I'm pretty sure everyone who has done a big chop was checking their hair every few minutes to see if it grew. Multiple times a day even though you knew your TWA (teeny weeny afro) wasn't going to become BHA (big huge Afro) anytime soon, let alone in a day. So why do we torture ourselves, wishing, praying, hoping, tugging and pulling, willing our hair to grow faster?? Why do we give in to those phony hair growth formulas and methods just because we can't WAIT to see natural progress??
When I cut my hair in January, I told myself I wasn't going be that girl who checked the mirror every second. I wasn't going fret over the length. I WAS going to focus on improving the health of my hair, however long it took. The best part is, I honestly listened to myself!! I'd cut my hair because I'd wanted to finally let my natural curls live but I'd also wanted to start over with short hair! I flipped through countless black hair blogs and magazines for short hairstyles, taking pictures of my favourite ones. I spent the first 3 months rocking my TWA and cheekbone length bangs taking advantage of roller sets, fauxhawks, pompadours, hats, scarves and more! I made the most out of having a super short 1 inch Afro with some length in the front.
Then came March and suddenly...BAM...my hair was 3 inches long! WAIT WHAT?!? I honestly didn't even notice the growth until my co-worker pointed it out. That night, I decided to get rid of the long length in front and fully embrace my fro. I cut it off with regular scissors and styled it in a fauxhawk. Yea, this was so me!!! (Of course, I went to the salon a few weeks later to get it cut properly). I looked in the mirror a few weeks later and was genuinely surprised that my hair had really grown about 3 inches in 3 months and that patience really is a virtue! I had left my hair alone, treated it right and it did its thing! It's almost like people; if you hover over them 24/7, watching them, poking at them, bothering them, they won't perform to the best of their abilities, they might not do anything at all! The same thing applies to hair; leave it alone and it will grow!
Now about this length check jazz! I hear that some people conduct monthly length checks. Some do yearly checks. I think a length check typically consists of blowdrying your hair aka stretching it out and measuring the length of it. I haven't done a real length check yet. I have no desire to! I can see that my hair is still an Afro, about 3/4 inches and maybe 5/6 inches when stretched. What does that knowledge do for me? Where did it take me? I don't see the point in constantly checking the length of my hair especially if I'm nowhere near my goal length. Speaking of which, I don't even have a real goal length! I just want my hair to grow healthy! I'm literally just waiting until the end of the year to see how long my hair will be. I don't have the end of the year at the forefront of my mind! I have no worries about my hair growth. The obvious progress has shown me that my hair is growing. Patience really is a trait to have and execute!
The most important thing that I focus on is the essential steps in maintaining healthy hair and work with the length I DO have, not worry about the length I wish to have. I am having a great time with my hair at its current length. It's long enough to do many styles like the fauxhawk, the faux headband, and I recently purchased some cute hair bows in which I can use to spice up my curls.
In conclusion, if length checks work for you, that's wonderful! But I find that they wouldn't do anything for me except discourage me and waste my time.
Question of the day: Why do you think people do length checks? Do you do them? Does it help? If so, how?
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