Grow African Hair Long GAHL

The skin on your scalp is no different than the skin on your face, one of its special qualities is that it produces its own oil/fat called sebum. Sebum feels like wax and appears whitish when wet. Most people confuse it for conditioner residue and scrub it all off while shampooing their hair(I know I used to do this too🙈) under ideal circumstances Sebum is the only oil your scalp needs but due to the factors I am about to mention below some of us do not produce enough to keep our scalp well lubricated.

Oiling the scalp is something we have been doing or have been seeing done since we were little girls and we carried on doing this mostly out of habit not because our we actually need to or because our scalp needs it. Infact some of us will experience much healthier hair if they didn’t or greatly reduced oiling their scalps. Take a look at this scenario. You have been oiling your face for the past five days and splashing water on it every now and then, but you haven’t been cleansing it. I bet your face would look terrible and you would probably have a break out due to clogged pores. No one in their right mind would do this on purpose.

But this is exactly what happens with our scalps, most of us Layer it with thick heavy oils over long periods of time and as a result it compromises the quality of hair that grows out due to clogged follicles. Picture this, if you have a tube of toothpaste but for some reason the toothpaste dries out right at the top of the tube. If you don’t make an effort to first remove the dried out toothpaste two things will happen when the tube is pressed. Either the pressure of you pressing on the tube will create a small crack in the dried out toothpaste and force a little toothpaste out or nothing will happen the toothpaste tube represents the hair follicle. Too much oil on it will suffocate it and as a result you grow thinner hair than you actually should.

Another disadvantage of applying too much oil on the scalp is that it keeps your scalp from producing sebum in order to lubricate itself

My Tip: If you have to oil your scalp use a light oil that will still allow your scalp to breathe. If you are not sure if your scalp needs any oiling just don’t oil it after washing and see what happens.

I personally stopped oiling my scalp in 2012 when I realized that I didn’t have to. The only time I apply oil to my scalp is when doing hot oil treatments and over the years I have noticed my hair produce more sebum which is the best oil your scalp can ever have.

Our Inspiration for this week is the lovely Justmargie, we at GAHL just love your hair and we are so honored to be able to share your journey with our readers. Thank you :)

Have you always been natural? If not what made you go natural?

I had natural hair since I was a kid but relaxed it when I joined high school because relaxed hair was then easier to maintain in school. However, my fear was always going to the salon for the process of relaxing and I used to cry a lot because it felt like my hair was on fire!! After high school, I continued relaxing my hair twice a year and when I joined campus, I kept starting the transitioning journey but would always relapse. Finally, in 2013, I decided to chop of my hair completely and start a fresh. I didn’t like how my relaxed hair looked and I also saw it as a mark of a new beginning since around the same time, I had made very critical resolutions for myself. And that is how my natural hair journey began.

Your hair always looks so healthy, are you on a healthy hair journey? What inspired you to start one?

One of the main reasons I cut my hair was because it was unhealthy. So healthy hair has always been my goal. Health over length anytime.

Do you have a hair routine? How easy was it getting into a regimen, knowing the right products etc?

When I did the BC, I stuck to a very easy routine where I only washed my hair with conditioner, then a deep conditioned every week and I would apply a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil every day. I kept it very simple and it worked. As my hair grew, I became open to adding more products into my regimen. The longer your hair grows, the more you must care for it. So, my washdays reduced to once a fortnight and I fell in love with Tres Semme products so I used them as shampoo and conditioner and they worked. Till today, they are the constant products (plus the three oils) in my regimen though I experiment occasionally with other products as well.

How do you fit hair care into your busy lifestyle?

I have one free day in a week and that day has become my self-care day. On this day, I make time for my hair and prep it for the week.

Do you believe in such a thing as bad hair? Do you believe that African/ black women have good hair?

There is no such thing as bad hair. I believe that when women understand their hair type they will understand their hair needs and that will lead to flourishing hair. All-natural hair, no matter the type, is beautiful.

What have you learnt about healthy hair care that you would love to share with African women, especially those who want to start a natural hair journey?

The most important thing I would tell a new natural is that they should start by understanding their hair type. This will enable them find simple products that work for their hair. They should also keep it simple.

What goals do you have for your hair?

I didn’t know how versatile natural hair is until I began this journey. So, I want to challenge myself to experiment new hairstyles every day with my natural hair.

Do you do your own hair? What is your favourite natural hairstyle and why?

Yes, I do my own hair most of the times and my favourite style is twist outs because they are just simple to do.

Do you have a hair idol? Who and why?

Hair idol? Not quite ;-)

Did you always believe that you could grow a huge Afro? What changed your mind?

I didn’t know I would grow a huge afro. In fact, when I did the big chop, I was absolutely clueless on what the natural hair journey entailed and I did a lot of box braids instead. However, I have learnt something new every day and my boyfriend, who has been my big support system throughout, has always encouraged me to leave my natural hair open and flaunt it.

