How I Grew My Hair as a Reluctant, Lazy, New Natural
“My hair isn’t growing!!! Ugh.”
It’s a common frustration amongst us natural girls. And, a common misconception. Your hair is growing, but a few things could be going on to make you think otherwise. For one, you could simply not be noticing its growth because it’s with you every single day making ever so small changes. It’s similar to when you’re a kid and you don’t see yourself getting taller by the day, but surely when your mom draws that next line on the door frame, there’s a gap from the last one. That was the case for me.
People that wouldn’t see my hair, out in a ‘fro or hanging down for months at a time, would see it and say “ou girl, your hair has grown!” I’d sadly respond, “psh, I wish! This sh*t still looks the same.” And that’s honestly what I believed. I was dealing with it on a day-to-day, but never particularly checking its length, so for sure not tracking it.
When I got my hair straightened a couple of weeks ago, and the stylist swore my hair looked so long now, I scrolled back thru my camera roll to the first time I got my hair straightened after my “big chop.” She spun me around in my chair, and my jaw dropped. So you mean to tell me my hair has been growing this entire time.. and growing a lot?! Wow.
First thing’s first — take a look at the image below to describe and track your hair growth.
image credit: wordpress
My hair went from the nape of my neck to past the bottom of my shoulder blades in about a year and a half.
big chop: March 2019 — neck length
currently: November 2020 — armpit length
Not only does tracking your growth make it more visible to you, it also serves as motivation. Seeing you’re actually getting somewhere encourages you to keep chugging along on this natural hair growth journey. You see where you’ve come from, and you see where you can go.
As I mentioned in my previous piece, I never really had set intentions on going natural. I was a tad resistant to the whole natural movement. My hands weren’t anointed with great hair styling abilities, and I heard having natural hair is more work, so that definitely wasn’t appealing. All of this being so, I still ended up transitioning from relaxed to natural. Being that it wasn’t planned, when I got there, I didn’t have a plan. All of this was completely unchartered territory for me.
Though I was reluctant, lazy, and new, I managed to grow a head full of my healthiest hair. And, if I can do it, you can too!
I have three very simple tips for growing healthy natural hair.
Put good stuff ON your hair
Put good stuff IN your body
Put your hands… somewhere else
Before explaining these, how do I know WTF I’m talking about?
Well, the first one is obvious.. I’m my own guinea pig. These are all things I’ve done that I find help me maintain healthy hair. The second one is obvious, too, if you know me as a person or have observed me as a writer.
I speak facts.
And, I back those facts with evidence. Or, I share well-informed opinions. We’re new to one another, and I want to start this relationship off right. I want you, as a consumer of my content, to know that I’ll always bring you suggestions that are tried-and-true, information that is accurate, and perspectives that are genuine.
My background is academic writing. While in school, and on thru my first few years in Los Angeles, I ran an independent writing assistance service, where I worked with students on everything from 2-page term papers for community college to 30-page thesis projects for master’s programs. Though I’m working my way more into entertainment journalism now, old habits die hard.
Even when I know something to be true, I tend to still gather sources to support my “claim.” In my first piece about the benefits of cycling, for example, I know I feel happier when I ride my bike, but I still linked a Heathline article that confirms endorphins released while cycling makes you feel happier. I’m on my bicycle every single day; I can feel my heart pounding quickly in my chest when I get to pumping those legs vigorously, but once again, I still went and found a quote from a medical doctor saying that cycling increases heart rate.
Quality. That’s what you’re going to get from me. Now that you know you can trust me, let’s get into these healthy hair growth tips.
Use quality, natural products.
By quality, natural products, I don’t mean Tresemmé Naturals. Side note: Why in the world would the self-proclaimed Black-woman-lover, Pardison Fontaine, say his girl smells like Tresemmé and shea butter? I wonder if he was paid to mention them, because what Black girl is using Tresemmé?! Another 3-syllable word, like coconut, would’ve worked much better. Call me, next time, Pardi.
Food is your friend.
aloe
oil
If something is safe enough to put in your body, surely it’s safe enough to put on your body. Go down the produce aisle to find a fresh aloe vera leaf. Then, head to the cooking aisle to pick up a combination of cold-pressed, extra virgin oils. Don’t let the “cooking” label scare you away. Often times, aloe or oil products by beauty companies are more about marketing it as that than actually being that. Why not skip all the fillers and chemicals, and use the raw key ingredient itself, that they only give you a drop of? Not all beauty products are bad. Some actually contain a considerable amount of the rich ingredients… and they’re usually high as giraffe pussy. You can save money by using food items. Don’t call the people on me, but I bought my most recent batch of “hair products” with that good ol’ pandemic-EBT card.
Tweet me if you want me to tell exactly how I use food products on my hair.
Have good nutrition.
