Length check 1

This post is 2 weeks overdue but better late than never :-)

I did my second self relaxer two weeks ago (super proud of myself), although I do vaguely remember self-relaxing when I was in my early teens. But the stakes are higher now, I wasn't on a conscious healthy hair journey then.

Based on my length-check tee, my hair grew by about 2 inches which is really awesome given that I dusted about 1inch of my ends during my stretch and I was only 15 weeks post. Here are the things which helped me grow and retain my length:

1.) Castor oil scalp massages: I have been on the Hairlista Castor Oil hair challenge which required me to oil my scalp 3 times a week (advanced level). I had been using castor oil for scalp massages since December so the challenge just helped me to keep consistency and I have definitely seen results of thicker new growth. My hair is also softer after an application, but it does not last long.

2.) Moisturizing and sealing: I cannot emphasise how much this step has helped me to retain length! I doubt that I paid attention to my ends before, by default I think it's easier to moisturise the front of your hair or haphazardly without really focusing on all areas especially the ends. This has probably been the biggest help in retaining my ends...

3.) Protecting my ends: I did this by ensuring that my ends were always moisturized and tucked away 95% of the time. The 5% was when I would do flexi rod or roller sets. I spent about two months in wigs and one month in box braids. I think the wigs were the better protective style as my hair was easily accessible but also protected when the wig was on.

4.) Groganics hair vitamins and water: it's hard to say whether the vitamins contributed to my hair growth as I was doing other things as well such as castor oil scalp massages, inversion method etc. but I definitely saw the growth in my nails and I'm believing the same happened to my hair from taking these vitamins.

5.) Using a comb only on wash days: it's now become a habit yayy :)

Things that didn't work:

1.) Box braids: In the two weeks after removing my box braids, I experienced a lot of breakage and I think this was due to the fact that I moisturuzed them often, but no protein was going into my braiding regimen. This was disappointing because the whole point of doing box braids was to protect my hair and my ends. Will I do them again? Probably in winter, which is around June, but this time I will do thicker braids and incorporate protein treatments into the regimen.

Product faves during this stretch:

1.) CON argon oil moisturizing sulphate free shampoo: it does what it claims to do
2.) OGX coconut anti-breakage serum: it's hard not to like this product just because of its lovely scent, but I did also notice less breakage after wash days when I would use this product.
3.) Elasta QP & Hairveda Moisturizers: I used Elasta QP throughout most of the relaxer stretch, but it has now been bumped out by Hairveda red tea satin moisturizer :-)
4.) Pure Shea butter: my favorite sealant to date :-)
5.) I have used so many deep conditioners that I can't really say which one has been my favourite, but the conditioner that has had best results on my hair so far is Silk Dreams VMCD and Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner.

I'm looking forward to the next stretch, hopefully I can stretch for 5 months, but I shall play it by ear :-)

What are you growth and length retaining steps?