The OFFICIAL 3m GROWTH CHALLENGE Pt 2..Sept 6-Dec 31

Thank you ShortNSassie and Crissy Q

Hi all!

I wore a bun all last week. I am very proud of myself. This week however I have been rocking a big twist out! Next week I am going to try to do mini twists and keep them in all week. This is a stretch for me because of my job so I hope it goes over well!

Hey Everybody! I hope you all on the east coast are staying dry in all this rainy weather.

Here's what's been going on since my last update:

I co-washed on Friday (9/24) and use KCKT & KCCC to moisturize and style my hair. At night I would mist then use Darcy's Botanicals Tansitioning cream which is more like a thin lotion, but VERY moisturizing. I also spritzed in the moring to freshen my curls. I did this until Monday then I cowashed again with TJTTT and noticed more shedding and broken ends when it dawned on me that I haven't had a real protein treatment in a while so I used Aphogee 2 Minute because I didn't have time to do the real deal. This time I just wore a twistout puff:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]. I shampooed on Wed. and mixed amla with Jessicurl WDT and was pleasantly surprised at how my hair looked and felt. Curls poppin and silky smooth:) I did a length check:
and put my hair in twists:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I'm not feeling the twists but it's raining and I not going anywhere since I don't have a canoe so I'll keep them in until tomorrow. Today make 3 months natural for me-yay!

kinksncurls wrote:

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Your braids look so good!!! How long did it take you to do them?

Thanks LynnLuvie! Lets just say a long time! lol! I started at noon, and finished at 8 pm. But I took plenty of breaks. If I had to estimate, probably about 5 to 6 hours if I were to do them straight. But I've been able to get them to last a month

Every time I see your braids, it almost make me want to try it.

You should try it I tried twists, but I definitely prefer braids because they last longer

@kinksncurls - I love your braids! You may have cut 2 inches but you still have a lot of length. I definitely want to try and start wearing braids this fall.

krazy coils wrote:@kinksncurls - I love your braids! You may have cut 2 inches but you still have a lot of length. I definitely want to try and start wearing braids this fall.

You should big sis, I bet your hair would look great.

Thanks Krazycoils! and I agree with crissyq you should give them a try. Once they're put in they're easy to maintain

CrissyQ wrote:KnC your braids are nice. i am going to master this protective styling thing one day. Keep up the good work.

I agree....Crissy you will master protective styling..I didn't master twisting until here recently!!!

I am doing a search and destroy tonight. It has been two hours and I have only gotten through two twist. I should not have waited so long. This will take weeks!

@oooop2, the Eco Custard that I used for my twists was a mixture someone created on this site. I used 1 cup of the eco styler gel(with olive oil); 1 tbsp of EVOO; 1 tbsp of EVCO and 1 tbsp Aloe Vera Juice. I love this stuff! Once batch usually lasts me about 2 weeks or more. I keep it in the fridge with a sign that says "Do not eat" for the rest of my family -

update -but before I say anything - great posts! great ideas!!


I don't know why but I did NOTHING with my hair after coiling it last week. I coiled on Sunday(?) after a DT and DC. I put on a satin bonnet and went to sleep. When I got up I sprayed with a homemade spritz and got in the shower with a cap. Got out, threw a homemade oil mix and spritzed with DevaCurl Mister Right. Threw on a headband, walked out the door. I did that every day until Friday morning, when I took the coils out, sprayed, showered with no cap and oil/mister right. Shook, headband. Saturday too.

I did get a length check which I am posting on the BAA challenge. My hair seems to be growing and not breaking so I just wanted to ride it out this week.

Now today, I broke my own vow to keep to the same routine and tried the Lush shampoo bar (Godiva) and afterward a paste made with Shikakai and water. My hair is super clean but neither cleanser tangled my hair. Must be the PH. I am using a new conditioner too: Biofusion Hydrating Conditioning Balm. It was $9.99 at Walgreens and I thought, why not. try it. It's in now under a plastic cap. We'll see. will post later.

Posting my weekly update a little early...last week I wore twists and wore a twist out Friday and Saturday. This timeI did something a little different I re-twisted ever other day using Oyin's Burt Sugar Pomade and spritzed with Oyin's JuicesNBerries! Can I saw AWESOME

Friday my twist out was sooo soft; Friday night I re-twisted in chunky twist and Saturday was a great soft hair day as well.

I Saturday evening I did a mini henna touch. It is where I used my left over henna to touch up my hair line. I could only leave the henna on for about 2 1/2 hrs because is was running down the sides of my face. However, the results came out nice. I did a d/c treatment with Renpure Organics Conditioner. BlondeByDesire mentioned using this and how great it was after she did her bc. I think she saw a review for this on CN homepage.

Anyway...I feel asleep with the conditioner on, and I was kinda worried because this conditioner contains protein. However, I'm discovering that my hair likes protien...but maybe not 5 hrs worth. My hair felt a little dry (could have been from the henna) so I just made sure I used EVCO with the Givoanna Direct Leave-in. Twisted with AfroVeda's Curly Define and sealed my ends with AfroVeda Shel Alma Butter.

I will spritz with Oyin's JuicesNBerries this week as needed, and retwist with Oyin's Burt Sugar pomade if needed.

I'll post pictures next week and do a length next week.

