2 Years Natural and A Trim

Hi ladies-

       So I'm not technically 2 years yet, but in just a couple of weeks it would be 2 years since my last relaxer. Yay! These two years have been exciting to say the least. I've had nothing but positive feed back from friends and family. I look forward to many more years. So like I mentioned in my last post I started my Ayuredic element regimen first thing this year. Here's how I blow dried, hot combed and trimmed:

Following my deep conditioner I used Roux Fermodyl 619 leave in conditioner. I detangled prior to using my mask mixture, so my hair was pretty detangled at this point. I used a combination of Organic Root Stimulator heat protect, CHI silk infusion, and Hollywood Beauty Moroccan oil. I mixed a dime sized amount of each, and made sure to completely cover my hair. While blow drying I used the tension method. For those who aren't aware of this method, it's when you hold a section of your hair taut, and blow dry holding about 6 inches away from the hair by waving the blow dryer back and forth over the section of hair. I did this until my hair was almost completely dry. I then put each section into a pony tail, twisted then up, covered with a bonnet, and went to sleep. I don't like to completely blow dry my hair, because it makes it dry and brittle.

The next morning I had soft very fluffy hair. So what I did was, add more of my mixture of cones to protect from additional heat. I used the blow dryer again. This time on low, and I used the blow dryer comb to stretch it a little. I prefer to use the hot comb. This is what I used growing up, and I think using the flat irons makes it hard to straighten the ends if they are knotted or bunched up. I heated my comb, and before putting the comb in my hair I ALWAYS test one strand of hair. If that strand breaks or wither the comb is to hot. When I get the OK I quickly run the comb through my hair by wrapping the ends around the back of the comb as I pull it through.. I didn't want bone straight hair. From there I went to a local natural hair salon and let her trim my ends. After my ends were trimmed I proceeded to flat iron on the low setting. Here are some pics:

Completely blow dried. Tension method used.

Hot combed. Not bone straight.

This the longest my sides have been since I've had a relaxer. They would just snap off at my chin due to the perm and the fact that I wore pony tails a lot.

After my trim. She took off one inch.

My left side after flat ironing

My right side after flat ironing.

Back view after flat ironing. I had layers so I'm trying to grow them out. I asked her not to cut up into them again.

I am really pleased with my overall trim, loved the way my hair felt, and I received so many compliments. I love the softness, and running my fingers through my hair. My hair was bouncy and shiny. I wore my hair straight for 3 weeks. I used heat this one time. If I wanted to maintain my curls I used satin sponge rollers. On the third week I wore mostly pony tails and buns. I enjoyed the break but missed my curls. So lets compare 1 year of hair growth:

1 year natural (Feb 2010)

2 years natural (Jan. 2011) I'm a little past collar bone length now.

I am very pleased with my progress. I honestly didn't really notice the growth. I am so excited about my 3 year mark. I now plan to trim every 6 months. So my next trim will be June of this year. Those knots were pesky, and ridiculous. I still had a few stray knots, but they were easy to single out since my hair was straight. I singled them out and simply cut then off.