Tuesday, July 17, 2018

How To Stretch Your Relaxer For Healthier Relaxed Hair | Series




**Scroll to the bottom for the newest week

Week 1- Relaxer day!

How to stretch your relaxer for healthier hair

Finally, today is the day that I got my relaxer! That means I will be doing another relaxer series! So many of you have asked me for an update on my hair and I thank you for pulling me back down to planet Earth because I was definitely on another planet with my L. Jones Hair Collection extensions and wigs. They are so addictive that it is unreal. But I am super excited to be getting my relaxer today. If you take a look at the pic below you will see why.

This is how you walk around when your hair looks a mess and you know you are about to get a relaxer!
 To the naked eye my hair actually looks fine. As a matter of fact it still looks straight from when I shampooed it approximately ten days ago. But do not let that fool you, if my hair were to get wet it would blow up like five times its size. I had approximately three inches of new growth.

relaxer ready
 After my relaxer service I decided to get a roller set. I did this simply because I did not want to put a lot of heat in it from the blow dryer right after a fresh relaxer. And, since my hair is freshly relaxed, it does not take very long for to dry. As thick as my hair is, I may have sat under the dryer just a little over an hour versus my normal time of two hours.

Can you tell how excited I am to be sitting under the dryer? Actually I didn't mind the heat on this day because it was ridiculously cold in Birmingham!
 After I got done drying, I took the rollers out and wrapped my hair. I wanted to wear something mostly straight but with body for this first week.

It may have been a bad idea to wear all black on the day I am supposed to give a hair update, it all blends in!
From the after picture above you can not get an accurate look at how much my hair grew, but wow, what a difference three inches makes! You can see my results better on the video listed below:


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Week 2

For week two I decided to do a straight style so you can really see the length before I move on to the curlier styles. To start, I shampooed with the by L. Jones Extreme Clean shampoo twice and then I shampooed a third time with the Extreme Moisture shampoo. I did this because I have noticed that shampooing a third time makes my hair feel really good! After that I then followed up with the Replenishing Conditioner. Once I rinsed the conditioner out, I towel dried and then used the Leave-In Conditioner. The leave-in helped detangle my hair, adds an extra layer of moisture, and it also acts as a heat protectant so its basically a three in one!


Next, I moved on to blow drying my hair. And lastly I flat ironed with the Toi by L. Jones flat iron. Since my hair is pretty much freshly relaxed (only one week in), I put the heat on 430 degrees. It doesn't need much heat since the relaxer has done most of the work for me! If your hair is more on the thin side you can set your flat iron closer to or right at 400 degrees.


Since I did a straight style this week I'll be wrapping my hair all week long. That is the beauty of relaxed hair, you can just wrap it and go to bed! I swear I don't see myself giving up my relaxer anytime soon. Many people tell me that since I only get a relaxer twice a year that I might as well go natural but that couldn't be farther from the truth. All I am doing is allowing my hair to grow to a point where I know once I get my relaxer that I will not have any damage. Isn't that what we all want? Healthy, long, thick, relaxed hair? Be sure to check out the video for this week below.

Week 2 video:

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Week 3

Stretching out your relaxer is key to healthier hair

For week 3 I decided on curls! I am not a big fan of curls but they do seem to help me keep the style longer. First, I deep conditioned my hair using the by L. Jones Extreme Clean Shampoo. I did this in order to get all of the excess dirt, oil, and residue off of my hair. I like to start with a clean slate so that my hair has the maximum amount of body and bounce.  Next, I moved on to the conditioner. I conditioned with the by L. Jones Replenishing Conditioner. This conditioner is fantastic at making my hair soft and giving it lots of slip and that luxurious feel. I only let it sit for about five minutes before rinsing since it does not take long to do what it needs to do. If you are like me, you may not always have time to do a deep conditioner. If that is the case then the Replenishing Conditioner would complement your hair care routine nicely since it starts workin so quickly. Also, my hair tends to be on the oilier side so deep conditioning can sometimes have me with super oily looking and heavy hair.  Lastly, I towel dried and sprayed the Leave-In Conditioner liberally. I do this because it adds an extra layer of moisture, acts as a heat protectant, and helps detangle. Who doesn't like a three for one??

How to stretch your relaxer for healthier hair
 Once I was done adding product I blow dried my hair and curled it with the Toi by L. Jones flat iron. The great thing about freshly relaxed hair is that it does not take much heat to curl it since the relaxer does most of the work for you.


For upkeep and maintenance I just rolled it up at night. This style was actually pretty easy to keep up and I rolled it with the flexi rods so they were super comfy to sleep in. Maybe I'll do curls again in the near future...

