My journey to natural hair

October 12, 2015

Hello, hello, hello!

So when someone decides to go natural do you wonder, why did they do that? How did they do? Will they be able to keep it up? 

If you had asked me when I started my hair journey if I would ever go natural the answer would be a resounding NO! Maybe even more emphatically a Hell No! Maybe I was prejudice against what it meant to be natural and what I perceived as unkempt and unattractive. Or it was simply because I liked straight hair. I am not sure but it did take me quite a while to even entertain the possibility of getting off the creamy crack and while my initial reluctance is a faded memory, the reason I decided to relax is crystal clear and really quite simple.

Why did I decide to go natural? Relaxing was an unnecessary step in the process of getting my desired end result. Wow, it's so unimaginative right? I didn't have a stroke of self enlightenment or anything so grand. I am practical at heart, and one day I was thinking about all the steps I did when I wanted straight hair and I thought to myself, "Self, do you really need this step?" That step being relaxing my hair, and my self said "No. You really could skip it and save time, energy, money and an unnecessary chemical process."  Dang, those sound like good reason to give it up! 

But wait, wouldn't it be hard? I mean 25 years of history, me and the creamy crack have a history! We have had a long relationship! And unlike so many others I didn't really suffer from the burning scalp and sores that lead some many before me to breaking up with Creamy crack. I wondered did I really have what it takes to give it up? So I went back and talked to myself some more (If you don't talk to yourself, I suggest you try it. You can have some really great conversations!) "Self, can we do this? I mean why do I relax in the first place?" Hmmmm, that is a damn good question. 

Well, relaxers make my hair straight and I love straight hair! But wait, did it really make my hair straight? Well, after I blow dry it and then flat iron it, then it was bone straight! I love that! But I have to relax it, then blow dry it and then flat iron it?! Right? Shouldn't I just have to wash it and it will dry straight? WRONG! Well, in a perfect world It should be say right, but that was not my truth. Air drying lead to poofy hair, and I do not care for that look. 

My hair needed attention to achieve the desired straight look. Which lead me to go back and think about my journey so far. By the time I reached this point in my journey I had successfully stretched my hair for twenty weeks, more than once and I believe I was on my next stretch with the goal of seeing how long I could last. When I got my last relaxer, I felt that I could have continued for quite a while. I didn't have delineation breakage issues. I blow dried and flat ironed my hair and didn't have a problem achieving the straight look through the length of my hair. I thought I dealt with the new growth just fine, how hard could it be to deal with a head full of the stuff.

But what will your natural hair look like? It didn't matter to much. I was planning to wear my hair straight, so kinky, curly zig-zaggy (hmm zig zagging is not a word! Well, it is now!) didn't matter because it would all be straight in the end. Although, during my transition I struggled with this question a lot. 

So the why of it was a really easy decision to make, it just took time to get there because I don't remember my hair every being unrelaxed. Natural hair was a foreign concept to me and my only point of reference was afros's and I didn't want an Afro. It took time for me to learn that natural hair could be lots of different things and that with it, I had more versatility and more options. Not only that, with my un-chemically treated hair, I could achieve the exact same results. That sounded pretty spiffy to me.

How did you get to that point? Well, the how is much more complicated and It took a long time to get there. That's why it is important to have a journal or even a log of your progress as you start any healthy hair journey because that is what lead me down this road. I mean, I watched tons of YouTube videos and eventually the relaxed person, would end up transitioning or chopping all there hair off and going natural. I thought they were all crazy! But then they would explain the why of it and they had health or spiritual reasons that sounded great for them, but I could not relate! I think curly hair is pretty, I think a big/little Afro is pretty, I think straight hair is pretty but when I look at myself in the mirror, I like to see straight hair.

So how? I started my hair journey. I started it in 2009 I think because I had a patch in the back that was broken and damaged and way shorter than the rest of my hair. It was embarrassing and I wanted to fix it. So I started doing some research and started coming across a key phrase or acronym (Healthy hair journey or HHJ) if any of you are on a hair journey you know exactly what I was seeing. There were steps and rules and things that you needed to do. A plan! I could get with a plan.

So the main thing that lead to to a relaxer free life is the stretching. The rest of the stuff I did made the stretching manageable, if not out and out easy. I started small. 

Stretch progression chart:

1st stretch:      6 weeks (That was tough. It had grown out enough that I was in unfamiliar territory but not terrible.

