WELCOME… Hello and thank you for joining me Ladies and Gents
(^_^),
The
date is April 1st 2012. Not only is it the first day in the month of
April (Yay Aries) BUT, today marks the first documented day in my journey towards
growing my natural textured tresses beyond a length that I have attained during
my adult life. First, I think it might be a great idea to give you a little bit
of my “Hair History”. It sort of paints the picture of why my journey is
significant and may also apply to other women of African American and Multi-
Ethnic heritage. I will also take the time to include pivotal information and
technical hair terms that I will be using throughout my blog. So… let’s
begin!!! (^_^)
For
the past couple of days, I have been doing research and watching youtube video’s
regarding hair regimen for “Natural hair care”. Just for clarification, let me
explain what “Natural Hair” means in this context.
·
Natural Hair – When hair is
not chemically treated (via perm, relaxer, texturizer or any other chemical
process that alters the natural state of your hair’s texture), it is considered
natural. The original texture of your hair is not disturbed by harmful
substances used to elongate or manufacture a uniformed hair pattern.
For the most part, when you see the
term “Natural” in reference to hair, the term refers mainly to people of color
whether they are multi- ethnic, African American, African etc. (^_^)
So,
like I said earlier… lot’s of research and video’s were watched over the past
couple of days. And do you know what I found??? Majority of the video’s
involved women of color that either had hair grades/ types 3a/b that were between
uniformly curled (ringlets of various lengths which most people that still use
the term “good hair” would surely apply to this grade) or grade/types 4c with
very wiry and uber tight curls (which for the same people that like to label
hair would call “bad hair”) Majority of the video’s involving the first set’s
group of hair already had long tresses. And the video’s with the latter group
had hair that at the very most only reached their shoulder. Hmmmm. I thought.
First of all, none of the video’s displayed the type of hair grade that I have
with my length. That was sort of disturbing really. Which got me thinking. Wait
a minute… what type of hair grade do I have anyway??? Well… let’s look at this
little list of hair types so that you all can follow the tangent that I am
jumping into first!!! (^_^)
I am going to include all of the
hair types (even though my hair falling deep into the 3 / 4 category)
·
Grade’s in Type 1 Hair: Type
1a,1b and 1c hair is straight… that’s it. Nothing more to talk about here
really. (^_^)
Grade’s
in Type 2 Hair:
o Type 2a hair is gently, slightly
"S" waved hair that lays close to the head.
o Type 2b
hair forms in the shape of
the letter "S." Like Type 2a hair, Wavy Curvy hair lays close to the head
and won't bounce up, even when layered. Type 2b hair has a bit more wave in it
than type 2a hair, however, and has a tendency to frizz.
o Type 2c hair is composed of a few more actual
curls as opposed to just waves.
·
Grade’s in Type 3 Hair:
o
Type 3a hair shows a definite loopy "S"
pattern, and are naturally big, loose and often very shiny. The circumference
of 3a curls are about the size of sidewalk-chalk.
o
Type 3b hair is identified by well-defined,
springy, curls that range from bouncy ringlets to tight corkscrews. The
circumference of type 3b curls are about the size of a Sharpie marker.
o
Type 3c hair has voluminous, tight curls in
corkscrews, approximately the circumference of a pencil or straw. The curls can
be either coiled or very tightly curled, and require a lot of moisture and
regular deep conditioning treatments to maintain health, encourage curl
definition and reduce frizz.
·
Grade’s in Type 4 Hair:
o
Type 4a hair is tightly coiled hair with definite
curl pattern that is prone to shrinkage, but will spring back when pulled. The
circumference of 4a coils is close to that of a crochet needle. Moisture is
critical for Coily Springy hair.
o
Type 4b hair has a less of a defined curl
pattern. Instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the
letter "Z". Coily Crimpy hair has a cotton-like feel, and often
shrinks up to 75% of the actual hair length.
o
Type 4c hair has been described as a more
"challenging" version of 4b hair. Coily Ziggly hair is very tightly
kinked and will almost never clump without styling. Some say 4c hair looks
identical to 4b hair except that the coils are so tightly kinked that there is
seemingly no definition.
