Dry

It's been a while since I've written a full post and since I'm travelling and may not always have a good internet connection I've decided to download the worldpress app for blackberry so that I can still document and keep track of everything that's going on with my hair. I've been natural for almost a month now. Still happy, still loving it, and I'm seeing A LOT of growth which is great.

My hair texture varies; at the front and in the middle I have very loose, shiny, bouncy curls, (type 3C I think), the hair on the sides at the front however, is a lot more coarse, (4b maybe). The rest, the back, is somewhere in between (4a).

The loose curls rarely dry out, the hair is always soft to touch and the curls are extremely defined and smooth. The more coarse hair however is where I am having problems....

Summer Now we all know that a British 'summer' is never quite that. It's either hot and the air is dry, or cold and windy, sometimes raining too. In fact, not sometimes, most of the time... A nightmare for those of us with natural AND relaxed hair.

I thought that co-washing (using conditioner rather than shampoo to wash the hair) every few days and rubbing a bit of coconut oil would solve all of my problems. Sadly this simply is not the case. The hair seems to need more. Hair that is soft and bouncy in the mornings is dry and crispy by lunchtime. It's annoying!!!!

I'd tried using more leave-in conditioner but that was just creating this weird greasy product build up on my hair which wasn't actually moisturising it. The variation in textures can be problematic too, the loose curls are fine with some water and a bit of oil, the coarse hair looks and feels thirsty and the weather keeps drying it out.

Someone recommended castor oil. Others recommended just spraying the hair with water a little more often and using a good moisturiser or leave in conditioner morning and night. Someone else said I should wear a shower/steam cap to bed after moisturising it in the evenings. I think I got a little carried away and went a bit trigger happy with all the advice and products. The thing I've already found with my hair is that simplicity is key.

I think I have found a solution to the problem although this weather is still driving me a little crazy and the hair really does need more moisture at the moment. I co-wash every 3 days and deep condition once a week. I also have a spray bottle of water, pure glycerin and rosewater that I spray morning and night -not too much though. Rosewater smells AMAZING. It's really hard find products that don't contain too many harmful or drying chemicals but ALL WAYS Natural moisturising conditioner (with a teaspoon of each in the bottle; avocado, sweet almond, castor and olive oil mixed in) is doing great things for me. I rub a bit of that through my hair morning and night too. The cap at night actually REALLY does work. You get up and your hair is soft. No dryness, nothing.

Retaining moisture is key if you want to retain length. I want healthy hair. I didn't cut it all off just to have the new growth crack and fall out, so maybe that's why the dryness is such an issue for me right now. Because of how short my hair is, about 90% of the time it's out or in a puff and I know that isn't helping... Protective styling will of course reduce dryness and protect your ends. So be sure to protect your ends.

My system works for me but I still don't like the fact that at the end of the day my hair still feels a little crispy. This is normal for the time of year and climate apparently. So if you're the same as me and running a little mad, take heart, this too shall pass (lol). Keep moisturising!

I've been thinking about relaxed hair a lot recently and how I tackled dryness then so I think that's what my next post will be about...

Much Love xx