Shrinkage: the low down and dirty!

Shrinkage: the low down and dirty!

How do you feel about your shrinkage? I sound like a therapist now, but seriously, how do you feel about it?

I first noticed a form of shrinkage when I was texlaxing my hair - using relaxer to loosen the curl but not fully straighten the hair. It seemed to stay at APL when wet! For months!!!

Well, I realized that the hair with texlaxed roots was more curly and would not be weighed down so easily by water as my bone-straight ends, which hadreached APL already. Duh!

A shrunken braid-out!

So, what is shrinkage?
Well, to put it plainly, curly and kinky hair types have more in-built elasticity than straight types owning to the curl pattern. As the curl dries, it sets in the shape and pulls up the hair. Therefore, your hair may be Bra-Strap Length when straightened, but shrink to Shoulder Length when curly. This is healthy hair!

The good!

1. It is HEALTHY hair at it's natural finest.
2. It protects the ends from rubbing on your clothes as the hair grows longer - outwards more than downwards in most cases.
3. It's bouncy and can resist being snapped when pulled: as it stretches out as you tug it. Great if you have grabby toddlers!

Click "Read more" for more pics and to find out "the bad" and "the dirty" on shrinkage!

Look at where my hair shrunk to in braids!

Source linked to image

The bad!

1. How will you show off your length? People think your hair is not growing when it is!
   
2. It's a HUGE afro looking thing, in some hair types: the curls and coils can be so tiny that you don't realize how much it's shrunken.
3. You can have 50% or more shrinkage in some hair types...yikes! That may mean looking Shoulder Length as soon as a bit of rain hits your much longer hair!
4. Tangling and single-strand knots may occur more when hair is left to dry fully (and shrink to maximum). Detangling Nightmare!
   

The dirty!
Embrace your shrinkage! It's a sign of your hair's intrinsic health. On the other hand, you can minimize some of the heartache by stretching out your hair whilst it dries. This can be done with braids, twists, banding (hairbands all down the length of hair sections) and blowdrying (tension-method, for instance). This way, you can reduce the detangling terrors whilst also showing off more of your length!

However, you know you have those days when you do just want to let it all hang out in it's natural glory - wash and go, anyone?! That's the beauty of natural hair....versatility! Survey time! See above post!