The #1 Tip That Reduced My Breakage While Detangling…

They don’t call this a hair journey for nothing and I need to emphasize on the journey aspect. I’m in my 3^rd year of my healthy hair journey and I learn new tips either on my own or from suggestions from you everyday.

Favorite Ways To Style My Relaxed Hair …

As much as I love touching and playing with my new growth I’m not ready to throw in the towel with the creamy crack. Pre-hair journey, I used to relax my hair every 6-8 weeks and now I can’t believe how little new growth I had at that stage and why I couldn't manage my hair back then. Knowledge is power!

5 Fruits for Glowing Skin & Hair…

Let me be the first to admit fruits wasn’t my favorite item to eat growing up or even if I had the option I would opt out of it.  Fast forward to today and its one of the first things I reach to eat to get my day started. I usually stick to the basic of an apple a day keeps the doctor away but of recently I started incorporating other fruits.

3rd Year of Healthy Hair Practices…

I try not to look at other people who started their healthy hair journey at the same time as I did to compare to see if their hair is longer or shorter than mine.  All of our heads are different and will thrive differently.  I would be honest to say that in my first year I was obsessed with length but now I just want the healthiest hair with the added bonus of length.  Everyone’s hair grows but it all needs some TLC for it to thrive. I experienced one set back and thinning which caused me to trim 3 inches off both times but my hair felt and looked better. Hair grows so no need to hold on to stringy ends.  I have been on my healthy hair journey for three years and I must say it was the best decision for my hair.

3 year Side Sweep Hair Comparison

2nd Year of Healthy Hair Practices…

I have been on my healthy hair journey for two years and I must say it was the best decision for my hair. I’ll be honest when I first started I was nervous because I wasn't sure if I would yield beautiful results like everyone else, but I’m happy the knowledge I gained through reading blogs and vlogs has proven to be beneficial. Also starting a blog has made me more accountable of my hair practices.

Relaxer Touch Up Results

Hair Regimen Building: Types & Use's of Shampoo’s…

If you’re not on a healthy hair journey you may probably see the title and say “ Shampoo’s, what’s the big deal? I just need a product to cleanse my scalp”. There are different Shampoo’s that serve different purposes for our hair, let me break it down.

Types of Shampoo’s for Healthy Hair Care:

[1]   Clarifying Shampoo

[2]   Moisturizing Shampoo

[3]   Chelating Shampoo

Clarifying Shampoo's

Types of Clarifying Shampoo's

The Story: How I Started My Healthy Hair Journey…

I just realized I never formally shared my hair story with you guys to let you know how my healthy hair journey began.

I have always had thick hair as a child and my mom relaxed my hair for my 10th Birthday party [no pics sorry] and I can't remember the length, I just knew it was long but I don't think as long as APL but I could be wrong. I changed my hairdresser because it was convenient for me, but eventually it was detrimental to my hair as I spent my early teenage years with her. My hairdresser always hot curled my hair and always gave me a cut instead of a trim, but what has me upset is how she used to trim/ cut my hair after every relaxer. She would just part a piece of my hair, clip another piece, and then clip so in effect none of my hair was the same length and couldn't fit into a ponytail anymore. I remember one year I was travelling to Trinidad with the cadets for a camp and I got my hair relaxed just before I left to avoid stress with my hair. Boy was that a bad decision, I literally had to put water in my hair to drag it into one .

My mom then became my hairdresser and since she didn't know much about hair my hair was always over-process, dry and damaged [thank goodness for knowledge now] At the age of 18, I decided it’s time to find a real hairdresser to take care of my hair so I went to this hairdresser and I loved how my hair looked.  I went back in two weeks to get a treatment done and all she wanted to do was a treatment, blow dry, and put my hair in one. That didn't go down very well with me because I wanted her to re-invent the previous hairstyle she did on me and she said to me "that would take up too much time and plus I have other clients to do," like seriously am I not a paying customer, let’s just say I never went back to her ever again. Here are some pictures to show my damaged hair over the years.

My hair prior to my Healthy Hair Journey

NEW VIDEO: Best Moisturizing Products for Relaxed Hair…

I have been on my hair journey for almost two years and here are a few products that my hair absolutely loves  and I would definitely recommend in the video below.

Hope you enjoyed the video.

What are your favorite moisturizing products?

Be Inspired…

How & What You Need To Start A Healthy Hair Journey...

I have been getting a lot of questions about how to care for relaxed hair, I don’t claim to be a specialist nor am I a license stylist, however I can share with you what I have learned so far and what has worked and not worked for me. The word ‘journey’ could be intimidating to some people as they may believe it will take FOREVER to reach to their goals. Therefore some of you may not want to be on a hardcore hair journey and thus, just want to practice healthy hair practices for many reasons such as: Bra Strap Length hair may be overwhelming to take care of and you may love rocking your hair in a bob but prefer your hair to be thick and luxurious so you don’t need to include weave tracks to add volume to your hair. Therefore you prefer healthy hair over length and that’s fine. For those of you who want to start a healthy hair journey, let’s go on this journey together to grow our hair to its healthiest state whilst gaining lengths beyond our imaginations.

