"I Would Rather $$Buy$$ My Fabulous..."

Who doesn't like retail therapy?  I know it's typically deemed a woman thing, but seriously.  Can all men really claim that spending money on things you want for no other reason than, "it made me feel better" is something they never do?  I don't think so.  And even though this is a blog dedicated to a decidedly feminine issue, I think in this particular instance, we can all understand the issue at hand to a certain extent.  Even the frugal among us understand retail therapy.

That's why I'm currently grappling with something said to me.  I should be able to understand it, but I'm seriously having trouble reconciling myself to accept it. The it in question is something a coworker recently said to me.  I was walking past her while she was having a conversation with someone else and revealed that she just spent $500.00 on some hair bundles and is currently waiting for them to arrive.  I was completely flabbergasted!  Flummoxed!  Amazed!  Even when I had a relaxer, as the woman in question does, I simply couldn't understand spending that kind of money for such a "shallow" reason.

I no longer think that spending money one one's self for reasons of beauty, self esteem, and self image is shallow, but where is the line drawn?  When does it go from retail therapy to exorbitant and unnecessary spending?  When I heard my coworker's plans to have this "fabulous" hair installed so she can say, "I woke up like this" on Instagram, it honestly made me sad.  I told her as politely as I could that there is no need for her to spend that kind of money on hair of all things when she has plenty of strands growing directly from hr head.  She responded that her hair "can't grow past [her] shoulders."  I'm pretty sure most of you reading this know that that isn't true.  Just about everyone has genes that allow hair to grow to at least mid back length.  Perpetually shoulder length hair is a tell tale sign of self inflicted damage!  Change your hair habits, you change your hair!  When I voiced this, I was just met with "Girl, ain't nobody got time. It takes too long."

That's why I'm having such trouble understanding the mentality that says it makes more sense to deplete my finances for someone else's hair rather than put in a little effort and grow my own for free.  You can either spend over $500.00 (because I'm sure she still has to pay for the install) and have "nice" hair for maybe a few months and have your own hair stay the same length year after year, or you can save that money and have your own hair getting longer and longer with each passing year.  I just don't understand what would make someone choose the first option other than believing that the second option isn't really possible.  It's unimaginable to me that someone would make that decision for any other reason.

But it is possible.  I'm living proof!  I was the girl with thin, damaged, broken off, shoulder length hair.  I knew nothing about proper hair care.  I thought my hair was the length it was because of my genetics, not what I was doing and NOT doing to it.  The state of one's hair, no matter how poor or desirable, is the fault/responsibility of none other than the person whose scalp it grows from.  Ladies, please don't concede defeat before you've even made an effort to improve the state of your hair.  It CAN and WILL grow as long as you'd like it to.  Just give it the treatment it needs to get there.

How Fast Does My Natural Hair Grow??

I May Be Changing My Hair Goal

When I first found out that Black women could, and regularly do, grow exceptionally long hair, I was floored.  No one in my family has really long hair and all the Black female celebrities with long hair use weave or extensions of some kind (In fact, most female celebrities period wear some kind of hair extensions, but that's an altogether different topic.) so you can hardly blame me for buying into the hype.  Add in the fact that my mother never really took the greatest care of our (me and my sisters') hair, I was almost doomed from the start to accept the "fact" that my hair couldn't grow long, doomed to accept that only the select few Black women blessed with "good" or "pretty" hair could grow it long without a problem.

But thank the Creator I've been enlightened and no longer buy into any of that BS.  Now I know that Black women are no different from women of other races.  Some of us have slow growing hair, some have hair that grows very quickly.  Some have an anagen (growth) phase of a few years, and some of us have growth phases that can last up to ten years or even longer.  The one uniting factor between Black women and women of all other ethnicities concerning long hair is that effort must be put in for the results we want to achieve to become a reality.  Whether someone's hair is stick straight or full on nappy, you have to work with what you have in order to grow it long.  The problem is, most Black women don't want to put in the work, or simply don't know what that work should consist of.

How many people do you know that can honestly say they know the difference between the sound of a brush or comb passing safely through their hair, and the sound of individual strands breaking?  How many people know the difference between mechanical (and therefore preventable) hair damage, heat damage, and breakage due to dryness?  My guess is, unless you come from a family that has a strong ethic for hair care, you don't know that many.  I want to change that.  And not just with a few people here and there.  I want to change it on a large scale.  I want it to become the norm for Black women to be seen with long, big, natural hair.

And I think the best way to go about doing that is to lead by example.  You may or may not know that my end goal with my natural hair journey is to grow my hair long enough to touch my waist when stretched.  But recently, I thought, "Why not go longer?"  The fact of the matter is, the distance from the top of my head to my waist is not that long, due to my height.  I'm under five feet tall, so my torso is drastically shorter than those of most other women, so my hair doesn't have to grow as long to reach my natural waist.  Well, 18 inches isn't exactly anything to sneer at, but you catch my drift.

I'm thinking I may change my hair goal to hip length hair, just for the hell of it.  I'm super short, so I think I should be able to manage that.  Unless my growth cycle is set to some abysmally short number of years, I think I can handle having hip length hair, because that means it would probably hang somewhere around my waist when dry, which would be suuuuper hot!!!  What do you think?

Random Hair Thoughts

10 months, 1 week, 4 days natural.

I love my hair... I really do.  But I've just become so bored with it the past couple of days.  Even though I look at my reflection and acknowledge all the progress I've made with my hair since my big chop, I'm still impatient for more length.  As cute as I think twist outs look on me, I just can't stop myself from thinking they would be cuter if my hair was longer.  Waist length hair is a lofty goal and an immense amount of patience is required to reach it.

