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Alopecia: What has helped

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Wata de Scalp

No Longer Hidden: Alopecia Monocularis

I really started to notice that I had less hair on the right side of my head in high school during 2nd form/8th grade. I thought that I was seeing double or my eyes were merely fooling me. It wasn't until 5th form/11th grade that I saw that I was almost completely bald on that side. It made me very insecure and I felt that everyone was always staring at my bald spot (imaginary audience). I did some research and gathered that this was called Alopecia areata Monocularis. Which is baldness in only spot of the head. It was when I started my hair journey in November 2010 that I visited many forums so as to find remedies for it. I've done:

• Garlic rinses for the area
• Rubbing the area with garlic
• Massaging area with castor oil
• Olive oil infused with rosemary leaves
• Tea tree and Lavender essential oil massages

 The garlic rinses didn't do much for my alopecia nor my hair and it had become a pain to my regime. Rubbing my scalp with the garlic required me to wash my hair frequently and that wasn't working too well. Castor oil seems to make my hair shed more and so I stopped using it on my scalp. The olive oil with rosemary leaves wasn't too bad but yielded very little results. I went on to a website and started reading up about EOs. Tea tree and lavender oil were recommended for hair loss and other ailments and I found a combined blend by Now Solutions. I started using coconut oil and a few drops of the above mentioned essential oil (EO) and that was when I started to see results. When I first started using it, I irritated my scalp as I didn't dilute the EO properly. Over time I narrowed it done to 7 drops of EO to 2oz of coconut oil. I oil and massage my entire scalp with this mix; however, do a thorough massage on the alopecia area. There is a type of tingly cool feeling when I apply this and massage the area. I also add the essential oil to diluted shampoo so as to properly clean my scalp as the essential is anti-bacterial. The first picture in the image above is not the beginning of my alopecia; I had a picture where that section only had a little speck of hair and it was "very bald". But I lost that image. My alopecia is inherited but my tight pony tails and relaxer burns on the area were contributory. I try to avoid putting a lot of tension on this area whenever I do flat twists I do not use a rubber band to hold the flat twist at that area. That is where the halo came into play; it was my way to mask my bald area. I have a longer way to go but here's my alopecia story.

Now Solutions 100% Pure and Natural Lavender and Tree Tea
Benefits: renewing, cleansing and stimulating
Mixes well with: lavender oil, eucalyptus oil, rose absolute oil
Extraction Method: steam distilled from leaves and flowering tops

Wata de Scalp

Sidenote: It had been six weeks since my last wash and let me tell you my hair was tangled and Dry; yes with a capital D. Picture this exams, final projects, two chunky braids and a tam/beanie for two weeks. Yup two whole weeks of wearing a tam to school and you know what else I did I didn't wear a scarf and so the tam sucked everything from my hair. Don't be like me people, please don't.

Monday April 29, 2013
1. To my Wow Honey and Almond Conditioner I added pureed pumpkin and banana so as to add extra moisture as this is a protein condish. I applied mix to my six sections and steamed my hair for 1 hour.
2. I detangled with the conditioner and it was fairly easy to detangle. My curls were very well defined and my hair was soft. I did experience some breakage.
3. With the conditioner still in I shampooed my hair with a diluted shampoo mix of Vo5 Volumizing Shampoo, water and a few drops of tree tea and lavender essential oil.
4. I cowashed using Vo5 Nourishing Conditioner with calming chamomile tea.
5. I moisturized and sealed with Cantu Shea Butter leave in, Vitamin E and Shea butter.
6. Trimmed 1/1/2 inches of each of my six braids as my ends were really scraggly
7. Left my hair to airdry

Wednesday May 1, 2013
I flat twisted the front section of my hair using vitamin E for twists as I'm out of shea butter. I used castor oil on my edges to start my twists. I did the flat twists fairly smaller this time as I want them to be neater and last a bit longer. However, my arms got tired and the last four flat twists on my right side are way larger in comparison to the side shown above. For the back I used my banana clip, and bobby pins for this Weave and Believe updo. Added four beads on pins to class up the style. My hair had a natural shine but wasn't very moisturized, I probably should have left out the Cantu Leave in because that's a protein product. I bagged two night in a row to partake some moisture. Feels a lot less hay-like.

Wata de Scalp

2 years post Relaxer=====> Wow

Protective Style: Empress hair with a touch of love

Moisturizing and Sealing

Transitioning Updates and Thank you

Holiday Hair

3 Styles I've Been Rocking in University