UPDATE TIME: I’m coming up on my 4th year of natural hair don’t care and I’ve learned a TON of stuff over the past couple of years !
Most of all my hair NEEDS moisture ! Moisture, moisture , moisture. I’ve been having trouble keeping my scalp moisturized and spent the last winter with a terribly itch scalp. Big YIKES. I’ve trimmed it quite a bit but it’s still to my shoulders. I share what’s been working for me recently at this length.
Shoulder length natural hair tips
Biggest habit change -My new night time routine is to brush , oil and massage my scalp after my shower and right before bed.
Best style choice -I’ve been wearing my hair in a wrapped up bun over night instead of in a low ponytail which has made A HUGE difference. My breakage had subsided and I don’t wake up with a horrible headache anymore.
Best new product -I started using Argan oil by Pattern and it leaves my hair super soft and manageable each morning when I take my bun out.
I’ve also been wearing it in a lot of buns during the summer to cut back on the amount of flat iron heat I apply weekly.
2017 -This year I finally completed the ” grow out phase” in my transition into natural hair. It’s been one heck of a ride that all started HERE, the day I got all of my hair chopped off. Over the process I wore my technicolor weave until my hair reached what I believed to be shoulder length.
This is me the day I decided to take it all out and boy WAS I SHOCKED!!! Look at all that hair!!!!
Over the next couple of days, I had some luck with a quick “wash and go” but it was very hit or miss.
This day I blow dried it and then twisted it before bed to create “beachy waves”. BEFORE
AFTER
Note to self……….DO NOT ATTEMPT to “trim” your own ends ***face palm**.
Ok….this is where it started to get tricky. The humidity here in Maryland is OC in the summer and I was at a complete loss as of what to do with my hair on said days. NOTE the frowning face LOL. I almost gave up wearing natural hair because of this EXACT thing happening the second I walked out of the house for at least 2 weeks straight!
I had a REAL lack of moisture issue to battle at the beginning of my journey. This seems to be a problem with a lot of people who transition over to wearing natural hairstyles. You can see in the picture below how dry my ends are. UGH …it kills me to see this!
I received a bunch of Pantene products to try and had a lot of luck with the hydrating butter creme.
This was the first time I was able to get my hair to straighten and actually have shine.
Another 2 frizz ball days. 
I switched over to using Filippo Berio extra virgin olive oil straight from our kitchen! Look at all that shine!
Despite my oil application and keeping it wrapped up all night, the humidity in Louisiana got me good in the above picture. When we came home I went to the hairdresser and got amuch-needed trim and curl!
As a busy mom, I find it pretty hard to find time to fit in going to the hairdresser. I decided to attempt a wash and blow out at home. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure exactly what type of shampoo and conditioner would be the best for my hair since I haven’t washed it a lot (myself) since going natural. I have a bad problem with piling on a ton of product on my “ponytail days” so my hair had a horrible build up of gunk. Somehow I had the idea of using something that I recently found but wasn’t sure if it would do well in my hair. I decided to take a poll on Facebook and see if anyone else had ever used Dr. Bronner’s Pure Liquid Castile Soap castile soap on their hair and the outcome was surprising. While many people gave the thumbs up, only one person said they actually used it in their hair. This, of course, made me nervous but I took the plunge anyway.
Castile soap has become of my daily use favs over the past year. It is great for the shower after a long hot day at the firehouse and is pretty refreshing on my skin ( I use the peppermint for a little extra tingle ).
THE PROCESS
I read a couple of reviews online that stated it might make my hair a little drier so I made sure to give it a little extra (EVOO) oil before my blow dry. Yes…I use olive oil straight from my kitchen on my hair! It worked wonderfully for my dry scalp and I can find it anywhere LOL. Before I blow dried my hair I remembered that my hairdresser mentioned always using a heat protector first so I bought some the month before. A little goes a LONG way so don’t overdo it!
It never fails that I miss my roots so I asked the girls to come help hold the blow dryer while I brushed. Little person P wants to be a hairdresser when she grows up so this was right up her ally. After a quick 15 minute blow out I sectioned my hair off and used my new straightener to smooth my hair down a bit more. The end result was waaaaaaay better than I expected!!! What do you guys think???
XOXO
MHS