The basic things you will need to purchase to start a healthy hair journey are:

Here a few things I suggest before you start a Healthy Hair Journey:

Guest Post | Behind The Scenes Story About Tomes Edition...

Hi everyone this is Kevin, Tomi’s fiancé. I just thought it would be nice to do a guest post on Tomes Edition to give you guys kind of a behind the scenes look at Tomes Edition: the person behind the posting (blogging | vlogging), and also to say thank you for your very kind words with regards to an earlier post where Tomes Edition would have discussed the details of my proposal for the (engagement). I really appreciate the love, assurance, blessings and advice you have all shared, it inspires us and keeps us grounded as we continue to plan for our big day.

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It has been truly an amazing journey Tomes Edition has been on so far, and to be involved in the so called “fetus" phases of it all, to seeing it grow, develop and expand its reach, has been a joy to see

My Support System…

Since the start of my hair journey my biggest support has been my fiancé Kevin and my Mom.  After all the research I had done, I was ready to start looking for products from various beauty supply shops especially to find who has it the cheapest.

Kevin & I spent about 3-4 hours in Bridgetown walking up and down and left and right to find what product I really wanted to try out first.  He has endured through the constant talk about this person’s blog or product and the amount of time I spend doing all of those stuff.  When he comes over by me and sees me on the computer he immediately says "you are looking at hair right” I smile and he knows exactly what that means and now he says I’m obsessed lol. 

Relaxer Day Results…

I relaxed my hair myself at 18 weeks post relaxer and it was a lot tedious than I imagined.  I’m officially a DIY relaxer girl *throws confetti*. The night before my relaxer I put my hair in four sections and sprayed my new growth with Mane n Tail detangler and combed with my wide width comb followed by a smaller teeth comb to get all the tangles or knots out. I did this because I wanted to be able to part through my hair while applying the relaxer to my new growth only. I applied Vaseline on my scalp, tied down my hair and went to sleep.  I was hoping for some texture and not bone straight results.

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On the morning of my relaxer I applied Extra Virgin Olive Oil on my strands, then Roux 

Relaxer Day Results & I CUT 3 Inches off…

The night before my relaxer, I parted my hair in 4 sections and sprayed my new growth with the Mane n Tail detangler, then combed with my wide width comb followed by smaller teeth comb to make sure all my coils were combed out properly so it’s easier when the relaxer is applied. Then I applied Vaseline on my scalp.  It took me 1 hour & 30mins to carefully detangle.

The morning of my relaxer I applied Extra Virgin Olive Oil on my ends first followed by Roux Porosity Control Corrector Conditioner on my ends to protect it from relaxer run off.

My relaxer process was exactly the same as the June relaxer day results seen (here) (same process and products used) except the total time of application and smoothing took 12mins. As usual, my hair was fully wrapped and I left the salon with my hair the same way after sitting under the dryer for 1hr & 15mins and my hair was still damp at the top.  The back of my hair came out bone straight but the top has alil texture to it. I got one burn and suffered some breakage during the relaxer process.

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A couple hours later I took down the wrap and I realized that my nape doesn't grow not nearly 

I Got Some Branded Tomes Edition T-Shirts...

I got two t-shirts designed to rock on a casual basis that I want to show you guys. I also have a length check t-shirt in the works but will reveal at my next relaxer day in September. If anyone is interested in getting t-shirts designed please contact me via my contact page here. I’m sorry but this is only open to Barbadian residents for now.

Front View

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Lessons Learn't so far on My Hair Journey (Shedding)

Over the next couple of months I am going to be sharing through a series of blog post, some of the experiences I have had whilst being on my healthy hair journey as well as highlighting the varied lessons learnt. Today’s highlight features Shedding.

What is Shedding?

Shedding is a natural process where our hair has reached the end of its growing cycle, which is usually between 4-6 years.  They are usually long strands of hair with a white bulb at the top of the strand. On average most women shed about 50-100 hairs a day, but sometimes you might start to notice more than normal hair loss on your bathroom floors, bathroom drains, which 

One Year Hair Anniversary…

Time flies so quickly and I can’t believe I have been on my Healthy Hair Journey for a year now and feeling really blessed to see how well my hair is blossoming. June 2012 was when I started my hair journey, you can check out how and why I started my (Healthy Hair Journey).

My Hair Journey hasn't been a walk in the park but I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far.  I don’t have any regrets but I do wish I started my Hair Journey sooner, better late than never right.