My hair goals and aspirations have grown and developed since I began this "journey."  At first it was just that I wanted long hair.  Then, I wanted long, healthy hair.  And finally, I chose a specific length to go for, one that would be sure to impress any who saw the glory of my crown, waist length hair.  After setting that goal, I clarified what it meant by saying I wanted waist length hair when stretched.  I can't imagine having waist length wash n go curls, but then again, why not?

I am still excited to see what my hair can accomplish with consistent good care and love, but I just wish I could fast forward the next three years to see what my hair will be in that time.  Growing natural hair is a tedious process.  I have never been so meticulous as to measure my hair every month to determine my monthly growth rate, but now I almost feel like I should.  At least that would give me a tangible measurement of my progress that I can look at month to month to determine what it working and what might not be working.

I've decided that I want to have my hair trimmed by the time I reach one year natural because it will have been a full eight months since I had it professionally cut by someone who knows how to approach curly hair.  At first I thought about flat ironing my hair to get at any extremely uneven, split, or knotted ends.  But then I threw that thought out for fear of heat damage.  Yes, having my hair straight would give me a more accurate cut (probably), but supreme accuracy isn't really necessary for someone who exclusively wears their hair in textures styles.  So the risk just doesn't seem worth it to me.  Like I said, I love my hair and I'll be damned if I go in for a simple trim and end up having to cut off more of my hair than I initially thought because I damaged it with extreme heat in the process.

...To some, my obsession with my hair and healthy hair care practices may seem a bit (or a lot) strange.  And I can understand that.  After all, hair, like every other part of the human body, gets worn down with time and can't remain the same after years and years of being on your head.  But growing my hair to my waist is something I have to do for myself.  I told myself that Black women are no different from the women of any other race, and can grow long, healthy, beautiful, natural hair if only they care for it in a way that will allow them to do so.  So I have to prove it with my own hair.

I already know a lot of the people in my life won't believe my hair can grow down to my waist until the day it does.  And I want to see each and every one of their faces when once that happens.  Especially everyone who was anti-natural hair.  That includes family members.  I already know I'm going to be hearing how pretty and "good" my hair is from the very same people that implied it was nothing more than nappy.  So judge me if you will.  Call me vain, shallow, obsessed, whatever you think fits me.  But three years from now, when my hair is longer than most, if not all, of the Black women you know, who will have the last laugh??

What Is The Green House Effect For Hair??

Hi guys. I wanted to tell you all about some of the things I do to maximize my hair growth so I'm going to start with the Greenhouse Effect or GHE. Now, what on earth is that, you may ask. Well, basically the GHE is using a plastic bag or shower cap along with a scarf and bonnet, or possibly a hat during the night to create a warm and moist environment on your hair while you sleep. The excess heat and moisture trapped on your hair by the shower cap and other layers help to promote the natural oils in your scalp, known as sebum, to come out in greater abundance than they normally do. Sebum helps to nourish and moisturize hair, helping it to grow long and healthy.

When doing the GHE it's recommended to use a natural oil of some kind to coat your hair strands from root to tip to provide extra moisture and lubrication to the hair than can be produced from layering alone. Jamaican black castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, and extra virgin coconut oil are a few really popular ones. It's all about finding what works best in your hair. Personally, I use castor oil from Walmart and massage it into my scalp before putting on all my layers for the night. I don't choose to coat the length of my hair in oil simply because I don't think I would be able to go multiple days between washing and styling my hair if I did. When I first went natural and began to identify my hair as curly I learned that curly girls should never run their fingers through their hair because it can muss up the curls and separate all the units. So running my hands down the length of my hair with oil seems counter intuitive to me.

Normally hair grows at a rate of about half an inch per month, but with the GHE people have been able to get anywhere from one to one and a half inches of growth every month! I think those results speak for themselves. The GHE works better the more often you do it, so I try to do this at least every other night. I recommend you guys try it out for a month or two and see how your hair likes it. Maybe you can speed up your rate of growth! The Greenhouse Effect is part of a larger regimen, which was started by Meeka Jael on YouTube. She has a new channel called RealQueensRegimen where you can get all the info on the GHE and the overall regimen. The Real Queens Regimen also has a group on Hairlista for women who follow the regimen or do the GHE to help each other out with tips and experiences. If you decide to add the GHE to your current routine or to completely switch over to the Real Queens Regimen let me know in the comments.

Later, loves. :-*

Naturally Curly Hair Growth Prediction/Theory

It should come as no surprise that I examine my hair very often. It's still something new to me so I try to learn as much about it as I possibly can. So, every now and then when I'm bored, I'll sit in front of my mirror with an index card and put it behind my hair to examine it piece by piece. I also study photos of curly hair that I come across in every day life.

These examinations have caused me to come up with a theory about my hair, that can be applied to curly hair in general, concerning the way curl units grow. In the very front/top of my hair, there is almost no curl definition. The hair there is just wavy with no real units forming until you get to the very end of the strands. After about the first four to five inches, the hair no longer waves and starts to curl all in the same pattern, and become a defined, visible curl.

I've seen this on all kinds of curly hair, not just highly textured African-American natural hair. So, that lead me to the conclusion that some hair has to reach a certain age before it begins to grow in the same pattern as the hairs around it and form a defined unit.

Hair grows from the scalp at about half an inch per month, so the ends of our hair are the oldest parts and hair closest to the scalp is the youngest. If I have 5.5" of hair, and the first 5" has grown in random waves and the last half inch all comes together in the same curl pattern, that tells me my hair has to be at least eleven months old for it to grow in the same pattern as the hair around it and become a true unit. So, the first 5" of my hair might always be randomly wavy, but if my theory is correct, all hair after that will be in actual curl units.

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments. Later, loves. :-*