HAIRSCAPADES GROW OUT CHALLENGE – STRUCTURE

Hi to all my GOCers!!! First and foremost, thank you for joining the challenge!!!! I hope to provide you with a venue that will be supportive and encouraging, motivating and inspiring, helpful and useful!! However, I will need your help to make that hope a reality! I definitely cannot do this alone and will be relying on your submissions, pics, questions, updates and anything else you or I can dream up to make this a success!!

Second, I want to set a framework for this challenge that will provide a structure that will help you all participate, share, as well as let you know what to expect and when. So, let’s begin!!!

CHALLENGE GUIDELINES

1.  Many of you have already indicated your goals in this post. However, it’s time to get a bit more detailed about where you are now and how you plan to achieve the goal(s) you’ve established. In order to “officially” enter the challenge, please e-mail the following information to hairscapades@gmail.com with the subject “GOC – The Sequel” by Friday, July 29th Saturday, March 31st.

• Name: Real, first only or alias (whatever is comfortable for you).
• Goal(s): If you are setting a length goal, you can use the chart above to state your current length and goal length (this will ensure that we are all speaking the same language=). If you are setting a weight loss goal, you can indicate your current weight and goal weight, your goal weight only or the amount of weight that you would like to lose over this six month period. And, remember, it’s important to set realistic and achievable goals. The goals should be a challenge, but they should also be attainable. It’s very unlikely that anyone is going to be able to go from shoulder length to waist length in 6 months. Losing 100 lbs is also probably a little fantastical. However, if you’d really like to lose 50 pounds, but set 5 as your goal, I’d suggest raising your expectations;).
• Pictures: Hair in its present state (front, side and back). If you are setting a length goal, a length check pic (straightened or stretched curls) is preferred. If you have a hair health goal, a quality picture demonstrating the issue or area of concern would be helpful. If you are setting a weight/fitness goal, take a picture of yourself at your current weight. Taking the picture is mandatory, submitting it is NOT. I’m very cognizant of being self-conscious about excess weight and would never force anyone to submit a “before” picture if they do not want to do so. However, though submitting the pic is optional, I believe that having a “before” picture will enable you to truly see the results of your efforts at the end of the challenge. On January 31, 2012, you may not mind publicizing that “before” picture  when you can send it in with an “after”=).
• Regimen: Your planned routine for your hair (steps and products), diet, fitness, faith and/or any other goals. If you have no clue about what you need to do to achieve your goals and that’s why you are here, please indicate what you are currently doing (i.e. your normal hair routine, fitness routine or lack thereof, current diet, etc.). This will help us understand what you may be doing that support your goals, as well as what you may be doing that is a detriment to them. It will also enable us to make suggestions or provide you with options for your regimen.
• Reward: I think that it is important to reward yourself for reaching milestones as you work towards your goals. So, what will you do to reward yourself? You can set a reward for the end of the goal (i.e. a vacation, “splurge” purchase, new hair cut at that expensive salon with rave reviews, etc.) or interim rewards (i.e. internet surfing, mini purchase, etc.). You may want to check out my post on Motivation for ideas.
• Link(s): If you have, or plan to create, a blog, Fotki, YouTube or website to chronicle/journal your progress, please provide the link address. If you don’t have or want any of these things, I’d suggest that you keep a written journal/diary for yourself to chronicle your activities on a regular basis (i.e. daily, weekly or bi-weekly at the minimum).

(Note: If your ends are seriously damaged due to splits, SSKs and/or heat damage, I strongly suggest that you get a trim – professional or DIY – in order to begin the challenge. You can’t retain length or improve thickness if every inch you grow at the roots is breaking off at the ends.)

This information will be your official entrée into the challenge. The GOC entry submissions will be posted in groups every day over the course of the first week of the challenge (or more, depending on the number of entries that I receive). My goal is to post 10 participants a day in a single post. Individuals who would like to participate after the challenge officially begins on 8/1 may do so. The same information outlined above is required and additional entries will be posted as needed.

2.  New GOC Menu: A new menu category tab has been created entitled, “GOC.” These rules will be posted as the home page.  Sub-categories will be created for various aspects of the challenge and additional categories will be added as needed. My hope is that this will provide an organized format so that you can quickly drill down to the type of information you are seeking. The categories I’ve initially identified are as follows:

• Participants
• Status Updates
• Guest Features
• Tips & Tricks
• Got Skills?
• Health & Fitness
• Styles
• Hairpourri

3.  Status Updates: There will be a monthly check-in required at the beginning of each month. These status updates will help you hold yourself accountable and will also provide you with the encouragement of your fellow GOCers. Sometimes you will have setbacks, challenges or will simply fall off of the wagon. The updates are not a way for us to judge you, but rather a way to help you overcome issues or get back on the horse. When you’ve reached certain milestones, they will serve to provide you with the pats on the back that help spur you onward and upward. By the Friday of the first full week of each month, participants must e-mail me with the subject, “GOC – Status Update” and state how they are progressing in regard to their regimens, attainment of goals, advise of any adjustments and challenges and provide 1-3 current pictures (okay, you know me, I must have pictures!! LOL!). Here are a few questions that you can think about and answer to help you frame your update:

• How you did in regard to following your planned regimen (hair and health & fitness)?
• What tweaks have you made (did you try something new? Add something? Remove something, etc.)?
• What products and/or techniques did you add or remove and why?
• What styles did you wear?
• Have you had any challenges? Setbacks? Accomplishments?
• Don’t forget the pics!! We love to see your beautiful hair and lovely styles:)!

