In Depth Regimen Building (Special Request)

A hair regimen is a consistent "routine" you use to care for your hair.  Having a hair regimen will make your hair healthier and allow you to retain length. Our hair grows just most of the time it breaks off at the same rate it is growing, making it stay the same length and appear that there is no growth. Let's start off with the BASIC things you need for your regimen.
First and foremost you NEED a wide tooth comb!
A Shampoo
Conditioner
Leave-in Conditioner
Deep Conditioner
(Lots of conditioners right? Moisture, Moisture, Moisture)
A water (Aqua) based moisturizer
Oil
Protein Treatment
Growth aid (not mandatory)


Okay now that I've listed the BASICS I'm going to go into detail.


A SHAMPOO that's sulfate free is ideal. However, it will require some "searching". This isn't mandatory my shampoo isn't sulfate free, I wash with shampoo BI-WEEKLY (every 2 weeks). Hair thrives when it is clean, do not believe the myth that dirt makes hair grow.Some brands I've used and recommend are:


Creme of Nature Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo
Infusium 23 Color Defender Sulfate free shampoo
Hairtrition Shampoo Moisturizing shampoo


Choose a CONDITIONER that is good for co-washing. I do this multiple times a week. My favorite conditioner is V05 moisture milks, it is cheap but works very well and keeps my hair moisturized. It also has biotin in it which helps thicken up hair. Recommended brands below:


V05 moisture milks
Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship
John Freda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner


A LEAVE IN conditioner is an extra moisturizer you put in after you wash your hair

Cantu Shea Butter Leave In conditioner (my favorite)
Infuisium 23 Leave in Conditioner (has protein in it keep an eye on your hair)
Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 miracle worker (has mineral oil in it but this is a new favorite)
Paul Mitchell Leave-in conditioner
Carol's Daughter's Black Vanilla Leave In

A DEEP CONDITIONER is to be used weekly or bi-weekly depending on your hair's needs. I prefer to deep condition weekly. This can be done overnight with a cap, then you can wash it out in the morning. During the day for a few hours or for about 30 minutes under the dryer or steamer.I honestly haven't found a deep conditioner that has met my needs yet but here are a few that have good reviews.

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Mask (on my list to try)Mizani Moisturefuse
Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioner 

Chose a DAILY MOISTURIZER the first ingredient should be water/aqua. I use my CANTU-SHEA BUTTER LEAVE IN CONDITIONER and my Hawaiian silky moisturizer. What I do to make a cheap moisturizer that WORKS is, first get an empty bottle or spray bottle. Then, fill it half way up with your conditioner of choice, I use V05 Moisture Milks (ofcourse) then I fill it up with water half way. VIOLA.......there's your moisturizer.

Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 Miracle Worker

Cantu Shea Butter Leave in- Conditioner

Garnier Frutius Silky Secret Daily Moisturizer

After you moisture SEAL in it in with OIL, so you're hair doesn't dry out and moisture doesn't escape. When it comes to oil the best option is to go natural. Why go buy a bottle of "Olive Oil" from the BSS that has a bunch of STUFF in it. Go to the cooking aisle and get some EVOO.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Jojoba Oil
Castor Oil (Regular Pharmacy kind or Jamaican Black)
Load up on essential oils as well

Protein treatments are not for weekly use. Keep in mind cheap conditioners like V05 and Suave already contain protein in them. Some products claiming to be deep conditioners are more on the protein side.Typically you should do a hard protein treatment every 6-8 weeks. Protein treatments are good before you get a relaxer or your hair dyed since these chemical processes break down the protein in your hair strands. However, you should pay attention to your hair's needs. I prefer to use a homemade protein treatment but some other ones available are:

ApHogee 2 step protein treatment
Mayo
lighter ones:
aPhogee keratin 2 minute reconstructer
ORS Hair Mayo
Mizani Protein Reconstructer

A GROWTH AID is a product used to speed up hair growth. These are optional because with the proper care your hair is going to flourish anyway.Popular growth aids are:

Megatek
Sulfur
Hairfinity
MTG
Castor Oil
Peppermint oil & Rosemary oil
MN (Miconzale Nitrate)

Last, but not least limit the use of heat and whenever you use heat ALWAYS use a heat protectant to avoid damage. Protective styling will also help retain length so you can keep the hair you've worked so hard to grow.