Here is my weekly update, I didn't wash my hair today, matter of fact I don't think I wash it last week either. O well I wanted to give the Shea Moisture Masque another try so this time I added honey and Olive oil to it and keep it on for 45 mins. I did this on dry hair and I used this to also detangle. I can honestly say now this does nothing for my hair and I will not be using it ever, EVER again! After I rinsed I cowashed with Tresseme Naturals Moisture Condish. I used Garnier Fruitis Sleek and Shine Leave in (first time using both) added an Oil blend to my ends and scalp and flat twisted in 10 rows starting from the crown with Koils by Nature Hair and Body Butter. I got this idea from Tiashauntee's blog. Thanks girl.

Her's is much neater than mine.
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Will post a pic tomorrow on how it turned out.

co-washed my hair last night with Yes to Cucumbers and then used Giovanni's smooth as silk as a leave-in and a dab of Qhemet's Amla and Olive to seal. I then banded my hair to stretch it.

My hair felt fine for about half the day and then I could tell it had started to dry out again. I don't know, I'm thinking about reintroducing cones into my regimen-- my hair will NOT stay moisturized for more than a day. Maybe I have some porosity issues.. I'm kind of frustrated between the dryness and the SSKs... I may also need a trim but I want it done professionally.

CurlyDee wrote:co-washed my hair last night with Yes to Cucumbers and then used Giovanni's smooth as silk as a leave-in and a dab of Qhemet's Amla and Olive to seal. I then banded my hair to stretch it.

My hair felt fine for about half the day and then I could tell it had started to dry out again. I don't know, I'm thinking about reintroducing cones into my regimen-- my hair will NOT stay moisturized for more than a day. Maybe I have some porosity issues.. I'm kind of frustrated between the dryness and the SSKs... I may also need a trim but I want it done professionally.

Giovanni Smooth As Silk has proteins in it. Do you know if you are protein sensitive or not? Check out this article.

Lynnieluve wrote:

CurlyDee wrote:co-washed my hair last night with Yes to Cucumbers and then used Giovanni's smooth as silk as a leave-in and a dab of Qhemet's Amla and Olive to seal. I then banded my hair to stretch it.

My hair felt fine for about half the day and then I could tell it had started to dry out again. I don't know, I'm thinking about reintroducing cones into my regimen-- my hair will NOT stay moisturized for more than a day. Maybe I have some porosity issues.. I'm kind of frustrated between the dryness and the SSKs... I may also need a trim but I want it done professionally.

Giovanni Smooth As Silk has proteins in it. Do you know if you are protein sensitive or not? Check out this article.

No, I know my hair can handle at least some protein, I use Aubrey Organics GPB as a protein DC and I've used the Smooth as Silk as a DC with no problem. I have the same issue when I use protein-free leave ins, like Darcy's Vanilla leave-in. I don't know, I didn't take very good care of my hair up until this year (and didn't really DC with heat until this summer) so most of my length probably has some sort of damage. I'd probably consider a BC except for the fact that I rely on wearing my hair up 90% of the time so I don't think I could deal with short hair.

Weekly check in!!!

ok sooo today is my 2nd month post BC!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to get my hand on a ruler so i can get an accurate measure of my hair..i think i have maybe 1 1/2 inches..I love my hair and will continue going strong..YAY ME!!

so for my hair's 2nd month birthday I tired a new conditioner (had my eye on it for awhile) Yes to carrot..omg i love that stuff...I've tried a lot of conditioner since i became natural and this is the most moisturizing one yet..so i'm going to replace my Shea moisture conditioner for this and see if there is a big difference..

this week I plan on protection my twa as much as possible with beanies and hats

Yesterday I finally washed my hair after two weeks (lol)! I think I still prefer washing every 7-8 days instead of two weeks. My scalp didn't itch too badly and I used Vatika Oil on my scalp every other night so maybe that helped. I pre-pooed overnight with Olive Oil and I used a new styler this week Ori Organics Curly Buttercream so I shampooed my hair to get rid of any buildup.

I used Giovanni smooth as silk as my deep conditioner mixed with Olive Oil. I used the Ori Moisture balancing buttercream as my leave-in and twisted with the Curly Buttercream and sealed my ends with Castor Oil. I am testing this styler out so I will be using it for the next two weeks on my hair.


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@ CurlyDee. Hey, just read your post about hair being dry. I don't think I'm protein sensitive, but I always have to wash it out. I DC with the Giovanni SAS and make sure to wash it out or else my hair would be dry as a board. Once I sprayed my hair with Giovanni vitapro on my edges since they seemed to have broken off a little due to puffs. Well, lets just say I went to bed with a wet head because my hair was so dry I had to wash and DC all over again to revive it.

My weekly update:
I didn't get a chance to check in last week becaue my entire household got a stomach virus and I usually post info while at work. Since I missed 2days of work when I got back I was stomped and promised myself to get back on it this week.

So, with my hair, it has been twisted since Last saturday. My plan is to keep them in for 2weeks then twist out for 1 week and do it all over again. And of course, I don't have pics. Tried to take some but hated the way they looked, not sure why. But, I'll post pics of the twist out.

Question: Do you all consider twist outs to be a protective style? I do and here's why. Once I twist out my hair, I don't touch it but twice a day. I band it at night and remove the bands in the morning. No fluffing, just shake which is what I do to my twist/coils. But I do moisturize with an oil spray. So for me it is semi-protective.

hEY JACKIE, TWIST OUTS ARE CALLED LOW MANIPULATION STYLES CHECK OUT THIS SITE
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5675136/5_low_manipulation_hairstyles_for_african.html

Thanks for the link Crissy!

Thanks Crissy...I guess I am a protecting/low manipulation lover!!!! LOL!!!!