2nd stretch:     8 weeks (This was super tough because a week before I was to relax, but scalp went stupid! It was so itchy, like it was begging for that relaxer!)

Picture: June 2012 stretching, texture shot.

3rd stretch:    10 weeks (I was feeling pretty epic! I had survived that 7 week mark and discovered that deep conditioning improved my flat iron results.)

4th stretch:     14 weeks (So I thought I was spiffy and bumped my progression from adding 2 weeks to 4 weeks and it was tough! So tough I did it twice!)

5th stretch:     14 weeks 

6th stretch:      20 weeks (That 2nd stretch of 14 weeks solidified my process and confidence. I didn't even want to get this relaxer but I did)

7th stretch:      20 weeks until now. (By the time I got here, I was a pro at stretching and was sure that transitioning would be easy!)

Please note that throughout this whole process I was flat ironing my hair. It was my style of choice and I loved it.

Picture: June 2012. Right after a relaxer early in my my stretching

So I went from a ride or die relaxed girl to a transitioner (hmm that is not a word either! Oh well, it fits perfectly, so it stays) and it took about 1 year and 5 months! I had to do the math as I wrote this because I didn't really plan on going longer and longer, I believe my goal was to stretch for 8 to 10 months but it got so much easier each stretch I figured my natural hair wouldn't be that much of a challenge. By the 20 week mark I had waves and stuff and I got very curious as to what my natural hair would look like. As a newly natural with about 2 years of growth I can say it isn't hard to deal with. Transitioning on the other hand was a tricky two years!

My last relaxer was March 6, 2013

Picture: April 2013 (1 month post last relaxer)

Wow! This post is super long, so if you are still with me, let's wrap it up. I cut the last of my relaxed ends off in March 2016. I am now a straight-hair natural. Please look for a future post regarding my current process.

Do I have any advice?

To those of you who are relaxed, I ask is the relaxer making your life easier? If yes, keep on the good work. But I would stretch to at least 8 weeks to give yourself some cushion of new growth to avoid over processing. 

To those of you who are natural-curious, I suggest stretching to at least 10 weeks. At about 10 weeks I had enough new growth to struggle with. Get used to it, see if you can deal and that time you stretch will help so much if you do decide to go natural. If you decide to go natural and chop off all your hair I still suggest you stretch because you will have new hair. It's like having a new car with extra features you have never seen before but may wreck you if you don't use them properly.

To those who are interested in going natural, if you aren't in a rush, try a gradual process that you feel comfortable with before you transition or big chop because it can be hard and it would suck to put all that hard work and effort in to give up because of inexperience.

I think that's all folks! Be well and have fun!

I'm back!

Hello, hello, hello!

Wow! My last post was back in April of 2012 and so much has happened, so let's play catch up.

2012: I began stretching my relaxers. I was religiously relaxing my hair every 5 weeks. Then I saw so many YouTube videos from relaxed people, stretching their relaxers for weeks and weeks and I thought, I could do that! So I did. I stretched for 6 weeks and then 8 weeks and then 10 weeks etc until I reached 20 weeks and then I had an epiphany in 2013! (Maybe I should do a post on stretching between relaxers, if you think I should, please leave a comment below.)

2013: What was my fantastic epiphany? Well, I decided to stop getting relaxers! During a long stretch in 2013, I looked at my regimen and asked if I really needed this step, and I didn't. So my last relaxer was March 2013. Are you wondering how, why? Look for my next post: My journey to natural hair!

2014: I had decided to be a long term transitioned so that's what I did. Not much to report this year.

2015: I big chopped, which wasn't much of a chop as I had been slowly trimming my hair during my two year transition in March of 2015.

Now you are pretty much caught up. Whoa, I guess it really wasn't that much. 

Well, I am back and I have plenty of idea for new post and I hope I hope you stay tuned for the next one.

Be well and have fun!

The flat Iron is calling my name!

January 10, 2010

(Note this is a draft from last year. Things have changed for me but I feel the information is still valuable, so I am posting it anyway :)

Hello, Hello, Hello!

I don't know about anyone else, but I love my hair to be bone straight! I can usually only achieve that very straight look I am going for within the first few weeks of a fresh relaxer AND a flat iron. After that inital glow of the fresh relaxer I have flat ironed my hair to keep it as straight as possible and probably the whole reason I started my Hair Care journey is because I was looking on YouTube to find tips on how to do a better job.

