Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2023

[keranikki]

What's pictured here, wet or dry hair?

Dry hair

 

[keranikki]

Do you guys find any difference pretecting your ends by tucking them in vs covering them (scarf or hat, but not necessarily tucked underneath that).

When my hair is short and not touching my collar, I can get away with protecting my ends with the cast from a hard gel. When my hair touches my collar, my ends must be slathered with Shea butter and tucked. The Shea butter minimizes the friction of my hair rubbing against each other when tucked. I hope this makes sense.

 

[Chicoro]

Dry hair

It looks cute!

 

[Chicoro]

I'm in the house all day. I remember when I first went natural, I would put my hair into a pony and then tuck the ends in. Now that my hair is long enough, I tuck the ends in on themselves (no elastics). I like this method because there is no tension for headaches, but also, I hope that I'm avoiding any tension along the length by doing so.

I moisturized this morning and I'm going to try to be good about moisturizing daily like I did back in the day. I'm not sure it is necessary, since my hair doesn't feel dry as quickly, but maybe the step is need to reach my max retention potential. My hair is now tucked and under a satin lined hat, but some days I just wear a satin or silk scarf.

Maybe tucking in the ends + scarf or hat (I wear Slap Caps around the house, too) is the way to go.

Whatever you did to get them 12 inch twists is working. So my question is, what exactly are you modifying or changing?

 

[Lylddlebit]

Took my braids out early this morning so I could wash my hair tonight but my hair is still supple and moisturized. So I will wear this braid out for a few days before I wash.

 

[IDareT'sHair]

@keranikki
Your Hair!

 

[Chicoro]

Took my braids out early this morning so I could wash my hair tonight but my hair is still supple and moisturized. So I will wear this braid out for a few days before I wash.

It looks supple and moist! Does your hair always do this after braiding? Or, are you doing something slightly different for your ends and as a result, you've got this moist lusciousness. Please let us know!

 

[Chicoro]

I didn't wash my hair last week as planned. I will be washing tonight. My ends have been coated, tucked and baggied for the entire two weeks. Many might say and tell me this is terrible for my hair. So far so good, though. I made a commitment to myself to not listen to 'gurus' about what is bad and good for hair. I'm the only guru that matters to MY head of hair.

I'm just so happy that the severe breakage has stopped and that I don't have to LITERALY tear my ends apart anymore. For now at least, Velcro Ends are a thing of the past and severe breakage, too.

 

[keranikki]

It looks cute!

Thank you!

 

[keranikki]

@keranikki
Your Hair!

Thank you!

 

[Lylddlebit]

It looks supple and moist! Does your hair always do this after braiding? Or, are you doing something slightly different for your ends and as a result, you've got this moist lusciousness. Please let us know!

Thank You! My ends always do this, but I typically keep the last 2-4 inches of my hair loose when I twist or braid it then saturate those ends with a butter, serum, cream or oil to prevent tangles, knots and splits. When I seal my ends that way, they naturally curl up into a "soft freeze" that holds relatively well throughout the week as my hair airdries completely. I noticed this effect between around 2008-2011 when I wore twisted updos a lot. The photo I took yesterday morning shows the same curls from last week's wash and air dry. That picture is what my ignored, week-old braids and the ends looked like after I unbraided the braids and before I applied extra product to my hair.

 

[Chicoro]

Thank You! My ends always do this, but I typically keep the last 2-4 inches of my hair loose when I twist or braid it then saturate those ends with a butter, serum, cream or oil to prevent tangles, knots and splits. When I seal my ends that way, they naturally curl up into a "soft freeze" that holds relatively well throughout the week as my hair airdries completely. I noticed this effect between around 2008-2011 when I wore twisted updos a lot. The photo I took yesterday morning shows the same curls from last week's wash and air dry. That picture is what my ignored, week-old braids and the ends looked like after I unbraided the braids and before I applied extra product to my hair.

Thank you for the detailed response!

 

[GettingKinky]

Just finished my weekly routine. My ends aren’t feeling as smooth as they did 11 weeks ago when I go my last trim but I’m going to hold out until it’s been 4-6 months.

I switched from using alligator clips to duck bill clips for sectioning my hair while I detangle and apply products and they definitely snag my hair less so I will keep using them.

 

[Chicoro]

I just took my braids down and removed the shedded and broken hair. Very little hair came out so no 'hamster sized' hair balls, thank goodness.

