8 Month update!

This year I've been pretty focused on healthy eating and a diligent exercise regimen. So not too many updates, but at least here's a post that has really motivated me to stay positive about my hair progress!!

The new, undyed hair is now at 4 inches. It's hard to measure of course, but that's what my expert husband has been measuring. This is the growth from three, six, and eight months.

 I've also given myself a few trims since then, since my split ends felt out of control. You can see the length is about the same, but my hair seems to be way healthier.

I reached out to Emi, from http://longhairedatheart.blogspot.com/ recently. I felt so frustrated with how damaged my ends felt. My hair would easily get tangled about two inches up from the bottom, and felt like straw. She gave me the best advice:

 

The routine:
-Still using baking soda and apple cider vinegar, but much more diluted since I need to shower daily after working out.
-Combing my hair with my fingers more often than anything, and putting it up less often.
-Coconut on the ends of the hair daily.
-Eating very healthy, lots of water, and daily exercise! Part of the eating healthy is the digestion, like Emi pointed out above. I do drink Kombucha, and chose to drink meta-d/bombshell spell from the tone it up plan. Gotta keep things good and healthy inside!

Happy New Year - 7 month update!

Happy New Year!

Let's talk about hair!

Hope you guys are having a good January. It's already almost over. So if you made new year's resolutions, get back to them. 

You made them for a reason. Keep trying. Progress, not perfection. 

So here's one of mine-get that natural hair back!

Beginning of January, I had these pictures taken. I went for the usual stance, showing the top of my head so you could see the growth...and the photographer/husband said that you couldn't see the dye.

PROGRESS!!!!

He also keeps calling it gray. Guys, if I'm not mistaken...that's blonde. And he is blind.

 I feel like it's a lot harder to see the progress from the back. I really wish I could remember exactly the measurement of the new growth, I am quite certain that it is just under 3.5". So maybe stopping all that biotin actually did result in slower growth. But not eating anything soy related is making a huge difference-I really do feel so much better.

So what am I doing different? 

-No longer using Shea moisture shampoo. I switched to baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I know I said last time it was awful. It isn't at all-the first time it felt a little sticky, but now it feels great!
-For about two weeks, I used water only. Yep, that's right! Nothing other than water. It's pretty hard, actually. You scritch and preen your hair, and then spend a looong time washing your hair as if there is soap in there...but no soap. Need to know more about scritch and preen: Almost Exactly Blog-as always! I did it so that my hair would get with it and stop producing so much oil. Because you use soap/water to get the oil to go down the hair (best moisturizer is your own natural oil), and the scritching and water removes any dirt/dust. So really, it's not like your hair needs antibacterial. I never thought about it before, but what exactly is so "dirty" about hair? Nothing...just dust and oil that
-No more dry shampoo. It really didn't work that great for me.
-No hot water while showering, although honestly it really stinks. We have a space heater that I use!
-I still don't use the bbb (boar bristle brush) very often anymore, I just use my comb once a day.
-Hallelujah, I have argan oil again. I still do a coconut oil mask here and there, but not as much as in the beginning when it was at least once a week.
-I am still eating healthy, doing my best to use food as medicine.
-I trim my own hair, just a few millimeters. I still do search & destroy for all the split ends. Another one of my favorite bloggers uploaded a diy hair trimming video here: Emi from longhairedatheart.blogspot.com.

{Six months - wow!}

I can't believe it has been six months, I am so glad! I think you can finally start to see the growth from the back, it is about 3" now.

Here's the crazy thing, I couldn't get  good photo! I know I told you about why I can't seem to ever get a photo outside during the hairspiration post. I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to see a difference with inside lights though.

Its a relief to see how difficult it is to see the hair growth with unnatural light. I always assumed it was so obvious. You can also see how long my hair is! I can definitely say my hair is the longest it has ever been.

So what am I doing different? 

