Update on My Hair and Crochet Braids and Plans for my hair

Hi! Privet! Pryvit! Salut! Hallo! Vahām̐! Hola!

In case you didn't know, I love languages! Whether spoken or signed (I sign in ASL).

Anyways, here's just an update on my hair:

So....I cut my hair. I just trimmed off about an inch of my hair, don't worry :) and I believe I've grown all that I cut off back. I haven't taken down my latest crochet braids yet because I have a ball to attend in early July and I plan on reinstalling my crochet braids so....since I'm going to be back home in May, I decided to wait till then so my crochet braids are at their neatest during the ball and so it's easier to manipulate it if I need to. I miss my hair, I should add.

When it comes to washing my hair, I water-only wash most of the time, and usually just my edges (which have been growing pretty well and becoming thicker). When I use shampoo (sulphate-free), I prefer to dilute it a bit and I keep washing until the water runs really really clear and my scalp feels awesome. I don't wash my hair as often as I should because of the drying time and because the weather just mere weeks ago was still on the cold-side. Also, I just didn't have the time to wash my hair often. Anyways, I condition my hair afterwards, but I don't care that much about rinsing out all the conditioner.

To keep my crochet braids looking good, I cut out the tangles daily (not daily when I'm at home and not leaving the house, though). Cutting out the tangles retains that fresh/near-fresh look and it lets you wear your crochet braids for as long as you wish to.

My plans when I take this protective style down is to give my hair a lovely treatment/treatment. Wash it out thoroughly, detangle and wear a wash and go if my hair hangs long enough (and my curls are defined without the need of a gel) for about a day and then stretch out my hair using African threading for a few days before letting it out and just retaining a stretched look (I will wear a puff or bantu knot out/twist out/braid out at times, though). I probably will condition my hair more often or just leave in some conditioner whenever I'm refreshing my hair, but that's pretty much going to be it. I AM GOING TO DO A LENGTH CHECK TOO!!!! :)

I hope that this year, I am as close to waist length as possible. Like, I want to be below bra-strap length before the end of this year! :)

~Sammy

p.s I'm looking into new DIY protein treatments as I'm not keen on putting eggs in my hair anymore and in case you didn't know, mayonnaise contains 0% protein (check the back of your jar/bottle).

My Protective Styling Update

Hey y'all,

So, sometime during the third week of December, I took my crotchet braids down and used all the products I reviewed between December and January. Some, I might use again. Others, never again. I liked my hair, but I seemed to miss the longer hair. Also, I didn't reach my goal of BSL, but I believe I'll get it this year.
I kinda wasn't used to having to stretch my hair overnight and prep it for bed so that was a bit of a nuisance, but it wasn't so bad.
My family (not my parents, though) saw my hair once again and said they preferred it to my extensions, loved it and thought I didn't need extensions. One my first weekend extension-free, I rocked a bantu-knot out to church and that was what I call 'my short style' because it looked like I had rather short hair, but the curls looked cute. That night or the morning after, I faked a blow-out and it looked pretty good.
On the 29th of December, I went over to my Aunt's house and reinstalled my crotchet braids (new extensions, by the way). I happened to have a scalp issue then, but it's pretty much gone now.
With my crotchet braids now, I have been more versatile than before. I recently combed out all the curls and I'm rocking a fake blow-out and the hair looks HUGE! Unfortunately, if you've been reading the paper or watching the news, you'll know that there have been storms in Somerset (where my school is) and school's still in session so, I end up looking like a freak with hair in my face, struggling to move in one direction when the wind is pushing me and my hair in a different direction and having parts of my hair revert to being curly while others are relatively straight in the process of walking (or running) to my next class.
The weather here, at home, is much better than in Somerset so all's good. Lovin' my big hair!
I wonder how long I'll protective style this time....

Talk to y'all later!
~SammyWithTheBigHair

Protective Styling

Hello, Lovelies,

So....you all know that I've been protectives styling since August. I started off with the mini twists for about 2 weeks then I got crochet braids done and I've had those since late August (I'm taking them down soon, though, but after a week or so, I'm reinstalling them).

I believe that protective styling is key in achieving our desired hair length and it helps with out hair's health.

Protective styles give your hair a break from being tugged and pulled, combed and blown around, et cetera. Therefore, it aids in minimising breakage. Breakage plays a huge part in us not achieving our desired length because as our hair grows and breaks off, we don't see the growth, that's why many of us think that our hair length is at a standstill.

Between when I got my crochet braids installed and now, I have grown over an inch of hair and I see that under the crochet braids. So, I'm closer to my goal of BSL.

As you might've guessed, my favourite protective style is the crochet braids. Why?

