Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2019/2020

[Meritamen]

Well at least you caught it early and got a fresh cut. Maybe it's out of your system and you can move forward positively today.

It took a minute but I feel much better now that I have been playing with my hair.

I have zero idea how to style straight hair but I have been keeping it in one to two bantu knots and conditioning with a little dab of olive oil every night. It feels much better, and I did check a length.



I'm really shocked just how full and thick my hair looks. The salon experience was great too, they gave me a bomb scalp massage. For the haircut the hairstylist showed me how much he was going to cut, he explained to me why he thought that much should be cut, asked me how much I preferred, and he cut exactly that amount. I will go back to Too Groovy for my press and trims.

 

[Chicoro]

It took a minute but I feel much better now that I have been playing with my hair.

I have zero idea how to style straight hair but I have been keeping it in one to two bantu knots and conditioning with a little dab of olive oil every night. It feels much better, and I did check a length.

View attachment 451047 View attachment 451049 View attachment 451051

I'm really shocked just how full and thick my hair looks. The salon experience was great too, they gave me a bomb scalp massage. For the haircut the hairstylist showed me how much he was going to cut, he explained to me why he thought that much should be cut, asked me how much I preferred, and he cut exactly that amount. I will go back to Too Groovy for my press and trims.

That's a great stylist. He sounds professional, considerate and understands how important length retention is to his clients. How wonderful for you!

 

[faithVA]

Since I have had my hair in braid extensions I've decided to skip my August dusting. I'm still doing search and destroys and clipping knots from my twist when I find them.

My ends in the back are still sort of rough and I can tell I have breakage going on somewhere in the back. But with my hair curly it is really hard to tell breakage versus shrinkage. I will know more when I straighten.

I plan to just keep up with the search and destroys. I'm back to weekly hair care with 2 strand twists. I will do a trim in December when I straighten my hair and do my length check. Not sure if I am going to trim with scissors or use my Split Ender. Have plenty of time to decide.

 

[Chicoro]

I've been skipping my Ends Routine at night. My hair is tangling and breaking on the ends. I have lost a little bit of length. I want to slide into November and December with my Ends Routine in full swing.

 

[Soaring Eagle]

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc
Natural
2. Current Hair Length -
15-16 inches
3. Why are you joining this challenge? To treat my ends better, so that they can be less rough and less breakage prone. Also hope to gain some thickness in my ends, and increase length retention.
4. What have you tried to improve your ends? Butters, Oils, and the baggy method.
5. What are you going to try to get those healthy ends? All of the above.
6. Any helpful tips you learned for your fellow challengers...Low manipulation is key.

So I definitely did not utilize butters and oils as much as I hoped to this year and it shows (see pic). My hair is tapering off significantly. But the baggy method has remained good to me, by allowing me to retain length and keeping my ends moisturized.

 

[faithVA]

I'm looking forward to dusting in November.

Oil rinsing has definitely helped. Right now its weekly. I'm hoping to do it more often in the spring.

 

[Aggie]

My hair ends have been breaking off as well so I decided to up the ante and do more deep conditioning of my ends, more moisturizing and sealing with a really good moisturizer and sealed in good old tried and true, Shea Butter.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I just got me some Amika Triple Rx Mask which has in it, guess what? You guessed right - Shea Butter. Y'all know I am indeed a happy camper .

 

[Chicoro]

So I definitely did not utilize butters and oils as much as I hoped to this year and it shows (see pic). My hair is tapering off significantly. But the baggy method has remained good to me, by allowing me to retain length and keeping my ends moisturized.

Looking good: long , healthy and thick! Great job!

 

[GGsKin]

I've been keeping my hair moisturised and buttered up while in these twists. Just washed, DCd and re-buttered on the weekend. My hair seems to be happy. I'm only a little concerned about the texture of the braid hair and hope it isn't chewing up my real hair. I added bacuri butter to my line-up (on top of whipped Shea)- it has a slightly sticky texture so hoping for extra protection and holding power.

