My hair has definitely grown since I big chopped my hair but I'm still not at the point of using perm rods again, like I was when I was transitioning . I have finally mastered the finger coiling method that used to take me over one hour to do, and now, I can get it done in about 40 minutes, but my arms do be needing a break periodically. In the past six months, I've also learned how to finger detangle my hair and lay my edges down when I'm being fancy. All things that I've never done in the past with my hair.
My hair currently is in different lengths so there's no shape formed yet. I have noticed that the finger coils are tighter curls that remain closer to my scalp than when I do twist outs that shows more of my hair length. I am still going through my wash routines weekly, since I transitioned to natural hair.
Length check: My hair is about 3 inches long now, in the back and around the sides and 3.5 inches long at the top. When I decided to do the big chop, a lot of my top hair had color in it so I cut it shorter to avoid any leftover damage and split ends. I'm sure eventually it will all grow together evenly or once it fully grows out, I'll get it cut evenly, who knows?!
Since I live in a city where there's never snow and cold to the natives is 50 degrees, I still wash my hair weekly and haven't opted for any protective styles yet because I deep condition my hair enough weekly and oil my scalp and hair shafts throughout the week to keep it moisturized. I'm very simple and use low maintenance methods when it comes to styling my hair.
I'm currently loving the product line Uncle Funky's Daughter. I won an entire full size set of their products at a natural hair event I attended in October. Since I've only been able to style my hair in finger coils, I think this product line has worked the best on my TWA. My coils last longer using their products. I'll do a separate review of their products in a later blog post.
I would have to say that over the last three months, I've been testing out multiple products but I just have a mental connection with Mielle Organics and Uncle Funky's Daughter lines the most. With coiling my hair mostly, I purchased the Coil Sculpting Custard from Mielle Organics, and my coils turned out beautiful. My hair is not crunchy, the product does not leave a residue and it smelled so good. This product is from their Pomegranate & Honey line. I am a true Maven and Mielle Organics is my favorite brand to use. From the packaging to even the smell of the products, win me over every time and of course, I love when people give me compliments on how I style my TWA.
This month, thanks to more hair growth, I've been able to go back to the twist-outs which takes less time because I'm not coiling each strand of hair. Twist-outs are usually done with creams, leave in conditioners and oil so my hair is guaranteed to stay moisturized no matter if I'm rocking days 2 or 4 hair. My night time routine remains the same: put a little oil or butter cream on my hair and tie a silk scarf on it and sleep the night away. In the morning, I spray a little water on it to loosen or wake up my curls, put a little oil on my hair for shine, pick out some areas and go on about my day.
Having natural hair is so refreshing and really can be simply managed but I think some women get frustrated with the process overall process and give up on their journey. Although I'm still learning as my hair grows, I feel as though I've gotten through the tough times of not being able to do much with my TWA, to now going into the months that I can style my hair more as it grows. If you want to see progress on your natural hair journey, take care of the inside of your body as well: take multi-vitamins, stay hydrated, eat healthy, etc. Doing these things, will also help your tresses grow, healthy.
Are you a naturalista? What's some tips that you learned in your first year. Share your thoughts in the comments.
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