4.  Guest Features: I will be accepting (and begging for=) submissions for more extensive features, articles, videos, tutorials and HairStories to post throughout the challenge for participants in the GOC. These features can take many forms. You can submit a repost from your own blog, a video from your YouTube channel, a HairStory using one of the interview formats provided or any other item you think may be of interest.  I hope to receive enough submissions to provide at least one of these every week. If you would like to submit something under this category, please e-mail it to me with the subject, “GOC – Guest Feature.”

5.  Tips & Tricks: I will (attempt;) to provide 30 days of tips to help you towards achieving hair length, thickness and/or health goals. These tips may not be on consecutive days and will not be posted on the weekends (hey, I need a break sometimes;-). I am not an expert and definitely do not know everything. So, these Tips & Tricks will be composed of things that have either worked for me or that I’ve read have worked for others. As is often said on the hair sites, no two heads of hair are the same. What works for one, may not work for another. So, please only take these as what they are, suggestions. They are not the gospel and you may find that doing something completely opposite of what is posted works for you. In fact, if you do, please say so in the comments because someone else may benefit from your regimen and learnings!!

6.  Got Skills?:  This was a category suggested by JKoi/Jen for questions from all of you. This category will provide for a weekly (more or less, as needed) question. I will try to answer it as best as I can and if I am able. However, this question is for all of us. So, if you can provide any insights or suggestions, we want them in the comments=)!! Please e-mail me your most burning questions with the subject, “GOC – Got Skills?” (are you sensing a pattern yet?;)

7.  Health & Fitness: As you may  know, I am somewhat of a fitness and health enthusiast. So, I have already provided some posts related to these topics. Many of you have indicated that you want to improve your health, lose weight and/or maintain weight-loss over the course of this challenge. That being said, I will be providing posts related to health & fitness. I will also have a special guest blogger who may be providing many of the posts, JKoi/Jen, a fellow Kim Coles’ GOC blogger and a … wait for it … US MARINE. Now, how gangsta is that?!?! Also, if you have any posts related to this area that you’d like to be featured, please e-mail them to me with the subject, “GOC – Health & Fitness.”

8.  Styles: Protective and/or low manipulation styling options will be listed here as well as their normal location. I figured this might be convenient for some. Everyone is always looking for great styles, so please e-mail me yours with a video, picture and/or written tutorial with the subject, “GOC – Styles.”

9. Hairpourri:  This is the catch-all for those potpourri posts that don’t fit into any of the above categories. If you would like to submit anything under this category, such as product/accessory/tool reviews, DIY projects, etc., please e-mail me with the subject, “GOC – Hairpourri.”

(Note: Many of the posts will be associated to categories that fall under the GOC tab as well as other tabs. I am not creating a separate tab for Reviews under the “GOC” menu item. Instead, reviews will be assigned to the Potpourri, Reviews and Products categories so that you can find them in multiple locations.)

10.  Subscribe: You may want to subscribe to Hairscapades, if you haven’t already done so. This will ensure that you don’t miss any new content as you’ll be notified by e-mail when new articles are posted. I mean, you don’t have to, but I’d appreciate it=)!

So guys, that’s all I’ve got! It’s enough, right?!?! If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute in any way not outlined above, please let me know!! I welcome any help that I can get as this is a full-time job … and I already have one of those! LOL!

(Final Note: I’m a natural-born editor and am known as the Grammar Police among my family, friends and colleagues. However, it takes a lot of work and effort. Therefore, please be mindful of your spelling and grammar when submitting posts for the challenge. I don’t expect perfection … shoot, I know I make typos as I’m constantly going back to fix them when I re-read posts. However, it is important to me that my site contain posts that are clear in content and form and correct in spelling and grammar. Given the volume of e-mails that I may be receiving, it will be helpful if they are as grammatically correct as possible. Remember, “your” is a possessive, “you’re” is a conjunction. Just Kidding!!  Not really ;).)

G  R  O  W    B  A  B  Y ,    G  R  O  W  !  !  !  ! 

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Want to see what the first round did? Click the links to see their submissions and use the search box to find all of the status updates of any of our challengers (please note, some challengers didn’t provide any status updates).

GROW OUT CHALLENGERS (ROUND ONE: AUG 2011 – JAN 2012)

FIRST WAVE: 1. Kendall; 2. Michelle Howard Smith; 3. Mershauna; 4. Krystal K.; 5. Icela

SECOND WAVE: 6. Taylor; 7. Adrienne; 8. Tiffany M.; 9. Miche’al; 10. Chandra

THIRD WAVE: 11. Amy E.; 12. Etoile; 13. Hurjurnee (aka La Nita); 14. Terysa; 15. LaDonya

FOURTH WAVE: 16. Tiffany N.; 17. Mis Leah; 18. Lakisha aka Kish Kish; 19. Tianna; 20. TWhite

FIFTH WAVE: 21. Rece; 22. Ky; 23. CoilyNP; 24. Viv; 25. Jasmine Mitchell

SIXTH WAVE: 26. Martinique; 27. Shannon aka ShayShaySweetie04; 28. Kayla aka KurlyGirl85; 29. Stephanie; 30. Marsha

SEVENTH WAVE: 31. Rotaugia Mathews-Pope; 32. Tiffany J.; 33. Corinne; 34. CoilyRob; 35. Michelle aka Mickey

EIGHTH WAVE: 36. CJ; 37. Luv.Lyfe; 38. Valencia; 39. Kim Renee’; 40. Nicole

NINTH WAVE: 41. T-kia; 42. TheMizzezz; 43. Matoya aka NaturallyBeautiful22; 44. JT; 45. Shelli

TENTH WAVE: 46. Jen; 47. Josie; 48. Dr. B. Natural; 49. Charelle; 50. Carla; 51. Ashley F.

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