What's Gibbie Been Up to? Part Deux

So.. what do you say to the person that last had a blog post titled "What's Gibbie Been Up To" months later doing another "What's Gibbie Been Up To"? Don't say much about that. I beg of you. I'm super sorry that I haven't been around in a bit. I thought about doing a post last month ..but after a trim (I often call it a chop) of about 1"-1.5" off due to breakage, I wasn't feeling it. I was so upset with myself for having to hack off that much hair. I'm still not over it to be honest, because I was gaining some length and now it's like I have a twa feeling all over again :(. 

I saw Rosemary Godwin on YouTube discussing her Water Only method update and I decided to "man up" and do this hair update.

Anyway, here are some updates on my hair:

1 year post BC

I big chopped (BC) my hair on June 2014 and my "hair anniversary" was in June 2015. I did a little collage on Instagram of where I started from to where I was on that day. Here's a picture of a length check of it:

..and the trim thereafter..

After a bad taking to the Water Only Washing method and just not listening to my hair, my hair suffered some breakage all over and I had to do a 1"-1.5"trim/chop/hack. The ends were rough, brittle and dry. They just could not stay. I don't have a set way to trim my hair and I basically cut to the point where my hair felt "normal" and where it felt rough. This was a little to my detriment because I'm certain I cut off more than I wanted. Also, my hair shrinkage level has increased..which freaked me out more that I cut off too much of my hair. It's when I did a length check after the trim that I realised that it wasn't as bad as I thought. Here's a picture grid of my length check after my trim:

Water Only Washing Update

As I eluded to above, I was doing the Water Only Washing method. It was a easy peasy method for using water to wash your hair. The idea is to initially clarify your hair, do a little massage, then do a daily wash of your hair by scratching/scritching your scalp and moving sebum (our hair's natural oil) down the hair shaft. I did this method for about 6 weeks and it was going great. My hair was the best it's been for a while, I had sebum coming down my hair shaft, I had BOMB ass twistouts etc. etc. etc...

..and then the niceness stopped. I figured my hair needed clarifying - I did an aloe juice wash. I figured my ends needed to be sealed because the sebum didn't reach down the ends as yet - then I started using shea butter after every wash. Then coconut oil, then I used olive oil - nothing worked. And I went on for about another 3 weeks trying to fix it. Then I said NO. 

And I started cowashing like crazy. 

But by then, it was too late.

I eventually had to cut off what seemed to me like quite a bit off my growth - up to 1.5" and immediately felt like a failure. 

What I've been doing presently is just leaving my hair alone. It's been in crochet braids for the past 2 weeks ..with two failed DIY marley hair installations (I just take the marley hair out and crochet in new hair), and it will continue to be in for at least another 2 weeks with some new synthetic hair.

I'm avoiding combing/touching my hair like the plague. I moisturise then leave it alone.And I'm sticking to that.

Hopefully time will pass by quickly and my hair would've grown back or longer. I'm protective styling and moisturising like crazy.

Otherwise I'm keeping cool. I'll do some updates on protective hairstyles if they turn out well lol.

Be well
Gibbie

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What's Gibbie been up to?!

Lol. Hey guys! How ya been?!

Geez I've been super out of it! Sheesh!

My deepest apologies for the drop off on posts but I've been super busy. For one, I got a job promotion (yay :)) which entailed a not so quick transition from my previous position; I've also started my Masters (one module at a time however), and I recently accepted an offer for a directorship in my Rotaract Club! Turn up! Turn up! Lol.

And my hair..well my hair was just angry with me. I bought more castor oil, more shea butter, moisturised daily with my diy aloe vera mix, sealed with said oil and NOTHING was working - up to the point that my hair started BREAKING.. Breaking by way of feathering/tapering at the ends and had just an overall dry and TUSTY (thirsty) look.

When I saw the breakage, I surprisingly did not freak out. I paused, cut the breaking ends (about 1-2 inches) and tried to figure out what my hair wanted. And a couple weeks after, it would appear that it just wants..water.

Plain ole water.

So so water.

