I was supposed to stay away from straightening my hair in 2012 and well I changed my mind. I have flat ironed my hair about 3 times this year, but it’s been very light. I do not use a lot of heat. I do roller sets and typically only do a maximum of two passes with my flat iron and I really try to take it easy on my ends especially since I have ombre highlighted/dip dyed my ends.

Since 2007, I have been growing out my hair and my goal used to be bra strap length and that changed to shoulder blade length/below shoulder blade length and for the last two years it has been been moved to waist length. I use a tape measure tied around my neck to measure my hair so the tape measure isn’t showing the actual length of my hair, but the length from my neck. My goal is to reach the 15-16″ mark. The other day I measured and it is reaching roughly the 13″ mark. The longest my hair has been as an adult is the 14″ mark. My hair was this length before, but I trimmed an inch or so off a couple of months ago.

I am hoping to finally reach my waist length goal in 2012. I only have about 3″ to go and that translates to about 6 months for my hair. Right now, I am evaluating my regimen and referencing my favorite hair book The Science of Black Hair to plan my new regimen. The things that really work for me is low manipulation and taking care of my fragile ends. For me this means rocking twists/braids or wearing my hair in straighter/stretched styles. I find that when I wear my hair in a completely natural state, that I end up combing my hair more than I would like to prevent tangles and matting. I think that coloring may cause me a bit of a setback, but I am being more proactive about caring for my ends.

You’ve been asking for it, here it is: my first hair update in 2012. This is a twist out where my hair was detangled with the Tangle Teezer. It was also my first time using Suave’s Captivating Curls conditioner and that’s all I have in my hair besides water. I have copious amounts of the conditioner in my hair… probably 1/2 a cup or more.

One of my goals in 2012 is to not straighten my hair with heat, so I’ll only be giving you curly updates for all of 2012. Well, I’m going to attempt to do that. I only ever straightened my hair to see how long it was and to change it up a bit, but I never keep it straight for longer than a couple of days.

I am not sure if you can tell from the lighting, but I have ombre highlights. I had them done last February for my birthday. You can’t really see them indoors, but they look better now than when they were fresh. It’s very beachy. I’ll try to give you some outdoor pictures soon.

I measured my hair for you too. My goal is 15″ from my neck (using my measurement technique) with my hair stretched straight. That’s natural waist length for me and as you can see the longest part of my hair is barely grazing the 14″ mark. I have to be honest, whenever I reach a hair length milestone/goal… I tend to want to keep going. Now, I’m thinking that I want my hair to reach natural waist length while my hair is in a natural state or in a curly style like this. So, I’ll be growing my hair probably for the next 58 years. It’s all fine because I am learning patience and enjoying the journey.

To Waist Length and Beyond – Current Hair Regimen

I exercise 5-7 times per week and I wash my hair quite frequently. I typically wash with a diluted shampoo once a week. I dilute the shampoo: 1 part shampoo to 3 parts water. Also, I conditioner-wash a few times a week. I use a deep conditioner once a week. I typically use Aubrey Organics, GPB Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner Rosemary Peppermint or Giovanni’s Smooth As Silk Xtreme as a deep conditioner. I use the Gold ‘N Hot Conditioning Cap for about an hour, using the condition and reconditioning method in 15-20 minute intervals. I only use warm water when I’m washing my hair and I always use cold water as the final rinse. Cold water shuts down the cuticle to lock in moisture. It makes a huge difference if you have frizz-prone hair like me.

After washing, I braid or twist my hair in about 10 braids (or more twists) and set the ends on flexi rods (using end papers). I use Kinky-Curly Knot Today or experiment with different cheap Suave conditioners to set my hair. When I’m taking the braids down, I fluff my hair for volume and clap through a quarter-size amount of jojoba oil. I like it because its lite and scentless. Oh, are you wondering what “clap through” means? I just put the oil in my hands and literally clap it through and fluff my hair as if I’m “playing numbers” with my head. It gives me more even distribution and more volume.

I also reset my hair every night with about 5 braids with the ends set on the super skinny red flexi rods. I am not interested in trying to sleep without re-setting, so I don’t care about second or third day hair. I’ve tried the “pineapple” and it works if I want to rock a ponytail, but otherwise it doesn’t work for me. I like to really sleep when I sleep and I’m a wild sleeper. I was never satisfied with my hair when I tried to sleep without resetting.

What else?

Detangling –  I detangle on wet hair in the shower with a Jilbere shower comb. Then with a small seamless comb and finally smooth with a Denman brush about once a week to cut down on one strand knots. I’m super careful when I detangle and I really take my time. I do everything in sections! Wash in sections, condition in sections, detangle in sections and set in sections. I also recently began to experiment with the Tangle Teezer and the jury is still out.

Smoothing – After my hair is detangled and before I set each section of my hair. I use smoothing techniques. This is very important and it makes a huge difference. If you don’t want know what smoothing is, I explain it here: Smoothing Explained.

