Hair Journey Feature | How she achieved waist length in less than two years.

Every so often I will be delighted by an email from a reader who shares the progress of their journey with me.  Not so long ago, Rachie did just that.  Her email proclaiming the achievement of waist length hair made my freakin' day!  I had no choice to but invite her to come to the stage to share the lessons from her journey with the rest of us.  

Ladies, meet Rachie.

Tell us about your hair (relaxed, texlaxed, natural, hair type)?

Texlaxed 4abc hair :-)

Congrats on reaching waistlength! How does it feel?

Pretty cool actually, I sometimes don't fully believe it because for sooo long I never thought it was actually possible for me :-)

How long have you been on your hair journey? What was your starting length?

I started my hair care research about October 2012, and then after I gathered enough information to make a “Hair-Plan” for myself, I officially started my hair care journey in January 2013.

Early on in her Journey

How do you care for your hair daily?

• I try my best to keep my hands out of my hair as much as possible during the week. Most times of late I've had my hair in braids/plaits on a weekly basis. I redo the braids or plaits once a week.
• I Moisturize and seal my hair daily with mainly Profectiv Mega Growth Daily leave-in Strengthener and a Grapeseed Oil + Castor Oil Mix. Of late, I've been using Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus KIDS Extra-Moisturizing Detangler as a spray-on moisturizer for my braids which is quick and easy to apply in the mornings before work, and I seal with a tiny bit of Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk.
• I do the GHE/Baggying method on alternate nights
• I always tie my hair with a scarf (satin) at nights. I'm looking into getting silk pillow cases so I don't always have to wear a scarf, I'll see.

What is your weekly regimen?

• I wash with shampoo once a month (Design Essentials Moisture Retention Shampoo), and Co wash once-twice weekly with any Moisturizing Conditioner I have in my stash: Mane and Tail Deep Moisturizing Conditioner is what I'm using at the moment (A big bottle was on sale, LOL).
• I wash with my braids in tact to reduce tangling and breakage.
• I air dry my hair with braids intact also. If my hair is loose (ie not in braids – usually the first 3-4weeks post Texlax) I'll air dry using the Scarf-method.
• I Deep Condition once to twice a week depending on how my hair feels, Mainly with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner.
• I tend to Oil Rinse also: When I'm about to rinse out my deep conditioner I'll apply a handful of coconut oil to the length of my hair over the conditioner, then rinse it out with warm water. I found that adding coconut oil prior to the rinse helve A LOT with detangling. It also leave my hair feeling very soft after the rinse out while keeping some of the moisture locked into my strands.
• I do ACV rinses after each wash.
• I use a Denman brush to detangle my hair, finger detangling hasn't worked of late since my hair has gotten Longer.
• Once every week or 2, I'll apply an essential oil + grapeseed oil mix to my scalp, very tingly and smells lovely :-)

How often do you trim?

I trim whenever my hair needs it, I may trim soon actually, but in general I trim once every 6-7months.

Do you do anything to care for your hair from the inside?

I was VERY big on juicing (carrots, beets, bananas, strawberries, aloe vera juice) especially in the beginning. I fell off the bandwagon of late with work being so busy/stressful. But my hair skin and body on a whole loved it! So I'm definitley trying to get back in the juicing game! I try to exercise for an hour every other day at least, I drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day and I take Vitamin Worlds Hair skin and Nails Vitamins daily (again of late I haven't been the most consistent). I also used to take fish oil, horsetail capsules, zinc, vitamin C and cod liver oil tablets. I have not been the most consistent with these of late either. But as I said my hair loves them.

Did you have any setbacks along the way? How did you deal with them?

YESS!!! I did a Cassia treatment in late November/ early December last year which I may have done wrong; It left my hair in LARGE DRY CLUMPS, I cried and cried and cried. Lol. I lost half a dust bin of hair, my fiance' had to help me cut out large clumps of hair. It was devastating. In fact that was when I started to put my hair in plaits/braids to reduce manipulation and keep what hair was left on my head ON MY HEAD, lol.

And that was when I started co-washing very often too, to put moisture back in my hair. It felt dry for months. The braids and co-washing really saved what was left of my hair.

If you had to start your journey all over again, what would you do differently?

Nope! I've made mistakes, I've learned from them and I've enjoyed doing so. It's a journey, it can feel like a race in the beginning but after you start to see your hair health improve and you get confidence in what you are doing, that in itself was a major reward for me.

If you're stuck on desert island and can only bring 3 hair related items or products, what would you take?

Hmmm... tough one. I think I'd take my satin scarf, HEHH Conditioner, and Grapeseed oil. Awww man, can I take my Denman brush and my Profectiv daily strengthener leave-in conditioner too? Pretty pleez? Lol.

You meet a stranger on the street who begs you to share with her the tips & tricks so she can too have waistlength hair, what tips do you share with her?

I'd strongly emphasize BEING VERY GENTLE and Reducing Manipulation as much as possible to avoid breakage; a satin or silk scarf at nights to avoid breakage, and keep the hair well moisturized again to avoid breakage! :-) Length retention is key! Everyone's hair grows, its just to figure out how to keep it on your head. My hair strands being very fine are prone to tangling and breakage, so low manipulation is a must!

Moisturizing and sealing is a must too, to reduce split ends and thus reduce the number of trims that you have to do. :-)

Nadege, thank you soooooooo much for featuring me! You have been such an INSPIRATION! Seriously, your blog helped me immensely, especially in the beginning when I was just starting out and wasn't fully sure what a hair-care regimen was exactly. I feel like I've come full circle, to think I'd be featured on the very same blog that helped to inspire me to start my hair journey in the first place! Thanks so much again,

Xoxo,

Rachie :-)

After studying Rachie's regimen, I was reminded of the power of low manipulation.  I love how she was able to turn a devastating set back into a method that enabled her to achieve her length goals.  I also like her idea of applying coconut oil over conditioned hair for additional deep conditioning benefits.  Will definitely have to try this. 

You want more of Rachie's hair journey and regimen details? Be sure to check out her blog as she makes her way to hip length. 

 www.rachietowaistlength.blogspot.com