Its been a while!!!! I have been out of commission and kept busy by LIFE! Nonetheless, I have entered a new phase in my hair journey. the other day i had it out and a male friend took an admiring look and declared that my hair was looking good. I was chuffed! I have come a long way from when I @#$$@# up my hair!!!
Ok lemme explain. 2009 was the year. I was living in England and it was almost the end of summer. I relaxed my hair and it was the longest I had ever seen it. (Shoulder length..rolls eyes!) Anywho i was like "whaaaaat" and decided I would rosk all the hottest styles I could. And so I did. Grabbed my tongs and got the cutests looks. I didnt use any heat protection and I tonged it every single day. All fair and fine until a few months later when I moved to SA and my hair had alot of growth, yes it was long but I had majorly thin ends. No bueno!
I have since stopped the relaxers because my hair cant take it. But thinking of this episode got me thinking of all my hair sins, and what you can do to prevent going down the same path!
1) I would relax my hair and have it braided on the same day. Awful stuff. Why did I ever do that? If you do want to relax and then braid, make sure you give your hair lots of TLC after the relaxer and give it at least 2 weeks before you braid it up
2) I never deep conditioned my hair before braiding. This is essential to give your hair some strength and nourshment before braiding it up for long periods of time.
3) I never took care of my hair while it was braided up. Like alot of students in my time, I would go to Zim, get the cutest braids and forget about my hair fr the whole semester. While braids can be a great protective style, your hair is only protected if you take care of it even while in braids. Moisturise daily, wash weekly etc.
4) I changed hairstyles often...way too often! this meant my hair never had time to rest and was breaking every time I manipulated it.
5) I once colored my hair the same day I got a relaxer...by now we should know that this again is no bueno, Mixing chemical treatments on the same day is not ideal. Again, give your hair time to get stronger....
6) I never did deep conditioning treatments. I viewed this as some sort of extravagance or means for stylists to siphon more money out of clients. wrong! Deep conditioning is not necesarily expensive and I now condition with common household ingredients when I want to save a few pennies. Plus this practise is essential in any hair growth regimen.
I identify these as my worst hair blunders over the year. while my hair is on its way to health, it has taken a while to repair some of the damage I did. Some parts of my hair will never be repaired and that is as a direct consequence of my own actions.
BUT I am happy that I have learnt to treat my hair like delicate silk and am loving the results day by day.
As I keep updating my blog I will share some of my own experiences as well as my friends and family in this hair journey.
Sharing is caring....
Stay blessed!
Love
B
PS..next blog post, I review joico KPak Intense Hydrator