I put my hair in bantu knots. I am not going to pre-treat tonight as I don't want my sheets to be stained with oil and other stuff from my head. I will do my treatments and wash it tomorrow.

 

[Chicoro]

My hair has not dropped to a longer length. Thus, it has not yet gotten longer in 2023.

BUT, my hair ends are thickening. This means that my hairs are dropping down longer to meet and be at the same length as my longest hairs. It is as if the longer hairs stop and wait for the rest of the hair to catch up. That's what's happening, the rest of the hair is catching and making my ends fuller.

 

[Chicoro]

I don't have a plan to trim my ends right now, or in the foreseeable, near future. I may trim around December 2023, at the end of the year. I hate trimming my hair when it is in its natural, curly state. I love the results when I trim my hair when it has been heat straightened and pressed.

 

[Chicoro]

I really, really, really love the baggie method for my hair! I have not taken down my hair in two (2) weeks. When I took to down this evening it was moist and soft and relatively easy to unbraid.

Surprisingly, it was the wettest and the moistest near the upper part of the braid, at the root. I NEVER baggie that part of my hair. But, I do re-wet that area when I style and freshen my ponytail, daily. My ends were greasy and coated and protected, just the way I like them

 

[Chicoro]

I believe with the cessation of the usage of shampoo and the incorporation of clay into my routine that my edges are getting fuller. I sure never would have expected that. In fact, I expected that the powders and clays would thin my hair as they make my hair very straight.

 

[Lylddlebit]

I just took my braids down and removed the shedded and broken hair. Very little hair came out so no 'hamster sized' hair balls, thank goodness.

I put my hair in bantu knots. I am not going to pre-treat tonight as I don't want my sheets to be stained with oil and other stuff from my head. I will do my treatments and wash it tomorrow.

That is the sign there. Loosing very little hair on wash day, equates to thicker longer hair on check-ins.

My hair has not dropped to a longer length. Thus, it has not yet gotten longer in 2023.

BUT, my hair ends are thickening. This means that my hairs are dropping down longer to meet and be at the same length as my longest hairs. It is as if the longer hairs stop and wait for the rest of the hair to catch up. That's what's happening, the rest of the hair is catching and making my ends fuller.

Yep. It thickening is harder to see shot term but will have hemline lusciousness dividends long term. I love your updates. I can see where they your luscious healthy ends are headed!

I didn't wash my hair last week as planned. I will be washing tonight. My ends have been coated, tucked and baggied for the entire two weeks. Many might say and tell me this is terrible for my hair. So far so good, though. I made a commitment to myself to not listen to 'gurus' about what is bad and good for hair. I'm the only guru that matters to MY head of hair.

I'm just so happy that the severe breakage has stopped and that I don't have to LITERALY tear my ends apart anymore. For now at least, Velcro Ends are a thing of the past and severe breakage, too.

Defintialy agree with this post, especially the bolded. Since I dont have scalp issues. keeping my hair wet is my 'secret weapon' to growing my hair out efficiently. It works! So I am sure it is working for you.

 

[Chicoro]

That is the sign there. Loosing very little hair on wash day, equates to thicker longer hair on check-ins.


Yep. It thickening is harder to see shot term but will have hemline lusciousness dividends long term. I love your updates. I can see where they your luscious healthy ends are headed!

Defintialy agree with this post, especially the bolded. Since I dont have scalp issues. keeping my hair wet is my 'secret weapon' to growing my hair out efficiently. It works! So I am sure it is working for you.

From your lovely mouth to God's ears. I hope so!

 

[Chicoro]

Alright Everybody,

We're headed into our 3rd week of March 2023 in this Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge of 2023!

If you have been with us since January, now is the time to assess your progress. You've had 2 months to do your process. Either it is working or it is not. If it is working, please take a moment to pat yourself on the back and celebrate and make sure you write down your successful process.



If you are experiencing breakage and over shedding, now is the time to analyze your process and tweak it. If you have been tweaking all along, you've got to continue until you figure out what is going on.




Bring your situation to this thread, gather up your process information and your product information and share it with us, maybe we can help you.








Happy Luscious Healthy Ends Growing for Week #3 in March, 2023!

 

[Chicoro]

Forgot to mention, after taking out my hair that I baggied for two weeks, it is so soft. It is NOT mushy. There is very little crunch on my hair, if any. It feels wonderful and there is no breakage. I'm going to do my process tonight using a clay wash and then baggie for another two weeks. I'll keep you posted!

