This week we’ll tackle common natural hair myths.

One thing I have found interesting about having natural hair over the years, is how often other people tell me what to do with my natural hair, or what they would do if they had my hair.  Ironically, this is a blog dedicated to telling you what to do with your hair 😀 , but I come in peace.  Here are my top 5 natural hair myths, and we are bursting them to smithereens.

Myth 1: Braiding hair makes it grow faster

Here’s the thing, I really, REALLY strongly believe there’s little we can to influence hair growth rate.  However we can influence how fast it breaks off, which a lot of people inaccurately perceive as hair growth.  Braiding, if done correctly, means low manipulation hence less breakage which also means retaining the length of your hair. On the other hand, if done wrongly, braiding can cause your hair to break off faster than you can say doughnut 😀 . Hair will grow with or without braiding.

Myth 2: Tight braids last longer

Still on the subject on braids, earlier this week, a lady at the market asked me to do something about my shrunken hair.  She suggested hot combing. In my response I told her that her braids were too tight. And she told me she had them done tightly so that they could last longer. This isn’t the first I have heard this, a lot of people say this, but all I hear is traction alopecia.

Myth 3: Excessive breakage is “normal” for natural hair

Still on the market lady conversation. After she suggested hot combing, I told her I didn’t do that anymore because it made my hair break excessively in the past. She said, “natural hair is supposed to break, when it breaks, it grows faster.” Oh how wrong she was, I had to get going and I simply told her she was wrong.

Myth 4: Sulfate shampoo is bad

This is a popular myth.  While it’s true that sulfate shampoo might be too harsh for natural hair, it’s also one of the few ways to thoroughly wash out all the gazillion hair products we use. If you use products with hard chemical ingredients like gels, heat-protectants, anti-frizz, you should use sulfate shampoos at least monthly to avoid product build up. I will be sharing a post soon on how to “safely” use sulfate shampoos.

Myth 5: Natural hair is high maintenance

From my experience, people who say this just haven’t learnt the best way to take care of their hair yet. But if I’m being very honest, there are times when you just don’t have it in you to pamper your hair. My advice is to go to a natural hair salon.  Natural hair doesn’t have to be expensive either, buy only what you need, expensive doesn’t mean genuine, many times expensive hair products are just simply overpriced.

These are my top 5 natural hair myths, if you have any natural hair myths of your own let me know in the comments 🙂

Photo Credit: Kinks and Culrls Expo