Many biological factors contribute to the hair on a person’s head. Some of these, such as age, genetics, and hormones, are out of your control. There’s nothing you can do if your mom grows curly tresses down to her tailbone without even trying, but you took after your daddy, whose sisters can’t seem to get kinks past their ear. Or, if you find yourself pregnant, then you push that little bundle of joy out and your edges go right with it. But when your friend had a baby, it left her glowing and growing. Yeah, it’s not fair. You count your blessings, and control what you can control… your nutrition!
Once again, food is your friend. Before we get into food…
Drink water.
Girl, shut up. * rolls eyes * I know, I know. There is nothing more frustrating than when I’m sobbing about my face having the texture of the Rocky Road Mountains and someone says to me, “are you drinking enough water?” No, actually, I haven’t had that strange substance you speak of in 18 days, and it’s looking like I’m going to flatline tomorrow.
We know water is important, but I wouldn’t be right if I didn’t remind you here because it’s that important. Water is a vital ingredient for life on Earth, and for hair on your head. None of the other stuff will matter if you don’t drink enough water to support your body’s functions.
Eat hair friendly foods.
Eating a balanced diet with the right nutrients can help promote hair growth. Certified nutritionist, cookbook author, and food blogger, Bianca Plant, encourages people to eat over supplementing. Before you go running to a vitamin section for hair growth gummies, consume foods rich in those nutrients you’re seeking. Instead of eating flammin’ hots everyday and taking some Shedavi, then expecting your hair to magically grow, eat foods rich in vitamins A, C, D, and E, B vitamins, iron, biotin, protein, and essential fatty acids.
Some of my favorite foods for hair growth to incorporate into my diet are:
avocados
nuts
spinach
berries
eggs
If you’d be interested in a blog or video going into more detail about eating for healthy hair growth, let me know on Twitter.
Leave your hair alone.
Other than not noticing hair growth, a reason why you could think that your hair isn’t growing is that it’s breaking off at the ends at the same rate it’s growing out of your scalp. If your hair grows 6 inches over the course of a year, but you have dusty, raggedy ends chipping away, you won’t make much progress in length. As long as you don’t have a nutrition deficiency or genetic disorder, your hair is growing, so it’s good to put more focus on length retention.
Have you ever noticed how well locs grow?
That’s because they are left alone. Locs don’t have a comb or brush constantly raking thru them. The most manipulation locs have are when they’re retwisted, and even then, it’s the newest, strongest portion of the hair shaft (roots) being manipulated. The oldest, weakest portion of the hair shaft (the ends), isn’t put under much stress at all. Even when locs are styled, they are left in that style for a week or even up until it’s time for them to be retwisted again.
You don’t have to go full rastafari, but limit styling.
That includes daily detangling, and/or redoing of your two-strand twists at night for your twist-out the next day. Limiting how often I style my hair is probably the hair growth rule I follow the best, because I don’t feel like doing my hair no way. Fighting with my difficult to manage hair sets off my already bad nerves. So when my girl B. Barry would throw some flat twists in there, or I get two braids from my cousin Rashan or my sister Taylor, I leave them in there until they’re inappropriately fuzzy. “I know you don’t have those same braids in I did two weeks ago!” Oh, but I do.
If you’re going to be a better natural than I’ll ever be and wash your hair weekly, try putting it in a style and leaving it that way until your next wash-day.
Heat isn’t always the enemy.
When our hair is in a stretched state, such as blown out or roller set, it requires much less detangling than when it’s in its natural state. Curly hair, especially tightly coiled hair, tangles on itself. Tangled means you have to untangle it, or have a bird’s nest. Untangling means manipulation. Manipulation means weakening. Weakening means… ba-byeeeeee. Weak hair splits. Weak hair breaks off. Weak hair works against length retention. Every time you put a comb thru your hair, or tug on it with your fingers, you’re weakening your strands. Even if you don’t see it split or break right then, you put it one step closer to falling off in the future.
Sebum, the scalp’s natural lubricant, is also able to travel from the roots to the tips on stretched hair. One of my girlfriends recently mentioned how her hair is “so greasy” right now, even though it’s only been a little over a week since she got it washed and pressed. On the contrary, when her hair is in its natural state, she has to intentionally put greasy substances on it or it’ll look dry. Natural oils from the scalp can’t move along the hair shaft when it’s in tight little coils, like it can when it’s stretched. Products and nutrition can flow thru stretched hair more easily as well.
This doesn’t mean you have to be a bad natural and get full-blown flat irons regularly. You can try various stretched styles. I would shamelessly beg for you to tweet me again, saying “let me know if you want me to do a tutorial on healthy hairstyles”, but Lord knows I don’t feel like playing in my head. For me, when my hair is completely straightened (by a professional), I don’t really have to bother it, and it doesn’t have to bother me. When you do your hair though, @ me, I want to see!
Ready for this journey?
The natural hair growth journey does not have to be a treacherous one. If your hair is fed, in addition to your body, and you let it be, it’ll do its thing. You don’t have to do too much, my girl. Just eat right, moisturize, and let it be. Maybe I’ll get fancy one day, but so far, these three simple habits have been working for me.
Where are you currently? What are you aiming for? Tell me about your hair growth journey!
