Top 10 Natural Hair Myths That I Believed Before My Healthy Hair Journey

I am fast approaching the first year of my healthy hair journey (give it another six weeks).

Looking back now I marvel at how gullible I was before I got my hands on the right information but in retrospect, that is what ignorance does.

There I was holding on to half truths and misconceptions about my hair that had been passed down for ages.

My perception of my hair was skewed because of the myths which stunted my length aspirations for years. Do you remember some of the wackiest things you heard about maintaining natural hair?

Here I will share with you 10 natural hair myths I believed before my healthy hair journey.

► Only genetics can determine long hair – I used to look at black girls with noticeably long hair and wonder who in their family had been Caucasian or Asian. I would gaze enviously at girls that were mixed and say to myself “Those genes are responsible for that good hair.” Chances are, you thought the same thing.

For a long time I accepted this and was content to be able to pack what little hair I had into a mini afro-puff. However, this myth has been rubbished by data that has shown that a nourished body and scalp along with the right regimen are much larger determinants of length retention. What a good thing too because all that covetousness does a body no favors.

► Trimming makes hair grow faster – While trimming has a place in the maintenance of healthy hair, it in no way increases the growth rate of our hair.

Essentially what trimming does is help you rid your hair of weak weathered ends, ssk’s and split ends so that the damage does not creep up the shaft and whittle away at the inches you are able to gain.

If your strands are free of those pesky issues you will be able to retain length that will be noticeable, since there will be no damage to interfere with it.

► Braids fast-track growth – Initially, I was told that if you braid with extensions* then your hair would compete with the extensions* resulting in long hair in a short time. What crock!

Similar to trimming, braiding of itself does not increase hair growth. It limits manipulation on your fragile strands and keeps your hair stretched and organized to limit knots and tangles which is what really leads to longer hair.

However, constant braiding – because of the manipulation involved – can result in breakage if you do not allow your hair a rest period. For instance if you wear your hair in braids a majority of the time, you need to allow about three months out of the twelve months for your hair to rest from the braids.

This is necessary because constant braiding can weaken the strands over time due to a reduction in elasticity. You need to allow your hair to be worn in looser protective styles to give your hair a break from braids and to replenish the protein balance in your strands.

► Water and oil together makes hair rancid – Using water as a moisturizer and sealing with oil was unheard of in some black households back in the day. Water was only seen as a way to cleanse hair . Who remembers sitting down and having your hair and scalp be vigorously blotted with a towel to remove every trace of water?

The idea was that water and oil should never mix since it would cause hair to go rancid. I took this as gospel without even questioning the idea, after all I had been hearing that ever since I was a child.

I didn’t want to walk around with a funky head so I was good about drying my hair to a crisp before oiling it. Imagine my surprise when I started my HHJ and found out about the LOC method!

► Black hair only reaches extraordinary lengths in the loc’d state – I was of the view that the only way black women could have some long hair is if they maintained a loc style.

Needless to say, that has been dispelled since I came across the right information, consistent healthy practices and experimentation has proven otherwise.

► Dirty hair is easier to style – I don’t know about you but my hair actually goes on strike when it is dirty: absolutely uncooperative. Yet to this day some women swear by the myth that dirty hair is easier to style.

It is believed that dirty hair provides the ideal texture for some styles mostly because many of the shampoos we used had harsh chemicals that would strip the hair of its natural oils*.

Having been ignorant of the hair care needs of black hair (or flouncing them in some cases), we would end up with dry and sometimes rough hair after the sulfates were through with our strands.

Now armed with this knowledge we are able to seek out the more acceptable alternatives to sulfate cleansers, such as shampoo bars, co-wash products, clay washes or sulfate free shampoos.

Thanks to the availability of this information, we can eliminate the dryness that may surface after a wash and as such maintain clean hair.

► Black hair only thrives on “black people products” – I could address this with one word, Giovanni. Nuff said! This myth might have surfaced because of the mistrust of other races who seemed to be out to “get us”.

It was widely thought that no other race could understand our diversity and ethnicity enough to formulate products that had the right balance to benefit our hair. Through personal experimentation with products as well as reviewing information pertinent to the issue, many of us have come to see that this is not so.

What we have found out is that manufacturers of hair products usually make products for the majority. In the United States, African-Americans are among the minority. It would then stand to reason that if a majority of the products made are at a neutral pH of 7.0 while our hair’s pH balance is 4.5 t0 5.5 then those products are not geared towards black hair.

Other than that, we cannot substantiate this claim especially since the natural hair/healthy hair community has grown and companies now see the need to do the proper research and cater to our needs if they are to protect their bottom-line.

► Petroleum is great for natural hair – Maybe like me, many of you thought that nothing could be done with your hair without some petroleum. I accepted the thought that my hair was difficult and unmanageable and was grateful for the good stuff; petroleum.

Little did I know that though it’s good as a sealant, it also locks moisture out of the strands, effectively hindering daily moisturizing. It clogs the pores when slathered onto the scalp, thereby preventing natural oils* from getting to the follicles where real nourishment occurs.

Absence of moisture plus clogged pores equals drier strands, tons of breakage, ssk’s, split ends and PLENTY of dandruff; translation? Length plateau!

► Grease is an absolute must for hair and scalp – I was like a fish out of water without my grease. I just felt as though my hair wasn’t “nourished” unless I coated it with some heavy grease (most likely something with mineral oil* or petroleum).

This stemmed from the fact that we equate health with sheen so if you had a shiny mane then you had healthy strands.

In essence, we thought the moisture our hair needed came from oils* and grease especially since we knew our scalps produced precious little of its own oil.

So in our enthusiasm to help things along we would serve up a generous helping of grease, but the thing about it is that the removal of buildup from the grease usually requires the use of sulfates and damaging surfactants, which can cause damage to the follicles and the strands.

In essence, it’s not so much the substance that is harmful, but because of the process to remove it, now that’s the deal breaker.

► Your texture and curl pattern are set in stone – It appears that in this point many of us have not come to the realization that this is also myth.

As time passes your hair does change. There are quite a few things that can effect a change in the texture and curl pattern of your hair. Some factors which affect changes in the color, density and thickness of your hair are your diet, age and products which have the propensity to be adsorbed into the cortex.

So in the time since I rejected these myths have I retained length? You better believe it! I’m not good about walking around with a tape measure but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Myths are created when there is uncertainty and when a majority of the facts get lost in translation. When it comes to your hair goals, myths can put a dent into those lofty aspirations.

Seek out the facts so that you do not get side-tracked for this is a case of, the more you know, the more you’ll grow.