5 Ways To Re-Embrace Your Natural Hair Journey
Are you struggling with embracing natural hair? Specifically, your own? Then, this article is for you. The natural hair journey tips you are about to read will change how you think about your hair care.
I’ve been natural for well over 20 years, but to say it’s been a picnic in the park with my fine natural hair would be a lie. At the beginning of my natural hair journey, I struggled with understanding what products worked best for my hair. This lasted for a few years.
I was so focused on what others were doing that I was not tuned in to what my fine natural hair needed and liked. This is what kept embracing my natural hair at arm’s length. I would be disappointed because my hair didn’t look like I thought it should.
But the issue wasn’t with my hair. It was with me trying to do what someone with a completely different hair type and density was doing.
Learning from Mistakes
I hopped on a lot of “trains” that promised fast hair growth. I used many a different natural hair growth oil, just hoping and wishing that my hair would grow longer and be as voluminous as what I saw other ladies with natural hair had. The problem with all of that is that it was counterproductive.
I wasted a lot of time.
Fast-forward to today, and I have learned quite a bit about my fine natural hair and natural hair in general.
For the purpose of today’s article, I’ll share five key natural hair journey tips. These are aimed to help you embrace your natural hair so you can once and for all reach whatever natural hair goals you’ve set for yourself.
Your Uniqueness Should Determine Your Hair Journey
Coily hair requires special care, and no head of hair is exactly the same. We each have to contend with our hair type, texture, curl pattern, and porosity levels. With each of these factors in mind, we must come up with a hair care routine that suits us individually.
Then, there’s our choice in hair products, which the market is oversaturated with. No wonder you are ready to just dump your natural hair journey and return to what may seem like an easier road of hair care!
5 Healthy Hair Care Tips Nobody Talks About
Below, we’ll get into each of the 5 healthy hair tips that I believe will help you to grow long hair (if that’s one of your hair goals) and solidify your hair routine so that embracing your natural hair isn’t so hard.
For now, here’s a summary:
- Remember why you decided to embrace your natural hair in the first place
- Choose 1-2 realistic natural hair goals to focus on
- Identify what your natural hair thrives on (and what it doesn’t)
- Simplify your natural hair routine
- Ignore “gurus” who give natural hair advice with no proof
These are probably not what you typically read about or see when you are searching for natural hair advice. People typically focus more on things like:
- How to retain moisture
- Protective styling to prevent hair breakage
- Using hair growth oils along with scalp massaging to stimulate hair growth
- Finger detangling
While all of these are good things to focus on for healthy hair care, they do not address the deeper how of doing these things and to what degree. Remember, every head of hair is unique.
Now, let me break down my 5 tips. I believe you’ll see how to incorporate all of the previously mentioned techniques into your natural hair routine in a way that works best for your specific head of hair.
Remember why you decided to embrace your natural hair in the first place
I get it. Caring for your natural hair can feel a little like you are committed to caring for a small child. You may feel like you are just not up for it anymore. Because it’s exhausting.
However, to gain a fresh perspective so you can embrace your natural hair again, how about revisiting your reasons for going natural in the first place?
Here are some reasons that come to mind:
- You no longer wanted to litter your body with chemicals
- The number of styling options is more versatile than with straight hair
- You’re on a journey of self-discovery or self-acceptance
- You want to embrace your true texture
Whatever your reason for leaning into embracing your natural hair, revisiting that reason or reasons can create a new resolve.
Choose 1-2 realistic natural hair goals to focus on
If you’ve never set goals for your hair, then that could be why you are no longer feeling it. When you set one or two goals that you know you can realistically achieve, that gives you something to focus on.
As human beings, we are wired to “work” toward achieving something. When you just go about your days with no real goals for your hair, it’s very easy to get bored with it.
When you have hair goals, you will be more focused on how you handle your hair and the products you use to care for it. This alone will create a natural “movement” toward embracing your hair’s texture and uniqueness.
Identify what your natural hair thrives on
If you are doing what everyone else is doing to care for your hair, that’s why you are facing disappointment.
Disappointment leads to resistance and avoidance. The way to counteract that is to work on discovering what your natural hair thrives on. This includes everything from specific ingredients in hair products to how you handle your delicate strands.
Discover what your hair responds best to and do more of that.
Simplify your natural hair routine
When you first “go natural,” you want to do all the things and try all the things. The problem with that approach is that it leads to confusion.
While a 10-step skin care routine may be super beneficial in your overall self-care, less can definitely be more when it comes to your hair care.
Personally, I like days when I can spend hours loving on my hair through hour-long treatments and twisting while bingeing on my favorite shows. But that’s not the norm.
Sometimes, a simplified routine is in order so that you can feel better about your decision to embrace your natural hair.
Check out this article: No More Wash Day Dread. Here’s a Simple Hair Reset Routine
Ignore “gurus” who give natural hair advice with no proof
This is probably the best tip I can offer you because it’s very easy to get excited about what a self-proclaimed natural hair guru on YouTube is telling you to do when you see they have very long hair.
But, here’s the issue with many I’ve noticed. Perhaps you have too. When was their hair ever short? When did it ever look like it was struggling like yours?
I’ve watched many natural hair videos on YouTube where the lady was giving advice about using a particular hair treatment because it will either “grow your hair like crazy” or “your hair will never stop growing.”
Do those statements sound familiar?
Where’s the proof?
Unfortunately, these statements are grossly misleading. ‘Many ladies will create YouTube videos based on what’s “trending” and not actually on what they have a long history with. I can even confess to doing this myself in the distant past.
There are quite a few ladies I’ve watched on YouTube who share about various treatments to help you grow long hair, like rice water and chebe, for example. Yet, when I’ve gone way back to the start of their YouTube “careers,” their hair looked the same, always. It was either always long or always short.
Something is wrong here.
I’m not saying you should never take advice from someone sharing hair growth tips on YouTube (or wherever). What I am saying is be very wary of those who lack a “footprint” leading you up to the so-called miracle treatments that are supposed to dramatically change your hair so that it grows to your hips (sarcasm here, but not much).
And, in case you’re wondering about me personally, here’s my proof:
Embracing Your Natural Hair
By now, I hope you feel armed with knowledge, have a renewed sense of appreciation for your natural hair, and are now in a position to recommit to your journey.
If you’re shaking your head yes, then I’ve done my job well, and I pray God’s blessings on you. In Jesus’ Name.
Where to Next?
Join the Faithful Living Newsletter for more natural hair tips and wisdom for Christian living. You can sign up here.
If you’d found this article useful, here are a few more that you may like:
- Breakage Prevention for Natural Hair (just 3 easy tips)
- The Complete Guide to Recovery from Heat Damage for Low Porosity Hair
- 7 Things to Do Every Day for Healthy Natural Hair Growth
- Can AI Create a Perfect Natural Hair Regimen for You?
