BSL 2012 Challenge!!!

[Mische]

Imani thanks a lot! What line do you usually use for the rinse? I'm seriously considering this. My ends are reddish brown (never colored so it must be a mixture of sun+years of relaxing) and I totally feel like it has that "washed out" look sometimes. The natural tint of your hair is really pretty though.

 

[tashboog]

You will be BSL by the end of the summer and MBL by the end. It's looking good.

Thanks faithVA ! I would also like to thank you for keeping me on track when I veer off into a tangent .

 

[tashboog]

Are you sure you aren't BSB in the back already? Congrats on your progress!

Imani, I think I am BSB in the back, but I really want to be full BSL by the end of this year so I'm staying in this challenge baby !

 

[KurlyNinja]

So after I flat ironed my hair and humidity started to sink in I decided that I wanted some texture back in my hair so I did a bantu knot out. I did six bantu knots. I applied flaxseed gel that I made. I also added jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil and pure aloe vera to my flaxseed gel. Then I sealed with a tiny bit of jojoba oil and put it into the knots. This is how I've been rocking my hair the past week.

and when I got bored I added a twisted bang and pushed the hair to one side.

ETA: sorry the pictures are so big. I'm trying to find a way to resize them...

 

[Imani]

Imani thanks a lot! What line do you usually use for the rinse? I'm seriously considering this. My ends are reddish brown (never colored so it must be a mixture of sun+years of relaxing) and I totally feel like it has that "washed out" look sometimes. The natural tint of your hair is really pretty though.

The rinse I use is by Wella and it's called Chocolate Truffle. I get it done at the salon and I've been using it for almost three years. It doesn't run or rub off like some of the semi permanent rinses (I remember back in the day getting those Jazzing rinses, the ones in the pink bottle, and they would rub off on my clothes, towels etc)

 

[MzSwift]

Imani
Your hair is sooo pretty!!
You will def make BSL this year, keep pushin' on girl!

shortdub78
Thanks so much girl!
Every time I read your name in my head I say it like I'm a member of the West Coast Connection (I dunno if you remember that group). LoL

 

[Imani]

Waiting on more check ins! Don't be scurred.

Good job everyone!

 

[hair4romheaven]

Posted an update about a month ago. Here I am as of last week.
I think in bsb. What do yall think?

 

[Evolving78]

Posted an update about a month ago. Here I am as of last week.
I think in bsb. What do yall think?

i think yeah! you are so there!
MzSwift
i do remember! now i got Dub C in my head!

 

[MzSwift]

^^^ hair4romheavenYou are TOTALLY there girl!

 

[Zaz]

Hey ladies, Iw as going to blow out my hair for the length check but I've been working out daily to get rid of these winter pounds I've put on. I have a photo from mid march when I last blew out my hair so I'll use that one. I also took a photo of my gray hair since I last dyed my hair in January and I'm keeping to an every 3 months schedule on that. My grays are about 1.5" long for 3 months. I'm going to colour my hair again this weekend or the next.

 

[MzSwift]

Zaz
Looking good, girl! I see shoulder blade!!
And thanks for the inspiration. I need to get my lazy butt up and move more.

 

[SmilingElephant]

Oh we length checkin now?

Can i wait til like....next week or so? I was gonna flat iron in May. Plz? That way i can post pics in all the challenges i'm in at the same time.

 

[GroovyMama]

Girl we can just length check together. I'm flat ironing for my husband's birthday next weekend. So, I'll be adding my pics on Saturday 5/5.

 

[MzSwift]

I don't remember if there were set days. I just do my own personal checks at the end of every quarter.

I like not having the set check ins b/c there's bound to be a pic or two posted at any point in the thread.

