Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2025

[faithVA]

I have an appointment on the 15th and I will get my hair blown out and trimmed (dusting only) I will share pictures afterwards. At that point I will have been bunning for 15 weeks.

Can't wait!

 

[BeautifulRoots]

Happy New Year! I'm in for this year.

I did a much needed trim this past November. Now I am in maintenance mode to keep the ends in good shape.

 

[snoop]

How many trims do you anticipate doing in 2025 and what is the strategy behind this, please?

So if I'm a good girl, I'll do 12 trims for the year. And by trims, they are MICRO trims. I've been using this method for just over a year and I really like it. Because I do MICRO trims, I don't loose any progress in terms of growth/retention. For this reason, I can totally see why people could buy into this superstition of cutting hair by the full moon.

I use this app, to figure out exactly when the full moon will happen.



In the case of this month, I'd plan on cutting my hair before 5.26PM on Jan 13. Sometimes the FM happens in the early morning, so I would aim for the day before. But more specifically, I'll try to cut with my hair in Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio, Taurus, or Leo and before the full moon.

A bit more info here.


*I believe that these are the astrological placements of the zodiac signs, not the astronomical placements. How astrologists get them there, I don't know...but when asking online I quickly learn that astronomers and astrologers do not mix...

 

[Chicoro]

So if I'm a good girl, I'll do 12 trims for the year. And by trims, they are MICRO trims. I've been using this method for just over a year and I really like it. Because I do MICRO trims, I don't loose any progress in terms of growth/retention. For this reason, I can totally see why people could buy into this superstition of cutting hair by the full moon.

I use this app, to figure out exactly when the full moon will happen.

View attachment 500394

In the case of this month, I'd plan on cutting my hair before 5.26PM on Jan 13. Sometimes the FM happens in the early morning, so I would aim for the day before. But more specifically, I'll try to cut with my hair in Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio, Taurus, or Leo and before the full moon.

A bit more info here.


*I believe that these are the astrological placements of the zodiac signs, not the astronomical placements. How astrologists get them there, I don't know...but when asking online I quickly learn that astronomers and astrologers do not mix...

Now...you should know NOT to be leaving MY nosey behind no links. I was all up in, on, under and over everything in that link. Then I found that six year journey vid....

THOSE cheekbones! Those lips! That flawless skin and those perfect teeth! That slim, tiny waist (screams even after 4 babies!)

Mmmm hmmm...out her in plain sight, undercover....I see you.

The gig is up. (Ignore that 'tree' in the gif)

​

 

[faithVA]

Now...you should know NOT to be leaving MY nosey behind no links. I was all up in, on, under and over everything in that link. Then I found that six year journey vid....

THOSE cheekbones! Those lips! That flawless skin and those perfect teeth! That slim, tiny waist (screams even after 4 babies!)

Mmmm hmmm...out her in plain sight, undercover....I see you.

The gig is up. (Ignore that 'tree' in the gif)

​

I had to go hunt down the link which I didn't see the first time.

And I second all of this. Your features are stunning and of course your hair. I didn't find the picture with the tiny waist but if Chicoro says it is then it is.

Thank you for sharing with us. I know in the before times, when we had a highly active forum, a lot of women were trimming with the lunar schedule.

 

[Chicoro]

I was watching a film because I wanted to see a certain actor in it AND because of the way the movie was filmed.
Smack dab in the middle, this little girl appeared.

She is such a lovely child. I do not think she is an actress. I think she might be the daughter of a successful jazz musician.

Look at how her mommy is protecting her ends with this super cute hair style!

This film was released in 1930. Her mom was about 70 years ahead of LHCF and about 85 years before the first Luscious Healthy Ends thread!

 

[Chicoro]

I had to go hunt down the link which I didn't see the first time.

And I second all of this. Your features are stunning and of course your hair. I didn't find the picture with the tiny waist but if Chicoro says it is then it is.

Thank you for sharing with us. I know in the before times, when we had a highly active forum, a lot of women were trimming with the lunar schedule.

That's right, @faithVA ! Nothing but TRUTH!

Here you go, this video is what I was referencing and salivating at all stages of her hair! And that lil' waist and
tiny torso she got going on.

 

[faithVA]

That's right, @faithVA ! Nothing but TRUTH!

Here you go, this video is what I was referencing and salivating at all stages of her hair! And that lil' waist and
tiny torso she got going on.

