2017 Shoulder Length Challenge

I made myself henna tonight because my edges were graying. Fortunately, I had enough henna in the freezer to do my entire head. I may decide to almost make a batch for 3 months and just take it out when I need it. I have the indigo in now and will rinse it out around 11. I wanted to be finished by 10:30 but I guess midnight is the best I can do.

At least I found out I only need to henna for 1.5 hours. But with the shampooing, multi-rinses and styling it will take me 5 hours from start to finish.
 
I've settled on some wigs finally. I've narrowed it down to 3 and I feel like I need them all. But lace wigs aren't cheap man! I want a body wave, a bob and a curly one.

edit - I came back to add that tomorrow is my hair day so I'm going to pull out the stand up dryer after so many months and do a rollerset.
 
Last edited:
I twisted my hair Monday night but I'm already tired of this style LOL. I was gonna braid it but it was late and would have taken too long. I experimented with cornrows about two weeks ago and kind of got the hang of it, so I might try again the next time I wash.
 
I just did twist towards the crown. Not sure I'm going to stick with this style. I need to find a style and stick with it at least through October. I will make up my mind this weekend.
 
I just blow dried my hair and did a mini trim. I have to be more gentle with my hair when it comes to detangling because I lost a lot of hair today. I'm putting in 2 braids and calling it a night. I can't wait until my wig comes.
 
I wanted to wash tonight but there wasn't enough time. So I spritzed my hair and retwisted with My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Creme. The wash will have to wait until the weekend.

One day when my hair gets long enough to do an updo with 8 twist, I will switch to moisturizing every 2 to 3 days. Right now it's just way too much work to take my hair down, moisturize it and put it back up.
 
I wanted to wash tonight but there wasn't enough time. So I spritzed my hair and retwisted with My Honey Child Type 4 Hair Creme. The wash will have to wait until the weekend.

One day when my hair gets long enough to do an updo with 8 twist, I will switch to moisturizing every 2 to 3 days. Right now it's just way too much work to take my hair down, moisturize it and put it back up.
Can you spray them with a moisturizer, and spray them with oil?
 
I have the Mane Choice products but I rarely use them together or use them consistently. Tonight used the shampoo, conditioner and leave-in before my rollerset. My hair was nice and soft. My rollerset came out OK but my ends are still a little frazzled. I bought the Mane Choice shears. Hopefully between better shears, the split end serum and switching from color to henna, I can finally get over the hump with my ends. They are much better than last year though so I'm making some progress.

Anyhoo, I'm trying a flat twist out. I used the Alikay Naturals Creme Brulee which usually gives me smoothness and shine. I layered that with TGIN gel. I'm hoping that gives it some hold. If it doesn't I'm not sure I have any use for the TGIN gel. I guess I will have to be heavy handed with it when I do my usual flat twist.

Will wear my flat twist out around town tomorrow to see if it holds. But I will be taking a banana clip and some bobby pins with me in case it doesn't.
 
I successfully cornrowed my hair for the first time EVAH yesterday (OK, that's not completely accurate, did two cornrows a couple of times the last couple of weeks), but my pomade disappeared and they are fuzzy. AH. I had air dried in twists and used castor oil to try to smooth them down, but alas... it did not quite work. I didn't want to blow dry because I've already used heat way more in the last two months or so than I have in like a year.
 
I successfully cornrowed my hair for the first time EVAH yesterday (OK, that's not completely accurate, did two cornrows a couple of times the last couple of weeks), but my pomade disappeared and they are fuzzy. AH. I had air dried in twists and used castor oil to try to smooth them down, but alas... it did not quite work. I didn't want to blow dry because I've already used heat way more in the last two months or so than I have in like a year.
Yay, that's a good accomplishment. You will get better and better each time you do it.
 
