Hair Oil: Benefits of Coconut Oil for "Natural Hair"

Good Hair = Good Hair Habits, Bad Hair = Bad Hair Habits

This post is going to be a bit of a rant, I warn you now.  If you don't like opinion posts/rants, feel free to navigate away from this page, I won't be upset. Now that we have that out of the way, lets jump right in.

It's no secret that as a general rule, black women struggle with their hair.  Length retention is almost nonexistent for many black women and stagnant length is something most of us just come to accept as a condition of our genetic predisposition.  Basically, black people don't have "good hair" genes, or so most of us have been told.  We believe that our DNA dictates that we will have short, unhealthy, dry, brittle, unattractive, undesirable hair for life and there's nothing we can do about it.  I myself can even remember telling a white classmate in middle school that I wished I had hair as long as hers, but would likely never achieve it because black hair just doesn't grow past a certain length.

Nowadays, I know better, and so do many black women but the majority of us still hold on to those misconceptions that lead us to have negative self images where our hair was concerned, and convinced us that only certain lucky black girls and mixed kids got "good" aka desirable hair.  The majority of us still believe that black hair, in its natural and unprocessed state, is only acceptable on little girls below school age.  Our little boys rarely even get the opportunity to grow their own hair, being conditioned to believe there is something wrong or inappropriate about males who allow their hair follicles to actually do what they are programmed for and produce hair.

To me, all of these things serve as a reminder of the inferiority complex ingrained in people of color the world over, since the transatlantic slave trade.  I know many people the frequent hair care blogs, forums, and websites hate when others draw connections between slavery and the current state of black hair across the African diaspora, but if the shoe fits...  We were taught that everything about us, from our skin color, hair type, facial features, spiritual practices, clothing, and even language was wrong and less than.  When these lies were internalized, the outcome was the mistreatment of not only our hair but our entire bodies, as well as a loss of knowledge for how to properly care for them.  So instead of focusing on water, aka moisture, as a key component to a healthy hair care regimen, we put excessive emphasis on greases and oil based products that actually do nothing to truly moisturize our beautiful and delicate strands, only sealing it in or out.  Instead of being patient, loving, and gentle with our hair, we manhandle it, believing that this rough treatment is necessary for our "rough," "tough," and "nappy" hair.  And to top it off, we further abuse our tresses by frying them with flat irons, blow dryers, and curling irons.

After being denied true moisture, literally ripped from our heads, and fried to oblivion, it's no wonder most women of color have very short, brittle, damaged hair.  I didn't even mention all the high tension, neglect fostering styles we like to wear that make us feel like we can go weeks, sometimes months, without doing a thing to our real strands, like cornrows, braids, weaves, and wigs.  We are so convinced that beautiful, healthy, long hair is only a matter of genetics that we completely remove the human element from the equation.  We don't want to admit that we may actually be at fault for most, if not all of our hair woes.  We want to believe that we can chronically neglect, abuse, and mistreat our hair, and still have it grow long and thrive.  Sorry to tell you, but because afro textured hair is the most delicate of all known hair types, how it is treated day in and day out will determine its health and length over time, not DNA.

Being related to someone who is of Native American, Latin, Asian, or European decent does not make an individual any better than someone who claims nothing other than Black or African ancestry.  And it certainly doesn't guarantee "pretty" or "good" or easily managed hair.  Someone may be born with an aesthetically pleasing curl pattern, but if those responsible for their hair care don't properly moisturize it, rip it when then attempt to comb, constantly fry it with hot tools, put too much tension on it from tight braided styles, and neglect it for weeks at a time, it will visually reflect all the bad treatment it receives.  That's when the more judgmental among our community take the opportunity to call someone's baby "nappy headed" or say they have "bad hair."  I'm certain most of you reading this would be surprised at the complete 180 a persons hair can do when bad practices are thrown out and replaced with good ones.  If you want good hair, employ good hair care habits.  If you think you have bad hair, take a look at how you treat it then ask yourself if it's really your hair, or its owner that's bad.

