Feature: The Simple Regimen that created Hip Length Relaxed Hair

I heard it said many times that in order to get where we want to be, we should learn from those who have gotten there.  Well today, I'm really excited to share with you someone who has taken her hair journey beyond brastrap, mid-back and now is making her way to hip length.  Miss "HairRoots" has been so gracious in sharing her regimen, her successes and what she learned along the way with us.  Let's pay close attention so we can gather up the glimpses of wisdom that contributed to her beautiful head of hair.

Tell us a little about your hair? 
My hair tyepe is 3C (from what I'm told), I'm not really sure.  I am relaxed and I recently started stretching between my relaxers because my ends were getting very thin.  My last stretch was from March 10, 2012 to August 26, 2012 (24 weeks). I did this to regain the thickness I lost from relaxing too often (every 8 weeks). I still have a long way to go, my hair is not as thick as I want it to be, especially my ends. So I started a new stretch this time my goal is 28 weeks.  Another thing I started doing is texlaxing by adding oils.  Both of these techniques have helped improve the health of my hair.

What is your current length?  How long did it take to get there?
I am currently hip length. I can't exactly pinpoint how long it took me to get here because I have been growing it out for what seems like forever and I didn't know it was considered a journey.  Thinking back to bra strap length, I would say it was about 10 years ago and that includes a lot of trims along the way.

How often do you touch up, which relaxer do you use?
I use design essentials (time release). I have been using this relaxer for over 20 years. I love it because the time release allows me to apply the product into my hair longer without the worry of over processing. I recently started adding oil to my perm in order to texlax my hair. I'm doing this to promote length and thickness.

(26 weeks post ready for her touch-up)

Share a little of your daily and nightly regimen.
I start off my regimen at night, planning for the upcoming day.  
Night Regimen: I moisturize and seal my hair. I part my hair into 4 sections and apply my moisture cream and sealing oil.  Then I braid each section and cover with a satin scarf and bonnet.  
Morning Regimen: I take off my scarf and put a small amount of oil on my fingertips while I unbraid to prevent frizz as I finger comb my braid out.
Weekly Regimen: Deep condition/co-wash once a week with a steamer or heating cap. I use a clarifying shampoo at the beginning of each month to get rid of any build-up.  I keep it as simple as possible.

(sectioned into 4 parts similar to her nightly routine before moisturizing, sealing and braiding)

Tell us more about your weekly wash day routine?
Weekly, I wash my hair with a moisturizing conditioner. Next I use ORS replenishing, Giovanni deep moisture, or Macadamia natural oil masque as a deep conditioner and I sit under either a hooded drier or steamer for an hour.  Once a month I clarify and follow with a deep conditioning treatment.

How often do you wear your hair out versus protective styling?
I wear a braidout 100% of the time until I reach 18 weeks post and the remaining 6 weeks I wear protective styles. Mainly buns.

Do you use heat? If so, how often?
I never use heat. The only source of heat I use is a steamer or hooded drier. The last time I used heat was about 10 years ago, I have not used a blow drier or flat iron since.

What is your secret to retention, How do you maintain moisture and manage breakage?
I noticed that since I stopped using heat, there was much less breakage, it seemed [that heat usage] put an extra strain on my hair. I also keep my hairstyling to a bare minimum (low manipulation) and I only detangle my hair 1-2 times a week. As far as moisture, I moisturize, seal and wrap my hair (with scarf) every night no matter how tired I may be.

Do you do anything internally to promote healthy hair?
I take vitamins daily, these include "hair, skin and nails" vitamins and garlic supplements to reduce shedding.


Have you experienced setbacks along the way?
Before the birth of my second child I had issues with flimsy ends and constant breakage because I was relaxing and applying dyes and excess amounts of heat.  With my second pregnancy, I did a year long stretch continuously braiding my hair hair into 2 french braids. After getting a relaxer, I began monitoring my growth and doing braidouts with a leave in conditioner and olive oil, my regimen was much simpler, however I began relaxing again every 8-10 weeks.  As my hair began to grow longer, I wanted to focus on the thickness. Now I stretch no less than 24 weeks and this process has shown major improvement to my thickness.

A wealthy stranger offers you $1 million dollars to help her create healthy hair like yours, how do you do it?
Most importantly, I would need to eliminate all flat irons, curlers, and blow dryers.  Health is also very important, they would need to instill daily vitamins and water.  Protective styles would be ideal to minimize breakage, so don't try to be extra cute during the retention of length phase.  I would also need to make sure they deep condition weekly, moisturize and seal daily. Not to mention trimming dead ends after relaxing.

You're stranded on a desert island and can only have 3 hair related items with you, what do you choose and why? 
My three staples that I could not go without are clean water, argan moisturizing conditioner and Jamaican castor oil all to combine for daily/nightly moisturizing concontion. I also use these for co-washing and sealing my hair.

 Looking at your entire regimen, your products, ect, what do you think are the most powerful contributors to your results and why?
No one product has been a sole contributor to my growth because I am somewhat of a product junkie.  Plus I believe the most important factor was the reduction of heat.  However I do have to give a major props to my relaxer Design Essentials.  I must say as well that I use and do not abuse my relaxer.  I have learned how to take advantage of it's function.  I think the major issue I had was my abuse of the product. I now give my hair breaks between relaxers so it can breathe.

What advice do you have for women on their journey who what to create results like you?
Be patient, set your goals and stick to them. Don't give up.

**Nadege's notes:**

Relaxer Stretching
I'm so freaking excited to have a nearly hip length relaxed head on the blog.  I've taken some notes on her reggie that I'd like to share with you all.  First off, did you notice how long she stretches?  Right now I go about 4 months and I know that if I were able to get to six months, my thickness and length retention would be on a whole 'notha level!  I've gotta try to see if I can extend my stretch to five months at least.  Maybe one day, I can enter the big leagues and successfully stretch for six months at a time.

Low Manipulation
Do you remember my post on hair lessons we can learn from naturals?  One practice that I think is super beneficial is the daily twistout.  HairRoots' daily braidouts are very similar to the twistout.  It's very low manipulation and low maintenance.  No combs are involved when we braid(twist) out.  We pretty much leave our hair alone.  Low manipulation is a critical component of retention and HairRoots knows this.

 Nutrition
In my last post on daily habits that promote healthy hair, I mentioned taking vitamins as one of the actions.   "Why would someone with nearly hip length hair need to take a hair, skin and nails supplement?"  The better question to ask is "if a woman with hip length hair thinks it's important to supplement her diet, why don't I?"

Deep Conditioning
One thing that captured me was how long HairRoots sat under the dryer to deep condition.  I thought to myself, "I sit under the dryer for at least an hour when I rollerset, why would I invest at least the same amount of time under the dryer when I deep condition?" So I'm making the commitment to allow for more deep conditioning time whenever I use heat.