HEALTHY HAIR & INCHES

SITUATION

Whether you’ve been natural for 10 minutes or for 10 years, we can all agree that #healthyhair is the goal. But some of us want HEALTHY HAIR and INCHES too. So, this got me to thinking, what would happen if “I put some effort into growing my hair to get the inches I want? That got me to thinking even more, “why should I have to put effort into growing my hair” when it’s a fact of nature that hair is growing all the time. Which brings me to the sobering reality, that the RATE at which our hair grows is not always within our control and hair could be breaking at the same rate it’s growing. Research says, average hair growth equals ½ inch per month (some folks get less, and some folks get more).

BACKGROUND

There are several factors I’ve had to consider when reaching for those inches. Some of the factors are within my control and some are not. The difference between Twiggy and Rapunzel could be as simple as controlling what you can and managing what you cannot. If you’re old enough to know who Twiggy is and you’re young enough to know who Rapunzel is, then you get me! All these factors play a part in growing and keep those inches: genetics, age, hormones, medications, medical treatments, diet, stress, breakage, over manipulation, too much cutting, too little cutting, trying too many things, not trying enough things, poor hair care and finally, lack of patience.

ASSESSMENT

I’m 4 years natural this month!! Today is June 30, 2019 and I #bigchopped on #Juneteenth June 19, 2015 after 12 months of transitioning from relaxed hair. I’ll have to share my transitioning story with you guys another blog post (it’s a doozy)! In these 4 years, I’ve done a lot, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been too scissor happy on more than one occasion. Here’s a #theanomchronicles flashback.

YEAR 1– This was my product junkie year! Right after I big chopped, I wanted to try all the natural hair products out there! I bought the best hair care products on the market from some of the most respected natural hair care brands in the business. I told myself that my curiosity was my rite-of-passage for having survived transitioning! I turned “trying products” into school sis! I researched ingredients on product labels and took notes on which ingredients worked for me and which ones did not.

YEAR 2– This was my wash & go year! My product junkie ways from the previous year PAID OFF and I finally understood that ingredients and techniques could make or break your wash & go results. I loved washing my hair and I loved doing a wash & go, but I longed to see my length. I tried all the popular wash & go stretching techniques, like banding and the pineapple, but I did not like my results. When my hair got longer, I tried a twist-out on stretched dry hair! Say what?? Sis had inches and the shrinkage was a lie!!

YEAR 3– This was my stretched twist-out and DIY year! I snapped more selfies in year 3 than I had phone storage! I took what I learned about ingredients from year 1 and coupled that with what I learned about having a good wash routine in year 2. My hair was thriving, growing, sitting on shoulders and I was the happiest I’d been to-date with my natural hair. I loved making hair products from DIY recipes and I loved the look of my elongated fluffy twist-out; however, as the months went by the TIME commitment to make DIY’s and stretch my hair for twisting was a burden I could not sustain.

YEAR 4– This is my year to go back to the basics. I cut my hair, I cut my product stash to only a couple brands that gave me the most consistent good results and I went back to my first LOVER, the wash & go. These actions have cut my TIME budget in half and inspired me to create my blogging website to share my journey with others. I began this blog with this sentence, “Whether you’ve been natural for 10 minutes or for 10 years, we can all agree that healthy hair is the goal. But some of us want HEALTHY HAIR and INCHES too.” From my humble discovery, here are MY recommendations for MYSELF.

RECOMMENDATION

Get to know your hair. Keep your hair and scalp clean. Use good products (purchased or DIY). Avoid things that cause chemical, environmental or mechanical breakage. Trim damaged hair. Keep styling simple. Maintain reasonable hair growth expectations. Keep the focus on full health and wellness. If you do these things, healthy hair AND inches are not only possible, they are inevitable!