GREAT!!! Now, let us begin.
According
to the chart listed above, my hair grade/type is a mixture of 4 completely
different patterns!!! That’ right ladies in gentlemen!!! For years people
thought I was joking when I told them that my hair had 4 different textures.
The conversation usually went something like this.
Person A
“Wow, I didn’t know you had __________(fill in the blank with wavy, curly or
straight) hair!!!”
Me “Yeah,
well I have all sorts of textures going on in various sections. Some parts are
curly, some parts are wavy, some parts are straight and other parts are just
straight up nap city.”
Person
A “ Oh…okay.” (insert confused facial expression here)
So yeah, according to this chart here, I have types 3b,3c,4a
and 4b hair. And my hair is coarse yet soft!!! Does that sound like an
oxymoronic statement to you??? It should. Mainly because people’s perception
of “Coarse” follows these definitions :
·
Coarse - rough in texture, structure, etc; not fine: coarse sand
·
Coarse - lacking in
fineness or delicacy of texture, structure, etc.: The
stiff, coarse
fabric irritated
her skin.
As it relates to my hair, the
correct definition of the word coarse is as follows:
·
Coarse - composed
of relatively large parts or particles.
What this means in essence is that
my hair is thick and composed of larger strands opposed to thinner/ finer hair.
Coarse hair is generally stronger than fine hair GRANTED the person who is blessed to have coarse hair is
knowledgeable in how to maintain healthy elasticity and moisture for their
hair. Things like chemicals, direct heat and constant combing and brushing of
the hair usually results in hair breakage and other types of damage.
Where does my grade of hair
come from???: Genetic Composition 101!!!
As
a child my mother maintained what she would call my “unmanageable mane” by washing and combing (and yanking my
hair, neck and smacking my head and shoulders with the comb… oh …ooops. Flashbacks
of the childhood mayhem of yesteryear's. Let me refocus) ahem…excuse me. I would
sit there for it seems like eternity to hear my hair snap, crackle and
popping with my mother's efforts to shape,
maneuver and physically will my hair into a style that looked presentable for
school the next morning. With all this, I had the audacity to have a tender
scalp (better known as the term “tender headed”). Bottom line here was for 1-2
hours every Sunday, my mother would try desperately to comb through and style
my resistant hair. She did this for just about 10 years before she decided enough
was enough. So relaxers and texturizers were put in my hair so that she didn’t
have to fight anymore. LOL. I cannot say that I blame her. To her credit though
prior to giving up the battle and letting chemical treatments do all the hard
work, my hair was very healthy , full and super long.
Towards
the end of Jr. High school/ making the transition into high school, the hair relaxing
officially stopped and the natural styles commenced. MAN… not only was I trying
to figure out what I was doing with myself, my hair was in similar complicated turmoil.
Since I ran track and cross country in High school and could not figure out a
regular routine with my hair, it spent most of those years hiding under one of
the many cotton bandana’s I would employ. (I had every single color you can
think of to match the shorts or running outfit I was wearing at the time) In
the 10th grade my hair and I had come to the agreement that if I
were to keep some sort of moisturizing conditioner in it, it would try to
behave itself. And that believe it or not worked. The more moisturized, the
better it looked. I hadn’t quite realized at that point yet that the lack of
heat and chemicals was allowing my hair to start growing better. But, I also
didn’t know that my hair was still suffocating due to me wearing cotton scarves
all of the time. My mother was at this point pressing my hair with a pressing
comb. Not often, but whenever I had to take pictures, the hair was pressed! During
my senior year, I really started liking the whole pressed look, and I noticed
that my hair was starting to grow length wise like it had not been doing say 3
years prior. I experimented with dying my hair permanently a rich auburn color
that lasted all of a week maybe a week and a half before it turned into a unique reddish-brownish orange Mufasa type
color. I looked a bit like a lion at that point, but I was getting my hair
professionally pressed at a beauty salon. This was when I discovered that my
hair had the potential to actually grow and rapidly with proper maintenance.
