Thursday, March 10, 2011

Length Retention or a facade?

Facade: a superficial appearance or illusion of something: They managed somehow to maintain a facade of wealth.(1)


They are so many "gurus" out there in the natural hair world and it can be easy to get swept up into the mesmerizing curls/kinks of the bloggers and vloggers of the natural hair world. During my first year reading the blogs, natural hair forums, and watching YouTube videos I found myself drowning in information. However, there was one thing in particular that contributed to a setback in the very beginning of my journey.


Most of us have that person (or persons) that we consider hair idols because they have reached that goal that we have in mind. So in the beginning of my journey I had my eyes set on the hair of an individual that appeared to have the hair care game down to a T. In actuality, that person's hair care practices dramatically impacted length retention and hair health. It took me a whole year of watching and following this person to realize that my hair did not appear to be getting longer and their hair also stayed at the same length. 


The first thing I did was ask this individual if they were cutting their hair to stay that length. No response to that question - or to any others that asked about cutting/trimming. After I started putting together my own regimen and techniques (learned from trial and error) I finally started getting the results I desired. To this day this individual is still very close to still being at the same length - it has been 3 yrs. Now, there is a chance that some hair cuts have occurred over this time period, I stopped watching. I am not assuming to know everything about this person's hair care practices. (I will not name this individual).


One of my favorite quotes is "you can't make all the mistakes yourself, so learn from someone else's." I am not sharing this to bash - but in hopes that it helps someone avoid the same setback I encountered.


When searching for a regimen that will work for you:
1. Examine the progress of the person raving about the regimen
2. Ask questions - if they go unanswered or don't sound quite right, think about your next move carefully.
3. Are all the comparison pics a fair comparison (pose, photoshop, same section measured, etc)?
4. Is this person paid to plug products or services?
5. Are hair care methods and alternative thoroughly explained and supported?


MANY individuals are using their precious time to offer help to others on their healthy hair journey - while some see this as an opportunity to cash in .  I started blogging for friends and people in my social circle that had questions. I couldn't keep so I had to put all the info in one place - I do this for the sole purpose of helping others. (I wish it could be my full-time job, lol).


1. Dictionary.com

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