This was a pretty revelating month. It’s gone by so quickly, I kind of forgot how stressed out I was when I was starting work and didn’t know how on Earth I’d be able to adjust my regimen. Yet after a couple weeks of just trying it out, I’ve actually come to the realisation that my hair can be quite straight forward. And now, finally, I don’t feel like I’m spending sooooo much time on it. Why is this? Is it because I’ve gotten to a point where I “understand” my hair? Or I “listen” to it or the length has just made things easier? I don’t know…maybe it’s a combination of it all.
- Straight forward – I wash my hair with shampoo, deep condition and comb it once a week. I spritz leave-in and braid mabutu so it doesn’t shrink and tangled up on itself. Then every night, I spritz and twist/braid. Every morning I spritz and unbraid. Simple. The twists aren’t perfect, I do about 8 rough ones. It’s just to keep it stretched. If I want definition in the front, I braid quick fat mabutu. If I want a slick edges/front look, I spray it with spritz, slap on some gel and hold it down with a scarf while I continue to get ready.
- Understanding – I know now that my hair doesn’t necessarily need a bath of water everyday. Just at least a sip. And there’s water in my spritz so by spraying twice a day, my hair seems to be doing okay. If my hair/scalp is dry…it needs water, not oil. So I either spritz or wash it. I also know that if I don’t twist before bed, my hair will come out shrunken and tangled. The more I do that, the more tangled it gets.
- Not spending sooooo much time – I read this bit from a previous blog post this morning and had to smile :
- I’m feeling like I’m doing more to my hair on a regular basis than my relaxed days. Yes when I was relaxed I had to also DC etc plus blow dry my hair, spend about 20 mins flat ironing it but then for the rest of the week, all I’d do is wrap it every night til wash day came round again and I’d spend another 2 hours doing it. But that was it, 2 hours a week that I had to worry about my hair. Am I only finding this whole natural thing consuming cos it’s new to me? I’m loving my hair but I’m worried about the time I’m spending on it, the number of things I have to do to get it looking the way I’d like. And what will happen when I start working? And when my hair grows out to a length that takes longer than 20 mins to air dry?
Well, this month I worked. And now my hair takes about 2 hours to completely air dry. But all in all, I can wash, DC and braid mabutu in about 2.5 hours. And that’s the bulk of the time I spend on my hair in the week. I take about 10 mins now to re-twist at night. And it’s becoming almost automatic like how I’d wrap my hair every night without fail when I was relaxed. It’s cos I know what would happen the next morning. And it’s not worth it. Granted I do get lazy/tired but it’s becoming less and less. I still can’t wait til the time my hair’s long enough to just make 4 big mabutu to sleep in.
I still love my Tresemme enhanced shampoo and my everyday spritz. My shampoo is starting to run out so will probably start using my Herbal Essences stash. I’ve also got a newfound love for my purple beanie. It’s saved me at times I didn’t have time/felt lazy to style my hair or when the weather was bleh…I’d slap that on and it’d make an awesome outfit. I definitely plan on getting a couple more this winter…a red one’s on my list.
This month, I did my first puff and I was sooooooo excited! I couldn’t believe that my hair is long enough to do that now and it’s also a great style to do towards the end of the week when my braid/twist out isn’t so fresh anymore. The puff is a cute and neat way of styling my hair. My style cycle seems to be curving towards: braid out fro hawk on Monday/Tuesday, side pinned with accessory or mini pompodour or flat twist headband mid week, puff at the end of the week. I’m glad it’s come to a point where I have more options to style my hair, making the most of my length at times and making the most of my thickness at others. As much as I LOVE my big earrings, I also know I don’t always have to wear them now that my hair’s getting bigger. I’ve also been getting quite a few compliments, and being hit on a lot more. It must be my boost in confidence. My fro just makes me feel hot! Even my clothing style has been inspired by it, I’m a bit more daring now and am embracing wearing big bold colours etc. And just wearing whatever the hell I wanna wear! But now summer seems to be slipping away and I think I may have to begin my protective style period. Not so sure yet how I’ll tackle it, that will be another post.
All in all, a good hair month.
Here’s to another one :).