Fast
forward through the collage years of experiments, hair dyes, hair cuts, braids
and the one time attempt at getting a full head sewn in weave (super overrated
experience that I have no intention of duplicating again in this lifetime if I can
help it. I had an absolutely ratchet experience. I’m shivering just thinking
about it)… and we land in the year 2010. It was at this point that I had been
suffering from a super dry and itchy scalp, not being able to grow my hair past
the “just below the shoulder blades” length and I wanted to find out what the
underlining cause was. So research I did. And what do you think I discovered??? There were many factors that caused the scalp
irritation, dandruff and inflamed scalp and hair breakage.
·
Maintaining
a healthy diet: I had not been eating healthy per say, and it
manifested itself in my continuing to break out in hives, the skin on my hands
and feet would peel off, my face would have dry patches, my nails were brittle
and my scalp itched like hell. Not only that, but I was not even taking vitamin
supplements to make up for the things that I didn’t eat. (since a baby I have always
had very sensitive skin and allergies to many foreign substances. It took
research for me to figure out what I could eat and what I could not eat)
·
Discover and eliminate using products that irritate
my skin: Many of the shelf brand and name brand products that are often
sold in grocery stores and hair care stores contain various toxins and more
importantly carcinogens. Unfortunately, in order to maintain the shelf life of
a product and increase the appeal of the item most manufactures insert
preservatives, and other artificial ingredients like color dyes and fragrances. All of those
added fillers cause some form of irritation and in some instances damage to not
only the scalp, but to the health of the person in general. Some of the
specific items to be aware of are the following:
1.
Sodium
dodecyl sulfate/ Sodium laureth sulfate/ sodium lauryl ether sulfate
/Sodium myreth sulfate - These are all detergents and surfactants
used to create the suds in the product and
the function of cleaning. Most of these same ingredients are used to degrease car engines and other heavy duty machinery that requires hardcore stripping. These items are known irritants and contain levels
of 1,4 dioxane ( a known cancer causing
agent )
2.
Parabens methylparaben / ethylparaben / propylparaben / butylparaben / isobutylparaben) - These are preservatives used
in the product because of their bactericidaland fungicial properties. All of the parabens are synthetically
created. (except for methylparaben which comes naturally from blueberries)
For
people like me who have sensitive skin, parabens are irritants that can cause urticaria
(hives), contact dermatitis and rosacea.
Parabens have been linked to breast cancer.
3.
Formaldehyde - Is a disinfectant that has
been found in products that is known to create carcinogens.
4.
Phthalates - any
of various salts or esters of phthalic acid used especially as plasticizers and
in solvents. This particular acid has
been linked to endocrine disruption, skin irritation, metabolic interference,
low birth weight, birth defects and possible carcinogens.
5.
Polyethylene Glycol – Another plasticizing
ingredient and solvent. (similar to Phthalates)
6.
Dyes - skin irritants
7.