Check out the video for this week:

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Week 4


Week four was very interesting to say the least. Since it marks a month since my relaxer I wanted to do a moisturizing treatment. My routine consisted of oiling my scalp with the Silky Regrowth Oil, and letting it sit for several hours. Then I shampooed my hair with the Extreme Clean Shampoo on the first lather, and the Extreme Moisture Shampoo on the second lather. Then I put the Intense Moisture Treatment on an let it sit overnight. The next day I went to the salon and rinsed the conditioner out. I then sat under the dryer until my hair was dry. Once I dried my hair I noticed that it felt very moisturized but it didn't feel like it normally feels on a fresh shampoo. I went ahead against my better judgement and flat ironed it. Then that's when it happened...


After I finished my hair it was so HEAVY! Apparently I must have forgotten that my hair is prone to getting oily pretty quickly and I had just literally packed my hair with even more moisture. It was an ultimate fail! I immediately knew that I could not go an entire week like that so once I went back home I shampooed my hair again in the shower. This time though, I used the Extreme Clean Shampoo, NO CONDITIONER ( I think my hair had been conditioned enough), but I did put just a little of the Leave-In Conditioner in there. After that, I blow dried and styled again. This time, it was perfect! My hair's body and movement was restored!

Check out the video below for more insight on this week.

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Week 5

How to stretch your relaxer for healthier hair

For week five of the series I decided to do a roller set. This turned out to not be such a good idea given that rain was in the forecast and it literally rained all night and into all of the next day as well! This resulted in my roller set falling, which made me want to just flat iron it but then that would have meant that I wasted pretty much my whole day by rolling my hair and sitting under the dryer. Therefore, I left well enough alone and kept my fallen curls.

Prepping for roller set

This week I started the shampoo process by using the by L. Jones Extreme Clean shampoo. I wanted my roller set to have lots of body so that means deep cleaning the hair to remove any dirt, oil, and impurities from the previous week. I shampooed with this three times before conditioning with the by L. Jones Replenishing Conditioner. After rinsing the conditioner out and towel drying,  I then generously sprayed the Leave-In Conditioner on and proceeded to detangle. Once I got the hair completely detangled, I then rolled it all up with my pink rollers that you see in the picture above. Instead of immediately getting under the dryer, I did everything I needed to do around the house and allowed it to air dry, then I got under the dryer so that I would not have as much dryer time.


Check out the video for this week here:


Week 6



I can hardly believe it is week six! It literally feels like I just got my touch up last week! I think I am just so used to stretching my relaxers out that six weeks just does not seem like any time at all to me any more. This week I decided to do a style that I did not have to do anything to simply because of the weather and because I just was feeling lazy in regards to my hair. It has been raining here in Birmingham, AL for almost an entire week and I did not want to fight with any humidity this week. Therefore, I decided on a flexi rod set. As much as I do not like curls, I will do them from time to time just to switch it up a bit. And again, it is a very low maintenance style that requires very little effort to maintain.


To get this look I first prepped the hair with the following by L. Jones products:

After that, I used a combination of the red, yellow, and green flexi rods to roll my hair. I was super determined to be done within two hours so I rolled my hair as fast as I could and it only took me about an hour to dry! I was done in less than two hours! I had an appointment right after and I wanted to have my hair out of the way so I could have the rest of the day to do everything else that I had to do. 



After sitting under the dryer, I pulled the curls apart and sprayed them with the by L. Jones Miracle Potion no.9. After that I was done! For maintenance I just put my satin cap on at night and that was it.  Check out the video below for this week's post.


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Week 7


During this relaxer stretching series, I am basically doing four sets of six week stretches all at once.  So, this week marks the beginning of the second six week set. At this point, I still do not have much new growth, but it is quickly approaching one full inch which would put me right on track for normal hair growth.


These are the products that I used for this week:


I was sure to use the Extreme Clean Shampoo simply because I had a lot of product on my hair last week from having it spiral set. I wanted to be sure that I got all of the product residue off because this week I chose to go bone straight. I missed my straight hair a lot after having curls for a week. After three lathers with the Extreme Clean Shampoo I conditioned with the Replenishing Conditioner to soften and moisturize my hair. After rinsing and towel drying I then generously sprayed the Leave-In Conditioner which helped me to detangle and also add an additional layer of moisture.



The only thing left to do was to blow dry and flat iron! Once I flat ironed my hair I wrapped it for a few minutes and then took it back down to get my final results. Oh how I missed my straight hair! It was super bouncy, had so much body, and also felt incredible. For maintenance I wrapped it every night.


