2018 was a bit of a write-off for me, but I thought I’d take stock and do a Natural Hair Journey update before continuing on to 2019. With all the craziness of life, taking care of my hair really fell to the wayside. I honestly can’t even think of the last time I purchased new hair product, and that’s a huge deal for a self-proclaimed product junkie. So in saying that, I’m pretty grateful for where my hair is at the moment.
Length Check, November 25th 2018:
Comparing it to when I flat-ironed my hair in June 2017, I don’t think it’s gotten much longer–but at least I’ve retained a pretty consistent length despite treating my hair like crap.
So let’s look at what’s been happening the past couple years…
Natural Hair Journey Update 2018
Dyeing my natural hair
From 2016 to 2017, I experimented a little bit with colour. Day to day it wasn’t too obvious, but in certain light, and with certain hairstyles you could really tell. Mostly, I was playing with reddishy colours, which you can really see here and here. Later, I decided to go for more of a chocolate-brown to get a bit closer to my original hair colour. In my Wash and Go post you can see the line between that colour and my new growth.
Throughout my experimenting, my hair became super damaged, and it was visibly lifeless where the colour was fading. I swore I’d never ever dye my hair again…but then I dyed it jet black:
I was actually inspired by Whitney White (better known as Naptural85, and now the creator of Melanin Haircare).
She was facing a lot of damage after dyeing her hair lighter, so she ended up dyeing her hair jet-black to kick off a renewed journey to healthy hair:
I actually had a very similar experience to hers. Colouring my hair black actually did wonders for my hair. It immediately felt so much healthier, and it was visibly shinier too.
This was a twist out a couple months before dyeing my hair black :
And this was shortly after going black:
Now, nearly a year later, the black has faded to a more natural colour that blends nicely with my natural dark brown.
Breakage from Protective Styles
I couldn’t do my natural hair journey update justice without touching on my experience with protective styles. In 2016, I tried my first ever protective style with extensions–Senegalese Twists. After that, I learnt to do my own boxbraids, and have done them four times to date.
The problem is, while I LOVE the way they look, I’m not the best at maintaining them. Regardless of how tightly I install them, I always see breakage because I don’t keep the roots well-moisturized.
Recently, someone recommended I give crochet braids a try. I was told these are much more gentle on your hair. Has any of you given them a go? Are they easy to do yourself?
2019 Natural Hair Goals
BE HEALTHY. Even back when I started this blog, my goals were always simply to have a healthy hair journey. I wasn’t really into length-checks, and growth-goals, I just wanted to focus on keeping my hair healthy, and knew the rest would follow.
For 2019, I’m going to completely baby my hair. I’m going to give it all the love it needs, and I’m going to stay far away from hair dye. I will still experiment with protective styling, but I’m going to put extra care into avoiding breakage. I think it’s also time I repurchase some Aphogee products–they are honestly liquid GOLD.
I’m also going to try to avoid putting my hair in buns and ponytails… as I became increasingly fed up with my hair this year, I started to remind myself more and more of child-me with the halo of breakage.
And to hold myself accountable, I’m going to actually start doing length-checks. I want to see proof of whether what I’m doing is working or not.
So wish me luck! What’s your natural hair journey update for the year? What are your hair goals for 2019? Let us know in the comments!
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1 comment
Hello! Thanks for reaching out! I’ll add you <3