My super short hair was awesome! It was easy, versatile and cheap to maintain, what was not to love? A lot of people seem to differ, with me on the ease of short hair but personally I found it much easier to deal with than having longer hair for several reasons. I did not have to spend a lot of time detangling, I could do whatever crazy color I wanted since I kept cutting it anyways, I liked how my hair looked when it was half curly and slicked back so I got much fewer relaxers and I only had a small quantity of hair to straighten when I decided to style.
Growing out a super short cut is, however, far from the excitement of being able to rock a Mohawk one week and then a glammed up Rihanna looking style the next. For the ladies who have never had hair as low as mine then you probably won’t understand the initial pain of growing it out but for anyone reading this and currently trying to get through this stage, my best advice is simply to stick through it, I promise it will be over before you know it. About four months after not getting a trim my hair to the back and sides was too short to be flat ironed even with my 1/2 inch flat iron so it just jutted out and just looked like a hot mess, while it was too long to slick down as I usually did. Many times I got so frustrated with the initial growing out stage, that I felt like I would just keep it short permanently instead of growing it back but I was determined so I stuck through it and now that I am past that stage, I am so happy I did! Below are a few of the things that helped make it easier for me:
1. Headbands became my best friends
I wore a lot of headbands when I just started growing it out. I would try and use a headband to detract from the crazy porcupine looking fuzz going on at the back of my head. It wasn’t always cute but I did not feel like wearing a hat everyday. My headband collection is now quite extensive and I love them
2. Deep condition
Besides the obvious fact that conditioned hair is necessary for healthy hair, proper conditioning also helped me a lot in the style department. Dry hair, sticks up at awkward angles a lot more than well-conditioned hair does. It never looked as neat as it did after a fresh trim, but when my hair was super soft because of a good deep conditioning, the back and sides would behave a lot more. I dampened the back of my head then in the morning then used Let’s jam (I do not endorse this product because the ingredients are clearly not beneficial (mineral oils and all) and I have heard a lot of bad stories involving breakage about it but personally I used it and it did not break my hair or make it dry unlike other gels I have tried.) to slick it back. It would still become unruly by the end of the day but that was ok because I did not want to use something with a super firm hold as I found this made my hair very dry and prone to shedding.
3. Hats
There were those days, when I rolled out of bed for a 9 am class at 8:45 with simply no time to do anything. Since I did not have the luxury of ponytails or buns, cute hats in varying colors became a lifesaver on many occasions.
4. Curly Hair
Once I decided to grow my hair back out I wanted to avoid heat as much as possible (and in any case the back, which was the messiest part was too short for even my half inch flat iron to straighten it), I used extra tiny foam rollers to create curls. I would wash and condition, allow it to air dry and then moisturize and roller set. I choose to air dry my hair before putting the rollers in because it came it out almost the same and I did not have the time or patience to sit under a hooded dryer for two hours so that my hair could dry on the tiny rollers I used. I also do not like dealing with my wet hair because it breaks too much. There were not a whole lot of tangles when dry and I could then detangle easily without the excessive breakage. I also worked a lot with my natural curls. Stretching relaxers a little was beneficial because the super short parts looked much better with some form of a curl pattern than simply straight and sticking out all over the place.
5. I learnt to get creative!
Since college, I have learnt how to flat iron my hair really well and learnt how to style my short hair but that’s about as far as my skills go when it comes on to styling. I never learnt how to braid (since I have been going to the salon since I had hair on my head) or anything like that so I am definitely not one of those people who can make the cutest little hair creations out of any length but I was forced to do something. After my curly style started to drop, for instance I often slicked the sides back into a half Mohawk (almost became my staple style but tugged on my edges too much to wear it everyday). I also worked with stylists (plural because I was still trying to find one to stick with) who understood my desires. This also possibly slowed down the process but I needed help so I allowed my stylist to cut my hair into new shapes as it grew. They knew I was trying to grow my hair out so they would not take off a lot but just a little to the back to make it a somewhat neater (I actually recommend going cold turkey and just dealing with the ugliness for a while instead of constantly cutting but if your like me and just couldn’t bare it then make sure to tell your stylist what you are trying to do so that he/she only takes off a little and does not keep cutting you back down to the original style)
Growing out really short hair was frustrating but also a very exciting time in my journey. I say this because when your hair is that low, assuming you have not been experiencing excessive breakage, you will truly appreciate the significant growth spurts between relaxers even more. Again, at times I was often really tempted to just keep it low but I was determined. So for anyone else trying to get through that awkward length, if you really want this then just stick to it, it only lasts for a few months and you will be very happy you did!