2023 - SL/APL Challenge

My color is coming this week some time. I may color my hair and do my final check in the weekend before Xmas. Maybe I will wear my hair straight for Xmas. I need to buy some
Cliffhanger. Need to buy some what lol


As for me, I put my hair in chunky braids with extensions...
I was complaining that they were feeling too tight no matter how loose I made them
-- I think the main reason is that my hair scarf is pulling on the edges. I tied it behind the edge braids

I was complaining that the ends are feeling dry and frizzy as well as sticking out.
-- I'm taking them down to rebraid then with shea butter instead of twist cream. The one I did so far is feeling TONS better.
I do remember this being the trick for kinky twists I had in some years ago. I need to put on oil and shea butter first. I put it on the full length because I don't want tree splits

I have some broken hairs along the parts. I blame not putting on shea butter first. It didn't retain moisture without it. I don't think that they are too tight but I'll try to loosen it a little when I rebraid with the shea butter. I'll try to keep it to what already happened.
 
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Cliffhanger. Need to buy some what lol


As for me, I put my hair in chunky braids with extensions...
I was complaining that they were feeling too tight no matter how loose I made them
-- I think the main reason is that my hair scarf is pulling on the edges. I tied it behind the edge braids

I was complaining that the ends are feeling dry and frizzy as well as sticking out.
-- I'm taking them down to rebraid then with shea butter instead of twist cream. The one I did so far is feeling TONS better.
I do remember this being the trick for kinky twists I had in some years ago. I need to put on oil and shea butter first. I put it on the full length because I don't want tree splits

I have some broken hairs along the parts. I blame not putting on shea butter first. It didn't retain moisture without it. I don't think that they are too tight but I'll try to loosen it a little when I rebraid with the shea butter. I'll try to keep it to what already happened.
I couldn't remember the name of it, so I went to Amazon to see what I had purchased. And it was K-18. And then I went on a tangent. I figured out what it was and then remembered I had an Ulta gift card and went there to find it. They didn't have it and so I started looking for it on sale. And then I got caught up with there being other products. An hour later, I had completely forgot I needed to update the post :lol:
 
I have a plan to do my hair every 4 days but I have yet to get to it every 4 days. I'm going to do something tonight to just get some water on it and then put it back in flat twists. This weekend I will try to pick up the K18 to get my hair ready for color and then straightening at the end of the year.
 
I think after this silk press I want a flat twisted updo.

also I realized that my Qhemet Biologics heavy cream is the only hair moisturizer that gives me moisture for days. Any lightweight hair milk will absorb into my hair but then 30 min later my hair would be dry again so I'd have to keep applying.

I'll be keeping Qhemet in my staple products from now on.
 
I know i've been mia but i've been in braids and per usual i neglected my hair in the braids . This pic will serve as my end of year reveal. I don't know if it's SL really can't tell. If not maybe by March or April.
 
I think after this silk press I want a flat twisted updo.

also I realized that my Qhemet Biologics heavy cream is the only hair moisturizer that gives me moisture for days. Any lightweight hair milk will absorb into my hair but then 30 min later my hair would be dry again so I'd have to keep applying.

I'll be keeping Qhemet in my staple products from now on.
I did like Qhemet when I used them.
 
They recently put a Sephora in the Kohl's near me. I stopped in there yesterday and picked up K18. I like the convenience. I also saw the Olaplex line but didn't know what to pick up. I will pick up something from that line later.

After that I went to TJMaxx and picked up a bottle of conditioner and TGIN leave-in. They always have the best prices.

I plan on starting my hair process today since I'm off. Going to clarify, followed by my moisturizing shampoo. Then I will apply the K18 and let it work its way in. Then I will give it about 30 minutes and deep condition. I may rinse it out tonight or just wait until tomorrow and reset.

I may pick up the Olaplex #3 by next weekend and then use it after I color my hair. This should get my hair ready for color and heat.
 
rescheduled my hair appointment to next week so I'll get it done over xmas break from work.

I have a funeral to go to on Friday so I'm not sure how to style my hair and it's too last minute to find someone to do it
 
You definitely have sections that are SL. By Spring you will be that much closer to APL.

Since in the pic, you haven't stretched your hair in any way, it is much longer than it appears. Congratulations on the progress! It was stretched as much as I was willing to stretch it without heat

You definitely have sections that are SL. By Spring you will be that much closer to APL.

Since in the pic, you haven't stretched your hair in any way, it is much longer than it appears. Congratulations on the progress!
Thank you! Looking at my pic, APL looks like it'll take another year and a half :cry3:Nevertheless, I'm gonna keep on going.
 
