Year Four – Were Getting Somewhere. I Like APL (Arm Pit Level Hair):
This is by far the best hair day I have ever had naturally I’ve tried to recreate the process and have failed miserably. I think I deep conditioned a day or two ahead and undid my twists straightening each section. I’m not sure what product I used, but the results were outstanding. It was the nice flat iron look I was going for and then I never got it back. For your hair regime ladies write down what you’re using because you may have great hair for a few months and then changed maybe a few things in your hair care products or bought a different product to try. I still don’t know what I did to attain that look and that’s why it’s important to keep track.

My products have lessened over time and I’m now using a Shea Butter mixture with some Castor and Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera juice and water in a spray bottle. I also use Elasta QP deep conditioner on my hair. I still continue to do the two strand twists and hydrate my hair with water. I chose to continue with SD (search and destroy )methods and I trim my hair maybe 2-3 times a year. I don’t do much in terms of styling my hair even to this day.  I keep it simple

Year 5 – Length BSL (Bra Strap Length Hair):

As my hair started to get longer it was becoming more demanding. It wasn’t happy with old hair regime products. At this point I stopped combing my hair and started finger detangling I was trimming about twice a year. I was slowly sacrificing my hair for length and neglecting its health. I didn’t realize how damaged my ends were even though I continued with twits and did my best for protective styles. However, it was still growing, knots and all.

I don’t recall straightening my hair more than twice for the year. Now my eyes begin to get visually tired of seeing the same boring hairstyle. I want to do things to my hair without manipulating it that much and I have a lot of hair, but the strands are fine/thin. I’ve been working as a cook for three years now and always have to wear a hat. I feel like I’m losing some of my femininity with the industry I work in and feel stuck with my hair.

Year 6 – Set Back: 

I still continue to neglect my ends and they started lacking moisture. I straightened my hair maybe 4-5 times for the year. At this point I’m slowly losing patience and have come to a bump. It’s growing but the lack of styling is  getting to me. My problem was that I simply could not wear my natural hair out  because it would tangle on me.  I started back up with the aloe vera juice and grape seed oil, revisited older products and found new hair techniques. I slowly started using a brush again and did some trimming close to my six year period.  I did trim in August and again in October. At this point I’m feeling defeated. My hair was a little longer than year five because of the trims and if I hadn’t trimmed my hair it would be mid back length or less.  I want to do styles, but work, my job, makes that hard. I wear a chef’s hat and have a large head as is. I told myself if I can hold out for four years in this industry I’ll go back to retail. Looking and feeling like a woman is important and just because the pics I have posted appear nice doesn’t mean I look like this every day. I DO NOT.

As I previously mentioned I have three different hair textures, which makes things really difficult. Maybe  I’ll try to do a pony tail and see how that goes. I remain patient. I’m not sure what my hair heredity is but I would love to reach my goal for waist length hair by next year hopefully. Now I choose to do rope twists in my hair because it looks neater and holds alright with my hair. I realize at this stage that I’m going to have to increase moisture once again. This hair journey is a journey indeed ladies, but don’t give up and fight the good fight. It is satisfying and we will all have different walks in this journey.  Some will excel faster than others and some will need more care and attention dealing with their hair than others. There will be some setbacks here and there, but most of all be patient and you’ll reach your ultimate hair goal.

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