Is there a product you can’t live without?

Water and Coconut oil

Do you think natural hair is expensive to keep?

No; if you understand what your hair needs, then you will not be swayed to be a product junkie. You will only buy what you need.

Do you have hair goals?

Yes, to have a head with big healthy afro (like we see on magazine covers).

Follow just margie on Instagram @justmargie
Blog Justmargie.com

How about starting the week with some hair inspiration! gracing the Gahlspiration corner today is the one and only Joan Miano of Justnimu. This young lady has the most beautiful twist outs! Thank you Justnimu You are an inspiration.

Have you always been natural? If not what made you go natural?
I’ve not always been natural. I was once relaxed for a number of years. Then came 2013 when I discovered that there is more to my hair than it just being straight and that underneath al that was curly hair that was all mine.
Your hair always looks so healthy, are you on a healthy hair journey? What inspired you to start one?
I am indeed on a healthy hair journey mainly to inspire others and see what exactly my hair can be when left to its on devices.
I started a healthy hair journey to find myself and be free of the hectic schedule of maintaining relaxed hair and trying to identify with something that isn’t mine.
Do you have a hair routine? How easy was it getting into a regimen, knowing the right products etc?
I do have a hair routine, but it can be flexible and it’s dictated by how my hair feels at that given moment. Finding a routine that worked for my hair and me was a bit hard, took me almost 2 years into my journey to find what best works for my hair. And as for products, it is still trial and error for a few of them.
How do you fit hair care into your busy lifestyle?

It has been difficult to fit my hair care into my lifestyle, but I was able to find a way to do it. As long as I focus on keeping my hair moisturised, I can go up to two weeks without washing it.

Do you believe in such a thing as bad hair? Do you believe that African/ black women have good hair?
There is nothing like bad hair. African women have amazing hair, we just need to drift away from the mind-set that our hair is bad an unmanageable and in actual fact it is the opposite. -And slowly but surely, more women are embracing their true selves which includes loving their hair.
What have you learnt about healthy hair care that you would love to share with African women, especially those who want to start a natural hair journey?

I’ve learnt to listen to my hair and give it what it needs when it needs it. There is so much information out there, but at the end of the day, one needs to find what best suits their hair, because each and every head of hair is different.

What goals do you have for your hair?

I would love my hair to grow long, luscious and healthy to a point I no longer know what to do with it and to be able to inspire my own children when I finally get the opportunity to start my own family.

Do you do your own hair? What is your favourite natural hairstyle and why?
Yes, from the very beginning I have done my hair. To be able too understand ones own hair, one needs to be able to do it themselves.
Currently, I’ve been rocking twists to keep my hair protected and moisturised as I’ve been too busy to let it out.
Did you always believe that you could grow a huge Afro? What changed your mind?
I never believed that I would till I finally tried. I believe that you don’t know if something will work till you try it out.
Is there a product you can’t live without?
This is a hard one to choose, but if I had a gun at my head and had to choose, I’d have to say a good moisturising deep conditioner.
Do you think natural hair is expensive to keep?

For my hair care routine and lifestyle, I don’t believe natural hair is expensive. As stated earlier, I do my own hair and each product I use doesn’t go beyond Kes. 500. Therefore, in a month I won’t use more than Kes. 2000.

Find justnimu click here: Instagram justnimu youtube justnimu blog Allaboutnimu

Today the gorgeous Scovia of Justscovia is sharing her hair journey with us. Pick up your notebook and pick up a few tips from her. Gahl hopes this feature will inspire you to take better care of your own hair. Thank you Scovia

Have you always been natural? If not what made you go natural?

I had natural hair since I was young then had to relax it when joining high school. I went natural hair again in July 2016. My relaxed hair was not doing that well and was breaking a lot. A friend of mine who was natural too encouraged me to go natural through her hair journey so on the 7^TH July 2016 I just went home and asked my mom to cut my hair.

Your hair always looks so healthy, are you on a healthy hair journey? What inspired you to start one?

Yes. I am on a healthy hair journey. Once I cut my hair, I started going through natural hair blogs just to find out how best I could take better care of my hair. I didn’t want my big chop to be in vain. I mean what would be the need of cutting my hair if I continued with the same ‘bad’ hair practices?

Do you have a hair routine? How easy was it getting into a regimen, knowing the right products etc?

I have a simple hair routine. I’m naturally a very dedicated person when it comes to the stuff I love and have committed to. So once I decided I wanted to grow healthy hair that was all the motivation I needed. I have my lazy days too though. I have a friend of mine who is a natural hair blogger too and has a hair type close to mine so I asked her what products she uses and adopted it. I have made a few changes with regards to products though. Not everything that works for her works for me.

