It’s Time to Change Your Belief About Natural Hair Shrinkage
Sis, what if I told you your natural hair shrinkage is a good thing?
Yes, even you 4c seventy-five percenters…
From the hair wrapping to the hair regimenting to the healthy diet, it’s easy to see shrinkage as just another way your natural 4c hair is stopping you from being great.
Like, Tracee Eliss Ross great.
Believe it or not, your hair growth and health are not being masked by shrinkage but instead, are a direct result of it.
Let’s nerd out a bit shall we?
Hair texture describes the circumference of your strands and there are three main natural textures: wavy, curly, and coily hair.
In the natural hair world, we refer to these textures as:
Type 2 (Wavy)
Type 3 (Curly)
Type 4 (Coily)
How curly or coily your hair depends on the shape of the follicle, which is like the entry (or exit) point on your head. Straight-haired follicles tend to be more vertical while Type 3 and type 4 have a wider, more oval shape.
As it spirals up and out so our curls are born and the layer that we see from the outside is called the cuticle. The texture of this cuticle is what makes natural hair so unique!
Type 4’s ability to coil, spring, and stretch is literally the only hair type that can be styled in so many ways.
Most Naturalistas know that last part already but this logic seems to go out the window when it comes to talking about their own natural hair shrinkage and styling woes.
And it’s easy to do! Whether we want to admit it or not #teamnatural has turned mainstream and most Afros we see in the media are in fact stretched (or wigs!) and all the curls seem to flow like water.
Enough with the comparison. Your curls and coils are unique only to you — like your fingerprint and DNA.
Someone else’s hair miracle can be your demise so please, trust your very own process and embrace the reality that health wins over length every time.
Top 4 Reasons Natural Hair Shrinkage is Good For You
Use it as a tool
Feeling connected to your hair and noticing when it shrinks more or less is the best way to know exactly what your hair needs for every season or life change.
Hair textures with a high shrinkage percentage can usually take advantage of this tool the best as their hair can fluctuate the most.
It is the most accurate detection of moisture retention there is.
It means you have fabulous Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability for a hair strand to be stretched and returned back to its natural state quickly aka that good good bounce back!
Having high elasticity hair is a major plus because it indicates that your hair is in a healthy state and has an optimal balance of protein and moisture.
It means your hair is absorbing moisture well
Hair lacking moisture can be limp, break easily, and tangle even quicker.
When your hair has maximum shrinkage it usually means that it is fully saturated, sort of like a sponge.
You can usually heat style with less worry
Heat damage is one of the most common problems of curly textures. While not all heat is bad, the more you do it the more of a toll it takes on your hair cuticles and is honestly one of the hardest hair damages to bounce back from.
When you have a high shrinkage rate, because the hair is so elastic, it usually doesn’t take much for it to return to its natural state after heat is applied.
For example, any rainy day or workout sesh…
With all the benefits of natural hair shrinkage, there is simply no denying the tendency for the hair to tangle. The coils are in such close contact that it is easy for them to wrap around each other causing knots and snags.
Having a good moisturizer is essential so that the coils can “slip” between each other and not get caught.
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