Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2026

[Chicoro]

@Angel of the North
Your braid looks gorgeous. To the average person, that’s just a thick, pretty braid.

To us, it’s the result of deep thought, trial and error, observations, analysis of products and processes, experience, time and discussion.

You didn’t ‘guess’ your way to that beautiful braid. You thought your way to it.

Growing and maintaining healthy, beautiful, Afro-textured hair is a thinking game, not a guessing game.


I appreciate you extending your acknowledgment to me. It helps me, too. It makes me feel seen and yes, worthy. It encourages me to want to help others and to write more hair books.

Congratulations on your success! A success that you understand, documented, implemented and can repeat with confidence.

 

[Angel of the North]

@Angel of the North
Your braid looks gorgeous. To the average person, that’s just a thick, pretty braid.

To us, it’s the result of deep thought, trial and errors, observations, analysis of products and processes, experience, time and discussion.

You didn’t ‘guess’ your way to that beautiful braid. You thought your way to it.

Thank you @Chicoro. You're right in what you say, it definitely isn't something I just happened upon. I had to put in a little work, but it has definitely paid off.

Growing and maintaining healthy, beautiful, Afro-textured hair is a thinking game, not a guessing game.

100%! I put guessing or not paying attention at the top of the list for setbacks. I love the thinking part of the journey, I'm very fortunate that most of the time I can pinpoint things relatively quickly and know what process might help me to get the results I want.

I appreciate you extending your acknowledgment to me. It helps me, too. It makes me feel seen and yes, worthy. It encourages me to want to help others and to write more hair books.

I have to give credit where it's due, you are definitely seen, and more so worthy. Your input is highly valued and grestly appreciated. I'm glad that you're motivated to write more hair books and continue helping others, the hair community needs you sis.

Congratulations on your success! A success that you understand, documented, implemented and can repeat with confidence.

Thanks again. Last week I trialed a lot of little tweaks and they paid off. Based on their results, I've made more tweaks this week and the results have improved once again. I'm really able to see the benefits of making these little tweaks to my processes and it's also helped to finalise my regimen. The results will hopefully continue to speak for themselves.

 

[Angel of the North]

The magic of Afro-textured hair is amazing. And the magic from which it originates, the woman of African descent, is even more so. Black women are magical!

100%

Shrinkage seems problematic, at least it did to me. Now, I see it as a feature or aspect of healthy, glorious, Afro-textured hair. Saying this for me, not everyone has shrinkage.

I always thought my shrinkage was bad but not anymore I actually noticed today that my curl pattern is loosening up ever so slightly, I think this is because my hair has grown. Making my braid a little tighter today has actually made my hair look about an inch longer than it did kast week. Shrinkage is slowly moving towards the bottom of my concerns.

Asian hair is made up mostly of para cortical cells.

European hair is made of some paracortical and some orthocortical cells.

Afro textured hair is the only hair that is bilateral. It has 50% paracortical and 50% orthocortical.

That means ALL hair types can literally come from, a person with Afro-textured hair.

That was a fantastic breakdown, thank you. I have type 1 - 4 hair in my head, my hair essentially has type 3 curls, but they are made up of all 4 textures. I've always believed this to be the potential catalyst to my frizz issues, this hair doesn't know what she was trying to be and I've ended up with the life's work of trying to eradicate it

It’s up to us to decipher the clues about our hair, put that information in context, and to adjust our perspectives. This is not judgment!

I agre with both statements.

It is hard to value shrinkage when mainstream beauty care does not acknowledge it, recognize it.

But we, as a community of women with Afro textured hair, are the people who acknowledge it, embrace it, understand it.

I don't care how other ethnicities see my hair., their opinions are not necessary nor wanted when it comes to my hair. I appreciate the elasticity that lprovides a way for me to check my moisture or protein balance and also know that it's healthy.

Hence, the ‘full circle’ recognition and acknowledgement statement of absolute truth, ‘there is nothing we can’t do with our hair’. You are absolutely right.

I think those with other hair types low key jealous of our hair, because of it and they wish their hair could do all of the same lol.

Women with Afro textured hair are Mother’s of Millennia. It is that very shrinkage that quietly illuminates this fact.

I love this

It puts a whole new spin on ‘Know thyself’. And that is why I believe a hair journey for a woman with Afro textured hair can be incredibly enlightening and life shifting.

Absolutely agree.

I always say, “Hair is not rocket science. It is far more complex”.

Chicoro

This needs to be on a plaque!

 

[Chicoro]

Alright, alright!

@Angel of the North is solidly on track. And that gorgeous braid of hers is the proof in the pudding!