 

[SincerelyBeautiful]

Ok so here is the deal with me. I had reached APL but my ends were scraggly and not full so about three weeks ago I got it cut back to SL leaving me two to three inches to reach APL again. I tried posting my pic but I still got some learning to do. However I did create my public fotki so that you ladies can see my new length and I'm gonna use that as my new starting pic. Go to publicfotki.com/sincerelybeautiful

 

[youwillrise]

i cleansed and dc'ed overnight
i decided to experiment with a new moisturizing method. hahaha

instead of LOC i did LOCO (lol)...so, i did liquid, lighter oil, cream moisturizer and thicker oil (or butter might work???).

i really just made this mess up. i have no idea what i'm doing...dont try this at home LOL...but i'm still trying to find ways to keep my hair moisturized. like i said, using the shea moisture stuff has really helped me stay moisturized longer, but i'm looking for that extra boost to help even further. so we'll see, i guess.

gonna put some twists in my hair a little bit later.

as far as growth goes...it's been almost a month since my little snippity snip. doesnt feel like i did it that long ago. it seems like the front has grown a bit. i cant really tell in the back, though. hmmm. ((shrugs))


edit...totally forgot i cant take pictures. AAAH. i dunno where my camera is and my phone doesnt work. i'll be getting a new phone in a few days, so i'll post my pictures then

 

[Evolving78]

my hair feels nice and soft. i hope this new combo of moisturizing and sealing helps me when my new growth kicks in. i use two liquids to moisturize with an oil sheen to seal. my hair doesn't feel coated anymore. moisturizer creams feels good for only a day or two, then my hair feels sticky, coated, and i start to have breakage. i better make it to APL by June (i would have made it this month or sooner, but i had to trim a lot off). that will keep my on track for BSB for this year.

this is where my hair is currently

 

[MzSwift]

shortdub78
Very pretty! You don't have far to get to APL and June's only two months away. That seems like a good goal.
Don't forget the summer growth spurt. You may be BSB before you know it!

 

[faithVA]

shortdub78[/USER];15825219]my hair feels nice and soft. i hope this new combo of moisturizing and sealing helps me when my new growth kicks in. i use two liquids to moisturize with an oil sheen to seal. my hair doesn't feel coated anymore. moisturizer creams feels good for only a day or two, then my hair feels sticky, coated, and i start to have breakage. i better make it to APL by June (i would have made it this month or sooner, but i had to trim a lot off). that will keep my on track for BSB for this year.

this is where my hair is currently

What 2 liquids are you using to moisturize? I was just thinking yesterday that my hair seems to like liquid moisturizers. But it seems to do better with them once my hair is dry. Not sure. Still trying to figure it out.

 

[KurlyNinja]

So... yesterday I let a white lady do my hair...



And it turned out beautifully!!!! Growing up the stigma that black people can only do another black persons hair has always been drilled into my head. But I've been proven wrong! A new hair/nail salon opened up yesterday near where I work and I decided to go in since they were having a raffle for a gift basket full of $250 worth of chi and biosilk products. I never used either one of these products but I wasnt going to pass up anything that has the words "FREE", "HAIR" and "PRODUCT" in it. So I first went in just to get a pedicure and to enter the raffle. But then I saw one of the stylist doing a young girls natural hair. The girl had to have about 3c/4a hair. I sat and watched her do her hair the whole time I was getting a pedicure. Her hair turned out BEAUTIFULLY. So I decided to check her out myself.

I was SO nervous when she started my hair and I think she could tell. The first thing she told me when I sat down in the chair was that my hair was beautiful and she loved my natural curls. She said she could also tell I take really good care of my hair. She think added chi silk infusion onto my hair and detangled it from tip to root. And she wasnt rough AT ALL. I was expecting my 12 year old memories of tenderheadness to creep up on me, but I didnt get that at all. After she detangled my whole head she washed and conditioned with joico products. And gave me the BEST scalp massage ever! She then added more chi silk infusion and blow dried my hair on medium. I was a little scared after this point because I usually have to blow dry on high for my hair to come out as straight as possible, but I kept quiet just to see what she did next. After she blow dried my hair she added a leavin by catwalk for curly hair. She said she always like to add a little bit of leave-in for curly hair even when straightening because it keeps the hair more moisturized. She then started sectioning off my hair about a half inch at a time to flat iron and she added a heat protectant by redken to each section before she flat ironed. And she only flat ironed on 300 degrees.

