Hiya Ladies,
How's everyone doing? Hope well!! I honestly cannot believe that I have stayed relaxer free for 8 whole months!! eek!!! I didn't think I had it in me!! I won't be making any declarations about my decision to either go natural or stay texlaxed until I am at least 1 year post relaxer...so the stretch continues.





I have lost quite a bit of length due to this stretch and post partum shedding, I keep my ends constantly trimmed as I found that is the only way to survive this long stretch I challenged myself to go on. I love how thick the base of my hair is but I don't let it get all shrunken up because I discovered that, that led to a lot of matting and tangling at my roots....so I after moisturizing and sealing, my hair is left moist...I am talking about moist enough to be called damp (that's the only way), then I go ahead and finger detangle and hold each section firmly into a ponytail  making sure to stretch my new growth which is about 3 or 4 inches long. I allow my hair to dry that way then style afterwards.


I suffer from major hand in hair syndrome so I'm always itching to touch my hair, the only way I can survive without touching it like every other minute is to put it away for a week or two in a protective style, so right now it's in crotchet extensions called Jamaican Bounce;


which I made at SAVVY CHIC HAIR BEAUTY HUB. 


Everyone knows how much I appreciate the protectiveness of crotchet extensions, so they have been my go to styling option  when I am bored with my hair!!



Now to the review!!

I have bought the Aunt Jackies Quench leave in conditioner on various occasions for people but I never tried it, decided to give it a go and I am really glad I did!!


I love the consistency, not too thick but not too liquid either, it gives good slip and leaves my hair feeling moist and soft, great for detangling, build up is minimal!! I like the smell, fruity but not pungent. The bottle size and nozzle also works!!



Did it QUENCH my thirsty hair strands?
You bet it did!!! I will repurchase this product in a heart beat!!

I purchased it from Ebeano Supermarket Lekki 1 for less than N2000 which is great in these economic times!!


Has any one tried this product? Is it a thumbs up or down? Who else is on a super long stretch?
Please feel free to comment below!!


Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
How's it going? Hope all is well at your endz!!! Yesterday night I finally reached my breaking point and called off my stretch!
Read about my post on when to know your stretch is over- HERE

The amount of hair that I was shedding in spite of all my deep conditioning was just ridiculous, its like my new growth could not take the pressure, so once I put my had in my hair, hair just followed my hand, then there were those pesky matted locs being formed by my new growth, they just frustrated me taking them apart, one time I couldn't untangle a knot that was formed in spite of all the help from my Mane and tail detangler, so I had to use a scissors to cut the knot free from my hair!!!!!!! I think when I thought of all I was going through yesterday that's when I said enough!!!

Mixed my beloved Silk Elements Olive oil relaxer and got to texlaxing, I have recorded a You tube Texlax update video which will be up later in the week with pictures( not ready to put heat on my hair for a length check). This post is focused on helping those who want to try relaxing or texlaxing themselves but before I get to that, we need to find a winner of the HAIRVEN GOODY BAG from my last post;

 After receiving 18 correct entries ( thanks ladies)- THE WINNER IS-




CONGRATULATIONS OKWUCHI!!! Please email Daboju@yahoo.com with your name, address and phone number for delivery of your package.  Stay tuned for my next giveaway which will be on my BEAUTY PAGE of a MAC product I received for participating in a MAC trends presentation...

Now to the topic at hand, these are my simple but important tips to follow if you ever want to self- relax/texlax.

1. Make sure your DETANGLE each section of your hair carefully and fully before you start so that sectioning the hair and applying the relaxer will be easy.


2. After your coat your ends with either moisturizer or conditioner, now is the only time where a MINERAL OIL based product is allowed- Last night I used AMLA OIL-



this is to provide an absolute block for your processed ends so that the relaxer has no chance at all of penetrating into those ends and weaken them further.