Check out the video for this week below:

Week 8



Week 8 was a total flop in my book! But hey, everyone is entitled to mess up every now and then right? My goal was to do some pin curls in order to give the look of a roller set, but the curls took on a mind of their own and literally took over my head! And if you have been reading this blog for a while you already know how I feel about curls (I am not fond of them at all!) so I was doing everything I could to make these curls fall! Nevertheless, I got through the week without adding anymore heat.



To begin, here is what I used to prep my hair:
  • by L. Jones Extreme Clean Shampoo
  • by L. Jones Replenishing Conditioner
  • by L. Jones Leave-In Conditioner
  • (all of these are packaged together and listed under "Dry Hair Bundle" on the site.
I shampooed twice with the Extreme Clean Shampoo, then put on the Replenishing Conditioner from root to tip. After a few minutes I rinsed it, towel dried it, and then applied the Leave-In Conditioner. After that, I blow dried and pin curled. My mistake came in when I left the pin curls overnight. I should have taken them down in like five minutes like I normally do. Once I took the pins out, the curls developed a mind of their own! It was definitely a curl overload to say the least.



During the rest of the week I wrapped my hair in order to relax the curl. 

Check out the video below of this post. 

Week 9



This week I was not feeling well at all! But my hair still needed to be done. I thought I could get away with shampooing it and letting it air dry in hopes that if I at least got started that I would feel better. Unfortunately, that did not work! But, since I got started I had to see it through. I wanted to just skip shampooing this week altogether but I went ahead and did it. I chose to do my hair straight simply because it is the easiest and fastest for me to do and if you have ever been sick then you know that you want nothing more than to be in the bed! Plus, for some strange reason I waited until it was bedtime to start on my hair so the bed was looking rather nice to me!

To begin, here is what I used to prep my hair:
  • by L. Jones Extreme Clean Shampoo
  • by L. Jones Replenishing Conditioner
  • by L. Jones Leave-In Conditioner
  • (all of these are packaged together and listed under "Dry Hair Bundle" on the site.
I always shampoo two to three times with the clarifying shampoo in order to ensure that no residue or build up is left on the hair. Next I put on the Replenishing Conditioner but I simply ran it through my hair then waited literally a minute before rinsing back out.  I towel dried for several hours before applying the Leave-In Conditioner and detangling. I waited so long because I thought I would give myself some time to feel better before continuing on my hair. The upside to waiting so long is that when I did finally blow dry my hair, it took less than ten minutes! I'll definitely keep that in mind in the future.

To maintain my hair for the week I will simply wrap it.

Check out the video for this week.

Week 10

This week I decided to do a non-heat style. Unfortunately, my hair is growing so fast that the new growth is not cooperating with these non-heat styles. So, with that being said, I may not be doing many more non-heat styles during the stretch but we will see..


I opted for the big rods this time. I prepped my hair with the following:
  • by L. Jones Extreme Clean Shampoo
  • by L. Jones Replenishing Conditioner
  • by L. Jones Leave-In Conditioner
  • (all of these are packaged together and listed under "Oily Hair Bundle" on the site.
After prepping my hair, I then began rolling. In order to decrease dryer time I let it air dry for a while by doing other things around the house. Once I got under the dryer it did not even take an hour for my hair to finish drying!


Once my hair was done, I styled it with my fingers then wrapped it. After unwrapping it I began actually liking it. More than likely I'll do this again when the relaxer is more fresh so my roots can be laid down more. Nonetheless, I'm still happy that I did a no heat style this week just to give my hair a slight break with the heat.


Check out the video on this post here:


Week 11



For week 11 I wanted to do some curls but did not want tight curls at all. I also did not want to use rollers anymore because frankly I feel like my new growth just laughs at them at this point. So I pulled out my trusty Toi by L. Jones flat iron because with only one pass, my new growth has no other choice but to lay down! And I simply love when my hair cooperates with me, don't you? As always, I shampooed and prepped my hair in the shower. Here is what I used, in order:
I use this regimen quite often because my hair tends to create its own oils as the week goes by and if I use a lot of moisture products, it will make my hair way heavier that it needs to be.


After I detangled with the Leave-In Conditioner, I blow dried my hair then proceeded to flat iron. The pictures above and below are my end result. 

**About my new growth** I am noticing a lot of growth with my hair. My new growth is getting harder and harder to manage which is a great sign that my hair is growing. Remember, don't complain about having new growth if the plan is to grow your hair! The more new growth the better!


