Grow African Hair Long GAHL: natural african hair

October 2012

Hi ladies, I am so excited about Gahl´s first Inspiration of 2015! I actually know Christine since we met in form one at St George´s girls secondary school in Nairobi :) I have been stalking her hair on facebook and I just loved her progress! Her hair is so healthy! I would like you to note that she has type 4C hair. Most ladies I have met with 4C hair literally have a phobia of wearing their hair natural. I hope this feature helps you to realise that whatever your hairtype it is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you Christine for being an inspiration for us today!

1. First of all I love your hair!! How long have you been natural?

Thank you J. It took a while to understand and appreciate it. I have been natural since December 2011.

December 2011

February 2013

2. Were you relaxed at some point? If yes when and for how long?

Yes I was relaxed for as long as I can remember, primary school maybe? I don’t remember the year but clearly too long haha.

3. What made you go natural? How did you go about it?

It was a barrage of things but let me give you some background. When I moved to the States back in 2007 the change in climate, food, everything wreaked havoc on my body! I broke out like crazy, skin was perpetually dry, my hair was thinning and shedding like mad. I believe my body was rebelling against me. I figured if this went on without making some changes I would end up looking like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. So I started eating healthier, changed my hair products to natural ones where I could and even changed my hair practices like incorporating moisturizing and sealing. Oh! I also went for long periods without relaxing. My hair thrived! It got close to bra strap length and then…I decided to relax it…myself. I did NOT want to spend $120 for someone to do my hair. I had done it before but I think that day I was lazy with no energy and I did a sloppy job. A LOT of hair at the back of head and some other odd points fell out I kid you not from over processing. I couldn’t believe what I had done! It was at that point that I decided once I grew out my hair a bit more I would never relax my hair ever again. I was traumatized haha! I started doing research on natural hair and was so amazed by it all. I wanted big ass hair, and besides, it looked really unique.

I initially tried to transition but after three months I could not handle the two textures so I made the appointment to cut all my hair off. I went with my best friend and up until that point I was super excited…until it was all chopped off, and it shrunk, and I panicked HAHA. I thought I had made the biggest mistake ever! After a couple of weeks it grew on me but honestly I tried to mask the slightly low esteem with makeup, jewellery, you know, to draw attention away from my hair. Thing is SO many people loved it, except me. I guess I thought my hair would look one way but it turned out another.

5. Is your natural hair much easier to deal with than when it was relaxed? What differences have you noted.

In terms of time my natural hair takes SO much more than when it was relaxed. The detangling, sectioning into twists before shampooing, removing and redoing each twist for conditioning, air drying then moisturizing and styling wololos. At least as the years have gone by I have gone from an all-day hair day (since I didn’t know what I was doing) to about 3 hours. That may seem like a lot of time but it is not continuous. Some of that time involves me resting and watching TV.

6. Do you have a regular hair care routine? Please tell us more about that.

I wash my hair every weekend and that involves shampooing, conditioning (I rarely deep condition anymore) and then moisturizing/styling. During the week I will moisturize my hair once more. Also I like to steam my hair in the mornings as I shower for about a minute to add some moisture.

7. How do you style your hair?

After cleaning hair that initial styling involves braiding hair for braid outs or hanging bantu knots. After those have worn out I will wear my hair in a super loose puff until the next time I moisturize or even next wash day. I have tried intricate styles before but my hair is so fine I felt like they were doing more harm than good. For instance, I tried pin and tuck styles and the matting of my ends when taking the style down??!?!?! Nope.

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8. Where do you get your hair products? Which one is your favorite and why?

I have tried sooo many products so I can just tell you what I have been using lately. I use the shampoo and conditioner from the Thank God I’m Natural online store and they soften the hair so well.

I dampen hair with rose water (plain water wasn’t cutting it for me and I gave up on leave ins) and then use a shea butter mix that I concocted and love. The mix has shea butter, safflower oil and aloe vera gelly (not the gel) and also softens the hair well J.

9. Do you have any hair goals for this year?

I don’t want it to break off haha. I have been getting lazy and my ends are starting to suffer. You know when you separate your hair and the ends stick together? Yeah..shame on me.

