Often, I will hear client's speak of their experiences with their hair throughout their journey toward strong mature Locs. And often I scratch my head... You can think of Perm Mentality as a sort of extended sub division of the Slave Mentality; in the sense that it is so ingrained in our psyche, that we generally don't even realize it's there. There are a few Perm Mentality traits that I've seen over the years. Here are a few. Do you suffer from Perm Mentality?
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GREASE & OIL: NATURAL OR OTHERWISE
There is a huge misconception that your hair cannot grow, or be beautiful unless you treat it with some type of product. This is an easy habit to slip into because we were once so accustomed to the requirement of hair products as we attempted to get our hair to go against nature. Now, it is good to use things in our hair that is nourishing just like we do our skin, body and mind. However, things things should be used as just that. Nourishment. Learn and understand your hair as you would your diet, or exercise routine. In fact these are the things that encourage the growth of strong beautiful Locs, not pomades, hair foods, waxes, gels and sprays.
TYING YOUR HAIR AT NIGHT
We are used to tying our hair at night to keep the perm laiiiiid. Curls pressed out. and baby hairs straight. That makes sense when you are trying to achieve a look that isn't naturally yours to begin with. But Locs need the encouragement of friction and knotting in order for them to mature. It makes more sense to cover your Locs when in unfamiliar territory, to keep it from being infiltrated by the day's pollutants and free radicals like dust, germs, bacteria, smells, and energies.
CONDITIONER
When hair is permed or flat-ironed, each of the hairs that grows from our follicles lay next to each other for the most part. Conditioner is designed to leave a coating on the strands that was stripped during processing. When hair is in its natural curly state the hairs are partying with each other in a beautifully coiled chaos! And when that party decides to get down with the rub-a-dub style....they hand out in tightly coled groups and are difficult to break the bond. Not much can get through, and if it does, its tough to get out. So applying conditioner to these tightly coiled, intertwined nattys is going to be a hella un-fun time to get out. It also attracts lint and dust which sticks to the heavy surface.