My hair came out silky straight! I was amazed that this was possible. I then asked her hair my ends looked. And she told me that the front looked very good, but the back could have some taken off. I knew this to be true as well because its hard for me to seek and destroy in the back of my head. Also my hair is natural layers so the back gets it the worst. I think it was great that she consulted me first before she started to cut. Many of my past stylist would just start hacking away before I even noticed. She told me that she was going to do a cutting technique called stacking and that she was going to take off about 2 inches from the very bottom layer so that it would be more even and it would fall a lot better even in its curly state. She also said she was going to take about 1/4 of an inch from everywhere else just to get rid of old ends since I havent done a trim since December. I watched intently on what she was doing to my hair and she did EXACTLY what she said she was going to do. She even gave me a mirror to look at the back of my head while she was cutting. Two inches didnt magically turn into 6 inches. It was TWO inches. After she was done cutting she bumped my ends lightly with the flat iron on 150 degrees and sprayed pure Morracan Argan oil on my hair to add a little shine. My hair has body and is straight. And I'm not scared that I have heat damage or anything. I got out of the chair feeling happy! Even with 2 inches gone and back to above APL, I'm still really happy! My hair looks full and feels great! And it only took an hour and a half.

I think the best part was when I got out the chair and asked her how much it was and she told me $15. NO, not 50, but 15. I almost wanted to hug her and cry tears of joy. A white lady did my hair and shes the best stylist I've ever been to.

I'll be back with pics after I take a shower and unwrap my hair.

ETA: Pictures

 

[faithVA]

I did my hair at the hospital yesterday while visiting my mom. Figured it was a good use of time. It takes me 2 to 2.5 hrs to do my hair so I got in a good visit. Years ago I would have never done my hair in public, but now I really don't care As I've gone through so many things in life, I realize that trying to fit some image is really not that important. Anywayz.

So I'm sitting in the room with hair sticking up, clips everywhere, some hair half braided and I am just enjoying the people going by trying to figure out what I am doing. I get curiousity from both black and white. The black women know what I'm doing. They all have locs or extensions or weaves of some sort. The white women are off course curious. They feel free to ask questions which I'm cool with. So I get, How long does that take you? oh, that smells good what is it?, What did you do to your hair?, and some just looked. It was just fun. Lots of amusement and conversations.

And when I left the hospital, I left with a completed head of box braids. And I was free to go home and do absolutely nothing

 

[faithVA]

KurlyNinja[/USER];15828233]So... yesterday I let a white lady do my hair...



And it turned out beautifully!!!! Growing up the stigma that black people can only do another black persons hair has always been drilled into my head. But I've been proven wrong! A new hair/nail salon opened up yesterday near where I work and I decided to go in since they were having a raffle for a gift basket full of $250 worth of chi and biosilk products. I never used either one of these products but I wasnt going to pass up anything that has the words "FREE", "HAIR" and "PRODUCT" in it. So I first went in just to get a pedicure and to enter the raffle. But then I saw one of the stylist doing a young girls natural hair. The girl had to have about 3c/4a hair. I sat and watched her do her hair the whole time I was getting a pedicure. Her hair turned out BEAUTIFULLY. So I decided to check her out myself.

I was SO nervous when she started my hair and I think she could tell. The first thing she told me when I sat down in the chair was that my hair was beautiful and she loved my natural curls. She said she could also tell I take really good care of my hair. She think added chi silk infusion onto my hair and detangled it from tip to root. And she wasnt rough AT ALL. I was expecting my 12 year old memories of tenderheadness to creep up on me, but I didnt get that at all. After she detangled my whole head she washed and conditioned with joico products. And gave me the BEST scalp massage ever! She then added more chi silk infusion and blow dried my hair on medium. I was a little scared after this point because I usually have to blow dry on high for my hair to come out as straight as possible, but I kept quiet just to see what she did next. After she blow dried my hair she added a leavin by catwalk for curly hair. She said she always like to add a little bit of leave-in for curly hair even when straightening because it keeps the hair more moisturized. She then started sectioning off my hair about a half inch at a time to flat iron and she added a heat protectant by redken to each section before she flat ironed. And she only flat ironed on 300 degrees.

