In the community that I grew up in, hair has always been a big deal, and I remember as a child how I craved to have “good” hair like some of my friends. My hair’s natural texture is a thick 3c/4a and as a young blood my mom took care of it.
I still remember sitting in front of the dresser each morning before school and my mom plaiting my hair. The process was not much fun, but thinking back, my hair was quite healthy. Sunday was wash day, with me being bent over a basin and my mom scrubbing my hair three ways to the weekend, finishing up with a roller set. When I was around 12 I started swimming a lot. Since air drying did not exist in our home, after EVERY swim, my hair would be washed and roller set. After a couple of weeks my mother’s patience ran out (as did mine) and I finally had my hair relaxed. It was a GREAT day! After that my mom taught my how to roller set my hair myself and that’s when I started taking care of my own hair, and up until grade 12, it was pretty smooth sailing, except that the longest my hair would get would be a chin length bob, I was pretty scissor happy.
After high school and off to law school I go. Being far away from home and in a completely different climate (more humid, milder weather in general) my hair flourished against my personal expectations. The irony of course was that I didn’t even have much of a routine, but my hair looked and felt great. To this day I think the Stellenbosch, Western Cape water had a LOT to do with it.
The problems started when I graduated and came back home to Namibia, where it’s hot and dry a lot of the time, and when I discovered hair straighteners. Oh the horror!! Not only did I use soooo much more heat, but I proceeded to HIGHLIGHT my relaxed hair!! And I was living in breakage city! Thinking back I have made some stupid hair mistakes, such as also NOT speaking up when the stylist insisted that the relaxer stay on longer so that it “takes”. I still remember the chemical scalp burns. Ouch.
In 2007 a friend recommended a brilliant hairdresser and she rescued my hair. Under her hand my hair started to retain length and was visibly healthier. We were both still pretty scissor happy so my styles remained short for quite some time, but my hair looked GOOD.
End of 2011 my lovely hairdresser disappeared. To this day I don’t know if she moved or died, but one day I went to the salon and was told that she’s not there anymore, that all her clients have been calling and that her phone has been disconnected. I felt like I was cast adrift. I haven’t bothered taking care of my own hair in years, that was Ingrid’s job and now I had no idea what to do. I visited one or two more stylists for blow outs and was sorely disappointed, and thus I started researching how to care for my own freaking hair.
I discovered a myriad of blogs and forums and informational sites and it was the brightest light at the end of the tunnel. 5 February 2012 was the first day of the rest of my life where my hair is concerned as it marks the official start of my healthy hair journey. I started stretching my relaxers from 8 weeks to twelve. I started deep conditioning on a weekly basis. I discovered the importance of a proper balance between moisture and protein. I continued to roller set religiously and Sunday is still wash day. I started protective styling and I now moisturize and seal and sleep with a satin bonnet every night. I use heat sparingly and I always use protectants. I look at the ingredients list of products I buy and I try to be as gentle as possible. I started my journey with ear and neck length broken busted hair.
Less than a year later I’m grazing shoulder length, my hair is thick and healthy and shiny and I am super motivated to move beyond shoulder length to lengths previously not even imagined by me. I will continue to do research and I will continue to take care of my hair so that one day very soon it’s not just healthier, but LONG and lush!