Fragrances - skin irritants
After I took a hard cold look at some
of the things that I have been subjecting myself to by not eating improperly
and using hair care products because of the smell and feel instead of for how
the product actually worked, I decided to make drastic changes. First, I
chopped off about 3½ inches of hair that had been comprised of mainly split ends and uneven remixes. This was around say... the end of June 2010. The first step to being healthy was to get rid of everything that was not healthy, and what better way to do this than get to hacking jacked up hair??? (^_^) I then started eating better. More Veggies, salads and other foods that could be
considered vegetarian in nature. Specifically I started looking for organic
foods. (Hello Trader Joe's...Goodbye Vons!!!) The same way hair care products are maintained by filling them with
preservatives is the same way our regular everyday grocery store produce is grown. I no longer wanted any parts
of that in my new diet. I also began taking pre-natal vitamins and hair
vitamins. I had discovered that most of the things that I was missing that
usually aides in gaining healthy skin, hair and nails is included in pre-natal vitamins and not as
much in regular everyday vitamins. I had also ascertained that most of the
things that I was missing that usually aides in gaining healthy skin, hair and
nails are included in pre-natal vitamins and not as much in regular everyday
vitamins. So next, I searched high and low for organic natural based shampoos, conditioners
and lotions. Here are some of the products that I found:
- · Aubrey Organics Shampoos and conditioners - http://www.aubrey-organics.com
- · Alba Botanica - http://www.albabotanica.com/
- Trader Joe's Jojoba Oil
Specifically from Aubrey’s I have used all of the coarse
hair shampoos and conditioners, and I absolutely love them. They get my hair
clean and moisturized, and I do not have to think about what is in the product,
because everything is organic. What is also great about this product is that it smells nice as well from natural fragrances. From Alba’s line, I prefer to use their leave in
hair conditioner and body emollient. My hair and skin practically rejoiced after I switched from the other products I had been damning my poor body by using. Also for my scalp and to keep my hair soft and manageable, I had started using Trader Joe's 100% Jojoba oil.
Transformations and New Developments
Let’s fast forward once more and in finality to the year 2012.
Here we are, out with the old and in with the new. New found discoveries that
is. Technically I had been wearing my hair in it’s natural state more often
than I would blow dry, press and flat iron it reducing the amount of damage
that I had been doing to it over the past few years when I had first become conscious of how to care for my hair.
December 9th of 2011 was the last time I had subjected my hair to
the riggers of straight hair madness. The very next time I subjected my hair to
heat would be March 14th 2012. Three months is not bad considering I
used to blow dry, press and flat iron my hair once a month. But, even that task
was done prior to the information I received after researching natural styles
once more just a few days ago. I did not want to use heat on my hair in any fashion after looking at
various video’s that woman had placed pertaining to “natural” hair care. In
looking at these video’s I noticed that there were very few if any video’s made
by women who had the same type of hair texture combination that I seem to have
including the length (which I mentioned years ago in the beginning of this
novel).BUT... One of the most important things that I discovered was that in order to grow hair of any texture to various length's , you have to protect your hair. Protect your hair??? What are you talking about? Come to find out, there are various hair styles that protect your hair from breaking off due to friction from rubbing on clothing, pillow sheets and other miscellaneous remixes. A-HA!!! I had already discovered some years ago when I had first started getting my hair done in the salon that I needed to protect my hair at night and at other times when I was not wearing my hair down by wearing a silk or satin scarf. What I DIDN'T know was that there is a way to wear your hair during the day when you are out that prevents your hair from breaking and developing additional split ends. rap your tresses in a way that keeps them from coming in contact with your clothing. And always keep the hair well moisturized. ESPECIALLY the ends. It then clicked... I have never done anything besides cut my ends off when they started getting scraggly. I spent most of my time pouring nutrients into my scalp and the other 3rd of my hair, completely neglecting my ends save the ritualistic snip snip when they got out of order. So, with the help of this new found discovery, I have decided to wear more natural and protective styles, keep my hair wrapped in silk and keep my hair moisturized.
Currently, my hair rests at approximately 16 inches long... which is just below my shoulder blades (or just below arm pit length). And I have decided that I will try and increase the length of my hair between 4 - 6 inches ( 20 to 22 inches long from root to end of hair )
Which brings me to this blogg post. (^_^) For the next year starting from today until April 2013, I will be documenting new discoveries, products, methods and hair routines for the next year. So, here's to the beginning of a brand new journey and adventure. If you's like, we can swap and exchange hair care stories. As far as I am concerned, I can always learn benefitial ways to grow and maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit... and grow my natural hair in the process!!!
Thank you so much for spending time with me. Til the next blogging novel...
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