I THINK I FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT….
For the longest time, I wanted…hair. I watched people big chop and still manage to grow their hair longer than mine in a shorter time span. I tried everything and couldn’t understand why this goal felt so out of reach.. I thought maybe it wasn't meant for me.
Well, I'm proud to say that after much trial and error, I've nearly reached waist length. My hair is thriving. Amen? Amen.
But there were a few things I needed to change to achieve what I thought was unattainable, like my perspective. I started to look at it this way. You are the plant, your strands are the leaves and your scalp is the roots. I just totally made that up, but I hope it makes sense.
“ You are the plant, your strands are the leaves and your scalp is the roots.”
Every plant is different, but there are essential things all plants need to survive and grow. These are the things I started doing and stopped doing to help my hair start thriving.
I Stopped heat Styling.
This is different from using heat for my deep conditioning treatments.
Just like plants, excessive heat is bad for your hair. Too much sun can cause sunburn, yellowing or bleached leaves, wilting, and even plant death, especially when combined with high temperatures and dry soil. Signs of too much sun include faded leaf color, brown and brittle spots, or wilting. I googled that! Applying a lot heat from flat irons, blow dryers, and even hot water can cause our hair strands to weaken, thus creating heat damage. When our hair is dull in color and feels brittle, that is an indicator that we’ve done serious damage.
This November marks 4 years since I’ve stopped heat styling my hair.
At first, I wasn’t sure that I could go without. A blow out was my go-to. It’s the only thing that reassured me that my hair was growing and not stagnant. I know I am not the only one who hates dealing with shrinkage, but if I wanted to see any improvements, I had to cut ties with the heat.
Deep Condition
Avoiding heat is not enough. Plants thrive off of nutrients, and this is where deep conditioning comes in.
I’m a liar if I say that recently I’ve been up to par with my deep conditioning routine. I’m not, but I am trying to be again! I will say that when I started deep conditioning consistently, my hair changed in ways I never thought possible. I always desired to have cooley hair, but though I hoped for it, I wasn’t too sure I could attain it — that was until I slowly started to see how much my hair texture changed and softened up. My dry ponytails were now becoming wavy as if I wore a durag for a living.
Water!
*Inserts Spongebob meme here* Plants need water to thrive. Not just on our scalp but internally. Warm water to open up the scalp pores and cool water to seal the moisture, just as you would when washing your face.
Let it be.
Sometimes the best thing I did… was nothing. I stopped manipulating my hair so much, letting my hair do what it does naturally. People wouldn't believe how much better their hair would be if they just left it alone.This is where you’ll hear all the natural hair gurus mention protective styling. There's a reason why people get locs... because you get to do the bare minimum, and voila! Hair tresses.
xo,
