Today's silk press features a client that has come to me for the second time. The first time she only got a trim because she was afraid to get a silk press. She said that the last time she got a silk press that her hair did not revert back to curly so she ended up cutting a lot of the straight ends off. On this visit she decided to go for it. I assured her that once she shampoos her hair this time, it will definitely go back curly.
I started by prepping the hair with Silk Hydration by L. Jones Extreme Clean shampoo. This is a clarifying shampoo that will remove all dirt, oil, and residue off of the hair and allow me to start with a clean slate. I then began adding moisture back with Silk Hydration by L. Jones Extreme Moisture Shampoo which has liquid silk in it to make the hair extra silky and soft.
Once I got done with her hair I trimmed it and curled it. To maintain this look she only has to wrap it up every night (see how to wrap here). It will last until she shampoos it again and at that point it will go back curly.
Sew-ins are a great way to help your hair grow if you find yourself in a rut. This client in particular wanted one because they were so convenient as far as styling and to give her real hair a break. These pictures are showing her sew-in. The hair is a little bit longer than her hair but natural enough to fool a stranger. She kept her hair in the sew-in for about three months. In three months the average person will see about one and a half inches of new growth.
After three months she took her sew-in down and we did a relaxer. Her hair grew really fast, she had over two inches of new growth.
And this is her real hair...
Her hair is healthy and she did not suffer any breakage. Of course there was shedding because her hair had been braided up for three months so that was three months worth of hair that shed but just did not have anywhere to go. This results in what appears to be a lot of hair coming out but it is completely normal. As of right now she is going to wear her real hair for a while since she has had two sew-ins back to back. Sew ins are a great way to help your hair grow because you are not doing anything to it and therefore allowing it do nothing but grow.
To take care of her hair she will wrap it nightly and not apply any more heat.
This week I heard one of the most inspiring messages from church that I have ever heard. I personally enjoy every message but this one in particular really spoke to me. The message talked about how believers of the Word should also tithe, which allows us to live a higher quality lifestyle due to us trusting in God with our money. One of the ways we can experience the lifestyle that God intended is by speaking it into our lives. We should be saying what God says about each and every situation in our lives. The bible tells us that we have the power of life and death in our tongues. This means that everything we say is either speaking life (prosperity, success, abundance) or death (poverty, lack, insufficiency) into our lives. Have you ever said any of the following:
I'm broke, I never have any money!
I get paid one day and the next day all of my money is gone!
I'm never getting married.
Every man/woman I meet is low down.
I want to get married but all the good ones are taken.
I don't have any clothes!
I need a job but nobody is hiring.
My car is a piece of junk!
You get my point! The Word tells us that even if you have a negative thought DON'T SPEAK IT! Once you say it out loud you now give life to it and your success or lack there of is a direct result of what you are speaking in your life. If you are constantly saying you are broke, you never have money, money burns a whole in your pocket, etc. then guess what?!? You have now given life to your statements and you will have exactly what you say. Instead, say what God says about your finances. If you are a tither he says that the devil will be rebuked for your sake and that the windows of heaven will be open unto you and blessings will overtake you. He also said that you will be the lender and not the borrower, the head and not the tail. But how will you ever experience that if you are saying the exact opposite of what He is saying?
In my personal life I have become much more aware of what I say and the words that come out of my mouth. I only speak words of life instead of death in every area of my life. Even if my situation does not match what I am saying, I continue to say it anyway because just because it may not look like it is not working doesn't mean that it isn't. I choose to believe God and keep my faith in Him. He never lies and everything He says will always be to your benefit.
This is just a brief summary of the message I heard. If you would like to hear it in its entirety click here!
Today's post was brought to you by one of you lovely readers of mine. I have decided to dedicate Tuesday to answering all of your questions. I do this because a lot of you ask the same questions and some may not ask but are wondering the same things as well so this is for you!
Q: Hi my name is Nickeisha. I read your posts and I've started
my stretch. Usually i relax every six weeks but I realize that
my hair is over-processed and damaged. Now I'm at 8 weeks post relaxing but I need tips on how to maintain healthy hair and how long you think my
first stretch should be. Thanks in advance. A: Nickeisha, thank you for your question, I get this one a lot. Congratulations on your journey to healthy hair! Your first as well as all the following stretches should be 16 weeks or until you have two inches of new growth, whichever comes first. See more detail of this question in my video response to your question. Thanks again!
Today I started working out yet again.. It is easy to do for me once I get into the groove of things but once I stop, it is so hard to start again!! The good thing about me is that once I get weight off I can keep it off and maintain where I currently am but my problem is getting that last 10-15 pounds off. Well, I am planning a vacation and this is my opportunity to shed those last few miserably pounds. Today I did step class and omg where have I been? I had no idea how much cardio was packed inside this class! Much more than my old bootcamp class! The class was one hour long and believe it or not I actually made it through the entire class (barely). I will definitely be back for more.
