So today is my 3rd year anniversary of being natural. To say this has been a year of ups and downs with my hair is an understatement. In all honesty I feel that I have lost more hair than I have grown it. Yet as I look at it stretched out as much as possible I can see a little bit of difference.
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| This is on average what I am losing when I wash |
This past year I felt things were going down hill about six months after my 2 year anniversary. De-tangling has become a stronger foe as my hair has gotten longer and the hair that comes out is just astounding and frustrating at the same time. Oh and the knots in my hair are just insane! Just trying to keep up with them alone make me nuts. Moisture isn't an issue, I make sure to keep my hair well moisturized with my homemade products.
The following pics were taken this morning after undoing my three strand twists on my hair. My biggest issue is still trying to grow the hair on top of my head. For some reason THAT damn portion of hair doesn't seem to realize I want it to grow along with the rest. That has been one of my huge issues as far as hair maintenance in general.
It's still frustrating that my hair is thin. I can't really do any styles with it and I feel sorry for my stylist because any style she tries on me unfortunately especially with two strand or flat twists really shows how thin (in my opinion) my hair is. I forgot to take a picture of the end result of this style, but my stylist wasn't pleased and had me come back in the next week as a do over. She even did a trim about a inch to deal with my split ends. I normally see her only twice a year, but I'm thinking I might have to step it up with my hair getting longer. My last time seeing her was in March.
Rod sets are better but I realized that the texture of my hair (which feels like light cotton) will not allow for more versatile styles. This was the second hair appointment with two weeks since my stylist wasn't please with the result from when I went to see her the previous week (see pics right above).
Previous pictures from the past year.
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| February |
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| January (now if I stretch my hair it comes to about my lip since my trim) |
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| January |
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| December |
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| December |
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| December |
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| December - shrinkage still a bitch |
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| November - just voted |
I know there are some other factors that have probably contributed to my ongoing struggles with my hair. I've tried changing up my washing patterns, finger De-tangling instead of with a comb at first, stressed out and tired from my main job, side business, and also back in college.When I say I was stretched to the limit this past semester, I definitely was. My eating habits don't help the situation as well, I've heard people say that what you put inside your body reflects what comes out. I'm out of shape and that is putting it mildly. So that is something I'm going to have to tackle as well. At the beginning of the year I was taking Mane Choice vitamins and could definitely tell a difference with my nail growth, but ended up by March stop taking them because I was so busy I would forget to take them on a daily basis. So now with my job somewhat slowing down, I'm hoping I can get back to a routine where I start taking care of myself from head to toe.
Hell at one point I was just so frustrated with my hair and was going to say fuck it and just cut it off and keep it low as a TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro). Yet I went to the African Arts festival this past weekend and fell in love with my damn crazy ass afro all over again. Ugh....the struggle. I'm not sure if I should change up the products I use for washing. If I could find a de-tangler that worked wonders I think that would help me out immensely. I've been using Design Essentials and AS I AM products since I became natural and wonder if I should look into something else. Who knows.......I am open to suggestions so please don't hesitate with dropping any knowledge if you think I need to change up something.
The biggest thing I have to keep reminding myself is not to judge my progress with anyone else. It will get to where it's going when it gets there. It's going to have it's trials and setbacks, but hey, it's only hair:)
