If you are 100% natural, then you know all about hair shrinkage. Shrinkage isn't necessarily a bad thing, but can be a little frustrating if you want the world to see that your hair reaches to your behind. On the other hand, it's always cool to see the look of amazement on non-naturals when you stretch your curls out to show just how long it really is. Shrinkage comes into affect when our curls come into contact with any type of moisture, whether it's from shampooing your hair, adding a moisturizing product or just being outside in "moist" air. You can start out your day with one length and by the end of the day have a shorter length. Some Naturals want there length to be visible and that's when shrinkage becomes an issue. For those of you that think you can do away with shrinkage with products, I'm here to tell you that you are on the road to wasted money. As a natural, shrinkage is something we just have to deal with.
There are several methods in stretching the hair. The cool thing about it is, these methods can be worn as regular hair styles or protective styling. Unless your sole intention is to just stretch your hair for another intended style, like a french roll.
Braids, Bantu knots, two strand twists, flat twists, cornrows, banding, flexi rods, big rollers or even pin curls are all ways of stretching your hair. You can even blow dry your hair as long as you don't blow dry it straight...food for thought.
All in all shrinkage is not bad. Just knowing that it happens to ALL natural black hair should be comforting. I hope this post is useful for you in learning how to manage it.