How do you fit hair care into your busy lifestyle?

I wash my hair every fortnight. My Sunday afternoons are dedicated to either washing or styling my hair for the next week. I moisturise my hair every other day before going to work and oil my hair at least twice a week before going to bed. I’ve learnt to incorporate my hair routine into my rather busy schedule.

Do you believe in such a thing as bad hair? Do you believe that African/ black women have good hair?

I do not think there is anyone with bad hair out there. African hair is so beautiful and super versatile. African women just need to accept whatever texture they are born with, take time to understand their hair and give their hair a lot of TLC.

What have you learnt about healthy hair care that you would love to share with African women, especially those who want to start a natural hair journey?

You need to be patient with your hair. Sometimes blow drying your hair would seem like the easier/faster way out but probably staying up late twisting your hair will do your hair more good. Also take time to learn your hair, stick to your routine and love your hair just the way it is; then you will see progress and improvement in health.

What goals do you have for your hair?

I am definitely a length chaser and hope to have waist length hair by the time my hair turns 5 years but not on the expense of its health of course. If it doesn’t get to that length at least something close to it.

Do you do your own hair? What is your favourite natural hairstyle and why?

I’ve learnt to do my own hair and you will find me mostly with a twist out. I do Bantu knot outs or perm rod set when feeling extra.

· Do you have any challenges being natural?

Detangling gets tougher and tougher as my hair grows. But I have devised ways of making the whole process a lot easier. Like my homemade detangling mix which reduces shedding, watching a movie as I detangle etc.

Did you always believe that you could grow a huge Afro? What changed your mind?

No not really. I actually did not think i had the volume for it but once I cut my hair I had no option but to rock a TWA which surprisingly looked good.

Is there a product you can’t live without?

Yes, coconut oil. It solves most of my hair problems.

Do you think natural hair is expensive to keep?

It can be if you are a product junky but if you know your basics in terms of products ie sulphate free shampoo, conditioner, protein treatment and DC, leave in treatment, an essential oil and butter. You can cut down on the cash spent on hair products.

Follow Justscovia´s Blog and Instagram.

We have not met Sharon in person yet, but to us she radiates such beauty and happiness and do we even have to mention her smile? and the reason why GAHL is featuring her today is her georgeus natural hair.

Hi Sharon, we just love your hair! we are so honoured to feature you on our Gahlspiration corner. We are sure that this feature is going to be a blessing to someone

The pleasure is all mine :)

Have you always been natural? If not what made you go natural?
No I've not always been natural . I went fully natural in March 2016 but I stopped relaxing my hair in 2015 . I was inspired by the journey of other naturalistas such as CravingYellow and I was also intrigued by the science of natural hair . Furthermore , I've always admired afros . Whenever I'd get my relaxer touched up , I hated how flat my hair would look and did everything I could to have some volume .

My first twist out ever!
Your hair always looks so healthy, are you on a healthy hair journey? What inspired you to start one? I am definitely on a healthy hair journey . I've always understood that when it comes to dealing with anything , one needs to understand how the system works . Once you have that down ,you're good to go . Same goes for hair .Once I've got the health of my hair in check , the rest comes easy .

Do you have a hair routine? How easy was it getting into a regimen, knowing the right products etc? Yes I have a hair routine but I wouldn't say it's fixed . It was quite easy to find a regimen once I started off because I did a lot of research as I was transitioning to natural . My regimen however , is constantly evolving . I just go with what Fluffy ( my hair) needs at the moment .

Twist out from May 2016

How do you fit hair care into your busy lifestyle? Haircare for me is therapeutic . My fro is my Friday night date once every 2-3 weeks . The rest of the time , I rock low manipulation styles that can transition into cute wearable looks . My go to style is two strand twists . If I were in my hair every single day I'd not have time to do anything else .

Do you believe in such a thing as bad hair? Do you believe that African/ black women have good hair? The only "bad" hair is unhealthy hair . It's a blessing for us to have such unique hair growing out of our scalps . It doesn't matter if it's thick , fine , coarse , curly , wavy , coily or kinky . All hair is beautiful .

Current twist out

What have you learnt about healthy hair care that you would love to share with African women, especially those who want to start a natural hair journey? It's hard to reduce all I've learnt to one statement . "Good" hair like everything else in life , comes to those who work for it . You must be patient , willing to learn and always embrace your hair for what it is .

What goals do you have for your hair? My goal is to take my hair to the next level in all aspects : health, length , volume , thickness .. you name it . I just want to give it the love it deserves .

Do you do your own hair? What is your favourite natural hairstyle and why? I do my own hair except when it comes to braiding and blowing it out for trims ( which I want to be able to do for myself ). My go to style is twists . They are easy and fuss free plus they provide a base for a bomb twist out .

