Texture Thursday: Length Check

Length Check:  What a difference a year can make!

Every 3-4 months, I get my routine trim.  I'm not a big fan of straighten hair because I have fine hair, but it is nice to change my hair once in a while.  Yesterday, I got my much need trim.  The difference between this trim and my previous trims is that I changed my co-washing regimen.  Here's the my story: 

In February 2012, I started co-washing.  My hair thanked me and it was better moisturized.  Around this time, I also perfected my L.O.C. method.  April 2012, my hair was to my shoulders!  My hair hadn't been this long since college, so I wanted to make sure I did everything right.  During the Summer of 2012, I didn't have the money to get my regular trims.  I thought by moisturizing my hair alone, my hair would be saved when I finally did.  By September, I noticed that my ends looked raggedy and my hair stopped responding to the co-washes.  Thanks to a couple of my friends, they got me to change to a better moisturizing conditioner and stop using a lot of proteins.  I used coconut oil in all my products: shampoo, conditioner, leave-in, deep conditioner and moisturizer.  This made my hair feel semi-hard. It felt like I used a sulfate shampoo with product on top of it. I don't know if it was because I needed a trim or if I had too much product build up. Even when I used a sulfate-free shampoo to remove the build up, afterwards, it still felt semi-hard when I co-washed again.

After I trimmed my hair in October 2012, I cut back on the coconut oil and only used it in my shampoo and leave-in.  I also switched from Suave Naturals to V05.  When I changed my regimen, my hair felt better than ever.  I also started installing Marley Twists as a protective style to keep the stress off my hair.  When I got my trim today, I realized it was a year since I first co-washed.  I decided to compare my pictures in 6 month intervals to see a difference.

And here are the results:  Growth and fullness!


Front.

Back.  My hair is much fuller after a year of co-washing.

Thanks to all my curly heads who helped me change my regimen!  My hair may be at the same length it was a year ago, but it is the healthiest it has ever been.  I'm going to get to my hair goal in no time!

Click here to check out the rest of my regimen!