Hair Update

Time for a hair update.

An updo done with two parts

My hair has grown (stands up and does a victory dance). Obviously my hair has grown, because that is what it does, it grows, we just have to be patient and try to retain as much length as we can. Honestly, I’ve been a little lax on taking care of my hair. I haven’t moisturized it as often as I should have and there were days when my hair would get tangles and I was too lazy too untangle it. I have to get back to treating it like silk, my hand in hair syndrome seems to be getting worse.

The Good News:
1. Again, it’s grown. The back is actually past collar bone length, the front past my nose.
2. The shedding I experienced has significantly decreased – I believe this is due to detangling more thoroughly, although not as often. I now use a wide toothed comb along with my fingers.
3. My fine and fragile strands seems stronger, mostly due to regular protein treatments.
4. My edges are filling in, thanks to castor oil and protecting them.

The Bad News:
1. My hair has started to tangle more at the roots, which I’m trying to figure out how to deal with.
2. I’ve noticed my ends are a little frazzled and I have seen a few split ends, although I dust my ends approximately every two months.

I usually get box braids/twists, yarn braids or wigs to protect my hair. I went two whole months with my hair out which was liberating and taught me how be more creative with my hair, especially for work. I ended up doing a lot of updos for workThe shedding I experienced has significantly decreased – I believe this is due to detangling more thoroughly, although not as often. I now use a wide toothed comb along with my fingers.

Here are a few pics:

Shrunken hair style

 

My edges are growing back!!

 

An updo done with two parts

 

How it looks from the back

Some random hair talk…

I love natural hair. I really do. I love my natural hair and I love seeing other ladies with natural hair. I was in Bulawayo for a few days and I saw a lot of women with dreadlocks and natural hairstyles. I was in Victoria Falls with yarn braids, and I noticed a very large percentage of people there have dreadlocks; freet dreadlocks and even neat small ones. In Harare though, it’s mostly still a sea of weaves. I did see this lady with the most gorgeous thick mane of wild kinks at a restaurant, and I felt like going to high five her, but decided to just stare and smile. I saw a friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in a while at church with a blond TWA. I was so excited to see her and her hair, that I did the unspeakable – I went in to touch. I hate it when people stick their fingers in my hair and touch my hair, but there I was doing the same.

In a city where I hardly saw anyone with natural hair unless they were going to get their hair relaxed or texturised, it’s so refreshing to see the tide turning slowly but surely. It might be due to the influence from the global natural hair movement or from neighbouring countries’ cultures. Whichever, all I know is I see a lot more ladies transitioning or doing the big chop to start the natural hair journey. That really makes me smile… 

 I don’t always have my natural hair out, because of the work I do (which I’ll lament about later) and I realise a lot of women in Harare actually have natural hair under their weaves, wigs or braids.

My blog, like many hair blogs, has a lot of pictures. I’m a visual person like most, and I love looking at beautiful images. With the evident natural hair movement worldwide being played out on the internet, hair envy is inevitable. A mixed girl (or coloured girl) in Zimbabwe is more likely to be admired for having curly natural hair (ie Ammara Brown), whereas a none mixed girl (ie Shingai Shoniwa) will be castigated for walking around with ‘undone’ hair (except Shingai Shoniwa isn’t really castigated, but then again, she’s Shingai Shoniwa). So girls who don’t have looser textures will end up trying, mostly in vain, to recreate that curly look so they can have that accepted pretty curly natural hair. Not treating your hair as uniquely as it is and trying to making look a certain way which is different to the way it is, defeats the whole purpose of going natural.

I struggle with this when I go to work with my natural hair out in full glory. I work in a formal financial environment and at my work, they would actually rather you have your hair ‘done’ – as in a weave, extensions to relaxed hair or braids. If I go to work ‘undone’ I usually plait one or two french plaits, combed out afro puff or some updo. The whole week, I’ll be asked when I’m getting my hair done, which gets irritating, especially when I’m not planning to do anything.

Natural hair perceptions are changing though in Zimbabwe, not fast enough though. I’ll just continue jumping up and down while clapping my hands when I see a natural in Harare.

Hair Journal: Hair Update, lots to tell

 So it’s been an interesting past few weeks for me and my hair.

This natural hair journey, in all honesty, is not the easiest and trying to treat my hair like silk with loving patience at times, can be the last thing on my mind. The journey has it’s ups and downs and at times, I just feel like throwing my hands up and saying ‘ain’t nobody got time for that!’

 

It’s times like these when I KNOW I’m due to put my hair in a long term protective style like box braids or a twists for a few weeks.

 

My hair is usually in some state of protection about 95% of the time, when I have my hair out it’s usually in a puff.

My little hair puff

 For work, I try to figure out a way to keep my hair neat and the ends tucked away with plaits. Most of the time though, I use half wigs. I don’t weave my hair anymore, because no matter how it’s done or cared for, my fine strands just cannot take it. Wigs are neat, I don’t have to wear them all the time and I have complete access to my hair. Plus my hair seems to loooove them and really thrives. I’m yet to find some natural hair looking wigs that I like though in Harare though, but the search continues.

I started using a spritz a few weeks ago which consisted of about 50% aloe vera juice, 10% glycerine and the rest water, with a few drops of olive oil. At first my hair didn’t really take to it, it felt brittle and dry. I then tried it again and my hair felt moisturised, my coily pattern was more pronounced and my hair was less frizzy. After weeks of happily using it, this week, my hair changed it’s mind. How is it that my hair just starts reacting differently to a product without any external changes?

 

Spotted forms of Aloe vera are sometimes known as Aloe vera var. chinensis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well with some research, some coilies/curlies don’t react well to aloe vera, especially girls with low porosity hair. When I began my journey, I had highly porous hair. Now I’m asking the question of whether my hair porosity has changed and now has a normal or even low porosity. Well considering I have used henna treatments, it’s highly likely.

 Hair porosity refers to how easily hair absorbs moisture. This depends on how the cutilcle layers on the hair shaft rests. If they are raised, the hair is highly porous and moisture passes in and out easily. If they are compact and tightly overlapping, the hair has low porosity. This hair type repels moisture, and to get moisture the cuticles have to be raised. Normal porosity is ideal where some moisture is absorbed and retained.

My hair has also previously reacted badly to glycerine when it was dry outside. It’s Fall/Winter here, so the air has become very dry. Since glycerine is a humectant and draws moisture, when it’s cold and dry here, it draws moisture out of the hair strands into the dry surrounding air, making hair dry and brittle. So it could have been the glycerine in the spritz.

 

So I just began using a spritz with no glycerine, less aloe vera juice and more water and olive oil. So far, my hair is showing very little change, but will check again after a wash.

 

I’ll report back on results.

 

And, look forward to more posts on hair porosity.