I ran across Ateeya and her change Smuve Complexions and I was hooked..

Everyone talks about the things to stay away from...Heat...chemicals...sulfates...alcohols. The things you should do are like stretch between relaxers...low manipulation...protective styles...moisturize and seal...low to no heat!

Low to no heat?! Give up my flat iron? No, say it isn't so...there must be, there just has to be another way. So I tried only flat ironing my hair once a week. If you read previous post my hair nightmare are my ends. They look terrible. I do not like them at all. The only thing that I feel makes them look half decent is to flat iron them into submission.

That should have been the key. What is heat damage exactly? Heat applied to the hair breaks or reshapes the bond in the inner core of the hair shaft and relaxes the curl. The problem that occurs is that when to much heat is applied the protective cuticle of your hair is damaged. The resulting roughness of the hair shaft makes you apply more heat to achieve the same look! You have now become a heat addict.

You are at even more risk of heat damage if your hair has been chemically treated. This is because you basically already dinged your cuticle and the heat if to much just breaks it all to bits.

However, like most things in my opinion there is a place for everything.

It has been about 4 weeks since I last flat iron my hair. Yay me! I decided about 4 or 5 months ago that I would for the most part abstain from direct heat. I sit under the hood dryer for deep conditioning and such.

Do not however think that this is a departure from my love of my flat iron. I do think that some heat is not bad. Moderate use of heat in the right temperature zone for my hair type could be safely or at least the damaged could be mitagated if I had healthy hair. See the key is healthy hair. Hair is a tough bugger and it can stand a ding or too and keep on trucking. I figured that if I can forgo the flat iron until my hair is much healthier that I can add heat to my hair without destroying all the work I put into it. Hence get nice strong hair and use heat moderately and I think I will come out with healthy hair that I am happy with.

I like straight hair though and over the last few weeks I have wanted to flat iron my hair just because I am sick of this semi curly mess I deal with everyday. I airdry. So I went back to YouTube last night and saw someone talking about heat treating your hair. She used a 400 degree flat iron on her new growth in varying intervals. Once a week, twice a month watever she thought was best. Now she made a strong argument about why that worked for her. I personally think that it probably worked for her because she was natural. I think if she had a relaxer, the state of her hair would have been way different.

Anyway, I had almost rationalized myself back to the flat iron despite my convictions to abstain as much as possible until my hair was ready, I did say you become a heat addict didn't I? I talked to my Husband who didn't help at all, and I decided to sleep on it and do some more research.

To much heat is bad. That's what I found out. It doesn't matter what you use, which styling tool or your technique. To much heat is bad. The kicker is, how much is to much?

(Update: I lasted about a full 10 week stretch with no heat. What did I notice? Not much. I still had split ends and on top of that I hadn't been able to wear my hair down at all because of it. I don't do curly hair very well. I did the braid out thing and can't stand them. I think it's beautiful and I am sure I would like it, if my hair was much longer. At it's current length it makes me feel bald :( Anyway, I now flat iron my hair once a week and feel that it smooths the cuticles which keeps it from snagging on stuff)

What's up with Glycerin?

April 16, 2012

Hello, hello, hello!

So I hear so many people talk about Glycerin, but what is it? What does it do? How does it help? Let's try to answer some of those questions.

What is Glycerin?
Glycerin is also known as Glycerol and is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid. It is used in hair care products by providing lubrication and as a humectant. (A humectant is a a chemical that helps products retain moisture) Glycerin can absorb moisture from the air and has antiseptic qualities

What does Glycerin do?
Glycerin absorbs water from the surround environment. The environment is usually the air but can be your hair and skin if the air is particularly dry.

How does it help?
It will help maintain your hair and scalps moisture levels by drawing moisture into the hair and will help to prevent the frizz of dry hair.

How to utilize it in your routine?
Pour a few drops in your products to up the moisturizing benefits of the product. I add it to my shampoo, which I have noticed affects the shampoo's ability to lather, and different leave in conditioners.


Hair trail and error
I will be attempting this recipe this week as a moisturizer

1.  Purified water about 2 cups (Why purified? Because regular tap water has chemical particles that bind to the hair and weighs it down)

2. 5 squeezes of glycerin

3. 3 drops of Peppermint oil

(Will update with specific configuration)

Seal with Grape seed oil.

It's been quite a while....

April 16, 2012

Hello, hello, hello!