Every discussion, no matter how long or short, has purpose. You never know who you are helping when you bring your thoughts to this thread. I can guarantee, it’s not just yourself. We all benefit.

So, step on up. You have a dilemma or question about those ends? Have you made a new connection about your hair you didn’t see before? Is something escaping you? Have had an epiphany?

Well, we want some of that, too. Don’t be stingy. Come on and bring it up in here.

Step right up!

 

[Chicoro]

I'm using essentials oils as perfumery to scent my concoctions. My hair smells so much better. I am loving the scents. I like to use ylang ylang, lemongrass, lavender and neroli to scent my inventions. So far my favorite scent is lemongrass essential oil in my hair butter!

 

[Chicoro]

This is my hair after only two days of being braided. I even keep it covered at night. And, I gel it down, but to no avail, the frizzles and fuzzies come out so strong, the parts between my braids are obscured.



I re-did my hair earlier that day. The braids were less than 24 hours old. I had less fuzzies and less frizzies. Also, I used my Shea butter + Cocoa butter mix which is a firmer butter. It elongates my braids and lays my hair down and holds my hair down a bit better. And, my parts are visible.


But, the balls on the ends of my hair in both pictures are smooth with no fuzzies. Smooth balls at the end of my hair helps minimize breakage and knots on the ends of my hair.

 

[Lylddlebit]

I pressed my hair out in anticipation of my spring trim. It looks the same length to me but is measuring longer(20-inch sections before are closer to 24 now sections that were 22 inches are also closer to 24 as the trims helped the shorter ones catch up so overall length is the same but strands are longer). I plan to cut it back to the status quo (will probably be around 22 overall inches when I am done). I have been wearing natural back-to-back styles and my ends are a bit more weathered and split than normal. A thorough trim is in order. Though it will look the same as my prior photos, a cut will make it "spring fresh."

I've been busy y'all, but I'm still here! I just renewed my subscription.

I will catch up on this thread.

 

[Angel of the North]

I'm using essentials oils as perfumery to scent my concoctions. My hair smells so much better. I am loving the scents. I like to use ylang ylang, lemongrass, lavender and neroli to scent my inventions. So far my favorite scent is lemongrass essential oil in my hair butter!

I love the smell of lemongrass, I also like tropical/citrus scents, I managed to find some coconut, mango, mandarin and vanilla essential oils for when I do eventually start to make stuff.

 

[Angel of the North]

I pressed my hair out in anticipation of my spring trim. It looks the same length to me but is measuring longer(20-inch sections before are closer to 24 now sections that were 22 inches are also closer to 24 as the trims helped the shorter ones catch up so overall length is the same but strands are longer). I plan to cut it back to the status quo (will probably be around 22 overall inches when I am done). I have been wearing natural back-to-back styles and my ends are a bit more weathered and split than normal. A thorough trim is in order. Though it will look the same as my prior photos, a cut will make it "spring fresh."

I've been busy y'all, but I'm still here! I just renewed my subscription.

I will catch up on this thread.

Good to see you girl, it's been a while!

I'm picturing how thick your ends will look after that trim

You have a LOT to catch up on lol. I will tag you in a thread I think you can help me with some advice on.

 

[Chicoro]

I pressed my hair out in anticipation of my spring trim. It looks the same length to me but is measuring longer(20-inch sections before are closer to 24 now sections that were 22 inches are also closer to 24 as the trims helped the shorter ones catch up so overall length is the same but strands are longer). I plan to cut it back to the status quo (will probably be around 22 overall inches when I am done). I have been wearing natural back-to-back styles and my ends are a bit more weathered and split than normal. A thorough trim is in order. Though it will look the same as my prior photos, a cut will make it "spring fresh."

I've been busy y'all, but I'm still here! I just renewed my subscription.

I will catch up on this thread.

Waiting for them 'pichas'.

 

[Angel of the North]

This is my hair after only two days of being braided. I even keep it covered at night. And, I gel it down, but to no avail, the frizzles and fuzzies come out so strong, the parts between my braids are obscured.



I re-did my hair earlier that day. The braids were less than 24 hours old. I had less fuzzies and less frizzies. Also, I used my Shea butter + Cocoa butter mix which is a firmer butter. It elongates my braids and lays my hair down and holds my hair down a bit better. And, my parts are visible.


But, the balls on the ends of my hair in both pictures are smooth with no fuzzies. Smooth balls at the end of my hair helps minimize breakage and knots on the ends of my hair.

This is similar to what happened to me last week, the day after wash day, my braid looked like it had been in for days and I hadn't covered my hair, I just left it till my refresh day to redo it. It's annoying to have to refresh regularly, especially because of manipulation and lack of time.