My hair came out silky straight! I was amazed that this was possible. I then asked her hair my ends looked. And she told me that the front looked very good, but the back could have some taken off. I knew this to be true as well because its hard for me to seek and destroy in the back of my head. Also my hair is natural layers so the back gets it the worst. I think it was great that she consulted me first before she started to cut. Many of my past stylist would just start hacking away before I even noticed. She told me that she was going to do a cutting technique called stacking and that she was going to take off about 2 inches from the very bottom layer so that it would be more even and it would fall a lot better even in its curly state. She also said she was going to take about 1/4 of an inch from everywhere else just to get rid of old ends since I havent done a trim since December. I watched intently on what she was doing to my hair and she did EXACTLY what she said she was going to do. She even gave me a mirror to look at the back of my head while she was cutting. Two inches didnt magically turn into 6 inches. It was TWO inches. After she was done cutting she bumped my ends lightly with the flat iron on 150 degrees and sprayed pure Morracan Argan oil on my hair to add a little shine. My hair has body and is straight. And I'm not scared that I have heat damage or anything. I got out of the chair feeling happy! Even with 2 inches gone and back to above APL, I'm still really happy! My hair looks full and feels great! And it only took an hour and a half.

I think the best part was when I got out the chair and asked her how much it was and she told me $15. NO, not 50, but 15. I almost wanted to hug her and cry tears of joy. A white lady did my hair and shes the best stylist I've ever been to.

I'll be back with pics after I take a shower and unwrap my hair.

I'm so jealous and mad at you right now I know my reaction makes no sense. I was jealous initially until you said $15. Then I was mad. Are you saying she did your entire head for $15 or the cut was $15. I can't even get a pedicure for $15.

ok, my vent is over. I am glad that you had such a good experience. So much so I want to fly there and get my hair done. I would love to have someone do my hair because I sure wouldn't do it.

And I am going to reread this when I want to flat iron my hair and use it as a base.

I had a white stylists once. She gave me the best relaxer ever. This was pre flat iron days though. She couldn't use a curling iron for nothing. In her defense though my hair was very, very short.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Seamonster]

KurlyNinja I used to get the best roller set on natural hair by a Jewish male hairstylist for $10. But a cut, flat iron and curl for $15 I recall feeling a little jealous when I read this too. Is that a special?

 

[coolsista-paris]

So... yesterday I let a white lady do my hair...

And it turned out beautifully!!!! Growing up the stigma that black people can only do another black persons hair has always been drilled into my head. But I've been proven wrong! A new hair/nail salon opened up yesterday near where I work and I decided to go in since they were having a raffle for a gift basket full of $250 worth of chi and biosilk products. I never used either one of these products but I wasnt going to pass up anything that has the words "FREE", "HAIR" and "PRODUCT" in it. So I first went in just to get a pedicure and to enter the raffle. But then I saw one of the stylist doing a young girls natural hair. The girl had to have about 3c/4a hair. I sat and watched her do her hair the whole time I was getting a pedicure. Her hair turned out BEAUTIFULLY. So I decided to check her out myself.

I was SO nervous when she started my hair and I think she could tell. The first thing she told me when I sat down in the chair was that my hair was beautiful and she loved my natural curls. She said she could also tell I take really good care of my hair. She think added chi silk infusion onto my hair and detangled it from tip to root. And she wasnt rough AT ALL. I was expecting my 12 year old memories of tenderheadness to creep up on me, but I didnt get that at all. After she detangled my whole head she washed and conditioned with joico products. And gave me the BEST scalp massage ever! She then added more chi silk infusion and blow dried my hair on medium. I was a little scared after this point because I usually have to blow dry on high for my hair to come out as straight as possible, but I kept quiet just to see what she did next. After she blow dried my hair she added a leavin by catwalk for curly hair. She said she always like to add a little bit of leave-in for curly hair even when straightening because it keeps the hair more moisturized. She then started sectioning off my hair about a half inch at a time to flat iron and she added a heat protectant by redken to each section before she flat ironed. And she only flat ironed on 300 degrees.

My hair came out silky straight! I was amazed that this was possible. I then asked her hair my ends looked. And she told me that the front looked very good, but the back could have some taken off. I knew this to be true as well because its hard for me to seek and destroy in the back of my head. Also my hair is natural layers so the back gets it the worst. I think it was great that she consulted me first before she started to cut. Many of my past stylist would just start hacking away before I even noticed. She told me that she was going to do a cutting technique called stacking and that she was going to take off about 2 inches from the very bottom layer so that it would be more even and it would fall a lot better even in its curly state. She also said she was going to take about 1/4 of an inch from everywhere else just to get rid of old ends since I havent done a trim since December. I watched intently on what she was doing to my hair and she did EXACTLY what she said she was going to do. She even gave me a mirror to look at the back of my head while she was cutting. Two inches didnt magically turn into 6 inches. It was TWO inches. After she was done cutting she bumped my ends lightly with the flat iron on 150 degrees and sprayed pure Morracan Argan oil on my hair to add a little shine. My hair has body and is straight. And I'm not scared that I have heat damage or anything. I got out of the chair feeling happy! Even with 2 inches gone and back to above APL, I'm still really happy! My hair looks full and feels great! And it only took an hour and a half.

