For all of the newbies to the natural hair party and maybe those of your who’ve let years pass by without really taking the time to get to know your natural hair… here are a few gems I’ve learned along the way.

• Try new things! Each person is unique and despite how much your hair texture may look like someone else’s hair, or your curl friend got the PERFECT twistout from using a particular product, you have to try different things to determine what works best for you. Take what others say with a grain of salt and always experiment for yourself. You’d be surprised by what you discover about your natural hair.

• Moisturize! As much as it’s said, it’s the absolute truth! Dry hair breaks and despite how much it may grow, if you’re not retaining what you have, you’ll never see that growth. Wash your hair regularly. Deep condition regularly. Use a good moisturizer, especially on the ends of your hair, whether it be butters, oils, water based moisturizers etc. Let your hair tell you what it likes.

•  Your natural hair WILL NOT always do what you want it to do when you want it to do it. In fact, more often than not, it will be completely uncooperative until you figure out what works. It has a mind of it’s own. Instead of our hair conforming to our wishes, we must accept the fact that it’s doing its own thing and embrace that. Trust me… it’s easier said than done.

• Get used to seeing yourself with a new look. For me, I was used to seeing myself with the sleek, straight look of my relaxed hair so wearing my hair natural was soooo different. Seeing myself differently and accepting it was probably the second hardest part of my natural hair journey. (The first being adjusting to having short hair after I cut off my relaxed hair). You may be rocking a BIG fro now, or two strand twists or bantu knots. Whatever the style, accept the fact that it may take a little bit of time to adjust to seeing yourself that way. So what if every hair isn’t laying down, or your hair expands as the day goes by, or your edges curl up a little!

• Be kind to your hair and love your hair at every stage. You never know what stage you’ll end up missing. Your hair is just another expression of you being YOU!

Have a gem to add? I’d love to hear it!

XOXO,
Rece