This majority of my summer, I’ve been rocking my medium length natural hair in mini twists. I haven’t been going out that much due to the pandemic. In fact, I’ve been sitting all home for the majority of the summer. However, I noticed a change in my natural hair the more it grows.
More Tangles
This one is more obvious because the more hair you have, the more likely it will tangle. This not only makes detangling a lot more annoying, but also time consuming as well.
I noticed more single strand knots and split ends the longer my hair grows. And although I don’t mind trimming my hair, I hate to constantly cut my hair at the same rate my new hair is growing in. Parting my hair has also been tougher to do.
My Old Products Don’t Work As Well
When I was first starting my natural hair journey, I had a set of products that I use. For the most part, they still work, but not as well. I don’t like being a product junkie because I don’t like to waste any product I purchase. But, I find my hair a lot dryer these days and then having to re-moisturize my hair a few days later. And if you have medium length or long natural hair, you know that takes way too much time and patience.
The less product and maintenance my hair has, the more it’s going to tangle. This is one of the reasons why I had my hair in mini twists practically throughout the summer. It saves me time and patience from constantly moisturizing or detangling. And when it’s time to unravel my twists, I can easily comb it out an entire section of my hair. The reality is that I haven’t been wanting to deal with my hair anymore because it’s getting longer and harder to deal with. Mini twists have literally saved my life.
Shrinkage Robs Me Of My Length
After 3 years of being a natural, 4 year anniversary in November, my hair is bra strap length. However, shrinkage will never show that. Now I have a love-hate relationship with shrinkage. And although I do love my shorter, bob length hairstyles, at the same time it is annoying growing long natural hair only for it to shrink up and rob you of your length. Like I can’t show off my true length if that makes sense.
And I know what you’re thinking, why can’t you blow out your hair or flat iron it? Although I can, that takes so much time and manipulation for me. And even when I do so, the results aren’t to my liking. My hair is will usually be stiff, probably due to my 4b hair not reacting to my products as well as it use to, and my hair usually shrinks backs up within hours.
Now my natural sisters know that it’s annoying spending hours on a hairstyle only for it to fail afterwards. It is annoying to straighten your hair only for it to shrink back up. Like can I get a day to feel the hype of my true growth? I guess the positive sign of the shrinkage is that my hair is still healthy after straightening it.
This Blog Isn’t To Say I Hate My Hair AT ALL
I LOVE my natural hair and I definitely can see it’s growth and how much it’s been flourishing. However, I can understand why many natural hair youtubers cut their long natural hair. Not that I would big chop any time soon because I want more inches, but the reality is that natural hair is a lot to deal with. Medium and long natural hair is even harder to deal with. But the journey is definitely fascinating.