Being natural is a beautiful experience but like anything else it has its ups and downs. You must forever evolve with each passing season to find the right products and techniques because the needs of your hair changes as your environment changes.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Coupled with that other things like age, stress, pregnancy, are all incidents within our lives that can and do affect our tresses and any smart natural must tend to the needs of her hair to keep it healthy during these times. With that being said sometimes we slip and fall off the healthy hair wagon and forget the necessary tools to keep everything running smoothly.
As my husband says quite often, “life gets in the way” so sometimes we can’t see when our hair is in trouble until its too late or even worse, we are still too blinded by everyday life to even notice. I fell victim to that just a few days ago when I saw I had really short bangs on just one side of my hair.
Needless too say, I felt like that poor little girl that made YouTube fame by burning off her hair with the curling iron*. I kept looking with a puzzled look on my face and it wasn’t clicking on why or what was happening.
When it finally dawned on me that I had somewhere down the line broken off my edges and they were growing back I started tearing up. I still don’t know what happened but now I have lopsided bangs and I feel really stupid.
I’m not going to beat myself up over it because apparently I was not paying attention and all I can do is think back to when that may have happened. I had started a new job a few months ago with new hours and had some major adjustments to make to to adapt to the new schedule.
I was tired most of the time, and even became sick as I rallied to get used to the new job, hours and still find time for writing. The stress I was under may have caused the breakage and I didn’t notice.
Now that I’m doing much better (not completely there but working on it) the edges on one side have started growing back in and that’s why they are uneven. Talk about being late to the party! So, here’s a post listing 5 clues you can use to give you a hint that something wrong and you need a natural hair change.
1. Your hair is shedding – We all shed hair daily and it can be anywhere from 50 to 100 hairs a day. The shed hair can accumulate even more while in a protective style with no manipulation of your hair for a few day or even weeks. However if you are not in a protective style and you notice an increase in shed hair then that is a clue that it might be something out of the ordinary.
It could be stress, slacking on proper hair maintenance (cleansing, conditioning, etc.), not taking care of your body or hormonal imbalances. All have ways of causing excessive shedding so you just have to re-evaluate everything going on with you including your hair care to determine how it started and what to do. If you have issues surrounding shedding, check out this post and this one and this one here as well.
2. You can no longer use the same techniques – When I first became natural I could wash my hair within minutes and never really had tangles. As my hair grew so did my problems with tangles. I suffered for a while before I realized I needed to do SOMETHING and that something was change my techniques. I had to start sectioning my hair when washing, slowing down and paying attention when working through my tangles.
We are all creatures of habit and as we become used to our tried and true products, techniques and styles, we have to be willing to change things up when we see something is no longer working. That happens often during different lengths of our hair, different seasons and as we grow older. What may have worked when you were 25 may not work at 35 just because of hormones, pregnancy or our aging hair.
3. You see thinning hair and or breakage – Not the breakage you may notice when first going natural as you adapt to scab hair and the line of demarcation. I mean “out of the blue” breakage or thinning hair that is occurring from recent events.
Maybe you are wearing your added hair (braids, wigs*, ponytails, weaves) too tight or too often and your hair is suffering as a result.
Maybe you are wearing headbands* too often and they are rubbing against your edges. Take note and figure it out because it will only get worse before it gets better.
4. You don’t know what to do with your hair – Stuck in a hair rut? It happens and it can be a good time to step out of your comfort zone and try new styles. You may always part your hair down the middle and unless you want a permanent part you should try styles that require a different part or lose the part all together.
Check out our hairstyles category for hairstyle tutorials, our gallery for styling inspiration or YouTube for even more tutorials. Try new products if your old ones are not giving you the results they did in the past. It’s OK to try something new.
5. Your hair stays dry and/or frizzy- Never get used to dry hair. It’s not normal and you may need to incorporate new products or routines to combat the dryness. Are you sealing your hair? Are you using deep conditioners regularly? Are you over-using protein conditioners (once a month is normal) or are you using too much heat too often?
Maybe your porosity level changed and you are not eating healthy or drinking enough water? All of these things contribute to how your hair looks and feels, taking care of yourself is very important for healthy hair.
Finally, if all else fails consult a doctor because it could be a medical condition that needs attention. Listen to your hair, pick up on the clues and remember this is a journey and not a race.
