Things that you MAY NOT know about Natural Hair and your journey

First things first do not develop a case of "hair envy". While it's true that Youtube is one of the best sources for learning about your natural hair and how to take care of it, it can mess you up at the same time. You'll see so many natural journey videos and you'll see all these women and men with long or thick hair and yours may not be quite there at the moment. Its okay! Growing hair takes time so always be patient. And secondly not every one has the same hair type. For me I was always obsessed with a girl on there with this coily, but not tight, curl pattern and I got so frustrated because regardless of what I did with my hair I couldn't get it like hers. But over time I had to get it through my head that our curl pattern isn't the same. And just because my hair isn't all exotically curly its still good hair. So love YOUR hair.

Secondly sealing in moisture is very important BUT you have to make sure you're doing it right. I'm not going to lie I just now found out what I was doing wrong lol. First of all you can't seal what you don't have. What I mean by that is you can't seal in moisture on dry limp hair. The best way to do this is to wash your hair then apply a small amount of leave in conditioner to your hair (in sections) THEN seal in that moisture with a natural oil (I always use coconut because it's light). So seal it right.

Always beware of tugging and rubbing of your hair. Wear a scarf at night. Lots of people don't know this or believe it but your hair can be damaged and pulled as you sleep. Don't be stubborn just tie it up at night haha.

You really, really have to DRINK WATER. Healthy hair starts on the inside. So suck it up...literally.

Try not to wash your hair with shampoo. I know it might sound crazy but so many of the shampoos on the market just dry out your hair because of all the crazy things they have in them. Pick a great moisturizing conditioner and 'wash' with that instead. I've only found 2 shampoos that I might actually use that doesn't irritate my hair, the Kinky Curly shampoo and the dominican silicone shampoo (found it on roundbrushhair blog) .

Lastly don't wash your hair if you're not going to take the time to do what needs to be done afterward. That means be ready to detangle, moisturize, seal, and if you plan on doing a style for the next day like braidouts and twistouts.

Keep it simple and be patient.

Where have I been?

First off I temporarily croaked my writing career. I won't lie. Once I saw my first check of $95 I was like wow. This is some bullshit. I made the Amazon top seller's list for Urban fiction and all I made was $95. I wondered where in the hell did the money go? I know my book couldn't have sucked that bad. So....I quit my previous publishing company and altogether felt like I was done. I felt so defeated and backstabbed I couldn't even deal. Lots of shady things just had me in a completely different state of mind. So instead I just sat at home. Doing lots of nothing and mostly being pissed off at the world lol.

Months later/now, I'm writing D&K part 2. And going INNNNNN on my new fitness journey as well as my spiritual and just life in general. Its a slow uphill climb but eventually I will get there. This time lesson learned for sure. I felt so stuck for so long I just gave up on life pretty much. So with that being said and with a whole new mental state its game on! So check the blog often because there will be plenty of posts and updates. The next few months (hopefully) should be pretty productive and interesting.


~Mariposa Urbana