I shall not be defined by the opinions of others!
I can’t believe this has become apparent to me, at my age!  Wow life really is special and there is so much to learn. I had to pray for patience today because I found that this obsession with long hair has become a night mare.  I have been looking into different methods,  watching you tube constantly,  taking so much time to research about hair growth – which by the way is a natural occurrence in life. One of God’s many blessings!  I found that this obsession must be down to my lack of faith and God has a way of showing you when he is in control. 
Funny enough my hair is growing and has grown since my short cut back in June 2014. But some how it’s not good enough for me. I have to while away the time and I absolutely cannot stand the thought of waiting for my hair to start touching my back.  Hold on…wait a minute. Why?  Why do I want that so badly?  There has to be a reason! Aha! I know!  I need to prove a point. The point that my hair can actually grow long.  But does that mean I must spend countless hours researching about something that is a natural process of life? Does that mean I must feel ‘ugly’ with my current length and because of that I must have long flowing hair to feel beautiful?  How stupid can one person be? Why am I wasting my time trying to prove others wrong or worse, trying to mould in to their definition of beauty? It’s embarrassing the time we invest trying to please others, or even trying to prove a point. Because that is wasting too much of my valuable time. How can I look at people and wonder why my hair doesn’t do what there’s does?  I’m literally brain washed by the society’s perception of beauty. Not any more. I’ve chosen to break the shackles off my feet and hands and be free. Free to be me! To be the person God created me to be. And that means doing me without having to worry about the opinions of others, as that is exactly what it is, an opinion. I can’t live my life fully focusing on trying to get something right according to another person. Shame on me.
From now on, I will care for myself the way I see fit, not according to what this person or that person says.
I will have the patience to wait for my hair to reach new lengths, it’s not by measuring it every minute or watching other people’s progress, all I’m displaying there is doubt and fear.
I’m going to let God take control and allow me to shine like the star he made me. God made no mistakes with me, neither with you! If we were supposed to look the same, there will be no diversity. No colour, we will all simply be like drones…followers. But we’re not. We have many different shapes and sizes, many complexions, hair types, skin types, creativity and the list goes on. So the idea is..stop wasting time trying to ‘prove a point’. Have patience and faith and it will all be evident in due time.

This post is about my experience with the water only hair wash regimen I did.
So I reached 8 days of only washing my hair with water.  During doing this routine, I noticed the benefits by day 4. I rinsed my hair with water every morning in the shower and massaged my scalp daily to encourage my natural oils to come through. At day 4 my natural oils (sebum) had coated all of my strands from root to tip. From then on when I would wash, my hair felt as though it was protected and it felt moisturised at the same time. It definitely was amazing. When my hair would dry, it felt a little moisturised but didn’t exactly look the way I wanted it to. It seemed like it was lacking curl definition and this was due to the fact that not enough moisture was built inside the strands and it may have taken a while for this to happen. The reason why I stopped was because I began to have issues with having too much sebum. This caused me to have a white coating on my hair when it dried, which looked like I had poured powder on my hair. I did research to try to figure out what to do about it and it was either I use a natural homemade cleanser or I use a boar bristle brush to brush out the excess sebum. Firstly I felt that using a natural cleanser defeats the purpose of me doing a water only wash. If I was to do it, I’d rather go hard or go home! And in regards to the boar bristle brush,  I tried it, but it was too harsh on my fine strands and was causing the ends of my hair to break off. So this is what caused me to end this journey as I wasn’t sure when or if the situation was going to correct itself in the future and I wasn’t enjoying how my hair was looking.
Did I regret doing it?
No way! In fact I am so thankful I did it because it is as though I did a hair detox,  in fact that’s exactly what it was. My hair did an 8 day water only fast and it loves me for it! As soon as I cleansed my hair with my Dr bronner’s castile soap then deep conditioned with my kinky curly knot today conditioner, my hair was the softest I think it has ever felt. I then rinsed out and applied only shea butter to my hair before twisting and the next morning, my hair was amazingly soft, shiny and smooth. It’s been 3 days since I washed my hair and my hair has never felt better. It still feels buttery soft and moisturised and this is without adding any extra water or product. I definitely attribute the way my hair is now to the 8 days of water only washing I did. I think it gave me the chance to reset my hair and allow my natural oils to moisturise my hair from root to tip. I definitely believe that if anyone is having problems with dryness, brittle hair, breakage, hair not absorbing moisture and all other hair problems that you can think of, you should give water only washing a go. It not only helps to strengthen your hair from the inside by getting your natural oils to do the work for you. It allows you to start from a clean and natural palette. Your sebum simply creates a protective layer to your hair and it’s more ready to withstand manipulation. I’m telling you, I have never felt my hair feeling so soft in the many years that I’ve been natural.
Now if you were to attempt water only washing until you have reached full sebum coverage (this will be based on the length of your hair and how quickly you produce your own natural oils, you will know as when you are washing with water, the hair will eventually feel moisturised from root to tip. This could be anywhere from about 4 days – 3 weeks and it’s best to have two strand twists in for kinkier hair so that it’s easier for the sebum to travel down to the tips) it’s best to use a natural cleanser so as not to completely remove the sebum that was built on the hair. I used Dr bronner’s castile soap diluted and my hair was extremely soft.  You may want to use a homemade natural cleanser but I couldn’t make a suggestion since I haven’t tried anything else since doing the water only washing routine.
Let me know if you plan on trying it by leaving a comment.

