Tag Archives: chicoro

Dec8

Lead Hair Experiment: Jackie

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Meet Jackie, the other volunteer for our Chicoro lead hair experiment! This is her starting point submission of 9/18! She’ll update us with her progress in January 2012. But for now, let’s learn a little about her, her regimen, her current state and her goals!

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Hi, my name is Jackie. I am a graduate student and I’ve been natural(no relaxer) since 14, however I would blow dry and flat iron my hair to within an inch of its life. As of January 2011, I have been a healthy natural, no blow dryers or flatirons since then. Today was the first time in nine months that I’ve used a flat iron. My goal is to have bra strap length hair. I have recently started to do protective styles to help retain length. If any ladies have any helpful tips to maintain length, I would love to hear them!

I have attached he intial pics of my hair that I took today (9/18/11). I got a trim to even out my hair and get rid of some split ends. You can see the thinning edges of my hair on the t-shirt.

My Regimen:

Daily:

  • Usually re-twist  my hair each night with water and EVCO.
  • Detangle every other night with my fingers.
  • Wear updos as a form of protective styling.
  • Cover head each night in my silk bonnet or use my satin pillowcase.

Weekly:

  • Co-wash approximately 4 time a week with either Suave Tropical Coconut or Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition (I go to the gym very frequently, so I use conditioner to wash my hair afterwards).
  • Deep condition twice a week. I alternate between a regular conditioner and a protein rich conditioner (Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition or Queen Helene Cholesterol with Ginsing DC both with EVOO, honey, and EVAO.) I don’t use a heat source I usually put a hat over the plastic cap and wear it for an hour or more depending on my mood/schedule.
  • Apply leave-in (I have yet to find an amazing leave-in, so I sometime use my conditioner as a leave in if my hair is feeling dry).
  • Seal with EVCO, shea butter and/or EVOO

Monthly:

  • Pre-poo with a mix of equal parts honey, EVCO and EVOO for about 30-60 min.
  • Shampoo once every 4-6 weeks with Burt’s Bee’s Baby Shampoo.
  • Detangle using Denman D3 Brush.
  • Henna

Supplements (daily):

  • Women’s multi-vitamin
  • Biotin-5000 mcg

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Check out Jackie on her blog, Engineering Natural Beauty, to see how she is progressing and learn about modifications that she’s made to her regimen since September!

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Dec7

Lead Hair Experiment: Michelle’s Update

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TO BE lead hair or NOT TO BE lead hair? That is the question!

Do you remember that, a few months back, I wrote a post entitled, Chicoro’s Lead Hair Theory? And, do you remember that I asked for guinea pigs to participate in a lead hair experiment? And then, remember how I never wrote anything else about the experiment? Ummmm … yeah … my bad! *lol*

See, I ultimately did enlist two viable volunteers. The first is our very own Michelle of Radiant Brown Beauty and the GOC First Wave. Below are her October and December length check comparison photos and thoughts.

M i c h e l l e

Attached is my hair growth comparison photos from October and December 2011. Not real impressive. There’s a little over a 1/2 inch of length (maybe about 1/4 inch a month, but I think that it was more). I had some breakage, so this could be better. I’m 95% sure that all the over-manipulation of my strands caused hair breakage in the back. I know better for next time. The sides and front of my hair have not incurred any breakage. They are growing nicely. My crown is also growing in (you’ll notice it in the non-lead hair photo).

Here are my take-aways or, rather, my update:

  • Stick with big twists and buns and cutting down on braids (except the occasional fishtail).
  • Cut back from washing twice weekly to once weekly..
  • Increase my protein treatments from once a month to weekly.
  • Added a new vitamin to my regimen.
  • Working on improving exercise, which is sporadic due to my schedule.

Stretching my lead hair. At 7 in Oct; at 8 in Dec.

Hair not stretched at all. You’ll notice the hair filled in and grew in some of the spaces.

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I definitely see an increase in length and thickness Michelle! One component of Chicoro’s theory and method that I didn’t know when I wrote the prior post is the concept of goal points. However, Misha explained it in the comments on that post and I’ve since read the concept in Grow It! In order to really the test the theory, I would suggest the following:

  • Set your first goal point length (which should not be more than two to four inches longer than the bulk of your hair).
  • Keep your lead hairs at that length to evaluate whether the shorter lengths grow to fill in your perimeter and create full thickness at (or beyond) your goal point. 
  • Once the bulk of your hair reaches your goal point, trim all hair even at that point. 
  • Then, you start over again by setting a new goal point.

This may not be your cup of tea, but just wanted to suggest it, as well as explain it for the benefit of those not familiar with the process. Can’t wait for your update at the end of January!

Tomorrow, I’ll share the starting point of our other Lead Hair experiment volunteer. So, stay tuned!