At a Curl Standstill: Settling those weird feelings that your hair isn't growing - May 27, 2013

 

[ Sigh... ]

In all honesty, I thought my Afro would be way bigger by my 6 month mark. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally happy with the progress and current state of my hair, I just simply thought it would be bigger!

My fellow natural friend once mentioned that there was this girl whose hair grew tremendously (we're talking 4 inches in a month) because she applied various oils to it daily. I knew and know that natural oils help our hair & scalp stay healthy, shiny and encourage growth. I started to think that maybe I wasn't using enough oil lately and then I realized that was exactly the problem. In the last month, I can say that I haven't been applying oil all over my hair every second night like I used to! For some reason, I had become lazy. Sure, I had been experimenting with different hairstyles but mostly using water and gel and only using my sweet almond oil to lightly coat my hair afterwards. Before, I had been saturating my fro in the oil and massaging my head every second day, at night. When I was doing this, I noticed a difference in the texture of my hair; it had started out dry after my big chop and it had become less dry, more soft and more shiny.

The most important thing about my discovery is that I noticed what I stopped doing! This is usually the problem when people don't document their journeys (with anything, not just hair). You don't know what worked or didn't work, what helped or didn't help etc. You don't remember how you got that wicked fauxhawk style. By documenting my hair journey, I was able to notice a change in my hair and an imaginary "standstill". See, it's not REALLY a standstill in hair growth, I just noticed a difference in my texture and curl pattern. Now that I am aware of what I stopped doing which was working, I can work towards putting that part back into my routine.

In the last month or so, I also noticed more tangles in my hair but only on ONE side! Though I discovered that finger combing my curls when they're saturated with my leave-in conditioner is best for me, I realized that I need I take better care in detangling. I suggest all naturalistas to take the time to analyze your hair every few months to find and understand certain problems your hair may be experiencing. Almost like a hair check-up hahaha. Check your edges, feel the texture, look for knots and note the locations. And by no means am I saying start an elaborate hair blog (I'm too much eh?)but jotting down some notes of your routine, what products you use, what works and doesn't work, and how to achieve your favourite hairstyles will make it easier to pinpoint the cause of your curl crises.