This may seem like a bit of an ironic statement considering what I do for a living, but I’ve never been one to obsess too much about my hair. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first to admit to my ‘product junkie’ tendencies, and I spend far too much time at home scoping YouTube channels and natural hair websites (research baby, research) when there’s only so many bun tutorials one can watch. But sometimes I think the wealth of information out there can be overwhelming. The hair terminology thing is like a foreign language in itself, and although I wish I could have copious hours to spend dedicated to caressing every strand on my head, the truth of the matter is my time is short.
Diane with her natural hair pressed straight
Enter Diane Hall, a practical thinking sister who has decided to publish a book that offers the bare bones of natural afro hair care. In her debut book How I Grew It Long… Naturally A Step By Step Guide To The Maintenance, Growth & Care of My Afro Textured Hair, the author guides us through her hair journey starting from her teenage years and a particularly bad relaxer, to present day as a woman who through trial and error has learned to maintain her hair and maximise growth. At 130 pages long, the book is a brief, fuss-free guide that you can get through in one sitting. It starts off with the author chronicling her hair history (through words and pictures) and she then goes on to inform readers of her hair routine, which is broken down into sections and covers overnight care, morning routine, trimming and straightening, tips for protective styling and diet and exercise. So just to make it clear: if you are looking for a detailed book with in-depth scientific and factual information about afro hair, this is not for you. But if you’re strapped for time and just want some quick, handy surface information about haircare then this is a great buy.
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