I only want to do my braid twice a week, this works well for me when my hair is cooperating lol.

2 things I'm thinking about doing to help with getting my hair to lay flatter, is:

1. Add ACV rinse to my wash day routine

2. Tie a scarf and then secure it with a bonnet

The scarf will definitely smoothen the front/top parts, I rarely use gel for sticking back my hair, my creamy moisturiser usually does this well, the Cantu one is not cooperating as well as it once did. It still moisturises my hair, but I will not repurchase once that bottle finishes, the product has also been discontinued, so that's now the end of my relationship with Cantu bar their curl definition brush. If I use the scarf alone, there's a 50:50 chance that it will come off, 3 of my bonnets NEVER comes off, so it should work.

I tried out ACV years ago, I didn't stick with it because it didn't make any significant difference to my hair for the additional steps. I think I will benefit from it's abilities to tame frizz, so I'll add it as a final rinse see how it goes.

 

[Chicoro]

This is similar to what happened to me last week, the day after wash day, my braid looked like it had been in for days and I hadn't covered my hair, I just left it till my refresh day to redo it. It's annoying to have to refresh regularly, especially because of manipulation and lack of time.

I only want to do my braid twice a week, this works well for me when my hair is cooperating lol.

2 things I'm thinking about doing to help with getting my hair to lay flatter, is:

1. Add ACV rinse to my wash day routine

2. Tie a scarf and then secure it with a bonnet

The scarf will definitely smoothen the front/top parts, I rarely use gel for sticking back my hair, my creamy moisturiser usually does this well, the Cantu one is not cooperating as well as it once did. It still moisturises my hair, but I will not repurchase once that bottle finishes, the product has also been discontinued, so that's now the end of my relationship with Cantu bar their curl definition brush. If I use the scarf alone, there's a 50:50 chance that it will come off, 3 of my bonnets NEVER comes off, so it should work.

I tried out ACV years ago, I didn't stick with it because it didn't make any significant difference to my hair for the additional steps. I think I will benefit from it's abilities to tame frizz, so I'll add it as a final rinse see how it goes.

If I am going somewhere, I will re-wet my hair, put on Scurl or pure glycerine as my leave in, tap some gel on top, pull my braids into a ponytail, smooth with a toothbrush and put on a scarf. That works pretty good. For my regular days, I let the fuzzies happen!

 

[Chicoro]

Hair Cleanser - Clay Wash


This is my product mix for my clay cleanse when I wash my hair. I am keeping all these ingredients and not adding anything to it and not taking anything away. This is what @snoop gave me. I call it my Snoop Clay Mix.

The way I was employing it before was to mix it into water and pour it over my hair as a rinse. That worked well.

What I would like to try is to change my rinse to a PASTE.


The impetus for this? The 'Why'?

Koalin has anywhere between 49% to 55% silica in it. With the way I have been using it, I'm pouring the nutrients down the sink! Silica is great for the roots of the hair. Hence, the change in the rheology of the clay mix.

• I will try to make a paste and let it sit on my hair for a while, maybe for about five (5) to ten (10) minutes, then rinse it out.
• I may later determine I don't like it and may decide to change back or change the form some other way.

I'm excited and that's a good thing.

 

[Angel of the North]

If I am going somewhere, I will re-wet my hair, put on Scurl or pure glycerine as my leave in, tap some gel on top, pull my braids into a ponytail, smooth with a toothbrush and put on a scarf. That works pretty good. For my regular days, I let the fuzzies happen!

In between wash day (Sunday) and refresh day (Thursday), I let my fuzzies do their thing too, and Thursdays seem to be a day I usually have to go out, so it's working out quite well at the moment. I'm hoping that by putting a scarf on before my bonnet, I can eventually get back to skipping the mid week refresh.

 

[Angel of the North]

Hair Cleanser - Clay Wash


This is my product mix for my clay cleanse when I wash my hair. I am keeping all these ingredients and not adding anything to it and not taking anything away. This is what @snoop gave me. I call it my Snoop Clay Mix.

The way I was employing it before was to mix it into water and pour it over my hair as a rinse. That worked well.

What I would like to try is to change my rinse to a PASTE.


The impetus for this? The 'Why'?

Koalin has anywhere between 49% to 55% silica in it. With the way I have been using it, I'm pouring the nutrients down the sink! Silica is great for the roots of the hair. Hence, the change in the rheology of the clay mix.

• I will try to make a paste and let it sit on my hair for a while, maybe for about five (5) to ten (10) minutes, then rinse it out.
• I may later determine I don't like it and may decide to change back or change the form some other way.

