u/AlpsStrange1688

My mom had me get relaxers ever since I was 4 or 5, because she didn’t want to deal with my natural hair. I loved the look of my straight hair because it was so long and went down my back, I thought I was so cute! Until one appointment during high school unbeknownst to me, my hairdresser cut about a good few inches of my hair off and I didn’t realize until I got home. My mom was the one that noticed and told me but I freaked out because my hair was so long that it went to my lower back, now it was to my shoulder. So when I was 19 I told my hairdresser (the same one I had since I was little) that I wanted to cut all my hair off, because my hair never grew to that same length ever again. I was beginning to enjoy the growth of my natural hair and loved my tiny fro, but I consistently got hair cuts to appease my mom. Now to make both my mom and myself happy, I would get my fro cut into a fro-hawk or colored. However, I’m noticing some thinning spots on my head, my hair is taking longer to grow than usual, and my curl pattern is completely different than before. My main focus right now is to grow my hair, but I haven’t the faintest idea of where to start because there is so many things online going “well if you’re experiencing this then do this” “but if have this don’t use that”. No one in my family wears their natural hair except my brother, grandma, and me but we just wing it! I am VERY embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t know how to braid my own hair y’all and yes I’ve tried to learn, but it’s hard to practice when your hair won’t grow. Just looking for some helpful pointers if I should find a hairdresser that specializes in natural hair or maybe it’s time to book an appointment with the dermatologist🙂‍↔️