 

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Join the Official 2012 Hair Growth Challenge

We're proud to announce to our readers that we are officially starting a 2012 hair growth challenge for members of the WMH community. Well excuse me, let me correct myself a Healthy Hair Growth Challenge. To join the challenge all you have to do is email your starting picture here (whipmyyhair@gmail.com) with the word "Join" by March 30th.Along with your "goal" length.No, you don't have to use your real name either or show your face. When you set out to accomplish something with a group of people you stay more focused. The person with the most progress health and length wise will get a special prize but, that isn't the purpose of this challenge. I want you girls (oh and guys) to be able to take the information you gain from this site and put it to use so you can WHIP YOUR HAIR.For those of you with long hair already this challenge could be to "retain" that length. Post regimen and view starting photos HERE.


THINGS YOU WILL NEED
-A hair care regimen (if you need help let us know)
-a starting picture


A few things that help out GREATLY.


- A plastic cap or baggy. This is called the Green house effect or baggying method. 


**baggying is spraying your hair with a moisturizer at night sealing, then putting the plastic cap on and a scarf of some sort on over it*


-starting with trimmed ends
-scalp massages
-Co-washing (V05 moisture milks conditioner)
-Castor Oil


For further help, recipes, and tips to maximize your growth during the challenge check out the hair growth section. :) Happy growing! Comment below if you're in and YES you can remain anonymous. 

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My Relaxer FAIL. (PICS INSIDE)

After transitioning for 13 months,in other words a year and one month (I only had about 4 inches of relaxed hair left), February 10th I decided to relax.

WHY?: 

1.It took forever to detangle my hair. 

2. My hair was growing BUT I couldn't really wear it "out" and enjoy it.

3. I was tired of weaves

4. I wanted to be able to COMB my hair.

5. It was very time consuming
TIP: CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE.

8 Months Post

11 Months Post

1 Year Post

So, I did my "homework". I also contemplated weather or not this is what I wanted to do. Then, I weighed the pros and cons of a no lye relaxer and a lye one. After finally deciding to go through with the process,  I asked my mother to go to the store for me to get me an ORS (Organic Root Stimulator) relaxer. She came back with a SOFT & BEAUTIFUL. I never used this brand before.
I have very thick hair so we left it on for about 20 minutes. I didn't want it bone, stuck to my head straight but I wanted it STRAIGHT. So........after it was all said and done it looked a little straighter when  it was wet BUT, when it dried I looked in the mirror and was like (OMG!). It laughed at that perm, resisted it ,and was totally under processed (except my "bang"). All it really did was just loosened my texture  a bit. It's still THICK, a job to detangle, and comb. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. So just to make it easier on everyone I'm going to consider myself "TEXLAXED" from now on. 

AFTER: This is after my so called "relaxer". In that picture it's wet, I find when it's wet it's easier to tame. It's not until it dries does it end up like...... 

AFTER: This is my hair the same night it was "texlaxed" after it dried.(I took my face out because it was 2AM and I was looking rough! lol)

AFTER: This was taken 2 weeks ago, dry with no product. ( MARCH 2nd)

         The next photos are up close texture shots taken 3 days ago.

 ARE YOU MAD? No, because at the end of the day this hair journey IS a learning process.


WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON DOING NEXT? To be honest, I have no idea. I don't think I'm going to try and relax my hair again. I plan on leaving it as it for now and protective styling all summer anyways. I think transitioning for such a long period of time was harder than just doing the BC because of the straight ends. Especially when it came to styling. My styling lately has consisted of WNG's (Wash & Go's) and buns,with the exemption of the Dominican blowout I got on Feb. 17th, pretty simple. I'm going to hold divine intervention responsible for this. I guess the relaxer was just not meant to be for me and I'm okay with that. BETTER THAN having DAMAGE I'm pretty used to it now.

WRITTEN BY: MISHA

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FOTD

ANOTHER MAKE-UP MONDAY ADDITION ;)

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Collective Beauty & Make-up haul

It's Make-up Monday, enjoy!!

PRODUCTS:
Garnier Skin Renew Clinical Dark Spot Correcter
Maybelline 24hr Super Stay Foundation 350 Caramel
Maybelline Fitme pressed powder 355
Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara Revlon Photoready Primer
Maybelline 24 hr Color tattoo by eye studio (Fierce & Tangy, Bad to The Bronze, Bold Gold, Tenacious Teal, Pomegrant Pink)
Covergirl liquiline blast (Blue Bloom, Green Glow)
Loreal 6hr never fail Lip Gloss
Covergirl Smokey Shadow Blast
Covergirl Lash Blast 24hr
Revlon Diamond Lust Eyeshadow ( Plum Galaxy, Neptune Star, Violet Starlet, Night Sky)
Covergirl Exact Eyelights for Brown Eyes
Sally Hansen Crackle Nail Polish (Purple & Pink)

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A top coat & base coat for long lasting wear ?