Have a look at how my hair has been over the year so far and looking forward to meeting many more goals in the future. I started off at Full Neck / Shoulder Length and now I’m grazing APL. Over the last year I wore braid-outs (still have to master this), Bantu Knots, Buns, Flexi-Rods, Inside Cornrow/French Braid and Faux Bobs.

First 4 month stretch:

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Bye, Bye Google Friend Connect (GFC)

If you haven’t heard I’ll inform you now that Google Friend Connect will no longer be available from July 1, 2013  I really enjoyed following my favourite bloggers via GFC but it has come to an end.  I don’t want to lose any of my wonderful followers as I really appreciate everyone of you. Below are some of the ways you can keep up-to-date with me.

Stay Tuned & Follow Tomes Edition [Click Icons for Links]:

::Bloglovin:: This will replace Google Friend Connect, you can import your blogs into Bloglovin via this link (Click Here) 

I Trimmed My Hair…

I brought out the scissors and got a light trim.  Remember my (last wash day)post when I told you guys that I suffered from a lot of breakage, well the before trim pic below shows you exactly. As you can see 1 inch was trimmed off and I wanted more cut but mom insisted that it was enough. I must admit I'm scared to trim my own hair. 

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My ends looks on the thin side but that's because my hair was product heavy after moisturizing and sealing for 4 days before I decided to trim.  This was probably a bad idea and I should have trimmed right after my relaxer.  

Relaxer Prep Wash Day...

This has been the WORST wash day I have ever had since the start of my Healthy Hair Journey.  I skipped washing my hair last week as I felt lazy and I think that’s part of the reason my wash day turned out so horrible.  I’m really looking forward to my relaxer next week and prepping for it is crucial.  I need to incorporate a strong Protein Treatment which makes my wash day very longggggggggg by jumping in and out the shower 3 times argh.

I sectioned my hair in four parts [2 at the front & 2 at the back], I finger detangled first, then I applied my Mane & Tail Detangler to make the process easier.  I had to be careful so that I didn't get much breakage - took me 50 mins. My hair has been shedding a lot from last weekend and instead of doing a tea rinse to help, I just ignored my hair and skipped the washing. That was a BIG mistake

[1]      Prepooed with Grapeseed Oil on my scalp and HE Longterm Relationship 
          Conditioner on the length of my hair for 30 mins under my heat cap. My hair 
          felt so soft while rinsing.

[2]      Shampooed with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo (remove build up) and CON 
          Moisture & Shine Shampoo

[3]      With my hair in 4 sections applied Aphogee 2 step protein treatment from 
          root to tip and sat under my dryer until my hair was hard. While applying the 
          product I realized the front left half was tangled at the top I 
          didn’t bother to detangle but made sure my hair was saturated with the 
          protein treatment.

[4]      As I rinsed I could see a lot of my hair shedding running down the tub. I 
          applied Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer for 2 mins and rinse.  At this point 
          I started to finger detangle under the shower and I was successful to some 
          extent with the top left half.

[5]      Applied Queen Helene Cholesterol mixed with my oils & Roux Correction 
          Conditioner and sat under my heat cap for 1 1/2hours.

[6]      Rinsed and wrap my hair in a t-shirt for 30 mins.

[7]      With my hair still in 4 sections apply Aphogee Keratin Green Tea Restructurizer 
          and Herbal Essences Split Ended Protector and Organix Anti Breakage Serum 
          and attempted to detangle very carefully. 

I had a lot of matted hair and I had to take my time to get rid of them. I had about a million tangles, (ok I exaggerated) but it was A LOT.  Just when I thought I got rid of all the matted hair I met more and more. I felt like crying because I thought there was no ending to the resolution of tangles.  I suffered a lot of breakage and my shedding is out of control.  My bf even said “You worked so hard the last 14 weeks to keep your hair in good shape and now at the last leg everything goes in shambles.”  I totally blame myself because I could have washed my hair last week and gotten rid of the hair that was shedding instead of allowing them to tangle up I don’t know how detrimental the damage is until I get my relaxer next weekend but I’m hoping for the best.  I tied down my edges and Air-dry for the rest of the day.

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[8]      Can you believe when I went to apply Jamaican Black Castor Oil to my scalp 

Lessons Learn't so far on My Hair Journey (Co-washing)

Over the next couple of months I am going to be sharing through a series of blog post, some of the experiences I have had, whilst being on my healthy hair journey as well as highlighting the varied lessons learnt. Today’s highlight features Co-washing.

What is Co-washing?

Co-washing is simply washing your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo. This helps to add moisture back into your hair without stripping the hair of its natural oils.

3 Different Ways to Co-wash?

1)      Wash your hair with a moisturizing conditioner and rinse

2)      Apply Deep Conditioner on dry hair and follow up with a moisturizing conditioner 

         and rinse [My preferred option]

3)      Wash your hair with a moisturizing conditioner then Deep Condition afterwards 

         and rinse [This method is basically a combination of options 1 & 2]