Thank you. I got distracted by the hair and didn't see the waist. So this was a 6 year update from 2011. Is there a new 6 year update video? hint! hint!

 

[faithVA]

@snoop, your video is encouraging. Thank you! I have had similar stages but unfortunately for longer than 6 years.

But hopefully I can move towards APL this year and hit a new milestone.

 

[Chicoro]

Got the last half of my braid greased up. I roll it up and
loosely put on two (2) coated rubber bands to secure
the ball in place. I started back with this in September
2024 and will continue in 2025.



I say I started back because I would do this years ago in
my early hair journey. I made a conscious decision to stop
doing this for many reasons.

I must say that my hair started to show length gains in June.
Thus, I know this balled up process was not a part of my wonderful
length gain from March 2024 to June 2024. Trimming and
protein and the sprouted fenugreek oil were the keys. I
think I was baggy-ing the hair at night and that helped
too - keeping the hair moist and oiled and then covering it.

But, what I do know is that the greasing and balling up and securing
with the coated rubber bands has helped me to STOP tearing out
my ends, the ends of my hair, when unbraiding. My braids come apart with
EASE and it's giving me velcro-free ends. My hair ends
no longer stick together and tangle up and don't knot and
don't felt and don't get matted like they did EVERY time I tried
to unbraid my hair, like they did before.

I am trying not to change ANYTHING in 2025. No new
products. No new processes. Except, I may add some
kind of [natural] mucilage to my pre-poo. I am not even going to
use this glucose stuff I bought. Nope. I am sick of set-backs.

I'm looking at you, Olaplex!!!! I'm forever done with any and all bonding products.

I just recently got out of 12 Year Break Cycle Jail. These first
few early release days and weeks and months are precarious.
I am stepping and treading lightly and tipping around this because
I want to STAY out this break cycle from which I was just VERY
recently released.

 

[Chicoro]

I have started making what I think is batch #3 using the recipe that @newgrowth15 taught us. I bought fresh rosemary so to use it in its fresh, green, pristine state before it started to go brown, I had to put it in the oil because my fenugreek was not yet sprouted. I put the clove in the oil first too along with the rosemary. I steeped the rosemary, including the stems, and the cloves for about two to three days before I added the sprouted fenugreek. I also ground the rosemary leaves and stems and cloves down to a powder before putting them into the oil. Some of the stems were messing with the grinder so I put them in whole.

Below is the oil with only the rosemary and the cloves and the oil. I put it
on the lowest of heat, in water, for a few hours. I did it again the next day.


The fenugreek sprouted in about a two days. I rinsed them and tapped them
dry with a paper towel and put them in the oil without drying them out.
For the first time, I put in a couple of drops of GFS Extract (grapefruit seed extract) in
the soaking water. I did not do this for prior batches of the oil.
I learned about that from a seed sprouting article @snoop posted
when we were first introduced to the recipe by @newgrowth15 .
I also added a drop or two more of the GFS to the oil after I added
the sprouted fenugreek to the oil. I rinsed the fenugreek seeds 2x per
day in baby bath warm water to make the fenugreek seeds sprout faster.
It worked.



The view inside the jar:


I noticed the oil went from a clear, light, pure green with just the
fresh rosemary and the cloves to something different with the addition
of the sprouted fenugreek.

With the addition of the sprouted fenugreek it went from the clear
green to a murkier, thicker viscosity. The fenugreek sprouts
changed rheology of the oil. The sprouted fenugreek emitted and
imparted something into the oil immediately.

The mixture will have macerated in the oil for seven (7) days by
next Wednesday. I stir it every day and keep it in a dark closet
where my water heater is.

I am almost out of my previous batch which lasted a long time.

I will strain this oil next week and filter it and then start using it.
I really enjoy making this oil.

It makes my hair soft and lays it down, which is the exact opposite
of what commercial shampoo does to my hair. The oil is beautiful
and it smells so pretty to me.

 

[GraceJones]

Present and ready

 

[snoop]

@Chicoro @faithVA Thank you both! I had to go and scroll through that video to see what you were talking about... boy! That was a trip down memory lane. That waist is long gone, but I hope that she returns some day.

I filmed some videos -- including an update -- that I was supposed to upload last spring. I went back to working on it this past weekend, so HOPEFULLY soon. But my hair has changed AGAIN. Since that video my hair had a series of ups and downs, but I love where it's at now.

This is the video that I'd posted a year ago. My hair was really suffering:



But I'm posting a link to the Grow it Long thread for this year, so that you can see what it looks like tonight.