Scissors –  I use the Search & Destroy method to get rid of bad ends as I see them. I don’t don’t keep track of how often I do this… maybe once every couple of weeks. I have high quality professional shears that I invested in, no cheap shears come near my hair.

Thermal Styling – No heat this year! I use a Pibbs Kwik Dry on a medium low heat setting after washing my hair sometimes, but especially if it is cold or I don’t want to sleep with wet hair.

Scalp Love – I give myself brief scalp massages whenever I feel like it, at least once a week.

Time – It doesn’t take long for me to do my hair. I spend about 5 minutes setting it at night, 5 minutes styling it in the morning, one hour per week deep treating, 15 minutes washing, 20 minutes setting and 1 hour under the dryer. That’s it.

Questions about my hair? Leave them in the comments or send an e-mail.

Shop this look.

Here is my April hair update. If you’re an avid reader, then you know that I do this every 3 months and have been since April 2007. I started Mane and Chic back in April of 2007 when I was living in South Beach. It’s been about 4 years and wow has my life changed and my hair too. I started at neck length. Which was barely 1″ on my tape measure, but now you can see that my hair has grown to about 10.5″ on the tape measure.

I recently cut off about 3″. Why? It was part of my spring cleaning challenge. I didn’t like the way my ends were looking and I haven’t really been paying much attention to my hair lately so I wanted to start over by cutting off a couple of inches. It’s just hair, it will grow back… no biggie.

Did you cut it yourself? Yes, I did. I’ve been cutting my own hair since I was in high school (over 10 years). I’ve invested in high quality professional shears that cost upwards of $100. I think this is super important. This time I went for more of a U shape than my typical V shape in the back. What is a V shape or U shape? What am I talking about? Click here to see Feye’s Trimming Instructions and that should explain everything including how to do it yourself.

The goal is to grow my hair out to 15″ on that tape measure you see in the photo. That’s waist length on me. I have the longest torso ever! Before the trim, I was barely reaching it, but I’m happy with my decision to cut. If I don’t cut my hair anymore this year, I should get to about 15″ by January 2012. I’ll probably trim again before that though. It depends. When I wear my hair curly, I don’t care if my ends are perfect, but when It’s straight, I prefer super clean ends.

What am I using now? When I straighten, I typically use Giovanni Wellness System Shampoo and Conditioner with Chinese botanicals featuring Eco Chic Technology. When I wear my hair curly, I use heavily diluted (with water)Kinky Curly Come Clean and Knot Today as my comb-through and leave-in conditioner. I use Desert Essence Jojoba Oil nearly every day on my ends and to deep condition, I use anything by Aubrey Organics, but I prefer Aubrey Organics GPB Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner. I deep condition once a week. I also like hot oil treatments, using Carol’s Daughter Lisa’s Hair Elixir. I try other products and if they are really good, I rave about them on the blog, but the aforementioned products are my staples.

To see all the posts specifically related to my hair, click here. This is where you fill find literally everything you need to know about my hair.

To find out more about trimming, choosing shears, products, ingredients, techniques and etc., please view the 101 Guide To Hair. It’s literally a site map for all the important hair articles on Mane and Chic.

If you follow Mane and Chic on Twitter, then you know I got ombre highlights for my birthday (February 13th). They didn’t come out quite like I expected; in fact, I won’t see much of a difference in my hair at all. I’m hoping it will lighten a few shades over time.

I will show you my inspiration: Camila Alves. You know her as the beautiful Brazilian model, host of Shear Genius and mother to Matthew McConaughey’s two children. I only watched the show a couple of times, but on one episode, one of the challenges was to do Camila’s hair and I saw that she had naturally curly and frizzy hair probably in the Type 3B-3C range.

Anyway, these pictures inspired my hair. My hair is a lot more subtle and natural looking. You probably won’t notice a difference in person or in photos, but Camila’s look is what I was going for. It’s edgy but easy and beachy… that’s who I am right now. I think the stylist was too afraid to push the limits. I’ll post pics of my hair soon, but in the meantime… here’s my inspiration.

My hair April 2007

Do you remember what my hair looked like back in April 2007? I’ve come a long way. I feel like its taken forever, but I am happy and grateful for my progress. I tried a lot of bull, but simplicity is what I really needed. As I embark on this new step in my journey, simplicity will be my focus.

Regimen to get to waist length:
I wash my hair about once or twice per week and deep treat once a week. Right now, I’m experimenting with Giovanni’s Eco Chic Hair Care - Wellness Shampoo and Conditioner. Its formulated with Chinese botanicals and claims to be “scalp and follicle-focused, increase circulation to hair roots, promote healthy hair growth and keep hair elastic). I’m still on my first bottles, but so far so good. I’ll do a separate post on these new additions to my regimen. I only use shampoo once a week or every other week. I dilute the shampoo: 1 part shampoo to 3 parts water.

