Hair Haul and Product ReviewHair Haul and Product Review

Get the Look: Heatless Soft Beach Waves

What You Will Need:

(1) satin/silk Scarf or doo rag

(2) satin/silk bonnet

(3) pony tail or hair tie

(4) one bobby pin

What to do:

On freshly washed hair...
(1) air dry it COMPLETELY

(2) put hair into a low bun

(3) put doo rag on, leaving bun portion out

(4) cover hair/doo rag with bonnet

(5) sleep overnight with hair in above steps

(6) undo next morning

(7) part hair in desired part, and use bobby pin to secure a small section of hair out of your face

Taa Daa! You are now the proud owner of a heatless- soft beach waves hair style

*NOTE: I started out with a hot oil treatment, which you can find out how to do here.  I am two weeks post relaxer in this photograph.

Give your hair some HOT OIL love !!

Hot Oil Treatments are like amping up your regular conditioner routine. Below, I will give a little bit of info on the importance of H-O-T's.
*What is a hot oil Treatment- A hot oil treatment is basically putting an oil in your dry (not wet) hair, then using heat to allow the oil to penetrate the hair shaft.

*What are the benefits of hot oil treatments- Hot oil treatments turn your hair from frizzy, dry, and dull, to shiny, bouncy, and soft.

*Products-  You can buy an actual hot oil treatment package from any pharmacy or mega store like walmart. Or, you can simply use products you already have at home to do it yourself.  You can use oils like olive oil, jojoba oil, argan oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, or jasmine, which are all popular for hair.

*How to do it- Check out my video on youtube called Hair-Luxe Tutorial: Hot Oil Treatment

If you do not like doing Deep Conditioning, then weekly hot oil treatments are another option for you.
Good Luck on your hair journey

X-o-X-o
Emily

Thank You :-)

There have been several new subscribers to Hair-Luxe in the past few days!  Your hair questions allow me to help you and others with similar hair issues, so keep them coming, and good luck on your journey.

X-o-X-o

Emily

Hair-Growth Tip #2: Getting Regular Trims

Hair-Growth Tip #1: Setting Goals

Hair Progress:June '12-Aug '12

June 2012

                                                                               August 2012                                                  

August Update '12

How to air dry

Hair Week Day 1: Bombshell Mcgee

Hey Hair-luxe fans and friends!  Join me this week, and find out what I'm doing with my hair each day.

Today, you will need:
(1) freshly washed and slept on hair
(2) large barrel curling iron
(3) watch my video on youtube (Hair week day 1)
**I am 9.5 weeks post relaxer in this video/photo**

If you have any questions on how to achieve this look, let me know!

Have a great day :)))))

Dry Hair Remedy

Getting Past Shoulder Length

All too often, I notice these days that most black women with relaxed hair are at shoulder length or shorter.  I too, was once stuck at this length, believing it was just not meant for me to have longer hair.

So, what did I do to get past this length to where I am today?  Well, I believe that there were two main things that helped me.

(1) Stretching My Relaxers-  I began my hair journey in the summer of 2010, and I did my first stretch between relaxers that lasted I think three months.  That was a long time for me as a beginner.  After my next relaxer, I did not relax my hair until six months had passed by, and by then I had successfully made it past shoulder length.

(2) Self Trimming- Once I learned the importance of getting regular trims, and how to spot splitting or ragged ends, I believe I gave my hair the foundation it needed to gain great lengths.  I learned how to trim my own hair when it was still at shoulder length, and it was somewhat difficult especially trying to trim the hair at the back of my head, but somehow what I was doing worked.

There are many other minor things that I do on a daily basis that helps to create an environment for maximum length retention, which you can find on my current hair regimen tab at the top of the page, but stretching and trimming are the two main ways I have been able to gain length.

Gaining and Retaining Length

The real trick to "growing" long hair is retaining the length of hair that is constantly growing.  Actually, hair grows about 1/2 inch per month.  So, "gaining" hair is not a problem, it is the retention of the hair that has grown where people usually lose their way.

