I Didn't Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

[EbonyEyes]

I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Hi everyone,

I posted this on the Nappturality forum and I wanted to share this with you guys as well!!

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Let me give you a little background history. I began transitioning in December of 2001 and cut off the relaxed ends on December 30, 2002. Well I thought that after one year of growing my natural hair, I would have a lot of new growth. I was surprised when I only had a measily 1-2 inches of natural hair. And 4 months after that (the present), my hair still didn't look like it was growing much. I began to think that either my hair just grows extremely slow or I had some serious medical problems because 1-2 inches of growth in a whole year seemed quite abmormal.

Well, I knew that as a 4A, I would have some shrinkage. But I didn't totally understand the concept of shrinkage until today when I got my hair braided.

I had no choice but to get my hair blow dried (for the first time since going natural) because of the style that it would be in. Well let me tell you!! After my hair was blowdried straight, my hair was SO LONG! I was in total shock. My two inches turned into collar bone length hair!!

Obviously I was joyful because I discovered that my hair was actually growing at a normal pace the whole time! What made it even better was that my hair is almost as long as it was before I decided to transition from a relaxer.

So if there are any of you natural heads who feel that your hair is growing extremely slowly, you may be fooled by the shrinkage; I know I was!

Thanks for letting me tell my story everyone!

Take care all,

Ebony

 

[Chyli]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Did you do a happy dance? Congrats to ya.

 

[sweetcocoa]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Congratulations! I know exactly how you feel....Even when I roller set and wrap my hair is not as long as when I blow it out. I haven't used a blowdryer in over 2 years...but I plan on doing that when I measue at the end of the summer.

 

[ngaa]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

congrats on yo collar bone length hair bet u're extatic to have hair that long

thanks ebony eyes coz now wen i think my hair aint growin and i'm wastin my money on vits then ima jsu blame it on shrinkage

 

[CICI24]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Wow that is a big difference. What style were you wearing your hair in before getting it braided?

 

[TinyT]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Yeh, I get more than 60-70% shrinkage. The only time I can really see any length is when I twist it, but as soon as I wet the twists in the shower they shrink back up. But I actually like the shrinakge.

Tracy

 

[ineedmoney]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

shrinkage is funny.

this year i went between hving my hair pressed w a ponytail and my lil fro. don't you know them lil freshmen at my school were so confused! they all came up to me and were like how long is your hair?

 

[Daughter]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

I like the shrinkage too

It's like having a short look without having to cut hair

 

[Valerie]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

When I was growing up, I always thought my hair couldn't grow and it always earlope length, and it was earlength, which was for years. Because type 4a/b has such a coily nature, it is so difficult to see length. There is still a great misunderstanding about African textured hair.

 

[EbonyEyes]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

[ QUOTE ]
Did you do a happy dance? Congrats to ya.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did I ever do a happy dance! I even ran to grab a camera! It was a great day!

[ QUOTE ]

congrats on yo collar bone length hair bet u're extatic to have hair that long

thanks ebony eyes coz now wen i think my hair aint growin and i'm wastin my money on vits then ima jsu blame it on shrinkage

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you Ngaa. I agree...Blame it on Shrinkage!! But shrinkage and I have become really good friends though!

[ QUOTE ]
Wow that is a big difference. What style were you wearing your hair in before getting it braided?

[/ QUOTE ]

For the most part, I would just rinse my hair every morning, put a headband over my hair and wear a curly afro. On occasion I would wear wet two-strand twists.

[ QUOTE ]
shrinkage is funny. this year i went between hving my hair pressed w a ponytail and my lil fro. don't you know them lil freshmen at my school were so confused! they all came up to me and were like how long is your hair?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes you can confuse some people with that "phenomenon"!

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Thanks everyone for your responses and your own little stories about "shrinkage and you"! Shrinkage is indeed wonderful! I love my curly afro! Although I'm happy that my hair is much longer than I originally thought, I will still use the blow drier sparingly and just work with my hair that has like 75% shrinkage! LOL

-EBONY

 

[NayNay]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Good for u! I am happy to hear the news!

 

[EbonyEyes]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Thanks NayNay!

By the way, my nickname is NayNay as well!

-Ebony

 

[NayNay]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

Hey Ebony! Two great people.

I only relax every 3 months and I notice a lot of shrinkage but I dont care. I wish I knew how to handle my hair better! I have spoken to Daughter about natural hair I think her hair is GORGEOUS and well so is EVERYBODY else's natural hair LOL.

It is a shame my NATURAL hair was MUCH longer then my relaxed hair NOW! If I could rock 2 braids to work with the little clear bubbles I would go natural in a minute!

 

[SVT]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until

I'm always surprised too at my length when my press/flat iron my hair.

Congrats on your growth!

 

[Brownie]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until

Before my last touch up, I thought my hair hadn't grown at all because my hair seemed the same length, but after I got my hair done, I was surprised to see 3 inches. Now, I'm at 8-9 weeks since my last touch up, and I'm thinking the same thing. Where's the length? I'm sure I will be surprised come touch up time. I like to play with my new growth; it's like a slinky. I pull it out, and it draws back up. This is my nightly entertainment.

 

[EbonyEyes]

Re: I Didn\'t Understand What Shrinkage Meant Until....

NayNay,

I'm still amazed that it took only 1 1/2 years for my natural hair to grow to the length it was when I was relaxed.

I guess I didn't really know how to maintain my hair when I was relaxed. After all, I ran from water and blowdried and curled my hair weekly/bi-weekly.

But if you ever decide to go natural, there are people here who can support you and give you tips on how to bring out the best in your hair!!

You can have beautiful hair whether relaxed or natural; You just have to learn how to work with it. I don't think I'll go back to relaxing because I love my natural hair too much. But if I ever went back to relaxing, this forum would have all the support and tips I would need to grow it long and healthy!

-Ebony