 

[Chicoro]

I've been keeping my hair moisturised and buttered up while in these twists. Just washed, DCd and re-buttered on the weekend. My hair seems to be happy. I'm only a little concerned about the texture of the braid hair and hope it isn't chewing up my real hair. I added bacuri butter to my line-up (on top of whipped Shea)- it has a slightly sticky texture so hoping for extra protection and holding power.

I just learned about this in 2019, that added synthetic hair can create breakage up and down the hair shaft. I don't think that will be the case for you because you are very, very attentive to your hair.

Congratulations on keeping your hair buttered up consistently! That is not easy to do and maintain.

 

[GGsKin]

[QUOTE="Chicoro, post: 25342645, member: 2247"]I just learned about this in 2019, that added synthetic hair can create breakage up and down the hair shaft. I don't think that will be the case for you because you are very, very attentive to your hair.

Congratulations on keeping your hair buttered up consistently! That is not easy to do and maintain.[/QUOTE]

Thank you @Chicoro. You are always there with words of encouragement. The bolded is something I personally haven't experienced but does play on my mind, especially how hard this hair feels.

I'm sorry you're experiencing some breakage at this time. I know you are consistent and will get back on track and hopefully soon, stop the breakage in its tracks.

 

[Chicoro]

I'm giving care to my ends. I don't put my hair in a baggie. I do routinely wet the last 3 to 6 inches of each braid, saturate in castor oil then coat with my Shea butter mix.

I have very few single, strand knots. It's like I have about 1 to 2 in each braid. So 8x 2 is about 16 knots I can see. That's pretty good.

 

[Aggie]

Like you @GGsKin, I have been keeping my hair buttered up just to keep my hair from tangling all over itself and prevent massive amounts of single strand knots. Keeping the ends lubricated is awesome. I do maybe one extra moisturize and seal a week other than my wash day somewhere in the middle of the week .

 

[GGsKin]

I cowashed on Tuesday. Tonight I redid the majority of my twists, spraying my hair with water and applying my newly whipped Shea mix from my ends up. Definitely helped the shed hairs slide right out. This time I dabbed a little gel on my roots before retwisting.

 

[faithVA]

Think I'm going to straighten around Thanksgiving. I think I need to take off an inch . We shall see. I'm going to use my split ender so it won't be so painful.

 

[Chicoro]

Supplies pictured for going back to basics and keeping my hair and ends supple:

• Baby wash for hair and body (I use this as my shampoo.)
• Glycerin for my pre-poo and for my Spray Bottle Concoction
• Castor Oil for my Ends Routine and for my Spray Bottle Concoction
• Scurl my staple for everything and for my Spray Bottle Concoction
  
• NAAT leave in reconstructor and protein after washing my hair and for my Spray Bottle Concoction
  
• Gel to tap my roots and edges
• Missing: Whole Leaf Aloe Vera (because it's 25 Euros a bottle -got to budget for that!)

I cowashed on Tuesday. Tonight I redid the majority of my twists, spraying my hair with water and applying my newly whipped Shea mix from my ends up. Definitely helped the shed hairs slide right out. This time I dabbed a little gel on my roots before retwisting.

I always do this myself, too. It helps me minimize the fuzz-ies around the roots of my braids.

I went on a shopping spree. I got two and three of my favorite supplies. I am going back to basics with my hair processes. That means pre-poos, deep conditioning with heat, using my Spray bottle concoction and baggy-ing wet hair at some point during the day. Right now, I am baggy-ing at night when I do my Ends Routine, and have added wetting my hair with my spray bottle concoction.

 

[Chicoro]

With Shea butter, my ends have continued to be knot and tangle free. The real test is when I get my hair heat straightened and look at my ends with no curls. The last time I straightened was September 2014. That's almost 5 years ago, going on 6 years. I had planned to straighten in Feb 2020 but I'm not feeling that right now, either. I'm not a frequent ends trimmer so I know I need to have a nice trim.

