How I Learned About Hair Growth…

…And Changed How I Treated My Hair

Let’s talk the science of hair growth.

Growing up, I would always play in my hair. I always admired women with long, flowing locks of hair. I wanted to have long hair so desperately, but my hair just would not cooperate. It did not understand the concept of growing past my shoulders, but that didn’t stop me from trying to make it look like I had my own personal stylist.

At the time, I wanted to be famous so badly. I wanted to be the girl on T.V. that had the beautiful, envy-worthy hair. So I decided that there was nothing anyone could tell me that would convince me I wasn’t famous. I’d stand in front of the bathroom mirror for hours, becoming my own hair and makeup team. I’d take my time brushing, combing, and slathering grease in my hair (the more grease, the better). I put in tons of effort sculpting my hair into the perfect bob or ponytail. I’d finish, and I’d be so satisfied with the way my hand would glide through my sticky hair. I had mashed so much SuperGro grease in my hair, I almost had a new hair texture — thick and slick. On top of the almost daily grease baths I’d give my hair, my mom would also give me perms on a regular basis, so as a result, my hair would always be brittle and breaking.

At my young age, I knew nothing about how to take care of my hair — how to grow it, style it, or moisturize it properly. All I really knew about were perms, grease, and pink lotion. Even still, I could never understand how spending so much time in the mirror caring for it in the only ways I knew how would be damaging for it. But it was. It was terrible.

Being much older now, at 24, I’ve learned a lot more since then. In college, I joined the natural hair movement and finally said no to perms. At that point though, my hair was still as horrific as it was as a child. After realizing I’d never have long hair, I had cut it off into a very short pixie cut. I wore that style through most of my high school days and partly through college. At the time, I was going through a very deep bout of depression, where self-care and hair-care were nonexistent subjects. My hair had reached its lowest point. It was matted, dry, and severely damaged. I had continued to get the perms that I had gotten as a child, and eventually, I had developed an almost-bald patch at the crown of my head. Being in my depressed state, I didn’t care one bit. I would just comb the rest of my hair over the patch or I’d wear a pink knit cap on my head.

This continued for a year after I first started college. Every perm I had would break off the already short hair even further. The bald patch in my hair grew so that around 40 % of my hair located the crown of my hair was gone. Eventually, thankfully, I had had enough. I chopped my hair off and I never looked back. My hair, for the first time in a long time, was all the same length and I didn’t have to worry about breakage. I was free!

But then, after a while of being bald, I wanted to grow my hair out. I didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t know where to start. This was where the miracle that is YouTube came in and saved my life. Amazingly, my natural hair journey was happening at the same time as so many other black women! I began to find so much content about natural hair — more than I knew what to do with. More than I knew how to consume properly.

In the few years it’s been since I’ve joined the natural hair movement, I’ve learned so much without actually knowing what it is I need to know. So, that was where intense research and discovery came into play. With so much information out there, I didn’t know what to pay attention to. I decided to come up with my own ‘guide’ (if you can call it that) to explain to people exactly what they need to know about their beautiful, natural, black hair. And don’t worry, I’ll do my best to make it as entertaining and painless as possible.

The first part of this series is to learn how the hair grows.

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The First Phase — Anagen Phase

There are three parts — phases — to the cycles of hair growth. The first one is the Anagen phase — also known as the “growing phase”. At this phase, a new hair emerges from the follicle — a small hair gland — and pushes out the old strand of hair. At this stage, the new hair strand develops and nutrients begin to enter the strand through the bloodstream. This helps it to grow.

The Anagen phase is arguably the most vital stage of the hair growth cycles. How well your hair is treated during this phase will be a great determining factor in how healthy your hair will be throughout its life. Taking proper care of your hair during this stage will promote the most growth out of the three cycles of hair growth. On average, hair strands grow about 1 centimeter every 28 days in the Anagen phase. This stage lasts between 2 to 7 years. Unfortunately, as you get older, the duration of the Anagen phase shortens, giving reason as to why this stage is so vital. The longer this stage lasts and the better you take care of your hair during this stage, the longer your hair will grow.

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The Second Phase — Catagen Phase

The second stage of the hair growth cycle is the Catagen phase, also known as the “transitional phase”. This stage lasts about 10 days. In the Catagen phase, the hair follicle detaches from the dermal papilla, which is an indentation at the base of the hair follicle that connects it to the blood vessels that supply it nutrients from the body.

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The Third Phase — Telogen Phase

The last stage of the hair growth cycle is the Telogen phase. This is also known as the “resting phase.” This phase lasts for about three months and since in the second phase, the hair strand detached from its blood supply, it cannot be repaired. At the Telogen phase, the hair strand is done growing and can appear dull and lifeless. Eventually, a new hair will emerge from the follicle and push out the old hair strand. Thus, the cycle repeats.

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Even though I’ve spent much of my life not really knowing — or caring — how to take proper care of my hair, I think my hair has forgiven me. My hair grew back thick and coily. I also no longer have that weird bald spot. I was one perm burn away from not being able to grow hair from the crown of my head again, but the natural hair movement changed that. I’ve learned to nurture my hair from the roots to the ends, and if you decide to join me on my journey to continual, attentive hair care, you will too.

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Thank you so much for reading!

mikaila simone | IG: @mikailaisawesome |