It has indeed been quite a while since my last post and I sorry for the long departure. Why was I gone so long? It wasn't anything too impressive, actually it was quite unimpressive. I felt and still feel as if my journey has hit a wall. I feel as if I am not making any progress. I still visit other's blogs and YouTube channels and I see how long and beautiful other ladies hair seems to be growing and I feel that I have just stalled. Frustration and self pity is the name of the song I have been singing all last year.

I started my journey over three years ago in preparation for my wedding. I wanted longer hair and set up to learn about my hair and accomplish my goals. This July I will have been married for two years. A few weeks ago I was looking at some pictures from before the wedding and my hair was longer than then it is now. How in the heck did I manage that?! I have been trimming religiously. Is it healthier? I guess it is, I feel like I am conquering some problems but still battling others. Problems: breakage! Conquered: Dryness

I still have breakage. I can not seem to stop the breakage! It's actually driving me quite batty! My hair doesn't feel as dry as it used to but it feels better after I have flat ironed it. Isn't that a strange thing? Softy silky hair if I apply heat. My hair is soft to the touch but looks rough if I air dry. I tried that whole stay away from heat and I just can't jump on that wagon. I can only wear so many buns or pony tails, and apparently that was also a problem for me. Ponytail/bun area were major breakage areas.

So lets drop back into this. I guess I need to buckle down. I am missing some key pieces of being successful and hopefully, by blogging about it I can find those missing pieces.

So what steps have I been taking?

Shampooing, Conditioning and Deep Conditioning
I wash my hair once a week. Why? Because that's all I can manage. I blow dry and flat iron after I wash it, and I can't do that mid-week. Between work and my husband, I am bushed by Wednesday and I don't even have children! Flat ironing once a week was my attempt to avoid applying to much heat to my hair. I believe it may be playing a large part in my split ends.

Yes to Cucumbers Shampoo and Conditioner: Love this shampoo and Conditioner. I did a lot of research looking for a shampoo that was easy on my hair. I feel like I need moisture! Always moisture and strength. My elusive white whale..anyway. Yes to Cucumber is for color treated hair. Yep, that's right. I have come to the conclusion that color and relaxed hair share very similar weakness and the require specific care. There are a wide range of color specific shampoos and conditioners but not so much for relaxed hair. Well, there are all these products that say they are for relaxed or natural or even color treated hair. Natural hair care products in the same boat as color and relaxed hair? Give me a break. Natural hair has a set a challenges that are problem specific to the person and their lifestyle. While Relaxed and Color treated hair share the fact that they have been chemically altered and need constant upkeep to manage and care for it. I have found that this particular shampoo and conditioner meet several of my specific criteria (Stay turned for product review: Link coming soon)

Deep Conditioner: Creme of Nature Aragan Oil: Intensive Conditioning treatment
When I was self relaxing I would use the little packets after my relaxer. I loved how it made my hair feel. Very soft and smooth and it smells really good. I went and got a whole bottle of it and love it (Stay tuned for product review: Link coming soon)


So I wash my hair either with the Yes to Cucumber shampoo or conditioner depending on how my hair and scalp feel. I apply the conditioner, put my hair in a bun or pony tail with the ends tucked away and let it just sit there, air drying and whatever. If it's late I put a cap on and go to sleep but I get better results if I let it air dry and then put a cap on and go to sleep and wash it out the next day.

Blow dry with comb attachment. It's very quick. Divide hair in four parts, apply Suave's new heat and leave in conditioner and maybe a little Frutis sleek and shine and blow dry. Takes about 5 minutes.

Flat iron as desired. My flat ironing takes forever as I try to go in small sections and only do one pass and try to go quickly by the ends as they are so fragile.

Relaxers
Did you notice I said "When I was self relaxing.." Well, I stopped self relaxing for a few reason

• Application-I suck at it (If I can't be honest with my self then who can)
• When I apply the relaxer myself, it takes me longer a lot longer
• I can't see the back of my head and that is where I have a ton of breakage.
• Over lapping. I over lap. I can't help myself. I try but by the end I am tired of the whole process and want it done with.
• Best reason: Someone else washing my hair and massages my scalp

They don't seem like big reasons, but they were becoming issues to me that made me think "If I did it this way I would see improvements." Well I did see improvements. Before when I self relaxed I would have these strips of hair that would puff up. No matter what, it could be perfectly straight and Florida's humid air would hit it and it would puff up to twice it's size! Now you might say, that's humidity for you, but it wasn't my whole head, just certain areas. A lot of times it was a strip right behind my bang, closer to my ear on the right side would puff up, made me feel like I had floppy dog ear.