1. My hair is fully protected from the elements
2. My hair can rest
3. They look super good
4. They can be done at home
5. They can last for a really long time
6. I can still have curly hair everywhere even though it's not my hair
7. I want BSL or below BSL hair, with these things installed it's like voila! longer hair! (then they're taken down and it's like umm.....you're getting their hun')
8. They're easy to take care of

    Et cetera

There are other protective styles like the mini twists, box braids, cornrows, roll, tuck 'n' pins, weaves and wigs. They all are good (not my favs, though).

Anyways, moving on....

Protective styles can cause damage if not done properly or you forget about your hair when you're protective styling. This damage could be

• The breakage you are trying to prevent
• Dandruff
• Traction alopecia....

     Et cetera

So, in order to prevent the possible cons when protective styling, ensure you:

1. Do not make your protective style tight
2. Do wash and condition your hair while protective styling even if not as often
3. Don't tug and pull at your hair in the protective style
4. Moisturise your hair as needed
5. Do not make your protective style too thin (like mini mini-twists or mini box braids)
6. Do not leave your hair in protective styles like mini twists and box braids for too long (unless you want dreadlocks, that is)
7. Do not neglect your hair

Remember, when you take down your protective style, give your hair a break from being in a protective style for a long time. This could be done by wearing your hair out for a few days before protective styling again.

I miss my hair often, but I love this protective styling journey. I'm going to continue with my crochet braids when I can, but someday, I hope to try marley/havana twists (they look so good!) and maybe a weave for the first time since I've been natural (scared of taking down weaves, though x_X).

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What are your favourite protective styles and which ones would you like to try some day?

How do you care for your hair while protective styling?

My crochet braids update

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Hello Lovelies!

So, here's a lil update on my crochet braids:

1. Yes, I still have them in
2. I've had them in for about 8 weeks now
3. I've washed my scalp and the crochet braids twice now and rinsed them out a couple of times after workouts (usually just after zumba sessions on Tuesday nights)
4. Still looks pretty good
5. Big and curly, big and curly, I love my crochet braids!
6. I have over an inch of new growth under the braids.
7. My crochet braids are like a muffler. They keep me warm when it's cold.
8. It was raining some day and I held out my crochet braids with my hands under them and guess what? When we got to our destination (by foot), I was the only one who was still dry. My crochet braids are like an umbrella.
9. From a couple of inches down my back, I have waist length hair thanks to my crochet braids. Hehe ;)
10. I still moisturise and refresh my crochet braids like it's my actual hair.

I miss my hair, but I love this protective style. I'm going to take it down this December and get it redone. Best protective style ever!!!!

~Samantha

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Update / Letter to Readers

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Hey Readers,

I know I've been away for quite a long time. Sorry 'bout that. There are so many restrictions on the internet where I am now. Even Google is blocked! So, I'm going to post a couple of things between now and the 3rd of November (while I'm at home) and then I'll post some more in December (when I' back at home).

For about 2 or 3 weeks in August, I had mini twists in. Since then, I've had crochet braids (I've had them in for almost 2 months now) and I'm loving them. I can see loads of new growth under my cornrows. My cornrows aren't even as close to my scalp as they were on the first few weeks anymore. I'm sure there's a little over an inch of new growth under there.

I've washed my scalp once and rinsed it out once since I installed the crochet braids. The rinse was because of a workout that got me all so sweaty that I was bothered about the state of my scalp and the wash was because I hadn't washed my hair in almost a month.

Right now, the weather where I am is pretty unstable. The other day, it was 14 degrees (Celcius) then 12 degrees then 3 degrees then at night it was so warm I was sweating then it got cooler at day and got hotter at night again and now, it's about 13 degrees and expected to get to 18 degrees later today (the humidity is about 94% at the moment, too!). I noticed my scalp and parts of my hair were pretty dry last night so I added some conditioners and rosemary oil to the water in my spray bottle, shook it up a bit, spritzed my scalp and massaged in the mixture. My scalp doesn't feel so bad this morning. I'm due for a serious DC, but I'm not sure about that with the crochet braids still on, but I might give it a try during my time at home.

By the way, I'm not typing this from home. It's going to be posted when I'm at home, though. Today is the 17th of October (a new episode of Vampire Diaries S5 is out today! yay!) and i'm pretty sure this will be uploaded on the 23rd.

Anyways, so, crochet braids is my fav. protective style. If you've been following my Twitter page, you'll know that many people have thought the crochet braids are actually my real hair, people love it, I love it and it's just so……big and wonderful!

I miss my hair, though, but it drizzles and rains practically everyday and I can't be bothered to stretch my hair out more than once a day or every single day. I also haven't really mastered the wash 'n' go yet. Maybe when I do, I'll stretch out over night and if it drizzles or rains, wear a wash and go for the rest of the day, dunno.

Anyways, who's enjoying the autumn/fall?

I am!

Lemme know how your autumn's been so far.

~Sam