Grow Yo' Hair Challenge: One Year Later

I have wanted long hair for years. And years. And guess what?! It is finally happening for me! I wrote in a previous post that my hair is the kind that just does not grow, no matter what I do to it, what vitamins I sporadically eat, what products I use, etc. It was the same exact length for years. I begged my hair dresser to only take a millimeter when we trimmed. The answer to my wish? Young Living Essential Oils. 

Let's review:

This was me at this time last year. Sad hair, sad face!

Started using oils and one month later.... much better!

And here I am in all my gloriousness a year later! 

Like, Oh My God Becky, look at those inches?! (Do NOT look at that face with no makeup on though!) I cannot be any happier with the progress I have made over the last year. It takes a lot of work and some smelly oils, but the additional growth is totally worth it. I used cedar wood on the ends, and rosemary and cedarwood on my scalp. Come see me by signing up as a customer or better, a distributor for Young Living here. 

My New Year's resolution? Add another 6 inches onto my hair and have an Elsa braid. Yes, I went there. I want an Elsa braid damn it! Who cares if I am almost 30 ;)

Have a productive New Year and stay pretty!

Growing Hair When Hair Just Won't Grow

You know that moment when you want to smack your friend because she had a cute little sling bob four months ago and now her hair is down to her shoulders? Yeah, me too. My hair grows SO slow. As in, I've had my current license picture for almost four years now and up until about six months ago, the only thing that changed was the color. I decided that if I really wanted to grow my hair out, I had to be super serious. I ditched the bleach blonde (that alone SHOULD have worked, but didn't by itself!?) and took up a strict regimen with my hair care routine. Here's the strategies I used. Check out my results afterward :)

1. I dyed my hair a dark brown. For years, I had been bleaching my blonde hair even blonder. It's bad, period. Color actually deposits onto your hair shaft rather than drawing out, so hair color alone helped me get on track to long hair.

2. I started using Nioxin System 3 for chemically treated hair. This is a miracle worker in itself. After my pregnancy (check out my little butterfly here: callistasjourney.blogspot.com) my stress levels went up and my hair fell out. Like, clumps, gobs, and handfuls. Eew. After starting Nioxin, I could see the difference in about two months. I had all these tiny little hairs sticking up from my scalp. My awesome hair dresser informed me that yes, they were indeed NEW HAIR! Woo hoo!! But with Nioxin, it's important to be consistent and use the whole system. Otherwise you're just wasting your money on a minty scent.

3. I vowed to only use one kind of heat every day, and to avoid heat if I could. I already wash my hair every other day to try and grow it, but I was blow drying and then straightening after. Invest in some heat protection spray that can be used with your dryer AND your heat tools. I love Silk Olive heat spray for super cheap at Sally Beauty.

4. Within the last two months, I have added Young Living Essential Oil Cedarwood to my hair process and I can already tell the difference. Just look at the pictures... All that growth (an inch or more!) after just adding cedarwood. That stuff is crazy good! Yeah, it's smelly, but who the heck cares when you see THESE results?! Here's my sign up link if you're interested in purchasing this or any essential oil: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?site=US&sponsorid=1605262&enrollerid=1605262 

I will be working on my No Heat Challenge starting in June (when I don't have to look presentable over summer break LOL) so I look forward to posting the next set of pictures after that!!