3. I love the Sprush when I am relaxing a client's hair but NOTHING applies relaxer on new growth as well when you are self relaxing/texlaxing than your fingers, Why? Well thanks to your sense of touch you will be able to differentiate the  two textures; the new growth where you should apply the relaxer and the straight ends that don't need a touch up.


4. going back to point 3, take your eyes off the mirror especially when you are dealing with the back of your head, close your eyes and feel your hair rather than struggle to see it in the mirror- since the mirror shows you the reverse, it can be very frustrating using it as a guide.


5. Ask for help if you overlap the relaxer on already processed hair. I always have a damp towel by my side so that if I mistakenly overlap relaxer, I can beckon on the nearest person to help me wipe it off with the damp towel rather than do it myself with messy relaxer filled gloves that will be clumsy and waste more time.

6. Depending on how much time you have spent, you can decide to smooth your new growth with the back of your comb or not, but whatever you decide; make sure the comb/tool you are using isn't sharp so you avoid scarring your scalp and make sure you massage every section into its own pony tail, this helps to ensure that every single strand is coated with the relaxer for even relax/texlax results.


7. Just before you rinse out, apply even more conditioner to the ends for extra help in detangling and protection as you rinse out.


8. After washing, allow your hair to air dry and if you must use heat, use it after your hair is air dried (blow drying on cool air is also acceptable)


9. Carry on with your hair regimen.



That's all for now...stay tuned for my relaxer update and June 8th Salon Day Out update. Thanks for the support!



Xxx,
Dabs\

Hiya,
Its been a while, hope all is well at your ends! I just finished relaxing my hair after a 12 weeks stretch (update coming up)-


Let me just say- My hair was done with me! Just one more week added to the stretch and I would have been dealing with a set back.

The decision to get a relaxer today inspired this post especially after I recalled what happened to one of the reader's of this blog; Folake at the last salon day out. After Folake had stretched for 8 entire months hoping she would retain tonnes of growth, the reverse was the case, the stretch had taken a major toll on her relaxed ends and she suffered a major set back and had to cut about five inches of hair off!!!

So here are the 5 signs my hair gives me when it has reached its maximum stretching potential;

1. My new growth begins to matt together and form dread locks!!

source

Lol yes oh, it literally gums together at the roots and at that point the only thing that can save my strands will be patience, the tail end of a comb and my beloved main and tail detangler or water/glycerin mix! When I find more of these baby dread locks forming in regular intervals, I know my hair is reaching its 'breaking'point!


2. Excessive Breakage usually at the line of demarcation( where the new growth and relaxed hair meet). Once there is uncalled for breakage e.g you pass your fingers through your hair and there's hair all over your fingers, your hair might just be telling you something especially if you have been moisturizing and sealing regularly.



3. Your roots and scalp have become unreachable! You simply cant get enough hair products on them, they just keep absorbing the products and going back to square one and if you want to really pile on the products, your relaxed hair is left weighed down- That's where I was all week long- my new growth was simply telling me this stretch should be over already!!


4. Your ends start to look scraggly and limp while the root till mid-shaft of your hair is full and puffy. You cannot afford to ignore your hair when that's happening because its another sign that your hair is simply breaking off  at it week points by the day.

source

What will happen is that you will be left with very uneven ends after you finally relax the hair and most likely have to cut them all off to regain the fullness again!


5. Your edges and nape hair are in shambles!!

source

This should have been number 1! This happens when your edges start to take a step back and your nape hair starts to form knots that you end up simply pulling off- that was me before I started my hair journey, I still fight the urge to roll my nape hair up into knots and pull them out and I find that when my hair is really due for a relaxer, it gets even tougher to avoid knots in that area. If its becoming impossible to smooth down your edges, don't use all your power on the poor hair brush to force your edges into submission, you will loose them all! Simply realize that it just might be time to get a relaxer!