Check out the video below for this weeks post:


Week 12

This week marks the halfway point in my stretch! I am only twelve more short weeks away from getting a fresh relaxer! Honestly it does not seem like it has been twelve weeks although I have vowed to not do any more roller sets with this amount of new growth! 



This week I decided to use some moisturizing products. Remember, I do not do this every time, instead I only do it for maintenance. Here are the products I used on my hair for week 12:

  • Extreme Clean Shampoo
  • Extreme Moisture Shampoo
  • Intense Moisture Treatment
  • Leave-In Conditioner



After prepping my hair, I then blow dried it and flat ironed it straight. Then I wrapped it to get it even straighter. To add body I added rollers and let them stay in my hair overnight. You may be asking why not just curl it instead of flat ironing it straight? Well you can do that but I did not want my hair very curly. I wanted a little pump on the ends and I knew I could get the exact look I wanted with the rollers. My results came out great!


To maintain this look I wrapped my hair up for the night. You can also continue rolling it as well.  Check out the video for this post below:

Week 13






I can't believe it has actually been 13 weeks! No matter how many times I stretch my relaxer, it still seems like a lot of time, but at the same time it flies by. At this time, I still have a ways to go before my relaxer (11 more weeks to be exact) but I'll have to make it work. This week I told myself that I was going to have curly hair, but it stayed straight for longer than I thought. My plan was to straighten my hair first, then lower the heat and add curls. But once I saw it straight it was hard to change from that.


This week I actually shampooed my hair a bit differently than I normally do. But first, here are the products that I used:

I used the Extreme Moisture Shampoo first, then used the Extreme Clean second. My logic behind this is to clarify the extra moisture that I don't want since my hair tends to get oily faster. That way, I still get the benefits of both products. Then I used the Replenishing Conditioner and the results were fantastic! Super soft hair, which is always a plus.



After blow drying, I simply flat ironed and wrapped. Later I did go ahead and curl it after reducing the flat iron heat.





Check out the video on this post:



Week 14



This is week 14 of the series! Wow, I can't believe how the weeks are flying by! This week I decided to do a no heat style but refuse to do any more sets while I am this far in my stretch. So, next on my list of no heat styles was a ponytail. Normally I am not a huge fan of ponytails, but when they are neatly done they can look amazing.



Since I knew I would be putting my hair up, I decided to go ahead with adding more moisture to my hair than I usually do. Here are the items I used this week:

After applying the Leave-In Conditioner I detangled then blow dried my hair. Next, put my hair in a small bun and tied it down until the next morning. The next day all I had to do was take my scarf on and attach my (hand made) drawstring ponytail and I was off! It literally took me a total of about thirty minutes to do my hair. Now that is something that I can definitely get used to!



To tie my hair up at night I simply detached my ponytail, put my satin scarf back on it and went to sleep. This hairstyle was so low maintenance that I might say it was even easier to maintain than wrapping it! I'll definitely be doing a few of these looks in the upcoming weeks.


Week 15


Week 15 is a continuation of having my hair up and out of my way. I have been so spoiled by not having to literally do anything to my hair but tie it up then take the scarf off in the mornings. This is something I can get used to very quickly! This week I chose to do the faux bun using the braid hair. This could be considered another protective style because the majority of my hair is not in sight. My real hair is actually tucked away in a very small bun and is surrounded by the braid hair and securely pinned down.



I decided to use more moisturizing products this week due to the fact that I knew I would be wearing my hair up again so ramping up the moisture would be a plus. Normally I would not do this because extra moisture tends to weigh my hair down but that did not really matter this week since my hair would be up in a bun. Here are the products I used for this week:

After towel drying my hair it felt so amazingly soft, even while it was still wet! I did not blow dry my hair this week, but instead just detangled really good and pulled back into my ponytail. Then I tied down my edges with my scarf to make them lay flat. Once they were laid down I added the bun and pinned it down. For the week I simply tied it up with my scarf like I would when my hair is wrapped. In the mornings I simply took the scarf off and was out the door.



Check out the video for this week: (Don't forget to subscribe to the channel while you're watching)


Week 16


Hello week 16! This week I am continuing with my ponytail/updo journey that I have been on. In case you didn't know, these ponytails and buns have been incredibly amazing because of the fact that they have been super convenient. I'm talking SUPER.CONVENIENT! Plus, I like to wear ponytails and buns that are still cute and stylish. I made the ponytail you see this week as a drawstring ponytail unit so I can put it on and pull it off whenever I feel like it.