In the meantime, though, I am quite happy with how my ends look. They are continuing to thicken up at my longer length. I am hoping that my hair will fall down to and completely cover the area between my waist and right before my behind starts. I call that area the small of my back.

Up until this point in my life, I have NEVER had thick, full ends at this length. I'm headed into uncharted waters. The combination of Shea butter in conjunction with my Ends Routine and the other things mentioned in the above post, just may get me there!

 

[GGsKin]

It's been two weeks since I washed my hair. My scalp is looking a little dry but my twists are still neat and feel moisturised (if I loosen and separate my hair from the braid hair). I've been spritzing hair and scalp with APB Refresher Spray and I think the scalp was an error because that's when it started looking dry. My scalp likes to be clear of any product. I'm going to see if I can rinse or wet my scalp, without having to redo these twists yet.

 

[Chicoro]

Baggy Method is my Ends Saving Grace!
(Sept 2012 to Jan 2017: For five ((5)) Years My Hair had been a grow and break cycle.)
​

If I want to gain or retain length, the ONLY thing that works for me consistently is baggy-ing my ends. I am going through my old FOTKI album that I started in December 2003/Jan 2004. December 2003 to Nov 2006 was from me doing the baggie method during that period.

Then, in 2007 to 2009 I stopped following the baggy. I did the baggie in 2010 to 2011 and gained more length. In 2012, I cut off 10 inches by accident.

In the year 2007, I wore my hair loose for most of the year, in a loose natural pony. In 2012 I had set back.
From 2012 to 2016 I did not really use the baggie method and wore my hair in a pony tail.

From December 2016 to now Nov 2019 I started using Shea butter. My hair is finally back at the 2011 length.

Also, once my hair hits the point that is about 2 to 4 inches passed waist length, length gains become super slow.
I believe my hair requires something else, something different to gain length after this point. BUT, I don't know
what that is.

Baggying was what my hair needed from bra strap to waist length. But from hip length to tailbone, I don't know
what my hair is trying to tell me. It is possible that I have reached my terminal length as shown in the photo from
2011 at the bottom right.

Currently, since October 2019, I have gone back to baggying. I do my ends routine by putting water and oil on the ends. Then, I spray on my spray bottle concoction. Then I put my braids in a bun at the top of my head and cover with a baggy. I will continue to do this until Fall 2020. At some point I will need to straighten my hair and trim my ends. Then, I can do a true and real comparison.

Shea butter was the thing that finally broke the cycle for me. Documenting in words and pictures is so important if you want to analyze what you are doing on your hair journey.

 

[faithVA]

Baggy Method is my Ends Saving Grace!
(Sept 2012 to Jan 2017: For five ((5)) Years My Hair had been a grow and break cycle.)
​

If I want to gain or retain length, the ONLY thing that works for me consistently is baggy-ing my ends. I am going through my old FOTKI album that I started in December 2003/Jan 2004. December 2003 to Nov 2006 was from me doing the baggie method during that period.

Then, in 2007 to 2009 I stopped following the baggy. I did the baggie in 2010 to 2011 and gained more length. In 2012, I cut off 10 inches by accident.

In the year 2007, I wore my hair loose for most of the year, in a loose natural pony. In 2012 I had set back.
From 2012 to 2016 I did not really use the baggie method and wore my hair in a pony tail.

From December 2016 to now Nov 2019 I started using Shea butter. My hair is finally back at the 2011 length.

Also, once my hair hits the point that is about 2 to 4 inches passed waist length, length gains become super slow.
I believe my hair requires something else, something different to gain length after this point. BUT, I don't know
what that is.

Baggying was what my hair needed from bra strap to waist length. But from hip length to tailbone, I don't know
what my hair is trying to tell me. It is possible that I have reached my terminal length as shown in the photo from
2011 at the bottom right.

