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Farewell 2024

2024 has been a wild ride gone in a flash. Managed to do a small trim and ended the year on a high hair note. Work, health and life have kept me from writing more. I also kept my hair routine to a bare minimum. I managed to wash about once a week and kept it in a bun most of the time.  This worked quite well and am going to continue keeping things simple. Before taking this photo I had been asked if it's my real hair a few times when I had it down. In 2025 I would like to be more regular with my trims. I barely managed to do it twice this year. The soft v shape and layers are a bit more forgiving and don't let my hair look scraggly too much which helps. I am hoping as I take better care of my health I'll have more energy for my hair. My current wash and blow dry routine takes me about an hour and a half and that's been the most I could do this year. I will try take better pictures in the coming year. I might also dig to see if I have any others from this year to share m...

Day 14: A lesson learned from relaxing my hair

Pain is not normal. It should not be a characteristic of how you style your hair.

This is the biggest lesson I learned. When I was still trying to find a good hairdresser this was one of the red flags I looked for.

Some would say to just bear with it for a while, beauty is painful... No, it does not have to be. If a stylist took me seriously when I said my scalp is tingling already and made efforts to wrap up and get me rinsed out they got points from me.

Usually stylists who insisted I wait longer were also the ones who did not listen to requests like not using  a rat tail comb to smooth the relaxer or detangle.

My hair needs a lot of patience a lot of the time. While it is thick and very coily and can handle extra strength relaxer, my scalp is not made of steel. 

I have already accepted the fact that my hair will never be relaxed bone straight. When people see my hair air dried they ask if I am going to relax my hair! I just smile.

Now I am doing it all myself. I am happy to be able to comb through it and style it or put it up. The process is far easier than when I am not relaxed.

What's something you have learned about relaxing your hair?

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