3 Years Natural !!!

Hey guys!! How are you? I hope you enjoyed your long weekend!

Today is the anniversary of my big chop! Maybe I should call it my 1st big chop because, after cutting my hair, I went to the barber to get my hair a bit level and get rid of some straight ends and he cut off most of the hair I had been growing for 2 months lol. This means I'm going to do another post in July comparing my hair growth over the years. Today however, I want to talk about my experience with my natural hair.

You can read my reason for going natural here. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNT

Apart from actually learning how to take care of my hair, one of the major things I've learnt is listening to my hair. If my hair has a lot of knots and split ends, I'm wayy overdue for a trim. If it's dry and breaking, the product I'm using might have ingredients my hair does not respond well to, or I might need to change a few things with my regimen.

I've also had to learn how to be patient with my hair. Washday for me requires a lot of twisting and waiting. Styling my hair also requires patience. If I'm in a hurry while taking out my twists or styling my hair, I could lose hair due to tangling or breakage. I have to stop myself sometimes and just be patient when handling my hair.

Another thing I learnt has to do with my hair being protein sensitive which explains why 80% of my products were making my hair feel dry.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY HAIR 

It took some time but I'm starting to appreciate the thickness of my hair. By thickness I actually mean the fact that my hair is densely packed. This is something I have a love-hate relationship with to be honest because it makes my washdays longer. I love it though because it makes styles like puffs, mini twists or updos look really nice.

I also love the versatility of my hair. I can do a lot of styles with it even though I think I've been slacking in this department. I've tried new styles this year and I'm looking forward to trying even more styles.

Cutting my hair and being natural actually boosted my confidence. When I decided to go natural I didn't think I would like short hair or be confident enough to leave my house with short hair. I thought I would look like a little boy and my plan was to wear a wig or get braids done.

When I cut my hair and looked in the mirror I felt so happy and I couldn't explain why. I just felt really excited and confident. I didn't get braids done for at least 4 months and not because my hair was too short for braids. I enjoyed taking care of the little hair I had and I really appreciated my hair the way it grew out of my scalp. I still feel this way when I take out my braids but I've had a few hair challenges that make me want to go back to having short natural hair. I don't think I'm ready to start again though so I'll just keep threatening my hair and maybe it'll start behaving itself a bit more.


MY REGRETS

One of my regrets has been, being lazy with my hair. In my second year of being natural, I didn't retain much length. I might have retained just under 3 inches in that year for various reasons. The stress of law school coupled with constantly getting braids done and not letting my hair breathe plus no trims meant that I wasn't really dealing with my hair. If I had my hair out a bit more I might have realised sooner that my hair was breaking as much as it was growing and I needed a new regimen.

I also regret not trimming my hair for 2 years like I've said. Trimming is understandably scary but in the end you'll retain more length when your ends are healthy because they won't break as much. That said, I think I need to follow my own advice and trim my hair soon.

WHAT I'VE STRUGGLED WITH 

I've struggled with dryness for as long as I can remember. When my hair was still really short, it got dry very easily but as it grew it didn't feel as dry. My discovery of glycerine has also really helped. I've experimented with a lot of products over the years to try to get my hair to feel less dry and moisturised but what I've realised is your regimen really matters. Deep conditioning and moisturising your hair when it's damp and not dry makes a difference. The Greenhouse effect also makes a difference when my hair is feeling really dry.

 Another thing I've struggled with is finding products for my protein sensitive hair. Most products contain coconut oil, keratin, wheat, soy milk protein, etc. If you know any leave in conditioners that don't contain these please help a sista out. I'm using Giovanni Weightless Moisture Leave-in Conditioner which is okay but I think it's too light for my thick hair.


MY EXPECTATIONS

I expected my hair to be much longer after 3 years of being natural but everyone's hair is different. I hope to retain more length in my 3rd year of being natural but I have to be more serious with taking care of my hair. This means trims when necessary and more breaks between protective styles.

I love my hair and I haven't regretted going natural once. I'm going to try and enjoy my hair more and be more adventurous with styles. If you're thinking of going natural by doing the big chop just do it. If you love it yayy and if you don't, it will always grow back.

Thanks for reading guys and have a great week!!

Oyime :)