My blown out fro in May 2017

Do you have a hair idol? Who and why?
I have so many hair idols . Bubs Bee is one of my favorites . Her hair is soo thick and luscious . The likes of NappyFu , GreenBeauty , Ambrosia Malbrough, JourneyToWaistlength , WestAfricanBaby and CravingYellow are a few examples .

Did you always believe that you could grow a huge Afro? What changed your mind? I've always believed I can grow a huge afro but 20 inches of hair wasn't something I even thought about . Once I discovered natural hair forums , I realized that I can do anything with my hair .

Is there a product you can’t live without?Aloe Vera juice ! My hair drinks it up ! It'll forever be a staple in my regimen .

My shrunken fro
Do you think natural hair is expensive to keep? No I don't . I've had the pleasure of trying out different brands . We as Kenyans are privileged to have affordable quality locally made natural products . Natural hair doesn't have to be expensive unless that's one's preference .

Do you have hair goals? I'm a length and volume chaser right now . I just want to see how far my fro can grow . However , Fluffy's health will always remain paramount .

"Your hair is your crown . Embrace it , love it and take care of it ." MyKenyanPuff

instagram @mykenyanpuff
youtube channel Mykenyanpuff

I know that just from the title of this blog some of you are already frowning but please take a minute and hear me out. If you have been following my journey you know this already but if you are new to my blog trust me, you want to hear this.

May 2017 4years post relaxer (Natural)

I started my healthy hair journey in February of 2010 with relaxed shoulder length hair. My hair had been shoulder length pretty much my whole life and I honestly thought that shoulder length was the longest my hair could ever be. You have heard this before “my hair grows till shoulder length and then it stops” In reality it doesn’t stop,it just breaks faster than it is growing causing the stagnation.

The turning point came after watching ladies with long relaxed hair on YouTube and I decided I was going to take better care of my hair just to see if it could really grow longer.

Pre hair journey days. 2009 (Relaxed)

February 2010 start of my hair journey (Relaxed)

I made so many mistakes at the beginning and instead of seeing progress my hair was just breaking and I retained zero length for the first six months of the journey. My mistake at the time was using a strong protein treatment twice a week in the name of deep conditioning. Once I corrected this the progress was undeniable.

I went from shoulder length to mid back length hair in about two years (I was still relaxed/Texlaxed). I am now fully natural and my hair is a few centimetres shy of mid back length which is my current hair goal.

31.1 2013 Last relaxer

31.1.2013 last relaxer

So what is the moral of my story? Genes may play a big role in how long our hair can grow but unfortunately we might never see the real growth potential of our hair if we don’t care for it properly. I know you are probably thinking of that friend of yours who does absolutely nothing to her hair but it has grown down her back, believe me she is lucky because the majority of us need to actually care for our hair for it to reach its full potential.

May 2017 4 years post relaxer

On that note, hair doesn’t have to be long for it to be beautiful, it just needs to be healthy and regardless of its length it will look attractive. I prefer short healthy hair to long damaged hair any day.

If your aim is to retain length then all you have to do is reduce breakage and here are a few tips for you.

Protect your ends. The ends are the oldest part of your hair and they are your length. Keeping them on your head will ensure length retention. You can do this by making sure the ends of your hair are always moisturized and keep them off your shoulders to avoid friction with your clothing. Protective styles also play a big role in length retention as they keep the ends hidden.
Detangling. Always detangle your hair from the ends upwards this reduces unnecessary breakage.
Combing. Never comb your natural or transitioning hair while it is dry! This causes unnecessary breakage!
Manipulation. Find hairstyles that don’t need daily manipulation, I personally go for hairstyles that require me to touch my hair only once a week. Over manipulation causes breakage.
Stay positive. Growing hair takes time and you might meet people along the way who will not hesitate to ridicule your efforts. Don’t give up; if something isn’t working get help there are so many healthy hair enthusiasts willing to help.
Know your hair. African hair comes in different textures and your texture plays a big role in how it should be cared for. 4C hair for instance is not the strongest hairtype, it is the most fragile and most prone to breakage and needs the most care.
Track your growth. Find a way to track your progress and celebrate little accomplishments. i like to take pictures and today i am so glad that i have been doing this because now i get to share with you :) you can also use a tape measure.
Goals. Make realistic goals. My hair grows half an inch per month (very average). I set my hair goal lengths according to my hair growth rate and my trims.
Magic products. They Don’t exist!

Lastly, I am not saying that everyone’s hair can grow down their waist but one thing is for sure. You will never know how long your hair can grow unless you actually give it that chance.

Make a decision to start a healthy hair care journey today and comment below if you need help starting :)

Thanks for reading,

Joanne.

Pages

About GAHL

Instagram

Follow Us

GAHL Search

GAHL Archive

Most Popular

Contact Form