don't pay any attention to it until at least every 5 to 6 months.

 

[GettingKinky]

I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep my ends from tangling. I wear my hair in single ponytail and then put 2 big twists in the ponytail and pin up the twists. I’m finding that if I roll the ends of my twists and secure them with a bobby pin they seem to tangle less.

 

[Aggie]

Just finished massaging some Bambu Scalp Drops on my scalp and I M/S with CFCG and Blue Magic Grease

 

[faithVA]

Blow dried my hair. I'm tempted to break out the SplitEnder. I just need to take some deep breaths and wait another 45 days. I can make it

 

[Dee Raven]

I'm in total shock. So in the last couple of months, I noticed that my crown seemed pretty thin. I think it was because I spent a month in Costa Rica over the summer and that there might have been some mineral deposits in the water heater device. But I'm not sure, anywho. I picked up some Nioxin a month ago to try to help thicken up that area. And I worked it out so that I've been using Nioxin for the scalp and Deva Curl products for the strands. Well this morning I noticed that when I rinsed out the Nioxin conditioner (before applying any Devacurl) that my hair was practically detangling itself. My fingers just glided through. So I pulled out my detangling brush, and detangled my whole head under the running water in five minutes. And I had less than a quarter of the shed hair I normally have. I don't know what just happened, but wow.

 

[Chicoro]

I'm about 1.5 months into re-baggying or being back to the baggie process.

Last week, I washed my hair. I went through and detangled and combed every braid. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time I combed all braids in 2018.

• First, I noticed that I could undo my braids easily from the very ends on up. Usually, they are matted or tangly even when they are freshly trimmed. This is important because I'm not trimming right now and have a date to trim, scheduled months away in 2019. So, I have lots more scraggly ends.

• Then, I noticed that there were barely any tiny knots on the very ends of my hair.

• There was no popping, tangling or breaking of my ends. The shed hair slipped out smoothly.

I had some shedded hair that was extending out of a section, touching an inch further down my body than my hair. I tugged on it a couple of times but failed to remove it because it was attached to my scalp. It turns out, it's not shed hair but a hair that has dropped in length. Yes, I said a 'hair'. It sounds obsessive and crazy, which it is, but those dropping hairs broadcast my future length.

As I'm racing to the end of 2018, I once again have found a process to preserve and help my ends to thrive. The weakness of my particular hair, has always been dry, gray in color, weathered, crunchy, split, broken and tangled ends.

Most of the AHA's! I got in 2018 and in the prior year or 2017, came from what I perceived at the time to be a tremendous failure and set-back: over trimming my hair from waist/hip back to above bra-strap (by accident). It took me 6 years to come back to my current length of today. But it was because of that failure I find better ways to preserve my ends.

Greasing down my ends and the last 6 inches of my braids with castor oil nightly, and putting those braids up in a top bun at night before bed has been great for my ends!

 

[CoilyArielBrowe]

I'm still struggling with little broken pieces on wash day. I previously though that it might be using too much protein since I first noticed it after using Apoghee Step 1. Then I thought it might be the increased moisturizing and sealing. I have been moisturizing and sealing my ends with shea butter every other night.

However, i think that it might be the result of how I'm detangling my hair since I see the most breakage during styling and detangling. On wash day I normally finger detangle first on damp hair using SSI Curl Moist and Olive Oil . Up until 3 months ago I would detangle and put my hair into braids and shampoo my hair in braids. Out of laziness I started putting my hair in jumbo twists and I think that these aren't keeping my hair stretched enough so my hair is tangling again as I put in my deep conditioner and move to style.

I think I'll return to the braids next wash day and see what happens. Hopefully this set back doesn't last too long.

 

[faithVA]

Did a search and destroy on one side of my head. I am really trying to hold off dusting until December.

I pulled out the crisco and coated my ends with it before applying my henna. It definitely works better than the petroleum.

 

[Chicoro]

Someone came over to my place for haircare yesterday. She was asking me about my hair so I unbraided the back one and let her pull it. My hair is solidly at tailbone. My ends process and this challenge have kept me on track. Now, with me back baggy-ing my ends, I am excited about 2019.

I also have taught the person to care for her ends. She said to me last night, " This is the longest my hair has ever been in my life."