Going Old School With My Hair

I really hate that I had to cut my locs off a few years ago. I loved them so much, but hormonal changes after I had Kell really wreaked havoc with them and they became so fragile they began to break. I went natural back in 1998 and locced in 2005, well before the “natural hair revolution.” Back in the day there were really no good products available and many of us became “kitchen beauticians” as we devised our own hair care products based primarily on what we learned on various hair boards. I developed a very basic routine for my hair which I wore in two-strand twists almost all the time. I washed with Dr. Bronner’s, did an ACV rinse, then applied a home made shea butter, coconut oil, rosemary and sage blend. The only other product I used was Aveda Humectant because it gave my hair a nice sheen and I loved the scent. When I was locced I didn’t use any product at all. Just a weekly wash with highly diluted Dr. Bronner’s. This time around I was very excited about all the new products available for natural hair, and became a bit of a product junkie. And much to my surprise, I have found that I don’t like any of them. They leave my hair hard and dry. The shampoos in particular, were especially awful. They left my hair feeling stripped and fragile. My hair has been many things, but it’s never been hard and brittle, even when I was relaxed. So, yeah, you guessed it, it’s back to the tried and true. I blended up a batch of my shea butter blend and used it on my hair after washing. My hair was like, “Gurl, where the hell you been?” It so soft and moisturized I just can’t stand it. I was really worried because I was starting to think maybe it was a hormonal thing. But no, my hair just likes old school.