Why I'll Never Have A Real Regimen...

If you troll the blogs like I do, you're sure to come across products, practices, regimens, rituals, ans routines that can be as diverse as they are insane. For a while I thought that without a solid weekly routine, my hair would suffer. And dammit, I tried. I tried real hard. Henna at the top of every month. Co-wash or shampoo and detangle Sundays. Re-moisturize and seal by Wednesday. Oil scalp and massage every other day. Protective Monday thru Friday, let it all hang out on the weekends. Or at least that's what I thought I was doing. But life got in the way. I work a full time job that has a propensity to infringe upon my personal time. I work out 5 days a week. I have a relationship to attend to, hot dates to go on. Family to see, nephews to play with. Yadda yadda yadda.

Translation: I don't have time for the complexities and intricacies of a routine. So much of my life is scheduled down to the letter, I'd  rather relish those opportunities to go out on a whim than be saddled at home with a jar of coconut oil and an applicator bottle because it's routine oil day. In all honesty, I find it much more practical to just listen to my hair (lol...as if it talks). If my scalp feels dry or sore, I moisturize and massage it. If my hair seems dry, I'll do a quick spray, or go all out with the oils. I try to remember my vitamins and MSM every day. I detangle and shampoo as needed. The frequency depends on how I've been styling that week. I try to henna monthly. Sometimes it's at the top of the month, more recently it seems to happen in the middle. The honesty is, henna is messy, takes a LONG time (hours!), and I have to feel up to doing it.

Also on the outskirts for me is investing SO much time and energy into trying to ensure I look "cute". Not saying I'm on the bummy swag bandwagon, but there are just some things I just had to give up the ghost on. Flexi rods was one of them. They're expensive, a pain in the @$$ to sleep in, and even more cumbersome to actually put in your hair. If I really want some curl uniformity, I'll do bantu knots. The truth is, as long as I look presentable at work, and my boyfriend thinks I look good (translation: don't have a weave or didnt chop 90% of my hair off), I'm good. No need to impress ya'll with the cutesy-poo styles and whatnot. Sure, maybe I'll mix it up on a given week or weekend, but overall, I ain't got time for that.

At the end of the day, I feel like so many women (natural and non) spend SO much time being slaves to their hair (irony...). Hours on end in the beauty shop. Blowing perfectly beautiful days and afternoons under a baggy and dryer in the name of "deep conditioning". Dodging water as if your hair is made of sugar and will melt. I have evolved to a point where I believe that every second, life is happening. I can either spend it handling the necessities and enjoying free time with the ones I love, or I can spend it holed up in my room as a victim of a stringent regimen.

Do I stand alone in feeling this way?