Ah... My nonexistent hair care regimen. Well, I wouldn't say "nonexistent" but rather "incomplete. Before I get to that aspect, I feel it is imperative to know some background information about my hair.
I have been fully natural for a year and a half as of May 20th, 2014. I transitioned unknowingly from a Jherri Curl (see my Hair Story) for a little over a year and was left with about 3 to 4 inches of new growth (Keep in mind I was not taking care of my hair during this time period). Currently, I'm just grazing armpit length (woo hoo!).
My hair type could be classified in many ways so I'll do my best to describe it. My hair type is 4abc if you go by Andre Walker's hair typing chart. Tight, 4c ringlets towards the back/nape area of my head; looser, more defined 4a curls at the entire crown of my head; and 4b zigzags around the sides of my head. Now if you follow L.O.I.S. African American Natural Texture Typing System, I fall under the daughter O and L. Overall, I would personally describe my hair as cottony and kinky. In addition to my hair type, my hair is medium to coarse in texture and thin in density. The thinness of my hair use to bother me but as my hair is getting longer, it's becoming less of an issue. Moreover, I am unsure of my hair porosity. I believe it to be naturally high in porosity.
I have been fully natural for a year and a half as of May 20th, 2014. I transitioned unknowingly from a Jherri Curl (see my Hair Story) for a little over a year and was left with about 3 to 4 inches of new growth (Keep in mind I was not taking care of my hair during this time period). Currently, I'm just grazing armpit length (woo hoo!).
My hair type could be classified in many ways so I'll do my best to describe it. My hair type is 4abc if you go by Andre Walker's hair typing chart. Tight, 4c ringlets towards the back/nape area of my head; looser, more defined 4a curls at the entire crown of my head; and 4b zigzags around the sides of my head. Now if you follow L.O.I.S. African American Natural Texture Typing System, I fall under the daughter O and L. Overall, I would personally describe my hair as cottony and kinky. In addition to my hair type, my hair is medium to coarse in texture and thin in density. The thinness of my hair use to bother me but as my hair is getting longer, it's becoming less of an issue. Moreover, I am unsure of my hair porosity. I believe it to be naturally high in porosity.
Now that's out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about my hair journey so far and what I have learned (I feel that it is important to share failures as well as successes). When I first returned natural, I did what i thought was right through thorough research. I quickly learned about sectioning hair when washing, deciphering quality ingredients, the importance of deep conditioning, and the importance of infrequent shampoo use. Although those were all good tips, there were also bad advice that I heard. One of them was to not moisturize kinky hair so often because of the level of shrinkage. I took that advice and I rolled with it. For the first four months of being natural my routine went something like this...
- Install self made weave cap for two weeks.
- After two weeks, prepare hair for a wash.
- Finger detangle with olive oil.
- Create a deep conditioner with whatever was lying around the kitchen and was beneficial (i.e. olive oil, bananas, honey) or just conditioner and apply to hair.
- Deep condition for 40 minutes.
- Rinse and condition.
- Once a month, dilute sulphate shampoo in applicator bottle mixed with oil and concentrate on the scalp.
- Apply Cantu Leave In Repair Cream and shea butter, braid into about 15 sections, and take down the next day (my hair was never dry and I was always wondering why it never looked like what it was suppose to smh).
- Lightly mist (to avoid shrinkage) with water and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) everyday for two weeks until it was time to install another weave cap.
Seems pretty legit at first glance, doesn't it? While this regimen helped me retain most of my length, l couldn't help but realize that my hair was dryyy. By month six, I knew it was time to start moisturizing a little more. Also, since it was summer, it was the perfect time to learn my hair. By the start of school, I was moisturizing my hair twice a week (once after deep conditioning and once during midweek) with my trusty Cantu and shea butter. There's was only one problem- my hair only felt great after a wash day so I began to shampoo my hair with a sulphate free shampoo once a week using Ology (found it at Walgreens). Now my hair went from being dry for two weeks to moisturized for 24 hours and dry for the remainder of the week. Somewhat of a difference but I was still not completely satisfied. Another piece of bad information that helped me sleep better at night was that kinky hair is naturally dry so if it feels dry, you're not doing anything wrong. Mannnn... this piece of information probably had to be one of the worst I've heard in my hair journey. Honestly, it really set me back a few steps.
Anywho, from months six to about a few months ago, I wore my hair out constantly. I found out that I hate- not even hate, I abhor long term protective styling. Anything on my head longer than two weeks will have me complaining to my friends how much I miss my hair. Honestly, it's not good for my sanity. During this nine month hiatus, my hair length stayed stagnant; my unhealthy hair practices were catching up to me. The constant manipulation of my dry hair kept my hair just below collarbone length and prevented me from seeing how much my hair had actually grown. I knew it was time for a change.
One day while researching about moisturizing on my favorite hair care blog, Black Girl with Long Hair, I stumbled on an article titled Does the Curly Girl Wash-and-Go Method Work on Kinky, Type 4 Hair? Now I have heard about the Curly Girl Method when I first returned natural but I never took it into consideration because I don't have, well... curly hair! I read the article and scrolled down to the comment section where everyone was basically saying the same thing- you don't have to do wash and gos or have curly hair to do this method. I immediately became interested and did thorough research about the Curly Girl Method for three days straight. In the most basic terms, one cuts out silicones and sulphates out of their regimen (will do a more detailed article on this method later) because silicones coat the hair and prevent moisture from going in and coming out, while sulphate shampoos dry out curly hair but are needed to remove the silicones. Suddenly, it all made sense. My trusty Cantu was not as trusty as I thought; it contained a cone- dimethicone. My hair would feel great after wash day because the cone locked in the moisture and create a smooth feeling but when my hair felt dry and it was time to remoisturize, moisture could not properly penetrate my hair. Hence why my hair only felt good after wash day. I was fully convinced and took the plunge.
As of current, I have been a Curly Girl for about three months and my hair couldn't be happier (will do a detailed article about my experience later). I have also incorporated the Green House Effect Method which has helped me keep my hair adequately moisturized. Currently I am on a "protective styling" growth challenge. I will keep updated about that.
And that's it for my natural hair journey... for now lol
-Jumoké
As of current, I have been a Curly Girl for about three months and my hair couldn't be happier (will do a detailed article about my experience later). I have also incorporated the Green House Effect Method which has helped me keep my hair adequately moisturized. Currently I am on a "protective styling" growth challenge. I will keep updated about that.
And that's it for my natural hair journey... for now lol
-Jumoké