sheba1
New Member
At least for me, it's not. I dunno if you remember but when I first did my BKT I hadn't straightened in many moons and found that I had single strand knots all throughout the ends of my hair. It was my first set back and this was the pic before I cut nearly 2 inches off each layer.
After BKT, however, I could handle my hair in a curly state without any fear of knots. This lead to frequent cowashing, wet bunning and wash-n-gos. My hair regained the length is lost and then some in three months:
At this time I decided to do a personal HYH until March. And since I wasn't going to be straightening my hair (except for my mid point check in) decided not to BKT until then, march 2010. This turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. As I didn't find out until now (end of December) for my end of the year straightening.
Yesterday I deep conditioned my hair in preparation for my straightening. I even logged on to make a little funny about how my hair required special attention now that my BKT has worn off. Well, mostly, because I BKT'd a patch of my leave out hair at the top just about a month ago. But other than that, all my hair is back to being it's fluffy cottony self, which means longer detangling time, special care, etc. Except for having to take a little extra time, though, I didn't see any true cause for alarm... until later
After rinsing my DC and towel drying I took a pic.
As you can see, shinkage back in full effect, except for the hair on top that was recently BKT'd.
The next pic is of me combing the smoothing balm I use before blow out. I was starting to get concerned, because I noticed I had more trouble distributing the product evenly with my Denman. I kept running into snags at the end of my hair. Still, I thought that once I detangled and distributed product I'd be good to go.
But I lost a lot of hair during blow dry with Denman. Still running into snags. My hair after blow out:
As I straightened I could see just how bad it was. My ends were knotted again, everywhere except where I BKT'd a month ago. The end result looked more like the first picture than the second. I can't get a better picture of it as my picture taker and I broke up, but trust me, it's bad.
Last night I was so dissappointed I just went to sleep after this pic. The length of my hair is full and healthy but the single strand knots at the ends prevented me from getting the ends straight.
This morning I woke up and did an aggressive search and destroy of all knots. I also did a dusting of 1/4 to 1/2 inch off each section to get any hairs that had gotten tangled into the knots and broken off during manipulation.
I'm soooooo sad. I don't know why I didn't just keep up with the BKT at least every 3 months, to keep the knots at bay? I dunno... I guess I thought since I hadn't seen one in so long that I'd be ok til March.
I'm seriously considering doing a BKT right this instant; since all knots are now gone from my aggressive search and destroy.
But I'm worried that with the straightening and manipulation from flat ironing just yesterday that it will be too much for my hair. I dunno... I'm sad.
On a brighter note, I've never had a pony this full or long.
After BKT, however, I could handle my hair in a curly state without any fear of knots. This lead to frequent cowashing, wet bunning and wash-n-gos. My hair regained the length is lost and then some in three months:
At this time I decided to do a personal HYH until March. And since I wasn't going to be straightening my hair (except for my mid point check in) decided not to BKT until then, march 2010. This turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. As I didn't find out until now (end of December) for my end of the year straightening.
Yesterday I deep conditioned my hair in preparation for my straightening. I even logged on to make a little funny about how my hair required special attention now that my BKT has worn off. Well, mostly, because I BKT'd a patch of my leave out hair at the top just about a month ago. But other than that, all my hair is back to being it's fluffy cottony self, which means longer detangling time, special care, etc. Except for having to take a little extra time, though, I didn't see any true cause for alarm... until later
After rinsing my DC and towel drying I took a pic.
As you can see, shinkage back in full effect, except for the hair on top that was recently BKT'd.
The next pic is of me combing the smoothing balm I use before blow out. I was starting to get concerned, because I noticed I had more trouble distributing the product evenly with my Denman. I kept running into snags at the end of my hair. Still, I thought that once I detangled and distributed product I'd be good to go.
But I lost a lot of hair during blow dry with Denman. Still running into snags. My hair after blow out:
As I straightened I could see just how bad it was. My ends were knotted again, everywhere except where I BKT'd a month ago. The end result looked more like the first picture than the second. I can't get a better picture of it as my picture taker and I broke up, but trust me, it's bad.
Last night I was so dissappointed I just went to sleep after this pic. The length of my hair is full and healthy but the single strand knots at the ends prevented me from getting the ends straight.
This morning I woke up and did an aggressive search and destroy of all knots. I also did a dusting of 1/4 to 1/2 inch off each section to get any hairs that had gotten tangled into the knots and broken off during manipulation.
I'm soooooo sad. I don't know why I didn't just keep up with the BKT at least every 3 months, to keep the knots at bay? I dunno... I guess I thought since I hadn't seen one in so long that I'd be ok til March.
I'm seriously considering doing a BKT right this instant; since all knots are now gone from my aggressive search and destroy.
But I'm worried that with the straightening and manipulation from flat ironing just yesterday that it will be too much for my hair. I dunno... I'm sad.On a brighter note, I've never had a pony this full or long.
I sorry that you didn't make the goal that you set for yourself. But I think that you hair is still fabulous, thick and lush. BKT is (y)our friend, utilize it to the fullest. And before you know it, this setback will soon be a blip on the radar. I noticed the you are in the MBL 2010 challenge. So am I. We will be an encouragement to each other, in order to get to our goals. 
, Sheba, but you have had a lot of growth, and you know what to do to retain it. Just a bump in the road, that's all. Which BKT will you be using today?
keep it up, you have folks watching you and cheering you on! be encouraged! 
I do, indeed, feel like I've learned my lesson. All I needed was a good 
Girl it's early, I didn't even notice the date on the OP!
