And you thought you had shrinkage?

It's real out here in these shrinkage streets!

Straight Hair Part 3

By Tenisha Mercer


I'm convinced that natural hair is the most versatile hair on earth.

I went from this two weeks ago:



Natural hair while in humid ASS Savannah, GA

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 



Straightned natural hair

The Battle of Shrinkage

Dry twist and curl on damp hair with Dax

HairNistas, it's been a week of record 80 degrees in ATL -- in March!

Those warm temps, combined with the good bit of rain/humidity, have wrecked havoc on my hair regimen. I know, I'm in the South, but we jumped right from a mild winter to a hot spring -- and my hair hasn't gotten the chance to catch up! I had hoped to wear my hair straight for a while, but now I'm really not sure if that's going to happen --- though I desperately need my ends trimmed.

I did a light blow dry and wore my hair in dry twist and curls for a few weeks, with good results. That style looked good -- until I put glycerine on it (a mistake) and spent one too many day in rainy weather. Natural or not, my hair still shrinks in rain and especially in humid conditions. My shoulder/collar bone length hair when fully stretched shrank to frizzy ear length hair and I'd had enough!

Back to the Wash and Go, I Go

Wash and go on previously flat ironed hair. Can I get this hair back, please?

Went back to my old standby -- the wash and go. Been wearing a wash and go for a week, even tried the Curly Girl method with a "Mixed Chicks" version of leave-in from Sally's that I had lying around for a while. #fail. This is why I remembered I didn't like it: It was cute when wet, but flaked, shrunk, tangled and just didn't act right in my hair once it dried.

If this is what my hair is going to look like this spring, I may have to make some changes. ATL has its share of humid temps -- not dry heat that plays well with straighter styles. And I've got an entire spring/summer to get through. Then, I think, what's wrong with shrinkage? Why don't I like it?

Embracing My Shrinkage

Maybe if my hair was waist length and shrank to shoulder length, that wouldn't be as much of an issue for me. But I'm not there yet, and it's going to take a few years of aggressive growth for me to get shrinkage results like that. 

Even my wash and gos shrink, more than they used to, IMO. I had APL hair during my last flat iron in December and neck length hair when wet products are applied.) Clearly, I've got some self reflection to do and maybe I should just embrace the shrinkage and work with my hair, not against it.

Giving the CG Method a Second, Third, Fourth Chance

I'd really, really like to make the curly girl method my go-to style this spring, but I'm not sure if it's going to work. Maybe it's the conditioner I'm using, so I've got Tresemme Naturals and Trader Joe condish on my shopping list for this weekend.

I'm even thinking about buying some Kinky Kurly Knot Today leave-in and mixing it with some aloe vera juice and oils using the KimmayTube method. One thing's clear: I've got some experimenting to do this weekend.

Hairnistas, who live in humid climates, what do you? What styles do you plan to wear this summer/spring?