So, I tied my hair up with my scarf. I had my removable sew in on so it was in a ponytail and I put the scarf on to lay my roots down. I recommend this even if you sweat in your head just because it will at least lay your edges down and if the rest gets wet you can blow dry while still having flat roots.
This is me in class. This class was hard! But I am determined to get this weight off the old fashioned way which is through diet and exercise. I have done it before and will do it again. What tips can you all give me to help me get the rest of these pounds off? I have lost 15 so far...
This client came in today for a sew-in. The first time she used hair from my L. Jones Hair Collection line and this a couple of the pictures from her first sew in.
Those pictures were taken on May 2, 2014 and today is
I have so many clients that come to me just because they are tired of having unhealthy hair and are seeking solutions to make their hair healthy again. The thing about relaxed hair is that relaxers are chemicals that must be used correctly in order to avoid damage. When you are getting touch ups every six to eight weeks, especially when you are not getting them done by a professional, you are subjecting your hair to being overlapped and over-processed. This leads to damage, which gets worse and worse as you continue to get them that often. One client in particular that I had wanted healthy hair but was not willing to stretch her relaxer. She said she was addicted to the chemical and had to have her relaxer every six weeks. Yet, her hair was damaged, broken off, and even starting to get a bald spot in one area of her head. I told her that I was willing to compromise with her. I explained to her that in order to get a relaxer every six weeks that she would have to get her hair cut short. I told her that her hair was damaged anyway and that it would continue to break if she wanted to hold on to her longer strands. She agreed...
This client has a head full of hair! She came in to get a silk press which lead me to bring up the question that I got asked one day. Someone asked me could I silk press all textures of hair including hair that is coarse and/or thick. This client is proof that it can be done. This is the picture of her hair from when she first came in. She does wash and go's to get this look but today she wanted it straight.
This was the final result of her silk press. If you did not know she was natural, you would think that she has relaxed hair. We also did a trim because it had been a long time since her last one.
So to answer that question, the answer is yes, all hair types and textures can be silk pressed as long as the hair is natural. Relaxed hair does not get silk pressed because relaxed hair is already straight. The whole point of a silk press is to make natural hair look like it has a relaxer. Relaxed hair will just get flat ironed to get this look.
This silk press will last until she shampoos it again. At that point her hair will return to its natural state. To maintain this she will wrap it every night. No extra heat is required.
Many of my clients have been asking about keratin treatments including what the process is, how long it lasts, will it do damage, etc. Well today I am going to take you through the entire process and show each step of what occurs as well as answer some of your questions. Are you ready?? Here we go!
This is what the clients hair looks like in its natural state. She is transitioning but the last relaxer she had was really a texturizer because she did not let it get straight hardly at all. But after that her mother decided no more relaxers because not only was her previous hairstylist doing them every six weeks, but she also did a lot of swimming in the pool and the chlorine was not the best thing for her edges.
This is a pic of the top view of her hair to show her curl pattern.
The first thing I did was shampoo the hair thoroughly. Then I put the keratin treatment on the hair, blow dried the hair, then flat ironed it. This picture is the "after" from when I got done flat ironing.
After I got done flat ironing, I had to then rinse the hair. The picture above is now how the hair looks soaking wet. Notice it now looks like freshly relaxed hair, unlike the first picture in this post which was curly.
After that I then conditioned the hair, rinsed that, then flat ironed again only this time the process of blow dry and flat iron was much faster since the hair was already straight. It also was very soft to the touch and had lots of body. This young lady could not keep her hands out of her hair even before I got finished!
She was very pleased so that means my job was done. For maintenance she can simply wrap nightly. Her hair will remain this way for up to four months, then all of the hair will go back to its original state. There is no damage, it is an actual treatment not a harsh chemical like a relaxer, and is only temporary. If she like it she can then decide to get it again or go back to her curls.
Most of the time when new clients come to me for the first time, they complain about one of the problems with their relaxed hair is that it is over-processed which causes damage. Well, what happens when your hair is actually under-processed? This client had been wearing sew-ins for an entire year, so when it was time for her to get a relaxer she had just taken her last sew-in down. Her hair was crinkly from root to tip from taking down the braids. She told her hairstylist that she needed a touch up so her hairstylist did just that and only relaxed the roots.
Unfortunately since her hair was wavy from root to tip, it was hard for her hairstylist to know exactly where the new growth stopped. And she apparently did not think to ask how long the client had been getting sew-ins because if she did she would know that in one year the client would have had at least four to six inches of new growth and that she would have needed to process more than just the roots.
As a result, this is what the client's hair now looks like. It is straight at the root, natural in the middle, and straight on the ends and she absolutely hates it. So what is the solution?? Since the hair in the middle has never been relaxed I will be relaxing that part only. To tell where to start and stop she will wet her hair one day prior to coming and allow the hair to air dry. Once it dries I will clearly be able to tell where the unprocessed hair is and I will relax that part only. For the root area she will wait the normal recommended sixteen weeks.
