My Decision after Four Months of Hard Work (4 Month Recap with pix)

Well, I have decided to realy act right about my HHJ. So I have, and it has been a long four months. I am have been contemplating about my hair the entire time. At one point, I wanted to quit earlier this year, around March. But I constantly read blogs and looked a before and after pix. I, too, wanted to be in the winner's circle one day. So on April 22nd or 23rd, I made a promise to myself that I was going to do absolutely right by my hair. I also promised myself that I was going to do everything that I possibly can to get my hair to WL exactly one year from the day that I made that promise. LOL, who knows if I can really do that. But I said that I was willing. I began to really do better while I was in school. One thing that held me back was nights with my BF. UGH! That boy hates my bonnets and scarves. I would wake up, and I would see where he snatched it off my head while I was asleep. He continues to despise it, but I had to alert him of the pros of having it on, and the cons of not wearing one to bed. I was barely able to prove my point. He would have still been against, but he loves the fact that I do not wear weave. So, as long as I do not wear weave in his presence, I can sleep with my bonnets. Isn't that sad? I had to make a deal with him about MY hair and MY bonnets. But, I love him, lol. He is ok with it because he understands that I am on a HHJ. He is very supportive, so he has helped motivate me while I was at school. We have graduated, so we have parted ways for a while.
:( I am sad that I am FIVE hours away from him, but this distance does give me alot more freedom to do as I am pleased with my hair. Not total freedom because my mother is so annoying about what I do with my hair and how I wear.

But I have been doing alot of things with my hair that I have not done or did not have much luck with. So I have been trying to strengthen my skills when it comes to my hair.

Here is a pic of me since I have been home since graudation. One of my most WEAKEST areas in hair styling is WRAPPING. When I wrap my hair, I always get that crown all jacked up and very wavy. During my advised HHJ, I learned how to properly wet-wrap my hair. I made sure not to snatch nor pull and my tug my wet hair. Wrapped styles started looking much better. I have had a lot less waves in the middle of my head. I have actually learned another wet wrap method that I am going to try out when I relax my hair again. So I am proud that I have gotten better and doing better.

 

 

One thing about me, I love to mix up my life with curls and straight hair. During my last semester in school, I loved doing my hair in curls. My last couple of months in school, I used orange perm rods to create this look. I started realizing here that it was taking alot longer to dry my hair, anywhere from 30 minutes to and hour and 30 minutes. Ugh! But styles were coming out adorable. I would roll my hair with these rollers and sit under the dryer. After my hair was dry, I would separate the curls and have this big curly look that I absolutely loved. These curls and this style could last a week without re-rolling.

 

 

At home after graduating, I was able to get ahold of my magnetic rollers. Here is the end result where I washed and set my hair with large rollers.

 

Here is another attempt at a smaller set of rollers for this roller set.

 Over the summer, I started experimenting with flexi rods. They have became my best friend. I am going to buy the extremely large ones and the very small ones to keep diversity in my styles. I believe that I am going to forever use flexi rods. I love how they do my hair. I can sleep in them. I am absolutely in love.

 

 

Over these four months, I have also learned so much about how to properly wash, condition, oil and prep my hair for whatever. I have opened my mind for so much information that I cannot believe what I have been missing all of these years on this HHJ.
I have also bought satin rollers that I have absolutely love.

This year, I have also finally bought my first bottle of JBCO. I have used it for three weeks, and I have seen a great difference in my hair since the initial usage. I have noticed thickness and growth. My hair has been so soft, wet and dry. My mother has really enjoyed it. I have just bought three more bottles of it, one for me, my mom and her mom. I cannot wait until I see some before and after pix since using this product.

I have bought this new heat protectant that has been a wonderful addition to my wet and dry hair regimen.

I have been on this hair jounery for four years. I find it very upsetting that I have not hit any landmarks in all of those years. I have felt like I have wasted so much time and money on this HHJ with no visible results. This fact is that constant nagging voice in the back of my head that tells me that I am not going to get anywhere and that I should invest this time, hardwork and commitment into something that is actually going to flourish.
BUT...

