My Paul Mitchell Salon/School Experience: Straightened Natural Hair

Hello Lovelies!
 I hope you all are doing fantastic today. The last couple of weeks have been crazy here at our home! My children and I were involved in a car accident last week, and its just been an overwhelming experience. Thank God everyone is all right. But now comes the legal mumbo jumbo, attorneys, chiropractor appointments weekly, our smashed up vehicle. Oy. Its a lot. But I wont complain because we are alive and the accident couldve been a whole lot worse. But God is GREAT!
 I digress. You came here to read about my hair, not my life. So. My hair is..STRAIGHT!

 Comparison Shot:

( photo cred goes to My wonderful stylist, Nish! @just_hair1 on Instagram)

 Back View (Please ignore my face here lol)

Car Selfie!!

The Process:
 I came to the Paul Mitchell School at noon and waited a couple minutes for my stylist, Nish in a beautiful professional waiting area. When she came and got me, we discussed pricing (12 dollars for everything: Wash, Condition, Blow Out, Thermal Straightening, and Trim!!!!) and then proceeded to go to the Wash House, a separate room in the salon just for hair washing!
 The Wash House was so ambient and relaxing. The room is dimly lit and aromatherapy candles were burning to create and soothing environment for the clients. It was so relaxing. I love getting my hair washed anyway, but the lighting and candles just completely set off the whole salon experience for me. Nish washed my hair with warm water, and used a Paul Mitchell shampoo from their Awapuhi line called Moisturizing Lather Shampoo:

This shampoo is sulfate free and smells amazing! Not too heavy, and not too light. She then conditioned my hair with a product that is known in the natural hair community, Paul Mitchells "The Conditioner" :

After conditioning, Nish said my hair didnt feel as soft and as silky as it could be for easier detangling, so she pullled another product out of her magic Paul Mitchell stash:  Paul Mitchell Instant Moisture

This treatment is technically a leave in conditioner, but Nish used it as a rinse out. She left it in my hair for  about 5 minutes before rinsing it out. Let me tell you, my hair was so SOFT after she rinsed it out. Detangling my hair with a wide tooth comb was so easy for her after that. I will definately have to think about investing in that product.

 After detangling, we went back to the beauty chair for further detangling and  adding a leave in and serum (not sure of the kind she used exactly, but I know they were from the Awapuhi line). Then she sectioned off my hair for blow drying.
 After drying, Nish straightned my hair. She used the chase method, which involes flat ironing the root of the hair first, and then "chasing" the flat iron down the hair strand with a fine tooth comb. The result of using this method is a straighter, smoother flat iron. The heat setting was set at 375 degrees. She also gave me a trim, because my ends were a little shabby.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the heat protectant that Nish used. Of course, it another Paul Mitchell product :-)

Its called Hot Off the Press. Its a spray, and for the record, all heat protectant sprays are the same in my eyes. As long as they contain some type of silicone to create a barrier between the flatiron and the hair, then I'm good!

So, I arrived at the salon at noon, and left around 4:30 pm. Not bad! I remember being at salons for 8 hour sometime back
when my hair was relaxed !!

Let me know what you guys think!  xoxo

Happy 2014! Hair Update

Hellloooo Everyone!
Wow. I havent had a blog post in a year!! How shameful. Life is just crazy with its ups downs and everything in between.  But I have no complaints and I am so blessed :) Happy 2014 everyone!
 So. My hair. To the best of my knowledge, my hair is now completely 100 percent fully natural. I trimmed the last of my relaxed ends off.....I believe it was late summer/ early fall of 2013. I will have to reference my Instagram page for an exact date lol. I have not been to a professional stylist in a couple of years but I do plan on going to one once I hit my 1 year natural - versary this year for a trim and possibly flat ironing. The journey so far has been pretty good. Im glad (SO glad) that I am completely chemical free, and my hair seems to be thriving. I dont know how long it is, I dont really use heat on it, and plus my hair is pretty uneven. Thats how it has always been, and I think that is true for most people. My hair is shorter in the front and longer in the back. When I get it styled this year I will post some pictures here so that you can see the progress that I have made. :)
 A couple things I struggle with as a natural are split ends and single-strand knots. I find the "Search and Destroy" method of clipping the little knots at the ends of my strands extremely tedious.  I have so much hair and it feels like I cannot get every single knot! Maybe I cant. However, I try my best. As far as split ends go, I trim them as I see them and try my best to keep my hair moisturized.
 Here are a few hair pictures of my current hair. I hope you all have a blessed day and I will be back with an updated regimen post!

S/O to my girl, Star for unintentionally reminding me that I have a blog. Lol. Check out her blog...shes doing a Vegan Challenge!