I just watched another straightening video and not I got straightening fever all over again. I've been doing so well. My last flat iron was 3 months ago. 3 months and 3 days ago. I did a mini trim about 2 weeks ago on blow dried hair and I felt like that was good enough but my ends are tangling and I'm wondering if I should straighten to get in there good. Or maybe I'm just making excuses because I really want to straighten. :laugh:
 
So I blow dried my hair on Monday and wore 2 braids for the whole week and then came home tonight and straightened. I realized that needing a trim wasn't just an excuse. My mini trim didn't really do much. I could see how fuzzy some of my ends were. I ended up taking off about another inch because once I went through and trimmed I decided I wanted a blunt cut. And since the tail is long enough to cut back without losing too much length I just went ahead and did it. I like it and it looks thicker. The thing is my nape needs to work with me because now that my hair is a little longer the space back there is more noticeable.
 
I straightened on Friday to try out my new ION Straightening Brush and to do a search and destroy. This morning I used Argan Oil One & Only on my ends. I moisturized with TGIN Daily Moisturizer and then pulled it back in a banana clip bun. It is totally frizzy now but I'm not going anywhere. Tonight I will twist it up with TGIN twist cream and leave it alone until the weekend. Will probably oil my scalp as well.

As long as I don't have any setting backs I will definitely claim SL in December. I think all my back layers will be at some version of SL. I don't think my upper back will be full SL by then though. It's making nice progress though.
 
Whatever, I'm calling it shoulder despite choppy layers....


Next goal: collar bone length lol

I've started taking a multi by Olly in addition to hair vitamins by hairfluence because I am hoping that the easy breakage I get is due to nutritional deficiencies. My nails are naturally very weak too. Faster growth would be nice but I am mostly interested in higher quality hair.
 

Attachments

  • Snapchat-1741930773.jpg
    Snapchat-1741930773.jpg
    397.6 KB · Views: 38
Today is the first day I'm washing my hair since I straightened last Friday. I shampooed twice, then used Joico's Revitaluxe for a bit of protein. Rinsed that out then towel dried a little before adding Joico MR balm. That cut did wonders for my hair because my hair curled up all over in very neat uniformed curls. It hasn't done that in ages.

My hair was blunt cut straight across when straight but the tail is still present when curly. That extra fine hair back there is killing me man but I'm dealing.

After the cut my hair is reaching a little past neck length. Its inching along but I don't want to claim SL until it's right there on my shoulder or a little past so I'm sure. Oh and I still think my bangs are on target for chin length by December.
 
So after a couple of hours I rinsed the Joico MR balm. I towel dried again and oiled my scalp with an old mix I had. I couldn't even remember what type of oils was in there but it didn't smell bad so I went ahead and used it. I wanted to see what my hair would feel like without adding anything else to it or using any product when styling. So after oiling my scalp on damp hair I did my bantu knots. I did medium sized ones that I usually wear on a weekend when I want my fro to look puffier and fuller. I just took them down and my hair is so soft. I'm sure that has a lot to do with me deep conditioning today but I am pleasantly surprised since I didn't use a leave in or any stylers. I'm going to try this again next weekend but this time only rinsing with water.
 
So because I don't have product in my hair the fluffy fro turned into a full on frizzy fro. So I spritzed with water the next day (Sunday) and did bantu knots again. Smaller this time. I took them down yesterday morning and they looked exactly the same as when I use product. It lasted until the end of the day yesterday and I could see some parts starting to frizz so I figured this was it. I wouldn't be able to get 2nd day hair (forget about a week!) without product. I went home and was untangling the curls while watching television and when I went to the mirror the curls looked better pulled out. I didn't put anything on my head just slept on a satin pillowcase and this morning I put some oil on my hands and ran them through my hair. It looks cute. This has lasted all day today and no more frizz. So I guess day 1 tight curls, day 2 looser, fluffier curls no more frizz. Let's see how day 3 goes.
 
I hennaed my hair tonight. The henna is working out much better for me than the semi-permanent color :yep:. After rinsing out the henna, I sprayed my hair with diluted leave-in. I'm always starting my hair too late and then rushing to twist it up :ohwell: I used the TGIN twist cream and twisted toward my crown. It should be dry by the morning.

My hair is doing so much better in holding moisture compared to last year. It needs a rinsing every 3 or 4 days but I will hold off on that until the spring. And I can tell already my ends will need a trim by December :sad: I don't know if it is the henna or something else.

Time is flying. We only have 10 weeks left until the end of the year and the end of this challenge. I hope I can get another good 1 to 1.5 inches in.
 
Back
Top