Currently, since October 2019, I have gone back to baggying. I do my ends routine by putting water and oil on the ends. Then, I spray on my spray bottle concoction. Then I put my braids in a bun at the top of my head and cover with a baggy. I will continue to do this until Fall 2020. At some point I will need to straighten my hair and trim my ends. Then, I can do a true and real comparison.

Shea butter was the thing that finally broke the cycle for me. Documenting in words and pictures is so important if you want to analyze what you are doing on your hair journey.

I love how you wear the same thing for each picture.

 

[faithVA]

I just updated the title to include 2020. I don't think we need a new thread.

 

[faithVA]

I trimmed my ends in December and they felt great. There is something in my regimen though that my ends don't like. So I've gone back to oil rinsing as a start. I tried LOC and LOC and my ends didn't like either of those. I think my hair only likes creams on dry hair.

I have leave-in now. I'm going to spray my hair with Mane Magic and put pomade on my ends. I will see how that works.

Since my hair is low porosity it is hard to apply product to my hair until it is pretty much dry. However, I usually do my hair at night and don't have time for it to dry before I style it.

 

[faithVA]

I sprayed my hair with Mane Magic oil and put a pomade on the ends. I want to remember to put the pomade on first and then the oil. Then I twisted my hair. I put more pomade on my ends after I twisted. If I wear twist for more than 2 days I need to remember to apply leave-in to my ends and apply another round of pomade.

 

[Aggie]

Today I used:

-Curl Junkie Smoothing Lotion Leave-in on hair and ends
-Fenugreek Tea Rinse on Scalp
-Braided in 3 big plaits to style under wigs as my protective style for the week.

 

[Chicoro]

my ends are crunchy

 

[Aggie]

my ends are crunchy

Why do you think it's crunchy @Chicoro?

 

[Chicoro]

Why do you think it's crunchy @Chicoro?

My ends are super dry. I haven't been treating my ends with hydration or sealing. It is starting to take its toll. My hair can never take a break. I have to always give focused care to my ends. Thanks for asking about me @Aggie.

 

[Aggie]

My ends are super dry. I haven't been treating my ends with hydration or sealing. It is starting to take its toll. My hair can never take a break. I have to always give focused care to my ends. Thanks for asking about me @Aggie.

@Chicoro, I understand. Like you, I can't neglect my ends either.

I have to always be on top of my hair game. In fact, I'm babying them right now with some deep moisturizing with a combination of Redken Extreme Anti-Snap Leave-in, Nairobi PamperSoft Leave-in and Curl Junkie Smoothing Lotion (shake and spray on). Queen Shea to seal.

I normally use some jherri juice but tonight I'm using some other products I need to use up. Once I'm done with these, I'll be back to my Jherri juice and SB blend.

 

[Chicoro]

@Chicoro, I understand. Like you, I can't neglect my ends either.

I have to always be on top of my hair game. In fact, I'm babying them right now with some deep moisturizing with a combination of Redken Extreme Anti-Snap Leave-in, Nairobi PamperSoft Leave-in and Curl Junkie Smoothing Lotion (shake and spray on). Queen Shea to seal.

I normally use some jherri juice but tonight I'm using some other products I need to use up. Once I'm done with these, I'll be back to my Jherri juice and SB blend.

All that time and attention pays off. You have beautiful hair, from root to tip!

 

[Chicoro]

Photo taken January 11th, 2020. I took out my braids and put in a side pony. I needed to
go out and didn't want bantu knots so I put my hair like this.

Photo taken January 18th, 2020. Sunday, I called myself doing a prepoo. I couldn't get to my hair and left
it in for 7 days!!! My hair drew up. The photo below is before I got around to washing it. LOOK
at that shrinkage! This is how I break off my hair. It draws up, tangles and then breaks. Thank
goodness it is finally detangled and back and braids. I believe my dry, crunchy ends stem from
this episode of leaving the pre-poo 7 days too long.