How did I put it together? I am brilliant of course! No, not really. My hairdresser told me it was because I had massive layers of calcium build up. She said home relaxers have copious amounts of calcium and that it coats your hair and that is what causes the frizz puffs. The cure? strip your hair with relaxer.

The evidence? A different hair dresser told me that to get my ends from being so frizzy and scraggly looking to take the relaxer to the end of my hair. At the time I thought she was crazy! Seriously, there may even be a previous post that said "I had this crazy hair dresser.." I have read all these things that say that I have to protect my ends, they are little babies. Easily broken and hurt. Relaxer need to be kept far from them.
Also, when I was self relaxing and before I knew better, I relaxed every strand of hair on my head from the root to the tip and did not have that strange puffy hair problem. Which goes to show that it had been a recent happening, as in I started noticing after I had been into my hair journey for awhile.

I now go to a salon and get my hair professionally relaxed and trimmed approximately every 10 weeks. Yep, I said it. Trimmed. There are all these people who say that trimming or clipping your ends is a necessary and healthy part of caring for your hair. That when you chemically treat, manipulate and apply heat to you hair you cause damage, split ends and the like. The only way to stop a split end is to cut it off.

So I trim, but I hate it. I hate it so much. I try to be all grown up about it. I realize that I did horrible, damaging things to my hair for lets say 20 years, I'm going to be 30 this week ><, and I can't expect beautiful down my back hair that is healthy and strong in a matter of a couple of years! My ends are my burden to bear and I have to get rid of them, slowly but surely. So as my hair has grown, it's been getting stronger and  healthier at the root. My ends still suck and I know I have to chop them off. So I trim. All my growth is gone. It really makes me sad, but I know that it's for the greater good. I can see the split ends all over the place. I can tell the hair is badly damaged. The delineation mark is so apparent, especially when I wash and air dry, that sometimes I think it would be less painful if I just had them hack it off there. I think my husband would stop talking to me if I did that though. Oh well, it's not like I am bald...

So that's about it. I wash my hair once a week, deep condition overnight whenever possible, blow dry and flat iron. I moisturizing and seal nightly, well if I am really honest I don't do it nightly, shoot I didn't even do it tonight ><, and I cover my head before I go to bed. Sometimes the scarf is even there in the morning.

Goals?
Get back to moisturizing and sealing nightly
Learn about imparting moisture and give my hair the strength not to break!
Figure out a wash and wear style..yeah I really see that happening for me, but I keep trying anyway. I have an idea about banana clips..

My race against breakage!

January 4, 2011

Hello, hello, hello!

Oh woe is me! Have you ever felt that you are racing with your hair and your losing!? I look at other women's hair stories and they are reaching there goal so quickly! I feel like the turtle in the race.

I was sitting on my couch feeling frustrated with my hair. Wondering what I have I been doing wrong. My ends STILL aren't where they are supposed to be. I mean I know that the ends of your hair are the oldest and I have been relaxing my hair for over 20 years and treating it very badly all this time, so I can't expect a complete turn around so quickly can I?! Well, I want one anyway lol.

So in 2011 it's time to buckle down and get serious about these ends! When I thought I was babying my ends, it was only slightly caring for them with the care they needed. I mean they are very damaged. Relaxers every 5 weeks from root to tips! Flat ironing every other day... Yes, it was bad and as bad as it was I need to be that much nicer to it now.

So instead of sitting there and feeling completely sorry for myself, I got up. I moisturized my hair in sections with profective, sealed with castor oil and twisted like a roll in two and put a scarf on for bed.

This is really a T&E (Trial and Error) for me. I have never really sealed with castor oil before by itself because it was so thick, but I think my hair needed some tough love! I also plan to wash my hair tomorrow if I am feeling better (Stupid cold! How terrible to start off the new year sick?)

So plan for tomorrow? Wear my protective style with ends tucked safely away, and co-wash tomorrow.

Note:
Products that I used? ProFective Leave-In Strengthener and Castor oil! That's it. I try to keep it simple.

Until the next post, Have fun and be safe!

Let's talk Oils! Part 4: Random Essential and Carrier Oils that need mention

January 3, 2011

Hello, Hello, Hello!

