My Natural Hair struggle

If you are a Natural, you know the struggle is all too real. I just spent a lot of time experimenting with my hair because I wanted to see what products and methods work best for it. Decided to come on here and find supporters. lets start from wash days…

WASH DAYS

Standing for hours just to get the hair washed and after you feel that you have done a good job at scrubbing the dirt out of your roots, you open a section of your hair and there, you find white residue smiling back at you.

Do you start the whole shampooing process again or do you just leave it? Sometimes I can’t be bothered, but I do know that its the beginning of build up. When I am tired, it is a risk I am willing to pay. See you white residue, in the next wash session.

Any day I plan to have my hair washed, I resign myself to going nowhere. One, it takes a long time to get my hair sectioned, shampooed, conditioned, deep conditioned, and then air dried. I don’t use heat on my hair. Not for any particular reason, I just never think of it.

Two, as a very lazy natural, I do the bare minimum. I like to keep my hair in protective styles, that way, I don’t have to bother about it daily. Just wake up and go. So on wash days, I try to maximize pampering my hair.

How often do you wash your hair? Some people say it has to be every week, and I just look at them and thank God for the hair washing grace upon their lives. Although, I know it all depends on a person’s lifestyle.

After all that, I still have to put my hair in twist, because if I don’t,  It will be a struggle when I have to eventually style it.

PRODUCTS

The products is another issue. I am grateful for variety but with endless variety comes choices. What product will be good for my hair? Am I low porosity or high porosity?

I tried a hair gel once, I won’t mention the brand. I wanted to have that slick down bun look. It looked good when it was still wet, but after a few hours, I was left with white flakes in my hair. After all the stress of washing, only to get white flakes? And to make it worse, it was a new gel I just bought in a very large quantity because I had heard a lot of raves about it.

With my hair, I have come to learn that not all products will work for it. Coconut Oil for instance gives me bumps, painful itchy ones. And I also break out on my face. I have restricted it to occasional use and just on my body.

For the experiment I was talking about earlier, I washed one side of my hair with a certain shampoo and the other with another. I did same for both sides of my hair with different conditioners. So far, my hair is loving the Shampoo from Shea Moisture, and Creightons, Conditioner from ORS Olive Oil etc.

DIY

DIY-Do It Yourself have dealt with me. Especially in my “I can save money on hair product” days.

There are endless DIY’s  you can find on the internet. I once made a DIY conditioner that included Banana. I ended up with little chunks of Banana in my hair. It took me several washes and even then, I had to leave some pieces until my next wash because my arms became tired. I have since given up on Hair DIY’s, except for the occasional tea bag rinse because its safe. I am looking to try rice water though, heard a lot of raves about it.

PROTECTIVE STYLES

I love protective styles, especially braids. The downside to making some of my favorite styles is that, at the start of the two week mark, my own hair begins to stick out from underneath the braids. I find that I get a lot more time with my braids if I am meticulous about sleeping with a satin scarf or bonnet.

Most times when I wake up, I find that my scarf or bonnet has found it way out of my head and onto the floor. Some that have an elastic band stay on, but I start to feel a headache after a while. There is no win with satin bonnets for me so far.

A very good alternative is to to have a satin pillow case. No constriction to the head, and your hair and edges stay safe and moisturized.

One of the pros of having natural hair, is that your natural hair always smells great especially after a wash. The products these days geared to natural hair have this wonderful fruity smells.

The work is real, but I won’t have it any other way. I am happy with the hair I have on my head. I love that it constantly defies gravity. Also the fact that I can style it at any point in time with different protective styles is also amazing.

What do you love about your hair? What are some of the products that you have tried and loved?