We’ve all made mistakes. Whether it’s regretting that terrible relationship you spent far too long in, or maybe having that extra serving of dessert, mistakes are a part of life. Without mistakes, we’d have no learning, no growth.

Ah, growth. Personal, emotional, hair….yeah. I do this funny thing where all I focus on is how long my hair should be. How long can I go without cutting it? What kind of different styles will I be able to do with it super long? Ultimately, I always fall short of my goals. I kept getting frustrated and wondering why, especially after recently doing another trim that ended up seeing about an inch of hair cut off (yes, even after my one year of hair growth). What is a girl to do?

For starters, I began seeing a naturopath. This was an illuminating experience for several reasons, not least of all finding out that I was severely deficient in iron and B12. This may not seem like a big deal, but, as my naturopath explained, vitamin B is what helps your intestines absorb additional nutrients. Cut that out, and suddenly it’s a lot more difficult for you to get the things you need to stay healthy, let alone grow your hair long.

Pre-trim, about two weeks ago. Frizzy little mess!

Secondly, my scalp is dry. My skin is dry, everything is dry. This isn’t a new conversation for you, I realize. But even though my intentions were always good to do something about it, rarely did anything materialize. Putting two and two together, I need to do scalp massages. I had great experiences doing water only washing, which helped eliminate some of my dandruff. Although I attribute this as possibly a sensitivity to different products, I also think there’s a lot to be said for the scalp massage and scritching portion of this routine. Hence, coconut oil + 5 minute scalp massage have most recently become a ‘winding down for bed’ nightly practice.

Finally, how often do you deep condition? I recently felt ‘inspired’ to deep condition my hair using Deva Curl Heaven in Hair. My hair felt so good afterwards! Enough so that I decided to look up how often hair should be deep conditioned. Turns out, I should be doing it way more than my ‘every few months when the moon is full’ schtick. Like, once a week, maybe? Considering my hair is so dry, and my scalp is so dry, this will probably benefit a lot. So, I’m committed to setting aside one day a week to do a deep conditioning treatment, and then reevaluating after a few weeks.

Post one inch trim, + two weeks of scalp massages and two deep conditioning treatments.

I’m feeling revitalized and re-inspired to be consistent about this new routine, and see where it leads me!