It's all fun and games until someone lets their hair down

So I spent Saturday evening at a friend's house re-enacting both fun and challenging games from the popular TV game show "Minute to Win It." Overall, game night was entertaining to say the least. The night, however, took a turn for the better when, midway through the evening, one of the party-goers removed her hair claw clip to reveal this....

From that moment on, I thought quietly to myself on how I would strike up a conversation with her to discuss the particulars of her absolutely fabulous head of hair. So I waited patiently as attendees failed and succeeded at various physical and mental challenges using only common household items. Finally the moment came when people, tired from the nights events, started to depart for home. At this point, I still hadn't figured out a smooth transition from natural conversation to the topic of hair. So I did what I thought made sense.............

We're both beginning to pick up toilet paper pieces, ping pong balls, and other randomness off the hard wood floor when out of nowhere I ask "is your hair natural or relaxed?"
She responds that she relaxes her hair and has done so for years. Next, I dropped the awkward question. "Can I take a picture of it?"

Without even giving it much thought, this person who I literally just met granted me this unusual request of having the back of her head photographed. I'm sure she probably thought the few pictures I took of her would satisfy my curiosity. She had no idea that phase two of my plan would consist of an impromptu interview detailing the steps she takes to care for her lovely tresses.

It turns out her regimen is pretty simple. She just does what works for her hair and it's rewarded her with the wonderful gift of luscious lengths. I wasn't forward enough to ask her to stretch her curls out but I wouldn't be surprised (judging from the pic above) if her hair reached waist length.

So here's the scoop:

• She visits the salon every 3 months or so to receive touchups using a mild relaxer from her stylist. Right now she's in a super long 6 month stretch. This isn't the norm for her. In fact, she states that her stylist will probably not be pleased when he finds out how long she's going without a touch up.
• Between salon visits, she washes weekly and deep conditions with Proclaim or Redken products.
• After washing she allows most of the hair to air dry. She then follows up with a blow dry to remove any remaining moisture, and proceeds to flat iron.
• She applies a Redken Smoothdown serum whenever she uses her iron. Once she's done, she puts the iron away until the following wash. I checked out this product's review on Folica. It looks to be pretty effective. I'm making a mental note to check this product out next time I'm strolling down the aisles of my local Ulta store.
• She helps seal in moisture throughout the week with an oil product from Kera Care.
• I asked if she had ever suffered any set-backs. Surprisingly enough, she said that her set backs came when she wore ponytails on a daily basis. The stress from the additional tension caused extreme breakage at the nape. She lifted the hair do demonstrate and I could see the difference in length between her longest layers and the hair at the nape.
• Her method of making a triumphant comeback from her setback is to wear the hair down or use hair claws in lieu of tight ponytails.
• She also admitted that her current regimen does not cause or contribute to excessive breakage. This means she can continue doing what she's doing knowing that she can easily continue to retain length.
• Finally, she stated that though she has allowed 6 months to pass without a touch up, she plans to continue relaxing for now.

So that's pretty much it. I just wanted to share with you my experience with a real life hair inspiration. I didn't go any deeper into the questioning (although I easily could have) for fear of seeming like a deranged hair lush but I'm glad I at least mustered up the nerve to get the pics.

'till next time.