I relaxed at Darren Scott Salon in Maida Vale, London. I love this place because it's not one of those budget places that burns your scalp. They are all proper professionals and I love the fun vibe of the place. I noticed things such as my already relaxed ends being protected, what I believe was a protein step before neutralising and using a wide toothed comb. Expensive, yes at £55 for retouching (not including a professional finish) but well worth it in my opinion. And they are so friendly there too!

Pre-relaxer:

My roots... that volume, though. It's like wearing a hat.

Post-relaxer:

 Ends a bit raggedy, but they're not split so I'll wait out them growing, ha.

The longest bit of hair (I didn't use straighteners, just had it blow-dried) wispily touches line 7 when I'm not trying to manouvre my phone to take pictures behind my head (seriously, people who can take good camera phone length checks are dons). I'll probably chop that bit off and try to even everything out at line 5-ish. Only 5 lines to go to my BSL! Full, thick BSL is my goal :)

For this next stretch, I will:

I don't think I'll go past 15-16weeks for the next stretch. I've never done less than 12 weeks, I think, and 15 is something I can well manage. I had about 1.5 inches of new growth which is kind of disappointing as at 19 weeks, I would have hoped to have a little more. This means my hair only grows around 1/3 inches per month or 4 inches per year... But ah well. It's growing, and that's what counts, even if it takes me longer than I thought it would to get to where I want to go. I still can't believe my hair is growing.

As a reminder, this is where my hair was (damp) about 6 weeks post relaxer after dyeing:

And dry 2 weeks post (I had it trimmed so this was a fresh cut before I dyed it):

Sorry I don't have any proper pictures of previous length when dry! I'll try and take some comparable ones after my next wash day.

Onwards and (down)wards!

Smooches,

Lam