I remember my TWA days a little over a year ago when I use to look at natural hair blogs with that starry-eyed “one day” look (as I still do now”>. I’d think to myself, “Man, when my hair gets long enough to rock that, you can’t tell me nothin’!”
I’ve always had a strong interest in hair care, but I’ve never allowed it to take precedence over the fact that I still need to study and exercise.
Here are just a few styles that I was always so eager to try only to find out that, for me, they tended to be overrated.
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Picked-out Afro
This was definitely a one time only thing. It was actually a style I rocked by default, but nevertheless, I wanted big hair. For some odd reason I decided to try dry-finger detangling after a long night of studying. I don’t know what convinced me to try finger detangling for the first time at 10 pm as if I don’t have work and class the next day but, I finished it — two hours later. As much attention and “I didn’t recognize you” whip flashes I got on campus, this was a mess trying to detangle. On top of a detangling disaster, the upkeep would have been a headache. The daily maintenance for a picked afro would stunt my length retention progress, and I am not a fan of breakage.
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Blowouts
I had my first blow out two to three weeks ago, and I’m pretty sure everywhere I walked Beyonce’s “Imma a diva” chorus was playing with every step I took. That hair was just too much. I live in Houston, Texas, what was I thinking? The wind is blowing, I’m sweating, people are trying to see where they are going — it was just too much going on. I had to keep moving it out of my face and it was a distraction wherever I went. By the end of the day, my hair was in a French braid. It will probably be better to rock in the winter, but I have no desire to do that again in high temperatures and dew points.
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Wash & Gos
Apparently July was National Lazy Natural Hair Month. Well, at least for me it was. After doing flat-twist outs for the past seven months, I was burned out. I was working at a fast food restaurant that required me to wear a hat, so I gave in to wearing wash-and-gos for convenience. It was then that I discovered my wash-and-gos had hang time. I put my hair in a low ponytail for work the next day. At the end of my shift, my hair was dry, and I shook it out of the puff. Bam! I finally had hang time and once again! As great as the definition was, my hair suffered. I had so many single-strand knots, it was horrific. When I did get back into the routine of flat twisting again, every time I got to my ends, it made me sad. I did not trim it until early September, but I plan to get a professional trim sooner than later. Yet again, another fail.
I often find myself bored with my hair because I love versatility, but I realize that simplicity in my regimen is key to a healthy hair and avoiding frustration. One day I had to realize that, even though I want length, I’m probably not going to do half of the styles I drool over on Tumblr. Healthy convenience is what I crave, and that’s easier to obtain with either long or extremely short hair. I have my days when I want to be creative, but they are few and far between when in comes to adapting it to my lifestyle. As my hair grows out, I am learning that my focus has changed from wanting to achieve the healthiest potential of my hair versus exploring styling options.
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What about you? Do you find yourself choosing simplicity of maintenance over variety and style when it comes to your coils?