Now if you are transitioning to natural hair and you don't want to big chop, you can use these signs as an indication that maybe its time to take the plunge and just cut the relaxed ends off because there is no point ushering unhealthy natural hair into your life. The ultimate goal should be having healthy and strong beautiful hair and it definitely can be achieved ladies if you look out for these five signs- Just let you hair speak to you!


Hope Lagos NHCG readers can make it to the Salon Day out tomorrow!




 I almost cancelled it as I have been ill all week long but I know a few ladies are banking on me to relax their hair and for that reason I am making this salon day out happen, please feel free to come with all your hair questions and I will do my best to answer them. If you want to purchase products/ indulge in hair treats, I have been informed that the POS at the Salon is out of order so please bring cash. Thanks so much for support!!


Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
So as I promised in my last post I owe you ladies a post on how the last few weeks of my Relaxer Stretch went to complete the 'STRETCH WITH DABS SERIES'!

I am still in awe of how well the stretch which ended up lasting 15weeks and 4 days went! I attribute the success to being so busy those last weeks I forgot about counting the weeks...but I didn't forget about caring for my hair, in fact I have never had as many co-washes before as I had during this stretch!! I literally let my hair speak to me, let me share some of the things it was saying and how I responded!!


One of the things my hair said to me very sternly I might add, during the last few weeks of my stretch say from week 12 was ''please don't comb me everyday...just don't''- So this is what I did, during my weekend treats once I was done, I would make sure I comb my hair gently and smoothly while it was damp after I had moisturized and sealed it and then I would put the hair in a ponytail still while damp and then use my stocking scarf (I cut off one leg of an old panty hose) and tie it round the base of my ponytail like this;



My hair would remain in the ponytail and dry out while I take care of the ends for the next 3 days, moisturizing, sealing the ends and styling them either by braiding them, twisting them or just rolling them into a bun/chignon . By mid week, either Wednesday or Thursday I would have gone almost all week long without combing my hair, if my hair began to itch, tangle or just simply feel dry, I would repeat the process all over again...


Another major issue my hair brought to my attention was MY EDGES!! Unfortunately for me once my new growth steps in, my edges refuse to cooperate! My go to trusted edge controller used to be....you guessed it-ORS's Edge Control...remember THIS POST! But after a while I dumped it because of its overly thick, tough gooey feeling that made application on my edges rough-it just didn't rub on smoothly!
 Then I found Eco-Styler Olive oil Gel which I reviewed some time ago HERE and I found that though I love it, it has the tendency to cause build up after a few days of usage, I combated that by spritzing my edges with water first before adding the gel and it still works but I decided to try pure Aloe Vera gel which I LOVE!




 Its just the right consistency for smoothing out my edges without causing build up and it kept them conditioned!


Finally, during the last lap of my stretch, I was MISS. K.I.S.S- Miss Keep It Simple Sister (There's a You tube guru whose channel is that name called Tracey, she was one of the first ladies whose videos I watched and loved when I started my hair journey in 2010). I could not afford to experiment or concoct hair treats not only because I was super busy but also because I just wanted to stick to my tried and tested hair treats, moisturizers, oils etc. Some of my staples;

Hair Treats; I stuck to a combination of Silk Element's Mega silk Olive moisturizing treatment;



WITH;
Hair Trigger Explosive Growth Elixir (will always be a staple product for me, stretch or not!!love it)




Then depending on the weekend I would add a protein based or conditioning based ingredient like Henna, Honey, coconut milk or oils...

ADDING MORROCAN ARGAN OIL

Moisturizers/Detangler; My go to detangler will always be Mane n Tail Detangler-



This product worked the hardest during this stretch!! For moisturizers I stuck like glue to Giovanni's direct leave in;


and the Darcy's Botanical Coconut Lemongrass Transitioning crème which came just in time for my stretch and helped a great deal!!


Finally my go to sealing oils were olive oil and grape seed oil which I mixed in my root applicator bottle and used to seal in my moisture daily, I also used the Jamaican black castor oil for my nape hair to help it fill out!