I'm excited and that's a good thing.

Oh that's interesting, I had assumed you were using if in the form of a paste. I can't wait to hear your comparison of the two different applications.

You mentioned having used other clays previously, is the koalin your favourite? How does it/the results differ from other clays you've used? Does using the rinse still give curl definition in the way that the paste is said to?

 

[Chicoro]

Oh that's interesting, I had assumed you were using if in the form of a paste. I can't wait to hear your comparison of the two different applications.

You mentioned having used other clays previously, is the koalin your favourite? How does it/the results differ from other clays you've used? Does using the rinse still give curl definition in the way that the paste is said to?

I used purple, pink, green and yellow and brown clays. They are gorgeous dry. But as soon as you mix them with water they turn into an ugly, gray slurry.

I’m using kaolin clay because it’s the easiest to get and the cheapest. Yet, I think it is the richest in silica which is a tremendous boon for the health of the hair. Kaolin is my preferred clay for now.

I use red clay for my melasma and put it in my sunscreen cream. But I don’t use it in my hair.

The kaolin clay is softer and finer to the touch. It feels like the powder it is. It’s not as gritty as the other clays. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in the clays as it relates to outcome of my hair. The results are pretty similar.

Maybe when I make and use the paste it may be different. We’ll have to see.

You know, I don’t remember any impact on curl definition. My hair is highly, highly textured.

Maybe it’s just semantics but the impact I love about the clay mixture is my hair feels soft and beautiful after I use it.

In contrast, when I use shampoo, my hair is hard, dry, drawn up, stripped, wiry and my hair seems tramautized.

Quite frankly, shampoo has done this to my hair all my life. I just did not know there were other options. Who would think that shampoo ‘was not for their hair’. It certainly has never been for mine. But not using shampoo to clean hair was unheard of for me. I had to really have tremendous problems with shampoo for me to finally consider to eliminate it from my regimen.

So we will see what the paste does!

 

[Angel of the North]

I used purple, pink, green and yellow and brown clays. They are gorgeous dry. But as soon as you mix them with water they turn into an ugly, gray slurry.

I’m using kaolin clay because it’s the easiest to get and the cheapest. Yet, I think it is the richest in silica which is a tremendous boon for the health of the hair. Kaolin is my preferred clay for now.

I use red clay for my melasma and put it in my sunscreen cream. But I don’t use it in my hair.

The kaolin clay is softer and finer to the touch. It feels like the powder it is. It’s not as gritty as the other clays. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in the clays as it relates to outcome of my hair. The results are pretty similar.

Maybe when I make and use the paste it may be different. We’ll have to see.

You know, I don’t remember any impact on curl definition. My hair is highly, highly textured.

Maybe it’s just semantics but the impact I love about the clay mixture is my hair feels soft and beautiful after I use it.

In contrast, when I use shampoo, my hair is hard, dry, drawn up, stripped, wiry and my hair seems tramautized.

Quite frankly, shampoo has done this to my hair all my life. I just did not know there were other options. Who would think that shampoo ‘was not for their hair’. It certainly has never been for mine. But not using shampoo to clean hair was unheard of for me. I had to really have tremendous problems with shampoo for me to finally consider to eliminate it from my regimen.

So we will see what the paste does!

Thank you for explaining that for me, I'm even more curious to hear about your results when you try the paste. I'm wondering if it makes a smoother paste than the other clays. I want to try the bentonite clay in the form of a paste.

 

[Chicoro]

Thank you for explaining that for me, I'm even more curious to hear about your results when you try the paste. I'm wondering if it makes a smoother paste than the other clays. I want to try the bentonite clay in the form of a paste.

Betonite works differently than kaolin.

 

[Angel of the North]

Betonite works differently than kaolin.

I want to know more please It seems to be one of the more popular clays I've seen being used.

On a side note, I'm on day 3 with my braid.... Still NO frizz! At this rate, I will not need to refresh tomorrow.

 

[Chicoro]

I want to know more please It seems to be one of the more popular clays I've seen being used.

On a side note, I'm on day 3 with my braid.... Still NO frizz! At this rate, I will not need to refresh tomorrow.

Can you reiterate, one more time, the key things you did to arrive at this no frizz braid, for a record three (3) days, please?

It needs to be stated for those in the back: me!

That is soooooo good that you’ve solved a persistent challenge you had with your hair: frizzy, fuzzy braid. And, you know EXACTLY what you did and you can repeat the process, too.

That’s a huge win!

That fuzz and frizz issue is not just an aesthetic challenge, it’s a potential breakage issue. That fuzz is “active” in that it can break off itself, and it can ‘grab’ and entangle other hairs.

