Lol, Me, My Hair Issues & a Possible Solution

So, the jury’s in. And I think I’ve come to a possible way to deal with my current hair issues.

As much as I’ve been flirting with the idea to cut my hair to a less fussy length, I’ve realised I actually would like to see how long my hair could go. And not make hair length the sole focus as I want healthy hair too. I saw myself in the mirror the other day and how my twists were actually ‘drooping’ and grazing the bottom of my neck. A year ago I was frustrated with how I couldn’t even do twists! Yet here I am, able to get ideas from Pinterest and see photos of women with some awesome styles that I wouldn’t be able to do without my current and possible future length.

I already outlined that my issues are time, styles and money. I don’t want to spend much time in the mornings as well as on wash days to do my hair…well not necessarily not want to but honestly right now, I don’t have the luxury to; with work, house keeping, my blog, spending time with my man and personal down time…there’s just no time really. So I think the best thing (at least that I can think of right now) is to not abandon Fro. I haven’t in two years and I’m going to fight for her. I need a solution that will address all of my issues. In my mini break, I did
quite a bit of reading in my quest to ‘save Fro’. As usual, I found some
really useful, helpful and inspiring ladies and through their
experiences and routines, I was able to figure something out. So this is what I’m going to try to do, especially during winter:

• Shampoo my hair less – I’ve noticed the past few weeks with life getting so crazy, I ‘accidentally’ kept missing my wash day as I didn’t have time. But my hair was still clean up until I really had to wash it. I think it also makes a difference that I’m using less gel in my hair too, particularly with not styling it into different styles everyday. So I’m going to aim to shampoo my hair once a month, before it feels gunky.
• Co-wash  – My hair still needs a splash of water though, so a co-wash in between would help moisturise without drying my hair out. Basically in a month I’d shampoo my hair the first weekend. Second weekend, nothing. Third weekend I’ll co-wash and the last weekend, nothing. Repeat the following month.
• Detangle less – The time my hair breaks the most is when I detangle, even if it’s less these days it’s still more noticeable breakage than any other time in my routine. Again, I’ve accidentally noticed that skipping detangling day (as part of  my wash day) actually didn’t make my hair unbearable especially when I kept it in a protected style. The last time I detangled, I did it in the shower because my lil butt’s officially freezing this winter and it was quite a pleasant experience. I’m going to try make that a regular thing and only do it when I shampoo and just slap on my deep conditioner afterwards. 
• Wash in sections – I already do this and it’s working wonders with reducing knots and tangles so I’m going to continue.
• Rock a twisted style most of the week – Although they need a bit of work, my twists are saving my hair this winter. They’re relatively quick and it’s something I can do (again, I know they need work!) without relying on someone else. My twists don’t last beyond a week. Well, they can but my hair looks ratty and starts to mat. So to avoid that and to also evade getting bored, I’ll allow myself one day a week to have Fro out. I haven’t really been feeling my free Fro style lately as the hair grazing my neck gets me paranoid so I usually put it up into a quick updo that hides my ends, but at least it’s a break from the twists. Come weekend, I re-twist.

My new proposed regimen will look like this:

1. Week one: Wash my hair in sections with shampoo and deep condition or treat. Detangle with my fingers, followed by my shower comb whilst shampooing. Apply leave-in and style my hair for the week in twists or flat twists style after letting it air dry at least 50%. During the week, wrap my hair in my scarf and spritz my daily spritz every other day to keep it moisturised and style intact. If the style begins to look ratty, dress it up with clips, headbands, scarves and beanies. Enjoy a twist out at the end of the week.
2. Week two: Re-moisturise my hair with LOC method and style hair in twists for the week. Wrap hair as usual during the week, spritz every other day, enjoy twist out at the end of the week.
3. Week three: Co-wash my hair in big twists and deep condition. Apply leave-in, let it air dry and style for the week. Wrap hair as usual during the week, spritz every other day, enjoy twist out at the end of the week. 
4. Week two: Re-moisturise my hair with LOC method and style hair in
   twists for the week. Wrap hair as usual during the week, spritz every
   other day, enjoy twist out at the end of the week.

This proposed routine addresses my issues of:

Time – spend the majority of the time on wash day putting it into a style. During the week it’s a case of spritzing and clipping away.
Money – I do it on my own and also saving on the number of times I use the DC or shampoo by alternating.
Style boredom – I change my style weekly and I can still rock my ‘afro’ style once a week if I want.

I’m so glad this shift in mentality came about when it did. I’d been struggling to figure out a way in which I could fit my changing lifestyle into my hair routine. But now I see it should be about my hair fitting into my lifestyle not the other way around. And things happen in life that make you need to re assess your timetable. There’s nothing wrong with that and I should expect for my hair routine to be adjusted for the changing times in my life too.

Key thing right now is to protect Fro without breaking the bank and getting it to a healthier place for both parties. Hopefully, lessening certain habits will lead to more length retention. Less manipulation, less money, less time, just less less less.

Let’s see how it goes!

Do check out some of the articles, photos and women who inspired me in my quest to sort out my hair issues.

Ms GG of FroStoppa inspired me to experiment with DIY protective styling. She’s got some great and simple styles I think I can begin practising with:

Ms GG

Lilian Mae also has some great DIY protective styling tips and routine: Protective Styling: It Ain’t Always Glamorous but it Always Works 

As usual, my fave natural hair site had some great articles, especially: 6 Tips for Making Protective Styles Last a Long Time & 5 Signs That Protective Styling is Not For you

I know I’m super slow, but I can’t know of all the bloggers and vloggers out there, but I recently fallen in love with Naptural85’s Youtube channel. Her videos are so helpful! If you haven’t already become a follower, I suggest you do her hair is insane. I started off with watching this video and then I was hooked. She also has videos on how to wash hair in twists and her nightly twist maintenance.

Naptural85

I’ll be saving all photos, videos and tips for DIY protective styling ideas on my new Pinterest board ‘Natural Hair Protective Styles’, in case you’re also feeling stuck 😉

Twitter – Facebook – YouTube – Pinterest