Today I feel very proud of myself for sticking to this water only washing method and putting absolutely nothing on my hair except water. My hair now has total sebum coverage and feels extremely moisturised while I am rinsing it in the mornings.  I decided to put my hair in twists until I reached total sebum coverage but what I dislike is how messy my hair looks due to the constant massaging under water in the mornings, also it could be because of the colour of my hair but it has a dry appearance (my hair is like a dirty brown colour). I am hoping that in time my sebum will come in a little more and it will have a more moisturised and shiny look to it which alot of people mention happened to theirs. On the weekend I will be wearing a twist out and I’m keen on seeing the difference between maintenance while my hair is loose and while it is protected.  I’m sure it’s much easier while in twists but since my hair is moisturised then it shouldn’t be too hard to detangle in the shower.
I am aware that quite frequent rinsing is needed to maintain water only washing as rinsing is what helps to distribute the natural oils down the hair shaft but I will definitely be working towards less frequent washing in time as I do not want to manipulate my hair too much and cause any damage. I will be working towards rinsing twice or three times a week eventually but I will go by how my hair is responding.
I have read quite a lot of people mentioning using substitute oils and butters to add to the ends of their hair but I don’t think I would like to do this as to me, although it is natural, it leads to build up and this is why I feel alot of people mention having to clarify with some sort of natural product. I will see how I go with water washing only for as long as I can but I will surely update on my experience.
The problems I can see ahead are that I will miss adding product to my hair (but then again I won’t miss spending money on it!) I will also miss browsing through aisles to see what the next product craze is. Another thing I know I will do is look at other youtubers for example and notice all the products they add on their hair and possibly feel like I’m missing out 🙁 but one thing I need to remember is this is my hair journey and if what I am doing is working for me, who cares what others are doing. My goal is too reach armpit length by the end of the year and although it seems like I’m a long way from that goal, it’s not impossible and I might just post some pictures of my achievement. ..watch this space!

Of late I have been switching up my regimen quite frequently.  After I cut my hair I was doing the same routine of washing my hair once a week with shampoo and conditioner then moisturising and sealing before twisting in medium sections ready for a twist out. This was working ok for me but it was just that…Ok. I always had issues with dryness by day 2 or 3 and my hair will not be manageable or flexible at all. It might have felt very dry and stayed in the same position I left it in or feel really oily and still stay in the same position. It also looked very limp when left out which meant after the initial day 1 hair the rest of the days were ok or left in a protective style until wash day.
I decided to do some research shortly after my hair cut and 3 months later I decided to begin doing the curly girl method. This did not work for me and whilst on that journey I discovered that I had low porosity hair! This explained the problems I was having with moisture.  My hair was not receiving enough moisture  and this is why it was always stiff and dry and products will simply sit on my hair which is why it felt oily. A short while later, I discovered the max hydration method.  This was designed for low porosity hair and the idea was to gently open up the hairs cuticles so that it was ready for moisture absorption then closing them again. This appeared to be working well for me and I had good curl definition to prove it but the issue was the amount of manipulation on my fine strands. This method required alot of time and very frequent hands on manipulation for up keep.  Not long after I started noticing very bad ends (and this is after a short hair cut!) I had knots, feathered splitting on my ends and even mid shaft hair splitting which was quite depressing considering the amount of time and effort that was put into my hair.
I decided that enough was enough and I wasn’t going to go by all of the things we are not supposed to do to our hair. I was going to do what I thought was best for my hair. So I decided that I will try Dr bronner’s castile soap to wash my hair, after all it is a natural soap with a higher PH than my hair therefore it will encourage my cuticles to raise then the water will moisturise the hair before I close my cuticles with an ACV and water mix. I would then define my curls with a gel skipping conditioner.  After doing this a few times, I noticed that it had the same effect as doing the MHM as in my curls were defined but when my hair was dry it was very dry. In other words my hair couldn’t cope without the product giving it a moistened feel.
I always knew there was such thing as water washing but have never thought to give it a try until now. I wanted to know how people who washed with only water had moisturised hair. Did they apply a certain product after water washing? What were the secrets? So I decided to do my research. ..