Night, night everyone. Let's have a GREAT luscious, healthy ends week!

 

[Lylddlebit]

I lost more hair than normal on today’s wash. I didn’t lose a setback amount or anything. Most of the time I use a grape-cherry size. Today I lost the equivalent of two cherry sized hairballs(2 weeks worth in 10 days). That isn’t terrible for 10 days, but more than my normal for 10 days. So, that is a reminder not to change up my routine too much from one wash day to the next.

I started to do a WnG today but after extra hair "fall", followed by my product applications not feeling moisturizing enough, I washed it out. I have learned my lessons on trying to make a style work when there are warning signs during the process. A slight increases in shedding…yellow flag, I can keep going. That plus dry hair during the styling process, red flag... abort mission lol. My hair might have dried fine under the hooded dryer but it wasn't worth the risk to find out(which sucks because the definition look pretty good but my hair didn't "feel" right). I had no problems rewashing and conditioning my hair after I was 75% done with my setting. When I got back in the shower to reset I didn't have any tangles or extra shedding since I had already full detangled it. I literally just washed the Paul Mitchell Foaming Pomade and Innersense "I create hold" combo out reapplied my deep conditioner and put in about 8 bantu knots. I won't try to make that product combination work. I have other combos that I can try. I am going to let it air dry in these bantu knots under my silk caps and leave it alone. The Paul Mitchel pomade defines well, I need to pair it with something else.

 

[Napp]

I was thinking that my growth has been really good these last few months. I forgot to mention it but I was also taking iron pills from my doctor because I had anemia. I stopped taking it when my prescription ran out though. I think this may possible be the key. I bought some ferrous sulfate 365mg off Amazon to see if I can continue with this rapid growth streak.

 

[Chicoro]

I was thinking that my growth has been really good these last few months. I forgot to mention it but I was also taking iron pills from my doctor because I had anemia. I stopped taking it when my prescription ran out though. I think this may possible be the key. I bought some ferrous sulfate 365mg off Amazon to see if I can continue with this rapid growth streak.

Keep us posted.

 

[Napp]

Keep us posted.

I will. I also purchased some MSM and collagen too because I was taking that earlier last year too but stopped taking them once I finished the bottles. I cut my hair after I stopped taking them but I think they helped too. I am going to take them all because i really want a thick healthy head of natural hair by the end of 2023.

I have also been moisturizing my hair in the baggy less and washing every 2 weeks instead of every week like you. I'm just keeping the baggy on straight and moisturizing the hair once or twice a week so my hair stays moist but not wet. So far there isnt really an odor either so thats good.

 

[Chicoro]

I will. I also purchased some MSM and collagen too because I was taking that earlier last year too but stopped taking them once I finished the bottles. I cut my hair after I stopped taking them but I think they helped too. I am going to take them all because i really want a thick healthy head of natural hair by the end of 2023.

I have also been moisturizing my hair in the baggy less and washing every 2 weeks instead of every week like you. I'm just keeping the baggy on straight and moisturizing the hair once or twice a week so my hair stays moist but not wet. So far there isnt really an odor either so thats good.

Great process analysis and documentation. I take MSM for my melasma on my face. Right now, I too am at washing every two (2) weeks. It is working well for me, too.

 

[Napp]

I wonder how Shea butter works for sealing vs
grease. I will compare once I finish up my blue magic greases. I think I am going to grease my ends on a daily basis

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

i did a serious wash the other day.... i started out with a prepoo of 1 banana, 1 avocado, 1tbsp of honey, 1 tbsp of coconut milk powder, and store bought aloe vera gel to thin it out.

I left that on for 45 min with heat and then proceeded to shampoo with a sulfate shampoo, dc with honey's handmade honey & hibiscus dc for 45 min with heat.

once i rinsed that out i applied my leave in and sealed with shea butter and braided the section i was working with and moved onto the next. \

I ended up with 6 braids that i wore in a bun until i restyled it in my signature style of two braids.

my hair came out so soft, i def see myself doing this routine indefinitely.

 

[Celestialx]

I wonder how Shea butter works for sealing vs
grease. I will compare once I finish up my blue magic greases. I think I am going to grease my ends on a daily basis

I've been loving both.

I get the best definition with shea butter and it does work for me as a sealant by itself, but I add grease to my ends only just for some extra protection.