And that's what I've been giving it. A post from Rosemary Godwin-Ese on YouTube peaked my interest on Water Rinsing or Water Only Washing as it is commonly called. And it is just as it states, washing your hair with water only - but on a daily basis. I have since then been doing my own little research, doing the method (but adding oils to my ends) and it seems to be working for my hair. The daily water rinsing would have ordinarily been an issue, but since I'm in the field almost every day and my hair (that is presently in mini-twists) dries quicker than it usually does (scalp first, then ends), I'm quite fine with it.

Now this water rinsing business has been working surprisingly well thus far, but since I just started (about 1.5- 2 weeks in). I'll be able to give a better idea of how well (or not) in the coming months. Here's a picture I posted on Instagram recently in between washes:

When your Water Only Wash method is doing WONDERS for your hair and your camera and face are liking each other 😊 😁 💧 #WaterOnlyHairWash #AfterWorkFace

A photo posted by Gibbie J. (@gibbiegibbie) on Apr 7, 2015 at 8:18pm PDT

Aaand that's it. Again, my deepest apologies and some in advance if I don't get to post as much but I'm trying to bring some normalcy - as soon as I can - around all this (good) chaos around lol.

I hope you all are doing wonderful and you'll hear from me again soon.

Be well!
Gibbie

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6 Month Length Check (6 Months Post BC)

Hey guys!

It's now been six (6) months and one week since I did the big chop. Time seems to be going nicely and my hair has been flourishing since I asked my boyfriend to cut off my relaxed ends in June 2014. There were a little bit of tears. There was a lot of bit of shock lol.

But without further ado, Here are some pictures of my 6 natural hair month progress:

The morning after the Big Chop - June 2014

July 2014 

 

November 2014

December 5, 2014

Aaand there you have it folks. Now that the pictures are up, I can see the difference in growth over the time period..and I'm happy \o/ lol. It would also seem that my regimen is doing okay thus far..so at least technique-wise I won't be changing anything.


Some things to bear in mind (or err..disclaimers? lol)

1. I transitioned for about 7 months before I cut my relaxed ends off (so I had a little over 2" before the big chop)
2. My hair grows a little over 1/4 inch per month (0.375 inches exactly lol)
3. I cut off quite a bit of relaxed ends in about July (apparently I was even cutting off my natural hair with it -_-)
4. I wear protective styles about 85% - 90% of the time

Be well,

Gibbie

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Protective Styling It: Crochet Braids

Fresh off a nine-week-long protective style run and my birthday coming up in the following week, I installed Crotchet Braids in my hair. I chose this style because it seemed like one of the better protective styles to do that wouldn't cause additional stress on my strands (because it didn't much of a break between styles). I wanted low manipulation. Matter of fact, I wanted no manipulation. So here goes it:

Details

Hair: Bijoux Realistic Marley Braid

Price: $570-$600 JMD per pack

Colour: No. 1

Duration: About 3 hours

Number of packs used: 3 (all cut in half)

Installed by: Meeee!! (with cornrows/canerows done by my friend Trudy)

I was a little intimidated to install it myself but hearing the cheapest price to install crotchet braids was $4,000 JMD, I said NERP wid a quickniss!, ventured on to YouTube to reinforce the technique, then  got to work.

I let out my usual area at the back of my nape, twisted it, got the cornrows in and did the install. I separated each "clumped" piece of hair that came in the pack and further separated the hair into more pieces as I got to the front for a more "cleaner" look. After it was done, I didn't comb/brush the hair and wore it as is. When it was done, the hair was Diana Ross big and I absolutely LOVED it! I felt so accomplished! lol. A couple of days later, here are some pictures:

Roll, Tuck & Pin yesterday

Birthday..night (first picture I had since the install - forgive me for the repeat lol)

The (now) usual hair at the nape that I left out, twisted.

There has been no discomfort, nor do I feel any tightness or stress on the scalp. The plan is to moisturize the braids and leave out at least than once a week and moisturize my edges almost everyday, mainly because that's the area that is out and tends to be dry. I intend to do a wash once every 2 weeks and overall I'd like to keep this style in for about 4-6 weeks. When majority of the curls have gone, I'll comb or brush the hair out and do a perm rod set so they'll hold over to 4 or 6 weeks until take-down. I'm very proud of doing this hair style and, among other things, my thrifty cheapskate self is grinning, having saved myself some $$$.