Before I knew it, week 16 was almost here... it was Thursday the 18th and I just had a phone call from an aunt in Houston and she said she would be over to visit with the family...I took one good long look at my hair which was struggling to look presentable in a bun then I looked at my Calendar, just 3 days to go till week 16...immediately I psyched myself up, mixed a whole cup of my favourite relaxer in the world; Silk Elements Megasilk Relaxer;


That's how I was able to successfully stretch my relaxer, my next relaxer touch up will be in December!! Yes I am stretching again :) in the mean time stay tuned for the relaxer update, it's my next post!! As usual, thanks for stopping by!

Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
How are you ladies doing? Hope all 's well!! As for me, am still on my epic 16 weeks relaxer stretch!!

As I said in my first post on the stretch series, over the next weeks, I will tell you how I managed my new growth that week, my regimen, products I used, what they did for my hair, the amount of hair I lost etc. I'm hoping that by chronicling this stretch I will help those who want to try stretching their relaxer treatments and it will be a reference point for me when next I'm on a stretch.

Week 9 went better than I expected actually, a little boring in the hair styling department but when you have thick new growth, sometimes you have to be boring and leave your hair alone in a bun! All the styling manipulation isn't worth it at the end of the day!

So on week 9 on Saturday, I simply washed my hair with Giovanni tea tree invigorating shampoo because my scalp was itching big time!


Must have been the few drops of rain that touched my hair, after shampooing I just slathered the silk elements olive oil deep conditioning treatment on my tips;

My scalp got a good massage with hair oils and I covered my hair allowing it to marinade for a while and rinsed off!

This set my new growth hair up for an easy week of stretching, hair was soft and manageable but I got tempted and I fell!! Lol

You see I hadn't used heat in ages and since I cut my hair I hadn't straightened it to see how my hair was faring, so out came my straightener, heat was at the 2nd lowest level, no smoke coming out, no frying noise when I used it( take note if you want to use a straightener without damaging your hair).

I simply moisturized and sealed my ends, added an extra coating of grapeseed oil to the tips of my hair for every section I straightened and used the straightener, passing it from root to tip at most twice, I tried to straighten my roots the best I could;


But these roots are pure African and making them straight would require more heat than is worth it...always ask yourself before you use or let a stylist use a steaming hot straightener, ironing thong, blow dryer or even before you decide to pick all your edges in micro braids, Ghana weaving,so that the style is neat- IS IT REALLY WORTH IT IN THE END? If the answer is No then please choose another safer route!

I didn't want to be done straightening my hair and see all the hair on the floor making it one of those so not worth it moments, so I was extremely gentle and decided to ignore parts of my hair that refused to get straight and at the end, this is the amount of hair I lost;

Compare it to last time when I used a straightener;



At the end, my hair looked slightly more presentable;
My colleague at work the next day even asked if I got a relaxer!!

By Wednesday, I decided to do an overnight hair treatment with coconut milk and hair trigger( actually planned this treat for the weekend but my pantry was lacking coconut milk, had to get some during the week).


This treat was MESSY!! I don't recommend just using these two because the mix was so watery, it was dripping everywhere and can you imagine I slept with it( a towel over my pillow) very uncomfi night I tell you! Next time I will mix just a little coconut milk with hair trigger and something thicker like mayonnaise or honey or a deep conditioner so the mix goes on thicker!

But ladies the next morning when I rinsed out my hair(couldn't wait) my hair felt DIVINE!! I was like woah! It felt and has stayed divine!( I havn't treated it till today * covers face* been too busy and also scared I will not be able to achieve this result again, but tonight I shall repeat the same exact treat with the thicker ingredient of choice to be revealed next week).

This treat made my hair strong but soft at the same time! I shed so little hair that it flew away before I could take a picture, still looking for it lol, just kidding!! I think what has also helped my hair remain in this soft/strong zone is this concoction I have been using on my hair everyday- Shea butter and pure glycerin In a tub mashed together with my fingers till its all blended and used on my hair especially my ends daily!


