From Locs to APL in 12 months!! Bluetopia's 1st Year Progress pics.(pic heavy)

Bluetopia

New Member
This time last year I had dry, brittle dreads that i was growing increasingly sick of. And now here it is the last day of 2009 and I am rocking texturized APL hair. The whole journey has been my most dramatic physical transformation ever. And as I have learned so much from reading other people's testimonials on here - it only seemed right I pay it forward and share mine as well....

For over 5years i had locs and while i loved the low maintenance and convenience of them, by the end of 08 I had outgrown them.

So on Jan 11th, 2009 I cut my locs in half and started the long, tedious process of combing out the newer, softer locked hair at my roots

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5 weeks, and several sleepless nights later i ended up like this with about a 5inch fro of really coily thick hair.

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One day while playing with my hair i stumbled across a little thing called "shrinkage" and was shocked to realize that my 5 inch fro was actually really much longer than that

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so i attempted my first blow dry in over a decade!

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At first it went ok...

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but after 2 or 3 hours i was beat!!!!! and my hair still looked a mess

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so i decided to go to an Aveda Salon to get it blown out professionally. When the stylist saw my hair she exclaimed "OMG They look like a million tiny Slinkies. I've never seen hair like this" - (below is a texture shot from a masquerade party i went to)

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after she called another stylist over to see my "Slinky Hair" she recommended I texturize with this organic product called Phyto

This is my hair on Feb 28th after my first Phyto application and a flat iron.

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It looked great but my hair was thin, dry, felt like hay and wouldn't hold a curl for more then 10 minutes. With time i cam to realize that i was protein sensitive and from reading LHCF came to see that the Phyto, Megatek protein products and coconut oil bandwagons that I had jumped on were making matters worse.

These two pics were taken in late March a week after I ended weeks of "lurking" and officially joined LHCF

March 25, 2009
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it was so disheartening to find bald spots and thinning edges when I've had thick hair my whole life

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buns were my first protective style

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my hair was so dry tho, that i fell in love with baggying and moved on to my first full wig....which lasted all of 3 hrs cause it was synthetic, fake looking and just not me (note the forlorn expression on my face :lachen:)

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tree braids were cute for a while but the hair kept tangling, and i wasn't a fan of the weight of all that hair tugging at my healing strands of hair.

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half wigs turned out to be the answer! they're cute, inexpensive, allow me free access to my scalp, and let me baggy all i want without being concerned with appearance

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after a 6month stretch to grow out my Phyto and switch to the much more moisture friendly Mizani Butter Blends Mild/Fine. I went to my stylist for a touch up.

As she's finishing the application I say "I've heard such good things about Mizani" and to my alarm she replies "Oh is that what you want to use next time?"

I looked at her like "what do you mean next time. I made an appt for Mizani this time. What are you putting in my head?" :blush:

she replied with "Phyto. Cause that's what you always get"

First off - always = 2 times :rolleyes:

and secondly...i was explicit with the receptionist that i wanted to switch to Mizani. My stylist just hadn't bothered to look at the appointment sheet before slapping more protein on my head.

My hair (as expected) felt horrible and clumped into dreadlocks even after a dry remedy steam treatment. She tried to tell me it was cause my hair hadn't been detangled properly by me. But I spent an hour detangling it the night before and know that dry clumps are a classic sign of protein overload :nono:

So now my hair dryness is back at square one. My stylist is super talented but her nonchalance about my hairs hatred of Phyto and insistance that I'm over reacting has left me a bit unpleased.

On the bright side I made my goal and reached APL!! :yay::weird::dance7::band2:

Dec 29th, 2009
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I'm baggying as I type this and a friend has offered to apply Mizani to my hair at the end of March/beginning of April so I can finally move past the thirsty hair chapter.

My goal is to be BSL/MBL by the end of 2010 and ultimately WSL.

Thank you all for a great year of inspiration, laughter and lessons.

I've shared my healthy hair tips with family and close friends. And during Christmas break 3 generations of women in my family sat in my kitchen (from 13 - 63 yrs old) while I taught them how to moisturize and seal their hair.

When my Auntie said "if you can do this maybe I'm not too old to have pretty hair too" i almost burst into tears. :perplexed

This is more than "just hair" ladies....in our own little way everyday we show people that black women are privy to the same heights of beauty as everyone else and that "Impossible" is nothing more than a myth.

Everytime a sistah looks at my hair and I see it "click" that she can grow hers out too it makes me smile on the inside.

Happy Hair Growing in 2010 :grin:



ETA: My next appt 7 weeks later
 
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your pics go really well with your hair story!!!! your hair has made great progress. you go girl.

quick question. does protein + super dry hay feeling hair = protein overload? I used a protein treatment last week for a FEW minutes and my hair feels soooooooooooo dry! I moisturize my hair every day and it still feels like hay :(
 
Great progress

Wooooooo Weeee you got a lot of shrinkage going on there when your unblow dryed freshly washed has is APL when you blow dry it will go down to WL lolol
 
Wow, I usually don't read these threads. I honestly just look at the pictures and thank. BUT WOW!! I loved your hair story (especially the end) and I wish you more hair success!!
 
Gogreous hair, and beautiful face!!!:yep::yep:
Edit:and your story choked me up towards the end.Soooo Sweet!!!
 
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Your hair is beautiful...

Shame on the stylist though... Next time, if there is one, just be like.. "That is Mizani, right?":look:
I always double check the products my stylists uses in my hair! I'm that paranoid... LMAO:grin:
 
your pics go really well with your hair story!!!! your hair has made great progress. you go girl.

quick question. does protein + super dry hay feeling hair = protein overload? I used a protein treatment last week for a FEW minutes and my hair feels soooooooooooo dry! I moisturize my hair every day and it still feels like hay :(

don't want to diagnose anyone but that's how mine first came to my attention. Even if it's not protein "overload" it def sounds like your protein moisture balance is off. I'd recommend beefing up your moisture game for a while and relaxing a bit on the protein till things reach their equilibrium.

DCs, cowashing, baggying, steaming, and moisturizing/sealing your ends nightly are some great techniques for starters. plus this sounds old school but when all else fails...use water!

a spritz bottle of water with some jbco has always helped out in a pinch. water = moisture. all oils do is lock that moisture in. but there has to be some there to begin with :look:

no matter what you do...consistancy is key.
 
woohoo another fellow "loc-taker-downer" lol dont laugh at me but your hair looks great!

omg!!! you too?? when did you take yours down? my hair is so super coily i don't think the 5 weeks it took me was customary. :rolleyes:

what i find hilarious is that a lot of women say they love how fast their hair grows in locs but my hair is actually growing faster without them thanks to my new healthy hair practices. go figure :look:
 
Your hair looks nice despite the Phyto situation hopefully in 2010 you can infuse your hair with moisture while it continues to grow. Congrats on making APL!
 
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