This week I did use the clarifying shampoo because I wanted to clear my hair of all product buildup and residue and start with a clean slate. I have been adding much more moisture than I normally do so using a clarifying shampoo this week did my hair some good. Here is exactly what I used this week:




Check out the video for this week: (Also subscribe to the channel!):


Week 17


How to stretch your relaxer for healthier hair

Week 17 of the series is here!  I can't believe I'm at month FOUR already! This week I was missing my hair being down so I decided to so it bone straight. I have been wearing my hair up for the past few weeks and while that has been nothing short of amazing, I want to see my hair. Plus, wearing my hair down gave me an opportunity to get dressed up and take some cute pics!

Stretching your relaxer is the ONLY way to have healthy, relaxed hair

This week I used the following items on my hair:

I stretch my relaxer for a minimum of 6 months (2x/year)

I wanted to use the Extreme Clean this time because I needed to get all oil and product buildup/residue off of my hair. The Extreme Clean Shampoo is sulfate and paraben free so it does not strip the hair but it does thoroughly cleanse the hair and lets me start with a clean slate. I followed up with the Replenishing Conditioner because it softens the hair up and helps me to detangle.  Lastly,  I applied the Leave-In Conditioner to help me further detangle, add an extra layer of moisture, and act as a thermal protectant. Once I detangled, I blow dried my hair then flat ironed it. I was still able to go through my hair with one pass but I had to take smaller sections. As it gets up in the weeks I find that I have to take very small sections in order to get it to my desired straightness.

Focus on having healthy hair and the length will come


To maintain my hair I wrapped it every night. Check out the video for this week below:

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Week 18





This week I decided to get a bit creative with my faux ponytail and do a faux bun! I do not know why I had the bright idea to wait until week 18 to do a "no heat" style with all of this new growth, but I did. Who knows, maybe I felt the need to challenge myself (which it definitely was a challenge getting all of my hair up in a ponytail). I loved this style for the week because the maintenance was so easy, there almost was no maintenance at all other than putting my silk scarf on at night.



This week I used the following products in my hair:





Week 19



This week I decided to switch it up a little bit. Instead of showing you my hair and how I shampoo and style it, I instead show you what it looks like at the end of the week. I also wanted to give you some pointers on how to keep your hair looking nice until you shampoo your hair again.



Check out the video for this post and be sure to subscribe to the channel!


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Week 20



This is week 20 of the stretch, also known as the five month mark! Wow, I can't believe how time has flown by. Only four more weeks and that will be the end of the series. This week I decided to go for curls. Of course my first mind wanted to do straight but I went for the curls anyway. Many of you have asked me how do I keep my edges and roots straight when I get up in the weeks. 



So, here are a few pointers to doing so when stretching:

  • Wrap your hair every.single.night! This will allow your edges and roots to be straight.
  • Heat will more than likely be required in the higher weeks. When you first get your relaxer you are able to get away with doing many no heat styles. But as your new growth gets thicker and thicker, you'll need the help of heat to get your hair straight, and you'll wrap to keep it straight.
  • The softer your new growth is, the easier it will be to straighten, so deep conditioning is definitely necessary.
Speaking of softening the hair, here is what I used this week on mine:
  • Extreme Clean Clarifying Shampoo
  • Extreme Moisture Moisturizing Shampoo
  • Replenishing Conditioner
  • Leave-In Conditioner 

After prepping the hair, I then blow dried and curled it. To maintain it, I used the flexi rods at night.

Check out the video below for this week's post.

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Week 21


I can't believe it has been 21 whole entire weeks since my last relaxer. Normally I can do a stretch just fine but this one has been a bit rough. Not because of my new growth, but because I'm ready to start doing other things to my hair like my protective styles. So I can honestly say I'm ready to be done with this stretch so I can be on to the next! I will go two more weeks before I get my braids. I won't be actually getting my relaxer at the end of this stretch because once I get braids, by hair will be up anyway and I don't want to put that tension of the braids onto freshly relaxed hair. Once I'm ready to wear my real hair again, I'll get my relaxer then. Now that I think about it, it will be close to one year before I get a relaxer again. This was not done on purpose but it just makes sense. Now, lets get on to what I did this week.


This week I decided to do straight again. It was much easier than curls at this point in my stretch. Here are the items I used this week on my hair:

As always, I was very generous with the Leave-In Conditioner because it also doubles as a heat protectant and it adds an extra layer of moisture to the hair. And it doesn't hurt that it also detangles amazingly well, all without weighing my hair down!



Check out the video I did this week below. Be sure to also subscribe to the channel!



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