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What's Going On??

I made a post talking abut hot I'm back to blogging on a regular basis and then seemed to disappear once again.  I promise it's not that I'm just some inconsistent flake.  My computer decided to contract a virus recently. -__-  Yeah.  I know.  Right now I'm able to use my laptop only in safe mode, which is very annoying and inconvenient.  Everything from my desktop to my web pages all look like they've been zoomed in too far.  When I try to zoom out, everything looks grainy.  And for whatever reason, sound is nonexistent.  I can't hear anything on YouTube or any other website.

Today is the end of the 6 month challenge I joined with SistaWithRealHair on YouTube, and I can't even upload my final length check!!  Believe me when I say, there is nothing I would like to do more.  But until my laptop is feeling better, (which will probably set me back a couple hundred bucks) I'm very limited in what I'm able to do.  I'm up for blogging daily, but the visual aspect of my infected laptop is so difficult to get used to.  Sigh...  Oh well.  For now I think it's what I have to do.  So, just be on the lookout for my posts on here, twitter, facebook, and instagram.  When my computer is fully up and running again, I promise to get back to (almost) daily uploads.  Thanks for sticking with me, loves.  I hope to be fully back soon. :)

Pictures of the Day (And a Couple Days Ago)

2 years, 2 days natural.

2 years, 2 days natural.

2 years, 2 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

2 years, 4 days natural.

The top three pictures were taken two days ago and all the rest were taken today.  I love the way my hair has been looking recently.  I switched from my normal twist out with 10 two strand twists to braid outs with 6 to 7 braids.  If I want a middle part I do 6 braids; a side part, 7.  I get more stretch and don't have to spend as much time on my hair with fewer sections.  The truly beautiful thing about this style is the 6 sections I do for a middle part are the same sections I use to detangle my hair.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  Even when I separate and fluff out my hair, the distinct sections remain.  So, come combing time, all I have to do is grab the hair in each section and gently separate the few hairs that make my hair look completely loose.  This new routine is awesome!  I'll go into more detail about it in a later post.

Later, loves! ^_^

I'm BACK!

It seems like I haven't done a written post in FOR. EH. VER! and I feel so horrible about that.  No only do I feel bad for the people who may occasionally check my blog for new content, but I also feel like I've kind of betrayed myself by deigning not to post.  I started blogging out of a desire to have more than just my YouTube videos to document my journey.  But without uploading new pictures regularly, there will appear to be visual gaps in the progress I've made thus far.  As far as pictures go, I think it will appear as though I went from TWA to medium length with no in between stage, which is completely unrealistic. 

After some recent, unexpected changes in my personal life, I've decided to rededicate my energy to meticulously documenting my hair's growth.  I think I had allowed myself to become distracted by things, people, and situations around me and I forgot all about what's really important.  This journey is about so much more than just hair for me.  It's a very spiritual experience accepting myself as I am, regardless of what the status quo or popular opinion may be.  Any opposition I encounter (which, admittedly is much less than when my journey began) serves only to prove to me that I'm on the right track.  I've found that the road less traveled seems to be where my feet are most comfortable.  The beaten path is boring and stagnant.  Stagnation = death. 

But I digress.  This post wasn't meant to be very long or too "deep."  Just wanted to actually spend the time to put... the normal expression is "pen to paper," but I guess in this instance it would be "fingers to keyboard?"  Either way, I just wanted to actually use my energy to make a written post again to refocus myself.  I truly believe documentation is key when it comes to assessing progress on any healthy hair journey, but especially a natural hair journey.  So, later today I will post some recent pictures taken with my new camera and talk about the changes I've made in my hair care for the 6 month growth challenge I'm currently participating in.  I mentioned it in my last video, but, like I said, there have been some recent changes in my life that have affected my hair regimen and I'd like to detail those.  So, for anyone who might be reading this, thank you for sticking with me and I'll TTYL.

Later, loves!! ^_^

Hair Challenge Announcement