For the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out the porosity of my hair to better maintain my natural hair regimen. I did the water test and the feel test as well but was still very confused about what type of hair I have. My hair is extremely dense with a very tight but defined curl pattern. The hair is so dense and prone to frizz that my tiny little ringlets barely get to show themselves in all their spiral glory.
I'm a cowasher and am obsessed with Tresemme conditioners. Tresemme conditioners have a lot of slick and move through my hair nice. There is so much slick I have slipped in the shower on multiple occasions while washing my hair. I'm constantly dropping the soap. ;-) I must confess though that I am lazy when it comes to my hair regimen. I wash my hair often to avoid styling it. I'm an avid wash and go performer because I forget to tie and moisturize my hair at night. I wake up often looking like Samuel L's character in Django. So this morning while I was washing I started taken notice of how my hair was absorbing. My hair LOVES conditioner. It soaks it right up, dividing itself into individual curls. With conditioner in my hair its easy to detangle with fingers or a wide tooth comb. As soon as the water hits my hair, however, it washes away the conditioner and immediately frizzes. The conditioner hasn't absorbed into my cuticle. My hair doesn't even stay wet under the water stream of the shower. First sign I have low porosity hair. After drenching my hair, squeezing the water in trying to completely soak it I spray it with Aloe Vera juice and try to seal in the juice with a DIY hair and body oil mixture. When I step out of the shower my hair is an afro with beads of water falling all over the bathroom like rain drops. I use a styling conditioner and then follow that up with mousse to try and keep any bit of curl definition in place before blasting it with the diffuser. Second sign of low porosity, my hair NEVER dries completely. Which is another reason I'm not a fan of twist outs because the hair twisted never dries fully so that when the twist is released there is no twist pattern just stretched out frizziness that will eventually air dry right back to afro shape. The last sign of low porosity hair occurs while I'm at work and begin feeling the oil, and styling conditioner rolling down my ears and on the sides and back of my neck. There is oil EVERYWHERE. I'm literally sopping it up with napkins, rubbing it into my legs, hands and elbows for extra moisturizer and feeling like the biggest grease ball in the world. My hair is not absorbing ANY product that has be placed on it. Low porosity hair does not absorb products because the cuticle of the hair is too tight. This is a good and bad thing. Bad because when the cuticle is tight water can't get in but good because once you get the water in, it stays in and hair will shine brighter than a star. Heat is good to help open the cuticle and allow hair to absorb moisture. Since I do not have a dryer or steamer at my desk I am currently working with a Wegman's bag tied strategically around my afro to try and stimulate some heat from my head to open up cuticles and absorb some moisture. The. Struggle. Is. Real. I'm embarassed but I'd rather do this until lunch time than have to sit with a roll of paper towels around my neck sopping up hair oil. Discovering your hair type and best ways to care for your hair is a struggle. I have been natural for a little over 9 years and I still haven't gotten it figured out. I even cut all my hair off 5 years ago because I was so fed up with the process. But I decided to grow it back to better understand it and work with it. A woman's hair is her crown and very important to how she sees herself. My hair is a big part of how I feel about myself everyday. True it is just hair, but it's my hair and that's what makes it special.
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My blog has a name! Thank you so much for the votes. That was a lot of fun! The race was close but in the end Progressive Perfection was the favorite. I'm glad because it was my favorite too.
Perfection is impossible. It's a state of being that we stress about daily. "Everything has to be perfect." "I just want to be perfect." Well if there was such a thing as perfect then why would we need erasers, backspace, or undo feature? If you read the bible you are aware that nothing is perfect except God. In fact most of the world's beauty lies in the imperfections. When you think about who you are and the fact that God is perfect then you realize that how you are is no mistake. We don't have to strive to be perfect but we can continue to actively work on reaching the perfection horizon. We will never be perfect but as long as we are working towards being the best ME we can be then the progress will speak for itself. What should we call me? Help me narrow down a name for this blog.It will be fun. And give me a chance to use the cool polling feature on this site. I've narrowed down a few of the names I've brainstormed. Although I do have a favorite, I'm stuck on which will appropriately fit the needs of this blog. My original Autobiographical play is titled Model Perfection, so I wanted to keep the name similar as a clear and easy reference. Thanks for your help. |