What to do when you have damaged hair
You guys know about my recent hair dilemma (if not, read this). As time passes, I get more depressed about the state of my hair. My 2 week wash date has come and gone but I haven't touched my hair since my salon visit. I'm just not feeling the whole doing-my-own-hair thing at the moment, so I'm kind of on strike. I know that might not exactly be the healthiest move to make but I've at least been brainstorming different approaches I can take moving forward.Sew-in
First, I'm seriously considering getting a sew-in. I've had a sew-in twice before. One of the last times my hair started breaking off (before going natural), my stylist at the time suggested I try it. The first time, I got a half sew-in. She braided parts of my hair while leaving other parts of my hair out to blend with the weave. This was a tough feat at the time because my hair was red, so finding hair to match wasn't easy. I must admit that my stylist did a very wonderful job though. I loved that sew-in and it was so natural. The second time I got a full sew-in. I didn't really like the full sew-in because it didn't look as natural as the half sew-in...and why would it?Why a sew-in?
I'm considering getting a full sew-in for two reasons:- My hair would be braided, covered, and protected allowing it the opportunity to grow. My hair would have the opportunity to grow enough so that hopefully I can get all my split ends completely cut off and not even miss the hair that needs to be cut. You guys know me by now so you know I'll miss any hair that's cut off but I'm hoping this will soften the blow a bit.
- I don't want to get a half sew-in because any hair that's left out will have to be constantly flat ironed. Having to constantly flat iron my hair could potentially damage the curl pattern of that hair. When you get sew-ins you have them for at least two to three months. You still have to wash the hair (and your hair) so that would be a lot of heat that would need to be applied. I already have one issue with split ends. I don't need another one.
Scalp Massages
Secondly, about six months ago, I wrote about Scalp Massages. I was supposed to be making a 30 day challenge out of it. Now that my hair is "damaged", I have a little more incentive behind doing everything I can to help it grow and be healthier. I want to re-encourage myself to do this and not necessarily as a challenge but as an ongoing process. Since the new year came in and my hair is straight, I've been brushing my hair for about 25 strokes a night (which is something my cosmetologist suggested a while back). I've been doing this with no trouble at all and it made me think; if I can do that, I can definitely get on this scalp massage train. I plan to start the massages as soon as I wash my hair, so until then I'm sticking with brushing.
NOVEMBER 2015 UPDATE:
A couple of decisions were made after writing this post. I finally decided upon a DC salon and the initial goal was to slowly trim my hair until all the split ends were gone. If you haven't figured this out on your own, a slow trim defeats the purpose! When that began to be unbearable, I made some more decisions about what to do with my damaged hair. I trimmed all the split ends off and got a full sew-in!
I never got into the scalp massages and I decided that brushing my hair so much wasn't too good for it as it was already shedding like crazy. I did protective styling for the winter of 2014 with two sew-ins. I made some mistakes but learned a lot about how to take care of my hair during protective styling like this.
It's been a very long journey from this post to now. I'm in a different and better place with my hair. I'm still trying out salons and I'm currently protective styling for 2015. Check out all I've learned about my natural hair! I'm sure there are some gems in there for you too!
What other natural or home remedies have you used to stimulate growth?? I'm all ears!
It's been a very long journey from this post to now. I'm in a different and better place with my hair. I'm still trying out salons and I'm currently protective styling for 2015. Check out all I've learned about my natural hair! I'm sure there are some gems in there for you too!
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Hello, I say get braids. I wouldn't do a sew in or even a half sew in. First make sure you cut off all the breakage.. then go get braided. Leave them in for 6-8 weeks, then if needed do it all over again. :) I truly believe in healthy lovey hair, and I hope this helps. Good Luck. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteI can't offer any advice of sew ins of any kind. But I do understand the quest for healthy natural hair. I did a year long challenge one time and the first thing I had to do was start with a healthy head of hair. That trim, which turned into more like a cut (ugh!), was the first step. Because I ended up with less hair than I felt was necessary and I was feeling some type of way about that, I opted for braided styles. Even with braids, you have to be careful though. I went to a professional stylists because I had a bad experience from someone who wasn't. The braids (actually twists) worked well for me. My hair grew, but I made sure that when I took them after I had my ends checked before getting another set. I'm not a fan of braids all the time, but I do think it's a viable option. Girl, I even broke down and got me a cute wig to help with protective styles that year. It can be addictive. I wish you well in whatever you decide.
ReplyDeleteAnd about the scalp massages. I haven't really done those, but when I was doing better by my hair and scalp needs, I used to do diy oil treatments. Check out Moptop Maven's blog when you get a chance. She no longer posts, but has great wealth of info.