• No longer taking biotin. I can't say that it made a difference, and I was absolutely shocked to find out that the pills included soy! That was pretty dumb, I'm allergic. Although small amounts...I guess I could do a whole other post on this!
• Stopped taking multi/pre-natal vitamins. I know that I eat healthy, and I don't necessarily agree that they "fill in the nutritional gaps" because they provide so much extra stuff, and some of it does have a toxicity level that you can reach if you eat healthy. My opinion though, I still take fish oil pills and I've switched to taking iron and folic acid pills to help with a future pregnancy. Not that it is anywhere in the near future!!!!
• I am still using shea moisture shampoo. But when I was down to about 1/3 bottle, I diluted it with another 1/3 water. It still works fine, and I still only shower every 4 days. It's often three days though, but I really strive for four. I make sure things don't smell though, but my hair doesn't need a true washing.
• Homemade dry shampoo, via the almost exactly blog (of course)! https://almostexactlyblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/homemade-dry-shampoo/ If you follow my instagram (holistic.tiu - follow along!), you'll know that it didn't really work on my greasiest day, so going forward I should start to use it the night of day 4 if I don't plan on showering on day 5. 
• No hot water while showering, although honestly it really stinks. We have a space heater that I use!
• I don't use the bbb (boar bristle brush) very often anymore, I just use my comb once a day. 
• I ran out of argan oil, so I've been substituting with a tiny bit of coconut oil. But argan oil is on my christmas wish list! 
• I am still eating healthy, doing my best to use food as medicine. :)
• I've decided to use no poo once this bottle of shampoo runs out, but it's hard to decide which one....but I know it won't include baking soda, acv, or castile soap! 

Six months is about 1/3 of the way to my 18 month goal. I originally said I wanted to donate my hair in the spring, but now I'm so tempted to wait until this time next year. We'll see what happens!!

Hairspiration

Have you ever tried to google things like, “Hair growth journey,” “grow dyed hair,” etc?

Don’t google the first. Go for the last. The first showed me photos I want to remove from my mind for forever. Just, no. Google failed me.

There are some days where I just can’t stand the idea of waiting. And then there are other days when I realized that my natural hair by the hairline is halfway to making it into a ponytail! That’s what I call progress! 

{I realize I didn't give you guys a proper update two weeks ago, but I'm now at about 2.75 inches. Still keeping up with the .5" per month. It's so dark by the time I get home, I can't get good pictures. And our weekends have been insane! Thankfully not much has changed so I'm sure you guys don't mind too much!}

& then I realize I still have about 9 more inches until it hits my shoulders, and that equates to 18 months. Suddenly I’m just not so happy anymore. That seems like forever away. I mean for crying out loud in 18 months I will have had two birthdays, and so many other things....

The ends of my hair will be so bad, I am sure I will have to have a good trim in January at least. I'm not sure I'll achieve any additional length, making my dreams of donating again seem unrealistic. 

If you have days like this, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I try to stay sane, and most days I only think about hair growth in the morning when I actually bother to brush my hair (hahaha). 

Well, I think you should go ahead and surf pinterest, and even follow my board! It's tough to find good pins, but I've managed a few that talk about hair health, fun long hair styles (for while I still have it long!), and even ways to disguise your roots. 

You'll see, I've even considered dying the ends of my hair crazy colors....and why not if it's already too damaged? You can't donate bleached hair, but no one will want that crazy damaged stuff anyway! Next long vacation away from work, I might just have to give it a go!

Hairspiration!

{Four months!}

This transition into growing my hair to be healthy has not been easy, guys. It seems like this last month took so much longer than the first three! The other day I caught my dear MM staring at my hair.

He said he was just looking at it.

I wasn’t happy about that….but I should be glad that the hair colors (my triple ombre as a friend called it!) are now noticeable. It means I am doing something right. It’s growing! And thanks to this coco, your hair, it is growing very quickly. I am starting to see the difference in my hair’s health too, the top is soft and silky and the rest….

Let’s say my hair is 24” long, and grows .5” every month. If you dye your roots/hair every three or so months with no trim, then the ends of my hair have been dyed 12 times. TWELVE TIMES. That’s so much damage!! So honestly I can say that the rest of my hair feels like the individual hairs are thick, like the difference between silk strings and straw. Except my hair doesn’t feel like straw. Except the ends-they were bad.

I finally got a trim the other day, and it was a horrible experience. She ripped my hair out with a brush (brushing top down, didn’t even detangle!), cut off twice as much as I wanted (SHE CUT AN INCH), and then insulted me by saying I needed to use a deep conditioner. I was SO upset! But I do think my ends look so much better. I’m still somewhat upset over the experience. Maybe I can teach MM how to trim my hair?

I’ve also switched to low-poo shampoo. Low-poo just means you are using fewer harsh chemicals in your hair, but not none. I’ve mentioned before that I tried no-poo, and it didn’t go well at all. I think switching to low-poo was a good idea to ease my hair into no-poo in a few months. I haven’t decided quite when! I have been using shea moisture shampoo, like the one here over at amazon. It was on sale at ulta a month ago, and I just couldn’t resist making the switch. And to be honest, that is why my hair photos haven’t been looking that great lately. Also my photos seem to be after a deep conditioning or being in a bun…so hopefully this time I am taking GOOD photos from now on. I can finally say that my hair has started to go back to normal, it isn’t too greasy or too dry.

