One year length comparison pics 09/10

In the midst of setting up my hair journey video i totally forgot to also post my one year comparison pics...so for those who haven't seen the video...here they are...

Nov 09 - Nov 10

x eau de Fiona

Review: VO5 Moisture milks

Some of you may remember me changing my conditioner in my new 2011 regime. Instead of Herbal essences 'Hello Hydration' i now use VO5 Moisture milks namely: Strawberries and Cream.

I have nothing against Hello Hydration- i still love it but i felt like a change and had heard so much about the VO5 Moisture milks range. Hence the reason why I was very excited when i found it in a local hair shop @ home.

Pros:

*It has a great smell, as i'm sure you'd expect from strawbs 'n' cream
* It claims to give smooth and soft hair and lived up to those claims
* It's not expensive at all - well at least not from where i bought it  (Thornton Heath 'Julia's' for anyone that lives in that area) when i say 99p u say wow...99p...wow!
* It serves well as both a pre poo conditioner and of course co wash conditioner.

Cons:
* It has quite a runny consistency therefore if your like me (my hair has to be the colour of the conditioner! a.k.a i'm conditioner squirt friendly!) you'll have to try not to use too much.

SO..that's that. Please remember products work differently for everyone..what i love... u may really not like :)

x edF

Dewy Glow

I've really cut down on the amount of time i spend on youtube these days but this is a video I have in my bookmarks tab for a rainy day...

I really like what she"s done and i feel like she hasn't overcaked at all...so have fun like i did experimenting!

Glow glow glow...



x edF

Diary of a Tress Lover: Tokunbo

Nov 2009 I wasn't the only one that started my hair journey... my sister and girl Toks jumped on the band wagon too and we've kept at it hard for just over a year.

Now growing up my girl Toxs already had long 'n' full hair, but here 'n' there we both grew up, mum found better things to do than our hair, and voila we begin getting friendly with heat and our hair simply needed help. Ya dig!!!

Through her journey T rocked braids quite a lot because her hair loves them... now a year later she embarked on a Jamaican Black Castor Oil challenge.

Jamaican Black Castor oil is very popular brand in the U.S that has shown results all over the gaff... i've yet to purchase a bottle but once my 250ml bottle is done (God knows when that'll be!) I'll order that sometime too!

So...back to the point. Here's a pic of her progress :)

x edF

LYT Give---away!

sorry bout the pic quality!

Today is a good day, as is just about every other in the blog hemisphere. But today i'm especially grateful. 'LYT found its way into the UK 'Black Hair' magazine Feb/March edition. the biggest thank you to Yemisi Adedipe ('Black Hair' journalist) for appreciating the blog and passing it forward. 


Guys I really do appreciate all of you that read the blog, have told friends about it, tweeted it etc etc, your support has been serious! 
Soooo... as well as the mag release and also achieving another goal with regards to page views.... i thought what better than to introduce...

***The first product giveaway***

its quite simple... up for grabs are...

1.Your own custom made100ml castor oil challenge mix

2. ORS Replenishing pak sample bottles

3. Small tub of 100% coconut oil

All you have to do is answer the question below.

'What does your hair say about who you are?' 

***

in order to take part you need to 

* reside in Europe/USA/Canada 

* Be subscribed (Blog bar on the right that says 'follow' )

(this is only so that the winner can be messaged directly)

***

Giveaway ends on Sunday 30th January 2011, and the winner will be announced the following day)

x edF

E-mail issues

Hey lovelies,


just a quickie to say sorry for late e-mail responses. I'm with google apps and notifications weren't being sent to my personal inbox, so i'm just seeing some of your e-mails now. Im getting right on it so should have all emails answered by Friday


x edF 

Where are the Hairlista Sistah's...

Months back when I first started this blog, one of my first posts was r inspirational hair carers. Basically a post showing the amazing hair journeys of a few ladies from a hair network that I am a member of...

Hairlista.com

Here's the link for anyone who hasn't already seen the pictures from the previous post. Forgive the amateur post format! I was warming up!

http://www.loveyourtresses.com/2010/05/happy-gd-friday.html

Anyway this is an update of two of my fave hair carers ... still as inspirational if not more.

Bronzeg

2007- 2008

2008- 2011

Justherz

2009

2011

and now she has decided to go natural! I'm so excited for her...check out her blog with google translate for backup.

had a big cut to prepare for her transition to natural hair.

x edF

Thicken that hair

source: blackisthecolor- tumblr

A friend sent a message addressing a very common issue... gorgeous healthy 'looking' hair but fine, thin and in need of thickness. This is very common with relaxed hair. We ♥ relaxer results and tend to straighten our hair in order to hush down the good ol' re-growth, not really realising how much damage it does. Hmm...

There are a million and one growth aids promising to make your hair all great and thick but attached to may are big boy $$$ signs. Before even considering products you have to work first with your hair alone.

1) How often do you relax your hair? Yes the relaxer box may say 6-8 weeks. o you stick to the easy 6 or wait till 8? Whats more have u stretched your relaxer a week or 2 longer? Maybe your hair doesnt need the retouch as often as you think.


2) Straightening your hair plays a major role in how thick your hair is. Heat damage makes our hair more susceptible to breakage which means if my strands break off usuakly midway, you"ll definitely have thinner hair and/or even split ends. When your ends split and work up your hair shaft, that strand of hair becomes thinner... Its like a science subject at school right!


3) Maybe you just have thin hair! If you've always had thin hair, then its best to take on board healthy hair care but not feel so down about your hair situation. Healthy hair doesnt have to be mega thick.

How to solve hair damage woes

1) Stretch no less than 8 weeks.

2) Give airdrying a try (see other posts on airdrying), that way your hair experiences no heat damage.

3) If airdrying doesn't work for you try a rollerset, indirect damage is better than direct damage.

Old pic - I rollerset with hairbands so that my hair would lay flat. Now i do it without bands because i prefer the thick look.

4) If you can work with the texture of your hair after blow drying, do that instead of straightening.

5) Deep condition whenever you wash ( if washing once or twice a week), this supports healthy and stronger strands that can deal with damage much better.

6) Detangle in the shower. This way you don't drag too much hair as compared to detangling wet hair out of the shower.

7) Finally if you must straighten your hair please use heat protectant and straighten the section of hair once or twice max.

Finally natural hair thickening products

CASTOR OIL

I only list this, because this is what i know and can definitely swear by! During my one year hair journey i used this consistently and my hair definitely became thicker. Apply this 2wice weekly and massage your scalp afterwards.

Also join the castor oil challenge... hopefully like me you'll get results.