You are probably asking yourself "How can I retain my hair growth?"  The overall answer is to just protect, and routinely maintain your ends.

Protect your ends by following these simple rules:

*Sleep with your hair in a satin/silk bonnet or scarf ever night (even daytime napping is included)

*Avoid wearing your hair in styles that get the ends caught in a purse strap or backpack strap, or wearing clothing material that yanks or breaks your hair

*Deep condition at least once a week if your hair is dry and brittle

*Avoid combing or brushing your hair while it is dry

*Limit heat styling- ie use more protective heatless styling
******Protective styling is keeping your ends tucked away to avoid breakage (buns, braids, wigs)
******Heatless styling means not using flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons, hot curlers, etc

Maintain your ends by:


*Following the rules listed above

*Getting your ends trimmed/or self trimming every 3-6 months

*Regularly inspect your ends and use barber scissors to clip splitting, broken, or raggedy ends

Summer Hair Tips

It's Summer time again!
Summer hair is fun, easy, carefree, and cutesie!

Here are Five Tips to Great Summer Tresses:

1. DRINK LOTS OF WATER- Water is not only necessary to keep your body functioning, and to help eliminate waste, but drinking enough water will help to keep your hair from becoming dry and lifeless.
2. AVOID HEAT STYLING- Heat styling (curling irons, flat irons, blow drying) on a regular basis can seriously damage your hair, but it is especially important to avoid excess heat during the summer.  Try cute braided styles like Nicole Richie's above.  Go to the "Cute Summer Hair" tab at the top of my home page for more ideas!
3. KEEP IT SIMPLE-  Summer Hair is all about being easy and cute.  Whether you're at the beach, a pool party, or even at work, make sure your hairstyle is simple and cute like your favorite sundress :-)
4. MIX IT UP- If you are going to keep your hair healthy, you should avoid putting your hair in the same restrictive styles every day.  Restrictive styles like braids are fine, but constantly braiding your hair in the same patterns, or wearing a pony tail in the same spot can cause unnecessary breakage.
5. TRIM IT- Nothing is more unattractive or unhealthy as ragged or splitting ends.  Keep your ends trimmed every 3-6 months (ask me how to trim your own ends...beauticians can get scissor happy!).  If you are due for a trim, then don't skip it.

Have a great Summer!

Recent Hair Photos

This is from, April 2012. I was 3 months post (meaning the last relaxer I had was three months before this photo)

April 2012

January 2012

June 2011, please excuse that I am big as a house here...I had my son the next day lol!

Below, you will see a few throwback pictures just to show that my hair has come a long way :-)

2001

2008

I officially started my hair journey in June 2010.  I was shoulder length back then, probably the picture above from 2008 is about the same length I was when I started my hair journey.  I have not taken a current photo recently, but I will soon.  My hair is now between BSL and MBL (bra strap and mid back length).  I will be posting a video on Youtube about my current regimen, and to show my current length soon.  Leave a comment if you have any questions!! 

Getting Started: Hair Words & Phrases

When I first started my "Hair Journey" , I had no idea what a hair journey was, and I was even more clueless about all the other terms that were part of the hair world.

So, I am going to do all the beginners out there a favor and give you a little HAIR 101 cheat sheet :-)

Hair Journey- deciding on a hair goal (a specific length, going natural, becoming relaxed, healthy hair, etc.)
Co-Wash- washing your hair with conditioner only, then conditioning with that same conditioner
Pre-Poo- this is a process in which you prepare your tresses before washing with shampoo by using oils and conditioners
Dusting- This is a method of minimally trimming your ends
Search and Destroy- This is a method of looking for and trimming split or ragged ends
MBL-  hair at  mid back length
WL-waist length hair
BSL- bra strap length hair
SL- Shoulder length Hair
Stretching- length of time between hair relaxers

There are other terms like moisturize and seal, baggying, henna treatments, and etc that I am not covering currently because I do not use them.  However, I will probably do a few videos describing these methods if people are interested! I will be posting videos to youtube soon, be sure to subscribe to my videos :-)

My next post will have photos of my hair journey which I started June 2010.