Cultured in Media

Back to the original content of this blog, HAIR TALK. Lately I have been so chill with my hair that it actually just look like a pile of strands sitting on my head. I really haven't done anything to my hair in about a week other than wash it a few times. So today, I decided to give it a treatment and a proper trim. I had a hard time deciding on which treatment I wanted to give this mane. Tonight, I decided to give my my hair back its shine and the look of fullness so I went with the classic old oil rinse. Prior to the oil rinse, my hair looked a hot mess. So dry that it could break off easily. I mean it also could have been because I have been so tired of doing my hair lately that I honestly have been neglecting it, which is never a good thing. Before: So what I did was mix a tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and Safflower Oil. I then separated my hair into four sections and then applied the oil through the scalp to the ends as if I was shingling my hair. I then pu...

You know the reason I big chopped back in September was due to years of neglect and abuse with the flat iron, well this time around, I am not going to flat iron weekly but probably every three months for length checks. C'mon, I have to have some fun with my hair right? Well today, I flat ironed and the results were absolutely dramatic, well at least for me it was. My hair has grown so much from barely nothing to actually being able to put it into a ponytail with some hang-time in the back... Let me tell you, I was all up in the mirror afterwards. So here is my official hair length check for the New Year. I promise not to straighten until after I meet my weight loss goal, which is a 15 lb loss of weight. Hehe Watch me step out like... Now for the grand reveal: My hair Jan 1, 2016 Length Check

I know you remember Family Matters also know as the Urkel show that was big in the 90s. That show brings back so many memories from my middle school days. I remember we used I used to try to rock Kelly's hairstyles or slay my wraps like Maxine's almost every week. Of course I mother opted for the pigtails of Judy but hey, it was what it was back then.  Now, if you remember this show, you must remember Cherie Johnson who played Maxine. Maxine was Laura's best friend and later the girlfriend of Waldo. Even back then Cherie slayed the hair game with her hair always being laid to perfection. I mean those wraps had so much body that I got sick just watching. Look at these throwback pics All of that hair, Gosh. Well I went looking for stars from the 90s as I often do. I wasn't surprised to see that she is on Instagram. So I as browsed her pictures, there was one that stuck out to me...one of her hair length.  OMG! Do you see that len...

Well, in all, it was a pretty good month. March madness for me was not that bad. I found all kind of styles to do to my thick mane. I loved almost every moment of it. Would I do it again? I think I may. This time I will go for 60 days and see how far my hair comes. As you recall, the last time I straightened my hair was Feb 23, 2014. I finally straightened my hair on 03-30-14. ( See this post for length check from the start of this challenge .) Feb 23, 2014 March 30, 2014 I don't know about  YOU, but I see a difference in thickness and a little in length. I also felt it. So overall this challenge did nothing but great things for the health of my hair, which is why I'm going to try for 60 days this time. Wish me luck! 

If you check the previous post on March 6th , you noticed that I did chop from below BSL to now full APL again. I just thought I would give a good length check picture to measure my growth for the month of March.

To start off fresh for the new year, I shampooed and conditioned my hair. Nothing more. I'm going to keep it super simple and stress free this year with my hair. Not going to continuously do length checks, not going to straighten every single second I get board, just simple things. Like for example, I didn't put any product in my hair just yet. I'm letting it air so that I can have big puffy hair for tomorrow. I want to throw it back into a thick ponytail. Before I do that, after it dries, I will apply profectiv lotion, and a small amount of coconut oil. Good luck for the new year with your hair care, and stay tuned to my journey.

It's that time again, and since I flat ironed my hair this last week of December, I decided to post my "End of the Year Length Check." ( Here is last year's length check ) This year I have had a lot of growth, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of damage due to not using heat protectant. I ended up trimming four times this year due to breakage from the heat, and from constantly wearing a styles with bobby pins that I would keep in the same position. Towards the end, I started back my old routine - oil rinsing and deep conditioning weekly. So far it seems to be going great. I can not wait to see what 2014 holds for my hair. Maybe finally I will be able to reach Waist Length. Ciao I will not post until the New Year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!! If you are with me for the No heat challenge like last year, please update me on how you are making out as well. I tried to link the past mini "no heat challenge for 90 days results" but I coul...

Was back in May. I also trimmed in June do to too many splits from much manipulation. I am so excited to see how much healthier and growth maintained since this no heat/protective style summer challenge started. Next length check will be at the end of this month after I take the box braids down and before the weave install. This is after a trim. May 03, 2013

I DECIDED TO FLAT IRON MY HAIR DURING THIS "90 DAYS OF NO HEAT CHALLENGE." ONLY BECAUSE I HAD OBLIGATIONS TO ATTEND TO. THIS WILL BE THE ONLY PASS THAT I USE. ESPECIALLY SINCE I ONLY HAVE ONE MORE MONTH TO GO. THIS IS THE LONGEST I HAD BEEN W/OUT HEAT. IF YOU PAID ATTENTION TO MY LAST LENGTH CHECK BEFORE THE CHALLENGE AND TAKE A LOOK AT MY CURRENT LENGTH CHECK, YOU WILL SEE THE HEALTH AND GROWTH THAT I HAVE KEPT DURING THE TWO MONTHS WITHOUT HEAT. I HOPE YOU ALL JOIN ME FOR THE NEXT MINI "NO HEAT" CHALLENGE.

Okay still on a no heat regi, I wet wrapped my hair and combed it down. It has a bunch of waves in it but came out straight enough to wear down. Waist length seems as if it may happen this year. Yaaay me

I pretty much documented my ups and downs this year. Overall I am extremely happy with my growth.  Reflecting back through this year, I had a few set-backs that I am still working on. If you remember, there was a section in the middle that I had to constantly trim because it was thin, short, and easily to break. I figured out that it was the way I was flat ironing. So to fix this, I trimmed off those broken ends to start with. I added a protein treatment into my regimen, and lastly, I flat ironed a different way.  Another set-back was recently. which is also a result of flat ironing too much. My hair started shedding like crazy. I mean I could not even lay down without hair falling everywhere. If I ran my hands or anything brushed against my hair, almost a ball sized amount would fall out.     So to fix the above, I stopped flat ironing every week again. Seems to be getting under control now. I hope  you all had as much growth or health to your hair as I...

I can finally say this is the longest my hair has been in my adult life. Any length is obtainable with good practices.

Photo courtesy of thehairfiles.com, click photo to enlarge image Length checking is a way to measure the length of your hair. Length checking is a way to track your hair journey, your progress in other words. The average hair growth is about six inches per year, some achieve more, some achieve slightly less than the average, but the way to track that is by length checking. Keep in mind that length checking is just checking the growth that you have RETAINED, not the actual GROWTH accumulated between progress checks.  Click to enlarge hair chart Before I tell you how to do a proper length check, let's look at how each length looks at the levels of growth. I'm not for sure what this length would be called but I'm going to just call it above ear length (AEL): EAR LENGTH (EL): Hair touches the ear in this stage. NECK LENGTH (NL): Hair is now past the EL stage and is touching the base of the neck. NL varies due to body composition. Some peo...