So what is my decision? Well, I believe that I have gave it enough thought. After all of this new stuff that I have incorporated into my HHJ and regimen, I was on the fence about staying or straying. But I decided to flat iron my hair as a part of my one month heat pass in August. I have noticed a huge difference in growth and thickness. The pictures were taken a month apart, the first one is after I trimmed my hair in July and the second one is where I flatironned my hair in August. I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw these pictures together. I could not believe the growth difference in the two. I look at this picture and I do not just see growth. I can actually see health in this picture. I can actually see where I have been working hard and it has been paying off. I think I am sold. I believe that I can remain on this hair journey, but I do not need to let it consume me. I believe that it stresses me out. I cannot have that. I am so glad that my regimen is so so so simple. I believe that if it was a complicated, long, over-exagerated regimen, it would really stress me out and become too much for me. So, I am thankful fo this opportunity that I have receive to really get myself together. I officially have a goal, to be APL by Christmas. I have also made myself another rule, that I will not stress myself out by trying to meet dates and goals. I wanted my HHJ to be fun, and I have sucked the life out of it. LOL. But I am going to press on.

THANKS for reading this VERY LONG blog. I appreciate all of my followers, and I wish you well on each and everyone of your HHJs.
MWAH!

GIVEAWAY!!! Announcement!!! ***Click Here to view Details***

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is that day!

I hope that this post finds everyone in great spirits. I know that I am in a great one.


I promised that I was going to do a giveaway, and here it is.

Okay, here is the thing: I have been making accessories for a long time and decided that I wanted to open a store. Sadly, I am still in the process of making the website complete. Due to the power outages here, I have not had consistent time to get everything together, and I am not ready to unveil it just yet. I rather wait until it is just right. It is a slow process, but my goal IS to have it open by September 30th, and I still would like to make this date. I apologize that it is not open; however, at the end of this blog, I plan on having pictures of my current merchandise at the bottom of this blog. So please check that out.

Ok. This giveaway is to promote my store, but there is a chance where TWO people will get to win FREE, handmade jewerly. You cannot beat free, lol. So, I would appreciate everyone who enters.

These are the silver spiked earrings with a pearl a piece with glass beads. 3 1/2 inches long.

These are the gold spiked earrings with a pearl a piece and gold bead accents. 3 1/2 inches long.

So, there are the prizes. Each winner is awarded ONE PAIR.

There are only TWO rules:

• You have to follow this blog (my blog)
• You have to reply under this blog ONLY. Mention SILVER or GOLD, which pair you would prefer to win.

THAT's IT!

The winners will be chosen at random. The contest will end in two weeks, Septemer 14th. The winner will be announced soon after the contest ends.




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BELOW ARE ONLY A COUPLE OF MY OTHER PIECES THAT ARE AVAILABLE:

^^^^^Spiked earrings from ^^^above^^^ are sold orignally for $7 in both colors.^^^^^

Gold and pearl cascade earrings are $10. 2 inches long.

 

Mah History (Red, Yellow, Green) Tribal Necklace $6.

 

 

This is a few things that I have been able to put up. Like I stated earlier, my website is not up yet, but if you are interested in any of the things I have place on this post, please contact me at my email:

alexismoore611@gmail.com

I would be more than happy to help you in any way with purchasing one of these products.

 

SO, YEA!!! THIS IS THE GIVEAWAY!!! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERS!!!

