My biggest hair challenges

No one said the natural hair journey was an easy one. Posting on Instagram with hair related content daily, it may be easy to think that i have a handle on things and have a good hair day everyday. This could not be further from the truth. 

I love my natural hair, but that doesn't mean i don't have days when i want to cut the whole thing off and start again. I suffer from the same issues that so many natural hair girls do. 

Dryness at the crown
The fights i have with this section of my hair some days! I get a lot of DMs from people who have this issue. I look at the pictures sent and i can 100% relate. So many days it looks like i am having a good hair day, until i grab a mirror and look at the back of my hair. 

The problem with this section, is that it is a complete different hair texture to the rest of my hair. I have multi textured hair. Underneath, it isn't uncommon to find tiny little ringlets, then the front is a lot looser, and that top crown section, is difficult to get a curl going. This section is a lot more porous and so it is difficult to retain moisture compared to other parts of my hair.  

The key to this, is to treat each bit differently. Where i apply all my products starting from the ends and working my way up, i have to give this top section extra care. 

The best way to do this is with water. This is the section that gets the most wet when restyling, as it is the quickest part to dry. Here i will make sure to apply product higher up that other places and a lot more product than i do the rest of my hair. I apply product with my hair in two sections, then when i put it back out of these sections, i then repeat the process just to this back section, often styling upwards. 

Some days it doesn't co-operate, and i give into the frizz, other days i manage to get enough moisture for it to behave. 

Another tip you can do to this section, is to finger coil. Wrap sections of the hair around a finger to help curls to form.

Lack of creativity

Some times, watching Influencers on Instagram and Youtube, i feel like i am the only natural haired girl who can not french braid or flat twist. 

I have stopped watching styling tutorials soon as i see this, because i just can not get a handle on how to do it. 

I am more of a space buns or wash and go girl. I wish i was able to do all of these funky styles that people do, but i just cant. 

Indecisive colour
If you follow my Instagram, you'll notice how my hair is never the same colour. I loved being blonde, i intend to 100% return to it. However, as soon as the weather gets duller and darker, i feel the need to change it again. 

I went from being bright blonde, to getting darker highlights and eventually it was more of a light brown with blonde highlights then actual blonde. Then i went back to blonde, back to brown, and then to a rose gold colour. The colour i have right now is a faded version of all of the above. 

With the ever changing colours of my hair, i have to of course be careful with damage. I always make sure to allow my roots to grow out a good few inches before i will do anything. 
This way i am not apply too much bleach to the hair, just the new regrowth, which helps minimise damage. I of course always step up the deep conditioning routine each time also. Read more on healthy coloured hair with top tips from other blonde curly girls here and my blonde journey here. 

Length stress
I get so many compliments on the length of my hair, yet when i look in the mirror, i don't see it. 

I say this all the time, but shrinkage! Some products make my hair shrink more, and i look in the mirror, compare it to other days and other products, and wonder where all my hair has gone. 

My hair shrinks so much! Don't let it get you down. Pull a few strands down straight and you will be amazed. 

Read more on shrinkage here. 

The other hair hang up i have with length, is that because of the different textures, it appears to grow at different lengths as well. My hair can look like it has layers one day, and look uneven and weird another. A tip to combat this, is to stretch those tighter curls underneath a little. I flip my head upside down, and either use a pick to pull them from the roots (which also gives volume) or pull these downwards more. These are the curls which have the most shrinkage and are the ringlets. 

Bad hair days
Do not think that this is just you. EVERYONE has bad hair days, they just don't always make it onto the pages of Instagram. 

I have had days I've tried to tame the beast and then wanted to cut it all off. Sometimes i look at my hair and give up, leave it a while and calm down, and then realise it's not that bad. If all else fails, space buns look super cute! 

I have lost count of how many days i have sat in front of the mirror, my hair wild and scrolled through Instagram for inspiration. Then I've felt rubbish that my hair didn't look like everyone else's. It's normal. 

Top tips on your journey

We all have bad hair days, we all have our hair hang ups, and no ones hair is perfect despite what the internet may have you believe.

Everyone's hair is different. If your hair doesn't react the same way to things as others, it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with your hair. You just need to learn your hairs need, experiment, and learn from mistakes. 

Take photos of every good hair day, write down the routine you used, what products, what method. Do the same for bad days. Then you can compare and work out what you should be doing. 

This is the best advice i can give to anyone beginning their journey. Document the whole process and don't be disheartened. No one can tell you what you should do to your hair, we can only advise you, and sometimes, we can be wrong because we don't know your hair! 

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