Last week I took an L, but this week my curls bounced back! |
Have you ever had a few days, weeks, or months where you've just felt like you and your tresses were at odds? Where it seems like no matter what you do, your hair just won't get some ackrite - and you're about two seconds from booking an appointment at Juanita's Bump n' Curl because you're OVER natural hair, and a heat damaged silk press seems more and more like a good idea.
That's exactly how my 2016 ended, and 2017 started.
After two failed wash and go attempts (yes, they do happen to me still), I resigned to a week full of rinsing my hair in the shower, slapping in a leave-in and a few bobby pins, and vowing to try again tomorrow.
Tomorrow finally came, and I'm finally feeling normal.
So how exactly did I bust out of my hair rut? Here's 5 things you can try that don't involve shaving your head bald or buying a clearance relaxer from Target:
1. Clarify
I'm actually using Inahsi's Soothing Mint Clarifying Shampoo in this pic! |
Read More: Clarifying vs. Shampooing vs. Co-Washing Natural Hair
Read More: How I Use Be Kekoa Products on Wash Day
Read More: Best Shampoos for Natural Hair
2. Do that DIY You've Been Putting Off
Henna: Love the results, hate the mess. |
Read More: How I Make My Henna Mixes (I'll be updating this for 2017 soon!)
3. Go for What You Know
Often times, we find ourselves in a hair slump or two, because we start swapping out products, or tweaking things in our wash and styling process, expecting the identical results that our holy grail products give. I've learned the hard way - that ain't how this natural hair thing works. I don't know about you, but I have specific products that have to be paired together to achieve specific results. I can't be concocting all willy nilly and expect flawless curl slayage at every turn. If you opened up my product stash right now, I could tell you exactly what products pair with what to achieve XYZ results. When I went outside of that - due to laziness (just using what was already in the bathroom), or getting to funky fresh with experimenting, my style results suffered. Reboot your hair by revisiting exactly what you know works. It might be boring, but the results won't fail you.
Read More: Check out My Holy Grail Products of 2016!
4. Take It Nice n' Slow
Confession: I'm terrible at estimating time. I'm a chronic underestimator. I always, always, always underbudget the time it takes me to wash and style my hair - and then I end up rushing (because 9 times out of 10, I've set my wash and style time right before something else I have to do - like work, go to church, or a meeting). And while my goal in 2017 is to do a more honest assessment of the time it takes me to do things, old habits die hard. So more often than I'm comfortable admitting, I don't take enough time to do my hair the right way. Sloppy start, sloppy finish, subpar results. If you've been rushing through wash and style time (note: there's a difference between efficiency and rushing), it might be time to slow down. Take your time, do it right - and move around some things in your schedule if necessary to do so. The time you took will surely show in the results - and help you bust out of that hair slump.
5. Snip Snip
Okay, so you've clarified, deep conditioned, DIY'd, stuck to your tried and true, and took your time - and your hair is still looking and feeling a hot mess.
Trust me, I was there too.
At this time, desperate times call for decisive action. Scissor action. Ask yourself - when was the last time you had a good trim? How do your ends look? Any breakage? Splits? Super tapering?
Yes, this is from a curl I trimmed last week. Note the extreme taper (breakage) and single strand knot |
Read More: 3 Signs It's Time for a Trim
Have you ever been in a natural hair slump? What did you do to bust out of that rut? Share in the comments below - you just might be helping a fellow naturalista out!
6 Comments
Christina!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. My hair has been so blah lately and I couldn't figured out why. I clarified my hair for the first time since being natural (3.5 years) and WOW what a difference. I really didn't know that I needed to clarify. Everything always says co-wash, co-wash, co-wash, and I assumed since I was using actual co-washes not just rinse out conditioner, and don't use oils/butters that I was good. NOT! The difference I see in my hair and I haven't even put the deep conditioner in yet is amazing. Keep up the great work. I love your blog and YouTuba channel.
ReplyDeleteChristina, please bless us with a wash and go demo from start to finish. You are the wash and go queen and a sister needs to have a how to reference video like yesterday!
ReplyDeleteWent to ulta and bought this clip!! You are my hair twin and so to see it work on your hair gave me the confidence that it would work on my hair and it did!! It's easier to put the clip on my hair when it's drenched from the wash with leave-in and I'm so excited to see the results in the A.M.!! Thank you for sharing from one DIY curly Naturalista to anotherš
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! Your tips will help me because I have the same problem. I think I will try Inahsi Naturals Soothing Mint Clarifying Shampoo as you recommended.
ReplyDeleteSimple steps to keep the hair good and healthy. Many of them are not easy to maintain their hair due to heavy work. But this post easily makes the hair better.
ReplyDeleteRegards
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