The Secret to Having Long Hair...for Black Girls

"Babe, Afro hair doesn't grow like ours does. That's why they have short hair and wear fake hair. That's right isn't it?" The enlightened blonde explained to her silly boyfriend and then turns to me to back her up.

"Ummmm, no I don't think that's right", I tried to explain, but I admit, I was confused. Why wasn't my hair as long as hers? Since my hair had been relaxed, the longest it had been was bra strap length (before the 'Rachel haircut' episode. Please, I don't wanna talk about it), but I had been rocking a long bob for about 7 years at that point. Regular trimming/haircuts always resulted in my hair seeming to constantly stay the same length.

Since growing out my relaxed hair and cutting off the straight ends, I realised that the problem had been the chemicals in the relaxer. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The fact that I often had a burned scalp after having my curly roots relaxed combined with the fact that every day I would shake whole strands of hair out of my head when I woke up, probably did not bode well for my attempts to grow my hair long. Now, chemical free, the edges of my hair which were the most prone to breaking, are the longest they've been in years and my hair feels healthy and strong. Now's it's just a matter of time before I achieve the hair length I enjoyed as a child, BR (Before Relaxer).

Recently, my trusty YouTube suggestions guide introduced me to the video blogger Franchesca Ramsey (aka @ChescaLeigh aka the Creator of Shit White Girls Say...to Black Girls) and a product she and a few other people were advertising to those waiting and willing their hair to grow.

           

Patience.

Sometimes you just need reminding.

Karla