Congratulations to March 2021 Feature of the Month - Dee Raven

What is your hair care regimen?

I follow a KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method.

Once a week, I shampoo, condition, de-tangle in the shower with a paddle brush and then style in a wash and go using a combo of gels and/or mousse. Sometimes I’ll sit under a hooded dryer for a about an hour and a half to dry. Otherwise I’ll let my hair air dry. And I wear my hair in a low bun with a scarf at night.

About once every six to eight weeks, I’ll do a clarifying shampoo with the accompanying conditioner, followed by a second moisturizing conditioner, (each conditioner sits for about 2 - 3 minutes in my hair, I no longer deep condition) and then de-tangle and style as usual.

Once every 3 to 4 months I will trim my hair on curly or straight hair. 

Currently how long is your hair?

My hair is Tail Bone Length (TBL).

Do you take any supplements, if so what are they?

I take a multivitamin gummy daily. I also take iron and vitamin D supplements under medical guidance. **I want to remind everyone that iron and D should be monitored with regular labwork by a physician because you can overload and cause serious damage to your organs.

What are the things that you feel have helped you the most in achieving and maintaining your hair length?

Patience

Keeping my routine very quick and simple. There was a time in my natural hair journey when I would spend 3 hours doing my hair (not including dry time) and it got to feel like this huge chore that would take up my entire Saturday or Sunday. Now I take 30 minutes to shower, shampoo, condition and de-tangle. Applying products takes between 10 to 15 minutes and then I can dry my hair while reading, fiddling around on the internet or I can just leave my house and run errands or do whatever. It’s easier for me to like my hair and be nice to my hair when it is no longer burdensome.

Regular trims

Shampoo. For a long time I was doing the co-wash or no poo method and my hair wasn’t terrible but it always felt a little dry. At one point I was using Deva Curl (and I know they are cancelled now, but there was a time when their products were fantastic) and I tried out a new product they had called the Buildup Buster, which was their version of a clarifying shampoo. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but at one point I ran out of my One Shampoo and started using the Buildup Buster every week. My hair had never been so happy. So since then, shampoo is a weekly must.

Listen to my scalp. When it’s time to wash, I wash. Also, if my scalp doesn’t like the product, it goes in the trash. One thing that my scalp doesn’t like anymore is oils, so I’ve stopped using them altogether. 

Having a simple go-to style that is low manipulation. I wear a wash and go all year except when I trim.

Taking photos. I take photos 2 - 4 times a year and it has helped to monitor changes in my hair. Recently I’ve been battling anemia and it impacted my hair growth. I was able to track it through photos. In the 14 years that I’ve been natural, I haven’t really had issues with growing my hair out (except for the anemia) and I knew that for a fact because I could always see how much my hair had grown. So keeping a history of photos can really help troubleshoot if you experience problems with your hair or if you’re anxious about length retention.