In a few days I'l be doing a wash/semi-wash day and I'll document that to see how goes it. Hope your hair journey is going well in your neck of the woods, as is mine.

Be well (and hair happy!)

Gibbie

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Protective Styling It: Yarn Locs/Faux Locs

I've been wearing my TWA out for a little bit and I decided to start moving further towards my hair goals; a major part of that being low (or no) manipulation and/or protective styling. I still haven't gotten the knack of combing/styling my hair this short and I thought it was best to put it up in a medium - long term style before I started damaging my hair. So here we are.

Yarn Wraps

The Yarn Wrap Style is where you use yarn (usually 100% acrylic yarn) to twist or braid your hair and thereafter wrap more yarn around that twist or braid. It is (I think), the ultimate protective style as the entire strand of your hair is covered, leaving only your scalp from showing. It is pretty easy to do (so easy I can do it :)) and there are countless tutorials on YouTube showing how it is done.

How long it will take depends on the length and size of the braids you want to be done but needless to say, it isn't a "quick style"..it is going to take you some hours to do.

About My Yarn Wraps

Colour: Black

Duration: 12 1/2 Hours 

Length: Shoulder - Collar bone length

Thickness of wraps: Medium

Yarn type: Red Heart 100% Acrylic Yarn & Zola 100% Acrylic Yarn

Price: Red Heart (Super Saver) $1,200 JMD & Zola (3 Small packs) @ $70 JMD per pack 

Where I got the yarn: Woolworth

My Yarn Wraps were done last week by a hair braider who was doing this style for the first time, so we were basically going off of what we saw on YouTube. She got the hang of it quickly. The length of my yarn wraps are about collar bone/shoulder length and it took about 10 hours to do majority of it (we ran out of yarn) and I'd say about 2 1/2 hours to do the rest. I did the remaining pieces and re-did some I thought were too tight. Those are mainly at the right side of my head. Here are some pictures of how it turned out (taken today - a week later):

I think they're holding up well considering I don't "care" extensions well and I haven't slept with a satin bonnet (only a satin 'pillowcase' - satin fabric over my pillow) since I got them done. It has been said that as the roots get more fuzzy, it looks even more natural looking. I'm pretty sure I'm on my way there.

When they are just done, you might feel some discomfort for a couple of days because 1) the wraps/braids will be stiff so sleeping well might be an issue for some and 2) some of the wraps/braids need a couple of days to "loosen" a bit. Scalp massages as well aid in this regard. It is advisable that when getting them done to not start wrapping at the root/scalp but at the beginning of the braid or twist..and even then wrap this section taut, but not tight.

I'm hoping to keep these in for 2 months (since they look like they handle well and they took so long to do) ..but I've never kept in a style that long (itchy scalp), so we'll see.

I'll be doing a post on what to expect after getting Yarn Wraps, tips and a hair care routine I've been doing.

Be well,

Gibbie

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Hair Update No. 7: 7 Months post

Braids are out. Breather break before next braid install and of course the oh so familiar feeling of doing the chop during the post wash detangling session.

Very familiar. 

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Crotchet Braids Take down & Wash Day: Hair Update No. IV

Hi there! *waves*

It's been a while since I've blogged about "le hair". I was waiting on all negative vibes about the breakage and such I had and was just soaking up all information on hair (mainly my hair "type") on YouTube, other blogs and asking questions wherever I could to get as much information as I could.

Since my last post I haven't done anything to my hair except do a consistent moisturise & seal routine and leaving my hair alone. It was one day shy of four (4) weeks since I put in the style and it was time yo take it out.  I carefully took down the crotchet braids and carefully de-tangled my hair before doing a wash day. The "Wash Day" term was literal as it took the better part of a day to get all of it done and I chanced nothing in almost all of the steps.

And now, products used in today's wash:

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