Starting Over
Sometimes it’s good to do a big chop. Start over with the knowledge you have, rather than spend so much on repairs.
Luckily, a lot of people on my timeline decided to start over, so this is timely.
There is this common thinking that once you are on a low cut, you don’t need to take care of it.
People assume that once you cut your hair, you abandon it till it’s long again.
Some people even return to using bathing soap to wash their hair because it is short.
I mean, this is why a lot of guys still use bathing soap to wash their hair (which is wrong).
I remember when I cut the colored parts of my hair in 2020. Someone told me to dash my products to her since I won't be using them.
I was shocked that in 2020, someone still thought like that. But then I realized a lot of people think like that.
That they don’t need products since they will be keeping low cut.
That they should wait until their hair is long before they start using products.
Unfortunately, this is not true.
Here is why
Why you should Take Care Of your Short Hair
When your hair gets longer, the short hair on your scalp now will then become the ends of your hair.
The ends are the parts you hold and drag down during your length checks.
And breakage usually happens at the ends of your hair.
Now, if you didn't take care of your hair when it was short, your ends will break because they are not healthy.
You will not retain length and your starting over will be useless.
Illustration
Refusing to take care of your short hair is like refusing to feed a baby and waiting for the baby to become an adult.
You know that will not happen because the baby will die.
The same goes for your hair. Your hair will start breaking before it even gets the chance to get longer.
However, if you take care of your short hair you will get the following:
- Healthy hair
- You will not struggle to get longer hair because your ends are healthy.
- You will not struggle with scanty hair because your hair is not breaking.
- You can even permanently color your short hair because it's healthy.
- Any hair issue you are dealing with before will not resurface if you start taking care of your short hair.
How do you take care of short hair?
You'll start by creating a wash day routine and an after-wash day routine for your short hair.
- Wash Days are the days you set aside on your calendar to wash your hair and scalp. You can do it weekly or biweekly.
- After wash day: This revolves around the things you’ll do after wash day. These activities depend on the length of your hair.
NOTE: Throughout this post, you will see underlined texts. These texts are underlined because they lead to a post explaining the subject more.
E,g shampoo explains what shampoo is, types of shampoo and how to shampoo properly.
A. This is what a wash day for a person with skin cut should look like
- Pour a small quantity of shampoo on your hands, rub your hands together then put it on your scalp.
- Use your finger pads or scalp massager to massage in a circular motion. Then rinse off with water.
- Spray a liquid leave in on the scalp
- Then Oil the scalp and massage
This should be done once a week.
- After wash day (i.e on the days of the week) do your scalp massages with your oil until the next wash day.
Things are still very simple at this stage. No stress.
B. Wash day regimen for this type of short hair
Follow this order to wash your hair.
- Detangle: Sectioning is not possible with this length, so do the following. Spray water first. Apply your leave in conditioner and massage in. Lastly, use a wide tooth or a wide tooth tail comb to comb.
- Shampoo
- Instant Condition: The hair is almost on the scalp, so do not use a lot of it. Squeeze the conditioner into your palm and apply it to the tips or ends of the hair. Try not to put it on the scalp.
- Moisturize: Preferably use a liquid leave in (mist). However, you can still use a leave-in cream.
How often you’ll wash depends on the quantity of products, you use on your hair. e.g if you use your leave-in conditioner daily, you will wash weekly.
If you use it sparingly, you can wash your hair biweekly or even once a month.
- After wash day routine
- Moisturize: Spray water on the hair daily or twice a week, once a week, or do not. Whichever you are comfortable with. (Do not mix your oils, leave-in conditioner, and water in a spray bottle. Here is why)
- Combing: Sectioning is not possible with this length, so do the following. Spray water first. Then apply your leave-in conditioner. Massage in. Then Use a wide tooth or a wide tooth tail comb to comb.
- Do your scalp massages
- Use a satin/silk: bonnet or scarf or pillowcase to sleep. Short hair is bound to get a lot of knots depending on how coily your hair is. Use a satin or silk material to keep it at bay.
- Styling: For this length, you cannot put it in a protective style yet.
Please do not force this length into braids, twists, etc. The process will be painful and your hair will break.
You might even lose your edges in the process.
C. Wash day regimen for this type of short hair
- Detangle
- Shampoo
- Deep condition
- Moisturize
- Style: Do not leave your hair in an afro. You can do short-term styles or long-term styles.
You can wash weekly or biweekly or once a month. Just fix something that you can work with.
- After wash day routine
- Moisturize: Spray water on the hair daily or twice a week or once a week or not. Whichever you are comfortable with. When my hair was that length, I did not moisturize it until my next wash day (I have an itchy scalp).
- Combing: Do not comb daily. your hair should be in a style. However if you must comb, here is a detailed guide on how to comb.
- Do your scalp massages
- Use a satin/silk: bonnet or scarf or pillowcase to sleep.
- Styling: For this length, you can do braids, twists, etc. with or without extensions. Click on the link to find out how to do styles that won’t damage your hair.
D. For a person not interested in longer hair but still want to keep a considerable length and properly desires full soft hair,
this is what your wash day should look like
- After wash day routine
- Combing: Spray water first. Then apply your leave-in conditioner. Massage in. Then Use a wide tooth or a wide tooth tail comb to comb (depending on the length).
- Do your scalp massages
- Use a satin/silk: bonnet or scarf or pillowcase to sleep.
- Styling: You can do twists, braids, and cornrows if you don’t want to comb daily.
If you read till this point, it means you enjoyed it.
Please leave 50 claps for gratitude and comment on the new knowledge you gained.
What Next
One of the troubling issues that come with short hair is knots, knots, and more knots.
If you click on the follow and subscribe button now, you’ll be the first to know once the post is up.
