It’s Thursday and I’ve done my last workout for the week, washed my hair and now DCing. I think my hair’s talking to me. And now I think I’m getting what peeps are saying when they say listen to your hair. I’m stubborn, so why should I expect my fro to be anything else? When I left it alone in a weave, it grew. When I left it alone in mabutu, it wasn’t dry. And when I took the mabutu out, the stretch lasted the next day. During winter, if I didn’t co-wash during the week, my scalp would itch like mad. This entire week, I haven’t had any itch attacks. And when I spritz it with my glycerin HE leave-in, it feels soft and FLUUUFFFYYYY, the texture I like to feel. And there’re hardly any tangles. On top of that, if I wash/co-wash my hair, put some leave-in and just leave it, my fro shows off its tight little curls. Yes length wise it’s like 75% shorter but my hair is there, it’s just super coily. If I put in flat twists to lengthen it, my hair goes straight and uneven. If I stretch it that way or by putting random twists, it goes back to the shrunken length the next morning and I have to do it all again.
So I’ve been thinking, I can either continue to force my fro to be something it’s not, do things to it that it obviously doesn’t care for and let it retaliate by breaking and not growing quickly or I leave it alone and let it do its thing. In other words, I’m planning on surrendering to my hair. Let it do what it do. I’ll keep it clean by co-washing it after I work out, keep it soft and moisturised by spritzing leave-in and putting butter everyday and wash it on wash day. I’ll style it (twist out/braid out) once a week, ready for the weekend, then give the control back to my hair on Monday. I had complained that this whole natural thing has too many rituals etc. etc. but there are some natural women I know eg. Subira, Evelyn who seem to just let their hair be and it GROWS! So let me let it be.
My proposed new regimen:
- Co-wash after working out (1-2x a week), spritz leave-in, seal with butter and/or Garnier.
- Spritz and seal everyday.
- Wash after last workout of the week, DC, detangle, air-dry 50% then braid or twist. (If I need to go somewhere while the braids are in, cover up with a wrap. )
- Undo braids/twists Friday evening or Saturday morning ready for the weekend.
- Try to hot oil/ Vatika 1nce a month
I think that’s less hassle everyday, and should prepare me for work life since I won’t have this time to get ready in the mornings the way I do now. My hair is growing. I’m seeing progress. The longest part is more than 3” which is good and normal. So I’m waving my white flag. I’m admitting I’m not the boss anymore. Let the fro do what it do.
