by
Cassandre
My Worst Natural Hair Mistake of 2015 — Using Protein on Hair that Needed Moisture
This past summer I decided to rock my hair in a blow out for weeks at a time. It was great. My hair looked fabulous, but I won’t deny the dryness that ensued once I stopped the process.
My mistake was using a protein rich conditioners and adding oils to it as a weekly treatment. Sounds like a great solution for blow dried, potentially heat damaged hair, but in actuality it was a terrible idea.
Because my hair suffered from moisture loss for so long, it was protein dominant. It didn’t need more protein and oil on a weekly basis. It needed an intense session with moisture-rich products packed with ingredients that penetrate, fortify and smooth down the cuticle.
What I should’ve done in retrospect is:
My focus in 2016 will be to achieve the right moisture/protein balance for my hair, beginning with using moisture heavy products.
My Best Natural Hair Discovery of 2015 — Box Braids as a Long-Term Protective Style
Definitely the best decision I made for my hair in 2015 was using box braids as a long-term protective style.
It was my very first time getting box braids and what I gathered from watching YouTube videos and reading blogs was that while it’s a beautiful style, it can cost more than just the fee you pay your stylist. It can cost you your edges.
The fact that I had a stylist who was very particular about respecting my edges and keeping my hair in great health really helped me to achieve amazing, long lasting results.
During the first week I experienced terrible itching and was able to quickly learn ways to help with that issue, but since then it’s been smooth sailing!
After 3 and a half months of rocking box braids, I’ve noticed a lot of length retention and best of all my waist-length hair is finally low maintenance. A bi-weekly scalp cleanse and touch up plus a moisturizing session a couple of times a week sustains my look and kept it impeccable.
Ladies, what were your worst hair mistakes and best hair discoveries of 2015?
5 Responses
My worst hair mistake of 2015: getting a weave. In July 2015, I decided to get a full sew-in weave. I wanted something different for my hair and thought that straight hair would be easier to care for with the humidity. Well, I found out that I was completed wrong. I was sweating terribly, my scalp itched all the time, I could hardly reach my scalp to wash and moisturize, and the weave was everywhere! My last weave installed taught me a valuable lesson that it is not always greener on the other side.
My best hair discovery of 2015: finding out that my hair was heat damaged. I may sound weird, but it’s so true! I was able to find that out, do my second big chop, and learn how to care for my true coils while loving my hair again.
Did you have to completely skip on all oils? Or just products containing a lot of oil? Were you still able to use oils like coconut oil/olive oil/ castor oil etc?
I made the same mistake as you did. Love your hair!
Worst hair mistake of 2015: Thinking I could get away with just doing the WNG while traveling in Europe. My fine 4b/4c strands were too long (APL stretched) and too finicky and I spent more time than I wanted to trying to fix it. I should have just stretched my hair with heat before leaving and stuck to braidouts and BAAs during my stay.
It was right after that trip that I made my best decision of 2015 (and 2016, so far): I BC’d to a tapered ‘fro. Because I kept most of my length on top, I can let my hair air-dry and still have some height there. Recently I got the sides and back cut down even shorter, so it looks more like an undercut. I may be keeping my hair this way for the foreseeable future…
I have two bad mistakes in 2015. One was getting micro cornrows over the summer which jacked up my edges. Second, when I thought I was taking a shortcut to remove the extensions, I mistakenly cut out a large patch of hair. I still have not fully recovered from either.