Updates & New Stuff.....

Okay.

I finally did the Caramel Treatment pictorial, and I went back through and updated/recreated the picture posts that got broken and I was dragging my feet on - including the henna how-to from ages ago.
I also finally added the new Hair Science links, and added a whole new section for products. Much to my amusement, I don't have many 'lines' linked - it's 80% suppliers of raw ingredients....

It's almost the weekend, and shockingly enough, it's another hair out weekend - that seems to have come up so fast! My hair isn't shrinking as bad this time - or it's gotten a wee bit longer, and therefore isn't shrinking up as much, or the different style has just made the whole process easier.

I'm doing another Caramel Treatment this weekend, but at the same time I'm debating if I should - I'm actually concerned about my hair being OVER moisturized, for once. Henna is in two weeks, though, so that would totally take care of it, if it DID happen.

I'm also thinking about doing the oil pre-poo that is recommended before the SAF tea. When I did it over the weekend, my hair turned out a little drier than I would have liked - though, as of last night, my hair had returned to it's (new!) usual of a lovely buttery state - so, maybe not. If it aint broke, etc, etc, etc......

I thought I had found a site that sold all of the indian herbs in one place, but a) they were almost twice as expensive as Hesh, and b) they were freaking sold out. I KNOW there are a lot of black women during ayurvedics, but damn, ya'll! *sigh* I might just stalk FNWL until their stuff comes back in stock. Even eBay is letting me down! Maybe I'll corner one of my coworkers next time they go to India, and have them bring me back a pound or two. *pictures them trying to get through customs with a couple of pounds of unidentified green powder* Hrrrrrmmm, maybe not.

I'm actually about 2/3 of the way through the container of Amla Oil - I'm not sure which to start using next - the Vatiki oil or the Brahmi. I think the Brahmi might be best.

And oh! Someone gave me a great idea - to use a mini crockpot to melt butters, and a muslin teabag to put hers in - combine the two, and you have herb infused butters. *faint* My hair is SO going to be in love.

I also broke down and got the Mega-Tek today - there is a challenge being started, and well *sigh* I just couldn't resist. I'm trying to figure out how to smoothly incorporate it into my reggie - I'm thinking I'll use it on the weekends, before I use the Amla, and then again on Wednesdays - since I'm only getting my hair wet two or three times every two week cycle, my twists seem to be staying in well enough that I don't have to worry about taking them out.

Actually, that's not quite true. They aren't getting as FUZZY, no doubt. But, they are definitely coming apart - the starnd A & B, that is. I think that I could rock a SHARP twistout - but, I'm still paranoid. I'm going to wait til my hair is longer.

Hah, I wonder what day this is for the 'hair up for a year' challenge, for me. I think...... HAVE I worn my hair out? I'll have to look back and see - the only time I'm not sure of is DH's birthday, because I can't remember how I wore my hair - I THINK it was up, one way or another, but I'm not sure.... I might have worn a twistout. Considering that was just two weeks ago, that's kinda sad.

My hair is actually 'down' (sorta) now - I've taken the flat twists out, but the two strand twists are just standing up all over my head. I'm giving my head a good massage - not using the Amla this time, as my scalp is a lil itchy - thoooouggghhh, the amla might tamp it down a little, I don't know. And actually, it's not really itchy - it's - tingly. It's - I don't know. It's doing SOMETHING.
I'm very thrilled that as I was taking the flattwists down, I was getting these occasional long strands of hair - all shed! Out of about 10-15 hairs I saw, only 3 or 4 were broken - so that's just FABULOUS.

Oh yes! I'm also taking pictures this weekend - since I'm going to be starting the Mega-Tek challenge, I want an accurate idea of what my 'normal' rate is, and then, what the Mega-Tek rate is. The last set of progress pics I took was on December 20th, so this will be pretty close to two months. The challenge is from March 1 to June 1st - would it be insane to expect to get at LEAST 4 months worth of growth?
I don't think so, considering a) it's about to get warmer, and my hair always grows faster then and b) I'm gonna be using a danggone growth enhancer! It better grow faster!

So - from Dec 20th to Mar 1 will be compared to March 1 to June 7th, or so (it's the closest 'out' weekend to the 1st, as challenge or no, my hair will NOT be coming out early), and I expect my hair to have gained TWICE as much length. :nod: We shall see.

Okay, I'm distracted & sleepy now, so I'm done.