Tag Archives: Length check

Growth : : Viviscal update

Growth : : Viviscal update

Hey ya’ll!

About a month ago, I posted about my challenge to see how long my hair could grow this year and I provided a list of remedies I planned to try out throughout the year. I listed the natural oral supplement, Viviscal, as one of the things I wanted to try and I just finished my first 30-day supply (check out my intro post on Viviscal here). I made sure I didn’t use any other growth remedies (except drinking my teas and doing a couple ayurvedic treatments) at the same time so that I could attribute any difference to the vitamins.

lacocobella_viviscal_1I DEFINITELY noticed a difference in my hair!! Not so much in the growth department, it says you need to take it for 3-6 months to really see a difference in growth BUT I can’t begin to tell you how much thicker my hair is! It’s a lot thicker and much denser. I can really tell most when I’m doing my hair, especially in the shower. I was amazed, since Viviscal nourishes your hair from the root up, it’s like it was like my strands all got collagen injections and plumped them up lmao!! So as a result, my hair is much stronger, has more elasticity, it’s fuller and has more bulk to it. I also feel like my roots are much stronger as well. My hair and scalp don’t feel so fragile and tender anymore. It just feels much healthier overall.

Another thing I noticed, although not related to my hair, my nails were a LOT thicker! My nails aren’t really brittle or anything to begin with but they have become even stronger! When I polish them, it looks like I have on gels and they kept their shape for a long time without me having to file them. I am ALWAYS working with my hands so having a chipped nail or two is common for me. So yea, this helps with nails too! :o)

If you are considering trying an oral supplement, PLEASE be sure to check out the labels/ingredients and make sure you don’t have any allergies and are not nursing or pregnant. Not all supplements work with everyone’s body chemistry. My results may be different from the next person’s. Some people may experience more growth than thickness in the first month or maybe no difference at all! This is not a miracle pill but it could give your hair a little boost :o)

I am in no hurry to reach a certain hair length, so my hair growth challenge is just a fun thing to see how long this sutff on my head can grow. As with all things, you have to have patience and consistency since our hair all grows at a different rate. I feel like this is something I would need to take long term to really see GROWTH but the health of my hair outweighs the importance of growth any day.

I would continue taking Viviscal right away but I do have a few other things I would like to try first :o) (stay tuned for those!) I want to try each remedy on its own to be able to assess what really works for me. I also want to see if it’s one of those things where as soon as you stop taking it, the benefits revert. I will give it another month to determine if the results revert. If they do not, I will definitely purchase Viviscal and continue to taking it regularly!

Ok PLEASE forgive these photos of me lol taking length check pics is not the easiest task lol I had to bend and twist a bit. I probably should have done this when I first started taking Viviscal but like I said, I didn’t notice much growth….just thickness and health. So anyways, please disregard the bare face, chunky chunks and pale skin due to the flash lol…please proceed!

To give you an Idea of my starting point, here’s a pic of the longest part of my hair about a month ago. I can say I maybe got 1/2 – 1in of new growth…

lauren_lacocobella_length_check_January_2013

Here’s my hair at the longest point in the very back of my head. Its about to my bra strap, right below my shoulder blade. My hair is cut into layers to it has different lengths all over. viviscal_results_length_check_lacocobella

I got a little nifty and figured I would put a pink line in the pics so you can see where the piece of hair I am stretching is starting from my head. It’s hard to tell otherwise. Sorry I didn’t have a ruler or anything, that would be just too much work lol I already had my boyfriend doing enough by taking the pics lol

So this pic is from the middle of the back of my head to right at my shoulder blade.

viviscal_results_length_check7_lacocobella

This shot looks so dumb lol but anyway, this is the length from directly at the top of my head (the crown) down, falls a little below my shoulders. I know you can’t see the strand I am stretching but it’s in there, I promise lol Why does the flash make my hand look white though? o_O

viviscal_results_length_check9_lacocobella

This one is from a little above the middle of my head but more to the side, kinda above my ears. Bout two inches below my shoulders. Sorry my hand is blocking the ends of that piece.

viviscal_results_length_check8_lacocobella

Another silly looking shot lol this one is pretty self explanatory — my hair in the front. It’s about 4-5 in below my chin, to my armpits/right above my cleavage. You can see how my ends are so much thinner than my roots because that’s where my damaged hair from dying it awhile back is. At least its growing out and I can just keep trimming off those damaged ends.viviscal_results_length_check3_lacocobella

viviscal_results_length_check6_lacocobella

The shot below is the lower side part of the back of my head,  so I pulled it from the back over my shoulder. About to my armpit again.

viviscal_results_length_check2_lacocobella

Here’s the exact middle of the lower back of my head, pulled over my shoulder. The longest part of my head.
viviscal_results_length_check5_lacocobella