My Mommy's Hair **pic included**

So, this is my mother's hair. Well, this is her huge problem area. She has five in all, but this one is that elephant in the room.
Her story? My mother is 44 years old. She has been through those phases where you go through the jerricurl and the pressing comb and other things that I would have no idea it was. LOL. But eventually she wound up with a relaxer. When my mother was in her early twenties, she found out that she has this disease called Sarcoidosis. If you know about it, you have heard that Bernie Mac the comedian suffered with it and Tisha Campell-Martin has it. For the ones who do not know about it, sarc is an immune disease. It is where the body's immune system works so hard to protect itself, that it does more damage than good. Sort of like the saying "Love so much that it can hurt", sarc is the exact same way. Sarcoidosis attacks mainly the lungs, causing breathing issues and pain. Over 90% of sarc patients will have lung issues. However, it can cause massive organ failure with any organ, including the heart. My mother was one of them whose lungs were affected; however, the Lord has blessed my mother where there is no trace of the disease in her lungs. Sarc has no cure, but it can be treated where the symptoms are not overbearing. My mother's sarc is now attacking her eyes. However, she is doing so much better and it is clearing up in her eyes now. So, her health improves more and more. One of the most devastating symptoms of sarc besides lung issues is hair loss, hence my mother's problem area. Sometimes hair does not grow back at all, but I check my mom's hair pretty often. She shows no signs of shiny scalp, which indicates that hair folicules have died and hair will not grow in the area anymore. My mom's scalp looks shiny in the pic, but that is due to the lighting. My mom's hair is on this horrendous rollercoaster. It grows, and then it breaks off. It grows slow, breaks fast. It grows fast and breaks slow. I have encouraged her to finally wear a bonnet to sleep. She has now invested in a satin pillowcase. I have ordered this JBCO, and I am invested in working with her hair as much as I can. My mother has very fine hair. She has to comb her hair a certain way to make sure that her hair is covered in the top. I am grateful for you reading this post, and I hope that you will keep my mother and I in your thoughts and prayers that she will continue to get healthy and that my mom can have a head full of hair that she can wear with confidence and do not have to worry about coverage. Thanks alot. XOXO

PS - I would not post this pic if my mother was not comfortable with me doing so nor share her story. Kudos for my mommy's courage.

Short Hair Update (no pix)

Well, I have ordered my JBCO. I must say that this has been one of the best investments that I have made in a long time. I got my 4oz bottle for under ten dollars, so I must say that I got it for a deal. I received it Monday. I have only had it for alittle under a week. I must say that in this short amount of time, I have noticed a difference in my hair ALREADY! Isn't that crazy?

Ok, the first thing that I have noticed is that a little goes a LONG way. I am at least doing scalp massages with it on my problem areas five times a week. What I do is flipped the bottle over and coat my fingertips with a small amount of it. I apply it to each of my problem areas. I have notive slighty more thickness in these areas. I am so grateful. My most problem places are my edges and my nape and the back of my head. I have also noticed a great difference of thickness with my mother's problem areas. Already? Awesome.

Another thing is that I notice this big difference of softness with my and my mother's hair. With our DCs, I apply a cap full of JBCO into our mixtures. When our hair is airdrying, it feels so soft, almost like you would want to overnight DC. But we don't. We DC for a few hours and rinse. When my hair is being rinsed with cold water, my hair feels like BUTTER. It is not a feeling that is just under running water. After my hair is airdried, it still feels amazing.

One last thing that I have noticed is that my hair is so much easier to tangle since using the castor oil. I have noticed alot more shedding with my and my mother's hair. I am glad that I read up JBCO, because I really would have been alarmed. I am going to put up my mom's starting pic with her own personal story with the next blog. We are going to put our six week update pictures. We are so excited about the progress tht we already see and that we are going to see. Please be on the look out for our progress pix in five weeks and her personal story post.

Tresemme Heat Tamer Review

I have constantly read about this product, but I had failed to try it. I felt like my Kemi Oyl was a good enough heat protectant. I eventually realized tha tI was going to need a better heat protectant because I was not cool with cooking an oil on my hair with a flatiron anymore. I was over it. So I decided to go ahead and try this product.

This product cost me a little under four dollars at Walmart. which isn't bad because I feel like the amount was worth the money. Little did I know that I was really going to enjoy this product. I have not tried this product on my dry hair and flatironned, but I did do my mom's hair with it. I sprayed a small midst over her hair. After I heat styled her hair, it came out wonderful. It was so incredibly soft. It was not sticky.  I was extremely impressed. So the next test was on wet hair going under the dryer. I set my hair and sprayed my hair with Tresemme. Afterwards, My hair did not feel fried, and it had a great deal of moisture on my hair. I was sold.

I absolutely have nothing bad to say about this product. It smells good, not bad and not overbearing. It is a very light smell. Also, the back of the bottle says that this product contains biotin and panthenol, which we know as two aids that promote hair growth.

Another point that I wanted to make: last night I wrapped my mom's hair. She hurried out of my room to get under the dryer that I did not get a chance to spray her hair. Well, she was under the dryer for about thirty minutes and called for me to check on her hair. I saw my chance to finally spray her hair. She was under there another 15 minutes. Once she emerged this time, I took her dried wrap down. Her hair was way softer than from the first time I checked it. What a wonderful tool this Tresemme is. I believe this has replaced my Kemi Oyl for good.

