Hair Care in Graduate/Professional School

[Sarafina]

I will be starting law school soon and was wondering what those of you who went to intensive grad. programs did with their hair. This question is open to people who will be attending grad school and who are currently in grad school.

Right now, I am good at moisturizing daily, wetting or co-washing my hair a few times a week, deep conditiong etc., but I can't see myself being that consistent when I start. As an under-grad, I wore braids all 4 years and abused it by never deep conditioning, and relaxing and putting micros in back to back. Lucky me, my hair still looked thick, but never grew a few inches past my shoulders.
Now that I am growing it out, I'd hate to throw it back in braids my whole grad. school career. I do want to show off my growth, but I can't think of a simple regimen to keep it as healthy as it is now.

So what regimens did you use (or will you use) to keep your hair healthy through graduate or professional school?

 

[Keen]

I will be starting law school soon and was wondering what those of you who went to intensive grad. programs did with their hair. This question is open to people who will be attending grad school and who are currently in grad school.

Right now, I am good at moisturizing daily, wetting or co-washing my hair a few times a week, deep conditiong etc., but I can't see myself being that consistent when I start. As an under-grad, I wore braids all 4 years and abused it by never deep conditioning, and relaxing and putting micros in back to back. Lucky me, my hair still looked thick, but never grew a few inches past my shoulders.
Now that I am growing it out, I'd hate to throw it back in braids my whole grad. school career. I do want to show off my growth, but I can't think of a simple regimen to keep it as healthy as it is now.

So what regimens did you use (or will you use) to keep your hair healthy through graduate or professional school?

I don't think it is a problem to show your new growth as long as your hair is neat. I'm going to b-school right now. I wear my hair to school the same way to work. Basically I wear big braids a lot which I pull back in a ponytail and I bun with a phony pony. A few time I have taken of my braids and have to wait a couple of days to relax, when that happens I work from home or I wear a cap with the company logo. Sometimes I choose to work from home so that I don't go to work with my hair jacked up and wear my nice black velvet cap to school.

 

[dicapr]

I don't have any suggestions. I'm in the same boat. I work 40 hours a week and am in grad school for public health part time. I am looking to change my hair care routine to something simple without sacrificing hair health and style. I am thinking about going back to heat.

 

[blackbarbie]

My little sister is in grad school and also works about 30-40 hours per week. Her hair is really thick and I commented to her once on how she had time to manage it with the schedule she has. She said she mainly did the same thing she did when she was undergrad, which was co-wash and wear pretty scarfs on the pony tail part of it. (i have a pic of my hair like that in my album) Sometimes she also uses the scarfs as headbands and does twist outs or braid outs too.

I don't see her often except like major holidays and even over the course of her 4-year undergrad career, the low manipulation caused her to retain so much length. I was really surprised at how fast it grows and had even grown the last time I saw her. (I told her she should add a once weekly deep conditioning treatment to her regimen though)

 

[Legend]

I'm also in grad school now this summer. My style staple: The Phony Pony! I don’t bother with my hair at all…especially with the summer humidity in my area. I actually get phony ponies long enough so I can style them in a variety of ways. If I want to wear my hair down, I go for a roller set and do a partial up-do with a French twist. Pretty basic stuff as I’m also working 40+ hours a week and don’t have much time to fuss with my hair anymore.

 

[luvSLave]

I recently finished a part-time grad program while working full time. I'd carve out a few hours on Sunday afternoons for the works - wash, deep condition, rollerset - and I studied under the dryer. The set was just to dry my hair straight cause I bunned during the week. Daily moisturizing took all of 30 seconds while styling. That was usually it for the week, but if my hair was especially dirty I'd squeeze in a CW one evening (you have to shower anyway), plait my hair to let it dry overnight and bun the next day.

 

[pretty-girl#1]

Hey gurl,

I will be starting law school as well this fall and my goal is to wear a bun 90% of the time!!!!!! I have 75% natural hair and it takes a whole lot to straighten my hair, time that i'm sure i won't have. I plan on co-washing every morning or every other morning and just bunning it up, plus, the bun is super professional. Good luck in law school!

 

[seeminglysweet]

I am in grad school. I work part-time at a PR Firm, so appearance is important (most days).
I agree with the phony pony, I do braid outs, wetsets, roller sets, and I sleep in satin covered sponge rollers sometimes too. Buns are very professional, you could do clip-in weaves...you could even wear wigs. My friend is in grad school also and she has tons of wigs that she wears.

I don't think anything should change with your regime you may have to spend less time on your hair but you can maintain very nice hairstyles inbetween studying

 

[brownsugarflyygirl]

I work full-time for the govt and I am in grad school part time...for me I just had to prioritize and simplify my regimen.

Simple styles are a must because I dont have time to be in a shop or playing with my hair for hours. So I just rotate between buns and cornrows every two-three weeks. Once a week I do a preepoo/shampoo/deep condition once a week.

However, there just may be weeks where its not possible...dont feel guilty about that. School is important...if its finals time...or if you have a brief due... it may be two weeks in between washes...its not the end of the world as long as you are still doing protective styles, moisturizing daily, etc. and then after your first year of law school is all said and done...and you are doing a fly summer internship...PAMPER YOUR HAIR!!
HTH

 

[Sarafina]

So it looks like most of you are recommending low manipulation protective styles and daily moisture. I guess I'm just spoiled from never dealing with my hair until the last year or so because of braids. I'll just have to make the time to give it the care it needs so it can grow longer.

Thanks ladies