10. Does your natural hair fit well with your professional life?

Yes it does. Sometimes it feels like my coworkers are more vested in my hair than I am. Oh the stories I can tell of people coming and touching my hair without asking, even in the bathrooms by people who work in other offices. *cringe*

11. Do you get regular trims? Yes/No and why?

I TRY to trim my own hair with the change in seasons. I do it myself because I am not about to pay $100+ just to trim.

12. Have you faced any negativity towards your natural hair at any point of your hair journey?

In the beginning, yes, from some family members. Making fun of how I “looked like a crazy person” because it was “unkempt”. I will admit that sometimes it did but in my defense I really did not know what I was doing, and with super short hair there are limited styling options. But now? As my hair has grown those same peeps just love it. *side eye*

13. Do you know your hair type? (How would you describe your curls? Are they uniform or would you say you had different textures all over your head?)and how does that affect how you style your hair?

I am a 4c and the front of my head is a bit looser but I still consider it 4c. I do need to make sure it’s properly moisturized because the coils are so tight that sebum can barely reach the ends of the strands.

November 2013

14. Do you think the curl pattern determines how fast hair grows or what kind of styles can be done on the hair? What hairstyles do not work with your curl pattern?

Growth is a genetic thing, has nothing to do with curl pattern. Ofcourse looser curls will “seem” like they are growing longer in comparison to tighter coils but that’s in the same manner as your hair looking longer when you straighten hair. Make sense? Lol.

November 2014 wash and Go! I find the shrinkage amazing!

I definitely do not do wash and go’s, I have tried and my hair shrunk up so much that trying to stretch it out was a disaster.

15. What advice would you give the newbie naturals about being natural and going

natural?

Despite the taking more time and the learning curve, I LOVE my natural hair, and I wish I had gone natural eons ago. It feels like me. There is A LOT of information out there about natural hair care and you may have to try out a lot of it to find what works.

December 2014

6. What do you think makes up a perfect healthy hair care journey?

I don’t think there is a perfect one, it can always change. As long as you properly moisturize your hair and take care of it without it consuming your life you are good!

On the 31st of January was 2 years since my last relaxer. In hair blogger language I am 24 months post relaxer!!! hurrah!!! it seems like only yesterday that I announced to you that I was transitioning to natural hair. If you missed on that you can read about it here My transition announcement

Two years down the line I am fully natural and loving it. I love my relaxed hair and I love my natural hair too. Contrary to many women who feel that going natural brought them a feeling of liberation, mine did not I am the exact same person I was when I was relaxed. To me Afro hair is beautiful no matter how you choose to wear it as long as you keep it healthy. Your hair your choice!

My hair before washing and conditioning

My hair blown out/ blow dried


Hair blown out. I was so tired already but the hair looked good!!!

I decided to straighten my hair just to see what it looked like straight and in the process I learned yet another lesson. While my hair was still relaxed it was much easier to get straight. Natural hair needs a lot more time!! It took me a total of 5 hours to wash, condition, blow out/dry, flat iron and trim my hair I was so exhausted afterwards that I could not even take pictures. Too bad because my hair reverted a little bit during the night. My hair desperately needs a good trim but all in all I am very happy with it´s overall condition. I love the thickness and have enough hair to play around with. I love having hair to play around with and that is why I settled for a long term transition instead of a big chop. I ended up chopping off the rest of my relaxed/ texlaxed ends at 17 Months post relaxer you can read about that here just in case you missed out on that Long term transition update!

Flat ironed hair at 2 years post relaxer

flat ironed hair at 2 years post relaxer

The journey has had it´s ups and downs and I am really grateful to God for giving me the strength and patience to get to know my hair and learn to care for it. I am still learning though because this hair is just full of surprises. I have three different curl patterns on my head and I am still learning how to care for each because they behave very differently.

I have finally found a hair care routine that works well for my hair. If you would like a blog post on my latest hair care routine, please comment below.