I'm probably going to wash my hair on Monday, so I'll try to take pictures of my hair wet and shrunken, which is how I tend to assess my ends. Looking at the thumbnail of the above video you can see how spotting damaged ends on 4c shrunken hair isn't really that hard. I should also add, that I didn't big chop my hair to even up my ends. I didn't even little chop. I just continued with my regular trimming methods before moving onto micro trimming (which is something I started after this video).

 

[snoop]

Why wait until Monday? I must have posted this picture on the board already, but this is from March 2024.



My hair looks very different from the pictures in the video thumbnails: Left photo on the video thumbnail is from 2021. The picture on the right is 2022.

 

[snoop]

I guess in theory, my ends were "healthy", they just weren't "luscious", since I'd kept up with trimming the whole time.

 

[Chicoro]

Present and ready

Well hello! Welcome! Once you enter into this thread, there is no escape. We got you. We got your back. So ask away and share.

Whatever comes up in this thread comes up. No matter how far away something may seem from this thread topic, it has always arisen for a valuable purpose and always turns back to the thread topic.

So ask anything you want. If you feel the urge to mention something ‘off-topic’ due to a ‘nudge’, please go right ahead.

The ladies here are supportive and so smart and perceptive and generous with their knowledge and encouragement.

I’m their biggest fan!

 

[Chicoro]

I guess in theory, my ends were "healthy", they just weren't "luscious", since I'd kept up with trimming the whole time.

Getting to Luscious-ness is a veritable process. It takes time to curate such gorgeousness. And one’s process and products have to be on point. Afro textured hair can be so temperamental, too. Its needs and likes can change due to the age of the hair, a new sensitivity in the scalp or due to an infinite amount or a myriad of permutations of possibilities.

My favorite catch line that I coined:
Hair is not rocket science. It is far more complex.

 

[Chicoro]

Don’t forget to vote in the survey, don’t forget to cast your vote on the survey attached to this thread.

Let me if I need to or if you want me to add another issue for hair ends to the survey!

 

[Chicoro]

Happy New Year! I'm in for this year.

I did a much needed trim this past November. Now I am in maintenance mode to keep the ends in good shape.

What are your steps/processes for maintenance mode, please?

 

[Chicoro]

@snoop can you explain what’s your micro trim, please? How is it different from a trim and dusting?

 

[Chicoro]

In 2024 I did a record five (5) trims. The first was in early January to start the year. The next ones were in March, June, September and then December.

I do not cut. I trim off just the very bottom of the hair. I try to section the hair exactly in the same sections with the same quantity of hair with every trim.

@keranikki is the one who changed my views on frequent trims. She has a method and maybe if we ask her nicely, she may drop in and grace us with her time and give us a detailed explanation with visuals!

I personally could see a huge difference in my hair with the third trim in June and the fourth trim in September.

Blowing my hair out in conjunction with the trims is what provided the incredible visual where I was able to clearly see my own length gains.

Danger: Trimming your own hair with good results is a learned skill!

I finally learned to confidently trim my hair myself in 2024, with good results . This was hugely gratifying and freeing.

Now, I’m 100% independent of a stylist. I can do everything myself, to my satisfaction.

Lastly, my blow drying results got better each time I blow dried before a trim in 2024. That is a skill, too. AND each person has a preferred technique, tools and process.

I learned the hard way that I have to have a comb attachment on my blow dryer. And, I must use hot air and high heat. And, I must dry my hair in 16 to 25 small sections. And, I must use a spray bottle with water to mist every section before I begin to blow it out, or it won’t turn out well.

All of this took time , and trial and error and analysis.

Again, hair, especially Afro hair, is complex.

If you are trying to find your way with your hair and ends, please be patient with yourself. Please give yourself grace. Please be gentle and kind to yourself.

Some people find their way quickly and are able to stay on a growth track for their entire luscious ends journey.

Then there are those of us, like myself, who have been riding this train for years and getting off track every 5 miles on a 1000 mile journey. It is what it is.

If you want them luscious ends, then you must be willing to be able to learn and listen to the wisdom and learn the language of your own hair.

As with any ‘foreign’ language one is trying to acquire, different from your own mother tongue, it takes time to become fluent for most people.

So, set your expectations accordingly.

Strap in tightly, I can FEEL 2024 is going to be filled with hair changing AHA moments and hair transformative epiphanies.