Breakage on Afro textured hair is a multi-prong, complex process.

Imagine a pie. For your particular head of hair, you have addressed a pretty substantial piece of the pie by resolving the fuzz issue.

It’s just the start or beginning of solving the many complexities that pertain to one’s mane.

The more hair mysteries you solve, the more complex the next one seems to be. But, because you’ve deeply developed your hair analysis skills along the way, the more equipped you become to take on the task to resolve that subtle, obscure clue that your hair relays to you- via a ‘problem’ or a change in your hair.

Hair is not rocket science. It is far more complex. […] Life giving stem cells come from the hair bulb.

Awww, hair, so beautifully complex.

 

[Chicoro]

Kaolin clay vs Bentonite clay

[ I’ll come back with a sentence or two.]

Kaolin clay, a true clay, mixes easily with water to form a paste.

Bentonite is not a clay but a volcanic product composed of silica and aluminum. Its structure makes it hard to mix in water. Only a small amount of the bentonite powder remains suspended in water, as a kind of a gel.

(from Aubrey Organics)

 

[Chicoro]

Olive Oil infused with:

• whole and ground coffee beens
• whole and ground cloves
• fresh rosemary sprigs
• freshly sprouted fenugreek seeds
• green tea

My oil blend turned out murky. Perhaps the particles will precipitate out of the oil and fall to the bottom of the jar as sediment. I left the sprouted fenugreek and the dried cloves and fresh rosemary in the oil to macerate for about seven (7) days.

I like the way it smells, kind of sweet like fresh cut grass and earthy.

The last batch I made was yellow in color and I didn't like that. This batch is murky and I don't like that. With each new iteration of oil making, it will continue toward the oil that I like to look at, smell and use.

The oil is not perfect but I am happy with it. I have about 1/2 cup of oil left from the last batch. When that is done, then I can use the new batch of oil that I just finished straining and double filtering.



Photo taken inside.




Photo taken outside.

 

[Lylddlebit]

Good to see you girl, it's been a while!

I'm picturing how thick your ends will look after that trim

You have a LOT to catch up on lol. I will tag you in a thread I think you can help me with some advice on.

Go on and tag me!

 

[Lylddlebit]

Waiting for them 'pichas'.

I ended up dusting today instead of waiting for Saturday. The state of my ends was driving me nuts. When my hair was in back-to-back natural styles, I couldn't feel the erosion on my ends, but as soon as I straightened it the roughness of my ends started driving me nuts. It's like an eyelash in my eye that will bother the dickens out of me until I address it. It was a dust to me(as attached in the photo) but a very thorough one. I actually think my ends are thinner than my last set of photos, but I am not alarmed, I just need to keep a better eye on these for the next two seasonal trims. This is why I like to rotate stretched, straightened natural styles....When I don't, problems can creep up on me. I had more split ends and weathered ends than usual, but it feels MUCH BETTER after today's dusting. The length is about the same as my last set of photos.

The photos show how much I dusted. Some may say it is a cut because I did cut off more than an inch in some areas but I say dust because I snipped down the length not just the hemline.

 

[Chicoro]

I ended up dusting today instead of waiting for Saturday. The state of my ends was driving me nuts. When my hair was in back-to-back natural styles, I couldn't feel the erosion on my ends, but as soon as I straightened it the roughness of my ends started driving me nuts. It's like an eyelash in my eye that will bother the dickens out of me until I address it. It was a dust to me(as attached in the photo) but a very thorough one. I actually think my ends are thinner than my last set of photos, but I am not alarmed, I just need to keep a better eye on these for the next two seasonal trims. This is why I like to rotate stretched, straightened natural styles....When I don't, problems can creep up on me. I had more split ends and weathered ends than usual, but it feels MUCH BETTER after today's dusting. The length is about the same as my last set of photos.

The photos show how much I dusted. Some may say it is a cut because I did cut off more than an inch in some areas but I say dust because I snipped down the length not just the hemline.

Woooo weee!

It's looks fuller, thicker, softer, darker, more lush and longer.

Baribie Doll Hair!!!

Thank you for posting!!!!

So, um, Gal, what you been doing to your hair? Share about this hair!

 

[Chicoro]

Okay, even after three filtrations, after about six (6) hours the particles precipitated out of the oil and fell to the bottom of the jar to form a sediment.




This is the stuff that was the sediment. It looks like plant components from the sprouted fenugreek, maybe.




Awww, finally a clear, green oil that is free of sediment, cloudiness and free of murkiness.




(Me lifting my oil up as if it's Baby Kinta Kunte from the series ROOTS. Well, I am proud of what I have birthed.)