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Friday, April 11, 2014

5 Hiccups in my "Hair Growth Journey"

Hey Lovelies!

Just as a side-note, my posts are so far and few between because it seems like hair blogs are already a thing. By a thing, I mean this blog is a tiny drop in a huge ocean of very popular hair blogs. I love talking about hair, but I feel like everything about natural/black hair has been said already.

So, what I have decided to do is focus on my personal holistic health journey. My hair will still be the central topic of my blog, but I will be discussing it as it relates to my general health and personal growth.

I will say I am a bit discouraged as fair as my hair growth journey is concerned. I did my "big chop" at around the same time as several of the online hair personalities that I follow on Facebook and YouTube. However, they've surpassed me by FAR in terms of hair length. I've taken their hair-type and ethnic background into account when I compare my hair growth and theirs, however, those who still have similar "hair backgrounds" as me have still "outgrown" me. I began my hair growth journey in December of 2010 and its almost August 2014... this right around the time my big afro should be making its debut...right?

I guess not. I decided to do a bit of self analysis in order to figure out what am I doing to cause the hiccups in my hair growth journey. This is what I found:

  1. I have severe Hands-In-Hair Syndrome. Its sooo bad. I play with my hair when I'm stressed, bored, in thought, or not fully focused.... so 90% of the time. Yikes
  2. I was dying my hair quite often early on in my hair journey.
  3. I was not as gentle as I could be with my quite fragile strands 
  4. I wasn't protective styling enough
  5. I began living a Vegan lifestyle in 2013 which destabilized my protein and iron levels for a while

What am I doing to improve my hair care habits?

  • O July 17, 2014 I decided to start a whole new hair regimen. My hair has been in cornrows. I did crochet braids for almost 2 weeks, washed my hair, and re-did my cornrows. I will be wearing scarves for the rest the week. Every other day I grease with a castor oil.coconut oil mix. I don't plan on wearing my hair "out" for a while. I want to seal in as much moisture as possible and I've found that cornrows are the best way to do it. Also, I don't look cute in cornrows, which pushes me to find ways to keep my hair wrapped up... which meeeans... no more Hands-in-Hair!
  • I'm taking my vitamins and minerals and trying to be more careful with my vegan diet. I am doing research and trying to have more well-rounded meals so that I can get all the nutrients my hair needs to grow
These are two quite simple solutions, but I'm very confident in them. For one thing, I've noticed that dudes who wear cornrows always have nice, lengthy hair. That's because they don't mess with their hair... its all braided up, and most times, in a du-rag. The pressure on women to "look cute" all the time, in combination with the natural hair "movement," have made the big hair with a gorgeous twist-out the holy grail of natural hair beauty. Trust, I want my big afro too, but most days, I think its best for me to protect my hair and keep it moist. Having "cute" hair everyday has led me to knots, dryness, and breakage. If I really want to be cute and fabulous, I'll find a nice natural hair wig or weave. 


So, the cure to my hair growth journey hiccups is be simplistic, realistic, and prioritize my hair health above all else.

Love y'all!

Spice Girl Melanie B. aka Scary Spice vs. Blogger Yomi
(Photo Credit)



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