I suppose it’s time to give an update on my natural hair!
Long ago, I used to relax my hair every 5-6 weeks. As a result, my hair became very thin and growth was stagnant. The last time I shared a hair update, I was explaining how I was doing the greenhouse effect again because of a mishap with a closure that left me with a bald spot in the front of my head. Devastating.
Well, it has since grown back, not to full length, but the hair has filled back in. Length-wise, I chopped a lot of my hair off two years ago which left me with a bob and this is where I’m at now:
As much as I want to be happy for myself, it took two years for my hair to grow roughly six inches, if that. My hair is thicker, but that’s to be expected as I only relax every 3-4 month (and sometimes it’s only my edges), and also nothing to celebrate about. But don’t pity me, because I really haven’t been doing much to actively speed up the process. If I’m not wearing a full lace wig, I’m wearing a sew-in. I keep my hair cornrowed 90% of the time and I have this phase where I let my hair breathe and usually wear a bun for a day or two. So liberating! Then my vanity sets in and I go back to the long hair.
All that said, the photo does give me motivation. When I cut my hair, I felt like it was in great shape. It was even and I had volume… body and bounce! And my hair hasn’t gotten any worse, besides when I ripped it out with the closure.
So what do I want? What are my goals?
When I bring my hair around my shoulders, I am unhappy. I do need a trim, which will obviously shorten the length. I’m not sure what I can do to gain thicker hair (besides not relaxing it and I’ve been down that road before), but I am familiar with shampoo and conditioner thickeners. I’d like to see my hair reach just below my collarbone, comfortably, in its healthiest state. The problem is that I have this glorious, long giraffe’s neck! 🙂 But I know my hair loves two things: cornrows and moisture!
I’m sure I’ll reach my goals, with more patience, attention, and TLC.
Author
Great post! I've always been relaxed but last September I decided to transition to natural hair. I became fully natural in June of this year and after three months I wasn't happy and decided to return to relaxed hair, which is what I prefer. After trimming I'm now at neck length and am working on getting back to shoulder length (or longer) as I was before.
– Sherrell
aurevoirplainjane.com
Author
I went natural several years back for 9 months then I just *could not* with my hair so I ended up relaxing. I mean my hair grew fast and was so thick while I was transitioning, but I couldn't enjoy it because I was always fighting with it. If I had someone to tend to it regularly, perhaps I'd be more inclined to keep it that way. My friends always ask me why I even bother relaxing since I never really wear my hair out. But when I do it's such a pain and time consuming! I'm sure you'll reach your length goals with time and patience!