My goal for this year is to get to mid back length when my hair is stretched/ straight. This means that I will be on a very strict hair routine until I achieve my goal :)

What is your goal length for this year?

Thanks for reading and God bless you!

Joanne

I have been meaning to write a blog on transitioning to natural for a very long time now. I am going to share all i have learnt during my transition. It has been over a year since i started my transition to natural It was not always easy but now I can confidently say that my transition has gotten a lot easier with time. Here is my One year transition update if you missed it.

Here are a few tips that have made transitioning a whole lot easier for me. They might be of help to you too.

1. Do your hair in sections.

Doing your hair in sections makes detangling much easier and helps distribute product evenly to all hairstrands.

2. Maintain protein -moisture balance.

You will need to use a protein conditioner to keep your relaxed ends and especially the line of demarcation from breaking off. Moisture on the other hand will give your hair the elasticity it needs to keep it soft and manageable. A balance of the two = healthy hair.

4. Do not comb dry hair.

Combing transitioning hair while it is dry will cause breakage especially at the line of demarcation. It is advisable to comb the hair while it is wet or moisturised. I only comb mine when it is freshly washed and conditioned.

5. Finger detangle your hair.

Using hands/ fingers to detangle transitioning hair will cause less breakage especially if the hair is prone to tangles. A comb will pull out hair and cause breakage every time it is used.

6. Find a go-to style & protective styles

Curly styles such as braid outs, twist outs, rod sets, roller sets e.t.c are usually the best while transitioning because they help to blend in the relaxed and natural hair these styles can be achieved without the use of direct heat. Straight styles are a lot harder to achieve and maintain because natural hair reverts. The above mentioned styles are low manipulation styles and require little to no combing at all. Low manipulation hair styles can be changed to protective styles by turning them into buns or other updo's. A protective stlye is any hair styles that keeps your ends safely hidden, tucked away... These include buns, applying scarves, braids, weaves, cornrows e.t.c check out my First natural hairstyle

7. Don't be discouraged.

Only you know why you have decided to longterm transition to natural. It will be important for you to set your eyes on your goal which is healthy, beautiful natural african hair. There will be people who will say negative things about your hair but just keep going.

Find a good support system of women who have either done a longterm transition or are still transitioning for advice and inspiration.

9. Be patient

Hair grows slowly so please be patient you will get there.

11. Do not put expectations on your hair just accept it as it is.

Avoid comparing your hair with anybody elses, keep in mind that your hair will be unique in it's own way. Some women have curls, coils, kinks, waves and they are all good! Embrace your own hair as it is!

12. Co washing instead of shampooing

At some point I had a feeling that my hair was getting more tangles when shampoo was used on it. Other than that shampoos can dry out the hair especially if they contain sulphates. Washing with conditioner will help improve moisture levels in your hair and ease detangling.

13. Cut down on heat

While heat can be used to blend in relaxed and natural hair, it is not advisable to use heat to transition to natural. Heat can damage the hair's curl pattern. Always use a heat protector when you use heat.( blow dryer, flat irons, curling irons...)

14. Trim your relaxed ends off gradually.

As the new growth increases, the relaxed ends start to look very thin. If you don't want any rude schocks and are not comfortable with the length your natural hair is now do not cut off too much of the relaxed ends. Plan for small trims until you are satisfied with your length.

15. Pre shampoo treatments.

Pre shampoo treatments have been a life saver for me. Just applying an oil to my scalp and hair and finger detangling before washing really makes a big difference.

16. Wash your hair on a regular basis.

Transitioning hair likes to matt/ tangle at the line of demarcation. Leaving this kind of hair unwashed and undetangled for too long means that all the shed hair will attach itself to the tangle and keep growing as a result you will experience breakage.

I had to cut off all of this because of a bad tangle. I had not washed or detangled my hair for two whole weeks.

17. Satin/ silk Scarf and brush

If you love smooth styles then a scarf and a soft bristle brush will be great investment for you. All you need to do is to moisturise your hair, seal the moisture in with an oil then brush/ comb your hair as desired. Lastly apply a scarf to you hair especially on the edges and this will get them flat in less than 10 minutes.

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