They recently put a Sephora in the Kohl's near me. I stopped in there yesterday and picked up K18. I like the convenience. I also saw the Olaplex line but didn't know what to pick up. I will pick up something from that line later.

After that I went to TJMaxx and picked up a bottle of conditioner and TGIN leave-in. They always have the best prices.

I plan on starting my hair process today since I'm off. Going to clarify, followed by my moisturizing shampoo. Then I will apply the K18 and let it work its way in. Then I will give it about 30 minutes and deep condition. I may rinse it out tonight or just wait until tomorrow and reset.

I may pick up the Olaplex #3 by next weekend and then use it after I color my hair. This should get my hair ready for color and heat.
Listen, that store will be the death of me and my budget. Went in there to get a Secret Santa gift and they legit had the entire CurlSmith line on sale in there. I told myself "she's cool and I'm going to get her what she wants but I could use this right now". I had to leave to get the gift from a different store.

Shampooed and DC'd my hair yesterday. Also got some hair color from Sally's since they were having a sale. I'll probably do a clarifying wash on Tuesday or Wednesday and start taking out my mini braids. Color and straighten will be a day later I'm 100% certain I'll have my year end up date on 12/31
 
Listen, that store will be the death of me and my budget. Went in there to get a Secret Santa gift and they legit had the entire CurlSmith line on sale in there. I told myself "she's cool and I'm going to get her what she wants but I could use this right now". I had to leave to get the gift from a different store.

Shampooed and DC'd my hair yesterday. Also got some hair color from Sally's since they were having a sale. I'll probably do a clarifying wash on Tuesday or Wednesday and start taking out my mini braids. Color and straighten will be a day later I'm 100% certain I'll have my year end up date on 12/31
I agree. I saw a lot of stuff I wanted. But I thought about all of the stuff in my cabinet that I'm not using and that brought me back to reality. When I use up what I have or throw it out then I can try new things :yep:

So I walked out with just those 2 things and came home and threw 2 things out.

Looking forward to your update.
 
I was supposed to color today, so I could straighten tomorrow. I just didn't feel like it. Today, I did a protein treatment and am deep conditioning now. I will rinse this in a bit so my hair is dry tomorrow. I will color tomorrow and let it air dry. If probably won't be dry by tomorrow so I will probably straighten on Tuesday.

I'm really dragging this out :lol:
 
My hair is in better condition this year than ever before. Yesterday, I did a bond treatment and deep conditioned. When I rinsed out my conditioner, I just put my hair into 6 bantu knots. When I took my hair down this morning it felt so soft and moisturized and I hadn't added anything to it. My hair has never been in this good a condition.

I finally colored my hair this morning. I have it in about 8 bantu knots now to let it dry a bit. I'm going to randomly blow dry it on cool for a few minutes to hasten it along. I think I will try to straighten today if I can get it dry before dinner.
 
I'm a little slow this year. Anyone interested in continuing this thread for 2024? There aren't many of us. If we can get 5 to start we can at least have some monthly movement.
I’m interested. I’m almost SL, so I would be shooting for APL.
 
We need some pictures of this bouncy hair :yep:
I got you
the pics are from today. I got a silk press and trim from a different salon, one that I've never tried before. She used design essentials products and did the protein treatment with apogee. Clipped my ends and curled them. After she blow dried my whole head, I looked and I did make APL before the trim so I had her cut the bad ends off.
 

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I got you
the pics are from today. I got a silk press and trim from a different salon, one that I've never tried before. She used design essentials products and did the protein treatment with apogee. Clipped my ends and curled them. After she blow dried my whole head, I looked and I did make APL before the trim so I had her cut the bad ends off.
:clap: Not only is it bouncy, it is lush and shiny. Thank you for sharing.
 
Did a clarifying shampoo and DC the other day and applied spray leave-in so I could take the mini braids out. The take down took 6 hours. I will definitely not do them again this small for a while.

Plan to color, trim, and take pictures of my hair first thing Sunday morning.
 
I finally trimmed my hair. I took pictures but decided to just use the one I took when I straightened. From the pic it doesn't look like I gained much length from last year. However, it is my sides that show the progress. In 2022, only a portion of my hair reaches my neck. But in 2023, all of my hair reaches my neck.

This year I had 3 curly cuts with the last one ending with her taking too much off, close to 2". Even with that I made good progress, and my hair is in a healthier state.

For the majority of my hair, I am 2" from my hair touching my shoulders. So if I am able to duplicate this year in 2024 and do my own trims, I see myself grazing SL by the middle of the year and fully into SL by the end of the year.

Dec 2022 Dec 2023
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