No matter where you have gotten to on your natural hair growth journey, there is always something new to learn to take it to the next level. Maybe you are just at the kickoff of this process just transitioning, maybe you just made the big chop off, or struggling to add some length, the key game changers are making your curls work for you and keeping that natural hair healthy.
If you are new to my blog, a quick introduction. Call me Aba. For 14 years plus, I was unable to grow my relaxed hair (I don't mean relaxed hair can't grow, I got a number of friends with long, thick, and healthy relaxed hair). It was challenging to even tie a ponytail. My big change arrived when I switched to natural hair.
In today’s blog, we will explore some of the secrets that have helped me grow my natural hair moving from zero to middle back length.
This is from my personal experience and might be different from what your favorite YouTuber is preaching.
Tip #1 - Love Your Afro Hair
Yes! you read it right. Get to know and love your hair.
One of the things I am so proud I did from the early days of my natural hair journey was to love and get to know my hair. Getting to love your hair means to stop comparing your hair to others. You are unique and so is your hair. Your hair has its own story to tell. Rock the crown that God has given you with pride.
"Natural Hair is an Exquisite Crown. It’s a wonder and fascination to many. But to the confident Black girl or Black woman who’s rockin’ it, they know what they’ve been born and blessed with. A head full of unique, healthy beauty. NATURAL BEAUTY.”" – Stephanie Lahart
If you are not ready to love and cherish your curls and coils, I recommend you take a break and reassess because this journey has its rainy days.
Tip #2 - Get to Know Your Hair Type and Porosity
Now that you have accepted to love your hair, my second tip is to get to know your hair. It might sound useless but, trust me, this will save you a lot of headaches.
Hair Porosity
Porosity is your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture. Ask yourself how long it takes your hair to get dry. For some, it takes forever, others only need a few minutes. The porosity of hair could be low, medium/normal, or high. In order to check how porous your hair is, try this method.
Understanding the porosity of your hair will help you pick the right products. It is important to know that not all products will work for your hair.
2. Hair Pattern or Hair Type
Don’t allow your obsession with a particular hairstyle to lead you to assume that is the same kind of hair you have. Take your time and study your hair. The long wait will pay off. Hair type is also referred to as hair pattern and the picture below illustrates.
If you are confused about your hair pattern, do not worry. You might have more than one pattern which is absolutely normal. I personally have a very small section of type 4A and mainly type 4B and 4C hair.
Tip #3 - Listen to your hair, not trends
Your natural hair journey will see some ups and downs. There will be months when you will be frustrated about the slow growth rate of your hair. These are the moments where you pay attention to what your hair is telling you.
The peculiarity of each hair means the responses to products and procedures will be different. You might be getting a lot of pieces of advice from several sources but it's up to you to know what your coils and curls like and dislike.
I will advise you to check your hair routine, check available recommendations, and see what you can implement in your routine.
If something is not working for you, best you stop using it. Just because it works for someone doesn't mean it will automatically work for you. For example, my hair can't tolerate coconut oil. For many others, it's great for hair growth but whenever I apply coconut oil, my hair gets super dry.
Tip #4 - Less is more. All the glitters is not gold
Sometimes the natural hair journey can be very confusing because there is a wide pool of products out there to choose from. There might be a temptation to try all of them.
When I say not all that glitter is gold, I mean just because that Ig influencer is marketing a product, that particular natural hair product will make your hair grow. Some of them are just doing their jobs, they are paid to talk wonders about products. I recommend you do your own research and see if that product is good for your hair type and porosity.
Tip #5 - Find a protective hairstyle for your natural hair
Finally, let's discuss protective hairstyles. Not everyone will like this but, it is vital to give your hair a break sometimes. You do not have to change your hairstyle daily. Minimum manipulation results in maximum length retention. Too much manipulation is not the best for your natural hair, especially if your hair is coarse or fine.
We recommend you chose a protective style that can last you at least a week (twist, flat twist, braids, cornrows, etc) and rock it with confidence.
Protect your coils and curls while sleeping
If you made it to this point, congratulations.
This is not everything you need to grow and maintain healthy natural hair but I can tell you these little points can help you on this journey.
One important point; do not forget to protect your hair while you sleep. Satin silk bonnets are a great tool to protect your curls and coils. Using them will make your protective hairstyle so they last.
Click the link to check our reversible satin bonnets.
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