 Great stuff!!

So that's that for week 9, as you can tell I am figuring my hair out and trying my best to make this stretch worth it as I stated before, stretching will FORCE you to get to know your hair! If you are on a stretch or planning one, I hope this series helps inspire and motivate you to face it square on! Till week 10's update (this week), happy growing ladies, the NHCG 6inches of growth challenge is still on, hope you all are taking pictures of your hair progress! $100 worth of products plus goody bags up for grabs at the end of the challenge!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
How's everyone doing? Hope good, my heart goes out to the families of Dana aircrash victims, if you are a NHCG reader and were affected by the crash, here's a huge hug from me to you, the Lord comfort and keep you strong!

Now you all know I'm on an epic stretch for the next 8 weeks-A stretch I have never embarked on before so my plan is to take you all along with the Stretch with Dabs series!

Over the next 8 weeks, I will tell you how I managed my new growth that week, my regimen, products I used, what they did for my hair, the amount of hair I lost etc. I'm hoping that by chronicling this stretch I will help those who want to try stretching their relaxer treatments and it will be a reference for me when next I'm on a stretch.

Thanks to all the tips you ladies dropped on-this post (thanks again ladies), this past week, week 8 my hair survived.
On Saturday 25th-I deep conditioned with Silk Elements olive oil hair treatment and hair trigger,


 It went well, hair was soft and well conditioned. While it was damp, I decided to moisturize and seal and then smooth it into a pony tail and sleeked my hair down with ample amounts of pure aloe vera gel, left my hair sleeked back but not hard, braided the ends into four separate braids and tucked them under with a pin. At night I slept with a silk scarf firmly round my head and covered with a satin sleep cap.

Monday 27th to Tuesday 28th night, my hair stayed in the pony tail, I only spritz it and smooth out the base in the mornings but it started to itch, I'm guessing because it wasn't totally dry when I held it up, so that's the con of holding it together when it's still damp, also I could feel the buildup around my ponytail holder that meant that all the spritz plus oils and maybe sweat( not that I went to the gym or anything but still...) could cause breakage at that point if I didn't carefully take out the ponytail holder which remained damp so I decided to prepoo after carefully taking down my hair with just Hair Trigger...

Next morning Wednesday 29th, I rinsed out the hair trigger and used some Roux PC for porosity control and that's all I had time for because it was a public holiday and frying Chin Chin was on my mind :)
I waited for my hair to get dry this time after moisturizing and sealing with Optimum care Amla Legend night wrap creme and their billion potion oil,



The hairstyle lasted till Friday, all I did was spritz and smooth out the base and rebraid the big braid in front.

By Saturday 1st of June I was bent on avoiding all the shedding that happened on Wednesday so out came my palm oil, I mixed it with few drops of Amla billion potion and the olive oil deep moisturizing treatment by Silk Elements and used hair trigger on my ends;




When I was sure the palm oil smell was out of my hair, I rinsed off with Roux PC again for porosity control.

The result from this treat was shocking! My hair was really really moisturized, like no joke! See how much hair I lost!

MY HAIR LOVES PALM OIL!! Moisturized and sealed, air dried, when my hair was fully dry, I sectioned my hair, used the Aphogee Keratin green tea spray on each section;



So that's that for week 8 of the stretch with Dabs series, hopefully the following weeks will be easy on me!! As long as the moisture/protein balance is tops and I keep my hands out of my hair I should be good * fingers crossed*

In other news, the 2nd batch of SHOP NHCG goodies got picked up today!

My Darcys botanical products also arrived with this batch just in time for my stretch! I got the famous Lemongrass transitioning creme and their Pina colada leave in conditioner;


As usual, thanks for stopping by! Just before I go, HOW DID I DO FOR MY 8TH WEEK STRETCH? Transitioners, Stretchers, people dealing with different textures please share your tips below, thanks in advance!!