Embrace The Shrinkage

Okay, so we all knew that going natural was the best thing for us.  We knew that we would have this great head of chemical free hair.  However, if you've been natural for a while, in retrospect, you knew that there was a lot you didn't know.  Like how important moisture would be to our hair (especially since we stayed clear of any liquids with our relaxed hair).  We didn't know about twist outs, or braid outs, that gel could actually be used to style and not just slick, and we also did not know about (or at least think about)...shrinkage.  Love it or hate it, embracing it is part of the natural journey.  You have to know that natural hair shrinks.  It gives a false impression of the length of our hair and for some, that is a hard pill to swallow.  My question is: Why should it be?  You've come this far.  You've took on the mental, emotional, and sometimes even spiritual challenge of loving yourself for who you are by returning your hair to it's natural state; you've accepted the hair on your head; now chemical free. So why look at shrinkage, (or any other characteristic of your hair) as a negative.  Embrace your shrinkage.  Love that your hair draws up when wet.  There are so many ways that you can combat shrinkage if you want to that it shouldn't be a second thought.  You can do the styles I mentioned before (twist outs and braid outs).  You can naturally color your hair with henna, which often loosens your curl pattern, which in turn gives length.  You can style your hair in puffs and updos to show off it's length, and yes, you can even straighten it.  However, for those days when you just want to wash and go, embrace that head of hair that no longer hangs and is elongated.  Love that it's out of the way, and enjoy the no muss no fuss hairstyle.  At the end of the day, you have a ton of options with natural hair, you don't have to live with shrinkage, however, there's nothing like coupling confidence with a cute curly fro that you know is chemical free and healthy, even if it does show 75% of your true length (you know you've given your shrinkage a percentage..LOL).  Bottom line, having a healthy mane is what is most important.  Everything else, is just that-everything else.

Please visit the website below for information on upcoming events and information for Return of the Curls:

http://www.returnofthecurls.com/