I think the best part was when I got out the chair and asked her how much it was and she told me $15. NO, not 50, but 15. I almost wanted to hug her and cry tears of joy. A white lady did my hair and shes the best stylist I've ever been to.

I'll be back with pics after I take a shower and unwrap my hair.

your making us all jelous in.here! sounds great! cant wait for pics.

 

[Victorian]

Checking in with my update. I think I have about 3 inches to go before I'm just reaching BSL. So I'm shooting for my birthday at the end of October. That'll give me a couple months to grow a bit more so I can get a nice even trim for 2013.
Pic with blue shirt: left is freshly cut on Jan. 20th, right is today.
Unfortunately I didn't measure in January, but I know it has grown about 1.5 inches since February 12 (second pic)

 

[Evolving78]

What 2 liquids are you using to moisturize? I was just thinking yesterday that my hair seems to like liquid moisturizers. But it seems to do better with them once my hair is dry. Not sure. Still trying to figure it out.

faithVA
i am using Creme Of Nature Argan Oil Leave-in and Hawaiian Silky 14n1. i diluted the Hawaiian Silky with some distilled water since it is kinda thick. this has been working so good for my hair lately. i haven't been having crazy breakage like before. i don't wet my hair down either, i just mist in sections and then apply the HS14 in sections.

i do this on dry hair too. i can't have it damp though, because then that will make my hair weak.

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA
i am using Creme Of Nature Argan Oil Leave-in and Hawaiian Silky 14n1. i diluted the Hawaiian Silky with some distilled water since it is kinda thick. this has been working so good for my hair lately. i haven't been having crazy breakage like before. i don't wet my hair down either, i just mist in sections and then apply the HS14 in sections.

i do this on dry hair too. i can't have it damp though, because then that will make my hair weak.

Thanks. That is good to know. I have some of the Hawaiin Silky. I may try something similar.

 

[GreenEyedJen]

Hey ladies! I updated not too long ago, and my last post I told y'all that I had braids and was planning on staying in them until finals were over. Well, that didn't work. I have officially given up the hope of staying in any style longer than a week. My hair is just too fine for that, and I loose more hair than I would have had I let it stay loose the entire time. Hopefully when it gets longer I'll just be able to wear it in a bun all the time, like I did when I was relaxed.

Anyway, I took my hair out and tried to do a rollerset which was a miserable failure. Before I braided my hair up for my usual braidout, I snapped some pictures. I trimmed my hair a bit after my last update picture, and thankfully I'm still happy with my length.

I'm about to get to the pictures, but let me say one more thing. I'm on a journey to lose the 20 lbs. I put on between August and January due to being back in academia. Anyway, my last update the line for APL was around number five. Now it looks like my APL line is number three. I'm going to first post one of the pictures from my last update, and then my new ones so you guys can help me out. If what I'm seeing is correct, the only thing I can think is that I've lost some weight! I would be so excited if that's the case.

Anyway, here you go:

FROM LAST UPDATE

YESTERDAY

THIS IS JUST A PICTURE OF THE BACK OF THE SHIRT WITH MY ARM DOWN

Looking at the numbers as they lay now, my goal of BSB is the number six (you can see where the shirt indents a bit in my back where the bottoms of my shoulder blades are). Looks like I'm still on track to hit goal by years end.

 

[coolsista-paris]

where is everyone??more updates come on!cant wait.

anyway here is mine (pic of before yesterday):



I am definately going to make a length shirt (i totally failed my first one and quit) i was thinking of buying one maybe... Cause i feel like i am not going anywhere, like since 2 months nothing is happening.ah im happy im apl, but feel like im stuck again!

+my back seems so long.it looks like Apl is far from neck or shoulders compared to others distances .Grrrrr gonna make it à long journey (+ fine hair=easy breakage)!! Well ill try my best