Here’s the front side, pulled this piece about two inches from my center part.viviscal_results_length_check10_lacocobella

Here’s the immediate sides, right above my ears. It’s a little below my armpit. This part amazed me because I ALWAYS had/have problems with my edges and this part of my head, especially when I had a relaxer. I guess because the sides are always on the pillow when I sleep, it’s right where my scarves are tied, and back when I used to wrap my hair when wearing a relaxer, it had that tension from being brushed up or down (if that just made any sense lol). Either way, I am glad my edges are thickening and actually growing!viviscal_results_length_check4_lacocobella

So there you have it, the ins and outs (front, backs and sides lol) of my head. Stay tuned for my next growth product….I will refer back to these pics as the starting point for that!

signature-01

Length Check 2013!!

Length Check 2013!!

 

Well, I hope my Instagram followers made it through my celebration of my sorority yesterday lol We go kinda hard :o)

Anywho, I know I haven’t really been posting many pics of my hair on my HAIR blog lol so I wanted to give you guys an update…at least on the length. If you’ve been reading La Coco Bella from the beginning, you’ll know that I suffered pretty bad hair loss and had to cut a lot short layers in my hair because it was so damaged.

Well, over this past year, REALLLY taking care of my hair, SCALP and SEALING MY ENDS like a mad woman, I have retained and gained a LOT of length! My hair has NEEEEEEEEEVER been this long before in my life! Check out this pic below that I posted on my instagram a few days ago. The longest part in the back is about to my bra strap.

I really want to straighten my hair so I can really see how long it is. If I do, I’ll be sure to show you!! So here is where I am starting for this year. If all goes well, It will keep growing rather than the opposite lol my goals for this year is to focus on the crown (middle part) and front (edges) of my hair. These areas have always been trouble spots for me so I will try and figure out something new for those battlezones :o) ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

lauren_lacocobella_length_check_January_2013

signature-01

So I Blow Dried my Hair….

So I Blow Dried my Hair….

I  was feeling a little experimental the other week and I decided to blow dry my hair. My intentions were to blow dry and then trim my ends myself, figured it would be easier to trim on “straight” hair but then sense came back to my mind and remembered something —- I’m not a hair stylist! Why would I trim my own hair like that?! I can’t even see the back on my head lol. Normally, I would snip the scraggly ends of my twists (and end up with uneven hair) OR I would go to the pros. Since my hair is cut into layers, I knew if I took the matters into my own hands, my hair would look a hot mess….

In the past, when I would blow-dry my hair, I’d have a LOT of breakage and my hair would feel very brittle so I kind of dreaded the process but miraculously, THIS time was different! I’d become so accustomed to my damaged hair that this was so unusual. This is the FIRST time I have put heat to my hair since November 2011 (the beginning of my born again hair journey)…..serious progress! I can honestly attest to the vast improvement of the health of my hair. I. was. amazed. Amazed that I had almost NO breakage, no hair tangled in my comb/brush AND my ends were not nearly as bad as I thought they were! I was like wtfudge?! Something ain’t right lol

I still would like to get a trim just because it’s good to do that but Its not as urgent as I thought lol I wish I had taken pictures of my ends so I could show you guys but sorry I didn’t. :o( when i get a trim (by the pros) I’ll be sure to post!

So the way I blow dried my hair, to eliminate as much heat damage, I made sure I deep conditioned the day before ( I used Oyin Handmade’s Honey Hemp). I detangled with a modified Denman brush (every other row of teeth removed) and twisted my hair into about 7 sections. I then stretched each twist and wrapped it to the other side of my head and pinned it in place. The purpose of me doing this is to stretch my hair as much as possible before applying heat to it. This will make blow drying easier and reduce damage. Tied a scarf over it and let my hair dry over night.

Not sure if you can tell what’s going on in this pic lol but yea…

The next day, I undid each section and proceeded to blow dry each section using the comb attachment. It is already detangled and stretched so blow drying was a breeze! Now I am not very knowledgeable on heat protecting products (since I don’t do this often at all) plus I am limited to what I already had—wasn’t about to buy something new. Most of the products I have contain silicones which I try to avoid but I did have some old Organix Vanilla Blow Dry Cream that I have had for a couple years (I am not even sure if they make this anymore! I couldn’t find it sold anywhere on the internet!) I figured it was better than nothing. I didn’t want to use an oil because that would basically “fry” on my hair. I do have some CHI serum but I usually use that with a flat iron. Anyway….

Here’s the results. Not super straight but enough for my “experiment”. No where close to this lol

I threw in a few length check pics :o) Since my hair is layers, it is different lengths but the pics below show the longest and shortest layers.

So after I had fun with my Diana Ross look, I suddenly remembered this YouTube video….

Stay tuned for Part II !!!!! bwa haha haaaaa