Ratchetesque

close-up texture shots of a 6 day old braid-out w/ no product. just a little jojoba oil. needs to be detangled badly lol.

**for reference: i BC’d about 15 months ago. i have many “hair types”, but I treat it like what it mostly is, which is type 4. when stretched, it’s at the tip of my armpit. i can get it all into one ponytail w/ a puff about the size of a navel orange lol. i co-wash it once a week, shampoo once a month (I don’t use a lot of styling products at this stage), moisturize daily w/ water & seal w/ a lil jojoba or castor oil, and give myself a peppermint/castor/jojoba&neem oil scalp massage at least twice a week…i protective style w/ weaves 90% of the time, and plan to continue doing so until i hit about year 2. i’m just really afraid of it breaking off if i wear it out all the time…the weather is harsh here and my hair is super fragile. right now i’m just focused on keeping it healthy and strong. but other than that, i lurve my hurr.

these are pics of my hair with no product in it, no water, completely dry. im about to wash it, so i decided to snap a few pics so you could see it.

i chopped most of my hair off last December, but then I really chopped it all off late January of this year, like, all the way off. it was so short i couldn’t eve twist it lol. i knew that i would want to keep it protected so it can grow in healthy, so i basically co-wash it every 1 to 2 weeks, clarify whenever it feels like a lotta product is in it (usually once a month), deep condition once a month, seal and protect my ends. i spray water on it almost every day to keep it moisturized. i also spray it with aloe vera juice every once in a while.

i admittedly trimmed too much this year (super paranoid about split ends and single strand knots, i was cutting off a half inch every month SMFH) but i’ve chilled for the last 3 months or so lol. i realized that the few split ends and the few single strand knots i had weren’t hindering my growth process at all so i finally put the scissors down.

leaving my hair the fuck alone is what has allowed it to grow in. i dont manipulate it much at all because i wear protective styles almost every day. its strong, its healthy, it feels amazing, it smells like cookies, and its all mine. i’ll never put another relaxer in my hair ever again.

my curl pattern is all over the place, and while i don’t like to categorize it, it’s mostly 4a.