I was a former mental gymnastica 😔. I always knew deep down I was ashamed, didn’t think my hair was enough, etc. But I used the same typical excuses like “My hair grows when it’s left alone” “It’s healthier for me to not wash/rarely touch it” and the defensive “My hair is actually long/longer under this wig” and a little voice would always be like “then why don’t you wear it out? if your hair is so healthy and long why have you literally worn a wig over it for an entire year. but you ‘love’ your hair. suuuree.” I moved to “protective styles” that show my scalp lol but quickly learned I am not immune to traction alopecia 🤣 “Protective styles” can just be another way to neglect your hair by keeping them in too long because you don’t want to deal with it. I’m on to really nice clip ins that match my hair type and I just wear it down. Every other week I ditch one row of clip ins and let more of my hair show. It's a journey for sure but channels like yours help a lot 🤍🤍🤍 Oh! I also make sure to compliment other highly textured baddies hair a lot more in person. We're in this together and nothing feels better than another girlie complimenting your hair

Something I think that gets overlooked when it comes to braids, cornrows, etc, is that they aren't supposed to be tight. When my mom cornrowed my hair as a child, with no extensions, she told us to tell her if any of the cornrows were too tight, if they were, she would redo them. I have a very sensitive scalp, so I would let her know. My mom knew how to make your hair look "snatched" without actually snatching it. I'm grateful that my mom taught me to speak up if my braid even begins to feel too tight. With that being said, hearing the horror stories of BW not only experiencing tight braids, but expecting it as part of the braiding process, is absolutely horrific to me. I remember braiding a family members hair, cornrows to be specific, and she was getting frustrated because she felt I wasn't gripping her hair tight enough. I ignored her😂 After I finished her hair, she looked at her cornrows surprised that they looked good, because they felt light/loose to her. I simply stated, "It's not suppose to hurt"🙃

Not the struggle bus going to clown town 😭😂😂 your content is so top tier and real

When I used to get braids ages ago (back when my hairstylists were people I knew that weren't professionals like my sisters best friend or a girl at my university) my hair always thrived in braids. I never blow dried my hair to get braids. I'd just wash it, detangle it, add a leave in and hair serum. They'd braid my hair damp since it didn't completely air dry but it wasn't soaking wet or anything and my hair would never be dried out when it came time to remove them. I don't have access to either of those people now because I moved to South Korea. The few times I did get braids here, it wasn't a pleasant experience. They are African braiders however they care about the end result and it being "easy" for them (easy in quotation marks because there's nothing difficult about my hair. they just don't know how to handle type 4 natural hair which is sad tbh) and so my hair gets ate up in the process. I didn't know that the braiding hair itself had endocrine disruptors though and I'll be looking more into that later.

mental gymnastica 🤣

I’m about to be done with ALL of it

I live for your longform content! The struggle bus graphic is hilarious but too true

I wanna hear about lace fronts

Always had braids as a little girl, never super tight. It is scary how some styles cause so much damage.

Asking my trichologists what protective styles and masking styles for hair loss they suggest. Them: TWA, buzzcut, hair fibres, scarf. Yup that's it. They've seen decades of damage from black hairstylists. Since seeing them in 2019...I haven't had my hair braided by anyone but me. I went once to a black stylist who gave me heat damage for my straight trim when my regular stylist had to travel for a family funeral. Yeah, we all agree that it's only going to be my regular stylist at the white salon and me who does heat, colour or extensions to my hair. I'm 42 and 3 quarters and I'm trying to keep most of my hair on my perimenopausal head!! If anything I'll let my black barbers give me a bald tapered sides Fro-hawk again.

The bus is killing me 😂😂😂😂

I have a protective style in rn but it’s my natural hair with no extensions and I’m very proud of myself🥰

I feel that most braid hair products are too coarse and will damage the actual hair structure ie on top of how they irritate the scalp or cause alopecia.

Your delivery isnt cold. Its direct which is what we need. I didn’t know this so thanks for the info.

11:35 got me 😂

If I'm being honest, yes type 4 natural hair is the most difficult texture to maintain. It doesnt fall the same, the structure isnt the same, the science of it isnt the same. Its literally like a cotton ball.

Next up, Wiggiana!

Hair extensions wigs and braid extensions have literally been used in Africa in certain areas. Demonizing it as if it's wrong innately is silly. Yes, Africans used plant fibers, human hair, thread etc but fake hair is not "Wrong" but the way people manufacturer it is.