Hair Randoms

 ponytail=growth!

• I've been using Tropic Isle Jamaican Black Caster Oil on my scalp and eyebrows to help with growth. After a month I had to stop because the itching was unbearable!  I read that the itch comes from the oil detoxifying your scalp, but I can't say I buy that explanation (and I am not willing to wait to find out if it stops when my scalp "detoxifies").  I do feel that my eyebrows have gotten a lot darker since I've been using it, and my hair has grown since I've taken out my weave--but I can't say for sure that the growth is due to the castor oil, or the fact that I had a low-manipulation style.

• As you can see from my wedge sneaker post, I straightened my hair for the first time this year! Instead of following my usual straightening routine, I used a sample of Dark and Lovely 6 Week Anti-Reversion Cream Serum. I had reservations about using this product because the advertisements and the packaging states that it was made specifically for relaxed hair (as if a heat styled natural wouldn't need an anti-reversion product) and I felt the claim about results lasting 6-weeks was a little confusing/misleading. In order to last 6-weeks, the product must be used weekly after every shampoo. Maybe I think too much, but I feel if it works as well as it claims to (and I'm using it weekly), then I should be able to use it for months and it would still keep new growth from reverting! Anyhoo, I used the product as instructed and didn't use any other products except a little Aveda Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade at the end.  By the time I finished my whole head, the hair on the side I started with already looked poofy so I doubt this product alone would keep my hair straight for an entire week. I did like that the cream/serum didn't feel heavy, and it made my hair feel really soft after blowdrying.  I am on Day 5 and with nightly rolling or wrapping and a little bit of the Aveda pomade in the AM, my hair is still straight!

• This Fall, I'm going to focus more on hair styles where my hair is stretched, such as banding or lightly blowdrying my hair before doing twist-outs and braid-outs. As the temperature gets cooler I want to limit my wet styling and maybe straighten my hair more often since I don't have to worry as much about reversion.