This was not the hairstylists's fault, and not really the client's either. The hairstylist did what she thought the client needed but could have asked a few questions to be clear and the client could have mentioned she had her sew-ins for as long as she did also. It was simply a lack of communication and a lesson learned for both parties. Luckily no hair was damaged and it is an easy fix.
UPDATE:
I have since relaxed the unrelaxed hair and here is a new pic of what it looks like when dried under a hair dryer.
Now the hair is back to normal with only unprocessed hair being at the root!
The image you see above is my newest toy! If you have never seen this device before it is called an EdgeStick. It is intended for women who wear weave to help blend the leave out but I have also been using it on my natural clients who get silk presses. They always tell me the edges are the first to revert back to curly so I now use this on their edges and my, my, my it has been a blessing to me and my clients! Take a look at the client below. She is a nine-year-old who is VERY active and is in all kinds of activities including dancing, gymnastics, and golf, not to mention she also loves to swim and get that hair soaked! She is natural so when she gets her hair silk pressed, the edges are the first thing to revert back. Speaking of her edges they were damaged severely when she was getting relaxers (with another hairstylist, not me!) so now we are in the process of growing them back. They are not as long as the rest of her hair so it is harder to blow dry and make straight. I would normally just have to try to get close with the flat iron and then rely on edge control to make them lay down. On her last visit I used the EdgeStick and take a look at her results.
Her edges before. That product you see on the edges is curling wax. It helps the edges get straighter than nothing at all. I only use this on the edges, not the rest of the hair to avoid the hair being too heavy.
This is with only one pass with the EdgeStick and the hair is already laying flat! The more passes you do, the straighter it will get but I am very mindful of how much heat I apply to the edges since they are the most fragile part of the hair, and in her case, the most damaged area.
After that I put a tiny drop of edge control and voila! You now have the look of relaxed hair! She will wrap this nightly to maintain.
One of the most frequently asked questions that I get about silk presses is on how long does a silk press last? Some women have a misconception about silk presses. A silk press is basically just like an old fashioned press and curl, but updated. Instead of a pressing comb, a flat iron is used (and not just any old flat iron, I'm talking about a REALLY good one like this), and the hair is not stuck to the head but gives a more silky feeling, hence the name "silk press"(for more details on what a silk press is, click here).
Women with relaxed hair can not get a silk press because their hair is already straight (unless you stretch your relaxers out and want your new growth to match your relaxed hair). The whole point of doing a silk press on natural hair is to give it the appearance that it is relaxed. Relaxed women can simply flat iron their hair to get the same look as a natural woman who wants a silk press.
How long does a silk press last?
Now to answer the question of how long does a silk press last. A silk press will last until you shampoo/wet your hair again which is normally around two weeks. So, the next time the hair gets shampooed, the natural curls will come back. Also, if you sweat profusely in your scalp, get caught in the rain, or are outside for an extended period of time while it is humid, your hair will begin to revert back. That is the nature of natural hair. There is nothing you can do to a silk press without using chemicals that will make it last longer. If you are wanting it to last for a while, you may consider a Brazilian Blowout, which lasts up to three months. To see the difference between a silk press and a Brazilian Blowout (not a Dominican blowout), click here.
How long does a silk press last?
I had one client tell me that she did not shampoo her hair for six weeks (DON'T DO THIS!), and that her hair was still straight. But as soon as she shampooed it, it curled right back up. As a matter of fact, she was trying to make her silk press last as long as she could, and the only way to do that is to not shampoo the hair. So, your silk press, when done correctly, should last about 1-2 weeks. I do not recommend going longer than two weeks without shampooing your hair. While your hair is straight, wrap it every night (see how to wrap here) with a satin scarf to maintain the straight look and I recommend that you do not continue to put more heat on it.
silk press on natural hair using by l. jones products, that is curled instead of straight
Want to get a downloadable checklist on tips to make your silk press last? Click here to have the downloadable pdf sent straight to your inbox.
See the video below (or click here) on how long does a silk press last! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you are watching.
This client has been coming in sporadically for a while now. She can do her hair on her own but likes to come in to see me when she has something special going on or when she is going out of town, or something along those lines. Today she wanted a completely different change to her hair. She actually wanted it cut, not a trim, but a real, live, haircut. Her style of choice was the bob. I grabbed my shears and went for it. I normally ask the client once if they are sure that is what they want but she seemed pretty positive when she walked in the door!
This is about seven to eight inches of hair that was cut off. She did not particularly care for it to be on her neck but still wanted it long enough to curl. She also wanted it layered a lot and I just love cutting layers so I was happy to oblige.
Also, whenever I cut a bob I am living vicariously through my clients since I long to one day have my hair cut back like this again.
I used all Silk Hydration products on her hair to give it the silky look and feel.
To maintain this look, all she has to do is wrap nightly.
Afterwards she said she loved it and was glad she made the change! That means my job is done...
