Why I May Not Set Hair Goals Anymore

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about my hair. I’ve been somewhat on autopilot with my relaxed hair care so I haven’t felt like I had anything new to share. Also, I’ve had many other topics I wanted to share with you that sharing about my personal hair care kept falling to the bottom of the list.

That is going to change today with this quarterly hair goal check-in. At the beginning of the year, I set three hair goals for myself.

1. Follow my new wash day plan all year
2. Finalize my roster of hair products by the end of March
3. Try eight or fewer new products all year

Pretty simple goals right? When I set them I figured the simpler they are, the easier they will be to achieve. I also tried to make them more measurable and actionable than the goals I had the previous year.

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What I’m finding though is my hair is a little like a moving target. So sticking to my hair goals isn’t easy or even always possible because of the changing needs of my hair.

Follow my new wash day plan all year

The new wash day plan referenced in this goal outlines which hair products and techniques to use during the weeks between my relaxer touch-ups.

So far I’ve been sticking to the 12 weeks between relaxer touch-ups which makes my relaxer stretches easier. It also allows for lots of new growth that my stylist can work with.

Outside of the 12-week stretches, I haven’t been sticking to my wash day plan. The reason is the changing needs of my hair. Some weeks my hair needs more of one thing and less of another. For example, if I spend lots of time outside my hair dries out quickly and I apply more hair products throughout the week. This results in product build-up so when I wash I use a sulfate shampoo.

I’ve also stopped co-washing and using so many sulfate-free shampoos. My scalp had been itching a lot more than normal and I couldn’t figure out why.

One day I was walking three blocks from my work building to my car and it hit me. Because I’m not able to park in the parking deck attached to my office building I park a few blocks away in a gravel and dirt lot. During this particular walk, I saw clouds of dust floating in the parking lot from the cars that were leaving and realized that dust was probably settling on my hair and scalp every day. 

Since I use a lot of sulfate-free cleansers my scalp probably wasn’t being properly rid of the dust. Once I started using more sulfate shampoos my scalp stopped itching so much.

Related read: My Relaxed Hair Regimen

Finalize my roster of hair products by the end of March

As of the writing of this post, I feel like I have found a mixture of products that work well for my hair and give me results that I’m consistently happy with. With these products, I’ve been able to keep my hair moisturized, strong, entangled, and overall healthy. I don’t foresee dropping or replacing them with other products.

Try eight or fewer new products all year

I haven’t been doing so well with this goal either. So far this year I’ve tried one new shampoo, two new deep conditioners, and two new rinse-out conditioners. But as I mentioned above, I think I’ve found the right mix of products that make my relaxed hair happy.

Now that I’ve been on a healthy relaxed hair journey for a few years and understand my hair better I don’t think that setting hair goals are necessary for me anymore. I’m now a lot better at determining pretty quickly what’s working or not working for my hair. I’ve also gotten better at determining what my hair needs more or less of.

Related read: 10 Great Hair Conditioners for Dry Hair

Did you set any type of goals for yourself this year? Share in the comments how you’re tracking with your goals whether they’re hair goals, business goals, life goals, etc.