My routine:

• Wash with luke warm water, not hot! Any kind of heat damages your hair, so I don’t want to boil my hair.
• Wash with shea moisture, rinse thoroughly.
• No towel dry-let it drip dry or wrap in an old tshirt/material that isn’t as damaging to your hair.
• Apply argan oil to the ends, just a few drops.
• After it air drys, use a wide tooth comb to get the tangles out. Start at the bottom, and go up.

I can go about four days without washing my hair, and my hair still looks good and isn’t oily. If it is feeling oily, then I’ll use a boar bristle brush to help the oils move from the scalp down. Taking small chunks of my hair and brushing it thoroughly.

Another month down, and I’m really looking forward to the next month. When I started this, I thought I would wait until my hair was 8” and then cut my hair and donate it. I don’t know if I can do that! And to think that 8” of hair is at your chin, which is 16 months of growing. Thank goodness I am already 25% there! By this time next year, I will have the option of cutting my hair…just not sure I will do it!


and then there are always the halfway distracted photos.....

{Coco, your hair}

Get it?
Coco, your hair!
or Coco your hair

Ok, what I'm getting at here is my new favorite moisturizing hair mask: coconut! I know my hair doesn't look the greatest in these photos, and I should probably wait to take better photos, but there's no editing on this blog! This was the day after a mask, and I clearly didn't wash my hair too well. :-)

longest my hair has ever been!

As you can see in the photo, the ends of my hair are looking very straw-like. Even though my hair is naturally wavy, and you gotta love that I didn't get all the coconut oil out! A trim is inevitable, the last inch is getting tangled easily and feels pretty crunchy. Looking at the ends, you can definitely see the the splits, and they are just growing. I've probably already waited too long, but it's frustrating since this is the longest my hair has ever been!

I think it's important to realize that commercial products that "bind" your split ends contain chemicals that end up not being very good for your hairs health overall. I know I can't explain it any better than the blog link below, I'm really liking her blog and I find myself re-reading it a lot. I think every time I re-read it, I learn something else!!

I've been using Coconut oil on the weekends, when I am just cleaning or doing chores around the house. I....have even gone to the grocery store with it in my hair! I'm sure someone has though, "That's some greasy hair." They're right, very oily indeed...but it's so nice afterwards! In the future I probably won't have to use the mask as often, it just depends on how my hair feels. & you might not need this very often or more often! On the weekends I put coconut all over my hair, tip to end. If needed during the week, I'll put a little coconut oil on the ends or to tame fly aways.

Most blogs recommend leaving the coconut mask in for at least two hours, but best if done overnight. I haven't slept in it overnight, but I would recommend covering your pillow.

So the point is, it helps my hair! & I even think it's helping it grow. Mostly because my new coco deo has been helping hair grow, but that's totally besides the point. Ladies don't discuss such things.

my new favorite blog!!!! almostexactlyblog.wordpress.com

{hair complex}

{1st update - 3 mo.} {2nd update - 4 mo.}

13" to Locks of Love, 2011

I have a complex when it comes to my hair. I go through periods of really caring, then caring little, then caring too much, and not at all. When it gets the length it is now, I get tingly and want to chop it all off.
every.single.time

All for a good cause, I love donating it. First, it's really cool that we literally grow it, and it's free to give and help others. Second, there are a lot of people who can't grow their own because of many issues and not just cancer. It started a long time ago, and I've donated five times to locks of love. It usually takes two years to grow my hair out long enough, almost always more than minimum. So let's see why I'd do such a thing:

First time, because i had just discovered you could literally donate hair. Shipped it all the way from Germany.

Second, because they spelt my last name wrong on the thank you post card the first time. (Not hard to do)

Third, because I never got a thank you post card. So let's try again.

Fourth, because I don't like odd numbers. I guess I have a complex about that too.

Fifth, because I was ready for a change after college. Why not give it to someone who needs it.

Sadly, it takes six donated pony tails to make a wig! So here we go, number six.

Now there's a new twist. I've been dying my hair for five years. That's a lot of dye. And damage. I've wanted to do this for a while, but now that we are post wedding I think I can commit. (Commitment phobia and wedding in the same sentence?)

So here we go. I'll be updating once a month, shooting for the first week of each month.