I didn’t have an organized approached to the going natural thing. I just sort of jumped right in. I didn’t know anything about tracking my growth. I want to say I stopped getting relaxers when I had only 2-3 inches of unrelaxed hair. The first time I did a length check was this past April 2011 after I had already been without a relaxer for nearly a year. My hair in front stretched down to my bottom lip, measuring in at 8 inches. My hair in the back was a lot shorter, measuring at 5.5 inches. I just did an update and 4 months later my front is now at 9 inches and my side and back is at 8 inches! I am officially collar bone length (CBL). Now what made my back grow so much? I’m not sure. Possibly protective styling, a routine regimen, or the castor oil I’ve been using. Either way I have set new goals for my next check. If you haven't, I encourage you to whip out your camera and start keeping track of your progress. Head on over to my progress page to keep track of mine!

PLEASE do not use that word around me! I get so offended when people say “so-in- so has good hair.” Or, “I can’t go natural I don’t have good hair.” What’s the opposite of good….BAD? So does that mean I have “bad hair” because my curls are tightly wound and I have 75% shrinkage? Do I have BAD hair because I can’t produce a defined wash and go curly style? Do I have BAD hair because my hair feels like lamb’s wool? Absolutely not! My hair is healthy and that’s what GOOD hair is! This is a short post without much substance but one of the reasons for creating this blog was to have a sounding board, somewhere to get it all out. So with that being said, I encourage anyone with any texture of hair to go natural and embrace the texture you were given. #HAPPY NAPPY

During the month of July, some sort of heat wave hit the midwest. It was over 100 degrees for like a week straight so I wanted to hit the pool! As a young child my parents enrolled me into swimming lessons and at 7 years old I was jumping off the high dive! Well over the years my relaxed hair put so many limitations on my swimming. I developed sort of a phobia for getting my hair wet and thus forgot some of my swimming skills over time. What I LOVE about being natural is I don't have to worry about "was my last relaxer over 2 weeks ago, I don't want my hair to fall out. Am I getting a relaxer soon, because I don't want my hair to fall out. How am I going to style my hair after I get out the pool?" Just too much! So this summer I just jumped in there with my afro puff and I started swimming again. I felt so free knowing there were no chemicals in my hair that would cause a bad reaction to the chlorine in the pool. After a swim I either twisted it back up or simply did a wash and go since I was going to get right back in the pool the next day.

Protective styling is a form of low manipulation styling that ultimately promotes length retention. Put simply, the less you play in your hair the more it will grow. At least that's what I have gotten from the many bloggers and YouTubers I follow. This is especially important during the winter when Ohio weather is harsh. Keeping your ends sealed with oil and tucked away will keep them from coming in contact with our cotton shirts and wool coats causing ends to be roughed up and split. I follow Kimmaytube on YouTube and she keeps her hair protected all year round leaving her hair out only a few days out of the month. My protective style of choice is mini twist. I love mini twist! It takes me about 3-4 hours to complete my entire head. But I can make it last for up to 4 weeks. I try to keep them in for 3 weeks and where my hair out during week 4 then its back to mini twists! Check out Kimmaytube on the benefits of protective styling and Blackonyx77 on doing rope twists vs two strand twists.

http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types <---------GO HERE to get an idea of your hair type. I am a TRUE type 4. I am more kinky than curly. But hey that’s ok! I tend to follow other type 4’s on YouTube and such for product suggestions, regimens, styles but that doesn’t mean you have too. I just find it helpful since we have the same hair type. The bottom line is no two heads are the same and it’s a journey to find what works for you.