Hi people, what's been on?

Sometime ago, I trimmed my hair.
 Trimming for me is not a scheduled event. It just happens.

 If I notice a huge amount of split ends, I trim.
If I notice a lot of knots, I trim.
 If my ends refuses to curl or straighten properly, I trim.
If I stumble upon a YouTube video of trimming, I trim.

I'm not scissors happy, I just don't have any love for damaged hair and won't hang on to it for the sake of length.

However, before this trim, I've saw little reason to trim because after watching that trimming video and inspecting my hair for reasons to trim, I didn't see much to motivate me. I did have split ends and knots here and there but not enough to warrant a trim...a quick search and destroy was enough to get rid of them.

I was very happy because this meant  my regimen was effective.
I explained about the Indian Oiling Regimen which helped keep my fine strands strong and also how I baby my ends so they stay happy.

So my latest trim had little to do with damage and more to do with evening out the length of my hair.

THE STRAIGHTENING
I started by clarifying my hair with a shampoo, Kinky Curly Come Clean Shampoo then applied a small amount of Beautiful Textures TMS leave in conditioner Step 2. See review here. My hair reverted back completely with no issues.
 I'm beginning to see it as a temporary protein treatment sort of like Aphogee Two Step protein treatment.
I used two caps full for my whole hair.

I allowed it to stay on for the recommended 20 mins then divided my hair into four (for easy styling).

I applied a heat protectant (Biolage Thermal Active repair serum), then dried my hair using tension method. This meant using my fingers to stretch my hair while blow drying.


Please note: It's better to use heat protectants instead of oils as they help evenly distribute heat to prevent damage.

Blow drying my hair first with the Tension method helps reduce damage from using a comb directly. When I do use a comb, my hair would be stretched and dried and there'll be less tangles.

I stretched all four sections in this way. Then went through them again with a Denman brush to get straighter hair.

THE TRIMMING

Then I trimmed off 1 inch from each section. I went over the ends again to make sure it was layered nicely.

If you're not really down with using heat on your hair, you can trim your ends when your hair is in minitwists and if you have a natural hair salon near you, you can save yourself the DIY and have someone pamper your hair for a change.

THE BRAIDOUT

After trimming, I applied NappyGirl Pudding to the ends of my hair, the Growth oil to my scalp and length then braided my hair. I did 2 braids.
I do not apply any leave in conditioner so my hair won't revert. I use a penetrating oil instead.



In the morning, I carefully took down the braids for a braidout.



I  maintained my hair by lightly oiling the length with the NappyGirl Growth Enhancing oil, applyied the pudding to my ends and braided (two braids), then slept in my new satin turban bonnet (I still couldn't find my other bonnet).

I had my hair straight for two weeks.

Reasons for my routine are,

- Lightly oiling my hair prevents it from getting brittle.
- Maintaining my hair in braids protects my stretched hair. There's power in a cord of three.
- Sleeping with a bonnet at night protects my stretched edges.
- Doing a curly style like braidouts, bantu knot outs, roller sets reduce the temptation to comb/brush my hair often. Straight hair is work o.
- I'll also be bunning my hair most of the time or leaving it in braids. I rarely let my stretched hair down because I love my ends.

Other ways I maintain my stretched hair is by banding or by making a big bantu knot.



I usually straighten my hair most times for harmattan and have coily styles like wash and goes for the rainy season.
This isn't set in stone though because sometimes I may decide to wash and go for harmattan seasons but rarely.
Here is why straightening my hair helps reduce damage.

How do you prevent split ends and knots?
What's your favorite way to trim?