Product Stash, Breakage & Challenge Updates

If you follow me on IG (besosferon) then you have seen this picture of my product stash! It looks like a lot but  I think it's an optical illusion! Since the products are all laid out it seems like there is more than is really there?! Yes! No? lol well this will be a brief blog of updates on my hair and the hair challenge I mentioned in the 2 Years Natural blog posted on 10/17.


Breakage
- I have never had an issue with breakage before now but every time I touch my hair as in re-moisturize or to style it, I have short broken hairs. I know they are not shed hairs because there is no white bulb on the end and shed hairs are generally longer than broken hairs. Doing much research and seeking out help from curl friends I have come to some conclusions as to why this is happening and what I'm going to do about it to stop it and retain my length.

Possible Cause:
- I am over do for a henna treatment which was taking the place of my monthly protein treatments to strengthen my hair. My hair was straightened last month for my 2 year mark which I'm sure weakened my ends. I should've did a protein treatment the day I washed my hair to return to curly but I didn't. We all know how we get busy doing other things; I put off doing a protein treatment because I wanted to do a henna treatment instead. Almost a month later, I just ordered 2 more boxes of henna this week. The ironic thing about all this is on 10/13/12 I did a blog post called Moisture/Protein Balance. Yeah.. bad Feron smh 

What I'm going to do:
1. This Sunday (washday) I'll be giving myself a protein treatment! In two weeks on December 1st, I'll do my henna treatment and will keep an eye on my how my hair responds.
2. I will be sure to moisturize and seal my ends every day. I'm back to using castor oil until it warms up again. 
3. I am going to reintroduce cones into my regimen. Since I do use shampoo and some with sulfates I am not afraid of product build up. I will only use a product with cones in it to seal my ends to help protect them from damage and breakage.

*I can honestly say when I was using cantu shea butter leave in repair cream and the herbal essence long term relationship in my transition and early natural days, I never had breakage, split ends, or single strand knots! I went through a purist phase for awhile but the all natural thing isn't cutting it right now and I'm trying to retain my length and not have 2" chopped off every time I go see a stylist!* 

Challenge Update
I've been following this challenge for the past three weeks; I've noticed an improvement in the moisture retention and condition of my hair. Also, finger detangling isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have not used a tool in three weeks and I hope that helps with my current breakage issues. I'll be sure to update you all in another month on how my hair is responding. 

-For more details on the hair challenge, refer to the blog posted on 10/17/13.





How are you ladies doing if you are participating in the hair challenge? Are you still going strong? Have you noticed a difference from adding hot oil treatments/oil rinses to your regimen? Do you all have any suggestions on how to combat breakage?

Besos, Feron