The water only washing method:
So the method is exactly what it says. You wash your hair with water. No shampoo, no conditioner and no additional products (apart from natural oils or butters while waiting to get total sebum coverage and that is optional).
So we all know that we all produce our own natural oil from our sebaceous glands in our scalp. These oils are known as sebum and they moisturise our scalp and hair. People who have naturally straight hair notice the oils more than those with kinky hair as those with straight hair produce it quite rapidly and it is easier to travel down straight strands making it more noticeable after about 2 days of not washing straight hair. Those with kinky/ curly hair do not tend to notice these oils as our hair is naturally quite dry and because of all the kinks and waves, it takes a while for the oil to travel down our strands.
With water only washing the purpose is for the oils that we produce naturally to wash and condition our hair. That’s it. No other products are needed. With massaging you can encourage the oils to come through and with scritching (a light scratching of the scalp with the pads of the fingers) the oil can be gently cleaned to make way for the new growing hairs and lastly preening which is using your fingers or a brush to smooth the oils from the roots to the ends of the hair ensuring that each strand has the natural moisturising agent, sebum, from root to tip.
The amount of times that the hair is washed with water varies from individual to individual based on their hair type and level of sebum coverage on the hair. Those with straighter hair that is more prone to being oily will work towards washing less frequently once the oils being produced become balanced. Those with kinkier types are advised to wash more regularly especially at the beginning so that the oils can be produced more rapidly with the massaging and the use of warm water to distribute the oils.

Getting started:

As I have kinky hair, my hair is naturally dry and through all of the processes I have done,  my natural moisture has been completely stripped. Therefore, for the next few weeks I will have to battle dryness while my natural oils begin coming through.
I have decided to twist my hair in small to medium twists and leave them in while my hair gets used to not getting any additional product and produces it’s own oil.
I will be massaging my scalp daily and water washing daily until I have full sebum coverage, which I am hoping will take no more than 3 weeks.
I am choosing not to use any additional oils or butters for moisture as I genuinely can’t wait to see my own oils do the conditioning for me and I don’t want to feel cheated by using substitutes. 
I will keep my twists pinned up so even if the ends are dry,  it wouldn’t be manipulated and hopefully this will result in no breakage.
I will be brushing my hair with a soft bristle brush from root to tip to encourage my sebum to be moved along the hair shaft to the tips
After I have full coverage I will experiment with styles.
Some people have said it is necessary to clarify every once in a while to get rid of sebum build up which apparently is very sticky and waxy and also has a grayish appearance on kinky hair when it is overloaded.  I will see how my hair reacts and note whether I will need to clarify after I have brushed my hair to remove excess. If I can I will stick to just water and nothing else to clarify but if need be I will try oil cleansing as my next resort.
So far I am on day 2 of water only washing and my hair is dry, which is expected. It feels quite moisturised while i rinse my hair and while wet but completely stripped of product once dry. I am excited to see how this will work for me. I have every belief that it will as this is as natural as you can get and I know God created me without additional products to put on my hair, yes he created natural oils and butters too but he also made me to be so beautiful that I can produce my own hair conditioning oils! Why not use what God gave me. I am already experimenting with water only face washing and body washing and who knows, there may not be a need for oiling my skin afterwards as my skin will produce it’s own oils eventually. Okay maybe I won’t go that far lol. But I really can’t wait to update. Yes I will be going through some weeks and possibly months of dry hair days but I’m hoping that the patience will be well worth it.
There is plenty of information online about water only hair washing and if you are willing to give it a try.  Have a look and take the plunge. There’s no harm in trying right?

My ultimate goal: Waist length hair (stretched) = 22 inches of hair.

Time to achieve my goal: 6 years so by November 2020 (wow seems like a long way away! AAAHHH!)

How will I achieve my goal:

1. Showing my hair some TLC

2. Moisturising my hair at least 3 x a week (or when needed)

3. Putting my hair in protective styles (every now and again whilst not forgetting to keep it moisturised!)

4. Keeping my ends damage free by trimming them about once every 3 months (professionally)

5. Not too much manipulation (hands should be kept out of hair as much as possible)

6. Loving each growth stage of my hair journey (yes, even the awkward growing out stage from the tapered natural hair cut style I did!)

7. Drinking lots of water!

8. Eating as healthy as possible – green smoothies, juicing, hearty healthy meals 🙂

9. Exercising regularly

10. Washing and conditioning my hair (using huetiful hair steamer when my hair is out) at least 1x per week

And finally…11. Not worrying about the stage that another natural has got to and their regimen, but focusing on mine!! 🙂

But first my short-term goals:

In order to achieve my goal, I want to work in shorter term goals and hopefully I will reach them, which will keep me motivated to carry on. So I believe my hair grows at the slower rate of 1/4″ a month, which is annoying but it doesn’t mean I can’t achieve my goal, it’s just that it will take just that bit longer. No problem, this is why I have set myself 6 years instead of 4. So…

Goal 1: Neck length by November 2015

Goal 2: Collar bone length by November 2016

Goal 3: Full shoulder length by November 2017

Goal 4: Armpit length by November 2018

Goal 5: Bra strap length by November 2019 (hopefully before, but let me not get ahead of myself lol)

Goal 6: Waist length by November 2020!!!!! (Oh my goodness, if I get here, or should I say when I get here *trying to be more positive* I will be soooooooooooooooooo overjoyed!