Castor Oil Challenge? Yes, Please!!!

Yea, I want me a piece of that castor oil challenge. Sadly, I have never completed one or seen one completely through. Call it lack of motivation. Ehh...lol. Well, I have nothing standing in my way right now. So, I am going to make it my goal to see this castor oil challenge to the end. Bad news is, I missed the first nine days of Hairlista's Castor Oil Challenge o_O I have no idea where I was, but I was not in attendence for that one, sadly. But I am going to start nine late and end nine days late. No biggie. I have been doing some research about castor oil, and I wanted to add that info in with this blog. So here is your chance to leave if you want to, lol.

I did my research about using castor oil with the following methods: pre-poo, quick rinse conditioners, deep conditioners, leave-ins, sealers, ends and roots. I wanted to make sure that I am going to use castor oil the most proper way to achieve the maximum amount of results that I can.

I read where castor oil is an excellent way to add quick shine to your hair, but this type of shine has little to no dealings with the health of one's hair. Also, castor oil can be thick and not so easy to rinse out, so there may not be a reason for me to put castor oil into my hair as a pre-poo when I already have trouble removing build-up from my hair in the first place. BUT, I did also read that Jamaican Black Castor Oil was a great pre-poo alone with heat. So, if I am going to use castor oil as a pre-poo, this will be the one I use.

I read for dry ends and edges, rub one drop of castor oil onto either one. It is best not to exceed a drop or two to cut down on one's hair being weighed down.

Castor oil is makes a great hot oil treatment.

Castor oil does well with deep conditioners.

Castor oil is beneficial when mixed in with proteins.

A drop of castor oil with leave-ins are supposed to good.

Castor oil is a great sealer.

So, I plan to check out each and everyone of these points.

I have officially started yesterday!!! August 6th. I am going to end this bad boy for myself around November 6th. The rule for myself is to use castor oil every other day. Another great thing, I am getting my mom on the bandwagon. So, me and her will be hitting the castor oil hard for three long months.
Another awesome point: I have order my Jamaican Black Castor Oil. In all, the product I am using is the JBCO, regular drug store brand CO and HBCO.


This is my Start Pic. I plan to put one up every month on the sixth.
Some of you may know from my previous blogs that I have trimmed my hair to Full SL. I am grazing APL, tho.

I have decided that me and my mother are doing the advanced level part of the challenge. This requires us to apply castor oil to our hair every other day and apply a teaspoon of castor oil to our deep conditioners. I know that I will be on this challenge hard, but my mother likes to put things off. I refuse to let her not participate in this challenge, lol.

My goals for this challenge is as follows:
-Retain length
-acheive thicker hair
-acheive longer hair
-notice improvements with my mother's hair

I plan on taking a picture of her hair soon and posting it on here. I want you all to see both of our before pics. I am excited. The above pic is of my hair after regular wash day, wrapped hair and hood dried. Good luck to everyone who is doing the Castor Oil Challenge!!!

Hosting a GIVEAWAY on AUGUST 30th!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, ladies!!! I am so excited. If you do not know already, I am going to open an accessory store on September 30th!!! I am so excited that I am taking what I love to do to this extra level. I am super excited about it.

September 30th is the official day that I am going to open my store for the everyone, but I am giving my blog followers an opportunity to view my store a month ahead of the official date. SO...On August 30th, this giveaway will begin. The store will be available to view then, too. I would love some contructive criticism from my blog viewers before I put myself totally out there for the entire world. I welcome all advice.

 My store name is not concrete yet, so the name of the store will be announced the day of the contest. Also, the website will be made available then, too. It is just this long, tedious process in regards of getting the store up and running. So, please be patient with me, but I am definitely going to have all of these things ready by the time I officially announce the giveaway.

So, that there are no surprises, I am going to announce a few small details about the giveaway now.

Ok, so #1, there will be TWO (2) winners of the giveaway.
Alright and #2, the prizes will be handmade accessory pieces from my store.

I am not releasing no more than that right now, lol. August 30th is the day. Find my blog post bright and early on that day. I hope to see you soon!!!