365 Days to long locks-- Hair Arsenal

Truth: I envy each and every one of you with beautiful long locks of hair....

Okay so today I am going to give you all the 4-1-1 on my hair. God blessed me with a head of very, very curly hair, and until I reached junior high that is how I wore my hair. It was easy, I washed it and let it do its thing. But then as as i got older I realized my curly hair was cool-no-more and was more of a pain than anything. You must understand something about my hair.. my hair is not corse, not thick and not textured in any way -- my hair is thin, soft and fine aka white girl curly hair. So when I was around 12 years old I got a relaxer ... ummm bad idea. It fried my virgin hair and it was just a trainwreck. So thats when I discovered the life changing appliance-- the flat iron. Yep, I developed a bad habit of straightening my hair nearly every day, and reaped the consequences of split ends. 

However, about four years back I went to cosmetology school and took on a whole new perspective for my hair care routine and drastically cut my hair into an A symmetrical bob (as well as dying it plenty of fun colors and doing all the things cosmetology students do when they first start school). It was short people.. and has been until about 6 months ago when I decided I want long locks! With long hair I wont have to worry about looking like Shirley Temple when I get out of the pool... with long locks I can put my hair in a fun top knot ... or curl it without looking really awkward. 

So as of January 1st, 2012.. the following is included in my hair Arsenal: 

1. Biotin -- Okay so I don't take the super potency 5,000 mcg, but I do take the 1,00 mcg 4x a day. The biggest change I have noticed is in how much stronger my nails are. It does help hair growth too(:
2. NISIM F.A.S.T -- ever heard of this stuff? I hadn't until a few months ago. F.A.S.T stands for fortified amino scalp therapy. The gist of it, is if you use it every day, it works like vitiamns for your scalp and yields results up to 99% faster than normal hair growth. Is it a gimick ? Maybe.. but hey Im willing to try anything. I've been using it for 27 days now... every day. 
3. Redken -Extreme CAT-- After shampooing, I ring all the excess water out of my hair and spray this on the shaft to the ends of my hair and let it sit for 3-5 min. What does it do ? Well it reconstructs, reconditions, and strengthens your hair! This stuff is fantastic; it defiantly doesn't give you instant gratification but over time I have been noticing stronger locks. 
4. It's A 10 Miracle Leave In Product -- love love love this stuff. Post shower, I spray this all over my towel dried hair. It's called "It's a 10" because it does 10 miracle-like things: 1. Repairs dry damaged hair. 2. Adds shine. 3. Smoothes and controls frizz. 4. Seals and protects hair color. 5. Detangles. 6. Prevents split ends. 7. Stops hair breakage. 8. Creates silkiness. 9. Enhances natural body. 10. Flat iron spray and thermal protector.
5. Nexxus Pro Mend Leave-in Treatment -- Okay so this is pretty amazing. It literally binds your split ends together for beautiful healthy looking hair!
6. Redken Real Control Slim Supreme -- a few pumps of this in damp hair before blow drying make for fantastic results. Reduces excessive volume and adds sleek smoothness with all-day humidity resistance and luscious shine.
7. Chi 44 Iron Guard-- If I can give you one piece of advice it would be to protect, protect, protect. Always use a heat protectant on your hair before styling with heat tools. This is what I use. A few spritzes before I flat iron and I'm good to go !

It seems like a lot, but this has been working great for me so far. Along with constantly using the same products daily I have made an effort to only straighten my hair on the weekends and be a curly girl M-F. Yep its been an adjustment, but only using heat on my hair 2 days a week has been a life changer! I'm not sure if my hair will ever be 'long' but for now I'll keep you all updated with my monthly progress!