Well, I didn't want to devote a whole blog post to some essential and carrier oils that most people don't really talk about or use for hair care. The list of oils is quite extensive, and some of them are a little bit odd. This list is mostly complete however I did delete some that were just way off the wall I may at a later time update this list.

• Agar Oil:
• Ajwain Oil
• Angelica Root Oil:
• Anise Oil
• Balsam Oil
• Basil Oil
• Bergamot Oil
• Buchu Oil
• Cannabis Flower Essential Oil ( I have no idea!)
• Caraway Oil
• Cardamom Seed Oil
• Carrot Seed Oil
• Cedarwood Oil
• Chamomile Oil
• Cinnamon Oil
• Citronella Oil
• Clover Leaf Oil
• Cranberry Seed Oil
• Cumin Oil
• Davana Oil
• Dill Oil
• Fennel Seed Oil
• Fenugreek Oil
• Geranium Oil
• Ginger Oil
• Grapefruit Oil
• Henna Oil
• Jasmine Oil
• Juniper Berry Oil
• Lemon Oil
• Lemon Grass Oil
• Mustard Oil
• Orange Oil
• Oregano Oil
• Pine Oil
• Rose Oil
• Rosemary Oil
• Rosewood Oil
• Safe Oil
• Sandalwood Oil
• Spearmint Oil
• Tarragon Oil

Please note that I removed the oils that I have already talked about in previous post.

I emphasised Cinnamon, Jasmine and Rose oil because I am interested in them mostly for the smell as I like hair things that smell nice and would like to add a little to whatever mix I have made (and mastered!) to give it that little something extra. Cinnamon oil seems to have huge antibacterial properties which I think will be very helpful in extending the shelf life of my mixes! While Jasmine and Rose oil might just be pretty smells, they are also good in aromatherapy. I think smelling a little Jasmine or Rosemary or the like my relieve stress and make me a calmer person. Which is a side perk I like!

So now on to Carrier oils. The list of carrier oils is far smaller than the essential oils

• Sweet Almond Oil (Is a very popular carrier oil and is nourishing and can softens and strengthens the hair. It is said that if you use Almond oil as a pre-wash treatment it is good at collecting dust, particulates and pollution in your hair)
• Olive Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Evening Primrose (Never heard of this oil)
• Canola Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Emu Oil
• Castor Oil
• Walnut Oil
• Peanut oil
• Pecan Oil
• Macadamia Nut Oil
• Coconut Oil

It was noted that for most purposes in general Almond Oil and Grape Seed Oil are among the most popular carrier oils. (Please see part 2 for more info on Grape Seed Oil if you missed it)

Olive Oil, Castor Oil and Coconut Oil are also popular hair care carrier oils so I thought I would give them more of a mention.

Olive Oil

• One cause of hair loss is because of a hormone called DTH (DTH=Dihdrotestoserone (I have no idea how to say that BUT it is an androgen (Which is general term for natural or made hormones) made mostly in the prostate gland, testes, hair follicles and adrenal glads which leads the hair follicle shaft to decrease.) Applying olive oil to hair prevents the production of DTH hormones on the scalp, thus getting rid of the problem of hair loss
• appropriate for general scalp health
• natural conditioner

Castor Oil

• can be used to get rid of infections that causes various scalp problems
• When applied on a dry, scaly scalp, it can retain the moisture and improve the scalp condition
• can also strengthen the hair roots and promote hair growth
•  hair conditioner
• pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, people with underlying health condition should take care with castor oil and should discuss the use of it with their doctors (Especially if you drink it!)

Coconut Oil

• An emollient with a rich source of fatty acids like oleic, linoleic, lauric, capric, caprylic, myristic and palmitic acid
• ideal for dry hair
•  If not washed properly, this oil can clog the hair follicles inhibiting hair growth (I did not know this, when I started my hair journey I thought I should use this oil on my scalp. What a mistake! It made my scalp itch like crazy and I had no idea why. I did like 3 emergency washes trying to not to rip my scalp off in an attempt to get relief! Well, as happens often I was lazy after the last wash and let it air dry and went to bed. I had no time in the morning to do anything with it, So I slapped on my handy dandy ProFective Leave in and went to work. No itching! No itching all day and so I learned I can only use Extra Virgin Coconut oil in my Pre-poo and not overnight)

Well, I hope you have enjoy my 4 part series on Essential and Carrier Oils and that you have found the information helpful.