Monthly Review #60 - 5 years!

Five whole years! I measured the longest strands at 29" - so definitely losing length to mechanical damage since it used to grow about 7 inches a year and between year 3 and year 5 has only been 8 inches total. I didn't write it down in 2018 when I measured but I could have sworn it was 26, closing in on 27 - which would mean 5 inches in year 4 and 3 inches in year 5. ooph. I may need a haircut soon. The bottom reaches beyond my hip bones when pulled straight. And when in the shower the bottom sits on the top of my butt. 

Sleeping: crunchie put on tighter definitely works better for pineapple and daily life and somehow leaves the hair better curly, not creased or broken/flyaway. I tried a satin bonnet but it was hot and ruined my volume.

I went to deva and they advised against b'leave in - makes hair drier - weird for a leave in conditioner.  So now I have heaven in hair as a conditioner (that was some up charging - beware they don't have prices out so when they suggest you go from a $18/ 12oz conditioner to a $44/16oz conditioner you won't know until you get the charge.) and original no-poo as my cleanser - they were ot of the low-poo delight and the low-poo original has lanolin in it (not vegan). Plus I got the ultra defining gel to use with my existing supercream. of course that night the supercream ran out. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT'S RUNNING LOW?

I keep looking at LUS - it's one product and done and a lot of their founder/models look to have similar hair to me. But then there was a curly on the forum who had terrible build up from LUS and it looked terrible.

found out all of curly world is vegan so that's good. but spiral (x,y,z) - the salon in tribeca- is not really open? You have to email for an appt, no hours to walk in and buy stuff. So I've inquired after an appointment....maybe even to have it cut.

These pictures are taken the morning after a shower - on June 15th and then after it had fluffed out by end of day and the following morning even though that technically counts as the next month even though technically when I shaved it myself (6/15) I went into the salon the next day (6/16) to have it evened out...so maybe these months should have been bisected on the 16th. I took the photo mode off wide-angle selfie at the end to make it comparable to previous years since wide angle selfie looks farther away and thus like the hair is shorter.

Definitely thinking that next year I'll need to shear it off again.

Happy five years!

Monthly Review #47

In a month it will have been four whole years. I rewatched the video of the shave recently and I can't tell if I want that again or not. My hair is big and beautiful and I love it. But also it's a lot of work and the ends feel awful and it's so much work to detangle.

And having sex (in a position where your hair is splayed on a cloth surface) ruins curly hair. The curls become tangles that do not look pretty; the ends become brittle; the top becomes gross. It's not good. I did some googling and decided to buy satin pillow cases (no silk - veganism) an they seem to help with like 80% of the knotting and 30% of the dried ends. I'm on the lookout now for a solid detangle spray - then I'll try spraying it in after (can it detangle?) and before (can it stop it from tangling?). We'll find out. I also may do a complete deep condition soon.

But on the regular I love having long hair. It feels like me. I'm comfortable in my own hair.

But also I want to see just how long I can get it if I last another year.

I decided not to go to devachon because I thought they'd nag me to get it cut - but now I'm thinking maybe I need new styling products? I'm not sure.

Monthly Review #39

This month I sucked with the pictures. ooof!

I also realized I abandoned my hard water treatment story without telling you the ending! Well the first wash with the anti-hard water stuff was great - but then they started to not be as encouraging. My hair found its way back to pre-treatment state even right after treatment. It was disheartening. I may start using apple cider vinegar 'conditioner' to strip out the effects of hard water....we'll see if I ever remember to do so.

But! I have figured out that whipping my hair around is doing wonders for the volume. 6-8 head swings in the morning not only loosens up my back but makes my hair big and curly all day! It's a simple, effective, free technique I am quite enjoying. You can see before and after in the grey and orange top below.

Also my hair is well past my waist if I pull it straight - it hits my hip bones. Maybe I should straighten it one day soon to show off the length.