You've heard and experienced this a thousand times before, you spend over an hour on your nails with designs only to see 
this heartbreaking image the next day(right). In the end I feel it's not really worth it,and all my hard work is gone down the drain. I am on a desperate search to find a top coat and a base-coat that will make my polish last for ATLEAST 5 days. So, my question for you is what top coat and base-coat do you use, and how long does it keep your polish on? By on I mean not chipped, or dented. I need help! 
Leave comments below.

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FOTD (FACE OF THE DAY)- Blue Magic

Something simple.

PRODUCTS USED:

-NYX PRIMER

-COVER GIRL 450 Indigo Impact

-CoverGirl Liquilineblast 450 blue bloom

-REVLON Diamond Lust 115 Neptune Star eyeshadow *NEW*

-Regular Ol' Gloss

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Hairfinity Healthy Hair Complex Review

This is my official Hairfinity Review. I paid for these with my own money,  and I'm not being "advertising" for them. Hairfinity is a "vitamin" complex that promotes hair growth. It contains various different vitamins, biotin, iron, etc. Most people who took the pills say you have to take them for 3 months consistently to have maximum hair growth. I took them from September- October. Then I took them for one month and that was in December. These pills are a bit on the pricey side, one bottle is $24, the 2 month supplement is $42, and a 4 month supply is $82. You take 2 pills a day. I took one in the morning and one at night but I found it most effective when I switched and took BOTH at night. The pills are large and some would consider then "horse pills" but, they are coated so they go down easy. When I first opened the bottom the "iron" smell was overwhelming but, as I stated in a previous post by the third month the bottle had no scent. I assume I was just used to it.Over all, I say the pills defiantly worked, I think if I took them for  3 months CONSISTENTLY, I would of have more growth. I'd say they gave me around an inch per month. The picture below from September is after I went for a "Trim" and got a hair cut. I was 2 weeks in to Hairfinity so I'm not sure how much new growth from the vitamins was cut off. My pictures below are my official Hairfinity results, the length of my hair on the "left" is the length I was at BEFORE the "trim/cut" in September. Over all if you can afford it I would definatly recommend it, great product!

sorry for the typo the last pic read jan. 2011 woops!
Anyways 4months of hair growth.

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ApHogee Kertain 2 Minute Re-constructor REVIEW

This is a follow up to the Hawiian silky 14 in 1 moisturizer bye bye S-Curl/ ApHogee Keratin reconstructor post I did a while back. The ApHogee Keratin Re-constructor is a mild protein treatment for breakage it's mild so it can be used weekly until it stops. Typically you keep it on for 2 minutes but if you have a more severe case you can keep it on for 5 minutes then wash it out.My hair was over moisturized and was lacking protein so I decided to pick this up at the BSS. I kept it in for 5 minutes. Right after I washed it was back to normal and felt "Balanced" no shedding and it didn't feel gummy or mushy. I followed up by deep conditioning my hair but not for too long since I needed more protein then anything.  Worked perfectly.To learn more about breakage and protein & moisture balance read Here.

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How to curl your Kinky Twist W/ Pipe-cleaners

When I first got my kinky twists my curl weren't "tight" they were very loose. Curl pattern is personal preference though, and I wanted a tighter curl. This is a cheap way to achieve a tighter curl with out having to go out and buy curling rods.To curl your kinky twists using this method
You will need:
-Pipe cleaners
-Hot water
-A cup or bowl
-Blow Dryer (optional)


STEP ONE:
Separate hair into sections and begin wrapping your hair around the pipe cleaners like you would a "flexi-rod". (The smaller  the sections the tighter the curl)


STEP TWO:
Boil water or heat it in the microwave in either a tall cup or a bowl.


STEP THREE:
CAUTION: Be VERY careful, putting a towel around your neck with help prevent burns.
Dip your hair section by section into the hot water for about 30 seconds for each section. 


STEP FOUR:(OPTIONAL)
This step is optional but I feel it helps "lock" in the curl.
Put your blow dryer on medium and blow dry the hair while it is still rolled up.


STEP FIVE:
Unroll the hair and VIOL-A you're finished.


The curls last for a while if you feel they're dropping just re do this process. 

Before

After

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