People always gush at my hair each time I wear it out to the streets. At least 3 out of 5 persons will always stop me and ask "is this all your hair?". While the other 2 of 5 will keep debating amongst themselves whether it's really my hair or not, "it's a wig, she has extensions" and stuffs like that. That is inarguably one of my proudest hair moments. A lot of my friends struggling with hair growth will always ask for tips and when I tell them it's 80% genetics and 20% haircare, it just sounds off to them.
In as much as I love getting a of hair compliment and attention, backstage, it's kind of a nightmare. Taking care of a big afro like mine is exhausting, I'm not going to lie. When I remember that my hair day is around the corner, my hair always skip a beat. The detangling, the moisturizing, straightening, it's just a lot of work. I hear people say that if they had a hair as good as mine, they'll always wear it out, no more braids or wigs.
I scoff. If only they knew about shrinkage, split ends and most especially hair loss, the scariest of them all.
My hair is one of the precious things I have. Even if everything is going bad and I remember "at least I have a good hair", I'm kinda chill, y'know. Hahaha.
Maintaining a good hair and preventing hair loss is a tough fight, especially when it's afro. My first step to keeping a good afro hair is going in for the protective styles. I love, love, love braids.
I figured out that when I constantly keep changing hairstyles and not giving my scalp a break, I lose more hair. After I cracked that code, you're never seeing me without a braid on. And I love adding extensions too, mostly to give me I look I want and also to protect my hair. One thing about wearing protective styles is that I don't have to keep thinking of how I'm going to style my natural hair each morning I have to go out. Combing and styling natural afro everyday is not not very stressful, it's also not advisable if one is trying not to lose hair. It doesn't give your scalp a break and you'll just get tired in the end .
One thing I look out for while getting my braids done is making sure the roots are not too tight. This is very important for the edges, one might think she has a protective style on, just to take out the braids and find the edges gone. I also don't leave my braids for too long, the standard is 4 weeks but I can go for 6 or 7 and 8 maximum if I love the style so much.
Deep moisturizing is way of preventing hair loss. I never leave my hair out natural for so long. If I'm taking out my braids today, the longest I can keep it without getting another braid is 2 weeks. During that time, I make sure to feed it with a lot moisturizing hair creams, conditioners and the rest. To keep my hair from drying out I use Shea butter, good for growth, good for a thick textured hair and good for nourishing too. While taking out braids, I use a wash out conditioner before I started detangling and combing, then I use the leave in conditioner after washing. I always wash my afro in twists, it's seems odd but it's helps me not to lose so much hair after the whole washing process.
I use minimum heat when I'm blow drying my hair after washing because of how dangerous heat is to the hair. I dread relaxers. Most times, I randomly think of relaxing my hair to know what it feels like to have a relaxed hair but I just get scared thinking of it, so I haven't tried. I dyed my hair once and I had a lot of breakage, not advisable. Regular trims isn't something I pay so much attention to because it's feels like I'm cutting my hair. Last week was the first time I tried it myself, I tried out the split ends that were barely hanging out and it wasn't that bad, it's a way of getting the hair a fresh start. I can't wait to see how it goes.
Generally I try to eat healthier with fruits rich in vitamin E and a lot of vegetables as well. It's a tough fight to stay hydrated at all times but I'll keep trying as much as I can. Maintaining a big beautiful afro is both a blessing and a responsibility. A lot of things can trigger hair loss, stress, inclusive. The steps above are basically what I do to take care of my hair. It been 4 years and counting since I started my hair journey and it's not looking bad at all. If you have more tips or whatever I can do to improve the quality of my hair, do well to share.
Do you hair me?
Images are mine
Thanks for reading!