Nappy Hair Rescue 911!

I have been natural for over 10 years. Since I went natural in 2002 I have had my share of up's and downs. I remember when I was first getting started I would go to the library and hunt for any book at all that mentioned hair, African Hair, Braiding or Black Hair Care. I mostly found a few books on tribal hair styles, and a few books on relaxing hair. I recall coming across Nappturality and Motown girl websites, as well as few fotki albums. I tried my best to care for my hair. Along the way I tried several things that really were misses and wondered onto to some things that were hits. I am so happy today's African-American have wonderful blog's like CurlyNikki and plenty of youtube channels. They also have a plethora of products to choose from, unlike myself who had to hunt down ingredients at specialty health food stores.

So here are some of my misses.

1. Co-Washing. This did not really work for me. I have a very sensitive scalp and the conditioners would just irritate my scalp. I never felt like my hair was getting clean and it was not easier to comb after Co-Washing.

2. Wide Tooth Comb. Not until this year have I finally let go of the notion that my fine hair strands are meant to go through any comb at all. I use to slather conditioner onto my hair and comb in small sections to no avail. All I did was have my very kinky hair shrink up and snap back before snapping off.

3. Gels and Creams and the like. I discovered pretty quickly that my curl was tight enough to hold any two-strand twist without any products.

4. Rinse Out Conditioner. No matter what product I used to clean my hair with, adding conditioner and then rinsing it out did absolutely nothing for my hair. Protein conditioner's actually made my hair feel worse.

5.Mini-Twist on hair 4 inches or longer. This style just caused my hair to tangle like crazy.

6.Flat-twist/ Cornrows. All I did was rip my hair line out trying to get my fumble fingers to create tension to hold the style together.Some times the braid or twist would puff and frizz instantly, other times it would wait a respectable day or two.

7. Being a product junkie. I was always on the hunt for the next miracle product that would make my hair easier to comb or would help me grow (I mean retain length!) No such product existed!

8. Copying every thing from other people's routines. Just because the person I was studying had long natural hair, did not mean I could do exactly what they did to 1. produce the same style or 1. Get my hair to retain the same length.

Now here are some of my hits!

1. Sulfate-free shampoo ( I love the bubbles! I love having a shampoo that does not strip every thing off the hair. I heart Shea Moisture, Eden Body Works, Black Earth Products etc)

2. Leave-Conditioner- Works wonders after a shampoo, especially once I discovered how to seal in all that good moisture with good old oils like Olive Oil.

3. Dry Finger Detangling. I am new to this. I am learning that by not ripping my hair out every time I detangle I can keep the hair on my head. ( Do use Olive Oil for lubrication!)

4. Two-strand twist. Have been a fan since day 1 of my journey. I like my med-large. Easy to put in, easy to take down. (Just learned that after a week, I can re-twist the hair, remove the shed hair and get another week out of the style. I use to just rock the twist for several weeks without re-twisting and I was in for tangle city when it came time to take it down. This caused me to wash and twist weekly for a while, which took up way too much time, especially since I was still using the dreaded comb.

This natural hair think is not rocket science. It has been fun to learn, grow, make mistakes and get some things right on my journey. Everyone's hair is unique and everyone's journey is unique. Don't be afraid to learn.

One of the biggest things I have learned so far is that while I was staying away from relaxers and heat styling tools, I was coveting the one tool that was doing the most damage to my natural hair, the wide tooth comb! While other's hair may have been strong enough to survive the comb, mine was not. I hope you learn something wonderful about your own hair today! May you have fun along the way!

CLM