My hair January 2011

I use Aubrey Organics, GPB Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner Rosemary Peppermint as a deep conditioner most of the time and Carol’s Daughter Lisa’s Hair Elixir for hot oil treatments. Those are my staples, but sometimes I experiment with other deep treatments (none that I care to mention right now). I use the Gold ‘N Hot Conditioning Cap for about an hour, using the condition and reconditioning method in 15-20 minute intervals. I love peppermint and rosemary for my scalp so that’s why I love the AOGPB and CDLHE. I do an ACV rinse or an herbal rinse every two weeks. I only use warm water when I’m washing my hair and I always use cold water as the final rinse. This is major, cold water shuts down the cuticle to lock in moisture. It makes a big difference if you have frizz-prone hair.

After washing, I braid my hair in about 10 braids and set the ends on flexi rods (using end papers). I use Kinky-Curly Knot Today and water to set my hair. Yes, I have the 32 ounce size and its lasted me for a very long time. When I’m taking the braids down, I fluff my hair for volume and clap through a dime size amount of jojoba oil. I like it because its lite and it doesn’t have a scent. Oh, are you wondering what “clap through” means? I just put the oil in my hands and literally clap it through and fluff my hair as if I’m “playing numbers” with my head. It gives me more even distribution and more volume.

I also reset my hair every night with about 5 braids with the ends set on red or light blue flexi rods. I apply one of two products to my ends before I set: Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Lite or  Desert Essence 100% Pure Jojoba Oil. I’m such a pro, that it takes me less than five minutes to do this at night. I’m not interested in trying to sleep without re-setting, so I don’t care about second or third day hair. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for me. I like to really sleep when I sleep and I’m a wild sleeper. I was never satisfied with my hair when I tried to sleep without resetting. Usually if I go to sleep without resetting its because I’m washing the next day.

What else?

Detangling –  I detangle on wet hair in the shower. I use a Jilbere shower comb to detangle. When I wash, I detangle with the Jilbere, then with a Denman and then with a seamless fine tooth comb (once a week) to cut down on one strand knots. I’m super careful when I detangle and I really take my time. I do everything in sections! Wash in sections, condition in sections, detangle in sections and set in sections.

Smoothing – After my hair is detangled and before I set each section of my hair. I use smoothing techniques. This is very important and it makes a huge difference. If you don’t want know what smoothing is, I explain it here: Smoothing Explained.

Scissors –  I’m going to hold off on trimming until July. For now, I’m going to be using the Search & Destroy method to get rid of bad ends as I see them. I don’t know how often I do it. Its meditative for me. I do it a lot, probably a couple of times a week. I might do it twice this week and skip a couple of weeks. I really don’t keep track. I typically focus on one section per session. Split ends are disgusting to me, but its very relaxing to cut them. I have high quality professional shears that I invested in, no cheap shears come near my hair. Cheap $15 with cheap metal can wreck your hair, get good ones!

Thermal Styling – I only use a flat iron once every 3 months to check my length. I do use a Pibbs Kwik Dry on a medium low heat setting after washing my hair once a week especially because its cold and I don’t want my hair to be wet for long.’

Scalp Love – I give myself brief scalp massages whenever I feel like it, at least once a week. Its kind of second nature… a habit for me. It helps me relax.

Time – It doesn’t take long for me to do my hair. I spend about 5 minutes setting it at night, 5 minutes styling it in the morning, one hour per week deep treating, 15 minutes washing, 20 minutes setting and 1 hour under the dryer. That’s it.

If you have any questions specific questions about my current regimen, please leave them in the comments.

Related Posts

• Deep Conditioning and Reconditioning
• Growing Hair Tips
• Everything You Could Possibly Want To Know About My Hair
• Styled Braid Out
• Curlformers Braided Flexi Rod Set
• My Last Wash ‘N Go
• Lighting Split Ends
• Sectioning
• End Papers/Wraps
• Search and Destroying Ends
• Low to No Heat Usage

Finally, a side view. Later this week, I will probably transform this into a braid-out. I’ll post pics of that too.

I can’t do the bone straight look, I only do it to check for length. I threw some rollers in it.

Here it is. I do this once every 3 months. Why? I am a goal-oriented person so whenever possible I give myself a goal: not just with my hair, but with finances, education, blogging, organizing… literally anything I can set a goal for. It has been working out fantastically for me on every level. I can’t tell you enough about what it’s done for my life. If you’re not into settling in mediocrity, get into goal-setting, seriously.

Mane and Chic Twitter followers saw this image a few hours ago on Twitter, you should follow me if you aren’t already. I post a lot of random pictures of my manicures and cool stuff that I find.

A reader asked:

How do you use leave ins and which ones do you use?

My answer:
I mention the leave-ins I use in my My Staples 2010 post. Right now, I’m really into Carol’s Daughter’s Hair Milk the original and lite. I prefer the way the lite version smells. I typically use it when I’m re-setting my hair at night. I concentrate the product on the ends.