I posted an article over a year ago about my plans and goals for my hair in 2014. I had forgotten about this but Youtuber TheKGLifestyle just posted a video on 2015 goals and it jogged my memory. So here’s an update on how I did throughout 2014…

• Wear more protective styles. I think I did a lot better with this in my newly natural days. I think I only wore mini braids once last year. On a regular basis, I did wear my hair mostly in large twists for the week. I worked out a lot and that was the most convenient for me. That counts right? right? 😬 I usually were my hair in a high bun daily anyway.
• Use less heat. This one was sort of a pass and fail. 😕 I wanted to stop straightening so much and stop diffusing my wash and goes. I did well with not straightening- mostly because it takes so much time and in the humidity, my hair just doesn’t stay straight. But in 2014, I was the queen of the wash and go and I diffused my hair every. single. time. I wore back to back WnGs and redid them about every 4-5 days. I probably used more heat that usual. But I did sit under a hooded dryer occasionally. My hair just won’t airdry in a reasonable amount of time.
• Use more oils and butters. I did finally restock my shea butter and make a shea butter mix to seal the entire length of my hair. I did find that it was really difficult to cowash off so I cut back. I have been coating my mini braids in shea butter. I didn’t do oil rinses consistently or try new butters. 😐
• Focus on problem areas. I didn’t think about the hair at my widows peak or edges. I trimmed the hair at my crown a lot. It’s still shorter and thinner than it should be. 😕 I tried to do my buns differently so I wouldn’t stress that area. My nape still needs help too.
• Find an all-natural, hard protein product. I used neutral protein filler from Sally’s a lot. It’s not all natural but it’s cheap and can be diluted to last a while. I still haven’t tried the Aubrey Organics, but I plan to when I take these braids out.
• Find hair perfume or styling product with a pleasant scent that lingers. I didn’t find a leave in that I love, but I bought the Terrescentials Left Coast Lemon clay wash and it smells great. Even though you rinse it out the scent does linger a bit. I also use lemon and orange essential oils to scent my homemade products.
• Repurchase staples. This is the one area that I absolutely followed through on. 👏 I kept a stock of my Giovanni conditioners, my cholesterol DC, and my Shea Moisture leave in.
• Finally, some length goals… Grow hair to waist length. I’m still not claiming waist length. 😮 I got a few haircuts in 2014. I actually miss how good my wash and go looked when I first got it cut. I’m toying with the idea of getting another cut…