It has been interesting since I declared war on my tedious natural hair regimen. I feel a bit like I did when I went natural for the first time almost 10 years ago—I have no idea what to do with my hair.Strangely enough, I’m a little excited about this. Sometimes, when you do something the same way for a long time, you forget that there are other ways to do it. At this point in my hair journey—bra-strap length but seeking a way to continue to grow it without a time consuming regimen—I am open to anything. No method will be dismissed and no assumption will go unchallenged. I am going back to the drawing board to find what will work for me.

Back to Basics

As I was online searching for different methods I could try for my new natural hair regimen, I was really astounded by the sheer number of methods that are out there! Whether it be the Crown & Glory method or the Protective Styling Method or the Low Maintenance Method or the Bunning Method or the Baggie Method, we natural girls are inventive! Apparently there are 1001 ways to maintain and grow your hair. The trick, however, is finding that right one that works for you.(Random aside: Remember Wanakee and the Wanakee Method? Wanakee was the first black hair guru I ever came across when I was first going natural back in 2004.

If you remember Wanakee, then you truly have truly been in the black hair care community for a while, lol. Just thought I’d throw in that little throwback. Back to the discussion…)To keep it simple (that is what this is all about, no?) I’ve decided to study up on the two of the most common methods in the natural hair community—the Curly Girl (CG) Method, pioneered by Lorraine Massey, and the Tightly Curly Method, championed by Teri LaFlesh.

I’ve known the basic tenets of both of these methods for a while, but I’ve never taken the time to read either book and learn the methods from the source. Also, I’ve never done either method consistently, so I figure comparing these two will be a good starting point. I’ve just started reading the books, so I will let you know of my progress with both.

Experiences So Far

Though its only been a few weeks since the start of this little experiment, I’ve been deliberately trying techniques that I had previously written off to see how my hair fared.The first thing I tried was washing my hair loose without putting it in to sections first. Blasphemy, I know. The interesting this was…nothing happened. My hair didn’t knot up and die. It did okay actually. I realized that shampooing is not really the issue in terms of tangling because (1) I concentrate solely on my scalp and (2) I don’t detangle my hair during the cleansing part of my regimen anyway. If I were to continue the practice of working with my hair in sections, I would only need to do it during the conditioning part, which leads me to the other thing I tried…

Finger detangling! Now this is a method I seriously refused to do because I figured it was overkill and would take to long. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. After shampooing my hair completely loose, I saturated my hair with conditioner and gently finger detangled it into about 8 random sections.

Detangling didn’t take me that long at all, maybe 15 minutes. The trick I think, is not to obsess about detangling every single strand, as if your hair were straight. I just did what I could with my fingers, then let it be. Once I went to actually style my hair, my wide tooth comb glided right through. I couldn’t believe it, finger detangling actually did a pretty good job!

Things I’m Still Considering

So the above is as far as I’ve gotten. I will continue to try new things with my hair as I read the Curly Girl and Tightly Curly books. However, the following are random questions that I’m still looking to answer:

• Do I want to continue using store-bought products or should I try homemade hair products?
• What is a good conditioner that will do tripple duty as a cowash, detangler, and a leave-in?
• Should I incorporate flaxseed gel into my regimen?
• What is a good hair butter blend that will provide moisture and definition without making my hair greasy?
• What is a good scalp spray/oil to keep my scalp from getting profusely itchy in between washings?
• And finally, the age old question: should I commit to continuous protective styling or no?

So this is where I’m at on my search. Where are you in your natural hair journey? Are you testing out new methods/techniques/products as well? Share in the comments.I am also looking to feature Natural women who have met their length retention hair goals on a simple, time efficient regimen. If that’s you and and you want to be featured, contact me directly by ending me a message on facebook or by emailing me here.