The real question is, “Are YOU ready to step into your Higher Self and attain those luscious, healthy hair ends in 2025?”

 

[BeautifulRoots]

What are your steps/processes for maintenance mode, please?

Tbh, I am still learning when it comes to my ends and getting a process down. But I do a few things that I think are helping:

1. I oil my ends nightly with a hair serum. I have a few, so the one I use on a particular night depends on my hair's needs. If my ends feel dryer, I use a more moisturizing serum. If they feel supple, I will use a weightless spray serum. About once a week, I use a serum with protein to give my ends a protein boost to withstand any styling/wear and tear on the ends.

2. I do a search and destroy about once per week on my ends and mids to cut out any splits or single strand knots.

3. I am keeping up with protein treatments especially now that I blow dry and flat iron my hair pretty often these days. I use a small amount of protein almost every wash day. This is a big change for me since historically, I would classify myself as protein sensitive. I have noticed fewer little broken hairs when styling since I have been adding more protein into my regimen.

 

[Chicoro]

Tbh, I am still learning when it comes to my ends and getting a process down. But I do a few things that I think are helping:

1. I oil my ends nightly with a hair serum. I have a few, so the one I use on a particular night depends on my hair's needs. If my ends feel dryer, I use a more moisturizing serum. If they feel supple, I will use a weightless spray serum. About once a week, I use a serum with protein to give my ends a protein boost to withstand any styling/wear and tear on the ends.

2. I do a search and destroy about once per week on my ends and mids to cut out any splits or single strand knots.

3. I am keeping up with protein treatments especially now that I blow dry and flat iron my hair pretty often these days. I use a small amount of protein almost every wash day. This is a big change for me since historically, I would classify myself as protein sensitive. I have noticed fewer little broken hairs when styling since I have been adding more protein into my regimen.

Sounds good. You seem to be solidly on track.

 

[snoop]

@snoop can you explain what’s your micro trim, please? How is it different from a trim and dusting?

Here is a picture of the difference on my hair. I posted in last year's thread, but I need to find a video of how I do it.

The clump on the left is a regular trim. The clump on the right is the micro trim.

I prefer to do my micro trims under running water. This clumps my hair and also elongates it. I'll grab a section of hair and work clump by clump. In this soaking wet state, I'll count one, two, or three coils up from the bottom then snip. If that clump looks like it still has knots I'll count another one or two coils up and snip. Also, if there are some stray, longer strand, I'll clip those as well.

 

[snoop]

Here's a video of how I do it:



I should add that I usually do it on loose hair, but in this case, I was experimenting. I didn't want to take down my twists just to trim. It worked out well.

 

[Chicoro]

Saw this short on YouTube: This is what retains all your length looks like right here. This is what @MzSwift hair be doing. She keeps ALL her length!





Her process is to get her hair done at the shop. Then at that same shop the braid her up and she wears a wig for three months. Then she comes back to the shop to do it all over again in 3 months.

Incredible retention!

 

[MzSwift]

I'm adding this photo to my Hair Inspo file!!!
I've been staring at this photo for over 10 minutes. lol
I love these sorts of progress pix, they give me hope!
Thank you so much, @Chicoro !

 

[Chicoro]

I'm adding this photo to my Hair Inspo file!!!
I've been staring at this photo for over 10 minutes. lol
I love these sorts of progress pix, they give me hope!
Thank you so much, @Chicoro !

Baby, you’re welcome.

 

[IDareT'sHair]

I See We 'Bout to Go to School Again Up in Here!...

Take Notes....

 

[Napp]

Back to bunning for me. I had to reach in my personal archives to see why I didn’t have breakage back in the day but did when I was going natural. The key was using creamy deep conditioner to slick back my hair and co washed it multiple times a week.

I used to love the Brazilian deep conditioners as my leave ins but once they started making products for the USA their unique formulas became just a base with different oils in them way down the ingredient list.

I tried Skala but it just didn’t hit like my old school Novex.

I just tried a cream from another brand called Skafe. I remember it because there was a user back in the day who had fire curls using an skafe sos natu hair combing cream. I still could not find this particular cream so I tried a combing cream from the brand.

Y’all it’s like I went back in time. My hair was so slick and when it dried my waves were so damn shiny. I didn’t add any thing else but the cream. Not only that my hair dried rather quickly and stayed that way.

I’m giving wash and goes a break for now and I and enjoying this bun season. My curls won’t come out to play till the spring.