Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2022

[Chicoro]

@Chicoro The bolded is also my experience. I've inspected my shed hair strands, and have noticed thinner points on my strands when gently pulled straight, where it naturally bends or twists into a coil. It hit home how gentle I will need to be with my hair in order to achieve significantly longer lengths.

For shampoo, have you tried Olaplex no.4? I do like this shampoo. My hair never feels stripped, but I always feels clean. I must say since I mainly just use a 'good' gel and maybe a light moisturiser, it doesn't have much challenge. For me, a little- and I mean a small spot on the fingertip sized amount- really goes a long way. My hair becomes defined and smooth with this 'poo, and it is easy to detangle. I love and still use clay in my routine, but aside from my beloved Redken Cleansing Creme, Olaplex no.4 is definitely a winner shampoo for me.

Baby Girl, you, too?! Okay! What are doing specifically to help mitigate or avoid breakage as you gain length on your hair?
I like Olaplex products. I discounted their non-treatment products like the shampoo. It's nice know that it works for afro-textured hair. How do you use clay in your routine? Which kind? How frequently? Can you share your mix, please? Thank you in advance.

 

[GGsKin]

Baby Girl, you, too?! Okay! What are doing specifically to help mitigate or avoid breakage as you gain length on your hair?
I like Olaplex products. I discounted their non-treatment products like the shampoo. It's nice know that it works for afro-textured hair. How do you use clay in your routine? Which kind? How frequently? Can you share your mix, please? Thank you in advance.

I stay ignoring the feeling I'm actually doing many things counterintuitive. I question how gentle i am vs how gentle i need to be in order to reach new length goals. I enjoy wearing my hair loose most of the time in a wash and go. I've also suffered with A LOT of splits, although I don't usually see much breakage. This past year, some if my heat damaged areas have suffered and broken, plus I have shorter areas trying to catch up, so I cut quite a bit of length in November. I've invested in Olaplex and K18 products for a while, as well as making sure that I am washing/ detangling my hair every 7-10 days. Previously I didn't find it necessary but I've added a moisturiser to make sure my strands are sufficiently lubricated, and my ends are not drying out. I want to retain as much as I can so I will try to keep a watchful eye on my need for a trim. I think for my fine hair, I need to not be lazy about that. I continue to mainly finger detangle, using a paddle brush as my tool of choice when I want something really thorough.

I've used clay for over 10 years on my hair as a cleanser and deep conditioner and an general reset. Initially, I used clay quite often, too often. I used to pH test my mixes too lol. Now I use it maybe not even once a month- although I did use it just before Christmas.

Rhassoul and bentonite clays are my tried true mix. These days I add kaolin (I need to repurchase rhassoul as I've run out). I also have French pink clay, but I have not used this much. I'll adapt my recipe, using a mix of clays and add silk amino acids and Ayurvedic ingredients depending on what I think my hair needs, but I tend to eyeball my clay 'measurements', using a Chinese soup spoon. My 'water' is usually a diluted hibiscus tea steeped from the dried petals. I don't tend to add oil but I do at times. I like a loose batter or thick milkshake consistency that doesn't drip off the hair. This massages easily into my scalp and saturates my hair well, making my hair heavy. It has great slip and is easy to finger detangle my hair with the clay in. My hair always feels clean after clay. I just cut down because my 'ends' were so torn up at one point, I felt an overuse of clay could have been a factor. I needed balance.

 

[GGsKin]

sorry for the long post.

 

[Chicoro]

sorry for the long post.

I loved it! Thank you for the detail. The information and your generosity are greatly appreciated. I found this post to be so helpful.